Christmas!! With All the Kids

What a wonderful thing to have all your children under one roof again. 

I can see that it won't happen super often. Our kids are comfortable living far away (that's our fault for moving so much!), and I know what it's been like for my siblings and I to try to get together (living east coast/pacific northwest/midwest ~ it rarely happens 😓).... 

But this year our kids were all here together and my heart is content.

We've been talking about the Christmas tree in the window for years now, and this is the year we made it happen. 

Joy!

Harrison and I picked up Lanaya Elizabeth from the airport Tuesday night (Harrison got some night time driving hours ~ in the fog, no less!). Wednesday we went to Spencer Creek Baptist's Christmas Eve service with Papa. (That's the church he grew up in.)

On Christmas Day, Phillip and Liz drove to the airport to get Amos and Jonathan. Phoebe and Harrison watched Charlie Brown Christmas. 

We had cheesy potato soup for a late lunch, and then lots of people took naps (the boys had had little sleep the night before because of flights and such). 

Phoebe had to sleep in the living room since the two bedrooms were full, so she was also tired. I don't know how she sleeps under the covers without smothering.

Christmas night Phillip prepared a slide show and Scripture readings about Jesus' birth.

Then gifts! 

So it was quite the shipping conundrum leading up to Christmas. Amazon had all kinds of possible dates for when gifts would arrive. The last I had looked, it said January15th. Most of those were stocking gifts, so I went into town and bought stuff from Dollar General and the thrift store. Then all of a sudden every single thing arrives on Christmas Eve! So we had plenty for the stockings.

The big Christmas meal was the day after Christmas because originally we thought Phoebe would have to work Christmas Day. It worked out just fine to do it that way.

Harrison decided he'd eat alone at the kitchen table instead of crowd with us in the dining room.

Elayne made the roast beef and lots of her special candy recipes that we love every year.

Opening gifts from Mimi and Papa.

Lots of hanging out and game playing.

And snacking! 

Jonathan will be here for three weeks total. and Lanaya Elizabeth and Amos flew back home Saturday evening (another late night for them).

Jonathan and Phoebe and the friend group gift exchange. 

Bunch of goofballs! 

(I heard about some of ya'lls gifts!)

Matthew and Harrison and some other friends have been working on a shack at Matthew's house. They dug holes on Saturday. It's good for this boy to get out there! But the muddy boots ~ we need a plan for that.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

 

A New Window from Which to Look upon Winter

Our snow has almost completely melted. After tomorrow's 40° weather, it should be completely gone. It took a week and a half for Fed Ex to come down our road because it was so snowy and slushy/slippy depending on the day. But they have come and we have received our packages for which we are grateful. 

(We've been watching The Crown, so please read this in a British accent.)

Phillip clearing the driveway so we could have John and Kristy and Mimi and Papa for lunch.

Harrison flying his P-51 Mustang in the snow.

We discovered surprise kittens! There is a black and white tomcat that roams for miles up and down our countryside. The neighbor takes pictures and posts on Facebook and her granddaughter calls him Tip. He and our momma cat had kittens, the daughter of which is staring in the picture above. She apparently has also had kittens. And this little one is black, white and orange! I hope it survives ~ it's a cutie.

Lanaya Elizabeth painted a Luna Moth on an abandoned house for her 24th birthday.

Harrison preached at the nursing home this afternoon and did a fine job. 

I have cooked up the alligator! And I loved it. I fried up a small batch for Silas and Harrison. Silas chowed down with hot sauce to dip it in. Harrison tried a couple of pieces. I made a batch for Phoebe, but this time cutting them up smaller so they were truly bite-size. She started in on it, but then she started to smell a fishy smell and gave the rest to me. Fried alligator is just a little too chewy. It tastes like chicken (to me), but is more gristly. 

Then I cooked up the rest for my lunch one day, and this way was even better than fried. I put cut-up alligator and sliced onions, Rotel tomatoes, and a little roux in the crockpot and cooked it on low for several hours. So good over rice. It was tender and spicy and I enjoyed it so much. My dad has more, so I'm going to have to get me some!

Before

And the real reason for this post is to show the progression of a lovely window that we have installed in place of the above air conditioner. 

After

Jamie and Christy came over to help get the heavy air conditioner out of the wall. 

Phillip framed out the window.

Harrison helping install the window which we got from Target Aluminum in town (perfect size for what we needed).

Dry-walled and patched and taped and all that. My part was to paint the walls after Phillip had built it all out.

I also stained the finish boards. 

My bookshelves are back! They've been in Phoebe's bedroom for several weeks. We also finished the wall where the old furnace had been in the living room, so we have a nicely finished living room just in time for Christmas. We still need to put up the tree and decorate this week.

I love the window. 

You can see the sunrises first thing in the morning.

 

From Autumn to Winter

We've gone from pumpkins to the first snowfall since I was last on here. 

This is a sneak peak of a new window Phillip's been working on. You can see the front door from the window, so now we can sneak up on the kitties and watch them huddle on the mat. They usually run away when they see us, so this is a fun treat. 

Our one good picture of the Northern Lights. 

Some people got some great photos with greens and purples, but we mostly saw pink.

Phillip got me these socks and I love them! They're warm too.

Phoebe and Harrison did the pumpkin carving thing. I toasted the pumpkin seeds: garlic salt for some and red pepper and brown sugar for others. They didn't last long.

Harrison was going for a Calvin and Hobbes vibe with his pumpkin (in case you needed interpretation). Phoebe did cat ears.

Harrison and 5 other preacher boys gave their sermons at church last Sunday night. They did so well; I'm always so dang proud of all of them! There was a great return crowd to support them, which is just so wonderful of our congregation. You can watch Harrison's sermon here on YouTube. Thank you, Christy, for filming them!

Lanaya Elizabeth participated in a Latte Art competition at her coffee shop and had a good time.

One of her sweater patterns was also mentioned on Instagram by a prominent yarn company, Quince and Co. That was fun to see!

Phoebe's car was being finicky and wouldn't start, so we took a surprise trip to Jeff City last Saturday. She had to work all day, but I had a little fun in a coffee shop and then walking at a Riverfront Park while I waited for car news. The coffee shop is Plate and Pour. It was cute and very busy! Quite good food and drinks. I had to share a table with what seemed like two sisters having a meetup. I tried to eat and read and pretend I wasn't listening to their conversation. 😆

The park was perfect ~ Leaves all over the ground, a good walking trail, and peaceful views of the Missouri river. 

Thanksgiving!

Mimi and Papa, Aunt Anita and Darren, and Phoebe were all here for the meal. 

Jonathan had Thanksgiving with his hosts in Boise. He played games with the grandkids and told us the news of all the friends he contacted.

Amos and Lanaya were in Oklahoma with the Gonzalez's for Thanksgiving and also celebrated their 3rd anniversary on Thanksgiving. 

Phoebe was only here for a day since she worked the day before and the day after Thanksgiving. But we loved having her here! 

This morning we awoke to the first snow of the season!

It's a pretty wet one and might not last long. Although it's supposed to freeze tonight, so we might have an ice covered frozen slush by tomorrow. We shall see.

Oh, and somewhere in there Phillip had an overnight at the hospital again. They figured it out (GI related this time) and gave him antibiotics. It's been over a year since Pancreatitis. Every once in a while he has bad stomach pains, but he is pretty much back to normal. His strength is back; his diet isn't very restricted; he's full-on at work and working on the house. We're very thankful for his health and for normalcy!