Christmas in the New House

One week before Christmas and I was finally able to get to my Christmas decorations and the tree (I know, I gave it away, yes I have an artificial tree....with lights already in it!!)  I have not pulled out everything I own Christmas...probably not even a fourth of what I have stored...but it is beginning to look very festive here, so I wanted to share some little vignettes with you....

I really wanted this Bakers Rack in the kitchen eating area and we actually planned a wall for it, but then when we were unable to get our original table we ordered and had to take this other table, it was 9 feet long and with the chairs this bakers rack just didn't fit into the space...the table had to be off center of the windows and all the lighting didn't line up with the center of the table.  So we decided to put it into the entry and it works just fine!

The Nativity scene is on the mantle...away from little fingers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

LOVE this 30 inch Jim shore Snowman

on the stove top island  Jim Shore angels, a Santa and a couple of snowmen

my sweet little Riley dog just prior to his passing

my sweet Jim Shore Snowmen with a picture of Lacey's family from last year

Father Christmas surrounded by angels and baby Jesus in a manger

view from the kitchen looking into the living room

view from the living room...the eating island and then the stove top island with the copper hood

view from the living room looking towards the kitchen table

Santa tucking in a little boy

 

 

 That is all I have for now, I am sure in just a few days from now, more pictures will be on the blog sharing our Christmas joy with the whole family.  We will host the Christmas Eve dinner with Scott's parents and his brother and wife.  Christmas day will by just dinner with my dad and my daughter's families. 

Christmas blessings to you all!

I am a WINNER!!

Okay, for those of you who know me, know that I like to browse through all sorts of blogs getting inspired by other crafty people.  I love scrapbooks, cards...really anything paper related and crafty!  I love making little boxes and having a gift inside!  So on some of these 'blogs' that I browse through, the owner of the blog will at times be giving away gifts, maybe she will ask for a comment or something and then a winner is selected usually by a random integer...which means they have a program and a number is selected and whoever is that number is the winner.  I must admit to having entered a couple of these and of course, never won a darn thing.  So then for a long time, I just gave up, I mean really what are the chances that I would actually win something?  Well, guess what?  I not only won ONCE, but TWICE!!!  I was so darn excited I could hardly stand it!  So do you want to see what I won?

All Martha Stewart Craft supplies!!

The package contained two die punch sets...snowflakes!  A package of glitter and tiny beads, and then three different packages of gift boxes.

Now the second items I won are 13 stamp sets.  I LOVE Paprtrey stamps and one of the designers was giving away 13 of her own stamp sets...so I just left a comment and I won!!  How exciting is that?  I danced into the room where Scott was and told him about my good fortune as I did my little jig...he was most skeptical and said something like:  "You didn't win anything...it is all just a scam"  And when I told him NO WAY, he said, "well, before you do anything let me look at what you are getting yourself into"  and I said to him, "sorry, too late, I already did it and I already won!"  I even brought him into my room and brought up my winning site and there was my name:  Colleen...where are you, you have won and I need you to respond to me"  He is now a believer...especially after the first package arrived!  I am waiting for the 13 stamp sets, but it is Christmas and the company just had their monthly release which is a lot of work for all the designers.  I have no doubt that I will be receiving a package in the mail with 13 new stamp sets and I am just thrilled about winning!!  You can bet that I will now continue to make little comments...not really expecting to win, but hey, you never know!!

Homemade Marshmallows!! YUM!!

Have you ever made home made marshmallows?  Well, they are pretty darn good...kind of melt in your mouth and also in your hot chocolate good!!  They are very simple and easy to do...I made some and dunked them into melted semi-sweet chocolate...yummmm, so good, don't even need the hot chocolate!  LOL!!  I decided I would wrap some up and give a mug and a pack of hot chocolate along with a bag of these wonderful marshmallows as a gift!  If you want the recipe, just google homemade marshmallows and I am sure you will come up with several.  They don't take very long at all, and they are a bit messy, but worth it I think, especially for this time of the year when you want to let friends know that you think enough of them to make something extraordinary!!

A Time to Be Thankful

The very best part of this Thanksgiving season for me is NOT the turkey, gravy, potatoes and of course pumpkin pie (or the pie of choice!), but a time to reflect on this past year and all the reason I have to be thankful.

