I'm Dreaming...

...of a White Christmas...and boy did we get it!

We spent last evening learning of various and sundry scheduled events getting cancelled in anticipation of the impending snow storm. As I watched Tim calling back and forth with other members of the Bishopric and the Stake President, debating the wisdom of canceling our morning church meetings, and watched out the window for the snow that had been predicted to start 'any minute' all day long, but had yet to appear, we laughed at those who claim 'New Englander' status cowering at a forecast (if this McDonalds commercial is any indication, any New Englander would consider 5 inches of snow a mere 'dustin', but in our experience, even the threat of an inch or two is enough to prompt school closings and meeting cancellations).

Well, even before the snow started (around 9:30 pm), morning meetings were cancelled, and all the phone calls made, so we went to bed without setting the alarm...and woke up at a reasonable hour to this...

...14 1/2 inches of fresh new snow.

Tim and I took turns trading off our single snow shovel and after 2 1/2 hours of constant shoveling between us, we succeeded in clearing a path just wide enough to get one car out at a time.

Sarah had a great time playing in the snow while we worked.

This is a shot of our bistro table just before we went to bed at about 11:30 last night.

Some Pre-Christmas Fun...Or, in other words, Just some Randomness...

Here are a few of the things we have been up to since Thanksgiving...

I finished another re-upholstery project.

Before...

...and after.

Sarah had a little chat with Santa...

We also tried curlers for the first time...

...boy did they work!!!!

We helped at our Ward's 3rd annual Christmas Choir and Creche Exhibit...Sarah and I both sang with some small groups, and we helped decorate a Christmas Tree commemorating our special Summer Camp we participated in this past summer. The name of our camp was "Camp Liberty". The kids memorized the camp scripture: 'Wherefore this land is consecrated unto Him, whom He shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve Him according to His commandments, which He hath given, it shall be a land of LIBERTY unto them.' 2 Nephi 1:7

Our tree was decorated with a banner bearing the scripture, as well as ornaments with a photo of each child from one of the first days of camp where they learned about the Statue of Liberty, and had the opportunity to dress up as her. All of the ornaments, and the banner were made by my friend, Elise, who put so much wonderful work into the whole project. Oh, and the tree topper was a torch, that had been the camp craft from the Statue of Liberty day.

Sarah with her new Nutcracker friend...

We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year!!!!!

Traditions: Old and New...

On Thursday, I had the opportunity to reflect on some of the wonderful traditions that have been passed on from my mother and father, and also to enjoy some of the new traditions we are creating in our own family...

We have spent most of our lives spending the Thanksgiving holiday with members of our family, but now that we live so far away from most of our family, we had to start a new tradition of sharing the holiday with local friends. This is the second year in a row that we have invited a few families to join us in our home for the Thanksgiving feast, and we had a delightful time together. We had eight adults and seven kids all told, and everyone contributed something to the meal... it was the easiest Thanksgiving morning... I only had to make the rolls, and supervise the turkey. Everything else (sweet potatoes, stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes, and three kinds of pie) was brought by our friends, and everything was deeeeeelicious!!

A photo of most of the group

Two traditions that I brought (literally) to the table... butterflake rolls...

... and m&m and mixed nut turkey favors... we had these at every Thanksgiving table I can ever remember.

One tradition that we started new this year came courtesy of Sarah's preschool teacher. Sarah came home on Tuesday with a 'Thankful Tree', and we decided to have everyone add a leaf after dinner. Each leaf had "I am thankful for..." written on it, and everyone got to write something or draw a picture of what they are thankful for. Here is our full tree...

I, personally, am thankful for my wonderful and loving family (immediate and extended) and great friends. Thanks, everyone for the enjoyable memories!

Because some of you asked...

...here is a link to the pierogi recipe I use. https://www.thespruceeats.com/potato-cheese-pierogi-recipe-1136822  

But, I have found that the amounts suggested for the potato/cheese/onion filling make WAY too much for the amount of dough you get, I would use 3 - 4 medium potatoes at most.

More projects . . .

So, I realize that this will be completely boring for most of you, but I have just spent several weeks restoring two old pieces of furniture and I need a place to post my before and after photos . . . for years we have had a house full of lovely old furniture, much of it acquired at Estate Sales in Pittsburgh. I have been assessing our hoard and deciding which pieces are worth refurbishing. Here are my two latest . . .

The chair before . . .

. . . and after . . .

The dresser (inherited from my Great Aunt) before . . .

. . . and after . . .

I already have two more projects in mind, including re-covering my favorite wingback chair . . . we'll see if I can succeed . . . then I can do another boring post . . . stay tuned.

'Rogies and da 'Burgh

Years ago, when we moved to Pittsburgh, I began a love affair that will, I expect, continue for the rest of my life . . . I am, of course, talking about pierogies and keilbasa . . . YUM!! When we moved away from Pittsburgh, I searched for frozen pierogies at our local grocery store, to no avail, so I had to take matters into my own hands (literally) and into the hands of my daughter . . .

Of course, the whole process and especially the 'eating' part of the process made me think of 'da 'burgh' and all of the great times we had there! What a fun place to live!

Enjoying the 'fruits' of our labors.

Happy Halloween . . . . . . . and other stuff.

Well, our October has been absolutely full, and so I am doing another slideshow to cover the end of the month, which included a major Ladybug hatch, some Halloween crafts, some apple picking, pumpkin carving, and Trick-or-Treating. We had a wonderful October, and hope you did too!