End of January 2023 (1 Second Every Day)

 

End of 2022 (1 Second Every Day)

End of December 2022 (1 Second Every Day)

 

Salem Holiday Lights

Riverfront Park in Salem puts on, yet another great holiday lights display this year. City of Salem Parks Operations personnel place random holiday displays around the park with more than 4,000 individual LED lights. We missed the previous ones, but this year we decided to make time for them. There was quite a lot this year and the displays were placed all along the river side and along Riverfront Park. We spent a couple of hours walking through all of the lights and had a great time enjoying the park alone. There were a few people leaving when we arrived, and when the rain started most of them had left. Even though it was raining, we had a great time.

 

Christmas (2022)

Our Christmas this year was great, especially since we got a few things that Skylar has been wanting. We drove up to Salem in the pouring rain, while Skylar was at work and got him the drone he has been eyeing for awhile. We also created quite a great meal and had a really nice, quiet holiday at home. I enjoy the holidays more when they are calm and quiet and not a lot of people coming and going. Christmas night we spent laying in the front room watching some Christmas classics and talking about what the holidays mean to us. It was perfect.

This plate has always been our Santa cookie plate. I received it as a gift from my Nana in 2003, the year that Skylar was born. I've used it ever since. It's a small piece of her that helps keep her memory alive during the holidays. There are other items that she gave me that I still use to this day. I hope she's looking down on us and proud of the people we've become.

Our house during the day...

Our house during the night...

This year's Christmas tree ornaments we've added to our collection. All four of these ornaments are from Macy's and I just love how their collection changes every year. I get to add some really amazing ones to the tree each December.

This Little Light of Mine (Hanukkah 2022)

 Day One:

(December 18)

Day Two:

(December 19)

Day Three:

(December 20)

Day Four:

(December 21)

Day Five:

(December 22)

Day Six:

(December 23)

Day Seven:

(December 24)

Day Eight:

(December 25)

HAPPY HANUKKAH!

Ice Storm (2023)

Instead of a white Christmas it seems we are having an icy holiday. The rain first came and happened to keep falling all day, but as it stopped towards the end of the evening, the temperatures dropped and dropped hard. All the rain that was on the streets immediately froze. It was almost incredible how quickly everything froze solid in a matter of two hours. We were wide awake due to hearing branches cracking and hitting our house. At around 5:00 a.m. we got into the car and decided to have a look around town. Being so early in the morning, and the weather, not a lot of people were out and about. We helped one man that was stuck against the curb, and he was grateful for the help, but other than that, most people were avoiding the roads. It was a beautiful sight.