These are just the proofs of Ava's school pictures this year. They are sooo good, I know it will be hard for them to choose which ones they want. If I had lots of money, I would buy LOTS of them. It sure is an improvement on school pictures over the years my kids were in grade school!

Everything I need to say is on the layout itself. Wish I could have seen it in person like my son and his family did.

We were very happy to see April and Kim. They ere the only ones we would see for Christmas...and that was a few days before Christmas.

Only two weeks and one day before Christmas is Oliver's birthday. These layouts are of his birthday party this year! He is at home with his family and that wild candle we all like. Of course being so far away, we can't be there, but we did get pictures. And thank God for FaceTime because after things had calmed down a bit and Oliver was still full of energy, we got to SEE him and talk with him!

There was a challenge on Scrapgirls.com yesterday to use the color of the week...teal. It is my favorite color, especially the darker versions of it. It is my youngest daughter's favorite as well. I did a layout with her and her precious cat for the challenge using a kit from Scrapgirls called Capturing Memories by Angie Briggs. Above is that layout.

Everything you might want to know abouat this is written on the layout. There is nothing else to say.

It was a busy weekend here. On top of not feeling tops, I wanted to hurry and finish my book by Sunday night. I made it, but I left a lot of things undone in the meantime, like this blog for instance. I did some layouts of pictures that were taken in early October. I've posted one of them above here.

Amazon Blessing or Curse, or a little of both? I telll why we use them and why maybe we shouldn't.

As far as I am concerned, we just have had much too little snow this year. At a time when we mostly stay home, we might as well have a beautiful snow covered yard to enjoy...from the inside. No shoveling, just something pretty to see. But this year, we've seen so little here in this section of Ohio. It has covered the ground somewhat a couple of times and that is it. I'm so glad that Ava got out and was able to play a while in the white stuff. It was fun for her and gave us pictures to enjoy.

Maggie has learned over the years that it pleases me to get good pictures of her. For a while, when I would pick my phone up to my face to take a picture of her, she would turn her head away. But she has grown to know that I will reward her when I get a good one. She surely does like her little cookies, so here is her pose.

I love getting pictures of grandchildren and Ava our great granddaughter. Here she is with her mother. I love Brattanie's comment here about Ava being like her Mama. So funny!

I suppose this is a new tiger. Is there a story? Was it for Christmas? Does it have a name? All I have is questions right now. Ashley's parents have dropped her off for her second semester of college. They took this picture, but I haven't had the chance to ask these questions yet. I love the picture.

There isn't much more to say about this layout than is written on the layout itself. Chelle was very helpful. She told me what to write. I agree with her statement. I'm praying that 2021 will be a much better year than 2020 was!

I was pretty disappointed with this photo. It was the best one taken of us that day; yet for some unknown reason, the colors were so muted. I didn't do a layout for weeks because of that. However, today I decided it is too good to discard. I made a layout anyway and here it is.

This was an ORU celebration. We had a wonderful time together. However two of our northern contingency were not able to be there and we missed them, Paulette and Jane. The Pandemic has kept us apart more than we like and now travel has also interfered.

Fun in the Leaves. This is one thing that wasn't changed by the pandemic, at least not for us.

We really haven't had much snow here this year, but think we will be getting some later this week. I love to see kids playing in the snow... It is even better than playing in it myself, especially now that I often find it difficult to walk across the room. LOL Here are our grandchildren in Colorado where they generally get plenty of snow, even if it usually melts not too long after it falls. They enjoeyed their sleds this day...

A little more than two months ago, in that year we were all so quick to leave, Brittanie took her daughter, our great granddaughter, to the movie Wolf Walkers. If was a hit. Ava enjoyed herself and we were luvky enough to get to see this picture of them at that movie.

Here are two layouts I made today from pictures taken in early Novemeber. Our son and his wife are so very good about teaching the kids about nature first hand. It is safe to get out and hike, etc where there aren't many people. This day they were exploring on the Magpie Meander, a section of the Fort Collins Natural Area. I am thankful they supply me with pictures for my layouts. I pray they will always be able to do that, for this little old lady who has nothing much else to do these days, except clean house and cook. Neither is that much fun any more.

All my friends are leaving Ohio, not because of me, I hope. lol Actually even though it is great here in three seasons, the winters are pretty hard on us older people. So those who can, generally migrate south in their advanced years. There were 10 of us in ORU, now 4 live in the south and one more will move once she has sold her house. That will leave only 1/2 of us here. Add to that the fact that those who do not move, enjoy vacationing in warmer places, so often those of us who stay up here in the cold weather with roads that are frequently icy feel pretty lonely. That is especially true this year after spending almost a year somewhat isolated. Early in December, there were 4 of us in Ohio. One fears Covid and stays away from everyone outside her family. So three of us took off some time for lunch at Leo's on Front Street in Cuyahoga Falls, OH. This is the layout I made to remember the occasion. Click on the picture to enlarge it, so you won't miss the all the glitter.

Today was the day to sign up for this next soccer season. Here is a team picture taken on November 7 2020. Caleb loves sports and is a very good team player. I think his best gift is his reflexes. He is exceedingly swift in thought and movement. That is probably why his favorite position is center midfielder. He likes doing that because it does a little bit of everything, some defense, some offense. It's the position that is everywhere. He puts everything into his 'work'.

Oliver and Julia play together well. He is a great big brother. It is a very good thing at any time, but especially now when everyone must stay at home. Older brother Caleb spends more of his spare time reading and playing video games. But Oliver, who had just finished kindergarten and started first grade, during the pandemic, is used to being with his little sister. He is not rough, but very kind. He takes care of her well and she looks up to him.

When the kids were here this summer, their sweetheart dog was with them. He traveled well. When he was younger, he loved to run and jump into the lake. This year, he was showing his age, but it seemed like he still enjoyed being at Gramma's. Actually, I think he would be happy being with his family no matter where they were. He was very loving, a good dog. We knew he was not well. He had been to the vet more than once and was on medications. I am so glad I got these pictures because shortly after he got back home to Colorado, he passed on to doggie heaven. So glad he had a good life with a good family and that we have these good memories.

When the kids were here last it was good weather and we spent a lot of time out on the lake. Julia found a couple little USA flags in the boat. She was pretty excited and gave us a good show. I love these memories.

Masks on and ready to eat, we arrived at the Spaghetti Warehouse downtown. It is one of our favorite family restaurants around here. We even got our favorite table.

As if I were not already behind, I've gone back today and found pictures I had missed before. Both of these really cried out to me, so here they are. The first is of Maggie with her Covid mask. Really you don't think we would put her at risk, do you? Of course, Maggie had other ideas and no matter how cute she was with it, she had other ideas. The next layout is of Maggie again and her neice Ashley. That's right. Maggie's sister Chelle is Ashley's mother. Maggie is not just a dog, she is part of the family.