Christmas 2013, days four and five

Our 2013 fondue was another great success.  For one thing, Saturday turned into a most beautiful, sunny day, and before and after, when we were not eating, the energetic ones were able to run and play outside.  

Just as last year, we did our meal at Houserville House of Hope.  There were sixteen of us, and neither ours nor Anthony's house has a room big enough to hold a meal like that in.

Here's our table set up.  Looks like Sammy was ready!

My right-hand girls, Jenn and Thyda, set up the display of food choices on a side table.  For the hot oil there were beef cubes, chicken nuggets, li'l smokies, hot dogs, onion rings, tater tots, sweet potato waffles…  I need my list!  I can't remember everything.  For the cheese sauce there were tortilla chips, pretzels, and crackers.  For the chocolate there were strawberries, marochino cherries, mandarin oranges, bananas, marshmallows, peanut butter crackers.  And for the whole meal, plenty of humor and bantering. 

Digging in...

As usual, Frank was the "last man standing".  Everyone else was full-up and gone to play.  He was still working on his stash of beef cubes!

Anthony brought his good camera.  Some were already a bit muddy from playing outside, but I'm so glad we got these great pictures.

Sitting: Dick holding Jada, Austin, me holding Sammy.
Standing:  Anthony & Lori, Sam & Jenn, Thyda & Ray, Destiny, J'von, Frank & Alexia, her son Dion in front of her. 

When we had trouble calling the children back for more pictures, we decided to do this kids-with-electronics pose!

And one more, with Grandpa and Grandma.

Back at our house for the evening, we cleaned up and put away, I made a big pot of turkey corn noodle soup for our Sunday lunch, and some of us played "Dictionary".  As always, there were some very funny moments. 

Finding a place for everyone to sleep for the night presented some challenges since Jada was along with Frank this time,  but we did it.  

This morning at Houserville, we had the children's Christmas program that was postponed from two weeks ago.  There were a couple of technical difficulties, as there are in almost any program, but it went very well.  Destiny helped also, even though she hadn't been here for any practices.  I had sent her part to her last week after we had postponed the program and I realized she'd be here for it.  Here are a couple of pictures I took from my friend Amy's Facebook.

After church we came home, had the turkey corn noodle soup with "homemade" bread from Giant's bakery.  Some also ate leftover lasagna.

And then the packing up the cars and the goodbyes.  Gradually they all left except Destiny.  Dick and I took our Sunday naps.  Destiny is immersed in all her new technology devices she got for Christmas.  And I have a long list of things to catch up on now.   

The first three days of Christmas 2013

We're all ready to take our food and equipment to the Houserville House of Hope for our annual family fondue this afternoon.  I have a few minutes here to sit down and post a few pics from our past three days.

On Christmas evening we basically had a revisit of our Thanksgiving meal - a deliciously brined turkey, baked corn, yam pudding, green bean casserole, cranberry applesauce, apple pie and ice cream. Ray and Thyda with their dog Leo; Sam, Jenn, and Sammy; and Anthony, Lori, and Austin all arrived late afternoon.  Jeremy and Mike spent Christmas week in Pittsburgh with Mike's family.  I had had a fun phone conversation with Miki in Sweden earlier in the day.

Right after dinner we FaceTimed with Lisa, George, and Sophie in Florida.

With Sophie in the room, you get used to feet in the air while you talk, haha!

We gave our gifts to the boys and spent the rest of the evening building and assembling.

Sammy got his own personal "Ho Ho".

On Thursday morning we woke up to a surprising snow.  We had taco soup for dinner and then had a family movie night.  Dick and I took the little boys to see Frozen while the three couples watched Anchorman 2.   The boys did really well even though the movie was geared to older children.

On Friday Jenn, Sammy, Thyda, and I went to buy all the food and supplies for the fondue meal.

Here's a cute little tussle between Sammy and Leo.

We had lasagna, garlic bread, and caesar salad for dinner.  Sammy really enjoyed some chocolate peanut butter ice cream for dessert!

And this morning, when I decided to finish off the last piece of apple pie with some almond milk, I had a little help!

Leo is such a sweet dog.  Look at that face.  Ray's isn't too bad either.   (-:

And now I gotta run.  We'll have sixteen for our fondue today.  Frank and Alexia, along with four children, are on their way to join us. 

Goodbye, snow!

I can't believe it, but our snow is almost all gone!  We've had rain and much warmer temps this weekend.  When I heard what our forecast was earlier this week, I decided to take a picture of our house in the snow, just in case we wouldn't get any more this year.  Ha!  I think there's more coming Tuesday!

