Merry Christmas

The stockings are hung, Christmas eve at the folks is over, now I am up early, like every day. . . just waiting on the kids to come. They are coming at 10:30. That gives them time to have Christmas morning at home, make other stops, if necessary and then here.

What fun we had at Dad and Mom's last night. The whole clan was together. Makes for a noisy hot house. We had to turn the air conditioner on. It was a night of surprises. Mom and Dad gave my nephew Ryan a bunch of old movies and TV show videos (never opened) that belonged to Uncle Dell. He was so emotional. That is Ryan. . .the biggest kid, with the biggest soft heart. We decided years ago not to buy stuff for the sisters. Well, they played dirty. Sherry made Diana and I each a quilt. The tops belonged to Grandpa Andy(Fador) and his French wife (Lucienne). She had pieced them. Nice gesture. Diana (always told she is the mean one) decided to do something really nice, and bought us matching diamond/heart necklaces. Funny thing there, Mom had bought the exact same necklaces for the granddaughters. I guess great minds think alike.

pens, pens, pens

This is the 2009 Christmas projects. The guys have been furiously working on getting pen and pencils sets completed in time. Thank goodness some people don't need their's for Christmas gifts. They are really having a lot of fun and you know how they love a good woodworking project. They are selling for $25.00/set and up, depending on style and wood. Gee, Lorrie, that would be a good project for your in-laws.

Let it snow!!!

These pictures are for the Mitchell Kids, big and little. They are excited that we have snow. Hopefully it will stay for Christmas.

The snow is beautiful. It clung to the trees Saturday morning. We were out in the crazy weather for a car fire, but it really was pretty.

Love my new snow tires. They just keep on digging. Now if we can just get tires on John's truck, maybe we won't have to ride the ditch anymore.

May you all have a very Merry Christmas.

We have a well

The pictures loaded backwards, but that is the best I could do until the other computer comes back. They still need to tear down the rig and move it, but the weather hasn't been fit and their schedules haven't meshed.

OH, No

Computer troubles. Luckily I still have the laptop, but most of my essential stuff is on the other computer. It is in the shop.

If I figure out how to use the card reader with this one, takes me a while, I will post some pictures of the state inspection on the water well. What a crazy day.

We have been super busy getting ready for ho ho. My kitchen has been in an uproar, with the baking, candy making and normal everyday cooking. Sure does smell good most days. The guys are in the basement. They have their own little projects going, as usual. This year the big thing they have started is. . . pen and pencil sets. Turned from wood. I will try to get those pictures posted, too.

Today we are off to get Santa to the community center. He will be coming in on a firetruck, since we don't have any snow. Who knows how many more times Dad will get to be Santa. This is the first time in quite a few years that he has had the opportunity. The community just hasn't had anything. We will make sure to get pictures today.

Where has the time gone?????

Wow, 30 years ago, today .. .

Look at us now . . .

What happened? What a great way to spend the last 30 years. With my best friend and eternal companion. These years have just flown. It seems like yesterday we were at the alter, being sealed for time and all eternity, in the Washington D. C. temple. How lucky I am.

Yesterday we spent the day just running around. I was able to get my hardwood kitchen floor at Keim Lumber in Charm, OH. Got new boots, yea!! Just enjoyed spending the day together, even though John is sick. I am pretty sure he has the flu. Lots of aches, pains, fever and head stuff.

Looking forward to the next 30 years. Can't wait to see what fun and adventure they bring.

SURPRISE . . . SURPRISE!!!!

I can't believe it. I was in a bread making contest last night. . . and I won. I took my wheat bread to be judged against pumpkin cloverleaf rolls and cranberry apple bread. I couldn't believe when they called my name. This was the first year they actually had a tasting competition for the Times Leader Holiday cookbook. Two ladies that I have known for years also won first in their categories. We won $100.00 in gift certificates and a nice bag of goodies from the Kitchen Collection store.

I started making bread at 6:00 am yesterday morning. I just wanted to have the perfect loaf. By 11:00 am I had made 14 loaves. I shared them with Janet and some of the guys at the firehouse. Way too many to keep here.

For those interested, the hives are gone. Still some redness, but the itching left.

Viewer discretion advised

Okay, admittedly, not the prettiest pictures to post on the web. BUT . . . this is what I am dealing with since Saturday. I have hives, not just hives, hives on top of hives on top of hives. This is the best picture I could take of myself, since I need to remain clothed.

The doctor has never seen hives this bad. I have them from my ribs to the bottoms of my feet. Walking is a killer. Shoes are only as a necessity. I look like I have the heebie jeebies. The other patients in the doctor's office just kept looking at me. Yuck!!!

I think it is a new medicine. The doctor does not. I am to wait a couple of days and see if it gets any better with the steroid shot, prednisone, and antihistamine. Let's just drug me up. So far, no luck in getting better. The feet are actually worse today. The only place I don't have it is on my neck and face. Thank goodness.

