Spot on New Year's Celebration 2009 !

~The centerpiece for our new year celebration. Yes, I know it looks like Christmas, but really, this is a new year's celebration Hubby has been planning and thinking about for awhile. Hubby LOVES to cook, and share his cooking with others. The centerpiece is composed of cake platters full of the goodies accumulated during the holidays. Really tasty goodies!~Hubby is doing the last minute things to prepare for the evening. He has planned a wine tasting with games and lots of food for dear friends and family.He has uncorked some very, very good wines collected on our travels and will share them .

~The game is a blind taste testing. Hubby also talks about the wines and how to score them. ~We also set aside a special lactose- free platter for our daughter who suffers terribly if there is even a whiff of dairy in the food. And all those years with us, her parents..why dairy is a staple of life, right ? Butter, cheeses, whipping cream.....even most margarines have some dairy in them. So our daughter gets Nucoa to spread on her dairy free food. ~Here are most of the evenings celebrants. The children are wandering in and out of the dining room and perching on our laps when the mood strikes. We are so thankful for the friends and family we are blessed with. These friends ( and others coming over Friday night ) have known us and put up with us for many years now. Our daughter and her husband , are family AND friends, or our friends are friends AND family! ~My husband loves so very much to share his food and wines with others. You would have to see him studying recipes, cook books, magazines and watching the Food Network, all the while making lists for some event he has planned. He is just so happy when he is bustling around the kitchen , cooking, stirring, roasting, basting.....well, anything related to food preparation for people he cares about. So as we head into a new year, I am thankful for a husband who cooks well, family and friends to share the food with, and the abundance of food we have . ~As we grow just a little older ( but not too old yet) we value even more our friends and family. Our grandchildren are quickly growing up, many of the older relatives and friends have passed on to eternity. Some were literally here today and gone tomorrow, and some just disappeared from our lives because busy-ness, distance, and other priorities parted us. We really try to remember time goes by so very quickly and special people need to know we regard them as special. So here is hoping 2009 allows us this privilege!

"The better part of one's life consists of his friendships." Abraham Lincoln

I have decided to add a list of blessings at the end of my posts, an idea I got from Sandra Bennett at Thistle Cove Farm. Blessings : family, friends, good food, great fellowship, a new year