A Sister Visit, Valentine From Louis Dean and Taking Down Christmas!

 I put a turkey in to cook overnight on Monday and woke up to the sweet smell the next morning.

Thank you, Deanna Rabe, for sharing your technique!

I spent some time preparing dishes and discovered I needed a couple things from the store that I had not picked up just the day before! So back to Aldi I go - and since I had to drive past Texas Thrift - I just made quick run in and out! I mean, it WAS Tuesday!

Rita and Thomas left Kansas City Tuesday morning and arrived in Irving around 5:30 PM.

My savvy smart sister had rented an airbnb less than 5 minutes from our house!

I suggested they rest and freshen up before coming over.

My goal for this get together was to relax and visit!

No rushing around and being busy.

Just a gentle relaxing time to slow down and enjoy ourselves.

It was a beautiful day and Louis Dean and I sat out at the table on the driveway to peel the veggies for our pot roast dinner that night!

I had done nearly all of the meal prep ahead of time and I was sitting outside watching for them to drive up!

I was so excited!!

We talked and laughed before, during and after dinner and had the best time!

It was so convenient they stayed just a few minutes up the street and down a couple of blocks!

Rita and I were on the same schedule - they slept in and so did we.

Louis Dean and I had coffee together and he gave me a hand made Valentine!

SO sweet!

He has such a romantic heart!

Rita and Tom brought special cinnamon buns from their favorite Kansas City bakery to go with some coffee for us and a Coke for Rita.

 I would like to introduce y'all to Emma!

She is their grand dog and they are taking her back to San Diego where she lives with her owner - daughter Megan.

She is such a sweet well mannered little girl!

The thing about my sister is - she has more than ONE grand dog and will be taking another back home to Kansas City in a few weeks. When she's not taking care of grand dogs - she's taking care of grandchildren and she has some truly beautiful ones!

Amber and Nita's Mike joined us for lunch!

I made a really good Turkey Tetrazzini, garden salad and garlic toast!

Amber had picked up a selection of Crumbl cookies for dessert!

I had an assorted cheesecake selection and Rita and Tom had brought chocolate cake.

I combined this and that from three recipes and added bit of garlic and white wine and will most likely never be able to duplicate this recipe again!

Here's Tom, Louis Dean and Mike!

Amber, me and Rita!

Amber had to leave to do school pick up but the rest of us continued with our visiting and then Mike and Tom went off to pick up some Church's Chicken for our supper and we visited right up to the last minute when they left at 10:00.

This was actually the very first time that Rita and I have had a chance to really get to know each other better and the more we do the more alike we realize we are!

 So - we only had 16 or so hours together but we made every minute count!

And we promised to see each other again - at least once a year!

I have spent the last two days cleaning our bedroom and my bathroom.

Top to bottom and side to side!

I've decided to take the rest of Christmas down room by room and deep clean as I go.

This is going to take quite some time but hopefully the entire house will be clean sometime this spring!

I am so in love with my black and white bedroom!

Remember I said I'd made a fast trip to the thrift store?

I got this brand new queen size white bedspread for $8!

I still have one wall to finish decorating - and I can't find the black and white pieces I had packed away when I brought Christmas out. So for now there are a few blank spaces but it won't be blank for long!

Another treasure from Tuesday is a black curtain that hung up on the other side of this French themed one.

It keeps it from being so transparent.

I will close tonight's journal entry with a grateful heart for the goodness of God when I discovered 'new' siblings!