It has been three and half years since my mother passed away and really not a day goes by that I don't give her a thought....and I sure wish I could call and talk to her.  But the best I can do at this point is talk to her spirit because I know she is listening and watching over me.  So this year was an easy "grateful" year...I still have my father who is 89 now and in good health!  Are you kidding me?  This man has canned more tomatoes and made marinara sauce (canned also!), canned peaches, pears, made apple juice with apples from his orchard.  And that does not even count all the other blueberries and other veggies and fruits he has frozen or dried!  Do you think he is doing great?  You betcha...I hope I have the energy to do a little bit of what he does...watering the garden, getting down on my hands and knees to weed it, mow the lawn, prune the fruit trees, harvest the produce and then come in for a nap and make some dinner....always with a balanced meal...he never forgets his veggie and fruit and of course, if you know my dad, DESSERT factors into that balanced meal!  AND...he has made the dessert himself!  Yes, we are talking brownies, German chocolate cake, carrot cakes, pies..(oh, he made our family's all time favorite pie that my mom always made - Cream Cheese Berry Pie!).  Yes, I would say he is fabulous and of course I am so THANKFUL that we all got to share another Thanksgiving meal with him.  How blessed are we?

And we get to double the blessings with both of Scott's parents still with us also!  We are so THANKFUL that they too are able to get in a car and spend a few hours to enjoy us and all the great grandchildren.  This year as we gathered around Dina's big island (just before we were ready to 'dig' into the feast!) we each said what we were thankful for...then we said our blessing and we hit the food hard!  Everyone contributed to the feast and that helps a lot!  Our tradition the last 10 - 15  years has been to have the feast on a day other than Thursday.  Why you ask?  Well, selfish reasons really....I did NOT want to share my mom and dad with my brother...you know, the every other year thing that a lot of families do to not hurt one's feelings and to be "fair"?  And then when Dina was going with Jamie she tried going to both houses and make an appearance, but was really stuffed, I thought, you know...it is NOT about the day...Thursday?  What is so special about Thursday?  WHAT is SPECIAL is getting everyone together to spend time with each other and to be thankful, grateful and love each other.  So...why not Sunday?  Yahoo...it is a revelation...my parents got to come every year and my daughters didn't have to over eat at two houses and try to please everyone.
So we normally have our feast on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, but this year, Lacey's family is heading to Hawaii on the Saturday after, so we decided to have everyone on the Sunday before Thanksgiving...so there you have it!  I am all done with my feast and cooking and now I just get to sit back and relax..well, make some turkey soup for sure!  Oh, one other thing that I do for my family...I know call me crazy.  But to you what is the best part of turkey day?...the turkey sandwiches, right?  So, here is what I do....I buy TWO smaller birds (like maybe 14 pounders!) and I cook one the day before...that's right, the day before!  THEN...I can make the gravy and be all done with almost all the last minute stuff that happens with turkey day and mashed potatoes and gravy!  (You know, I do have a recipe for "make ahead mashed potatoes" and considered making that the day before also, but it called for a whole cube of cream cheese, and I thought to myself, we don't need to add all those extra calories just to have it easy the next day!).  AND then I cut up all the turkey meat and package it up into baggies to give to all our house guests!  They all get to go home with turkey for their own turkey sandwiches the next day!  Genius?  I think so!!

Here we all are gathered around the table after we have eaten!  There are 17 of us, the Foelker family along with my Dad, he will also go to my brother Bernie's house for Thanksgiving on Thursday - lucky him, he gets two turkey days!  But he made out good at my house because I gave him a whole turkey carcass with lots of meat and for sure the very next day he had the bones in a pot and was making his stock!  Grandma Elsa is on the left with the Snook family (notice little Lily is wearing her glasses!), then Scott, his brother John and wife Robin, Bill, Lacey's family, me and my Dad has Addie (Addison June - named after my mom!) sitting on his lap!  These pictures are treasures for sure!

God bless each of you; may you all enjoy your loved ones and treasure the time spent with them.  Have a most THANKFUL Thanksgiving!

Trick or Treaters!

Here in the front row we have the littlest one, Tristan, a lion, next is Addie a mermaid, (the skeleton skull in black is not a real person!!)  Jalen is in blue without his face mask and he is  the "bad Spiderman"! next is Lily as a very cute little cowgirl.  Papa Ben, as himself, lol!! then Caleb who is drinking is himself as a baseball player because he just finished playing his last baseball game of the fall season!  Then Miss Ellie is a "dead" cheerleader!  Do you remember when we "made" the costumes for our children...took white sheets for a ghost or maybe fabric and a pattern to make a special outfit, or perhaps cardboard boxes painted to look like a robot or some such thing?  I remember being a lady bug one time and it was all with cardboard painted red with black dots, I had a front and back with yarn attached at the shoulders...Today the children go to the "Halloween Costume' stores and purchase whatever strikes their fancy...dead cheerleaders?   who would have thought....!!!  I do remember being a cowgirl a time or two...also a princess wearing my mothers old formal dresses!  Such fun happy memories!

the Dead Cheerleader with "Papa" wearing the spider mask!

