Skip to main content

Love of Kindred

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.
-- Laura Ingalls Wilder


Like so many families, we hold dearest the times we have together during the Christmas holidays. I’m sharing today some of our highlights! We ate way too much rich food. We played Arizona Monopoly and I won! Susanna proudly gave a gift to her Papa, a pink flamingo, that was drawn with her handprint! We enjoyed Susanna’s delight at seeing Mickey Mouse at the Red Rock Fantasy Light Show. I love having my family near this week!






















Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 28, 2010 at 12:11 PM

    You have a beautiful family. So many smiles, so many blessings. I am thankful to God for friends like you.
    Beautiful!!!
    Blessings,
    Bree

    ReplyDelete
  2. Debbie PetrasDecember 28, 2010 at 2:21 PM

    Mary, thank you for sharing your family photos with us. I loved seeing each one, especially Susannah. I pray that 2011 will be a good year.

    Blessings and love,
    Debbie

    ReplyDelete
  3. Susan BDecember 28, 2010 at 3:31 PM

    Looks like you had a wonderful Christmas Mary. Thank you for sharing photos of your lovely family. Have a very Happy New Year! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. AlleluiabelleDecember 28, 2010 at 7:09 PM

    Your family is so beautiful...

    I love your pictures and Susanna is a little heart-breaker for sure. She looks just like her Mama.

    There is nothing greater or more fulfilling than having such special times with our families with our Lord in the center of it all and you my precious friend along with your family radiate with His light and love for each other and all who have come to know you here or wherever you go.

    You are a blessing in my life dear sister...such a blessing.

    Love you,
    Alleluiabelle

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mevely317December 28, 2010 at 7:46 PM

    These are great pictures!
    Don't-cha just wish we could bottle some of our most precious moments, to open when our spirits need refreshing?
    Happy New Year, my friend!

    ReplyDelete
  6. LorenDecember 28, 2010 at 8:49 PM

    Oh how very precious it is to see your sweet family and oh my...your Susanna is just darling!! I know exactly how you feel...there is NOTHING better than having all of your family together! Truly the best gift the Lord could give us isn't it :)

    I pray you have a very blessed New Years Mary!

    Love you

    ReplyDelete
  7. RCUBEsDecember 28, 2010 at 8:52 PM

    Your granddaughter is always a joy to look at! She had grown so much! I'm glad you had a wonderful time together with the rest of your beautiful family. May all of your new year be filled with His richest blessings. God bless you sister Mary. Love you in Christ.

    ReplyDelete
  8. DeborahDecember 29, 2010 at 7:16 AM

    What a dear post my friend...thank you for sharing!
    Your family is beautiful and that pink flamingo is so worthy of being framed..how sweet!!!
    Happy Holidays to you sweet friend!

    All my love,
    Deborah xoxoxo

    ReplyDelete
  9. http://bitsandpieces-sonja.blogspot.com/December 29, 2010 at 10:11 PM

    I love the pictures too! It is always so good to see the families and that Susannah is such a little doll! I know your days were precious... ours too.

    Looking ahead quickly now to a brand new year in a few days. I look forward to hearing more in 2011... you are such a blessing Mary!

    ReplyDelete
  10. SilverDecember 30, 2010 at 1:31 AM

    Hi Mary,

    Just want to wish you and your loved ones a wonderful and blessed New Year in 2011!

    Warm thoughts of you,
    Silver

    ReplyDelete
  11. AndreaDecember 30, 2010 at 8:58 AM

    Oh my, Susanna is growing up way too fast. She is a gorgeous little girl!

    Praying you have an awesome New Year full of unexpected blessings!

    Hugs,
    andrea

    ReplyDelete
  12. SharonDecember 30, 2010 at 2:12 PM

    Looks like you had your best time!! Thanks for sharing the pictures of your lovely family. Is there anything quite so wonderful as time spent with those we love?!

    Hoping you have a very Happy New Year!

    GOD BLESS!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Crown of BeautyDecember 30, 2010 at 4:48 PM

    Oh dear Mary...what a precious Christmas post this is! I also read the previous one you wrote about the lights, and it really lit up my heart.

    I love your heart, the way it quietly shares the joy and realizations you have. so tenderly, every so gently!

    Have a great new year ahead of you...

    These two posts of yours were such a blessing to me. Glad I stopped by this morning, the last day of the year.

    Blessings and love,
    Lidj

    ReplyDelete
  14. Just Be RealDecember 31, 2010 at 7:26 AM

    Nice post. Thank you for sharing. Blessings.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Surprise at the Mall

I lost touch with a writer friend.  I missed her and her cheerful blog posts.  We met up in a most unusual way!  I’m still in awe of how it happened. I finished my shopping at the mall and took a short cut to get to the parking lot.  The path led me through the food court.  The smell of Chicken Fajitas stopped me in my tracks.  I planned lunch elsewhere, but now I followed my nose. I chewed my first bite of chicken taco salad when, out of nowhere, a loud redhead moved rapidly past the tables and into the booth with me.  “I know you !”  She shouted.  I pondered if I knew this crazy lady.  Did she mistake me for someone else?  She shouted louder and stuck her finger in my face:  “ You’re Mary; you have a blog called Pile of Smiles and you live in the Verde Valley .”   It took me a second to compose myself.  I stopped chewing my food.  I know I stared too long at her face and then she said:...
48 comments
Read more

Mama's Lipstick

I always wished I could do things with my mom like shop in the mall, share makeup secrets or go to the movies and watch romantic comedies.  My wish never materialized.     My mama behaved like a tomboy.   She loved baseball and pitched with a strong right arm.   She could care less about the latest fashion or the latest movies featured on the big screen.   She never polished her fingernails.    One day after elementary school, I walked into the house to find my mom all dolled up in front of the bathroom mirror, foundation crème, powder, eyebrow pencil and rouge all over the counter sink.  “Who are you?” I asked, thrilled to see my mama putting on the Ritz.  Makeup in place and blotted, she immediately took it off.  “I don’t like the way it feels,” she exclaimed. She retired in Arizona and protected her dry lips with a light rose lipstick, the color of natural lips, a step above ChapStick.  She wore it a few tim...
55 comments
Read more

Hitched to a Rough Road

Photo Credit:  Peggy James I got his email and wanted to shout:  “Hey, buster, does the phrase “continued behavior pattern” mean anything to you?  But I didn’t. Travis is at it again.  His email revealed a litany of complaints about our neighborhood, our country road, our board officers, bad decisions made that will cost him money , yada-yada-yada . Travis is a Christian brother but you’d never know it. He is a large, loud man who shoots his mouth off as often as he shoots his guns back here in the hills.  He interrupts at our road meetings and, like a typical hothead, he speaks truth but with a tone that makes me feel like I need to duck in case some of his words fly at me and smack me upside the face. I thought we were making progress, but we’re not. It is our rough road that brings us together .  Last year we picked up the neglected pieces of our road association.  We agreed to assemble once again to talk, make decisio...
37 comments
Read more