Sunday, December 28, 2008

Getting Caught Up....

Ok....so I just wrote out this long, looong post about our Christmas, I saved it...then "tried" to post it. I hate those little "We're sorry but there was an error..." messages! I have counted to 100 and am trying to post it again. Unfortunately because of time now, you'll end up getting a more condensed version of the first post! Oh well.
So anyway, the week before Christmas, Jacob made the 8 hour trip by himself to visit with my Mom and Dad. My dad had planned to take him on a trip to my hometown of Graniteville, SC. He introduced Jacob to aunts, uncles, and cousins....many of whom Jacob had never had the pleasure of meeting before. He got to see some of the places where my Mom and Dad grew up, and he also got to see the church where Matt and I were married almost 29 years ago! (this is the same church my Mom grew up in also) Here are a few pictures of the church...it's very beautiful and old...
After their 2 day visit to Graniteville, Jacob stayed with my parents for a few more days. Just look at this big ol' starfish he found on the beach...
After enjoying a few days at the beach, Jacob and my parents then journeyed over to our house to spend Christmas with us. What a treat that was! We had so much fun and enjoyed their company so much.
A brief synopsis of Christmas gifts this year...for Katie they included games, books, jackets, a stocking full of stuff, and cowgal boots...
For Rachel, she requested money, a few special music cds and some much-sought-after violin accessories...
For Jacob, he was surprised with an ipod shuffle, some size 13W boots that were too small, and totally bowled over with a Sony Vaio laptop computer (from his grandparents)!
And guess...just guess what I got!?!?! I got my long-awaited-for butter churn! It's just what I had been looking for...not sure how old it is, but it has the handcrank and the wooden paddles and it works like a charm!
All you have to do is add fresh cream....
Convince an energetic 10 year old how much fun it is to turn that crank....
Check on it in about 15-30 minutes....
Then before you know it you'll see that rich creamy fresh butter floating on top....
Isn't that just the neatest ol' thing you ever did see in all your life?
The only "down side" to Christmas this year was that Amy didn't get to come in. But we're hoping for a visit soon...and then we can have Christmas all over again! :O)
I hope your Christmas was as enjoyable as ours and that you got to spend it with those you love.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Has it really been 3 weeks?

Wow! Has it really been three weeks since I last posted? I didn't realize it had been that long. Oh well...nothing really earth-shattering has been going on. Let's see...we had the flu/plague/bad-cold-thing for a while. Call it what you wish...it was one nasty bug and I, for one, am glad it's dead and gone! We all got it...Katie was the last man down, and somehow she managed to survive with the least damage done.

Hmm. What else have we been doing? We enjoyed some good company this past weekend. There's nothing like a visit with some long-time special friends. These folks were in Germany at the same time we were....he and Matt were in the Army together. But what makes it even more special is that Jeff and I were saved within a few months of each other. We all went to the same church (of course, Americans are pretty limited where they can go to church in Germany...if they want to understand the service, that is!) Anyway, we've stayed in touch all these years and get to see each other once in a blue moon. It was a nice visit.

We are counting down the days til Christmas vacation!!! Eight days left and the first semester will be behind us! Jacob finished up his Economics college class last night. He had to take a test and also his final exam last night. Should find out his first semester grade soon. We'll be registering him for the second semester today. He's taking Introductory Accounting and he also wants to take another class...just hasn't decided which one yet.

Rachel had another recital this past weekend. She could not have done a better job! She played the Mozart Sonata and it was just wonderful. There was a really big crowd there...we estimated at least 120 people! That's the biggest crowd so far at one of the recitals.
Here's a picture of the weather that day...this is what it looked like as we headed out the door...
Here are a few "before" pictures....waiting to be seated before the recital begins...
Nervous? Who...me? :O)
Here's a "during" shot...right in the middle of her song....
And finally, an "after" picture....does she look glad that it's over?
And last but not least, here is a picture of Rachel with her teacher...
So I guess that's about all for now. I'll try not to wait another three weeks to post again! :O)