Last Day of 2024 - Happy New Year's Eve!

 2 January 2025 - yes 2025 is here!!!  We had quite the large family picture on our Christmas card from our annual family reunion and for the first time daughter Jenny and granddaughter Rooke were able to be here in August.

So I do love goofy souvenirs and I am German  so how could I resist this hanging ornament when so many people call our house The Jones Hotel or Grammy's B&B!  We do have lots of "company" but love it and I don't get stressed as I grew up that way on the family farm.

Nothing better than taking a photo with Google Translate and it translates to any language you choose.

Son Chris and granddaughter age 16 Lucy goofing off in their Zugspitze stocking caps from Germany and Alex looking on at them being goofy!

So another little souvenir I brought back was a couple teeny tiny bottles of two German schnapps flavors from the monastery we visited.  This is Amy's look and we all tasted a drop and had similar facial expressions.

I did make homemade key lime pie and almost always make real whipped cream but it's been busy times so I got what else but reddi whip!  And it was a hit just like it was when they were little kids.

These were taken in 2016 - 8 years ago - with a game board called Pie Face - Amy remembered the name but I did not.  I wouldn't mind having a Pie Face party!

I get the best gifts as always from daughter-in-law Amy and this is perfect and will go with me a lot of places with my other Grammy safety baubles that I wear on a neck pendant every day when we are traveling.  It is handmade by someone in the area.

And this is the usual family picture and often we are on the stairs.  We are so fortunate with both of our families and we all get along and love to get together even the teenagers.

And other souvenir from Germany that shows a toilet bowl and the one below of course is the photo with my translate app.  Guess it makes sense and I do know the English word.

We have had a lot of fog, clouds, rain and the white snow ground is now brown!  But often when I walk to the living room I notice a beautiful sunset just across the street.  Nature is beautiful and amazing!

This is a gift from a choir person who is also the women's Bible study leader that she gifted to me at the choir party.  And the sign is "Giant Amaryllis".  I have never seen one before and it is in a wax thing and you do not have to do a thing to take care of it and as of today the flowers are almost popped out of both stems - see below.

Tomorrow daughter Jenny and granddaughter Rooke arrive from California for a week and planning layers of clothing as the high temperature will be in the teens and feel like single digits - it is Minnesota!

Next up a new adventure with our travel buddies - heading to Cuba and spending a few nights in Havana with tours around the island with our usual tour company.  Lots of rules for a "cultural only" trip.