And just like that, Christmas 2022 is history! Our week was fun, COLD, and a good bit more laid-back than we had anticipated.
Destiny and Elizer stayed here from Thursday night till Monday. Alex usually has Elizer on the weekends, but because the weather on Friday was absolutely frightful, with severe cold, high winds, and more snow, I was delighted when she told me that he had told her to keep Elizer till next weekend.
FRIDAY
On Friday I did a lot of music prep for our Christmas Eve and Christmas morning services. I had some HELP, haha!! He wore his snow boots most of the day, often running races through the house like they were track shoes! I made chicken corn noodle soup for dinner that evening. PERFECT!!
As you can see in the picture above, our temp went down to negative two during the daytime!! With a windchill feel of negative twenty-two! Our heat pump was absolutely worthless in those temps. It was blowing cool air out the vents. We were tremendously thankful that our house already has baseboard electric heat, which we seldom use since we got the heat pump. But on Friday I turned the heat pump off and we used all our electric baseboards. We also have the electric fireplace in the media console in the living room. And in our bedroom we have an electric fireplace too, which we almost never use. But we were really thankful for it. AND we were very, very thankful that we had power. It went off briefly three times before lunch, and I was scared. But it always came right back and we stayed really, really warm over the very cold days we had. I'm trying to not think about the next electric bill!
In the evening we bundled up and went to Wegmans for groceries. Dick was glad to drop us off right at the door, then he stayed in the van to keep it warm while Destiny and I (and Elizer, of course) shopped. We were GLAD to get back home.
CHRISTMAS EVE DAY
Saturday was Christmas Eve day - another bitterly cold day! And also our son-in-law's birthday. This picture that Jeremy posted is Mike to a tee!! When he sits in that recliner, the dogs come right over, and they are perfectly content! Watson is the little dog, and Lily Mae is the big "puppy."
I made pancakes and sausage for our late breakfast.
I just love this video Destiny took across the table. You gotta hear him say, "I lub you."
After breakfast Destiny gave Elizer his stocking to unpack. They also finished his Advent calendar.
In the afternoon we went to Walmart and Sam's Club for some last minute things. We were keeping an eye on the time because of the Christmas Eve service at 7. But alas, just as we were leaving Sam's Club, I got a notification that both the Christmas Eve service, as well as the Christmas morning service, had to be cancelled due to the condition of the church parking lot - a sheet of ice! I first of all felt relief that we did not need to hurry, but I soon felt very, very sad. I had put so much work into the music for those two services, especially the Christmas Eve service. And of all times, Destiny was off work and was planning to come along to church. Yes, I was more sad than relieved.
A friend had given Destiny money for a gift for Elizer, and she decided on this little Blues kitchen set at Walmart. She set it up for him after we got home.
There was time to play with the new play doh that had been in his stocking. He's such a silly boy!
Then I made a JibJab video for him.
Destiny could hardly wait to set up our Charcuterie spread! Now we did not need to wait until after the Christmas Eve service as we did last year. She did such a beautiful job!
And we enjoyed every bit of it! Well, not quite. Destiny does not like olives. Dick and I DO! So she always tries at least one olive thinking maybe she will like them after all. But she ate one and said, "Not this year." Hahaha!
After we were finished eating and cleaning up it was pajama and picture time! Destiny's and Elizer's were Grinch-themed. How CUTE are they??
When we moved the dining room table out of the way for pictures we found a red stain on the carpet. So I got out the peroxide and cotton swabs and worked on it. Then Elizer wanted to clean too!
These are some of the pictures. Elizer started out with his Santa hat on, but then he thought it was funny to take it off and throw it at the camera. So he cried after Destiny said he may NOT do that. But then he smiled again. And then we kissed!
CHRISTMAS DAY
Another bitterly cold day. Christmas morning was WAY more laid-back than I had been anticipating, since we did not need to get dressed up for church. Destiny had stacked the gifts around the tree the night before.
I made French toast and bacon for our late breakfast. Elizer had fun playing with his kitchen set.
Then it was gift-opening time!
One of Elizer's favorite gifts was a tool box. He immediately got to work on his tractor! So cute!
