Our Thanksgiving Saturday and Sunday

Okay, here goes one more post about our Thanksgiving weekend!  Because I always like to have a pretty picture at the top, I'm sharing this collage from Lisa.  Over her Thanksgiving break from school she decorated TWO HUNDRED shells that they have collected while out on their boat!  She said at one point that she decided doing lesson plans was easier, haha!   But WOW!!!  Her creativity and eye for beauty and design are amazing!  Look at that gorgeous tree!  Also the ones in glass containers.  She did not get that giftedness from me for sure!

Now back to our Saturday.  Again we had a very laid back morning here, except for Dick and Sam.    Dick went to work until noon and then over to Anthony's place for the first day of rifle deer hunting season.  Sam also had to work a half day, and left very early for the hour-and-a-half drive to Duncannon.  

I made pancakes for breakfast.  Around noon we loaded into the van and went to Discovery Space.  I probably mentioned before that we have a grandparents' annual membership, and we can go as often as we want with our grandchildren.  I think I could walk in there with anybody's kids and they would believe they are my grandchildren, hahahaha!!  On Saturday I had Sammy and Bianca, Destiny and Alex with me, and they all got in for free as my grandchildren.  Then Lori arrived with her two boys and RJ.  They also have a family membership, but she was going to pay for RJ.  I said, "Well, actually, he is my grandchild too, so he can get in with my membership."  No problem!  He got in free too!  It's such a great place, and I saw a sign that said that the memberships and admission fees cover only 17% of their operating costs.  I want to make sure I give a donation to them.  

Here are our pictures from the couple of fun hours we spent there. 

When we left, RJ came with us (Ray was hunting at Anthony and Lori's).  I needed to do some grocery shopping when we left, but didn't want to take hungry children into a grocery store.  So we made a run through McDonalds drive-in for small milk shakes.  That did the trick.  We had fun at Weis Markets, especially because Alex humored the kids by using one of the scooter carts!  Destiny was a great help too.  She's so good with kids.  

Destiny wanted to get avocados, and as soon as we got home she made some scrumptious guacamole.  The perfect thing to feed hungry bellies while I made meatballs for subs for our dinner.  

Sam and Dick got back home.  Ray came to our place too after it got too dark to hunt.  He needed to work in the morning, and he wasn't feeling great because of a cold he was fighting, so he and RJ were soon on their way home to Lebanon.  We had another fun, lower-key evening of eating, Connect Four, and the puzzle.  

They finished the puzzle, but one piece was missing.  If you look closely you can see it on the far left.  That really bugged Destiny.  Early Sunday morning I took the time to look through a little basket in our game closet into which I put stray puzzle pieces when I find them on the floor.  I found it!!!

I was busy getting food ready for Dick to take along to the hunting cabin the next day.  I made fruit salad and also prepped all the fixin's to go with the chili Deb Stauffer would be sending with Fred.  

Sunday morning was dark and dreary with some freezing rain.  Sammy woke up to go to church with us at GBRV.  Any occasion to dress up!!  Bianca woke up grouchy and didn't want to go along, haha!  

We had our Hanging of the Greens service, which included the children.  In fact, Sammy got to light the tree!   A friend of our flute player donated an absolutely beautiful nativity set to our church, each piece carefully painted in typical colors of the times.  Some other time I'll get a closer picture of it.  

We did not go to Calvary's service because it was raw and rainy, and Dick was gathering up all his stuff to take to the hunting cabin.  The Stauffer brothers have a long tradition of going to this cabin (owned by Fred and Jim).  Back in the day they would leave Saturday and come home on Wednesday!  We wives and kids used to have a sleepover at my house.  Those were the days!  One time we ladies did not even go to bed!  We woke up still sitting in my family room, hahaha!  Now there are very few deer around that cabin, but they still go Sunday and Monday and have a fun time together.  Although, according to Dick, they were all coughing this year.  Ugh.  

