Finally Home

Yes, Margaret and I are finally home. After being in 8 states in the last 10 days (not including the District of Columbia) we have returned from our weary journey and are currently relaxing while the Cowboys get their butts kicked (sad day).

Thursday night Margaret and I went to Virginia to see a play at Arena Stage called "Next to Normal" it was a rock musical about a woman who is losing it mentally and how she and her family deal with it;. Margaret said it was one of the best musicals she has ever seen (which is saying a lot if you know that Margaret loves musicals). I thought it was really good and the day after we saw it Entertainment Weekly Magazine named it the best play in the US of 2008.

Friday night we packed the car and at 4:00 in the morning on Saturday we got out of bed and left for Michigan half an hour later. Timothy slept until 8:00 and we pulled into Margaret's parent's house in Michigan shortly before 2:00 where we were greeted by a hug from her parents and a 17 foot tall Christmas Tree.

We enjoyed a great time with all of Margaret's extended family and enjoyed Christmas with Santa (that's what the grandkids call Margaret's dad). The most interesting present was that Margaret's brother bought his girlfriend a pet snake for Christmas. She loved it.

Timothy had a blast playing with his Cousin Tabitha and even got to go sledding in the snow.



Margaret and I were given a couple of gift cards for Christmas as well as a gift certificate for one free night at a Bed and Breakfast. The best part of Christmas for me was that Santa got me a stocking that looked like a tool belt.

While we were in Michigan we got to spend a little time (not nearly enough) with Margaret's best friend Mandy and her family.

(Margaret said Mandy would get mad if I put a picture of her in our blog, so I made it a small picture. You're welcome Mandy) We got to go out to eat at Ponderosa's Steakhouse where Timothy thoroughly enjoyed his meal. And Mandy made us an apple pie, which I ate at least half of.



On Friday we got up, took pictures with Margaret's family, packed the car and drove to KY to see my mom, who was visiting my grandparents/aunts uncles and cousins in Louisville. We spent most of the day Saturday bowling with family at the bowling alley where my grandma has worked for the last 11 years. While we were bowling Timothy stood by the ball return watching the balls come back and advising people on which ball to use.

Saturday evening we went to my grandparents house, met with even more extended family and played yahtzee for a solid 3 hours. We got up and left Louisville at 6:30 Sunday and made it home right at 5:00.

It's fair to say we're tired. But it was worth it to be able to spend the Holidays with family.

Christmas Parties and Pictures

Last Friday was our ward Christmas party, for which I whipped up a HUGE batch of mashed potatoes. Looking at the pan, I figured it would be cheaper to buy a big bag of potatoes than untold boxes of instant potatoes. Plus the real thing is always better. They tasted great, but it took a while. Thankfully I didn't really have anything else planned for that afternoon, and Timothy was very accomodating while I worked. He'd play, then come watch, and go back to playing.

Anyway, the party was great fun. LOTS of food, of which I ate too much, lovely music, and of course, a visit from Santa. Now, last year, We got a picture of Timothy and Calista on Santa's lap, and they were pretty cool with it. Not so much this year....


Oh well, they had fun the rest of the time, and Calista was soon soothed with a candy cane and a cuddle from Mommy. It was also bedtime, so they were kind of tired. The apparently did fine the next night when they tried another Santa.

As for us, the next morning, we slept late (Thanks to Timothy's later bedtime) and then trotted off to the mall to get a family Christmas photo. It turned out pretty well, even if it did take 3 hours....


Turns out that was the high point of my weekend, as I then spent the next three days throwing up and wanting to die. Thankfully it was this weekend, and not next weekend when we head to my parents for Christmas. It's no fun to be sick for the holidays.

Well keep you posted on our fun adventures in cold cold MI, but for now, check out the rest of the fun photos on our flickr page. (Link to the right)

Leftovers

Okay, this one is for all the guys out there. If you're a woman (especially if you're married) you may want to skip this post, but feel free to read on. Know however that you have been warned.

When we ask what's for dinner honey, the answer is definitely not leftovers. You can answer anything from "chicken" to "I'm not feeling up to making dinner, let's go out", or even "I'm not feeling up to making dinner tonight, would you mind making it?"

However, the answer is in no way shape or form "leftovers". We're good husbands. We take leftovers to work for lunch while all of our coworkers go out and eat delicious greasy burgers right in front of us. We don't complain. We often time eat the same meal three times or more in the same week for lunch.

With the exception of Thanksgiving and Christmas, we do not want to eat the same meal more than once in a week. We don't care if the fridge needs to be cleaned out. If you're that desperate to get rid of food invite the missionaries over for lunch; those guys will eat anything.

I'm not saying that it's your job to make us dinner every night. I actually enjoy cooking and have been known to create delicious dinners. I'm just saying don't put "leftovers" on the meal plan for dinner time.

Christmas Beginnings

Monday we began our Christmas celebration officially. When John got home, we ate a quick dinner, and headed off to get a Christmas tree.

Timothy was amazed when we entered a whole yard of trees, and approved the second tree we looked it. It was a very nice one, I approved too. Then, we added to the amazement when we tied the tree to the car and headed home. All the way home he kept repeating "Tree" and "Car" as if to make sure we knew what had happened.

However, once we got the tree stand out, his confusion seems to have vanished, and he was all business. He escaped my attempts to get him undressed for a bath, grabbed his hammer, and proceeded to help Daddy put the tree stand together. Then he crawled under the tree to help John tighten it down. I was holding the tree at the point, so I don't have a picture, of that, but here's a good one of the tree stand...


The tree is up, and looks great. It's a little bare at the bottom two feet, but I had to keep moving things up as cats and child wanted to play with all the ornaments. Oh well, such are the joys... =)

In other news, I've been getting creative with leftover turkey, and found this great recipe. Turkey Primavera from Campbells Kitchen. John proclaimed it "restaurant quality" and I'm pretty proud of it myself. I even took a picture. The "Zesty Turkey and Rice" that I made last night from the same site was pretty good too.

Oh, and here's some cute videos just for fun. We have such a polite little boy. He shares, and says thank you... Enjoy!

The Thanksgiving Margaret didn't tell you about...

So this past weekend was Thanksgiving. Margaret has told you all about our guests, the food we ate, and her other musings. However there is one part she left out.

On Wednesday nights there are a couple of shows on Television that Margaret and I like to watch. This past Wednesday was no exception. However, this past Wednesday Margaret was multi-tasking and preparing the Thanksgiving Turkey as well as making a delicious pumpkin pie. Margaret asked me to let her know when the show was back on as she went in the kitchen to do some of these preparations. So I did as I was asked and Margaret came back into the living room to watch the show with me. About five minutes later Margaret yells "Oh Crap" and runs into the kitchen where she has left the water running in the sink (which she has plugged up to thaw out the Turkey)

Needless to say the kitchen was flooded. Margaret cleaned up and I took pictures :) However, Margaret was so embarressed by this she then deleted the pictures off of the camera. Then this conversation followed

John: Margaret, what'd you do
Meg: Shut up
John: Why did you drown the bird, poor bird
Meg: If you don't shut up I'm gonna flip you the bird