We stayed in our new pajamas all day, but I DID get a shower and do my hair and make up just as though we would have been going to church. I even wore earrings with my pajamas!
Destiny's gift to me was this Willow Tree figurine - With My Grandmother. I LOVE it!!
Her gift to Dick was this handy dandy phone/glasses/watch holder for his night stand.
We gave Destiny a weighted blanket and also a Mini Mart to add to her Mini Brands collection. She had fun putting it together.
I had bought a ham to make for our Christmas dinner. That morning I started thinking about the ham loaf I used to make. I told Dick, "I'm half in the mood for ham loaf. But we don't have a meat grinder anymore." He said, "I might actually have one out in my shed." He went out there and came back inside with an antique meat grinder just like we had for years, but got rid of when we downsized. I said, "Where did you get that??" He said he had gotten it at a yard sale for 25 cents, hahahaha!! So I cleaned it up good, and Dick ground up that ham!
I made the ham loaf, baked corn, and sweet potato casserole for our dinner. Anthony and Austin came over in the afternoon to bring gifts. Their hill and private road were also a sheet of ice, but he and his Jeep are used to navigating it. Lori has had a few bad scares on their hill, so she wasn't interested leaving the house. And if Mamma's scared, Hunter is scared. Besides, Lori's sister was here from Atlanta. So it was fun to have Anthony and Austin hanging out here for a while. But I totally forgot to take any pictures of them!
After we had eaten dinner (a very informal affair while Anthony was still here) Dick fell asleep on his recliner, Destiny fell asleep on the couch, I was sitting on the love seat with Elizer, and he fell asleep too. But it was 7:00 pm!! So we were in trouble if he would nap at that time of day! So I announced to Dick and Destiny that we were going to be leaving the house at 7:30 to go look at Christmas lights, as we had planned to do.
I had a list of addresses I had gotten from our local newspaper, and we found some really great displays! This first one was CRAZY!! I think they had things on every square foot of their lawn!
This one, right in Bellefonte near Talleyrand Park, was the BEST!!! This is the back of the house!! We drove up the ally beside it, and the front of the house along the street was gorgeous too. As were the sides of the house. Absolutely spectacular!
MONDAY
Monday was a day off for Dick. For Destiny too. She actually has had several weeks off (with pay) because of Penn State's break between semesters. I didn't take many pictures. We had Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal at the bird feeder.
I had to work on the song choices for this coming Sunday. I decided to use a few of the ones we didn't get to do on Christmas Eve. No one will mind.
Later in the afternoon Destiny collected all their stuff and carried them to her car. After Elizer's nap they left for home. I spent the evening wrapping gift boxes (cash in each) for the grandchildren who will be coming to our fondue on Friday. I used some of the meticulously made gift tags from Miki. I also have some beautiful cards she made.
TUESDAY
Tuesday was our after-Christmas cookie day. I made the cookies and decorated a few. Destiny decorated most of them. One of her friends was here for a while and decorated some too. They both were amazing!!! I just do not have the gift or calling for cookie decorating, hahaha!
Elizer napped the whole time we were decorating, so he was in awe when he woke up and saw them!
We had choir practice Tuesday evening. The parking lot was in better condition. We usually have choir practice on Thursday evenings, but Dick and I will not be here that evening. My brother-in-law Elvin's memorial service will be that day. We'll be staying at my sister Mary Ellen's Thursday night, and then on Friday we'll have our family fondue for the first time since 2019. As we did the last few times, we will hold it at Grace Community Fellowship, our home church in Manheim.
WEDNESDAY
As now it's Wednesday. It was sunny and in the mid-thirties! Absolutely balmy! I went grocery shopping this morning for our fondue supplies. WOW!! It was always expensive, but this year was major sticker shock!! Elizer took his nap here this afternoon while Destiny had a chiropractor appointment. I did our laundry and worked on this blog update. And now Dick and I need to make all our lists and check them twice for the next two days! We'll be leaving in the morning.
Welp, the pictures in this week's post will begin and end with snow. This was last Thursday. Just a few inches, enough to be pretty, but also enough to cancel choir practice.
On Friday evening we had a chicken and waffle dinner for a fundraiser at church. Lori and the boys joined us. It was fun to be with the boys and to catch up with Lori.
