December is not only Christmas time Behind My Red Door, it is also the month when we celebrate the birthdays of 2 very important men in my life. My dad and Mr. Red Door. And both on the same day – they were born 31 years apart. Yesterday, my entire family gathered Behind My Red Door to celebrate my dad’s 88th birthday. What a milestone! And it is not often that my brother and his family can make the trip here at the same time as everyone else so it was a real treat to have us all together. This year, I had invited my folks for a quiet dinner with just Mr.Red Door and I so they were very surprised and quite delighted to walk into our family room and see all of their living children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Our family is not very big, so there were 19 of us gathered here. My folks, their 3 living children and spouses, their 5 living grandchildren and 2 of their spouses, and 4 great grandchildren – guess who is the youngest?
My dad was not quite sure what to make of the crowd that greeted him!
We each got creative and gave my dad 88 of something – 88 Hershey Kisses, 88 memories from childhood, $88 gift card to Trader Joes and so on. Here he is opening a jar with 88 quarters.
After opening gifts, we moved upstairs and had cake and ice cream and spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying each other.
Before everyone left, Jay was able to use his tripod and the timer on his camera and get some wonderful photos of the entire family. It was a wonderful day spent making memories to last a lifetime!
After everyone left and Mr. Red Door crashed on his couch in his office, I was so pleased to see that the Polar Express was on TV last night. I read the book to the kiddos at school every year, and I have seen the movie at least once a year since it came out and yet I still get the goose bumps when Hero Boy rings the bell and finally hears it jingle. Do you believe? I sure do!!
This year I have not had the time to get the lighting right and take several pictures of the same scene and decide which to keep and which to delete so I am not thrilled with the quality of all of my Christmas decor pictures. That said, here are the last of them for 2009.
These next 3 are for my friend Donna from Never so Simple… 
And this last one is for the friend who wanted to see the tree in daylight without the lights turned on. She is trying to decide if she wants a German Twig tree. I just love the size of this one. It doesn’t take up too much room and I really love that I can adjust the branches and bend them wherever I need them to be! 
Truth be told if I had my way, every year I would make the trip to a tree farm to find a Frazier fir in this shape and size. I am not sure they even exist and it is getting harder and harder to even find a Frazier Fir in my neck of the woods! The three tree farms we frequented before I bought this tree in 2007 didn’t replant them. I saw a wonderful one over at Quaint and Plain , one of the most peaceful and delightful blogs I have seen. Quick, hop on over and click on the picture to enlarge it. It’s the most simple prim tree ever and I love it!
This afternoon, while Mr. Red Door watched the Patriots beat the Carolina Panthers (finally – a win!) I put the finishing touches on my December Musings for A Primitive Place. Click on the picture below to read them. I had fun reminiscing about some of my childhood traditions and some of the new ones we made with our children.
I want to take this opportunity to wish all my Jewish friends a very Happy Hanukkah! I hope the week is wonderful!
When I was preparing for my dad’s birthday celebration, and buying the birthday napkins, the snacks, ordering a cake and buying my dad’s gift and everything else for the party, it was not lost on me that Mr. Red Door has made it all possible. In fact his hard work combined with diligent saving and money management for the last 39 years has made it possible for me to plan all the special gatherings of friends and family as well as have a sense of security very rare these days. For that and him, I am extremely grateful. He’s the best husband, dad and Grampy a girl could ask for. And because yesterday was about my dad, today I made Mr. Red Door a roast beef dinner. After all, he deserves a special meal for his birthday too!
Thank you as always for stopping by and making Behind My Red Door part of your day!
Until next time – hugs, Grammy Linda
