sleepy turkeys

after the meal it was time for a bit of rest and relaxation! everyone helped a bit with clean up, then we wandered into the living room. the guys were busy watching the game, while the ladies sat at the table and played games with the girls. eventually, though, everyone made their way into the living room and rested for a bit. even mom layed down for a couple minutes- before being happily interupted by aves! next it was cake time, and the kids proceeded to pester each other and have a good time doing it! i've never understood why people say that its annoying to see family on thanksgiving. we always have a good time, with only some bickering (but thats only between the kids fighting over toys!).
(more pics: 1, 2, 3)

thanks dinner

ah, the best part of thanksgiving: the food! mom had made quite a banquet for us- turkey, corn, cauliflower, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and more, jill brought the stuffing! the food was great, as it always is when mom's cooking. everyone was in high spirits and had a great time. diana and i hadnt originally planned on coming, but my belly is happy we did!

family thanks

thanksgiving morning diana and i got to sleep in a bit. we finally rolled out of bed and got ready for the big day. soon after we were done, tim jill and the kids rolled in! it feels like it had been a long time since we got to see them. almost instantly there were mountains of toys strewn around the living room floor! bubba with his transformers, and the girls with dolls and clothes. we got to play with them for a bit while mom was getting the food ready. we were even treated to an impromptu dance from the girls! ah, its good be be around family again.
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looking good!

wow. now that's a sweater! aaron said he had just come home from a 'sweater party'. i guess everyone at the party had to come wearing a terrible sweater, christmasy or otherwise. aaron said he found this majestic piece at the second hand clothing store for just two bucks. all that sweatery splendour for only two bucks?!? amazing!
(check out more pictures of this beaut here)

thanks eve

we werent planning on going to michigan for thanksgiving, but at the last minute changed our minds. i gave jeffry lee a call, and he whipped together some plans for wednesday night! diana and i dropped off poco at my parents house and then headed over to aaron and jeffry lee's place. when we got there, jeffry lee and freddie were chilling out. we chatted with them for a bit, made a meijers run, and when we got back aaron was home! we hung out in the kitchen and chatted for hours. it has been quite a while since we were all actually in the same room- it was a treat! its amazing what kind of random and strange topics we get around to with all of us together. i always have fun with the guys, and diana had a blast too- i'm so lucky to have a wife who likes my friends almost as much as i do! eventually we headed home, but i've got to admit, it was only an hour or two before my parents woke up...
(more pics: 1, 2)

organiza-shed

when papa came down last time we built a shelf in the shed. it looked great and i knew it would really help organize everything in there. about a week later i finally got around to going out there and putting stuff in order. going through all the junk and trying to sort it a bit better was nice. at one point i had a very hard time even opening the door to the shed because all the stuff was scattered everywhere! but now, all is in its place. i think i need to get out there once more to have everything right where it should be, but it is looking pretty good so far!
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forgotten cheese

last weekend diana went on a (much needed) cleaning spree. the kitchen was a bit of a mess, not terrible or anything, we keep up on the dishes and keeping it clean and everything, its just that it was getting cluttered and unorganized. she went through all the cupboards and drawers and cleaned them up and organized all the food and stuff. as she was going through the fridge, she happened to notice we had a container of parmesan cheese. we pulled it out and it had been turned from powdered cheese into a block of cheese. i'm not much of a chef, but i'm pretty sure that means its no longer any good... she showed it to me and i had a pretty good laugh at it! it was a D&W product. this is why its funny: D&W hasnt existed for about 4 years! it used to be a grocery store chain in grand rapids, but was bought out by family fare years ago. needless to say, i dont use parmesan cheese very often... when i saw it i got a bit nostalgic- D&W was the brand we always used when i was growing up! its always a bit funny to find an old relic in the fridge. it reminds me of the time i found a ketchup packet years ago in our fridge from raxx. ah, remember raxx?...

social hour

man, its been too long since we hung out with jordan and jonathin! jordan is one of diana's friends from her home depot days, she got married to jonathin this spring and now they live a bit south of us. every once in a while we are able to get together with them, and i always love it! jordan is a ton of fun, she loves to chat and always has some great stories to tell. she came to diana's school a couple weeks ago and diana got to cut and color her hair. jonathin is a blast as well, he is a lot of fun to talk with, and he's really funny! last night diana got a text from jordan asking if we wanted to go out together. we met up with them at applebees for dinner and had a great time! we werent able to do anything afterwards because diana has class today so we couldnt stay out too late, but it was a lot of fun to see them again. next time, though, it needs to be longer- we hung out for a couple hours, but i felt like we had just gotten started!

