Let it snow, let it snow...

Thanksgiving dinner has come and gone making it time to celebrate Christmas in our household!  Actually, we cheated because we started last night.  We couldn't help ourselves.  It was snowing and cold and it looked like the holidays!  Since we had put the lights up several weeks ago while it was still warm they were all ready to go and there was nothing to keep us from turning the timers on, so we did, and we don't regret it.  We actually got several inches of snow through yesterday and today.  Last night we kicked off our holidays with Christmas music, a movie and a fire.  And what better way to celebrate Thanksgiving morning than with pancakes and Ghostbusters.  We made sure that we each got on the treadmill this morning, too, so that we would be able to eat more at dinner, and it was a good thing.  We did dinner at Cortney's parents' house with all the usual trimmings.  Her dad did the turkey on the smoker (really there is no better way!), and there was stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry salad, waldorf salad, squash, wine, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and various coffees.  New and different this year was the addition of Patty, Curtis' fiance, and her family.  We had a wonderful time sharing the holiday with them, and the excellent desserts they brought, too.  Patty's father evidently has a sweet-tooth from which all the rest of us benefited.  In addition to the pies we had Death by Chocolate cake and riced pudding.  They also brought a traditional Peruvian drink called Chicha (I think) that is made by boiling purple corn to extract the joice, and then adding sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and apple pieces.  The drink has a relaxing and calming affect, yet is non-alcoholic.  We enjoyed it, and we had a wonderful time learning more about their traditions and their family.  Now, again, we are relaxing off the effects of a tryptophan dinner with a fire and a movie. 

Happy snow, happy holidays! 

To the West Coast in a day!

Today we decided to take a day trip to the west coast.  The west coast of Michigan, that is.   Jon's sister is going to Calvin College in Grand Rapids and since we missed seeing her for her 21st birthday at the end of October, we decided to head out her way and take her out to dinner to celebrate belatedly!  Cortney's parents graciously agreed to watch the dogs for us for the evening, and we set off immediately after church.  Since we rarely get out of town without the dogs, we decided to make the most of the afternoon.  Our friend Sue, Steve's mom, also lives in Grand Rapids, so when we got there we stopped to visit her as well.  She took us out for snacks and we had a nice visit with her.  Afterwards we managed to locate Ann's apartment (in the dark, even).  Ann and Tyson recommended eating at Brann's, a local character kind of a place with great American foods.  We had a wonderful time getting caught up with both of them at dinner, and the food was delicious.  Unfortunately, there was no room for dessert.  No matter, though.  Ann had baked a wonderful batch of cookies for us (from scratch), so we were able to enjoy dessert (and stay awake) on our way home.

Voila

Well, here it is, our new kitchen! We finally got everything cleaned up and put back in place after the floor installation, although there was so much dust from the whole process, we'll probably still be Swiffering it up months from now (just like finding Christmas tree needles around the house in July).

We completed straightening in time for a wave of Halloween trick-or-treaters, although we were disappointed that we didn't get many kids at all compared to last year. We even watched them cross the street in front of our house without stopping here for candy! Even though all of the lights were on, and we had a ghostly flag flying, we'll just have to chalk it up to our lack of jack-o-lanterns. Next time, we'll remember the essential step of pumpkin carving. 

Extreme Makeover: Kitchen Edition

Let the renovation begin! Last weekend, we started the kitchen transformation, beginning with a "lighthouse blue" coat of paint. But first, we had to do battle with the dust bunnies, scraps, and screws on top of the unfinished laundry room ceiling (the construction workers never cleaned up any surface too high up to see when they built our house). Then, we moved the furniture and laundry baskets into the living room, instantly turning them into accessible pet beds.

This weekend, we needed all the help we could get from Cortney's parents and Curtis, as we tackled the major work of ripping out the tile down to the subfloor. We tried every tool we had in search of the most efficient way to get it done in time: sledgehammer, crowbar, even hand axe! The chips were flying, and we didn't make good headway until Dad H went out and bought a masonry chisel which, when combined with the crowbar, finally lifted out major sections at once.

At the same time as this destruction was going on, constructive work was getting accomplished as well. Jon learned how to install a new faucet from Dad H, and Curtis and Dad H engineered a brilliant solution to the challenge of mounting a long string of three lights from a single, off-center electrical hole. By adding a board and running the wires along it to the middle, they made it look like it was part of the lamp all along.

Meanwhile, Mom H put on her green thumb and trimmed back our garden for the end of the season, including our eight-foot-tall coneflower. She even took care of the last lawn mowing of the year. Thanks for all your help, family! We couldn't have done it without you. 

Birthday Week

The birthday celebrations continued this week on Sunday with a delicious dinner at Cortney's parents' house with Patty and Curtis. Dad H provided the smoked ribs and Mom H provided the chocolate/whipped cream cake roll. Jon thanked them for the special menu and for the gifts: a one-of-a-kind safari-themed shower curtain and—at last—a replacement for the garage door opener we lost  awhile back. On Monday, just the two of us marked the occasion yet again with a dinner out at Red Lobster, where the waiter revealed the secret of their cheesy biscuits: just Bisquik, cheddar, and Italian herbs.

On Thursday, we got tickets to see soprano Renee Fleming at Hill Auditorium, which we preceded with dinner at Cottage Inn. Fleming was performing the title role in a concert presentation of Richard Strauss' Daphne. We were especially interested in this performance because we were in the middle of reading her autobiography. Indeed, we were very glad to hear the beauty and finesse of her voice.