Titles are Hard

I'm taking a little break from cooking to post before Thanksgiving--it's been a busy week and there is plenty to fill a post! Just to change things up a little, I'm going to work backwards.

Last week I mentioned our friends Ann & Lincoln Brunner and the articles Lincoln has been writing for ReachGlobal since returning from India. Toward the end of that week, Ann contacted me to say that they were going to spend Thanksgiving with Lincoln's family (who live in Las Vegas) and that Lincoln and his dad were planning to drive out to Bakersfield on Tuesday to meet with the pastor of our church and one of the deacons, and hopefully see us before heading back! So we decided to have a few people over for dinner so he could meet more folks while he was in town. It was so great to see them and I love that some of our friends here now know an old friend from back home! The only fly in the ointment? I have been kicking myself ever since I realized late last night that I had not taken ONE SINGLE STINKING PICTURE!!! What. The. Heck. I blame dinner for 20, but even so I had set the camera out so I wouldn't forget! Hmpf.

On Sunday we finally finished packing our OWN boxes for Operation Christmas Child as well as rounding up the last few from people at church.This is such a neat program--I just can't say enough about it!! We were both excited and privileged to coordinate at our church for the first time and collected a total of 74 boxes, more than we were expecting/hoping for!If there are more next year, we will need to recruit some help to haul them!
Backing up in the week a little more, Saturday night was the closing show of Chicago with the biggest crowd yet! Fun. And earlier in the day was the First Official "Let's Get Loopy" get together (ladies from church with their knitting & crocheting). I took these two talented ladies along with me and we had tons of fun!
On Friday night some friends invited us to a band concert at CSUB. We sat with Steve while Christy played the french horn--it was a great concert! They also had a couple of guest composers whose pieces they were playing, which was neat. We had a wonderful time, but couldn't join them for pizza afterward as Erik was trying to get to work and beat the snowstorm predicted for part of his route in the mountains. It's that time of year again . . . last night he had to take a long route around to avoid some roads where they were requiring chains; he got home LATE this morning.

On Wednesday, Theresa and Anthony were here! :-D On a side note, this is my new favorite pizza! Homemade crust with a little BBQ sauce on it, then some chicken (cooked with a daub of honey), sun-dried tomatoes, feta, fresh Parmesan and some sliced peppercinis . . . Holy Yum! Theresa needed to complete a science experiment in the kitchen before heading south, so I got to help. What do you think we did with these Common Household Ingredients? If you said, "Extract DNA" you're right--and I'm way impressed!

Yep, smashed around in the food processor with some salt and lowry's . . . combined with some dishsoap and finally some alcohol . . . the DNA begins to separate! See the little floaty things rising up from the veggie layer? These are the beans. As you could see above, we also tried tomatoes . . . and bacon . . . but the most impressive and dramatic results were from the peas!
That is a wad of DNA strands wrapped around the end of a toothpick! Kind of cool, huh? :-D
I hear Erik's alarm going off, so I think my break is officially over--back to the kitchen! I love you all and am so thankful for you!! Happy, happy Thanksgiving.

‎"Enter his gates with Thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations."

Psalm 100:4-5

Flashback

I haven't been very good at posting pictures of trips home this past year . . . I was looking through some folders today, enjoying the memories of my most recent trip back to Wisconsin for Grandpa's memorial service, and thought I'd share.

I love these pictures of Grandma's kitchen full of food and family--she taught us well! It seems crazy to think back to when we all fit in the kitchen with a few card tables rounding things out! These days spilling into the living room makes more sense.
Mom unearthed the boys' boleros from days gone by and presented them. Ha! :-D
She also passed this beaut on to Clare . . .
What a peanut. I had so much fun playing with Lauren! (I think Brigid was probably about this size when we last all fit in the kitchen)
Pie? PIE! Grandpa would approve. :-)
These two did a lion's share of the cooking--and it was GOOD!The Sibs
Then it was time for games! We started with Pictionary.Based on Peter's face in this picture, I think they must have gotten the answer in time.Then we moved on to Trivial Pursuit.There was some contention apparently . . .
but mostly laughter. Come to think of it, the laughter may have been in response to the contention . . . ;-) I don't remember what Jonathan was pontificating on here, but his audience was clearly enjoying it!
I miss being close enough to play games together with family.
I also got the chance to see Dad & Jackie. We had a lovely lunch outside and listened to the waterfall. Crazy to think about that gorgeous summer weather--it doesn't seem all that long ago!
These are some turkeys Mom & I saw on a drive before I had to leave (just to differentiate between these and all the turkeys pictured in this post).
Our shared lunch at the airport
Ben & Pei were just getting back from a busy weekend themselves when I flew in a day late. They fed Erik & I a wonderful dinner before we headed back to Bakersfield. I also had to post this pic because I thought Ben looked great with a beard! He has since had to shave it off for his EMT class.

