Friday, December 26, 2008

It's a Great Way to Spend Boxing Day

Aisling and I spent part of the day today canning spaghetti sauce. Last summer my tomatoes couldn't really get with the program. I took the tomatoes as I got them; blanched and quartered them and put them in the freezer. This morning the job was half done!I must say it sure beats canning during the heat of the summer!! We did 17 1/2 pints, now she'll have even more food to take back to school with her.

Hmmm... Glad We Weren't Christmas Dinner!!

Lately I've been wondering if I actually own my home and property or if we happen to be placed in the middle of someone's wildlife refuge. :)The turkeys seem to be back for a while. They usually come during the winter. They do a great job cleaning up under the bird feeders;) These guys are pretty fat, they'd make a great dinner for someone willing to do it. I remember once when mom and dad were gone, Grandma & Grandpa Baird were staying with my brother and me. There was a sage hen in the yard. Grandma had my brother go shoot it, then we had it for dinner. There was NO WAY I was going to eat it. I still feel that way.
They all seem to live in harmony...... I just wish the deer would live happily in someone else's yard.
No wonder I can't keep my birdbath filled!!

It's a Wonderful Life!

This year, for the first time in years, we stayed home for Christmas. We knew we would miss Christmas Eve with family so we looked for ways to make our own memorable.
Santa always brings us new jammies on Christmas Eve. This year, instead of getting jammies, Laurence got a cool Belgian Waffle Maker. We had a waffle supper, for the waffles we had whipped cream, frozen fruit, ice cream (my personal favorite), maple syrup, and blueberry topping. What a FUN supper!
This is my waffle with Double Strawberry ice cream. It was YUMMY!!
Then we each shared a Christmas Story along with some pitiful singing of Christmas Carols.
We watched a movie of the Christmas Story from Luke.
What a wonderful evening. It was just the three of us, but it was so nice. I feel so blessed tonight.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Christmas is HERE!!

I am so tickled to have our Christmas tree up!!! We haven't had one for several years. I had a project at work that I always let take priority. (Stupid me!!)So this year is my Hallmark Christmas. The tree has mainly Aisling's Hallmark ornaments we've purchased through the years. On other years I use my heirloom ornaments from my mom.
I got it up and decorated Saturday. Aisling and Laurence were thrilled. (Not to have the tree up, but to not have to do any of it!)
This is my Peanuts Gallery. I love the things Hallmark does with some of the comic strip characters. They used to do more.......(are you listening Hallmark?)
The cute battery operated candles were given to me by mom's secretary Peggy. She is the BEST!!

Am I too old for Barbie's? I don't think so!! I tell Laurence I do this because I didn't get any Barbie's when I was growing up!! I love my Barbie ornaments!! There are four others that are separate this year, they're from different countries. They belong to Aisling, she was given one every year by a dear friend when she was little.
Now for the bad news: Aisling sees all of this as unnecessary fluff. I'm sure that when I die you'll find them for a really good price on eBay. Sob, sob!!! Hmmmmm can I be buried with them?:)

Friday, December 12, 2008

Thanksgiving

What fun it was to get to see Aisling!! We only got to see her for about 18 hours, but I was grateful for that. We sure do miss her. Glad she's happy at college.

Aisling and Jake. He has the cutest smile! Aisling is so good with kids. She even had Emily talking to her by the time she left.

Kent, at dinner. Not his best picture, but since he never reads our blog, he'll never know:) Or if he does, I'll hear about it. He is the best young man!
Daniel and Jason. Now where was Ben??? Oh yes, he was over working at the factory with Uncle Laurence. For pictures of them, check out the Queen Bee blog.

Fun in Grantsville

We stayed with Tracy and Steve. What great hosts!! They and their kids were so good to us! It was so fun to stay up late talking to Tracy. I haven't done that in years! It's amazing that we both have daughters the same age. Steven and Conner gave us their beds, THANKS guys!!
Steve and Tracy are amazing and I was so impressed with their family and their home. Wish we lived closer to all of you!!
We got to go visit Erin & Bump. What a fun family. Quincy had a great time showing mom how to put the nativity together. Probably a bit different than it was that night 2,000 years ago:)
Erin, Quincy, Mom, Corbin, Gabby and Bump
What a wonderful family!! They are just great!
And the work they've done on their house is amazing!!
I didn't get a picture of the Christmas decor but if you look on Erin's blog it is there.
The house looks GREAT!!

Monday, December 8, 2008

More Family from Aunt Roma's Funeral

Bill and Dan
Sherley, Sheryl and Carol
Uncle Don and Aunt Sherley
A fun picture of Dan and Mom
I love this picture!
There's that Zeller humor in Uncle Don!

Aunt Roma's Funeral

Although we will miss Aunt Roma desperately in this life,
it was wonderful to see family and reconnect.
Chris, Dan, Bill
Eldon, Nina
Don, Sherley, Bessie
Bessie, Nina, Sondra
Sherley, Sheryl, Carol
Sheryl, Sondra, Mike, Eldon, Nina, Bill, Ann, Kim, Chris, Dan
Carol, Sidney, Don, Sherley, Bessie