Redecorating

I been busy redecorating the 3rd bedroom. When Meagan moved out I had to move the double bed in the larger bedroom and brought out the twin bed again to go in the 3rd bedroom. I painted the walls, painted the twin bed and bought new linens. Still going to paint more furniture pieces, but looks so much better already
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Old Time Winter

Dad sent out this picture of his porch a few weeks ago and Gary response to the picture was "Yep - an old time winter. I have had my tractor for 26 years and this is the first time I actually got it stuck in the driveway." Well we here in the "D" also have seen more snow than we have in years! Below is my porch. Yeh I know I should have taken in my porch furniture in for the season....guess in the back of my mind I really would like a new set. Or maybe I am just lazy!

Christmas Up North

Well we survived the holidays! Except poor old dad. Poor guy was sick Christmas & missed Christmas dinner. Aunt Annie also wasn't able to make it over on Christmas due to her not feeling well either. The other 18 of us, were fine! We had kids sleeping on the floors and chairs.

We had tons of snow when we got there but by the time we left on Saturday it had rain for about a day and most of the snow was gone. It was crazy. Luckily Craig and family was able to get in alot of snowmobiling in before the snow left. Best story:

Craig told us about his and Dad's ride before we got up there. He said they were down on the river and he was just flying and he stopped to see how far grandpa was behind him and .........zoom...POD flew by. So Craig caught up with him and said Hey going a little fast and Dad said .."whatever".. and took off. Love it!

These are pictures of a ride we took down by the Pinney Bridge. It was beautiful by the rive with the snow. Pictured : Robby, Craig, Cindy amd Me.

Memories of Christmas Past

Christmas has changed so much over the years. Each year it is a little different and new traditions are constantly added. But the traditions started long time ago.

I remember going to North Manchester for Christmas and Grandma Pinney doing it up so nice and grand. From the matching shirts she would give, to the matching santa stockings each grandchild had hung on the fireplace, she would go all out. She was constantly in the kitchen cooking the baking. And when it came to Christmas dinner, Grandpa would make such a fuss when it came to cutting the turkey. There also was a big bowl of nuts, and Grandpa would crack the nuts with his hands.

We were so fortunate to have most of the Aunts and Uncles come for Christmas. When it came to passing out the gifts we always got a kick out of the pile of gifts Great Grandma (Grandpa's Mom) would have in front of her. She had 3 times the gifts of everyone and she was so proud of it! .

Grandma also had a little streak of being different in her. A couple years she had an silver aluminium tree that had a rotating tri-colored spot light shine on the tree, that was way out there. Just a few of the great memories of Christmas past and hope to make alot more memories in the coming years.

Merry Christmas to All

Christmas Spirit

A Christmas play is a sure way to get in the Christmas spirit. Les and I went to see White Christmas at the Fox Theater downtown last weekend. It was a great production and loved hearing the old songs. Favorites........"Snow" and of course "Sisters " Afterward we hit a new restaurant that was recommended by a friend, it was called Traffic Jam. The food was great and so was the atmosphere.

The Fox was all decked out for the holidays as usual. We had awesome seats, 3rd row! Was neat because we were so close you could see the orchestra playing.

The Crusing Couple

Thought I would post my latest layout here to welcome Jessica and Calvin back from their cruise. Sounds like they had a great time. Think we all should start a cruise fund so we can take a family cruise in the future. May take a couple years for me to build up the fund, but wouldn't it be fun??
Don't know how everyone else's weather is but we have about 3 inches of snow on the ground and suppose to get snow on and off for the next 3-4 days. Meg and I are starting to get anxious to do some skiing. Won't be heading out West this year, but will go up north for a couple of long weekends.

Annual Pumpkin Carving

Les had us over for our annual pumpkin carving nite. The pumpkins turned out great as they always do. She made Taco Chicken for dinner and I made Chocolate Delight for dessert.

Vegetable Stand

Every morning I pass by the vegetable stand on Dexter Pinckney

Rd and and think how cute it is. On Friday I had my camera with

me so stopped on my way into work and snapped a few pictures.

Then on my way back in the evening the place is just as busy as

can be with people stopping on their way home for some fresh

produce. I just love fall in Michigan with all the awesome colors

Extreme Canning

2 weeks ago we had a all day canning get together. Mom, Dad, Aunt Annie, Les, Meagan, Taylor, Katie and I can were up to our elbows in tomatoes and beets. We started at 9:30 am and did not finish until 9:30 pm, with a couple small breaks. We ended up doing tomatoe juice, pickled beets and lots & lots of chili sauce. Half way into the day after getting a little bored with the process we had to spice things up a little ....and then we heard one of the jars pop as it sealed up.

Thats how the "Seal and Drink" started............................

Video by Meagan Kloote

Yum......Michigan Corn

There isn't any better corn on the cob than Michigan corn. I was able to have some up north last weekend. And then had the left over in corn pancakes. Yum.... the taste of corn fritters but much less fat! When I got up there Jacque Sue was up at Mom and Dads. Was great seeing her, hadn't seen her in ages. She headed over to stay with Aunt Annie on Sunday to finish out her stay. On Saturday, Gary, Margaret, Annie, Les and her friend came over to Mom and Dads for dinner. The weather was great all weekend and if it turns to be my last time of there this summer, was perfect.