In addition to warmer temps and rain, we also had fog last evening.  Dick and I went for groceries, and on the way home I was so glad Dick had come with me as we drove the curvy, hilly Rock Road through the woods.  

I have so much to do!!  Yesterday I held a practice with the kids at church.  I think we all feel so much more ready after that rehearsal.  I will have another one tomorrow afternoon, since all the kids are now out of school for Christmas break.  We'll be doing the musical next Sunday.

We also have a Christmas Eve service Tuesday at 9 pm.  So after church today I was practicing with various groups for the specials that we will do.  

And the kids are coming!!  Ray and Thyda will arrive Tuesday, Sam and Jenn on Wednesday, and Frank's family on Saturday.  They're all staying till Sunday.  Well, Destiny will stay until New Year's Day.  I'm so excited!  We'll have our annual fondue on Saturday.  I started stocking up on Friday.

Anthony and Lori are at her folks in NYC this weekend to celebrate her dad's 80th birthday.  They'll be coming back tomorrow.  This evening Anthony posted an Austin-ism that just cracked me up!!  

"One time in my car at night I drove past Hanukkah, Florida, Africa and I drove to the end of the world. And I almost died but I ate some fruit so I didn't. That's the funny part"

What an imagination!!!  I shouldn't be surprised.  Anthony was a great story teller.  When he was 4 and Lisa was in school and Jeremy was a baby and he was bored,  I got him started recording himself on a little cassette player.  He would tell story after story on those cassettes, and most of them were wild and crazy.  He would always start, "Now boys and girls, I'm going to tell you a story."  

Speaking of those days, our daughter Miki in Sweden had a birthday yesterday.  She joined our family soon after her 14th birthday in January 1981.  Here are a few pictures I dug up from that year.

Dick on the floor with Jeremy, Miki, Lisa, and Anthony on top.

Miki and I are only 15 years apart in age.  We used to have a lot of fun with that.

Here's a more recent picture from her Facebook.  

As some of you may remember she experienced an unexpected divorce two years ago.  She has since become engaged and will be getting married in May.  They will be coming to the states on their honeymoon.  I'm really, really looking forward to that.  

Gotta get some shut-eye now!

A GOOD doctor visit

As many of you saw in my comment on the previous post, we had a very good visit yesterday at Geisinger in Danville.  The drive there was uneventful, thanks to no snow.  Route 80 between here and there is crazy at times - many, many big trucks, lots of hills, and places where you would roll down into a deep ravine if you went over the side.  I was glad I could keep my eyes on my phone sometimes!

Doctor Gorak was young, I'd say early 40's.  His title is Director of Hematological Malignancy.  He took almost an hour with us, going over Dick's cancer history, showing us the latest PET scan, explaining everything we were looking at, telling us the difference between the two types of lymphoma Dick has had - Diffuse Large B Cell (in 1996) and Follicular (each time since then).  He said that the two areas that showed up on the scan (a gland in his neck and a lymph node in the lower abdomen) may or may not be lymphoma.  The only way to tell for sure would be with a biopsy, which would be more than a simple procedure because of their locations.  He did not advise rushing into treatment, since there is nothing in Dick's blood work or otherwise that indicates cancer.  He said we could go ahead with a biopsy of the neck gland, something Dick would need to go to Danville for, or we could wait, have another scan in February to see if things have changed, and if so, do the biopsy then.  That is what we decided to do.  

One puzzling thing is his forehead.  Sometime in the past year he got bumped by an elbow or a head while playing basketball.  His forehead is increasingly swollen.  He did have a biopsy in July, and it did not show any lymphoma.  Our local oncologist told him to use heat and cold on it, but neither of those have helped.  The doctor said he may need to see a plastic surgeon!  What???  Maybe he'll get a facelift, haha!

We got on a shuttle after the appointment which took us to the main entrance to the hospital.  Jeremy's friend Alicia  works in the ICU there, and we took the elevator to 4th floor to see her.  Why did I not take a picture???  We chatted for a while and she gave us the most delicious gluten free peanut blossoms (peanut butter cookies with Hershey kisses on top) in a little Christmas gift bag.  

When we left there we went to Burger King for a late breakfast.  Here's Dick enjoying his breakfast sandwich, feeling relieved.

We were home by 11:30 AM and Dick went to work.  I did some laundry, then went to Giant for some supplies and to Anthony and Lori's to cook dinner.  I made sure I had my recipe folder and all my groceries when I put my cart in the corral!  Sometime I'd like to share some of the recipes that I've been making for their dinners.  Lori finds them and sends them to me.  Lots of yummy stuff I've never made before. 

