The short version

I don't see any possibility of having time to post my stories and pictures from Thanksgiving week until this weekend.  So here's a very short version of our comings and goings:

On the first day of Thanksgiving (Monday) Lisa, George, and Sophie arrived from Florida.

On the third day (Wednesday) Jeremy, Mike, and his mother Martha arrived from DC, Ray and Thyda arrived from VA, and Bjorn and Jess arrived from Manheim.

On the fourth day (Thursday) Sam, Jenn, Sammy, and Bianca arrived from Lebanon, also bringing Destiny along from Reading.

On the fifth day (Friday) Bjorn and Jess left early in the morning, Lisa and family left at 2, and Ray and Thyda left at 4.

On the sixth day (Saturday) Sam and family left at 2.

On the seventh day (Sunday) Dick left in the morning for the hunting cabin, and Jeremy, Mike, and Martha left at noon.

On the eighth day (Monday) I took Destiny home, and Dick, who was planning to return from the cabin in the evening, decided to spend one more night and drive home in the morning. 

Anthony, Lori, Austin, and I were here from beginning to end.

Frank and Lauren were not able to make it here, and of course, neither were Miki and Ingo, but at least Destiny was here to represent Frank's family, and Bjorn was here to represent Miki's.  

We didn't do too bad this year, did we?  This was one great big Thanksgiving week!

Just one picture for now

Just one picture to let you know that I am alive and well after an entire week of family - starting with Lisa's family's arrival last Monday and ending tomorrow when I take Destiny home.  It's been a fantastic week and I am now profoundly behind in everything.  But I'll catch up again.  I would never trade this past week for ANYTHING!

Weekend at Stauffer Acres with Austin, Dad Stauffer, and Fred

I am finally finding a spot in my week to sit down and update this blog.  This is a very busy season for me with all my church-related jobs, plus a big family Thanksgiving coming up.  Lisa, George, and Sophie will be up here from Florida Monday through Friday next week!!  I just can't believe it.  We have so much catching up to do and fun to have!

Lori and Anthony had overlapping work trips this past weekend, so we stayed at their house with Austin.  Here are some pics from bath and bedtime on Saturday evening. 

His cuddle toys are a snake and a tarantula!!

 Puzzle time with Grandpa on Sunday.

 Dick's brother Fred and his dad came on Sunday afternoon.  Fred is an avid archery hunter, and Monday was the first day of bear season.  He was hoping to do something about the bear that has been wandering in the woods around Anthony and Lori's place.  Dick's dad has been eager for a chance to see Stauffer Acres, so this was his chance to do so.  We had wonderful chances to catch up and talk and laugh together. 

My brother Dick and his wife Nancy did a day trip to our area on Sunday and also stopped in!  Nancy took this picture of Dick Stauffer and Dick Witmer strolling down the road.  

The Monday morning view out over the valley from the family room. 

Austin was full of energy and tricks on Monday morning before school.  Greatgrandpa got to observe the real deal, haha!

Fred had left the house before daylight and spent most of the day in the woods.  Anthony's property is right next to state game lands.  Fred did not meet up with the bear.  But he did talk with someone who lives nearby.  They said the bear has at times stood up at their picture window and looked in!!! Yikes!

A contractor came to install insulation on the barn ceiling that day.  What a perfect opportunity for Dad Stauffer to feel useful!  He was out there to meet the contractor, advised him of the best place to park, helped to drag the packs of insulation into the barn, and then stayed with him the entire time, handing him each piece of insulation!   That totally made his day! 

The view from the deck Monday afternoon. 

Austin was my buddy after school.  He usually goes to the Y, but he didn't want to go that day.  So we went to my house for a while, then we headed home to his house.  We hung out with Great grandpa until he and Fred left around 6:00.  

Dick was hoping to be home from work to see them before they left, but unfortunately, he shut his toolbox lid on his hand and cut his thumb badly enough to need stitches.  So he was off to the urgent care facility right after work instead.   

Austin loves playing electronic games.   The promise of having time on a device is actually good motivation for getting other necessary things accomplished.  Necessary things like eating dinner, taking a bath, etc, haha!

At bath time that evening he wanted me to take a picture of his flat hair.  Is that not the cutest face?

We have been having an amazingly mild November.  Yes, there was frost and we have had occasional bouts of cold, windy weather.  But we keep going back to mild temps.  To the point that the grass is green again!

Remember this first colorful thing out front after our long winter?  Sam and Jenn gave it to me for Easter.  

Well, look at it now, haha!!  It is the only colorful thing out there after everything else died from frost weeks ago!  I love it!

I'm not sure if I'll have time to post again until after Thanksgiving.  If I don't, just know I'm too busy and loving every minute of it!

My birthday weekend

Lots of things to tell about!  And lots of pictures to share.

Here's a cute picture of Austin.  He stayed with me on Saturday while Dick was helping Anthony with a barn project and Lori was raking leaves.  Can you even imagine what a job that is??

