Christmas 2014

At last I'm taking time to share our Christmas pictures here.   On Christmas day we had dinner here at our house with Anthony, Lori, and Austin and Jeremy and Mike.  We had a turkey that Anthony had smoked, mashed ginger sweet potatoes, broccoli cauliflower casserole, cranberry apple stuffing, almond crusted tilapia, cranberry applesauce, and apple crisp made by Lori.  I was too busy eating to remember to take any pictures.  Afterward we were in the typical food coma.  (-:

All except Watson (the younger of Jeremy's dogs) and Austin.  There was lots of chasing and playing fetch.

Watson and Molly love to cuddle under the blankets.

Austin wanted to stay at our house overnight for the "sleepover."  He and the dogs were going full tilt all of Friday morning!  Around noon we took him home.

Dick and I went shopping with Jeremy and Mike, first of all at the mall.  Oh my goodness!  Macy's had the most unbelievable discounts!  They got Dick a really good coat and me a watch and two beautiful tops.  Bath and Body Works and Penneys had great specials too.  After all that shopping we were hungry and went to a nearby Mexican restaurant for a wonderfully delicious meal.  The place was so beautiful too.  But once again, I was enjoying myself too much to think about my camera. )-:

From the mall we went to Giant to shop for Sunday's fondue foods.

Anthony, Lori, and Austin came to our place for the evening again.  We had a light meal of "bougie" foods, as Jeremy and Lori called them - fancy cheeses, crackers, chips, avocado and kamato slices seasoned with real lime juice, fancy chocolate covered cherries, nuts, and some of their favorite wines.  

Austin was literally climbing the walls, haha!

We had the GREATEST time singing Christmas songs at the piano - Lori, Jeremy, Dick, and I in four part harmony.  I did not get any video of us, but I did get this one of Jeremy singing by himself earlier.  It was so good to hear his voice.

On Saturday morning we packed up for the weekend.  We were sad to find out that Lori woke up with a sore throat and fever, so they stayed home.  Our first activity was a memorial service for my niece Lori Peifer at the Messiah Village chapel near Mechanicsburg, PA.  Many people from PA were unable to go to Michigan when she passed away in August, so her dad Elvin and stepmother Pauline hosted this event.  All of the Peifer family were there.  

On the picture below Elvin and Pauline are seated in front with Scott and Sheri's twins, Jonah and Reid.  In back is Lori's brother Scott with his wife Sheri and their son Corbin (they live in California), Lori's son Jared, her husband Jim with his son Bradley in front of him, and her daughter Sydney.

All of Pauline's family were there as well, some of them also from California.  Here the two families are together.

It was a lovely, intimate setting.  The service was once again filled with love, laughter, and many tears.  I just love this family so much.  Because Sheri had laryngitis, they had asked me to sing Fernando Ortega's Give Me Jesus, which was the last song Lori sang in church, I think in February.  I was glad to do it.

A delicious meal was served afterward, which gave a wonderful opportunity to chat with everyone.  Pictured here is my sister Mary Ellen chatting with Jared and Sydney.

Jeremy and Mike chatted with Jim.  It was good to see him laugh.  He misses Lori so very much.

Grandma Mary and Mary Ellen.

Scott and Jeremy catching up a bit.

Two of Scott and Sheri's boys hiding out when it was time for pictures.

We drove the 45 minutes to Sam and Jenn's house afterward.  Ray and Thyda were already there.  We hung out for a couple of hours.  Dick and Sam went to Reading to pick up Destiny.

Bianca was not a very happy girl that evening, but she eyed me from her mommy's arms.

Dick, Destiny, and I went to Grandma Mary's (just a few miles away) for the night.  She was already in bed by the time we got there, but in the morning we had a sweet time with her over a delicious breakfast casserole and blueberry baked oatmeal.

Then it was time to head back to Sam and Jenn's to get ready for our annual Christmas fondue.   Ray chopped the beef.

 Sammy showing off the stockings at the basement fireplace.

Bianca was a MUCH happier girl and charmed everyone to pieces all day long.

Sam and Jenn's spacious basement was the PERFECT place to hold this event.

These side table, already built in, were perfect for our buffet line.

We had all kinds of meats, potatoes, cheese sticks, etc to fry in the oil.   Then lots of different things to dip in the cheese and chocolate.  A very big hit this year was frying the soft pretzels in the oil, then dipping them in the cheese sauce.

Smiley little Bianca had no idea what she was missing up at the table!

I was glad that Lauren and Jada joined us too.   Please pray for Frank.  He has some very real needs that I do not want to go into on a public blog.   Just pray when he comes to mind.

Of course, after our big meal Ray was stuffed and feeling pregnant!

I gave Sammy a dancing Olaf.

He dances to his own song from Frozen and also to any music he hears.  He's absolutely hilarious to watch!

I was planning to wash up all the greasy pots and pans, but Jenn put Bianca in my arms and she and Sam took care of the dishes.  Bless their hearts.

Sammy LOVES puzzles and had a great time with Grandpa putting together the puzzles we gave him.