Pei & Ben with Itchy & Scratchy
And last but not least, flashing forward again, Pei sent this picture of our Rosie sleeping peacefully next to Itchy on their couch--WHO KNEW!?!!? I'm so glad she's settling in.
Sweet sleep. :-)

Shameless Shutterfly Plug

I found out about this cool promotion from Carrie's blog and decided I had to participate!

For the past couple of years, I've tried to get back in the habit of sending out Christmas cards including a kind of yearly update and some pictures--and I've had fun doing it too! I love the idea of adding pictures to cards because I think it . . . how can I describe it? I love hearing from people at Christmas, pictures or no, but seeing the sparkling smiles or laughing over a silly picture add something special to the holidays and make me feel a little more close and connected to people who are far away! It seems even more important when we are living so far away from many of our family and friends. So I try to do the same when deciding on our cards each year.

Recently, realizing that November is getting away from me and December coming faster than the speed of light, I had been looking at photo cards at the Nameless Supplier we've bought from in the past, fretting a little about rising prices. Then I read Carrie's post. Exciting! Not only is Shutterfly doing a promotion where bloggers can get 50 free cards, their cards are cheaper than the Competitor Who Shall Remain Nameless! YES!! :-)

So, we are going to try Shutterfly this year. And maybe not just for cards--they do all sorts of other things too, including ornaments, calendars, and photo books.

So forgive my shameless plug for Shutterfly--you'll be glad when you get our Christmas card in the mail! :-D

Here are some of MY favorite cards from the site; I haven't shown Erik yet, so we'll see what we end up choosing!

Are you sending cards this year? :)

Catching Up

I realize I have once again dropped the ball in my attempts to post every week. :-(

I took this picture two days before Halloween, marveling at the weather and the butterfly at the end of October (and planning to post it on the blog and gloat a little). Now it's hard to think back to that; it has been much cooler and more windy (still not anything like Wisconsin, but certainly less like summer)!Anyway, here is a quick update about some of what we've been up to in the last MONTH since I posted.

I've been doing a lot of knitting! We have four lovely ladies at church all expecting in the next few months. Here is one little set that has already been given:
And in other baby news, some of our good friends have just finished the long process of becoming approved as foster parents (with the intent to adopt) through an organization called Koinonia. As they wait for their little one, we are in the very beginning stages of getting certified to provide respite care for them. Once a child is adopted there aren't regulations about choosing a babysitter any more than for any other child; while they are still in foster care however, it's different. We're excited to be a small part of them bringing home a new addition to their family!

Yesterday we had a visit from Ben & Pei--we hadn't seen them since August, so it especially wonderful to see them! They came up for a quick lunch and then we went to the local production of Chicago, which is being put on by the Bakersfield Music Theater. I've been helping again with props, although there really aren't many in this show! Because there are so few props, I was able to watch the show with Erik, Ben & Pei--fun to see it from the other side! It's a fairly racy show, but the music is really good and they did a great job with it.

Ben & Pei also took Erik's poor computer and, as part of our Temporary Kitty Relocation Program, Rosie. I won't get into too much detail, but since we introduced Nuri into the household in August we have been on what might be called a Rosie Rollercoaster. She has not adjusted well to a smaller, weaker addition to the family and we have been at our wits' end. Ben & Pei generously offered to foster Rosie for a while Nuri grows stronger and is better able to defend himself in the Hierarchy of Cats. We are not concerned that he be higher than Rosie on the totem, just that he be high enough to be allowed in the litter box. Ugh. Suffice to say that things have been much more relaxed around here since Rosie left on her mandated vacation!This week, after the overwhelming excitement of getting enrolled in our 2011 benefits with Erik's work today, we are looking forward to seeing Theresa & Anthony on Wednesday night. Their reason for visiting isn't happy (they are heading down south for the funeral of Theresa's great-aunt Cookie), but it will certainly be good to see them!

We will also be delivering the Operation Christmas Child boxes from our church (which are now covering our pool table). We sent a couple of boxes last year, but this is the first year our church is participating--exciting!! :-D We've still got a few coming in (and have to finish our own boxes) before the final count is in!
Lastly, we've been excited to read the articles Lincoln has been writing since his return from India last month. Check them out! I've known Lincoln since college, and his wife Ann since grade school. They raise their support just like the missionaries featured in Lincoln's articles; if you'd like to help them with their fundraising, click here and be sure to put "Lincoln & Ann Brunner" in the designation box! I know they would appreciate your prayers as well.

Story 1

Story 2

Story 3

Here's to more regular posts again in the future! :-D
~christel