Happy New Year [01/366]
If you're here for the blog hop, you probably want to start here (please feel free to come back and read this post though).
I'm showing off a bit of my brother's handiwork today. He made these wine bottle holders for Amanda's wedding. They adorned the head table at the wedding. I was lucky enough to be gifted one for Christmas. My brother is an amazing wood worker. He has built us all tables as well as porch swings over the years (sadly my porch swing is hanging in my garage at the moment because I have nowhere to put it as my porch is too small).
I took a little time away between Christmas and New Years so I thought I'd also do a bit of Christmas Show and Tell. The first...dad in his Monroe (or should I say Munro since that was the original spelling of our last name) jacket. It was my grandpa's jacket and there were pants to match. My aunt has the matching skirt and lady's suit jacket that was my Grandma's. Of course, all were hand sewn by my Grandma. They typically only come out at Christmas now.
Continuing the fashion forward theme, my nephew Aaron with his awesome new bright yellow Christmas kicks. He has about 15 pairs of "collectible" tennis shoes - having acquired three more pairs for Christmas. He and his girlfriend Connor got each other shoes and movies for Christmas (ahh - young love :-). Have I mentioned how proud I am of this kid. He will be graduating from Northwestern Ohio in March with a degree that I roughly translate to HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning). He has applied for jobs and is choosing based on who can give him tuition reimbursement for a bachelor's degree. My heart LEAPS every time he talks about continuing his education! I am SO proud of what he has already accomplished and how great of a young man he is. (I'm also pretty excited that he voluntarily smiled for this shot - he used to turn his head anytime a camera was near him.) You can see the top of another piece of my brother's handiwork there to Aaron's right - a bird feeder for dad...one text to my brother
Me: Dad wants a bird feeder for Christmas..You make or I buy?;
Johnny: I ordered some plans and parts for one...I'll make.
...and dad has a new, enormous, bird feeder to keep the birdies singing.
And, finally...all six kids on Christmas afternoon. The first shot is of them organizing themselves - not a great shot, but I love that the girls are talking and trying to get the boys into place and all the boys sort of have a "just get this over with look". They finally needed their Aunt Donna (Johnny's wife) to get them arranged, but they tried.
From Left to Right: Ashley, Andrew, Amanda, Dustin, Taylor, Aaron