Here at home I made BBQ hot dogs, fried potatoes, and veggies and dip for our lunch.  We had a fun lazy afternoon.  

Bianca called all her balloons "her kids."  She kept herding them from place to place throughout the house!

Destiny and Alex played with the LEGOs for a long time.  She said she made the same thing she makes each year.  

We also played LIFE and watched football.  Meanwhile it was getting dark and we were unaware of what the weather was doing outside.  Alas, it was snowing!  

So Sam and the kids left for Duncannon, and Destiny and Alex left for Columbia.   I was really, really relieved when I found out that they all had arrived safely home.  

I spent the evening cleaning up, doing some laundry, and catching up my neglected checkbook, haha!  It was really, really quiet around here, but it was okay.  I was really ready for my bed that night!

I will end this post with this amazing video.  For the second year in a row Anthony compiled a video of guitarists from all over the world, all jamming to the same track he had provided them.  It is beautiful and amazing on so many levels.  The Thanksgiving Ballad.  Enjoy!

Our Thanksgiving Thursday and Friday

Second blog post in one day!  Before I go back to Thanksgiving Day I want to show you the gorgeous views we had this morning!  

And now our Thanksgiving Day.  I had a lot of food prep to do, but few distractions, so I thoroughly enjoyed taking things at a nice even pace.  Bjorn and Jess were here, and we had the parade on TV.  Bjorn was studying most of the time.  When I was putting the cooked potatoes through my old food slicer I told him that it used to have a shield on top to keep me from slicing my fingers.  He told me to be careful.  I said, "Why?  You don't want to have my gourmet fingers in your gourmet potatoes?"  He quipped, "No, that's not how finger foods work!"  I love his humor!

Slowly, but surely, I got the stuffing made, the sweet potato casserole, the green bean casserole, the baked corn, the gourmet potatoes, the cranberry applesauce, and I put the previously roasted turkey meat into the slow cooker.  I had bought a big pumpkin pie at Sam's Club and Lori was making apple crisp.  Lori had gotten plenty of ice cream and drinks.

I forgot to mention in my previous post that Ray, Ashley, and RJ had arrived at Anthony and Lori's place late Wednesday evening.  They stayed in their airbnb apartment.   They wanted to do some target shooting Thursday afternoon, so Dick went over there to help get that set up, then came home around 3:00 to get showered and to help me load up all the food.  Bjorn and Jess had gone over to Anthony and Lori's earlier in the afternoon too.

I took this picture on the way over to their place.  This is University Drive, and I had just passed the Bryce Jordan Center.  I honestly don't think I have ever been the only car on the road here!  It felt almost eery!    

On our way over I heard from Destiny and Alex and also from Sam and the kids, who were on their way to Anthony and Lori's place also.  As it turned out, we all got there at about the very same time!

When I walked in I saw Austin engrossed in an intricate project.  I love when he works on things like that.  The tables had been set up, so I gave the Thanksgiving paper supplies to Jess and Destiny to set the table.  The guys were watching the Buffalo Bills game.

This was our crew.  Anthony had put his phone on the fireplace mantel and set the timer, then hurried to sit down.  Around the table, starting with Lori (bottom left), Hunter, Anthony, Dick, me, Ray, Destiny, Alex, Austin, RJ, Ashley, Jess, Bjorn, Sammy, Bianca, and Sam.  

After dinner the kids played in the basement playroom, coming upstairs from time to time with complaints about each other.  It sounded pretty wild and crazy down there most of the time.  

Ashley had to drive home yet that night (she and Ray had driven separately the evening before.)  She is the manager of an AT&T store and needed to open the store Friday morning.  

Eventually most of us headed back to our house.  There was great excitement here!  As Sam was driving in the main road to our community he hit a BEAR!!!  His car was not damaged thankfully, except for a plastic shield underneath which had come lose.  It was easily removable.   He and Dick went to see if they could find the bear anywhere, but no luck.    

