Well, here we are at the start of 2014. It’s hard to believe that 2013 has come and gone. I was so excited to end the year with my family, and was delighted that we were all together here in our home in good ole’ St. Louis! I couldn’t ask for more. A house full of people, laughter, love and all of our furry friends (four to be exact). I’ve been so busy entertaining, that I don’t have anything new to share with you quite yet, so I thought I would share some of our holiday highs and lows with you in a quick holiday recap….
I’ll start with the hardest part of this holiday, my Parker Posey getting a sad diagnosis. There was a day here in St. Louis that we got some ice. I routinely opened the back door to let the dogs out, not even thinking to check if the ice was bad. Well, Parker took a fall off the porch stairs. We started to notice a great deal of shaking in hind legs, then his face. We made a trip to the vet and he thought it was inflammation, nothing to be concerned about. He said he didn’t’ feel any broken bones, etc.
The day after Christmas, all of his symptoms were intensifying, the shaking had gotten so much worse. The vet squeezed us in and she felt that he might have White Dog Shakers Syndrome. Friends, I cried a great deal for the first several days — yes, even with a house full of company. My fur baby would look at me with sad eyes. He’s very inactive and rarely barks, which is EXTREMELY unusual for my Parker, who usually has so much to say. He’s on steroids and we’ve seen improvements, but there’s a long road ahead and he’s just not himself. It was unexpected and truly distracted me. If you would like to pray along with us, we would truly appreciate it.
Other than that unfortunate news, we did have a lovely time with the family. Let’s take a look.
Rowe Holiday Recap
Rowe Holiday Recapa quick recap:
traditions such as finding the pickle ornament
me slicing my finger open trying to slice through frozen french bread
seeing our first ballet, The Nutcracker
family pictures
a little outlet shopping
a sushi feast at The Drunken Fish
some game playing, Skip Bo*
playing with, treating, pottying and feeding four dogs
ringing in the New Year with sparkling cider
more traditions with eating our lentil soup on New Year’s day
spending time with my parents
….and so much more!
*when playing Skip Bo, our family is very competitive, hee-hee. My dad was getting frustrated with his hand and my mom was trying to stay amused with the fact that she had a gazillion elevens in her hand. We laughed a lot! Memories in the making.
As you can imagine, there were many more memories made — those were some that I captured on my iPhone, some you may have seen on Instagram. Here’s one of the family photos taken by my sister (with a remote shutter release).
…aren’t we adorable? {hee-hee}. matchy, matchy!
…and the hubs and I!
Before Christmas, I treated myself to an early christmas gift –a Pizelle Maker from Crate and Barrel. I also purchased a mix to simplify the fun when the family was here. I’ll give the homemade a try in time — don’t you worry {wink}. My mom and I ended up making them and they were so incredibly easy, not to mention delicious!
Sprinkled with a dash or two of powdered sugar, they were a wonderful pairing for tea and coffee!
And last but not least, my mom did a little crafting. She wanted to make one of the chalkboard slices of wood. I have one amongst my Christmas decor and I was tickled silly that she wanted to take one home. So, we made a trip to Michaels to pick up a medium sized piece of sliced wood, I already had some chalkboard paint on hand.
She went to work and it turned out fantastic! They are so incredibly easy.
My parents even extended their visit by a couple of days — I was giddy with excitement! I’d keep them hostage if I could. I wish my brother and his wife were able to stay a little longer, the time went so quickly. We laughed, cried and even had some disagreements, but that’s what family is for. HA! I love my family and I’m so very thankful for them. Family is precious.
Thanks for letting me share our holiday recap, friends! How was yours? I trust it was also filled with love, laughter and memory making! Hugs all around.
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myrecentfavoritebooks says
Sounds like you had a wonderful Holiday!
Love your photos! You look great!
I hope Parker feels better soon!
Cari says
What an awesome family photo!!!! Prayers for Parker❤
keri @ shaken together says
Love hearing about your holidays – great family photos!! Hoping that Parker is better soon!
Kitty says
I’ll be keeping the furbaby in my thoughts! Awesome, awesome Holiday memories!!
JaneEllen says
I’m so sorry to hear about your fur baby, which one is he in the photo? Poor little mite. Our black cocker had an immune problem we got her thru several times (at hundreds of $’s). Enjoyed hearing about your holidays with your family, so glad you all had good time.
I’ll be praying for Parker. Hope you’re not getting that awful weather where you are. I was glad our oldest son went KY for Christmas to see his boys as it’s not good there at all either.
Keep warm. Happy week Keep up informed of how Parker is ok?
Sharon Kuert says
Ditto, ditto, ditto to all the lovely comments and pics of our Holiday time together. It was awesome and we did laugh, cry, get frustrated at times with each other and made many memories. We are a very NORMAL family. The older I get the more I am embracing the fact that life is short and we must capture and take hold of every moment we have together as FAMILY! Thank you Lord for my WONDERFUL FAMILY! I Love you! Mom
Alyson @Vintage Sunshine says
Your family is adorable. So sorry about your sweet pup. Hope he’s healthy soon! Lots of hugs, Kelly. Happy New Year!