New Year's Eve

I keep meaning to post my Christmas pictures and still have not done it, but here it is already New Year's Eve and I am thinking back over 2008 and looking ahead to 2009. It has been a quiet day at my house and I've been able to do a little cross-stitching, enjoying the Christmas tree, loving the beauty of the snow falling, and oohing over the drawings my boys are producing. It is a nostalgic day thinking back over the happy times of this year. Happy new year to all...

Victor's 11th brithday

Our older boy, Victor, turned 11 on December 23rd. I always try to make a special meal and this year was no exception. Amish meatloaf was the specialty this year. Delicious!! Instead of a birthday cake, Victor likes "Oreo Fluff". So I made that and put a Bunker Hill tractor on it to represent all the fun times we had this summer at the Bunker Hill truck & tractor pulls. (I can't seem to "find" the pictures of the cake!)

Christmas Cookie Exchange

I hosted my First Annual Christmas Cookie Exchange at my house on Thursday December 11, 2008. Last Christmas I wanted to do this but didn't get my act together soon enough, so I started planning for this year as soon as Christmas was over last year. My cookie exchangers were my sister Brenda Lynn who could not be here, Sandra Grabill, Joanna Pears, Valerie Quales, Debbie Goodenow, Melinda Mattern, Amy Stratton, and Melanie Thomas. So including my cookies, we had 9 different types of cookies. YUM! Here's what we had: I made Cream Wafers and Brenda's Dipped Gingersnaps, Sandra ~ Rich Double Peanut Butter Cookies, Joanna ~ Thumprints, Valerie ~ Mexican Wedding Cakes, Debbie ~ Delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies, Melinda ~ Sugar Cookie Cutouts, Amy ~ Shortbread Cutouts, and Melanie ~ Peanut Butter Blossoms. Oh, what a spread! My table never looked so good!

I started out the evening with refreshments. I had a couple loooong subs from Wal-Mart, Sunchips, and applesauce. For dessert I had mint wafer cookie and cheese logs. To drink I had Tang, Wassail, and coffee with vanilla carmel creamer.

After our tummies were satisfied, we played a Left/Right game using salt dough snowmen ornaments that I made a few months ago, "Name that Christmas Tune" with Valerie helping me out on my mini keyboard, Christmas Trivia, and "What is in your purse". I had a blast and it seemed like everyone was enjoying themselves.

Finally... the reason we were gathered together ~ to swap Christmas Cookies. Each lady shared why she chose that particular cookie and then we got our extra trays and started going around the table gathering cookies. There were 6 dozen of most, so each lady got to take home 8 cookies of each kind. Oh, how wonderful those "going home" trays looked! And the delight on each face made it worth everything!

Ladies, I am already looking forward to next year with great anticipation and am hoping we can spread the word and have a few more ladies to get in on this fantastic way of having lots of different kinds of cookies with just the effort of doing one kind.

Now, I will have to add a little PS to this story. Although I have been planning this for months on end and have had my invitations out for weeks on end, on Monday I was not sure I was going to be able to go through with it. I started having a pain in my left foot Thursday of last week and it gradually got worse and worse. By Monday I could not walk on it. I went to my doctor and he sent me for X-rays. Said that I probably had a stress fracture. I was unable to do much of anything. I about ready to call off the party. Then My dear darling husband came to my rescue and took a vacation day the day of the party and got the house cleaned and in order. So HE pulled off the party for me!! I am so grateful for his help since I was very limited in what I could do! Another PS. The x-rays showed no stress fracture. Doc says it is a sprain. So it is the "hurry and wait" game of healing and mending.

Sisters of Encouragement Christmas Gift Exchange

Our annual Sisters of Encouragement Christmas gift exchange was held in the warm cozy new parsonage this year. How delightful that was to gather there with about 28 other church "sisters". The food was scrumptious and the fellowship was refreshing. Our pastor's wife was a wonderful hostess.

Oreo ~ our Cocker Spaniel

Oreo... our sweet puppy ~ 11 months old

Our Christmas Tree

Putting up our Christmas tree

Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving @ Barbara's Mom & Dad

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving will be in Pittsburgh with my mom & dad again this year. It has become a tradition for David & me to leave the kids with grandma & grandpa on Black Friday morning and the two of us sneak off in the dark of the morning and do our secret shopping. We often end up at Panera Bread in Monroeville for breakfast and... to catch our breath and regroup! Most folks think us crazy for "wanting" to shop in the Black Friday crowds, but honestly, it isn't as bad as shopping at our Salem Wal-Mart on a SATURDAY. Oh how I HATE those crowds. I have to be desperate for something to go to town on a Saturday! So it is with excitement that we get up very early and head out into the cold, crisp, quiet morning and make our way to the shopping district. What precious memories!

Salem Women of Worth Meeting 10/26/08

The Salem Women of Worth met Monday evening 10/26/08 in the Allegheny Wesleyan College cafeteria. Sis. Jan (Henry) Miller was the speaker for the evening. She spoke about having a merry heart. Even in the dark times God can help us to see the brighter picture and get our heads above the clouds. Having a merry heart is an attitude that we choose.

We enjoyed a delicious baked potato bar with yummy 'tater toppin's. Ladies also baked up a storm and brought scrumptious pumpkin and apple desserts. What a spread. God's presence was very real as we ended the evening in prayer.

Potato Harvest

We had a very small raised garden with potatoes and tomatoes in it this year. Saturday we harvested the potatoes that we grew. It was an exciting time. We only had 2 hills, but it was so much fun you would have thought we had enough for the whole winter! We had them for Sunday dinner today and they were absolutely the best potatoes we have ever eaten!

The Apple Orchard

Saturday dawned clear and crisp here in Eastern Ohio. We planned a Fall Family Fun Day a Haus Apple Orchard in Canfield, Ohio. The trip over there was so enjoyable. The trees were ablaze with brilliant hues of orange, red, and yellow. Our 4 car caravan consisted of mom & dad (from Pittsburgh), sister Brenda and her family (from Butler, Pa), sister-in-law Genevela and 2 of her children (from Salem) and our family; making a total of 15 people!

When we got to Haus, we went inside to watch the incredible operation of pressing apple cider. WOW ~ that is so spell bindng. I have seen it done many times, but I still leave in awe of it all. The fragrance is awesome. The sweet cider is delicious and refreshing. Some of us could not help buying a gallon or two!!

Outside in the field there is a tall stack of round bales of hay for the kids to climb on. They really
enjoyed climbing, rolling, tugging, & jumping on and around the hay. The parents and grandparents laughed at their silly antics! What fun we all had! What a great memory of this beautiful time of the year.

Fall

Here we are in the beautiful season of Fall! So much I love about this time of year; the cool crisp mornings and evenings, the crunch of leaves underfoot on the yard, the trees showing thier briliiant colors, and most of all I love the family gathered inside a little earlier at the end of the day. A soft lamp-light, a good book, and a warm cozy throw over my lap and my family gathered round... that is my favorite thing about this season!! Our pace has slowed down a bit in some ways now that school is in full swing. Some evenings are consumed with homework and spelling drills and that keeps us busy in a different kind of way. We cherish those moments with our kids no matter what we are doing.

W E L C O M E

My blog is created with the intent and purpose of connecting with friends and family in a new way in hopes of strengthening those precious connections.