Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Thanksgiving Weekend #2

Saturday was pretty much the "big day". That's when we ate our Thanksgiving meal and did lots of activities. My cousin Alice, her hubby Brian, and kids Joseph & Charlotte arrived late morning.


For some reason we don't have a picture with their whole family. So, this is the best I have - minus Joseph. (He's 3 1/2 yrs.) Alice is also expecting again, and due in June. Thus she wasn't feeling so great being in her first trimester. :(


Rebecca was the "kitchen organizer" and did great making sure everyone had their assigned tasks ready in time for eating at noon. Thanks, Bec! We had all the traditional fare, and it was delicious! Here's a few pics of us eating. We had 32 people there, so we were spread out into 3 rooms.




Emily's not just acting weird in this pic she saying, "I'm Full!" She's a lovable, goofball!

I know some of you are interested in pics of Emily and Jason, so since she has been quite remiss on her own blog, here are a few. =)





Our kids were quite excited to see Aunt Emily (or as Joanna says - Aunt Elomy) and Uncle Jason. Here they are gettin' some lovin'. (They were quite excited to see Auntie Becca too, but we didn't get any pics of their lovin'.)






For those of you who have never been to my parents place, Koinania , here are a few scenic pictures.


The lake


The cabin on the lake, which Daniel and I stayed in for 2 nights until Em and Jason arrived and got dibs. :) It felt like we were miles away from the kids on our own little vacation. NICE!


This is 5 acres of creek property my parents recently bought just down the road from their 100 acre farm. We call it "Grandma's Creek".


After lunch the kids had fun playing with the dogs. We ended up having 6 dogs there!


They also did a little bit of fishing.


I love this pic of my cousin Andy and his daughter Paige fishing together.


For any of you that know my mom, you know she loves a great find! Well, this is an old outhouse she had moved to the lake and is now where she stores all the fishing gear. It's probably the only "fishing outhouse" in existence! :)


We also had a bonfire by the lake, which is always fun!

There were 4 wheeler rides going on, too!


Jami and Paige on 4 wheeler


Jami and all her kids


Richard and some of his girls took a turn.


Daniel and Isaac


Daniel and Joanna


I love Joanna's expression in this one, pure joy! Daniel also took the older girls and me for our turns, but we don't have pics of that.

Some people went for walks.


Here are my Grandparents getting ready to go on one.

I and my sisters went for one, too. It was so nice to chat just the 3 of us!
(Gen, we walked the hill all the way to 49. Yeah!)






(I'm not quite sure what Emily is doing here, but we had a great time! She always keeps us laughing.)


As we were heading back, Mom and Jami came on the 4 wheeler to check on us. I guess we had been gone for awhile; you know how it is when sisters get together and talk!

We also had a pinata, but for some reason didn't get any pictures of that. We were planning on playing some football, but there just wasn't enough hours in the day. :(

In the evening, we decided to have a little Poker tournament. It started with 12 of us. We each put in 2 bucks and the top 3 winners would split the pot, 1st-60%, 2nd-30%, and 3rd-10%. So we drew cards for the starting teams. About half of the players had experience and the other half were taught or reminded how to play along the way. Here we are getting our tables and teams ready.



My table ended up being all beginners, but my Uncle Bob, who very patiently taught us how to play.

We played until each table had eliminated 3 players, then merged and played to the win! We ended up playing for about 5-6 hours, so near the end people weren't making the wisest decisions. It ended up that my cousin Andy won first place, my sweet honey came in second, and I came in third! (After being the only girl in the finals and starting with significantly less chips than everyone else. It was pretty cool, though I know they were getting tired of me asking, "How many more cards do I get?") We got a whopping $10 total for coming in 2nd and 3rd. Woohoo!

Here are the winners!


I had thought that all of us were biting our chips and it wasn't until I saw this picture that I realized I'm the only one doing it!





Hannah and Abby had a lot of fun playing with Zach and Paige. This game of pulling each other around in their sleeping bags, was especially fun!


