Sunday, November 30, 2008

Thanksgiving and The Beast

I guess I will give a bit of a Thanksgiving update...The turkey was good, but Scott said he would not prepare it this way again. I'm sure next year there will be another idea! We did have a great time with family and friends. After our dinner we went bowling with everyone. The high scorer was our friend Geoff, who quietly blew everyone away!! (And Ashley gets an "A" for effort! :)) We came home and had a great game of Apples to Apples. We have lots to be thankful for and hope everyone else had a great day too!





Part B of my post: The Beast
Anyone who has spoken to Scott since last winter has heard him complain about all the snow shoveling he had to do since we experienced record snowfall for our first winter in MI. Scott loves to tell all who will listen about his hours spent cleaning off the driveway and then slowly making his way around our sidewalk so the children can make their way safely to their bus stop on our corner in the mornings. And how our friendly (non-English speaking) next door neighbor would try to help, but he had his mini-snowblower on a cord and could only reach so far down the sidewalk. Anyway, a man in the church Scott served this summer heard his plight and offered the perfect solution. He had a revitalized snow blower to sell very cheap to us! So Scott and the kids made the trip back to Chicago last week to pick up "The Beast". Scott has been eagerly awaiting a major snowfall to try it out. Today was the day! This thing is quite large for neighborhood snowblowing and my dad joked that you need an operator's license to run it. Anyway, I'm sure there will be more stories to tell...




Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Thanksgiving Preparations

Today was spent running some errands and getting things ready for tomorrow. I saw this cute idea for turkey cupcakes and had the kids try it. It worked well however the corn candies were difficult to find in the stores. We are having some of both of our families and some friends over tomorrow and then we hope to keep up the Grimmius tradition of going bowling later in the day.

Scott is again taking charge of the turkey preparation. He saw this method on the Food Network and decided to try it. We are calling it "turkey in a bucket". It involves brining (?)the turkey in a bucket the night before in some special herbs and juices (We'll leave it at that!). You leave it set over night on ice and then cook it in the morning. We'll let you know how it turns out!! This is Katie and Kamryn with their snowman they built the other day. He has now disappeared as the sun was out today.




Monday, November 24, 2008

The Fun Begins!

This morning we have been experiencing our first significant snowfall. Scott and I were able to run some errands after dropping the kids off at school. Everyone has to get used to driving on the icy roads again. Not fun!! Scott was thrilled to be hauling out his trusty snow shovel to tackle the driveway after we returned home. :)

Troy is excited and is eager for Kamryn to get home from school to join him outside.




Saturday, November 22, 2008

Thankful Thoughts

We have much to be thankful for again this time of year. As of Thursday we are very thankful that Scott has completed another quarter of Seminary. He is doing well and enjoys being there-most days! He has been doing quite a bit of preaching in area churches and really enjoys that too. We are just so thankful for many confirmations of God's call to Seminary! Now he has a whole week off of studying!

I'm thankful for four year old preschool projects and the four year old who wears them!
I'm thankful for a husband who is willing to change our thermostat to the programable kind. (One project from a list of many for break!!) I'm also very thankful for a warm home on such chilly days!

I'm thankful for places like Meijer Gardens to let kids explore and run around a bit and to see some beautiful flowers even in the winter. I'm thankful for kids who love to watch toy trains go around huge tracks and have trouble focusing for the camera. There he is!

I'm thankful for our family.


I'm thankful for a husband who plays with his kids.


I'm thankful for artists who create interesting things!

I'm thankful for goofy kids!




Have a great thanksgiving!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Peaceful Times

The other evening I looked over to the kitchen and saw this peaceful sight. Katie was patiently leading the group in making a batch of cookies. Nice! We are glad to have her back home after many long days spent at school practicing for the play. Now, how to keep her busy? Anyone need a good babysitter?!



Saturday, November 15, 2008

Signs of Winter

Signs that winter is coming:

Lines of geese are flying away in perfect "V's" to warmer places.
We are wearing sweaters more than t-shirts.
Scott is studying for exams.
Things feel a little dreary.
Kamryn is playing basketball each Saturday at Ada Christian.
Katie is just about done with the play.
The weather report is 7 straight days of snow!
The last colorful leaves are falling off the trees.
Kristin is accompanying kids for the Fine Arts Festival at Ada Christian and also subbing for sick teachers.
The malls look like Christmas.
Kids aren't playing outside in the neighborhood much.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

The Music Man

Last night we were able to attend the second night of Katie's musical, "The Music Man". They did an excellent job and we really enjoyed it! Geoff and Ashley and Grandma E. and Hank were also there to cheer her on. She has three more performances next week Thurs.-Sat. at Christian High. If you're in the area, check it out!
This is after the play. She still has her stage make-up on, but they had to change their costumes right away before I could get a shot. Bummer!



Wednesday, November 5, 2008

What a Gift!

This fall has been a gift of beautiful weather to us! We continue to enjoy 70 degree days this week. Those reading this in California just cannot understand my joy in this until you experience one of the long winters here... After a good morning of preschool, Troy and I decided to take a long bike ride after lunch. He has always had this dream to ride his bike all the way to the girl's school, Ada Christian. (It's probably about 2 miles each way.) There are wonderful bike paths that go from our house to the school. It is quite hilly, but we made it just fine. What a great afternoon!




Sunday, November 2, 2008

Reunion

We had a fun day visiting with some Visalia friends, Randy and Alicia Vander Tuig and their kids. We enjoyed an early breakfast with them, watched Lauren play volleyball at Calvin with the DeGroots, and got to visit at our house for awhile in the afternoon. If anyone wants to know more about Grand Rapids or Calvin, ask Randy. He really loved it! :) It was great catching up with them!


In the evening we headed out to Klaver's house in Lowell. They have a great set up out in the country and built a huge bonfire. We had a delicious dinner, the kids went in the hot tub, and we made s'mores for dessert. Unfortunately Troy gave us all a scare at the end of the night when he decided to hide from everyone in the garage for awhile. Thankfully, after quite a search, Pastor James found him hiding. Needless to say, I don't think Troy will do that again!