seriously?!?

seriously?!? i stepped outside this morning, and what do i see? our neighbor across the street from us already has their christmas decorations up! they have giant candy canes, santa and mrs. clause, and a giant ten foot long 'merry christmas' sign in their front lawn. really? is that necessary? yesterday it was over 60 degrees! i dont know about you, but i certainly dont think 'oh, its so nice and warm out, perhaps its time to put out our christmas decorations!' it's one thing for stores to put out their christmas stuff this early (which also makes me frustrated), but they are doing it to try and make some money, so it kind of makes sense for them, those greedy weasels. but for someone to already put up their own decorations outside?!?
now, i must admit, i am a bit of a scrooge when it comes to christmas decorations. i know they have their place, but six weeks early just seems like too much. to put out decorations this early seems very rude to other holidays. what about thanksgiving? i'll bet thanksgiving is sulking in the corner right now feeling altogether ignored! poor thing.

toy soup

our school has been thriving. even with all the economic problems right now, our enrollment has been steadily increasing. due to that fact, last year we built a six classroom addition. the building project unfortunately took away some of the land for the playground equipment that the kids would use during recesses. instead of seeing that as a problem, it was an opportunity to better use the space we have, and so the school purchased some great new equipment for the new play area. unfortunately, rebuilding the play area was quite expensive: new equipment, new woodchips, new swings, new sidewalks. so, as a way of diverting that cost, the school has a semi annual soup supper fund raiser! the teachers were asked to volunteer to help out with different aspects of the event. since my gift is in art, i was in charge of decorating the gym a little bit for the event. i spent a couple days drawing, cutting, taping, and laminating, and made a bunch of decorations for the walls. diana and i were able to attend the soup supper, and boy was i surprised at how it went! i thought it would be about 50 or so people who would show up, but by the time we got there (an hour after the event started), there were at least 150 people, with more shuffling in each minute! wow! it was really neat to see such community support for the school and so many people willing to pitch in with the fundraising! oh, and the soup, bread, and salads were really good!
(pictures of the decorations here)

lunch time meet up

last weekend diana and i had the pleasure of meeting up with diana's mom and david for lunch. they were visiting diana's grandmother, helping her with some housework. before they got started, they came with grandma for lunch at strongbow inn, a really great buffet-style restaurant in valparaiso, near where diana's grandmother lives. the food was great, and it is always a great time when we get to see diana's family! we both ate too much, but thats how it goes when there is great food around and family to chat with.

a real revelation

a few weeks ago i was driving home from school and i saw that one of the local churches was going to be having a class on the book of revelation. i've always been interested in the book, but it always seemed to be too much to handle alone, all that symbolism and imagery. i talked with diana about it, and we decided we would check it out.
over the past five weeks we went through the entire book of revelation, reading through it and trying to decipher what it means. the pastor, david trexler (at gloria dei church), lead us through the book and opened up many of the mysteries and meanings behind this cryptic book. the insight he gave was refreshing and challenging- he blew my mind! now, i spend every day studying the bible for my job, so it is a rare feat for me to be blown away by a new perspective on scripture- but he did it! one of the weeks we were driving home from the class and i was trying to discuss it with diana, but i was too overwhelmed with all that amazing new teaching that i had a hard time constructing a sentence! what started out going to this class on a whim has turned into a renewed passion in our faith! i sure hope he teaching another class soon!

the sandman

lately i've been having some strange dreams. over the past week or two my dreams, for some reason, have been very vivid and i can actually remember them when i wake up! usually i forget them almost immediately, but they have been lingering in my mind through out the day. in one of them my old dog mollie was still alive and she and i went on a journey through the woods. another one involved jeffry lee building a giant remote controlled robot and attacking me with it, although he was nice enough to take a break from killing me so that we could stop and play some video games together. very kind of him. and for some reason, in all my dreams, i am wearing two different types of shoes. i dont claim to know what any of it means, but it sure has made sleepy time a big more interesting!
p.s.- yes, my pillow actually does have a pokemon pillow cover...

finishing touches

papa came down to indiana this saturday to finish up all the work on the shed. its been almost a year in the making, but now we can finally say, once and for all, it is complete! we had a few more things to do with it to finish it up: some edging was needed on the outside, and a shelf was needed on the inside. papa arrived bright and early, well, early for a saturday... i was already out there clearing out the shed to get our wood supplies that had been stored in there since last year. as we were working, it got hotter and hotter. this was quite a change, usually when papa comes down we are bundled up in 40 degree weather! it got all the way up to 70 degrees by midday! i went in at one point and changed into shorts! we took care of the trim and the shelf, and before we knew it, we were done! the shed looks great, and it will be much easier to organize now that we have that shelf- thanks papa, i know you could have been out golfing instead!

