Alice's Christmas

Believe it or not, blog readers, Alice's Christmas pictures are actually being posted one day after Christmas! (Can you tell the blog editor finally has some time off?)

The girls came over around 9 a.m. with a wake-up call and Starbucks for everyone. Then it was time to open presents!

This was one of the family's favorite moments. Alice was opening a brand new old-fashioned grease strainer/container. Shorti said,"Mom, when's the last time you saw one of those?" And Alice wryly answered,"At my house, before I left." (The family jokes that everyone seems to be quickly replacing everything that Alice left behind at her old house, the same stuff they didn't think she'd have room for in South Carolina.)


Alice and a beautiful necklace, which she so beautifully models! Is she Santa or Saddam?


This is an eggplant velour suit, which she loved and quickly tried on for everyone.



This is a new remote, since Alice's sometimes gets lost. Bet she won't lose this one!


Pretty new pink gloves, even though it hasn't been below 60 degrees in South Carolina since early November.


Alice looking at pictures in her new hot pink brag book.


Alice with her new stocking that the girls gave her.


Throughout the morning, Alice was the recycler of the family, quickly grabbing ribbons from the packages and neatly rolling it around a box to use for next year. (She was finally convinced to throw away the wrapping paper, though!)


After opening gifts and a long nap, Alice, Rick and the girls started a new puzzle. You can't see it, but it's a puzzle of dogs playing poker.


The day was, as Alice demonstrates, MERRY!

Alice's Second Gift Exchange

The Saturday before Christmas, it was a North meets South gift exchange for Alice as the family from North Carolina came to visit South Carolina for an early Christmas.

The house was decorated, ready for guests.

As usual, Alice put out a great spread - she can do that in any state!


Alice unwrapping gifts.


Alice and her daughter, Pat, exchanging a look. There must be a story behind that look, but no one knows it but them, and they aren't talking!


Alice and her great-granddaughter, Rachel. They share a birthday, which is quite cool.

Alice's Thanksgiving Gift Exchange

Now that Christmas has come and gone, it's time to finish blogging Thanksgiving!

As you know from earlier posts, Alice and her family spent Thanksgiving at Lake Norman. During the family Thanksgiving, there was an "It's All Relative" gift exchange. Some of you may know it as a "Chinese Gift Exchange," but it was determined that was not a politically correct name for the event! Everyone brought a $10 wrapped gift, and drew numbers to determine the "gift picking" order. Folks could either chose and open a gift or "steal" one from someone else. The last person got their pick of all gifts.

Here are some sights and sounds of the 2009 "It's All Relative" gift exchange.

Alice's great-grandson, Jay, with lottery tickets, which granddaughter Mary Pat ended up with. (She won $5.)


Alice's granddaughter, Patti, with a recycled-content Starbucks mug, which Shorti eventually stole. Notice granddaughter Beth preparing for the gift exchange with a big sip of wine!


Alice's son-in-law, Rick, with some kind of huge tool set, which he got to keep.


Alice's grandson, Jimmy, with an undetermined gift.


Alice's great-granddaughter, Rachel, grabbing her gift.


Alice unwrapping her gift...


...which she was obviously surprised to see stolen.

She had her hands on lottery tickets and candy, but ended up with a Bath and Body Works gift set.

Alice Holds Court

It seems as if breaking Thanksgiving into small bites is going to be the best way to blog Thanksgiving.

After the turkey was ready - thanks to Alice - everyone sat down for dinner! Alice, Rick (son-in-law), Beth (granddaugher), Ruth (grandson's wife - what is that called?), Pat (daughter) enjoy food and fun! (Great-grandson Jay is in the background!)

Alice and her great-grandchildren, Rachel and Jay.

Alice and her grandchildren, Patty and Jimmy.

Coming next - "It's All Relative" gift exchange.

Alice and the Turkey

Because I promised some Thanksgiving pictures by today, here is one of Alice lovingly preparing the turkey! Stay tuned for the Thanksgiving story via Blog.

Alice's Saturday Shopping Trip, aka Alice Wears Out Her Granddaughters!

Yesterday, Alice and the girls went out Christmas shopping! This is around 10 a.m., when everyone was fresh and energized. (Alice stayed that way all day, but the girls, especially Mary Pat, were EXHAUSTED by the end of the seven hour shopping extravaganza!)


It's hard to tell from this picture, but Alice was whisked away in the "Rudolph Mobile." You can see the red nose, but you can't see the antlers on the back windows. PRECIOUS, and Rudolph can really maneuver through the traffic!


They started out at If It's Paper, a neat local store in downtown Columbia. They carry neat stationery, party products and seasonal goodies. The girls stocked up on some goodies, while Alice got some Christmas tissues and GREAT cards.


While they were in there, Mary Pat spotted SANTA! He was on his way to an event at a local school, but didn't get away before posing for a picture with Alice.


Alice also tried to get Santa and the girls, but missed a bit. But since this was her first time using a digital camera, they were actually pretty impressed!


The next stop on the shopping adventure was Hamrick's. No pictures here - Mary Pat and Beth were too busy trying to keep up with Alice.

Just when the girls were about to starve, they spotted a Cracker Barrel right outside of the Hamrick's shopping center. There was a short wait, even at 1:30 p.m., but it was worth it! Plus, they got to shop in their cute store while they waited.

Alice and Beth after ordering.


Alice shooting her straw at Mary Pat. She did this AFTER the camera was off, so Mary Pat made her do it with Beth's straw to capture her playfulness, something the girls were short on after Hamrick's.


After filling up at Cracker Barrel, the three visited one of the area's largest Hallmark stores, as well as Big K, aka K-Mart. Again, the girls were too busy trying to keep up with Alice to take pictures. (Sorry, folks, but she has more spunk shopping than the Energizer Bunny!)

After our visit to the St. Andrews area, they headed back toward town, but not before stopping at Wal-Mart. (Yes, Wal-Mart, two Saturdays before Christmas, around 4 p.m.) This is Beth wondering what was up with the Clemson Santa hat in Wal-Mart's "USC" store.


Wal-Mart was Mary Pat's Waterloo; she had to head home after that experience. But they all had a great day, made some great purchases and enjoyed spending the day together.

Happy Shopping from Alice and the Girls!

Alice's Bloggers Are Seriously Slack!

More apologies from the Blog editor!

Between Thanksgiving, a new job, Shorti's surgery and holiday events, I've fallen behind! Please don't give up on Alice's Blog!

We have GREAT Thanksgiving photos and stories, which I promise to have up by Sunday!

Despite her absence on the Blog, Alice is doing great!

Stay tuned!