One thing I've been working on in the evenings this week is a little outfit for an American Girl doll, once again made out of one of my outfits.  I'd like to make more and send them to Sophie for Christmas, but I'm not sure if I'll have time or not.  (Yes, I'm aware that I should have had this all done by now.)

Well, time to get ready for work at the church office today.  Piano lessons later this afternoon.  

Trip to Geisinger in Danville

I'm posting this from my phone as I lie here in bed waiting for the final winner of this season's The Voice to be announced.  I'm hoping for Tessanne, now that Matthew is no longer a possibility. 

I SHOULD be sleeping, as Dick already is. We are leaving early in the morning for an appointment at Geissinger in Danville at 8:00 am. It's a 1 1/2 hour drive, so we'll leave at 6:00. 

 Dick had a PET scan in November that showed the presence of lymphoma again in several places. His oncologist here is sending him to an oncologist in Danville for a second opinion. I have a feeling he will be discussing treatment options. 

So I don't know what we might know tomorrow that we don't know now. But God already knows. 

We'll be glad for prayers for the trip. 

Our Snow Sunday

Well, we did get about 8 inches of snow on Saturday.  Like I said in my last post, I cancelled our very important children's musical practice on Saturday, thinking we would just have to make do with a last-minute practice before church Sunday morning.  That in itself was too much stress.  But then trying to decide if we should just postpone it instead, listening to differing advise, trying to not be a "wuss", but also not forging ahead with plans as though there was no snow out there.   Finally around 8 pm I made the decision to postpone it till the 29th, and shortly thereafter the decision was made to cancel the service altogether Sunday morning.  I felt better, but it took a while for my heart rate to slow down.

So we ended up having a very relaxing day of rest.  Here are some pictures I took.

It occurred to me that if I pull back the drape our Christmas tree could be seen from the street.  I doubt if anyone will bother to look as they drive by, but I will, haha!  

Oh my, this morning my fingers were so cold when I drove to the Giant supermarket to get the supplies I would need for a day of cooking at Anthony and Lori's.  Ever since we went ice skating as a family one VERY freezing cold night about 30 years ago (it was 4 degrees, if I remember correctly), and I apparently got frostbite on some of my fingers, every time my hands get cold, some of my fingertips get white and numb.  Honestly, my fingers did not thaw out the entire time I was in Giant this morning.  I even took a picture of the poor things, haha!

Anyway, apparently my fingers weren't the only thing frozen this morning.  I guess my brain was too.  After I got to Lori and Anthony's place and brought in the groceries, I looked for my recipe folder that I always take with me.  Uh-oh.  It was missing.  So back to Giant I went, knowing I had left it in my cart.  (Not the first time I've done that.)  I retrieved it, came back to their place and got to work.  A few times I noticed that I had not gotten some things that I thought I had.  I substituted with other things.  But finally, after the third missing thing, I decided to look at my receipt.  Aha!  I had paid for all three.  In fact, they were the first three things on the receipt, so probably all in the same bag.  Probably. Left. In. My. Cart.  So after I was finished for the day, I headed to Giant for the third time.  My things were all still there at the front of the store.  I think they're soon going to be making a "Jean's Lost and Found" box.  

From there I went for my mammogram.  When I was finished I made sure I did not leave any articles of clothes behind.  (-:  

Snow Day Saturday

It's snowing again!  I was supposed to be having the final practice for the children's musical today, but now we're down to having it right before church tomorrow morning.  Ugh.  Not exactly the way I like to have things all down pat and practiced a dozen times.  It's so different working with church kids once a week instead of school kids at least three times a week.  But we'll do the best we can.

I decided I'm going to take pictures out the glass of the front door throughout the day to compare the snow.  They said we might get up to 8 inches, but it usually is less than they say.  Here are the first two so far.

9:00 AM

11:00 AM

Boy, has it been cold!!  I thought Thursday was almost unbearable, 19 degrees and breezy in the middle of the afternoon.  My hot flash years are all past, so I just have the hardest time getting warm.  So yesterday I put more layers on, including tights under my jeans.  Wouldn't you know - it stayed in the 30's all day and I was hot, hahaha!  

So today I am staying in the house all day, and I don't care what the temperature is outside.   I'm till in my robe, listening to one of Amy Grant's Christmas CDs, and there is a pine scented candle on the candle warmer.  Nice, nice, nice.

