Christmas Eve

Its Dinner Time in the City

This year since I am very pregnant, Caleb and I had a quiet Christmas at home. On Christmas Eve we had a fabulous meal prepared by Caleb. We ate ham, funeral potatoes, green bean casserole (which I don't like) and jello (which I made). We carried on the tradition started in my family many years ago. Once dinner starts the lights go out and you use candles for the rest of the night. We had one small catch this year and that is that we did not have any candle sticks to put on our candelabras. This did not stop the fun though because we had fat candles to use. Once dinner was over Caleb and I played the part of my dad who insists on using the regular lights to do the dishes. I must admit it is much easier to do the dishes with regular lights.

 

Caleb pigging out on his second helping

Me with my first and only plate.

Caleb finishing his second helping.

Earlier in the Day

Another tradition we have in my family is preparing goody plates for our neighbors and friends. So I spent a portion of Christmas Eve baking cookies and making puppy chow. Later that evening we delivered plates to our neighbors.

Here I am cleaning up after the baking the cookies. One of the down sides of pregnancy that no one told me about is the fact that a pregnant belly tends to collect food spots on the under side of it and of course you cannot see them there (powdered sugar).

The plates of cookies and the puppy chow. The puppy chow was then put in the middle of the ring of cookies.

The Finished Tree

Camberly got started decorating the tree as soon as I got it in the door. Camberly decided to keep the tree decorations simple. I think it looks wonderful. What do you think?

The finished tree.

Camberly by her work of art.

Saturday Fun

Ward Christmas Party

We started our Saturday with the ward Christmas brunch. Camberly and I brought a breakfast casserole. We ate first and then the primary put on a program. The program was very funny and entertaining.

Christmas Tree Shopping

After the ward Christmas party we went Christmas Tree shopping. Last year we went to this farm just east of Rochester called Wilbert's Christmas Trees. We decided we like the experience so that is where we went this year. This is how it works you are give a hand saw and a tree wagon and then you are sent out to cut down the tree of your dreams. Here are some pictures of our experience.

Camberly picked this one. It was the 4^th or 5^th tree we stopped to look at.

Me cutting the tree down, which was harder than it looks. It only took 20 minutes to cut down, ok more like 5 minutes.

Camberly and I have a 50/50 relationship and since I cut down the tree it is just natural that she pulled it back to the car. Ok, so this picture was staged, I pulled the tree back to the car.

We got it all strapped down to the top of the car and headed home.

Happy Birthday Caleb!

Happy Birthday Caleb. I just wanted make sure you knew that I love you and am so glad we have had the past seven years together. You are a great husband. Thank you for all the things you do around the house and taking care of the cars. Things that I often take for granted. I am so excited for the baby to get here (maybe he will look like you--pretty cute). Enjoy this last year in your twenties. Love you.

Lots of posts at once

It seems that I tend to blog in spurts. This is probably related to the fact that I download and label the pictures only periodically. So today there are several new things.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the dogs. It is just the way they often sleep. Sylvester loves to curl up in a tight ball with his head on a pillow. Sadie likes to lay on the top of the futon all sprawled out. Usually she stares out the window waiting for something to bark at.

Dog-Baby exposure

With the baby on the way we have been wondering how Sadie and Sylvester will take the new addition to the house. They have not really had any exposure to babies. Friday we offered to watch Ethan so his parents could go out and also to give the dogs a little baby exposure. At first they were nervous. Then they warmed up and wanted to sniff and lick him. By the end they could have cared less that he was there (especially Sylvester). Sadie is usually not much of a licker but baby slober must taste great because she wanted to lick his feet, hands, face, head, etc. It was a good first encounter for them and hopefully means they will do pretty well. Although I am sure if they will be a little jealous not always getting all the attention anymore.

Cradle

This is the cradle that Caleb's parents gave us for the new baby. I got some cute boy bedding to go with it. Now all we need is that baby to get here in a couple months. It is so fun to gradually get more ready.

Halloween a little Late

This year we couldn't resist when we saw these cheap Halloween costumes for the dogs at the store. They weren't quite sure what to think of them and kept trying to eat the hats (resembled a stuffed animal toy). Sadie seems a little scared because she really didn't want to move with the costume on. We thought they were good costumes to match both Sadie and Sylvester. Sadie can be a little pig--she tries to steal Sylvester's treats all the time and is often successful. Sylvester can be a stinker (literally) with deadly but not always so silent gas.

Newspaper Ad

I was in class the other day board out of my mind so I turn to google news for entertainment. For the most part I read every article under the Sci/Tech tab. Well while I was reading an article on from the New York Times I notice that the ads on the right hand side of the web page kept changing. It just so happened that I caught a glimpse of this ad. That's right the church has ads on the New York Times website. I thought it was pretty cool so I took a screen shot.

Green Acres apple farm

While my parents were here we went up to a pick your own farm in Greece. We went through the corn maze. My parents chose the correct path from the very beginning. Caleb and I did not do so well. We had tried every other option before we chose the one that led to the end.

Next we tried our hand at picking raspberries. There were so many dried up berries on the bushes that had not been picked in time. We got plenty of berries (especially because Caleb doesn't like them). They are so good and fresh. Now I have to find something to make with them.

We also picked apples- Spy, Red Delicious, Cortland, Fiji, Jonagold, and some others. On many of the trees the best looking apples were up at the top so it took some reaching (climbing-although I don't think you were really supposed to). The apples were so brilliantly colored and nicely crisp with lots of flavor. It was a fun afternoon.