All the great grandchildren with Grandma Elsa and Papa Bill

Yo Top It

A 17 month old 'customer' holding our sign

I don't know if you all have heard the word, but our family is branching out beyond the world of PIZZA's!!  We are now into the self-serve frozen yogurt faze that seems to be popping up at least around our area!  We carry 8 different nonfat yogurts and two sorbets.  It is all self-serve, and then we have 42 toppings to choose from (now this is where one could get into trouble...remember I said the yogurt is NONFAT...well, that is NOT so with m & m's or Snickers Bars, or Butterfingers...you get the picture!)  However...we do have berries...straw, rasp, black, blue and then kiwi!!  So it is NOT ALL BAD!!

Scott designed the store and then Jamie, Joe (who has been building our house for 3 years) and Pete a high school friend of Jamie's along with Scott built this Yogurt store.  It took about 7 weeks and finally, today, October 15 we opened our doors at noon to the public!

We did not advertise our grand opening because we have had to deal with a few different issues in getting this store open.  First the truck delivering the machines broke down in Eugene, and that caused a day delay.  Then when the machines arrived and we uncrated them, we discovered that each machine required two electrical outlets to plug into...well that was a problem and caused $$$$$ issues!  We found we needed a new circuit breaker and a new meter from PGE!  So that delayed us another 5 days!  But today was a good day, sunny and just busy enough with family and friends to work out the logistics of working the store and taking care of customers!  Aaron, Lacey's husband is going to run the store and Lacey will be the Operational manager.  Dina will take care of the books for this store. Jamie will finally be able to go back to Papa Murphy's and over look our four stores and physically work our busiest store!

We are so blessed to have our daughters and their husbands working in the family business...nothing like family to take care of things!  And now we will hope that this will be just as successful as Papa Murphy's has been for us.                                        

our personal 'candy' store!

It is a "sweet" job, and someone has to do it! That was ME!

After all the product has been chopped and prepped and ready for use!

Jamie getting the yogurt machines in place

So if you follow my blog, please stop in and have some yogurt!  We are at the intersection of 213 and Molalla Avenue in the Oregon City Point Center.  We happen to be between the West Coast Bank and Pizzano's Pizza!!  It is a busy little center with a Starbucks, a 5 Guys Burger, a Panda Express, Hawaiian Time, Bakery and other miscellaneous stores!  And we are right across from the entrance to the Clackamas Communty College!  Stop in and say HI, Aaron will be there during the day and Lacey will probably be spending a lot of hours in the evenings with new employees training them!

Opening Day...three new employees and the family, minus Lacey..she was there early in the morning and then again later in the day staying until closing.

Grandparents Day at the Middle School

Caleb invited me to lunch and a book fair at his school.  I didn't actually eat lunch...they served Domino's Pizza, but then they had some good bargains on books and of course I couldn't resist buying a couple for Caleb (always the grandma encouraging reading!!).

I have to tell you what really warmed my heart with this grandson of mine:  He was NOT embarrassed to sit and have lunch with me, he was NOT embarrassed that I gave him a hug and kiss, he was happy and proud to show me around to his locker and his music class...we walked around the perimeter of the library and did some fraction math that was posted.  He figured them all out and they were correct!  I love that grandson of mine...he is growing up to be such a delightful and nice person!

A Girl's Only Weekend

Six girls that I went to high school with all went over to Black Butte, Oregon for a fun three day weekend.  We rented a house and brought along some food and crafts and we had a blast.  We spent both Saturday and Sunday roaming in Sisters...such a delightful town with great shopping and restaurants.  We nearly shopped till we dropped both days!  Then the evenings were spent doing what girls do best:  talk...talk...talk!!!  And one night three of us brought crafts to share!  So Gail had us all make pearl necklaces...so much fun and we all looked great wearing our necklaces.  Then Liz brought a yard of fabric for each of us and taught us how to fold and tie the fabric to make a bag...it is called  "Furoshiki"...oh yes, I have a picture with the bags on our shoulders!  And then lastly, you know me and my paper crafts!  I had the girls each make a little cork bulletin board to hang on the refrigerator!

We normally get together once a year, but we have always gone down to Springfield, Or, where Gail lives right on the McKenzie River and she prepares a luncheon feast for us and we sit on the bank of the river and catch up with each others lives.  This year, 2010 we decided since we were all turning 60, we should get away for more than a few hours...so we hatched this idea to get away for a whole weekend plus another day and really make it a special time for us.  And special it was...Kari gave each of us a 'mug' and then proceeded to whip up a Chai Tea using her "Silver Bullet"...yummmm!  Gail made the best pancakes with a three berry syrup...so good!  Colette slaved over the stove making us chicken enchiladas with a side salad...of course I contributed a meal...but I did not slave over it....you can probably guess!  Yes, three Papa Murphy's Delite crust pizzas!!  Pretty simple and easy and still plenty of time to visit and laugh together!

