Tour

The Kept busy all am getting letters in envelopes.  I left about 11 and picked up a subway.  I planned to get a smoothie at the hospital, but it was closed.  I introduced Jenna and Emily, the Emily and I went for a tour of IG.  After driving past the HS, I took her to Zobel addition.  We drove to Ginny's where I introduced them and llet her tell Emily that if a snow storm came up she could spend the night there.  Next a walk thru the rec center, drive past the library, down mainstreet, past Mexican, past Dollar general.  We ate our sandwiches at Olde Town, overlooking IG.  A quick drive thru LaJune Estates and back to work she goes.  Next I headed to cherokee.  Mandy and I met and went to a couple stores then to her house to chill.  Nice to lie down on a sofa in their living room and  look at the book Jason made for their one year anniversary.  So relaxing.  I stopped at Kevin's visitation on the way home.  After I left there, my tummy didn't feel quite right.  Jean and Arlen got some imodium in Denison as they drove on their way to our place.  It was needed.  Denny anad Arlen made use of other stuff they got in Denison.  Stayed up past midnight visiting with Jean and Arlen.  So nice.!!!

To Storm Lake

Spent the morning taking down the tree and decorations    AND trying to print the Christmas letters.  About noon I headed to SL.  I stopped by the church where Denny was having lunch.  He reminded me about Jim's retirement party.   I dropped off stuff as SOS.  Then quick trip to Goodwill where I got 10 pink trays for $3.  Then to get computer paper, envelopes and niquill for Denny's cold.  Back to UBI to shake Jim's hand.  At home I put a TV in a trash hole.  Missy and kids came over for a bowl of soup and a bath.  Denny went to bed early with his cold.  Mandy's procedure went ok, she was feeling good about it.
Some pictures from Christmas:

"Living Word Bible Studies" series by Kathleen Buswell Nielson. 

Home

It was a full day.  Denny left for work a little early.  I kept busy washing clothes, putting away dishes, watching some tv, making beds, walking an hour outside, vacuuming, moving the rug and furniture. I got the Heart of the Home DVD in th email, and Karen's scrub.  We watched the dvd after supper.

Pictures of opening gifts: Looking for the pickle, opening an air hockey??/foosball?? table, gifts of weapons (Denny and Brooks), and 6 cousins right after they found out they would be getting another cousin. (Piper is going to be a big sister.)

Pink

Fun day!!!  I was up and reloaded the dishwasher, then up at 6 to make biscuits and gravy, quiche, sherbet punch, and pink fluff.  Carol and Joann came for shower at 9:30.  Haley printed off coloring pages.   Luke and Karen have lots to pack in their car.  Looking forward to that February little girl.  L&K headed back to Burlington about 12.  Cooks left a little after that.  Matt filled his pickup plumb full with stuff.  We went to Jensens where the soccer goals were set up and used.  The Savannah family left about 3:30.  Now it time to keep dishwasher running and take a nap.  What a fun couple days!

Kids all home

I am looking forward to today.  Lord, grant safety and bless our time together.  We kept busy getting ready for the family.  Most of them came about 11.  We had fun showing them the redone basement.  Torren decided to sleep under the stairs.  We ate some Black Friday Tiefentallers BBQ for lunch, then opened gifts  Mo. Johnsons were so happy to get an air hockey table.  Brooks got all kinds of plastic weapons.  (wunderful    ... not)  I got June 10th as the summer date for my family weekend.  Mandy told the nieces and nephews about an addition to the family.  Yea!!!! Everyone was happy.  We had souppa in the couppa around 5:30.  Phillip and Matt were put in charge of getting the kids set up with pjs and a movie.  While they were gone the coop was decorated and food was brought out,  Frank and Jenny came with a birthday cake.  Missy went in to tell the kids they may have to take discipline to stall their dad until the cake came.  Matt was ready to go out to the coop and Becky sidelined him with some irrelevant conversation about nothing.  Matt's response was ... Why are we talking about this?  We could be out in the coop with our family.   It was well worth the deception.  Matt was so surprised!!  tears   laughter  Funny 40 gifts  cards  Boyles, Dan, and Jenna came a little later.  Great day!!!!

Merry Christmas

Wonderful day!!!

Celebrating Christ's birth.

Quiet morning.  Devotions by the tree.  Love my soft red lap blanket from a home schooler.  Church at 9.  The hashtag Matt wrote last weekend is right.  #churchfamilyisfamily.  At home I fixed Thai food using the ingredients that Luke gave me when we visited them last time.  Then nap.  I made some cookies with left over cookie dough to take with me to Cherokee.  We put stockings stuff together. When I went to walk the dogs, Denny swept out the garage.  Larry and Sandy O. invited us to stop at their place before we headed to Cooks.  Great time at Cooks.  How exciting that there are 3 expectant couples there.  So much praise!! 