Eventually I found places for everyone to sleep - the guest bed, an air mattress, a cot, and the couches.  

Early on Friday morning Dick left for Lancaster County.  It was moving day for his dad and Arlene.  They were moving from their beloved house in the woods to an apartment at Pleasant View Retirement Community near Manheim.  I hope we can soon get down to visit them there.  It was time for them to no longer have the responsibility of their own place, but change is very hard at their age.

Here at home we had a slow morning.  I made eggs, hash browns, and bacon for brunch.  We left around 11:30 AM to go see Frozen 2.  All but Bjorn.  He stayed home to study.  

On the way we were having a nice conversation in my van, when I was surprised to see flashing lights in my rear view mirror.  What?????  You guessed it!  I was pulled over for speeding - 43 in a 25.  Ugh!!!  Totally not thinking about my speed as we talked.  I told the officer where we were going.  Bless his heart, he said he would mail me the citation so we could get on our way.  He also said he would just cite me for going 5 MPH over the speed limit so I would not get points against my driver's license.  Bless him!!!  Maybe he'll forget to mail it!

We had a great time at the movies.  Ray and RJ, Lori and the boys met us there.  The most eventful thing was when Jess had to go to the restroom, and when she came back in she tripped on the steps and did a face plant.  I did not see it happen because I was in the middle of the row between kids, but apparently it was quite a sight because they all kept laughing about it afterward.  She was not injured, thankfully. 

We went back to our house afterward and gradually everyone ended up there.  Anthony, Lori, and the boys came too, and Dick got back from Manheim.  We had Thanksgiving leftovers and some pizza that Dick had brought home from the movers.  A 700-piece puzzle and Connect Four were the most popular activities.

They even had a Connect Four tournament!

The craziest part of the day was when Lori flushed out some of our ears.  I had been having serious issues recently and especially that day.  So I really wanted her to do mine.  Jess was first, then me, followed by Bjorn and Ray.  Oh, the eeeews and wows that ensued, hahaha!!  She got so much stuff out of my ears and it looked so gross.  Of course it had to be put on a paper towel and paraded around for all to see and gasp over.  What a hilarious time!!  

Almost as crazy was this game of Heads Up at the kitchen table later.  Oh were they LOUD!!

Later Anthony and Lori and the boys left for home, Ray and RJ went over to their place too,  and things quieted down a bit.  Sammy wanted me to teach him to sew, so I pulled out a piece of fabric and had him doing some basic stitching. Bianca and I started a pot holder with her weaving loom and she did some coloring.  

Bjorn and Jess needed to leave for home because of a deadline he was facing that had to be done in the lab at school.  So we said our goodbyes and thankfully I thought to get a picture of them before they left.  They are so much fun and I love them soooo much! 

I guess I will bring this post to a close and try to do another one tomorrow about our Saturday and Sunday.  

Getting ready for Thanksgiving

Time to catch up here!  There was absolutely no chance to do this on Friday or Saturday, my normal blogging days, so I will do two separate posts.  I know that most of my readers keep up with me on Facebook, so this may seem redundant, but as I've said before, my main purpose for keeping up this blog is for our family.  It is a diary of sorts.  

Going back to Sunday, November 22, we had a big surprise when we woke up that morning.  Our first snow!  Just a light snow, but it was so beautiful as I stepped out onto the porch.  

We went to our service at GBRV and then to Calvary.  Austin and Hunter wanted to come to our house afterward and were here for the afternoon, but somehow I did not take any pictures.  In the evening we met Anthony and Lori to hand them over, then we did a little bit of grocery shopping.  Dick mentioned several times that he didn't know why he felt so exhausted.  

On Monday morning he was very sick with no strength at all.  He could hardly get up from the bed, and later I had to help him get up from the couch.  He was very dizzy and slept most of the day.  As the day progressed his strength and balance came back, thankfully.  That was pretty scary!