Weekend projects

The past few days my parents came out for a visit. Dad cannot stand to not to be busy, so on Friday, he and Caleb cleaned out the garage. They moved everything and built new shelves on the wall. Caleb also got an early birthday present, a new tool chest, to help with all the organization. In the end it looks great and it is amazing how much more space there is in there. 

While they were busy in the garage, Mom and I kept busy making curtains for the baby's room. We made roman shades for the two windows with green striped fabric. Then we made some sheers to soften up the room. I think they turned out pretty cute. While my parents were still here we also picked out some furniture for the room. The crib is ordered and we brought home the dresser (espresso color). I am excited to put it all together finally. The past few days my parents came out for a visit. Dad cannot stand to not to be busy, so on Friday, he and Caleb cleaned out the garage. They moved everything and built new shelves on the wall. Caleb also got an early birthday present, a new tool chest, to help with all the organization. In the end it looks great and it is amazing how much more space there is in there.

Yellow Watermelon

I had never heard of a yellow watermelon before. A couple weeks a go a friend from our ward stayed at our house for a night. On his way he stopped at a roadside farmer's stand and bought this watermelon. On the outside it looks like your average watermelon but once you cut into is, Surprise! It is bright yellow. It tasted normal and was actually very sweet and juicy. Very fun.

New Car

This is a picture of our new car. It is a Subaru Outback turbo (thus the scoop--which actually functions). We got it a couple weeks ago. Now that I am only working a few days a week and Caleb is 45 minutes away in Brockport, we needed two cars so I wasn't stuck at home. It should be great for the snowy winter here with all wheel drive. We have a gate in the back to keep the dogs back there. So far they are not too fond of the restriction of freedom. They especially don't like not being able to stick their heads out the window. Sorry I forgot to tell you what kind of car it is. It is a Subaru Outback 2.5XT Limited.

Alphabet cross stitch

This is a cross stitch that Caleb's mom made when he was little. She gave it to us and we got it framed to put in the baby's room.

Dean’s List

I received a letter in the mail the other day from my school. I thought oh great another bill. But to my surprise it was a letter stating that I made the dean's list. I was shocked because it was one of my harder course loads and I really did not try that hard in some of my classes. None the less I made it so I had to brag a little.

Washington D.C.

During my week of vacation, we drove down and met my parents in Washington, D.C., to do a little sightseeing. Completely unplanned it happened to be Memorial Day weekend so we ended up getting to see some things that aren't normally going on. We got around by subway and tons of walking.

Our first day there we hit a couple of museums. Caleb's favorite was the air and space museum. We went to the National Archives and saw the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. We also went to the Holocaust museum. It was very crowded and very sobering.

Our second day was all about memorials. In the morning we went to Arlington National Cemetary. Because of Memorial Day, all of the grave markers had flags. While there we watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. And then they also did a couple of wreath ceremonies That evening we went to a improv play at the Kennedy Center and had a neat view of as schools presented wreaths to lay at the tomb and they played taps. Next we went to the Washington monument, WWII memorial, Thomas Jefferson, and FDR memorials. D.C. at night from the top of the building.

Our third day we went to the Lincoln and Korean War Memorials. At the Vietnam war memorial we saw a presentation by a group of veterans in memory of people they had served with. A park ranger stood on top of the monument and played taps. We went to the National Museum of the American Indian. There they were also doing a presentaion in the atrium. We ate lunch there--they had a huge variety of native food from different parts of the country. Then as we were walking around we found out that there was going to be a dress rehersal for the PBS Memorial Day concert on the lawn of the Capitol. This was open to the public and so we waited around to watch. It was pretty neat. A few parts were kind of funny because the real performers weren't there and the stand-ins were so different.

The next day we headed home. When we got home we watched the concert on tv to see how it was different from what we had seen the night before. It was a very fun and busy trip. Thanks Mom and Dad.

One other funny thing about the trip was that there was an annual motorcycle rally "Rolling Thunder" that weekend. This means that there were tons of bikers. Caleb and Dad had to check out a few of the crazier bikes.

Ceiling fan

Our house does not have central air and so each year we pull out all the fans and eventually window AC units to help us stay cool during the summer months. This year we decided that a ceiling fan would better circulate the air in our bedroom. So Caleb got to install one. The difficult part of this was that there was not any wiring and so he had to get wiring up the wall and across the ceiling so the fan would have power. It took half a day but now that it is done it is definitely worth it.

Flower bed

About two months ago we decided that we needed to fix up our flower bed in front of the house. We bought some stones to make a little retaining wall. Added a lot more dirt. Planted a couple of smalll bushes (that will hopefully eventually give it some height). We also planted a small tree in the front yard. Hopefully everything will grow well and next year look great. As you can see the weeds are what grow best in the flower bed--especially that morning glory stuff. We are constantly pulling it up. If only the things we plant grew as well as weeds do.

Will's Quilt

Thank you so much everyone who contributed to Will's quilt and scrapbook. This is a picture of the end result. It turned out great. It is about 5 x 6 1/2 feet big.

Shiny new floors

 For the past few weeks our house has been in upheaval as we have gotten our wood floors refinished. The main floor already had wood floors and upstairs we ripped out the old blue carpet to expose the original wood floors (in ok shape). Then we had to consolidate all the furniture--living room and kitchen in to garage. Bedroom and office in to one small room. The piano got pushed into the kitchen blocking everything else. Needless to say this made life a little complicated. We spent several days sleeping on the futon and even spent one Saturday at a hotel while they were working. Now it is all finished and we are getting done putting things back in order. The floors look great, so I guess it was worth all the inconvenience.

New Furniture

This is the new chest of drawers that we got. It consolidates our two dressers and takes up less space. We also got two matching night stands. (Also note at the bottom the beautiful old blue carpet in our bedroom.)