Celebrate this Week!

Join us each weekend for Celebrate this week with Ruth Ayres.  

 When we pause to celebrate, we find the joy.

                                    A week filled with moments to celebrate and remember!

1.  Finding the Lost Ornament(s) - I worry that organized folks have so many less moments of celebration in their lives.  This week I put a cute gift tag from a friend on the bulletin board AND found the ornament my brother had given me when I visited him in November.   I also found two other favorite ornaments that I hung on the board last year because they deserve year round attention!  

2.  A phone call from Denise - We chatted for almost half an hour before my flight to Utah.  I'm glad that we stay connected via Facebook, Instagram, and email, but nothing beats hearing a dear friend's voice on the phone.  Well, visiting in person beats that, but when you move across the country from family and friends those in-person visits are rare treasures.  

3.  The Siddoway Christmas Party - This is our first Christmas without any kids home, so Blake and Stefi invited me to join them in Utah for a few days.  The extended family Christmas party started at 5:30 and lasted until 10:30.  The Siddoways party hearty! We gathered at one house for delicious food, a birthday celebration, great visiting, and concluded with a musical concert.  Then the party moved to Stefi's Grandma's house for general bedlam that included unwrapping a gift while wearing goggles and mittens, more sharing of musical talents, and the right/left candy bar game.  We sang carols together and concluded with "Silent Night" and "Still, Still, Still."  Perfect way to end the evening - right?  Actually this was followed by spirited dancing to "Calypso Christmas," a unique Christmas song recorded by Stefi's Uncle Mark - here's the song on iTunes!  

4.  Gift wrap from a stranger - I stepped off the elevator as another woman struggled to balance multiple packages and her luggage. I stepped back on to hold the door open for her.  When I commented that I needed to purchase some gift wrap, she gave me her roll with the words, "I no longer need this.  I'm headed home to California today.  You can have it."   What a spontaneous gift of sharing!  And tonight I used her gift to wrap my gifts.

5.  Time with Blake - We went to Red Iguana with Stefi, Amy, and Barb my first night here.  We spent Saturday shopping at King's English (an independent bookstore), Target (found a cover for my phone), and TJ Maxx.   Blake introduced me to In-N-Out, one of his favorite burger places.  I love spending time with my favorite (and only) son!