On Tuesday morning he felt better, but his throat hurt and his glands were swollen.  So he went to our local urgent care facility to be sure it wasn't strep.  They ruled that out and said he apparently had a virus.  He went to work for the rest of the day and also Wednesday.  I'll get ahead of my story here to say that three days later he got a call that it was in fact strep!  So he was prescribed an antibiotic.  Unfortunately, he is now dealing with a terrible cough.  That's how colds do, move from place to annoying place.  I hope he can soon feel All Better.  Maybe we should have Hunter kiss him and put a bandaid on him, hahaha!

I had given our house a thorough cleaning on Saturday, so I didn't have that to do in preparation for our Thanksgiving guests.  But I did prepare some food ahead, and had beds to prepare.  On Tuesday evening I made the favorite cookies.  I think I made five dozen, but I should have made more.  They are such a hit.

On Wednesday I roasted the turkey, because I have never yet figured out how to roast the turkey on Thanksgiving day when I have so many other things needing the oven.  I like to get it done and out of the way.  This year I tried a dry brine of thyme, lemon zest, and kosher salt.  I had put that on the turkey on Monday and then covered it tightly with plastic wrap for two days.   It came out really beautiful and delicious.  I do wish I could time things so we could put a beautiful roasted turkey on our Thanksgiving table like you see in all the pictures.  But instead I cut it up, kept it in a big bowl in the fridge overnight, and then put in in my big slow cooker on Thursday.  

While I was roasting that I was also making fried rice and sweet and sour pork for Anthony and Lori's dinner.  Whew!  Till all that was done and everything was cleaned up I was almost sick of washing pots and pans before it was even Thanksgiving, haha!  

On Wednesday evening we had a Thanksgiving Eve service at GBRV.  The choir sang "Thank You, Lord."  I just love the lyrics in the verse.  "For all that You've done I will thank you, for all that You're going to do, for all that You've promised and all that You are is all that has carried me through, Jesus, I thank you."  We had time for sharing our thanksgivings at the service.  I think we all were most touched when our precious Gladys (in her nineties) shared some really powerful stories.  I love her so much!  She's had some skin cancer lesions removed from her scalp recently, thus the beanie.  So adorable!

We knew that Bjorn and Jess were on their way to our house and had told them how to get in if they arrived before we got home from church.  But we actually got here at the very same time!   How fun to have them here!!  We hadn't seen them since June!

I wanted to get a picture of them before going to bed.  Bjorn said, "No smiling.  This is engineering!" He has a very, very heavy credit load of high level engineering courses this semester.

Jess is finishing up her semester of student teaching and will graduate in December.  Bjorn will graduate in May.  There is light at the end of the tunnel!!

Two more pictures for this post.  There was an amazing sunrise one morning last week.

I think I made a decision last week about my hair.  I've been covering the gray ever since I was in my 40's, maybe even before that.  I'm not sure I can imagine the process of going gray/white, and I think some it will still be brown, which may look bad, but I'll let my hairdresser help me figure it out.  I used an app to see how I'd look with gray hair, but of course apps probably make it look better than real life.  I might even chicken out.  We shall see. 

Hopefully later today I can find the time to post all about our Thanksgiving weekend. 

Fun with the kids, beauty in the sky, a trip down memory lane, Twin Tower views

So Thanksgiving Day is coming right up!  Actually, it is a week later than it was the past few years because of November 1st being on a Friday, therefore the 4th Thursday isn't until the 28th.  I like it this way better.  Last year, with Thanksgiving Day being on the 22nd, I hardly felt ready for it.  But I have been immensely enjoying the FB memories from last year's Thanksgiving week, when Lisa, George, and Sophie and their dogs spent the week here.  And we had snow - Sophie's first time seeing it and playing in it.  That was such a wonderful week.  

My first picture is this morning's sunrise.  I was sitting at my dining room table, looked out the window and could tell even above the neighbor's house roof that there was a beautiful sunrise out there.  I went out to the porch to get a good shot.  Boy, was it ever cold out there this morning!