Destiny enjoyed playing with their new Spirograph set.  She had never done it before!

Thyda took a good nap, and it looks like Ray did too.  They had had air mattress issues the night before and didn't get much sleep.

One of my favorite things to do.

One of my other favorite things to do.

Jeremy and Mike had headed back to DC by 2:30.  We stayed until around 5:30.  It was hard to leave.

We stopped in at Dick's parents for a short time.  Dick's nephew Japheth from Minnesota had just arrived there with his wife and nine children, and we really wanted to see them in person.  Their children have been some of my Music@Home students.  I did not take a picture of them, but here's a beautiful one they took recently.

When we left there we took the time to go through the Manheim Square so we could see the beautiful Christmas light display.  It is the best one anywhere, in my opinion, for as long as I can remember. 

Destiny came home with us for the week.  We're doing lots of fun things, but that will be another post.  I will say here that I ask you to pray for Dick also.  He missed work today due to a very painful inflamation in his knee.  He went to an urgent care place today where they told him to use ice and anti-inflammatory meds and wait for it to feel better.  Sigh.  He does not get paid sick days, and we've been out of paid vacation days ever since our trip to Florida.  So we are hoping and praying it feels better soon.  This evening the pain was still pretty bad.

Merry Christmas and thank you, Jesus!

Merry Christmas!  It doesn't look too Christmasy around here - we've had rain and warmer-than-normal temperatures all week.  But I guess that's not what Christmas is about anyway.  

A few years ago I was moved to tears as I sang the song What Child Is This?  The verse that says, "Why lies He in such mean estate, where ox and ass are feeding?  Good Christians, fear, for sinners here the silent Word is pleading."   It's easy to sing these carols in their old English and not even think what they're saying.   Here's my translation:  "Why is God lying here in this low class barn among the animals?  You'd better watch it, you self-righteous religious people, because He is here silently pleading for the sins of the whole world." 

Now a few pictures from my week thus far.  As I said, Bjorn and his dad came on Sunday.  Kris had been at a medical conference in NYC the weekend before and then had spent the week with Bjorn at Fred and Deb's.  We ate Sunday lunch at Texas Roadhouse, then came here for the rest of the day.  Kris is also a huge football fan (no surprise that Bjorn wanted to come over here to play American football), so the guys watched a lot of football.  We had a light meal in the evening and spent some time singing at the piano.  Kris is a fantastic pianist.

Monday morning we said our goodbyes and they headed for the JFK airport to fly back to Sweden.  Bjorn will be home for the holidays, then come back for the rest of his senior year at Manheim Central.

Miki and I messaged each other after they left, then I went about my day's work at Anthony and Lori's.  I cried a lot as I worked that day.  Because of distance, I had never completely grieved Kris and Miki's divorce.   But I did grieve that day.  So many "if only's".  But God's grace finds us even in the "what if's", and it indeed has.  And I'm thankful.

The amount of work I had this week to prepare for Christmas Eve services was CRAZY!  I decided that the combination of church secretary and church music director had to be about the worst right before Christmas.  Then I was reminded of UPS and FED EX drivers, and decided they probably had it worse, haha!  But I did get everything done (with a few short nights)  and we had two glorious Christmas Eve services last evening - one at 6:30 and the other at 9:00.  I'm so thankful for the EXCELLENT musicians I have at both churches.

At the end of my very long day at the church office on Tuesday I was rewarded with some FaceTime with Sophie as she unwrapped a package that had come in the mail (yea, USPS!!)  Is this not the sweetest picture??

That's Dick and me back there on their Apple TV, haha!   Yesterday Sophie texted me this picture of Louise in one of her other dresses I had sent along.

And now I need to get some food prep done.  Anthony is smoking a turkey today for our dinner.  I'm going to try some new recipes since there will be less of us.  Jeremy and Mike will be coming up from DC today and we'll have dinner here with them and Anthony, Lori, and Austin.  Tomorrow will be a true vacation day, even for Dick.

Then on Saturday we all be driving down to the Messiah Village Chapel in Grantham for a memorial service for my niece Lori.  All of the Peifer family will be there, and I can hardly wait.

We'll spend the night in Lancaster County and on Sunday our family will descend upon Sam and Jenn's wonderfully spacious home for our annual fondue.   That will indeed be the highlight of our Christmas season.  I was telling Bjorn that I was sorry he would not be here for it, since it was his mom who got us started on this tradition many years ago.  He said, "Yeah, I'm sure I'll be having fondue too."  I forgot that Miki has also kept this tradition all through the years!  How fun is that?

Again - Merry Christmas and thank you, Jesus!

Louise is finished and Thelma is GLAD!

All week long I've been making lists and crossing things off.  Sometimes I feel so tired of always needing to be on task.  

Louise, the doll I started making last Saturday, sat all week with her unfinished hair and unfinished face.  

I was not at all happy with her wig, so on Thursday morning before work I took time to make another one, but I didn't have time to sew it onto her head.  My dining room looked a mess all week.  I remembered why I quit sewing when my kids were little.  