For some reason I got the idea that I was in the mood for a dippy egg this morning.  I have made them for Destiny many times in the past number of years, but I haven't actually eaten one for a long, long time.  It was just as yummy as I remembered, especially with my crusty, toasted Ezekiel bread to dip into it.

Yesterday the sunrise was spectacular.  It looked like the sky was on fire. I did step outside the front door to take a picture of it.  Dick said on Facebook one time that if you ever want to see his wife in her pajamas, just drive by our house at sunrise.  Toooo funny!

The snow that we got last Sunday got a hard glaze of ice on top of it this week.  When the sun was shining on it, it was almost blinding!  Here's a shot I took one morning. 

Since I haven't taken any people pictures, I'll share the ones that have brought me much delight on Facebook this week.  George's 42nd birthday was on Thursday, and Lisa posted this gorgeous picture of them.  She said he doesn't have one gray hair on his head.  He definitely is not a Stauffer!!  He is such a truly wonderful man, husband, father, and son-in-law.  I thank God for him every day and pray God's blessings upon him.  

Lisa also posted the pictures of Sophie's gymnastics photo shoot.  I put some of them into this collage.  Such a sweet, beautiful girl.

Jenn posted this one of Sammy all dressed up to go visit the Christmas Village last evening.  I have no idea how they got him to stand still for this!  Just too cute!!

One of Thyda's friends posted this adorable picture from a banquet they attended this week. I'm still praying about that job for Ray!  

So I'm thinking about letting my hair get a little longer.  Not long.  It's way too thin for that.  And I'm too old.  But just a bit longer.  I started thinking about it after looking at this picture from last month.  I like the length of my sisters' hair better than mine.  But they both have much thicker hair than I do, so I don't know if I'll survive the process.  

I looked back, and it's been at least 10 years since I've had my ears covered up.   How about this bushiness in 2004??  Haha!  Definitely don't want that look!  So we shall see!

Well, on to some other form of indoor fun.  My sewing machine is still sitting out, so I think I'll do something with that.  

By the way!  Are you a non-blogger who would like to leave a comment?  It's easy to do!  Just choose "anonymous", write your comment, and then sign your name if you'd like to.  It's that easy!

Snow and trees and Christmas decorations

Well, snow and cold temps seem to be affecting lots of people.  We've had more snow at least twice since I posted on Saturday!  But our home area in Lancaster County got even more than we did.  

On Saturday I had a practice with the kids at Houserville from 12 - 2.  I had to drive to Bellefonte (just 5 miles from here) to pick up one of the girls.  It was a beautiful drive.

  
After the practice Dick and I helped to clean up from the toy sale that the Mommy Shoppe had, then we went to Walmart and did something for the first time ever.  We bought a fake Christmas tree.  There just was not going to be any time this year for us to make that wonderful trip to the tree farm to cut down our own tree.  Besides, Dick was getting tired of the hassles of watering, needles falling, etc. 

We came home and started decorating.  What a mess.  I had my sewing machine and stuff for making costumes all over the place, and then Christmas decorations too.  We thought we would not have any time to work on it Sunday, so it felt pretty overwhelming when I went to bed Saturday night.  

On Sunday we had church in the morning, then the cantata at Fillmore at 2:00.  The snow had started before we went to Fillmore, and while we were doing the cantata it really was coming down.  Our plans were to go to Anthony and Lori's afterward to babysit Austin and his little friend while the two couples went out to dinner.   But those plans were cancelled due to the snow. 

So it ended up that we did have time to work on the mess here at home.  And another unexpected blessing was that while we were doing the cantata, I was looking at the costumes the shepherds, wise men, angels, etc were wearing and was very impressed with them.  I asked Judy afterward where she had gotten them.  She said she had bought them from Oriental Trading and was glad to let me use them.  She has no idea how much time and hassle that has saved me this week.  I still have to make a few things, but not nearly as many as I expected.  

Here are some tree pictures.

I enjoy this view from my kitchen.

I have never had a CD player at home that could play more than one CD at a time.  I always missed the way I used to put a stack of my Christmas records on.  Sometime during the year Dick got a CD/cassette player/radio and speakers at a garage sale.  He used it out in his shed!  I got the bright idea on Saturday that we should bring it into the house for the Christmas season.  I think he was pretty surprised that I wanted it in here.  But I LOVE it!  I can put 3 of my Christmas CD's in it and just listen away to my heart's content.  And it has really great sound too.  He loves when his need to collect things turns out to produce something I actually like!