Saturday, November 28th, From a full house, to a partially empty one

Breakfast was Pumpkin pancakes, bacon and juice. Oh so yummy. Daniel and Chuck manned the skillet and grill. The majority of the company left at around 10:30. Dad left at around 2 after lunch.
The rest of my day was spent washing sheets, towels, cleaning the basement and getting the house back in order. I did spend about an hour on the couch in the afternoon. Chuck is sick, so there was no Christmas decorating done.
Catie asked if she could have some of her local friends over and I agreed with the stipulation that I wouldn't have to do any of the work. We ordered three pizzas and while they played games, Chuck and I watched a movie. Candice went out to see some of her local friends.
This picture was taken long after I went to bed. They had a ball playing games and talking.

Friday, November 26th, Not so Black Friday

Instead of the girls shopping on Black Friday, the boys and Daniel decided that they would go to Best Buy for a Viao computer. So they were up at 2:30. I went to bed at 1:30, so didn't even hear them. When they got back, which was about 30 minutes before breakfast came out of the oven, they said they would never, ever do it again. 6 hours of pure bedlam was not worth it. Daniel watched an entire movie in the TV section and David bought a 10 dollar game. The other two boys did get their computers.
Let me just say that breakfast was just delicious! I made two egg casseroles, a coffee cake and a huge bowl of fruit salad.
After breakfast was cleaned up and I was cleaned up, Beryl and I hit a couple of quilt shops. We had a fabulous afternoon chatting and drooling over gorgeous wares. The cousins and Steve did a little Geocaching, Chuck style. Chuck made a treasure hunt for them and they had a ball finding his clues. One hint was in a cemetery and they had to find a certain headstone.
The Cache was $20.00 and they went to Starbucks for a treat. Don't I have the most creative hubby?
Another Thanksgiving tradition is to put together a jigsaw puzzle. This goes back to my childhood. Mom and I did this at least once a year and through the winter. I get my obsession for them from her. Dad bought this puzzle when he rode the riverboat this fall for us. Catie and Steve predominately did the puzzle and some of us puttered at it, but they pretty much owned it.
This was hilarious because they both had kept a piece so they could put in the last one. There was a bit of a struggle as they each fought over that right!!
Our friends Lynne and Roland came over for dinner tonight and we had Lasagna, rolls, a little left over Thanksgiving and salad.
Also, today was Beryl's birthday, so we sang to her, had birthday cheesecake and she opened her gifts.
What a fun filled day!

Tuesday, October 6th, Every time you go away....

Catie and I were up at 3 this morning, so I could take her to Midway for her 5:55 flight back to Charleston. Good thing we went that early, we had no traffic problems at all. It's still hard to say good-bye...

Monday, October 5th, Fall fun

We have tried to go apple picking with one or the other girl every year for the past 4-5 years. Catie was able to spend an extra day at home before returning to South Carolina, but Candice had to go back to school last night, so I will have to take her when she is home for semester break.
Thankfully we had a beautiful day at Royal Oak Farms in Hebron, our new favorite picking spot. Catie is holding a gourd that is to represent Candice, who we really missed today.
There were very few people there which made it all the more special for us.
Chuck's favorite apple is a Gala, but they had a fungus this year, so we didn't get to pick any of them. But the other trees that we were allowed to pick were loaded:
We picked Empire, Liberty, Jonagofree and a Golden variety. 2 pecks were plenty for us.
It's a good thing they don't weigh us going in and out, because I think we each eat 1-2 apples a piece while we are picking:
Oh, man, they are so good right off of the tree.
I looked at the pumpkins but they were expensive and I think I can find them cheaper at Walmart or Aldi:
Isn't this a weird looking one?
As per tradition, we buy apple cider and apple cider donuts. Then we go to the petting farm so Catie can feed oats to the goats and sheep:
Such a fun family time! Now to make pies, cakes and breads...oh yum!

Saturday, October 3rd, Wedding Bells are ringing

Pete and Kelly Freeburg

My baby nephew got married today!!! How is that possible? What a wonderful celebration. As usual, I wasn't going to cry, but my sister's sister in-law saved me again and gave me a tissue during the service.
The bride and I had the same color shoes on!!
She was so excited!
The Freeburg clan.
The theme of the reception was apples and our place cards were caramel apples. They were just wonderful!!
Our family, all dressed up for this festive time. What a wonderful worshipful celebration of love.
It would have been totally complete had mom been there. She loved Kelly as a granddaughter.

Friday, October 2nd, Long drive

Last night, the girls got home at around midnight because Candice had class all day and Catie flew in from South Carolina. Candice unfortunately took a wrong turn to get to Midway to pick Catie up, which delayed their getting home any earlier. I tried to wait up for them, but after quilting all day, not getting any sleep and hosting quilt group, I hit the hay at 10. However, I was up at 4 to finish getting ready to leave. We left a little later than planned, at 6:25.
That meant that the girls basically slept all day, with several potty stops and food breaks sprinkled in. Usually as soon as the wheels start turning, I am out, but today, I could only catnap for 10 minutes at a time. I brought a ton of hand work to do and that kept me alert.
It was a very long drive: clear across the state of Iowa, but it was smooth sailing the whole way on I-80. We got there at around 5:30, in time to greet everyone as they headed to the rehearsal at the church.
That gave us some time to clean up and beautify before we went to the restaurant for the rehearsal dinner that Beryl and Dan hosted.
See how nice they look when awake?
The Freeburg clan. The restaurant, Blue Mountain was very unusual with all kinds of architecture mixed together. We had a lovely room on the second floor and had a buffet of barbecue chicken and beef.
We then headed to Kelly's parent's house so I could give the quilt to them. They loved it! I emphasized that it is a cuddle on the couch quilt, not necessarily an heirloom quilt, so they cuddled it up for a pic.
Candice demonstrated the proper way to wear a bow and thought Kelly should wear it instead of a veil tomorrow. We had a lovely room at the Holiday Inn Express in Sioux Center, which by the way reeks of Cow manure and packing plant smells. I don't know how you would get used to that living there.