Friday's Fave Five #664

Hi everyone!  Welcome to the last Friday's Fave Five of 2021.  How was your Christmas?  Our was super quiet.  We basically didn't leave the house.  Twenty minutes before we were to leave to have Christmas Eve dinner with my Mom at her supportive living home I got a call that we were direct contacts with someone who tested positive for Covid.  It put a screeching halt on having dinner with my Mom.  Though we didn't have to isolate because Hubby and I and in fact my whole family is double vaccinated, the supportive living home rules won't let me in now for 14 days even with a negative test.  To say we were beyond disappointed is an understatement.  This was now the 2nd year in a row I wasn't allowed to see my Mom during the holidays.  But we called twice a day and tried to make the most of it.  Praise God my sister was still able to have her family there to have dinner with Mom.  In spite of the setback there were many blessings throughout the week.  Here are five of them in no particular order.

~ no covid in the house ~ in spite of having direct contact with a friend who came down with covid, neither Hubby or I have had any symptoms whatsoever and when we tested on day 6 since the exposure our test came back negative, Praise God. 

~ face time type technology ~ snapchat live video came into play as a huge blessing on Christmas Eve as we were still able to connect with my Mom and she could see her grandkids from my side of the family in that way even if not in person.  

~ quieter Christmas ~ this actually turned out to be a blessing.  Because of the exposure we just stayed home, even though not required.  We weren't running around getting exhausted from all the visiting and obligations as in past.  We cooked a nice turkey dinner for 5 of us so there was no time crunch like when we have a house full of guests.  We ate lots including at least 3 rounds of charcuterie, talked, did puzzles, read books and watched movies.  It was too bitter cold to even go outside which was the only thing we really did miss.

~ perfect gift ~ the kids, referring to our adult children, pooled together and gifted Hubby and I with a beautiful custom made end grain cutting board.  We were shocked and surprised and love it!  It's something I've always wanted but would not spend that kind of money on for myself.  

~ family puzzle ~ Our son gifted us with a puzzle made from a pic taken at the top of Bear's Hump when most of us were in Waterton this summer (unfortunately our youngest daughter was not able to be there that day and he didn't have a high resolution pic of all of us together).  After the table was cleared from Christmas Day dinner we broke it out on the table and throughout the days at some point or another we all worked on it to completion.  It was fun.  I've never had puzzles out before but I think I will do this more often.  It brought some real togetherness working on it in different groups.  When we finished though we realized it was missing a piece.  Sigh.  Probably stuck in the photo labs cutting machine and someone is now wondering where on earth the extra piece they are looking at goes.  LOL.  

Bonus:  ~ safe travels ~  as always we are thankful for safe travels when our family comes home.  We were especially so this week as the weather became awful. Our Saskatchewan kids had to navigate a frozen rain turning to into snow storm for a part of their trip and the other two from Calgary had to travel in bitter cold to get here.  They all had to go home in bitter cold and I'm thankful all arrived safe and sound back in their respective homes with no incidents.  

What have been your favorite Christmas blessings this week?

I want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year and all God's blessings in 2022.  Thanks for another wonderful year of finding our blessings week by week.  You have all kept me motivated on our journey of thankfulness.