I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. Time for another antihistamine and then out like a light.

Happy 70th Birthday, Dad !!!

No one believes it when you tell them that Dad is 70. He sure doesn't act like it, is usually the comment. We surprised him last night (day early) for his birthday. Pretty much everyone was able to make it, at some point.

April, Annie, and John Jr.

Mitchell

Dylan and KelsyBrian and Kelsy (she loves having her picture taken)Dad and McKayla
Sarah and MamaApril and SarahDad and Diana (Kelsy's grandma) She hates her picture being taken.As you can see, we did catch him off guard. He still had his bibs on from working outside. Kids all had a good time laughing and enjoying the sugary buzz.

Is it Christmas???

Well it was for us last week. Our Bishopric purchased a dry pack canner for the Ward and we are sooooooooo excited. We tried it out on Tuesday, while waiting to serve a funeral dinner.

We canned almost 60 cans of goodies. We found a place up North that will sell us bulk soup mixes, pudding, wheat, etc. Did you know you can get 17 cans of oats out of a 50 lb. bag. Lots of oats. Found a good storage place in my new building. ha ha John.

These are my friends Tom and Dottie Folmar. I have know them since I was a teenager.

One last ride. . . I hope

Well, off we were again. One last train ride for John this year. We have gone to Nelsonville/Logan area several times, but we have always been there in the winter when the train didn't run. So. . . I made plans to go while John was off this week. The ride was over 2 hours long and put him to sleep most of the time, but it was soothing, to say the least.

While in Nelsonville we had to go to the Rocky Boot Outlet, of course. Then to Sonic for lunch.

Then off to Logan to see if our favorite cabin was ready for us to check in. Yea, it was!!!! No pictures this time. Beautiful one room cabin with kitchen, bed, fireplace, bath and the best relaxation technique of all. . .

Now, we did save this for later in the evening after dinner and a little "Gem stone mining" at one of the local campgrounds. But doesn't he look relaxed? It was cool outside, so the hot tub was the perfect ending for a busy day.

This is a picture of the geode we found in our bucket of 'treasures' at the mine. If you have never heard of a geode, look it up on the internet. Some are huge, beautiful, and very expensive. John is going to try and polish up the edges of this one.

We found other treasures, too. We had amythest, emeralds, garnets, moonstones, crystals, "fools gold", and lots of pretty stones. Nothing to make us rich, I'm sure, but we had fun.

Time to unpack, do laundry and check mail. Shame there isn't a hot tub in the back yard. Maybe some day.

Busy, Busy, Busy

As usual we have been super busy with tons of stuff since returning from vacation. Yard work, garden work, and just plain old house work all need finished.

Today has been baking day, except I caught someone with their hand in the cookie jar (bag)

Lorrie, she had a chocolate chip cookie in one hand and an entire bag of ginger snaps in the other. What do we do with her? We sure laughed and wished you were here.

Layne, you would have loved to have been here for Labor Day. We spent way too much on ammo that day. Wasted!!

They did have tons of fun. We went through 3 boxes of clays. We really don't want to tally up how much ammo was used. It sounded like WW3 most of the afternoon. Nice to see they all have something in common. I will tell you all, the girls can match the boys shooting. You really don't want to mess with them. They could hurt you.

The 4 kids are on a cruise this weekend. They flew to LA yesterday and were boarding the ship today. They are going down the west coast of Mexico. Annie had her first airplane ride. She will have to tell you all about it. Sarah and Brian met up with Connie and Larry in Columbus airport. Quite by accident. Who would have thought, in a huge airport they would see each other. They didn't even know the other was going to be there.

Time for a little rest.

HOME . . .What a nice place

We are home. I love going away with John for a few days, but I LOVE coming home. My own bed and bathroom. What more can you ask for. I have so missed being in my kitchen all week. I know, strange, but if you know me you know I spend most of my days in my kitchen.

Day 1: Smoke Hole Caverns, Blackwater Falls and sleeping in Gettysburg.

Day 2: Touring Gettysburg. Probably my favorite. Then off to Hershey to sleep.

Day 3: M & H Train Ride (Middletown & Hummelstown) (Milk & Honey), Indian Echo Caverns, Hershey, Strausburg

This little yellow caboose is where we spent the night. Very quaint. The entire motel is several little cabooses that have been converted into sleeping quarters.

Day 4: Train museum in Strausburg, Pioneer Village (coal mine tour and train ride) then to sleep in Clarion, PA.

A small town in Amish country, PA, that is talked about in a lot of the books I have been reading.

Huge windmills that you see along the mountain tops.

Day 5: Oil City, Titusville, Drake Oil Well

We had a good time, but it sure feels good to be home. Lots more pictures. John filled the card for the camera. I only came home with aprons. Beautiful ones at that. John came home with hats. Shame he was sick all week while were were out and about. He is resting now.