Magalicious is One!

On January 16, our precious granddaughter Magnolia Raine DeBacker turned 1. Maggie celebrated her first birthday yesterday with family and friends. Maryanne and her sister Christy made darling and very girly decorations, which Maggie didn't care about at all. Our little social butterfly was thrilled by all the people and all the attention she received. She had a great party and by 6:30pm she was pooped! It was a good day for our little birthday girl.

Gettin' gorgeous for her big birthday celebration.



Pre-party family picture.



Make a wish!



C'mon! Let's get to the good stuff!



Big brother Porter is happy to help when Maggie takes too much time opening her presents.



An ariel view of some of the guests

Almost Finished

The newly redecorated Living Room. I'm so happy with it and Al likes it too!



The buffet and two of our new dining chairs. The picture above the buffet is a rematted and framed Goodwill find.



Two new wool rugs for the entryway and in front of the buffet.


On the way home from our third trip to Ikea in a week, Al asked in his most sincere voice, "when we get a rug for under the dining room table, can we be done with all this decorating stuff?" Last summer, we started a remodeling/redecorating project that included painting all the rooms in the house as well as the millwork, adding granite counter tops in the kitchen, updating most of the appliances and hardware and totally changing the decor in the living room. The walls and ceilings are still yellow but instead of cobalt blue accents, we have changed to black and white. My chairs were recovered in black and white polka dot and the couch and love seat in a black and white plaid. I had our art & photos reframed, and did some do-it-yourself projects. We added a buffet table on the staircase wall that I have loved decorating and filling with all my white accessories. I still have some work to do on the color block and shelves but I'm taking my time and doing it just right. So, to answer Al's question, "yes, we are almost finished with the decorating stuff." But I will never be done decorating. I'm always thinking about the next project, real or imagined. I can't tell you how many vacation homes I have decorated in my mind, usually in the middle of the night. I love decorating magazines and HGTV and I'm always willing to help friends and family with ideas and elbow grease. So...enjoy the pictures of our almost finished "decorating stuff". When we're done done, I'll let ya know.

Christmas 2011

We started the holidays with our dear friends Nancy & Curt Kendall



During the Christmas break, Jana and I took the kids to OMSI. They all loved the giant sandbox. Porter is in the red shirt, Finn's in blue and Maggie is in stripes.



Colorful fun



Porter loved shooting the balls up the tubes



All bundled up for the Salem/Keizer Festival of Lights parade



A typical "float"



Al and I took Finn to Magic at the Mill the week before Christmas.



Santa was ok as long as Nammie was holding Finn



Finn could have watched the train all night. He loved it!



Porter was a big help mixing the dough for our traditional Christmas cookies



Rollin' and cuttin'



Maggie in her Christmas finery



David & Jean Avison shared Christmas Eve with us and brought present for all




The last thing before bed, we put out the reindeer food



Checking out what Santa put in the stockings



AJ models his new super warm jacket



Maggie loves her new dollie



Al gets a day of slave labor from AJ



My Dad sharing his framed Lloyd family photos