Goodbye 2012 ~ Hello 2013!!

I can't believe that tonight is New Year's Eve! I know everyone says it every year but seriously, where did the last year go? The older I get, the faster the years seem to pass. Why couldn't it go this fast when I was sitting in school? :)

A lot of things happened in the last year and most of the exciting stuff was bunched into the few posts I made this year. 2013 will be a different year on my blog. You will see a lot more posts. I hope people actually come to read it! I am excited about blogging again. I am enjoying writing on mine and reading others. I was gone for a while but I'm back! My posts may not be too exciting because most of the time I will just be posting day to day stuff. Along with my stitching and family stuff, I am going to try to post some recipes that we enjoy and helpful tips I've found. I hope everyone still enjoys reading it. :)

2012 is going out quietly for us. While I'm here blogging, Jerry is at work. He's hoping to get home before midnight so we can ring in the New Year together. This is our 33rd New Years!

Christmas was nice this year. We go to church on Christmas Eve with our kids and their families. We have been going to the 4:00pm mass the last few years because my grandson sings in the children's choir. Louie is the one behind and to the right of the girl in the red dress. Sorry the picture quality isn't great. We were on the other side of the church and even though this was before mass started, I didn't want to use my flash.

My favorite part of Christmas mass is when we sing 'Silent Night'. They dim the lights in the church and we all hold candles. It's so peaceful and beautiful. My son-in-law took this pic.

After church we all come back to our house for dinner and opening presents. That way the girls can be at home with their own family on Christmas Day. The last few years I made part of the meal in my slow cookers so that when we returned after church, dinner was ready. I love it because it leaves time to spend with the family instead of cooking.

I think everyone was happy with the gifts they received this year. :) Here's a pic of Amber handing out presents.

I think the favorite gift was one that I made for my grandson Louie. His mom showed me a picture of a floor pillow made with 4 regular bed pillows. She said when they have movie nights he always lays on pillows but they move around. I made this with pillows and a twin size bed sheet. Orange is his favorite color and I can't believe I found an orange sheet! I made the sides fold over so they can take the pillows out to wash the cover.

For the last several years we have bought all the kids something matching. The last 2 years we bought Wisconsin Rose Bowl shirts. The Badgers made it to the Rose Bowl again this year but we found Wisconsin Fleece pj pants and decided to get those. Everyone loved them. Some so much so, that they put them on right then! Before the evening was over everyone had their pj pants on and I needed to get a picture. This shows the craziness that goes on when all these kids get together! Here are my daughters Amy & Amber, my son Josh, sons-in-law Louie & Nate and grandson Lil Louie. I didn't know when I took the picture that those are Nate's hands on Amber's face! Lol! She told me later.

A few people wanted me to post pics of my snowmen. Here they are!

Think there are enough snowmen in my living room? :)

So, there's how the end of 2012 has gone for me. I'm optimistic about the new year. I hope it's a good one for everyone. I hope my life is as wonderful and content as it is right now. 

I saw this idea on Facebook and also on Pinterest. I think this is an idea I am going to do for 2013. When something good happens (even little things), write it on a piece of paper and put it in a jar. On New Year's Eve next year, read all the papers and appreciate the wonderful things that happened. We all tend to remember the bad things but don't remember a lot of the good things. I think this is a great idea!

In my stitching world, I have several things on my list to work on this year. I will do another post in the next few days with my 2013 stitching list. Today I have been working on my HAED Mini Shiver Meow Timbers. I hope to have a progress pic for the next post. I know I'm crazy, but I have kitted up another HAED! I have it all ready and plan to put the first stitch in at midnight. It will officially be my first new start for 2013. This one isn't a mini. I am doing it on 18 ct aida and when completed it will be 19.5 x 25.75 inches. I bought 120 skeins of floss but since I'm doing it on a bigger fabric, I may need more! Yikes! What was I thinking? The new one is Pumpkin Pixie. This is my first 30 page chart! Here's a close up of the chart and all the stuff for it. The bag is a Christmas gift from Amber & Nate that they got on their cruise. :)

Well, I guess that's it for now. I had this post almost done and it disappeared. I panicked but finally found it as a draft. They should really make that easier to find! Lol! I'm going to post it before it decides to disappear again.

I hope all my family and friends have a wonderful and safe New Year's! Not just New Year's Eve but the entire year!

Hugs!