Christmas Eve Update

Hey Ya'll,

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to write up our Christmas Eve.  Everyone started showing up at 5 pm & we had a really good time!  Everyone was here except my sister Sheryl & her husband Issac.  We had two different types of Enchilada Pie.  Walt & I made the ones with the red sauce, my Mom made one with green sauce (my dad's favorite).

My daughter Christa made our families favorite Baked Beans (made from a recipe we received from our cousin Terry back in Arkansas) & a German Chocolate Cake from scratch (yum, my favorite).  Robin, my sister-in-law brought her famous Brownies & Carolyn (Walt's ex-wife) brought a tray full of homemade cookies.  I did fairly well (much better than I would have in the past).  I only had one helping of the Enchilada Pie & Beans, as well as one small piece of Cake & one Brownie!  I was satisfied, but not overly full.  In the past I would have eaten myself sick!!  Probably mostly on the Cake.

As I said earlier, we had a really good time talking with everyone.  The kids couldn't wait for the time to open presents.  By the time everyone left, it was about 10 pm'ish.  So then Walt & I went for our walk.  We ended up only walking a half mile last night as I had stood quite a long time during the night & I was hurting by then.  But we DID still do our nightly walk!!

Today Walt & I went to the local Indian Casino to eat at the Buffet.  Our daughter Kat is one of the Manager's of the Buffet, so we don't have to wait in line like everyone else.  We just walk up the exit & she seats us & takes our payment to the cashier for us (and gives us a discount as well)!!!  Walt really likes this special treatment.

I did really well today if I must say so myself.  For my meal, I had about 3-4 ozs of lean moist Ham, some Scrambled Eggs & a spoonful of the Mashed Potatoes.  Then for dessert, I had a small slice of Creme Pie & about a 1/2 scoop of Peppermint Ice Cream.  All in all, I had mostly protein to eat & I wasn't even close to being full!!  Just really satisfied.

However, on a bad note, I did finish off the slice of Cake that I kept from last night.  I had to make my daughter Christa take home the rest of the Cake as I would have continued to eat it until it was all gone!!  Which is definitely not part of my new diet/lifestyle.  This Cake is super high in calories/fat/sugar, etc, etc, etc.  But it is soooo good!!

So tonight, Walt & I took a bit longer walk.  This time we made it a full mile, but I was hurting the whole way!  My hips was really feeling it (I think that the cold finally started to hit my hips again), but I made myself go & I still did not take my walker with me.  Sometimes I wish I did, so that I could sit occasionally.  Maybe I will start taking it, that way I won't have an excuse to not do a longer walk, as I can rest if needed!  Good idea Debi!!!

Tomorrow morning, Walt & I will be driving up over the Sierra's to Reno again.  We had originally planned on going up on Sunday, but it is supposed to be storming, meaning snowing in the mountains.  The storm isn't going to hit until later in the day tomorrow, so we figure we have a window to drive up in my car (more comfortable) before the storm, as it isn't supposed to be storming on Tuesday when we are coming home.

We are going up to Reno to the Doctor's office for my first fill.  Now remember, I overdid myself 12 days after Surgery to setup our Christmas decorations & was hurting really bad for a couple of weeks afterwords.  I was terrified that I may have flipped my port as that is where all the pain was centered around.  But I decided not to call the Doctor & see whether the pain eased up or not.  Luckily, it did start to ease up a few days later.

So I guess I will find out Monday if they are unable to find the port, etc.  I will still tell them of my stupidity & see what they say about it.  Cara "The Dash", is having the same problems right now, so I want to be able to tell her what they tell me regarding the pain & what it was or could have been.  Also, we will be taking our Lap Top computer with us, so I will still continue to blog while away!!

Here are a few of the photos that I took of our Christmas Eve dinner.  Unfortunately, I forgot to have someone take some pictures of me with my camera!!  My daughter Christa took some with her camera, so I will try to get a copy of them to post later. 

Our Tree with some of the presents around it.

I forgot to remove my Granddaughter Emily's pink jacket.

Christa not happy with my candid shot!  Here is a photo showing the Enchilada Pies & the cookies.  Plus the Baked Beans in the crock pot at the end.

Walt scarfing down his food!  My brother Kenny dishing up some Baked Beans (yum).  His future son-in-law Mike, with his back up against the refrigerator.

My favorite Uncle Emery, dishing up his plate.

The famous Cake in the back on the left side & Robin's Brownies (3 plates of them).

My Niece Tiffany in foreground with dark sweater (Tiffany is my sister Sheryl's daughter), my Dad, then Robin & Carolyn (Walt's ex).  With Cara on the right & her boyfriend Mike on the left.

My sister-in-law Robin & my Mom.

My nephew Garrett, Mike (Cara's boyfriend) & my niece Cara.  Garrett & Cara are my brother Kenny's children.

My son-in-law Elliott & my step-son Russ (in green).  Russ likes to be antisocial at big gatherings unless he has been drinking!!  Then he becomes the life of the party!

Kenny & Garrett

Christa, Emily (6) & Walker (9).

My niece Tiffany's son, Christian (Charlie).  He was not happy about having to wait to open the presents!!

My Daddy.  Carolyn on the right.  She had knee Surgery about a week ago.

I just realized that I didn't take any photos of Christa's husband Mark!  Well, I kinda got him in one photo, but it was blurred so I didn't use it.  I also didn't take any photos of my step-daughter Kat.  She arrived late from work.  By then, I was pretty much done taking pictures & I forgot to take one of her!!  Sorry Kat & Mark!!

Well, I better go for now!  I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Happy Holidays My Friends