babybloomr

I am determined to bake my Christmas cookies today or die trying, so I’m just going to throw a few pictures in your general direction and then start the way-too-involved, time-sucking ordeal of my legendary Christmas cookies memory-making fun of Christmas baking!

Bud and June Smedley took Russ into their home when he was 17 years old. His family, after moving to Arkansas for a couple of years, had decided to return to California. Because there were some Tennessee-Williams-esque-gothic-Southern-drama  aspects to Russ’ family of origin, he decided at 17 that he did not want to move with them back to Farmersville, but wanted to stay in Arkansas and finish high school. June was his English teacher, and she had also been an incredibly kind and supportive mentor to him. When she found out about the situation, she invited him to move in with her family. Thus began the story of Russ’ Family of Choice. My girls have grown up with this story, but honestly, they pay no attention to the “of choice” part– June, Bud and their now-adult children Stuart and Kim are absolutely blood-kin as far as they are concerned. I cannot begin to tell you what they have meant, and continue to mean to us. They are the single biggest gift Russ has been given in his entire life, and we are all the richer for it.

Also, did I happen to mention that June is one of the best good ol’ Southern cooks I have ever seen? So, let’s start with the obligatory food shots, shall we?

That’s what I’M talking about!

Then there’s the sweet potatoes….

And don’t get me started on June’s Famous Yeast Rolls…

Or the fancy apple tart that Kimmie showed up with this year:

There’s always a table full of salads (ok, the grape salad in the trifle dish was mine– new recipe, loved it, let me know if you want it):

Here are the manly men loading up their plates– the truth is, they were complete gentlemen and waited their turn but it makes a better story to say they shoved the women and children out of the way to get there first! Bud is in the striped shirt, Stuart is to the right with his back to us (he’s the county coroner!) and that’s one of Kim’s handsome sons in the background, or as Madi refers to him, “hot cousin Billy.”

Here’s lovely June, caught with her mouth full– she’ll kill me for this one.

Here’s Russ with Kim, flanked by her poodles. Another dog-loving family, God help Russ. I think the count that day was 6– yeah, we brought all three of ours over with us. And please feel free to comment on Russ’ dress shirt/sweat pants combo– God knows I did!

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Carolyn Smith is an old family friend (and a reader of this blog– Hi Carolyn! Thank you!) who surprised the girls and I with these incredibly cute monogrammed bags! They look like little purses, then they open up into a full sized tote– fabulous gift idea!

As you can see, I was quite enthusiastic about mine… Is it just me, or do I kind of have a little bit of “crazy eyes” going on in this picture? I also look inexplicably shiny for some reason. Hmm.

So, there you have it. Family, food, dogs and tote bags– that’s Thanksgiving the way God intended it to be.

And now… LET THE CHRISTMAS BAKING COMMENCE!!!

I’m still working on the post about our other Thanksgiving, but this was too good not to share! Madi takes great pictures, many of them by accident. Today on the way home from church she literally aimed her phone over her head into the backseat and snapped this of Charlotte– OK of course, granted, I think Char is gorgeous, but seriously? Isn’t this good?