Girl Friends are the best, right?  We can say what is on our heart and know that we are not judged!  We can sympathize and know that what one is going through with aging parents, the rest will most likely be doing so soon.  We offer support if needed, advice if asked, ears for listening and hearts to feel the pain.  We have a special bond and it goes back at least 44 years (for me, cause I was a transplant to Oregon!), but for some of the other girls it goes back probably 55 years since some were in kindergarten!  Isn't that amazing?

So here are some group shots of us just having fun!

this is for me so that in 20 years I can remember or at least recall everyone's name!  Hah!!

Kari, Becky,

Kari, Becky, Donna, Me, Colette, Liz, Gail

jewelry making brought to us by Gail

Furoshiki bag, brought to us by Liz

Cork magnetic boards brought by Me!

A car group shot...silly but fun!

morning walk in the meadow at Black Butte

Sunset at Suttle Lake

Lily minus some teeth

She waited and waited and when it happened...whamoo she lost them all at the same time!

face painting

The kid's babysitter painted Lily's face to look like a "Jack-0-Lantern....she did a might fine job, too!!  Don't you love the empty spaces for teeth just like how they are carved??

Another Round at Gozzer

We so enjoy our time with the family up in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.  It is so beautiful with the lake surrounded by mountains filled with the great fir trees that is everywhere in our Pacific Northwest.  I have shown many pictures of the lake and boating activities that we enjoy there, this time I have just a few new photos to show you and some new stories too.

First...Scott, Jamie and Dina all played in the Gozzer Club Championship....Scott was in the "senior" division, (which BTW...he WON!!!)  Jamie in the championship division and for the first time ever...Dina played in the Women's Division.  Her father and husband talked her into playing!  Now, what you may not know about Dina is that she just started playing the end of April...so she was a bit nervous about playing in a tournament and not knowing the rules.  But guess what?  She got a very nice framed plaque by coming in 2nd with the net score!!  How cool is that!!  And she played with a lady whose name is Janet Jones...she is an actress, has been in many movies and maybe the last one that I recall is "A League of Their Own" and let's see, Madonna played in that along with Geena Davis and one other lady, but I am blank on her name...oh well.  What you may associate Janet Jones with is the great Hockey player, Wayne Gretsky because she is married to him...they have 5 children from 22 years to 7 years old.  Their younger son is Tristan and he is 10, we hooked him up with Caleb and they had several days of playing together.  Ellie and Lily and Jalen all went over to their house to play with Emma the 7 year old daughter and to swim at their house.  So now I have some pictures to share of their backyard.  They have a lovely home on the Gozzer property and they also have 2 cabins for house guests.  They have a swimming pool with a diving board, a hot tub and then what grabbed everyone's attention was the two slides...oh such fun the kiddos had with the slides....Jalen was not shy at all and had no fear, he was barreling down the slide before his daddy was even at the bottom pool to catch him!!!

On top, looking down the slides and out towards the lake

 

 

Doesn't that look like a blast?

Jalen in hot tub with Daddy

Ellie and Emma ready to dive in!

Ready, set, GO!

Now, don't you think we need one or two of those in our backyard...oh... in the neighbors back yard?  The kiddos had so much fun and what great exercise because you know they did have to walk all the way back up to the top to go down again!!

the outdoor exercise room

This exercise facility was right next to the Gozzer swimming pool, tennis courts, basketball courts, and several other options on the courts.  Such a great place to pass the time with the family!

group picture with Dina's family

Our Backyard

Our backyard is taking shape...Scott is building a retaining wall for me to have flowers, but also to have my vegetable garden at an easier height to manage (we are thinking getting older, here, so we don't want to bend too far down...we may not be able to get back up!  hah!!)  Joe who has been with us for three years now building this house, is the biggest help of all when it comes to these 70 pound blocks of cement!  And even Jamie has had many days as Joe's "apprentice" hauling the gravel and stone to Joe!

And thank goodness for Aaron and his excavator to help move dirt and gravel etc.  What would we do without these wonderful and helpful sons-in-law?

There will be two level of plantings with a path along each level for easy access of planting and harvesting!  I can hardly wait until it is done!  In one month we are scheduled to have the driveway, front porch and all the back patios poured!  Yahoo!  Now that will be progress!!

As for the house...well it is still a work in progress.  We finally have someone helping with staining all the window and door trims and also the last bit of my kitchen cabinets!  I told Scott I wanted my cabinets to be the first to have the stain and finish on them so I can finally organize my kitchen and place my things where they belong and I will have easy access to them!  I can hardly wait for that to happen!!

We are going to take another break and go to Coeur d'Alene for about 9 days to relax in the sun, swim in the lake, golf and have fun!  We will have a few days with Dina's family, then they will leave and we will end with a few days with Lacey's family!  We are looking forward to this vacation.  Scott has been working really hard on the yard and getting everything framed for the cement.  He deserves this break!