Christmas with Sandy and Family

We got to Charlotte on Friday night. The fun began right away!! The girls were very excited to show off their new puppy. He is an adorable little thing---just a couple pounds. Meet Titan.

 When your dog blends in to your clothing.

The whole family is smitten with this little guy. I have to admit, I was too. He didn't smell, or drool, or bark a lot. He is certainly active and has to be watched every second. That wasn't really a problem since someone was holding him just about all the time.

He's just a little fluff ball---kind of reminded me of a fluffy slipper!

I was excited to see Sandy's house at Christmas---this was the first time for us.
Everything looked beautiful!

I love her Christmas china. It's dishwasher safe, so she can just use it every day. On Saturday night, Sandy and Greg made a fabulous dinner---crab legs, parmesan mashed potatoes, green beans, strawberry pretzel salad and rolls. It was delicious! This is a tradition in their family--crab legs the week before Christmas.

 Sandy's needlepoint pillow is perfect with her home decor.

 She did a beautiful job with her stitching.

Years ago, Sandy found this big punch bowl at an antique shop. It's perfect as her centerpiece filled with glass balls!

 This made Butch happy to see something of ours "re-cycled" in Sandy's home.

 Their tree is gorgeous. She loves to wrap gifts and make pretty bows. She got that from me!

 The star on top is a needlepoint piece I made last year. I recognized most of their ornaments as I've been giving the kids an ornament each year since they were born.

Mindy gave Sandy these reindeer candle holders a few years ago. They are perfect on the window ledge.

 I made this needlepoint pillow a few years ago. I think it was the first Christmas pillow I ever made.

 On Saturday, we went to a hotel to see a gingerbread house exhibit. This one of the Snowman School was my favorite.

 I thought the carrot "nose" garden was the cutest thing!

 Inside the school room---notice the blackboards.

 This was another gorgeous one. The roof is done with sticks of gum.

 We had eggnog served in Sandy's antique eggnog cups---bought at the same antique mall as the punch bowl.

 We spent the afternoon playing fan tan. Here Sandy and Victoria are counting their winnings. Pennies! Next time we're going to use nickels or dimes.

This made me so happy. Sandy made a delicious peppermint cake. I was thrilled to see that she uses and cherishes her grandmother's cake plate. The cake was just a white cake with white frosting. She crushed peppermint sticks and sprinkled them on top. She loves peppermint---she had a peppermint candle burning and has peppermint hand soap in all the bathrooms!

On Sunday, we went out for brunch. Sandy had planned to make reuben sandwiches for dinner. We got to talking about Jack in the Box's tacos. That made us want them. We got 24---enough for the whole family for---$12.00! That's about the cheapest meal you can get!! The tacos are 2 for a dollar Greg had never had them before. Talk about easy! We might have to make that a tradition!

We had such a good time sharing a bit of Christmas with them. We opened gifts on Saturday night. Everybody got a few surprises. I loved all of my gifts too! We had such a fun weekend--a great way to start the holiday week!