Joanna and Grandpa having fun together!

We're looking forward to Christmastime now, and my immediate family being all together again! We hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving, too.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Thanksgiving Weekend #1

It ends up that I have more pictures than I expected, you know we had so much fun, so I will make this 2 posts.

We arrived late Wednesday night, the first ones there. Rebecca and my grandparents arrived Thursday afternoon, and most everyone else arrived sometime Friday. So, the plan was for me, Rebecca, Grandma, and Mom to make several batches of pierogis (Polish food) for us to take home.

Here we are hard at work.

Some pierogis after assembly, before they are boiled then fried in butter. YUM!!

Abigail helped us for a bit. We want to pass on the tradition, so we can still have pierogis in our old age! :) All the kids helped at some point or another, but we didn't get any pictures.

Here's Isaac "napping" during some of the work. He did actually take a nap, but when Daniel took this photo he was just being cute!

Hannah had fun playing with this doll house for quite awhile.

Daniel was kept busy chopping wood.



Then on Friday the kids had fun going exploring with Grandma in the woods.

And they're off!

Here we are doing what we do best, socializing! (My sister Rebecca, cousin Andy, and Grandma.)

Hannah went to take the trash out to the big can at the bottom of the driveway and called Izzy to come with her. I wasn't fast enough with the camera and really needed the zoom lens, but here they are on their way back up.

More to come soon!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Genevieve


I am so thankful to have you as a friend! I wish we lived closer to each other, so we could spend time together and our families could know each other better. I am missing you!! I have been so busy with all of "life" I haven't had a chance to call you back. Sorry! Hopefully we can connect soon. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family.

Also, you are by far one of the best commenters of mine! Thanks. :)

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

We're leaving...

tomorrow to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family in Missouri. Some of my mom's family will be there, so I will be able to see some cousins and their kiddos that I haven't seen in awhile! It should be a fun time. Also, I will get to see my sisters, who I don't get to see often enough, and my Grandparents!

I hope to come back with some pictures to share our weekend with you all. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

This season reminds me of when I was growing up. Whenever we were grumpy teenagers and not liking our current situation, my mom would send us to our room to think of 10 things we were thankful for. We were not allowed to use the generic answers, either! I hated that, but it always worked. ;) In fact, I could use a little bit of that in my life right now. So, here are 10 things, in no particular order, that I am thankful for:

1. A wonderful husband who still loves me in spite of ! (He knows what I'm talking about)

2. Healthy, happy children who desire to please God and enjoy doing 'votions. (devotions)

3. A great new church, that is restoring some of my faith in the "conventional" church.

4. Wonderful in-laws who I feel love me as their own.

5. My parents and sisters who I know will always be there for me, no matter what! (and who I can be completely ridiculous with!)

6. My girlfriends, Jody and Mel, who I can't imagine living here without!

7. Dog Days - this workout "class" that I have been going to for a bit now. It pushes me more than I would ever push myself, and I feel good when it's over.

8. The family business that provides us with so much more than just a "job".

9. I'm thankful all of my kids are potty trained!

10. I'm thankful my sister's husband is back home from 15 months in Iraq, safe and sound! PTL

So, what are some things you all are thankful for?

Friday, November 16, 2007

Thanksgiving Psalm

I read this Psalm in my devotions this morning and I thought it was appropriate for this season.

Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.



I know this last part to be true. The Lord has proven that he is good, his love does endure forever, and he has shown faithfulness through many generations in my family!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

My Sweet Husband

Last night when Daniel got home from a basketball game with a friend, he gave me this.


Of course, I was very pleasantly surprised!

First, I opened the card and read lots of wonderful things about how much he appreciates me and what specifically he loves about me. With my love language being words of affirmation, I always love that! :)

Then I opened these! What woman doesn't love getting jewelry?! They are rubies and match a ring he gave me a year or 2 ago. I love them!

Here's a close-up view for you:



Thank you so much, Honey! You are an Amazing Husband and I am so Grateful to God for blessing me with you!!