Sunday was my 64th birthday.  We went to our two church services, then left immediately for Lancaster County.  My sister Barb and her husband John were in from Idaho, so we had a mini sibling gathering.  First order of business was pictures, of course.  

Mary Ellen, Grandma Mary, Dick and Nancy, Dick and I, Barb and John, Doris and Dale. 

Five of eight siblings in age order.  If the others had been there, Janet, the first born, would be on Dick's right, and Betty and Rose would be on Barb's left.  Mary Ellen, Doris, and I are the short ones in the family.  Barb's husband joked that those must have been the lean years, hahaha!

The men spent time outside while the women sat and did some catching up in Nancy's spacious living room. 

I was busy buttering rye bread and prepping for grilled cheese sandwiches - my contribution to the meal.  

Nancy set a lovely table.  We had cream of tomato soup, potato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, a meat and cheese platter for other sandwiches, rice krispie treats, pumpkin bars, apple pie, pumpkin pie, two flavors of ice cream.  And of course, LOTS of talking and laughing!

Before we left I went to my brother's office to check out his trophy display.  He LOVES to compete in tractor pulls and does very, very well.

Here's a great picture of him doing what he loves to do.

From there we went to Sam and Jenn's.  Sam's birthday is the day after mine, so I was hoping we could go out to celebrate our birthdays together.  But he was suffering from a sinus cold and I was STUFFED and sleepy from my big day, so we just hung out at their place. 

Sammy couldn't wait to take me to the basement to show me his Halloween decorations.  He just LOVES decorations!

The kids played and entertained! This little Miss B is turning into quite a personality!  She is just so cute and funny and energetic!

Sammy got behind the bar and took our orders!

For some reason Bianca loves to stand on this frisbee, as though it were home base or something!

Unfortunately, Dick had to work Monday, so he needed to say his goodbyes and drive back to State College.  I had business to take care of on Monday, so I didn't go back home with him. 

Monday morning was the usual hustle and bustle for Sam and Jenn.  I took this picture of the kids ready to leave for daycare and happened to also get this hilarious shot of Sam and Jenn hurrying!!  

These kids just melt my heart into a puddle!

The business I had to take care of was the purchase of this minivan.  

I have had "minivan on the brain" ever since my sisters were here this summer.  Until we realized that my sister Betty was coming in her minivan, we thought that we were going to have to do all our gadding about in two separate vehicles, which would have been TERRIBLE!!  I could not stand the thought of missing out on the conversations in the other car, hahaha!!

And then when Sam and Jenn were here for a weekend in October I realized that even they and us cannot travel together to Anthony and Lori's place, because all our vehicles have just five seat belts.  

In September my friend Lisa Miller in Lititz started advertising their Toyota Sienna minivan on Facebook.  I thought, "Wow, that would be nice."  Later that month Dick said that he will not be able to put an inspection sticker on my Buick until we get the rust underneath fixed.  Hmmm.

The body and frame shop did not have time to look at my car until the end of October.  So I was driving all over the place with an expired inspection sticker!   Sometime during October I saw that Lisa Miller advertised their minivan again at a lower price.  Dick and I talked about it, but decided to find out how much it would cost to get my car fixed.  

Finally, last Tuesday my car got checked out.  The verdict was that there was so much rust they would not fix it.   I felt discouraged.  What were the chances that the Millers would have the minivan anymore?  I asked Dick if I should check with them,  and he said I should. 

They DID still have it!  In fact, they had just drastically reduced the price!  Dick asked a lot of questions and felt very good about its condition and reliability.  So we told them we would be buying it.  She said they had been totally puzzled as to why they were having trouble selling something in such good condition and could only assume that God had someone in mind for it.  Thank you, Lord, for keeping it for us!!!

On Monday morning Jenn took me to meet Lisa Miller at AAA in Lititz to do the transfer, and then to their place to get my new wheels!  

Later, after eating at Arbys near Ephrata, I came outside and thought,  "Oh great, I am going to have to remember what car I am now looking for in a parking lot, so I don't crawl into the wrong one with the wrong man, as I have been known to do!"  How many of you remember that story????

I drove to Reading first to spend some time with Destiny after school.  I took her and her boyfriend Jonathan to McDonalds.  We had a fun time together, as we always do.  

And then I drove the three hours home.  I LOVE this minivan!!  Not a bad birthday gift, is it??

Six years does not take long!!

Last night, right before I was ready to go to sleep, I noticed on my phone that Anthony had posted Austin's first grade picture on FB.  My heart just melted!  I could hardly believe that the chubby baby boy who had wooed my heart to State College, PA six years ago was now looking like a little man!

After making the above collage for Throwback Thursday this morning, I decided to do the same thing for Destiny and Sophie, also from six years ago to the present. 