Hazy Christmas Eve Day

Up for devotions, granola, yogurt, coffee.  The outside is frosty.  Denny cleaned in am, then went into work. About 12, I went to IG to get light bulbs for the coop, smelly glade plugins, printer ink, and extra candy for the stockings.  At 6 was Christmas eve service.  Jess got such a neat picture.  They were sitting in the same pew as me.  Fun family.  I came home and finished hemming the edges of chair covers.  Oh my, some times I don't know why I do what I do.  Denny re-vacuumed the whole house.  I think ... we are ready.  I know we are looking forward to Christmas and fun with family.

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Tackle the chicken coop

Denny is feeling better.  I heard him talk this am as he got his coffee ready.  He went to work,  I put on another layer of paint on bench top.  I started/ and finished cleaning the coop.  I moved extra refrigerator food to a cooler in the garage.  Looked for a recipe to use up browned butter from an earlier mistake and decided to make granola that used up the butter, plus oatmeal in the bottom of the container,  plus the dried cranberries I had in the cupboard.  Triple winner!!  Presents are all wrapped.  I laid out all the cute tiny  clothes.  So fun!!  I think I will have each grand choose an outfit.  Denny and I went out and watched a netflix in the coop before heading to bed.  Another fun day.

Another fun day

Denny is still not feeling the best.  Hopefully the medicine will take effect soon.  I headed to Rachel's about 9.  It was fun to work in the farm house and make a path thru the furniture that people have given them.  I think Darren's mom will be able to find her way to her bedroom and upstairs to the room where she stores her winter clothes (so she doesn't have to carry them on the plane every season that she travels to Iowa).  At home I took the turkey out of the oven.  At 1 I headed to IG.  I got 6 teenie, tiny newborn outfits from Kristin K and Mandy got 12 onesies.  I had a quick visit with Judy before going to Ginny's for study.  After caroling Jensens visited with Swede in the nursing home and Brenda B. made really cute snowmen for the soup supper.  Denny got groceries to make zuppa.  I went to bed after visiting and he made the zoup.

Caroling

I confess,  when Missy asked me what I did this morning,  I really could not remember.  Or may be I knew that I had in fact done nothing. I do remember it was a wonderful morning.  I must have kept busy with something.  At 2 I had an appointment at the hospital.  I visited with Maryann before then.  I happily dropped off some Dave Ramsey books.  Hopefully someone can make use of them.  It is such good information.  At 3 I had a haircut with Anna.  Then to the grocery store to buy potatoes and sausage.  On the way home Missy called to say their family was going caroling.  I made a pot of soup.  It was such a sweet time caroling with the church family.  I saw Rose at Golden Horizons, Swede at Morningside, and Maryann at the hospital.  Then to church for a soup supper.  Such a sweet body of believers.  Thank you Jesus for my church family. 

Hang out

Fun day with Mandy.  She got coffee on her way to IG.  2 kinds of Lattee.  So strong and sweet that we had to dilute.  We chilled and watched Gilmore Girls all day.  Winter/Spring/summer/ and all but the last 20 minutes of Fall.  We worked while we watched.  I peeled the last of the garden potatoes for Jensen's Christmas dinner.  Mandy did her nails, I did my nails, I shortened jeans for Mandy.  And red curtains were shortened.  I hemmed a wrap for a baby.  Mandy sorted thru/ organized her recipe book. When I saw this picture I made an appointment for a haircut the next day.  We ate quiche, tomato, avocado, grape fruit in the basement for lunch.   I fixed hamballs for supper with Jensens.  Denny came home not feeling very good.  After the kitchen was cleaned up, he went to bed.  It was a very good day.  The best. 

Painting stuff

I had a hard time getting to sleep last night, duh.. I took a 2 hour nap yesterday.  While I was awake, I was looking at Ida Swap and for the first time I saw some thing I wanted to buy.  New experience for me as I "pm" ed  and learned what ppu means,  Thanks Mandy.  After Denny went to work I wrapped some gifts.  Then started painting some wooden furniture.  After lunch I vacuumed.  Denny had a dentist appointment but couldn't do it because he needed to take some medicine to guarantee no infection.  He worked late at bank.   

Create something today ... even if it doesn't looks the best.  My painting was not creative at all.  But I am happy to get it done.  Actually the painting that she is doing really looks like fun!!  Lord, guide me.

Lazy nice day

Wonderful morning.  It doesn't get much better than Grands reading and snuggling in the am before going for donuts.  Phillip brought over their church clothes.   After church Denny cleaned out the garage.  Washing out the cat moisture with bleach water.  2 hour naps. That's a long time.  :)   Then we ordered more online for Christmas.  Denny screwed in a nail to hold up a picture in the purple room.  When he went to the pastor search meeting, I went to see Maryann in the hospital.  She is so sweet and looks so weak.  The first thing she told me about was Missy and 3 precious kids visiting and praying with her as they all held hands.  And she showed me the note from Evan.   Matt and Becky were at a wedding of family friends.  Kane was the ring bearer.  My niece Justine got her Masters today from U of W Madison in Pharmacology.