On Saturday morning we were at church for a practice, and I took pictures of the stained glass windows. That's one thing the new church building will not have.
Pastor Lynn came here Saturday afternoon, and we had a wonderful time catching up. No pictures - she hates getting her picture taken. But here's a picture of the cookies I made before she came. We might have eaten too many of them, ha!
On Sunday morning we were at church of course. It's always special when our flute player is there.
In the afternoon I had fun looking through old photo albums for pictures of my brother-in-law Elvin for his memorial service slide show.
Here are some fun ones I found. Top left: Elvin with Anthony in the Susquehanna River when he took us boating. Top right: At our annual family campout - Elvin with a gob of dirty spaghetti noodles that had spilled during the draining process the day before. Bottom photos: Elvin taking kids for rides on his motorbike at our annual weekend at Camp Andrews.
Later on Sunday we met with others from the choir to go Christmas caroling. First of all we went to a local nursing home, then to the homes of friends. At the nursing home we sang in the lobby, but at the individual homes we sang outside. It was c-c-c-cold!!
There were definitely more homes we could have gone to, but we were more than ready to get warm. Our friends Peg and Bill had invited us to come to their lovely home for treats. We had not done this since 2019, so it was SO special to gather again.
While we were there I got a FaceTime call from Destiny. She had picked up Elizer from Alex and she wanted to show me his new haircut! How CUTE is he?? We all said "hi" to him. I was SO eager to kiss that face again! They would be coming home the next day.
On Monday I got a lot of planning done for the Christmas Eve and Christmas morning services. I also made some bacon and broccoli quiche. Wow, was it delicious!!
Finally, in the evening Destiny and Elizer arrived! We just couldn't get over how cute he was with that haircut! The bottom right picture was actually taken the next day at daycare. I loved it so much, because I thought he looked so much like Destiny when she was little.
Tuesday at daycare was "wear your favorite Christmas hat and socks" day. I tightened the band of one of our Santa hats for him to wear. I figured he would take it off, so I was surprised to see, when his teacher posted pictures during the day, that he was sitting in the corner reading a book with his Santa hat on his head! When I picked him up she said he had had it on most of the day! I got a picture of him when we got here later.
Destiny had Christmas crafts to do on Tuesday evening. Elizer was having such a good time helping. I felt like I could see how daycare has helped him. When we did Halloween crafts he was a bit more impatient with the process. He seems to have grown up so much, and that haircut makes him seem even more grown up!
Yesterday I made a wonderful "find." I have been really missing my big serving fork. I don't necessarily serve anything with it, but there are certain things I do that require a bigger, sturdier fork. I was organizing a messy cupboard yesterday, one in which I keep paper plates, cups, napkins, plastic ware, birthday candles, balloons, cake decorating frosting tubes, Easter egg dye, etc, etc. And there, in a gallon ziplock bag of plastic ware, was this big stainless steel fork! I'm assuming it was put into that bag when we were hurriedly cleaning up in the rain at the end of our camping weekend in July.
Last evening I finally made something I've been in the mood for ever since I saw a friend post a picture of them on Facebook a few weeks ago - pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. They are dangerously delicious!!!! So soft and yummy. I have eaten way over my quota of them, I'm afraid.
And now we have snow again, more than was predicted, more than shown on these pictures I took earlier today. Again, enough to cancel choir practice. I think it is raining now, but I'm sure you have heard that the arctic tundra is coming east. On Saturday our high temp will be 8 degrees!! Just in time for our Christmas services!
I probably won't be back here on the blog till next week sometime, so I wish you a blessed Christmas!
Okay, now I'll try to catch up here. Going back to last Monday, December 5th. Destiny works on Mondays from 2:30 to 11:00 pm. So they always stay here on Monday nights. That evening Elizer became increasingly warm and seemed to have no life. I gave him a bath, he sat with Grandpa for a while, and then he fell asleep on the sofa. He seemed better in the morning, so I took him to daycare and told them to call if he seems to be sick. He was fine at school, and in the evening was back to his happy, funny self! (Bottom right picture.)
