I haven't forgotten

It's been a while and there's no particular reason...I just haven't taken the time to write anything lately. I've been a little busy...but then again not really...I think sometimes it just feels like I have a lot going on.
After our trip to NC the holidays came around quickly. It was pretty quiet here. We went over to Brenna and Josh's house for Christmas dinner. My brother Mark joined us. Josh's dad Noah, was in town too.

 We had a nice relaxing afternoon and dinner and at the end of the meal...Josh surprised us all by proposing to Brenna!

She was really taken by surprise...I don't know how he managed to keep it a secret from her! So THAT was exciting and it was a perfect end to our Christmas Day. I happened to have a bottle of champagne on hand...hahaha( I had brought for dinner but wasn't sure I wanted to open it) so we had a toast to the newly engaged couple!
we had planned to have a Holiday Open House a couple of days after Christmas...just to have a chance to visit with friends and family who we didn't see before the holidays because we were out of town. Initially I had to talk John into it...but we all had a good time and he was glad we planned it. Almost everyone we invited stopped by and we enjoyed some food and fun.

Plans for Brenna and Josh's wedding are moving right along. We decided to have an engagement party in February.

It just so happened that John's sister Sandy and his brother Bill had plans to come down in early February...so it all came together nicely. It was great having Bill and Kathie, Sandy and Ken here to join the celebration. It was the first time in a number of years that all of John's siblings were all in one place at the same time. We have seen everyone over the years...they just haven't all been together at one time, so that was great.

The weather was fantastic...so that was great too!

this table has held many feasts!

The day of the party it was sunny and cool...not cold, not hot...really just right. We all enjoyed talking and eating out on the porch and around the pool. We got to meet a lot of Brenna and Josh's friends and it was like a preview of the wedding! Nice day!

friends

The family- Brenna's-Uncle Bill, Aunt Lucy,Aunt Kathie,Aunt Sandy,cousin Debbie

Mark,Brenna,Heather, Kristian,Sandy and Josh

always have to get a group shot around the pool...no one fell in!

Kathie, Ken and Lucy

During the few days the family was in town we got together with the family down in Grant and had a couple of dinners out with everyone.We all agreed it was a great visit.