Finally Friday evening I had time to work on her.  Her hair just caused me no end of problems.  It fell apart, it fuzzed up, it put little brown hairy things all over her body.  I got her eyes, nose, and mouth stitched on before I quit after midnight and decided she was good enough, and I was NOT going to make her any clothes.  I had seen doll clothes at Joanne Fabrics last Saturday when I got the materials to make her, and I decided that's where I would go to get her some clothes.  At least she had a housecoat that I found in our doll clothes.  

This morning I decided that the eyebrows and eyelashes that I had drawn on her face were not good enough, so I picked up a needle and thread once more and stitched some onto her face.  Then I restitched her incision (where I had sewn her shut after stuffing her)  and put some more stitches in her head to hold her hair on tighter.  I was feeling happier with her.

Then I was off to Joanne Fabrics.  The doll clothes they had were for 18-inch dolls, the American Girl variety.  Poor Louise is not their body type.  She's only 12 inches tall and her feet are kind of fat.  But I bought a few outfits and a pair of shoes.  I dressed her up in one of them for her trip to Florida.  I was feeling really happy with her now.

I packed her up and took her to the post office, and they said Sophie will have her by Christmas.  I wish I could see her face when she opens that box.  

Now I need to tell the back story of why I made a doll for Sophie's Christmas present.  Remember when we were in Florida in November I was helping her to clean up this doll that my mom had made for Lisa when she was little?

That evening when Lisa was tucking Sophie in, she explained to Sophie that this would not be a doll that she would be playing with a lot.  It was special to Lisa because it is the only thing she has from her grandma, who died when Lisa was just 8 years old.  Poor Sophie had a little meltdown as she cried about the fact that she doesn't have any doll that her grandma made for her.  

When Lisa came out to the kitchen afterward and told me, we both laughed, knowing that this was something I would definitely try to do something about.  Now she'll have a doll made for her by her grandma, hahaha!!

This evening Dick and I gave the house a good cleaning.  We're expecting guests tomorrow!  Bjorn's dad, Kris, was at a medical conference in NYC last weekend, then drove to Manheim on Monday.  He's been there at Fred and Deb's this week, getting a view of Bjorn's life in the US.  

Tomorrow morning they will be driving up here and spending the day with us and Anthony and Lori. On Monday morning they'll head for the JFK airport, leaving in the evening for Sweden.  Bjorn will spend his Christmas vacation at home in Sweden, then return to Manheim Central for the rest of his senior year.  

Now I gotta do some practicing on the piano for tomorrow morning.   Good night!

Thelma and Louise

Another week closer to Christmas!  Another week filled with lots of work and activity.  But I always love coming home at the end of a busy day.  It smells so good with my Winter Night candle on the candle warmer, it looks so pretty with the tree and everything, it's warm and dry, and I once again have the big CD player from Dick's shed sitting in the kitchen to play my Christmas CDs.  It has such incredible speakers, and there is just no better sound than beautiful Christmas music.

I started a new project yesterday - making a doll for Sophie.  I'm afraid I have bitten off more than I have time to chew, but we shall see.  This is what Louise looks like at this point.  Hopefully she'll be a lot cuter when she has hair, a face, and some clothes, hahaha!  (My first name is Thelma, thus the title of this post.  I never even saw that movie, by the way!)

Yesterday Dick also did something new.  I'll just copy my Facebook post here.

"Well, my hubby helped to feed the hungry yesterday. It's been a few years since we've had venison in our freezer, and yesterday Dick, from his tree stand, finally shot a deer. A deer that looked like a doe, which he had the license to shoot, but upon a closer look, was actually a buck with little brown antlers that he could not see - which meant it was illegal, not having enough points. His brother and nephew helped him clean it and drag it down the mountain, then he did the right thing and called the game commission. He had to report to the Mifflin County courthouse to turn it in and pay his $25 fine. He was told it would be butchered and given to a Perry County food bank. That's the only good part of this sad tale."

It's probably 12 years since he got a deer, so it's a big disappointment for him.  And we do love venison.  It's lean and natural.  And it makes the best jerky.  Oh well.....  He's glad to know that he still has good aim, haha!

After church today we ate lunch with Lori and Anthony at Luna 2.  Everything is coal-fired, even the pizza.  It smells so good inside and even better outside.  We had so many things to talk about today, and we were there a long time.  Lori took this picture, so I'm sorry you can't see how beautiful she looked today.   Bless her heart, she's swamped with paper grading as the semester winds down.  

Austin came home with us as usual, and we all took good, long naps in the living room.   Later Grandpa and Austin played checkers.

And then we thought about the marble roller coaster.  Austin had never seen it before, since he was in New York at his other grandma's house over Thanksgiving when we had it out.   He and Grandpa did a good job setting it up.  It's so fun to watch the marbles go through it.  

Well, I'm going to sew Louise's legs on now and then see how hard it's going to be to do her face and hair.  Wish me luck!