Grands

We kinda slept in and the kids did too.  At least until 7:30 or so.  Denny fixed breakfast for all.  When he went to work on bank business we went to IG.  Dose Garage sale, Dollar General, Then to Holstein.  If I would have been thinking we could have eaten at Hardee's, but intead we got snackables at DG. The Holstein library was open until 1.  I got gas.  I didn't know where we could eat, but the rec center staff said we could eat there, and play in the playrooom until 2.  Moana was showing at the theater.  Free popcorn- huge bags- because there was some kind of blue flashing light.  

It didn't bother us.  At home we sorted some craft stuff that was in the bunk house.  We made ginger bread cookies.  The kids had baths, and we ate Mac and cheese.  Wonderful day and night.  Denny said he got the paper work for Monday done.  Missy and Phillip hiked at Moorehead on their staycation.  It was a chilly day.  

Baking

I mixed up some gingersnap cookies and crackle sugar top cookies.  At 10 I went to Judy's and we did some baking.  I dropped off some cookies at the resource room.  AT home I finished wrapping some presents.  The Jensen kids are spending the weekend here while Missy and Phillip do a Christmas present staycation.  

Full day

Fun day !!!  Denny had early monthly meetings.  Sky blue pink wind turbins as I went to Doses.  Be still my heart. Now I don't suppose that saying really has to do with a Half price sale at Doses, but I sure loved it.  :)       I got lots of wrapping paper for all of the Amazon prime packages.  The big ticket item was a bench for basement bedroom.  ($15 was a lot, and it really needs a good cleaning, but now it's mine).  I stopped at soon to be Grandma Goldsmiths.  Yeah!!  I got a flu shot.  Then home to unpack and put away my purchases so they are not so noticeable.   Back to IG for Bible study at Ginny's.  Then to food pantry at Holstein from 2:45 until 5:15.  Next to Kingsley.  Of course a D 66 road had a detour,  so I missed the first 5 minutes of the game.  It was fun to watch Addison.  They won.  Next to deliver food to Laura.  Now that was fun, too.   Lots of oohing and aahhing over all the good food.   At home Denny and I sat in front of the 3 tinsel Christmas trees and visited.  He had Christmas piano music on and it was wonderful.  Thank you. Jesus.

Awana Store

This made me laugh out loud!!!    My bacon loving husband. Not even tempted to buy turkey bacon. 

OK, it's time we have a national dialogue about the travesty known as "turkey bacon."

For unknown reasons, my wife insists on bringing this illicit substance into our home. Worse, she will sometimes tell me she has "made bacon," only to have me discover, once I've skipped happily into the kitchen with joyous anticipation, that she has not made bacon at all. She has made turkey bacon. Which is not bacon. This is like telling me you've made chocolate chip cookies, but instead of giving me a cookie you kick me in the shin and set me on fire.

Let's be clear: you cannot cut something into thin strips and call it bacon any more than I can vomit into a waffle cone and call it strawberry ice cream. Bacon is bacon. It is perfect and beautiful and God loves it just as it is. Turkey bacon, on the other hand, is not bacon. It is sad and strange and it tastes like Band Aids.

For that matter, let it be said that whole wheat pasta is not pasta. It is soggy, shredded construction paper. And multi-grain bread with seeds and sticks embedded inside it is not bread. It's not even food. It tastes and looks like something you should bury in your garden or feed to your hamster.

Have we not suffered enough, my fellow citizens? Why must we inflict these outrages on ourselves and our loved ones? Enough, I say. Let our bacon be bacon, our pasta be pasta, and our bread be bread. Let all things be as they are meant to be. Amen. And God bless America.

Tues

I made some overnight buns ... during the day.  And I made 2 batches of cookies.  At 12:30 Joyce, Kathi and I set up the Awana store.  At 5:30 I went to pick up Brenda and Rachel.  Great time and meal at Susan's.  It was so pretty, the food was great, and the fellowship even better.  

I love the picture of my brother's family on the dock at Craig's pond,  all 26 of them.  Plus Barb and Katola are expecting.  Sweet!!!

Finished basement

Yea!!!  I am so happy to get the basement stairway closet done!!!  I can hardly sleep tonight I am so happy.  I kinda lined up stuff in the bunkhouse for a give away.  Jensens came over with cheesey salsa (just waiting for my browned hamburger to finish off the meal).  I chopped up some Swiss Chard for a salad and fixed sweet potato fries.  At 6:30 I left to go to the concert with Laura.  Home about 8:30 to visit with Denny.  Great Day.  I don't suppose I should be so happy about the closet, but I sure am.
Pictures of the Cooks in Italy this summer.