Here are a few more outdoor pics from this week.  One morning it was foggy and I thought of the lyrics to a song we did at the Jr. High Choral Festival one year, Misty Morning.  "It was a misty morning on the top of the hill, with all the tress below me standing quiet and still.....Misty morning, I can hear your song, the sound is quiet, but the song is clear.....It's just the morning's way of thanking God for today."  Another morning there was a pronounced streak across the sky.  In order to see how far it went I would have had to walk out to the street in my robe.  So I settled for just getting a picture of it as far as I could see from the front steps.  The other picture below was taken as I walked into Hunter's daycare.  We hate that it's almost dark by 5:00 now.  He always says, "I'm so sleepy."  He really isn't, but the darkness makes him think it's time for bed already.  

Now back to last Saturday.  Sam and the kids came in the evening and overnight.  Sammy had been on a shopping trip that day and was excited about wearing his new jacket, jeans, and shoes to church on Sunday morning.  Good grief!!!  He looked like he was 18 instead of 8!!  And he just loves his pocket watch too!  What a guy!

Austin and Hunter wanted to come here to play with Sammy and Bianca after the service at Calvary.  We had a noisy, crazy day!  Sometimes I wish I had a basement to send them to, to run off some steam, haha!  We watched Home Alone 3, we played Chutes and Ladders, played with LEGOS, drank root beer.  It was a brand new bottle, very carbonated, and Bianca and Hunter made such funny faces when they took their first sips.  

Then I remembered that I had finally gotten a new bag of balloons.  Oh, the fun!

Austin can blow up and tie his own balloons now, and did he ever!  He got Sam to help him tie all his balloons together with some of the yarn that he had brought along.  Austin made himself a fort 

When we told them it was time to calm down they got creative.  Bianca, Sammy, and Hunter got under the dining room table to watch a movie on Sammy's tablet.  Austin made himself a fort to play a game on his iPad.  Of course pesky me had to get some pics!

I think it was on Saturday evening when I was making peanut butter rice krispie treats after Sam and the kids had arrived, I got this short video clip from Mike.  Wow, I teared up immediately!  It's been too long since I've heard Jeremy play piano.  It's short and sweet and makes this mamma's heart happy.

When I was cooking one day this week I thought the veggies I had chopped for the stir fry looked so pretty.  I was going to be like one of those food blogs and take pics of each step.  Unfortunately, I never thought of taking a picture after it was all finished.  

Last evening Anthony and the boys were here while Lori was at a work dinner.  Anthony and I went down memory lane.  He looked through several old photo albums and I pulled out a folder called "Family News Clippings."  What FUN!!  Here are just a few of them - Anthony and Lynn Nolt Rohal as seniors of the month, Lisa on the homecoming queen court, Ray and Frank playing football.  Thee were so many more.  So glad I kept them.  This was all before we had the internet to help us keep our memories alive.  

In one of the photo albums Anthony looked through I found these photos I had taken from the observation deck of the Twin Towers.  Each September 11 I look for these and can never find them.  I finally discovered why.  They're in the wrong album!  I'm quite sure that I took these pictures in February 1989.  But they were in an album of pictures from '94 and '95.  I think these four pictures were taken looking each direction, north, west, south, east.  But I may be wrong.  I think that might be the Statue of Liberty on the bottom left picture.  

Well, that's all for this time.  I have cleaning to do now.  Next week will be busy with lots of food prep.  Have a good weekend!

More birthday fun, Quilts of Valor ceremony, and more

Another weekend here already!   We had a beautiful sunrise last Saturday, and I'm glad I took a picture of it, because for whatever reason, I did not take another one since.  Either I got up too late or there weren't any that caught my attention.

