Friday’s Fave Five

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Friday's Fave Five

This has been a week overflowing with blessings. I’m sharing a few here along with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story.

1. Our 46th wedding anniversary. We celebrated a couple of days early since we had other things going on the actual day. We usually go out to a nice place for dinner and exchange cards, but not presents, since it’s so close to Christmas. Last year we tried a new-to-us restaurant, and we decided to do the same this year. Even though we ended up not liking the restaurant (half the food was cold and they didn’t get the orders right), it was still fun to go out. And, on our way to the restaurant, we noticed there was a Krispy Kreme Doughnut place next door! We don’t have one near us (which is a good thing for our blood sugar levels). We bypassed the restaurant desserts to bring a couple of Krispy Kreme doughnuts home.

2. Jeremy is here! My oldest son’s first flight from RI was delayed, which caused him to miss his connecting flight and have to spend the night in a hotel. But he finally got here.

3. Family Fun Night at church. This is designed to be an informal time, something like the family at Grandma’s house, with different ones performing for the rest. Some were silly, some serious. We had vocal and piano solos, musical skits, readings, a Christmas quiz, and even a tap-dancing dad and daughter.

4. Dinner at my youngest son’s house. Usually when Jeremy is here, Jesse has us all over for dinner one night. He made some kind of Korean dish with tofu and pork belly and kimchee, I think. But he also made chicken teriyaki for those of us (mainly me) who aren’t adventurous eaters and don’t like spicy things. 🙂 Plus he made a snickerdoodle cheesecake. I’m amazed at the good cooks my sons have become. Then we played some new Jackbox games. Hear Say had us laughing.

5. Christmas. We’re so thankful the whole family could be here. We had a lovely time together all day, hearing the Christmas story from Luke 2, feasting, opening presents, most of us dozing in the afternoon, and later eating pie and playing games.

We’re staying mostly inside this day after Christmas, partly to rest, partly to avoid the craziness in stores, partly to savor the season, which went by way too fast.

How was your week? I hope you had a special Christmas.

17 thoughts on “Friday’s Fave Five”

  2. I love this list of blessings! Praise God for a wonderful week and happy belated Anniversary. It’s special too to have your whole family together and I LOVE Korean food…..I make crispy tofu often since i don’t eat pork or beef. I don’t like super spicy Asian dishes though and I’m one of the people who tastes soap when eating cilantro so I have to avoid it.

    I’m spending the afternoon inside as it’s only 15 degrees right now but it’s sunny. I tried to do a power walk this morning after running to the market for some more almond milk and fruit and it was only 12 and just too cold. I only made it a half mile!

    I hope you have a restful day.

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  4. Happy anniversary!!! Okay you must have been a child bride because I can’t imagine you’ve been married 45 years!!!

    It has been a crazy week here. Visited both parents for Christmas and both will be going into hospice this week (separately as they are divorced) and Mom being moved to a nursing home (from assisted living). I never dreamed all this would hit at once.

    Still, I enjoyed being home for Christmas and the lit candles/Silent Night etc at my organ church. I’m so glad your whole family was there to celebrate with you!

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    • Thank you for the anniversary wishes and your kind words about being a child bride. 🙂

      Wow, what an eventful week for you. I hope everyone is adjusting to their new situations well–though I think you mentioned your mom’s move was delayed? It’s hard to have all that going on at once, especially at Christmas. Glad you had a nice Christmas at home!

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  5. Your anniversary and Christmas celebrations! You did have a lovely week.

    That’s great that Jesse is a good cook. And it’s very asute of him to make an alternate dish to the Korean menu. I think I may have chosen the chicken teriyaki as well! Not a big fan of tofu.

    Your church family night sounds like so much fun. Did Timothy do anything for it?

    I’m glad you had such a wonderful Christmas! Happy New Year.

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    • No, Timothy didn’t do anything for the family night. Some of the younger kids recited Isaiah 53, which they had memorized in their kids’ Bible club. I had an idea for something to do (actually to write for someone else to sing), but didn’t have time to get it together. So I’ll keep it under wraps for next year. 🙂

      All the guys have turned into good cooks, and like to experiment much more than I do. Jeremy made a Hungarian chicken paprikash for us this week.

      Happy 2026!

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  6. Barbara, I am so glad that you had such a nice Christmas with having all of your family there. Flying these days can be pretty unpredictable, but I’m glad all worked out in the end for your son.

    Happy 46th Anniversary to you and Jim! That just makes me smile. It’s becoming more and more of a rarity these days.

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    • Thank you! Yes, you never know what’s going to happen when you fly these days. I’m glad the airplane gave Jeremy a voucher for a hotel so he didn’t have to sleep in the airport.

      Wishing you all the best for 2026!

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  10. I’m reading things out of order so I already know you had a Merry Christmas! That’s lovely that you enjoyed your anniversary dessert despite the mediocre restaurant. Chalk it off to never having to eat there again!

    I’m impressed with Jesse’s adventuresome cooking skills. I like some Korean foods, but my brother loves it and gets into all the obscure ingredients.

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