muffin man

often when diana and i go to see my parents, my mom has freshly made raisin bran muffins for us. they are really really delicious! diana and i always love to eat them for breakfast when we are there. well, mom decided to give us the recipe so we could make them ourselves. while the family was visiting us, the women went to the grocery store to stock our kitchen for us (thanks again, mom!), and mom got us all the ingredients that we would need to make those tasty muffins ourselves. so we decided to give it a try. they turned out perfectly and we have been enjoying them for breakfast almost every day since- yum!

in the house

after the shed roof was finished, we cleaned up a bit and headed inside. the girls had come home from the grocery store with tons of food for diana and i (thanks mom!), and also some lunch: taco bell! we all dug in and tried to find somewhere in the living room to eat- it was quite crowded! the kids were still a bit scared of poco, so he was put in the kitchen behind the baby gate. at one point, feeling brave, they wanted to try petting him again. aves, of course, had no fear, and went right in to pet him. bubba has been getting better and better with him, but tweets is still scared stiff of him.
once lunch had been eaten, the kids wanted to play a little bit. i pulled out a few transformers for bubba to play with. the girls turned to diana and asked 'do you have anything for us to play with?' and it just so happened that she did! diana went into the office and pulled out a box of her old barbie stuff- the girls were thrilled! they had a great time playing with their favorite aunt, and the rest of us got a chance to just chill out and chat for a bit while they were preoccupied.
eventually though, it was time to leave. we wished all of them good travels, and said our goodbyes. then came the hard part: clean up!
(more pics)

raise the roof

while the girls went and got groceries, the boys stayed back and finished up work on the shed. it has been almost a year since this project was started, so we figured it might be time to get the thing finished! last november papa came down for a couple days (which are recorded here: 1, 2, 3, 4) and we got the shed built. unfortunately, it got dark a bit too early on the second day, so we werent able to finish the roof all the way. papa got one side shingled, but we had to settle for a tarp over the other half of the roof! over the months it stood up pretty well, but now it was time to finish up the roof- it was a pretty cheap tarp and wasnt going to last too much longer...
this time timmy was around, the now there were two skilled workers on the scene, so the whole thing went really quick. tarp off, shingles on! papa cut a hole for a vent, and just like that, it was done! bubba and i helped a little bit, but we were pretty much just there to feed up materials and tools. after a couple hours the whole thing was done. thank you papa and tim, you guys are such a help! there is certainly no way i could have ever done any of this stuff myself! and without that shed, i would never have been able to put my stuff out there and fit my wife's stuff into this overcrowded house, so she thanks you too!
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barbara's gifts

saturday afternoon everyone stopped by. it was the first time the kids had seen our house! bubba has been here before, but he was too young to remember it. when ever we go and visit them we would often get asked by one of the kids would ask diana or i where we lived. we would always tell them we live in indiana, two hours away. i dont think they ever really understood, just figuring it was far away and leaving it at that. finally they got to see our place, which they liked. when they arrived we were able to give the kids some little gifts. they werent from us, in fact they were from diana's sister barbara! they were little wind-up toys in the shape of different brightly colored bugs! they were very excited about them and loved to put them on the ground and watch them walk and twirl around! thanks barbara- you are going to make such a great aunt someday!
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schoops

after cabela's i ran home to pick up diana who was on her way back from work. we met up with everyone else at schoops, a little dinner that papa always loves to go to when he is in town. we got some good food and just had a fun time with the family talking and playing with the kids.

outdoors indoors

we racked our brains trying to think of something fun for the kids while we waited for diana to get back from work. we settled on the idea of going to the bookstore and letting the kids check out the kids section. not too much fun... then, on the way, it struck me: we should go to cabela's! diana and i had been there before and loved it- and we arent even outdoors kind of people! i knew this would be just right for the kids, and boy, was i right! we headed over there and checked it out. before we went in though, i quietly gave bubba 51 cents. i didnt tell him why, i just told him he would need it inside. though slightly confused, he took it. we went in and the kids were overwhelmed by all they saw! there are mounted animals all over the place! there are also a bunch of other cool attractions inside. they had a great time and now they want to come back and see it all again!
(for more stories and pictures, go here, here, and here)