Saturday was a fun day.  I left around 9 AM to go down to Destiny's place in Columbia.  Her third floor apartment does not have great heat - old, ineffective electric baseboard.  I had found someone up here on Craigslist who had several oil-filled electric heaters for sale for $10.00 each.  I know from experience that they produce good heat and are cost-effective.  So we got them and I cleaned them up and took them to her.  Sorry, no picture of her, just a heater, lol!    We got lunch and then I had to be on my way.

It was Sam's birthday, and we have always celebrated our birthdays together since he's been part of our family.  (Mine had been the day before.)  I knew they would be coming up to our place after he got off work.  Eventually I realized that they were going to get to our place before I would!  I still needed to stop for groceries.  I asked him what his favorite cake was, and he didn't know, but he did know he has a favorite pie- lemon meringue.  That's mine too.  I was also thinking that my favorite cake is carrot cake.  So when I got to the grocery store I looked for a lemon meringue pie.  They didn't have any whole lemon meringue pies, but they did have several huge slices.  So I got those, and then I saw a nice big piece of carrot cake, so I got that too.  And some candles.  

When I got home I fried sausage, because we had a big container of cooked peppers and onions that Dick had brought home Houserville's Vote and Go Cafe earlier in the week.  We had sausage subs, mac and cheese, and cake, pie, and ice cream for our birthday supper.   Sammy, always the entertainment director, had trivia games and some fun personality tests for us to do!   

On Sunday morning the kids went with us to GBRV.  We had a very touching ceremony for a few veterans, including Pastor Calvin.  Each of them was presented with a Quilt of Valor, and information was given about their military service.  Most touching of all was the oldest gentleman who had served in WWII.  The story of his hardest experience was graphic and so very, very sad.  I am sure there was not a dry eye in the place.  The quilts were spectacularly beautiful!!

After that service we all went to Calvary's 10:45 service, then afterward we and Anthony and Lori and the boys went to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Plaza Mexican Grill for Sam's official birthday dinner.  I was having too much fun to remember to take many pictures.  Sam took a cute one of Sammy, Bianca, and Austin outside the restaurant.  I got one of him and his kids, and one of the guy making our guacamole.  But no picture of Hunter.  How can that be possible??

Austin went home with us afterward.  I was so sleepy, so I was glad to let the kids use their tablets.  Dick put a football game on TV, and that always puts me right to sleep!  Him too, apparently, haha!

Later they all spent a long time with the LEGOS, making some very impressive creations.  

We tried to play the game Waterworks, which is something Destiny used to really love to play when we visited Dick's parents, so we had brought it here when they were getting rid of things. But the instructions were way more complicated than I remembered, and we never did get going with it.  

So we finished off with ice cream sundaes instead.

I met our new neighbors-to-be this week!  We cracked up that their names are Dick and Joan, and ours are Dick and Jean.  At least we won't have trouble remembering each others' names!  They are so eager to get into their house.  It's such a slow process.  They're hoping to be moved in by Thanksgiving.  At least there are steps at the doors now!

We got our carpets and couches cleaned yesterday, all but our own bedroom.  We'll get that done another time.  So our kitchen was looking like this!

I went away yesterday morning while Curtis, owner of Blue Diamond Cleaning Service, was doing the cleaning.  It was SO NICE to come home later to this!  It smelled so fresh and clean in here. 

So today I'm trying to get everything back in place again.  Good grief!!  It's just crazy how much stuff we have in all the crooks and crannies!  

I've been feeling like I just can't get used to our winter weather this year.  It got so very cold so suddenly.  But then I was reminded in my FB memories that a year ago we had a BIG snow and very cold weather afterward, so it stayed and stayed.  Which was really a good thing, because Lisa and George, and Sophie and the dogs were on their road trip from Florida, and Sophie REALLY wanted to see snow for the first time in her life.  The day after they arrived we had so much fun sledding over at Anthony and Lori's.  Such a good memory!  Can we just go back a year??

Well, that's it for this time!  Gotta put more stuff back in place!