A little bit of Christmas with the Hoyts

Starting life over again has been a little gentler with these pilgrims in our midst.

Engaged!

Noelle has graced us with a visit.
And now she wears a ring.

Stewart bought the ring and spoke with Noelle’s parents, and his initial plan was to propose at the beach.  But there are some parts to a beach proposal that are messy, and loud, and --- it was a whole ADDITIONAL day of waiting.

So this morning, he put the ring BOX in his pocket before they set out on their hike to Pretty Place (a YMCA camp about an hour away).  Noelle noticed he clearly had something in his pocket and directly asked him what he was hiding.  Without skipping a beat (we are told) he proposed and she accepted.  And they then found some people to take a photo.

And soon our family will grow by one Daughter-In-Love.

All was right in the world

For a few days, Gunnar came to visit.

And the world felt good and normal again.

Christmas in our new house.

The good news is, some two+ months after catching the blog up, I am working to fill in all the missed weeks.

The bad news is, I have forgotten a good many details.

I do remember that one of the best parts is seeing how the kids gifted one another.

Sweet Noelle brought me coffee from Finger Lakes Roasters!

Jeff, Marguerite, Joseph, William, and Victorious joined us for dinner.

Johanna and Katriel got bean bag chairs from Mom and Dad.

Marie and Noelle blessed us with music.

It was warm enough out for a fire.

Mid-day (these photos loaded out of order) we got to watch Encanto.  This is my new favorite movie!

Where there is a will, there is a way!  We got all of us into the dining room.

Christmas Eve 2021

I’ve spent the better part of the last three days shopping or cooking.
Kelly and I broke for a few minutes this morning to be at the mall when it opened.

Marie worked til 2PM, then played some games with her sisters.

Both Kelly and Noelle are here for the holiday.

Church was at 5PM and we were some of the last to leave as we took some photos and visited with our new church family.  One of the ladies in our church asked where in NY Noelle was from and wouldn’t you know she has a niece in the area Noelle may have met when they visited her church.  God’s world is both BIG and small.

We went home for dinner of amazing snacks.
Veggie tray, shrimp, carmelized pigs in a blanket, spinach artichoke dip, taco dip and beef and turnkey sliders.

And for dessert we had a new recipe.  It didn’t look like much and we had our doubts.  It ended up being amazing.

Marie and Noelle sang for us.

South Carolina Thanksgiving

Not a cloud in the sky.

So grateful for the Hoyt’s hosting us as they also had guests from New Jersey.

Stewart was at Noelle’s, and Nan was in Webster.