Destiny

Sophie

And then I had this scary thought - in six more years Austin will be 12, Sophie will be 16, Destiny will be 21, and I will be turning 70!!! 

Fall beauty, babies, and applesauce

It's November!  And not only that, it's 7:15 pm as I begin this post, and it's been dark for a couple of hours already.  It totally feels like it should be time to hit the sack!

Gradually the colors around here are fading.  There is one view I've been admiring for months as I travel from the grocery store to Anthony and Lori's house.  All summer I thought I would wait to snap a picture until the leaves are in color.  Finally on Monday I did just that. (This picture really needs to be clicked on to get the full effect.)

This is what I see when I stand at my bathroom sink doing my hair.  Sadly, it will soon be brown.

We have had lots of wind this week.  One morning I noticed that all the leaves on the tree outside our side porch had blown away!

But this is a nice surprise!  Jenn and Sam gave me a potted mum for Easter,  of which all the flowers soon died.  Dick planted it and all summer long it gradually grew bigger and bigger, but without flowers.  Recently he even trimmed it back because it was falling all over the place.  Then I noticed buds on it, and today we discovered flowers!

My favorite hanging geranium is once again taking up residence in my bathroom.  There are so many more buds on it.

One day last week I saw a recipe on FB for Caramel Apple Roses.  It looked so easy on the video, so I decided on a whim to try it.  Here's one of the pictures on the recipe.

WELL.  First of all, I did not have all the exact things it called for, so I tried a few substitutions.  But second of all, I think there were things that should have been more clearly explained.   What a disaster!

This was the only one that even remotely resembled a rose.

But let me tell you, looks aren't everything!  They were scrumptious!

Dick has been so excited about having his "own" hunting grounds this year.   Archery season started a few weeks ago and he has gone out into Anthony and Lori's woods many times after work and on Saturdays.  Only one time has he even seen a deer!  But there ARE deer!  We often see them.  I snapped this picture on Friday and sent it to him.  But they're obviously avoiding him!

I gotta show you this pic of my sister Rose's newest grandson.  I kid you not, this was taken the day he was born this week!!  He weighed over ten pounds and was actually four days before due date!!  Unfortunately, he lives all the way in Hawaii where his daddy is stationed, so none of us, even his grandma, can get our hands on his delicious chubbiness!

Yesterday morning I had an eye appointment that was cancelled on my way there.  GRRRR.  So I took the opportunity to go to nearby Sam's Club, which we just joined.  I got some great deals on health and beauty items that made me really happy.

In the afternoon I helped with "work day" at Houserville House of Hope.  It's fun when there are lots of people working together.

We spent the evening at Anthony and Lori's.  Austin had a new game that he'd gotten with his meal at Chik Fil A.   I had fun playing it with him, as well as another matching/memory game he had.  He's too smart for me though.

Notice his storm trooper costume?  He loves it!  He was home from school on Friday with a slight fever, so he got to go along with Anthony and Lori for her ultrasound.  Guess what he wore?

We got to see all the pictures from the ultrasound last evening.  They said he (did I tell you it IS another "he"?) was sucking his thumb.  One time he moved his hand away and then brought it back toward his mouth and they could see his little tongue!!  

I told Austin that his little brother was showing him his strong arm on this picture - getting ready to defend himself, hahaha!

We enjoyed putting our tired feet up and relaxing by the fireplace. 

We had good worship services at both Fillmore and Houserville this morning, then met Anthony and Lori afterward to pick up Austin.  We had a mission today - to show him some old fashioned applesauce making!   Back in my heyday I used to make enough applesauce to last us a whole year.  I would put most of it in glass jars.  Long ago I bought this dandy press.  That box looks a bit worn, ha!

I really didn't think I had it anymore.  I remembered using it six years ago when we lived in Anthony and Lori's basement, and I made some applesauce when Destiny was visiting one weekend.   But I had never seen it since then.  I figured we must have thrown it away when we moved here.  But lo and behold, Dick had it out in his shed!  Once in a while I'm glad he's a pack rat, hahahaha!!

My favorite apples for sauce years ago were Golden Delicious or Golden Grimes.   Waiting until they were really ripe meant no need to add sugar!  So about a month ago my friend Kris was going to Belleville, our local "Amish Country," and wondered if there was anything I wanted her to get for me.  I asked her to get me a basket of Golden Delicious apples.   They have been ripening in the "basement" under our house.  

So today was the day.  I showed Austin each step of the process - first the apples cut into quarters.

Then the cooked apples. 

The cooked apples went into the hopper, Grandpa turned the crank, and Austin was amazed to see real applesauce go down the chute. 

He was also intrigued by the "apple poop" (peels and cores) that came out the other side into the pan!!  

Yummy homemade applesauce!  And plenty of apples for fresh eating as well.   I no longer have a canner for preserving things in glass jars, so this applesauce is now in the freezer.  Dick eats applesauce on his Raisin Bran every single morning, so it won't last long!

Have a good week!