I took this picture of Destiny's front porch. The welcome mat plays Christmas music when you stand on it!
Wednesday was a really full day. I was planning to go Christmas caroling with a group of women from church on Thursday to a retirement home. I remembered from last year that when we gave the residents a chance to pick songs, they picked ones I did not have music for. So this year I wanted to be prepared. I copied a bunch of songs from books I have and also bought a bunch more songs from musicnotes.com. I compiled them in alphabetical order in a notebook. That was my morning. Actually it was my evening too till I had it all finished. In the afternoon I made air-fried chicken and roasted vegetables for us and for Anthony and Lori's family. I took their food over to them, picked Elizer up from daycare, and came home to finish my music project.
Christmas caroling with the elderly residents on Thursday morning was fun. They were a lively bunch. I had a nice grand piano to play.
Destiny worked late again on Thursday, so Elizer kept things lively around here that evening till she got here.
On Friday Destiny and I went to check out the furniture sale at Nittany Lion Inn. Penn State is getting out of the hotel business. While they will still own it, it will be operated by another company. The furniture sale had started Monday, so things were pretty much gone by Friday. But it was fun to walk through such a grand old place with so much history. Lisa had worked there in food service one semester when she went to Penn State.
We went to Cracker Barrel for lunch after that, then I took them home. Elizer was sleeping before we made it out of Cracker Barrel parking lot! That evening Destiny met Alex half way to give him Elizer for the weekend.
That evening also I was working on my blog post and found out my brother-in-law Elvin had passed away. If you read that post you saw the picture I posted of him and Pauline. Here are a few of the pictures from a post I made on Facebook. Top right is the bridal party of my sister Janet and Elvin's wedding. Top left is their family with son Scott and daughter Lori. Middle left is their family on Christmas 1998. Middle right is his wedding to Pauline in 2007. In case any reader did not know, my sister Janet died in 2004. Bottom left is his family in summer 2021. Bottom right is Elvin driving his boat. He was a gentle and wise man with a wonderful sense of humor. He will be tremendously missed.
On Saturday I took my good old time getting our tree strung with lights and the other things hung on it. I also got the rest of the decorating done, imagining how I would need to get it out of the way when Elizer comes! Dick had gotten the outside decorations done on Friday afternoon. I LOVE how the house smells and feels and looks during the Christmas season.
On Sunday afternoon we went with a group from church to see the musical "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever." We weren't allowed to take pictures of the show, but I took one before it started and we got a friend to take a picture of us afterward.
The musical was done well and was really funny at times. Of course I'm always the loud laugher. However, I had read the book to kids at some point, and also Destiny and I had listened to the audio version of the book during a trip between State College and Reading years ago, and I really liked the book better than the musical.
I was going to be meeting Alex on Monday afternoon to get Elizer, but they decided he would be keeping him the rest of this week. This is Destiny's last week of work before Christmas break. She has off WITH pay! I felt disappointed to have him gone a whole week, but actually, I had a boatload of music prep to do for the Christmas services at church. I had other catching up to do as well. So I have kept very busy anyway. I told Dick this morning that I think my house has kept cleaned up for the longest in over a year!
Last evening I met Dick at work at 5:00. He had cleaned up and changed clothes in the rest room there. We then headed to Duncannon, an hour-and-a-half drive, for Sammy's middle school concert. I had packed some things for us to eat on the road. He plays percussion with the 5th and 6th grade band. There was also a 7th and 8th grade band and a chorus that was really big. I was so impressed that a smallish rural school district had so many middle school kids involved in music!
As soon as they came onto the stage we could see Sammy looking for his family. We were all sitting together. He looked so handsome up there!
Afterwards we got some pictures. Jenn's parents were there too, but they had left as soon as it was over.
We got back to State College soon after 10:00. Of course we had to go to Dick's shop first so he could get his truck. After I drove away from the shop I took this picture of a very decorated frat house up the street.
And now I'm all caught up at last! We're supposed to be getting ice and snow tomorrow. At least I won't need to worry about picking Elizer up from daycare. Actually, they already closed for tomorrow. Destiny said Starbucks in the library where she works will be closed too. Guess I'll have time to do some more catching up on other things.
