Christmas Photos of my kids!

Today I had Erik pose with Dobby and Precious, both in their holiday garb! Too cute, don't ya' think?

Christmas Party for Friends

I decided to host a Christmas party for my friends. Because my mom's birthday is the 6th, I added that into the party using red velvet cupcakes...yum!
The menu consisted of turkey pot pie, fettucini alfredo, shrimp in garlic sauce, chocolate-cranberry cheesecake, irish cream cheesecake, pumpkin pie, red velvet cupcakes, wine, and rum punch.
The guests included (in no particular order): Lisa Brondi, Joyce Hansen, Quin Franz, Laurie McNulty, Denise & Phyllis Sabar, Lynda Steindinger, Brenda Selevredes, her daughter Nicole and daugther-in-law (ugh my memory on names), my mom, Nana... and me :)

First Snow

We had our first snow today, so I took a few photos.

Precious & Dobs, checking out the situation.

Erik built this fence this past summer. He did an incredible job.

Stop and Smell the Roses.... err Mums!

Had to post this picture of Precious:

 

Our back door

My Owie

Graceful me, I slammed my head in the hatch of the car when I got to work this morning. Lovely, huh? Cindy sat me down with ice on it for a half hour. I was a bit dazed, but got through the day just fine.

Thanksgiving Day

We had a lovely dinner this year. I made all the fixings, and my family was in attendance. All that was missing was was my hubby, Mike (still in Iraq), and it was the first Thanksgiving after losing Gram. I miss them both so much.

Ever wonder how they figure out the date for Thanksgiving Day? I looked it up and here it is:

In The United States Thanksgiving is observed on the every fourth Thursday of November. The holiday is celebrated in remembrance of the pilgrims and in order to give thanks.

2010	-	Thursday, November 25th
2011	-	Thursday, November 24th
2012	-	Thursday, November 22nd
2013	-	Thursday, November 28th

And now for the photos!

Gathering everything on the counter Thanksgiving morning to get things going.

Getting the caramel cheesecake (my mom's request) going.

Turkey in the fridge (above) then in the oven (below).

Done to perfection all 22 pounds of it! My first time stuffing a turkey.
Robi carved it for me... thank you Robi!

Nuts! This nut holder and crackers was my grandparents' (Christman) from before I was even born. Every Thanksgiving my Grandpa (Emil) Christman would fill it up, and we would sit around visiting and cracking nuts while we waited on dinner.

A special touch this year was whipping up the butter.
Almost looks good enough to eat with a spoon.

3 More Photos from My Phone's Camera

Yikes, I missed posting yesterday! I will try to post another tonight to make up for it. My goal is to get all the pictures up on this blog that I took over the summer, then start adding the pictures I am taking now. So in the next few days I should be posting the brand new pics for you :)

Big Spider on My Iris Plant!!

When I was doing yard-work it turns out I wasn't alone out there! Did my best to stay away from this guy. Kind of scary looking, and I am not sure what kind of spider it is.

Sunburned Erik

I took this photo of Erik in his Apple Holler t-shirt. He has worked there the past few years. He got a little too much sun and almost matches his shirt. He is sporting his new hair-do (or hair-don't since there isn't any?) He has decided he likes to clipper it himself, and removing it almost completely seems to be the way to go. Sure makes for a quick morning getting ready!

Flowers from Karen

My cousin, Karen, brought me these flowers at Gram's memorial. They were so beautiful! She must have known my favorite color is pink. Thank you, Karen, for these flowers. They really meant a lot to me, and I thoroughly enjoyed them. They were perfect on my dining room table.

Well that's it for now. More to come soon!

Love,

Lisa :)

Beautiful Scenery

Amazing Clouds

On my way home from work this summer, the clouds were so amazing. I had to stop and take a picture with my phone. This is about 5 minutes from our house. Breathtaking isn't it?!

Rainy Sunset

I took this picture from our front porch on a rainy late-summer evening this year. The sunset was so bright; the photo doesn't capture how fiery orange-red it was.

Green & Blue!

The summer was just wonderful this year. Not too hot and just enough rain to keep things green and lush. I thought you would enjoy this photo of the front yard in all it's green grandeur!

Pictures from September

This was the last photograph taken of Gram. Erik went to visit and they took a picture with the camera on a phone. Thank goodness! Gram really looks pretty good for 94 1/2 years old. I miss her so very much. She was a blessing in my life, and I cherish all of my memories of her.

Gram & Erik September 2011

Here is a funny picture featuring Dobby. In the morning, I open the blind for Dobs so he can stand on the chair and look out the window. I took this picture when I was leaving for work. You have to look closely, but you can see Dobs in the window. He is such a goofy dog.

There's Dobby!

This next photo I am sure you will love. It was a spectacular sunset that I just had to capture to share with you. Miss sitting outside on the front porch having coffee while enjoying our fabulous view with you!

Breathtaking sunset over the cornfield.

Halloween 2011

I was at Petsmart Halloween day, and I just couldn't resist  the adorable costume hats on clearance for $1 at the register! Precious and Dobby were not as amused as I was. But they were good sports and gave me a second to take a quick pic with my phone camera.

Precious Princess

Yeah Precious doesn't look very excited. Actually I believe she thought she did something wrong, and this was the punishment!

Devilish Dobby

I had to be quick taking this picture of Dobs. That hat was off in a flash! Dobby thought it much more fun to run around and play keep-away with it.