Really Cool Christmas Gifts

Don't you love unique Christmas gifts? Here are some really cool ones from this year.

All of us kids got these candy canes. I've always liked things that were personalized, so this was right down my alley.

This book is incredible. I haven't read it all yet, but here are a few of some really neat tips I already like:

1. If you're always a mitten or a glove short at your house in winter, try this: Hang several pant or skirt hangers in the hall closet. Ask family members to clip pairs together on the hangers when not in use. -Liz Grove, New Carlisle, IN

2. To get rid of the leg dents that heavy furniture leaves in your pile carpeting, place an ice cube in each dent and let them sit overnight. The water from the melted cube causes the fibers of the carpet to swell. The next morning, use a towel to scratch and fluff out the dent until it's the same level as the rest of the nap. -Sally Clark, East Bradenton, FL

3. In your bathroom, keep those odds and ends of pins, clips, rubber bands, etc. in a plastic silverware tray. -Rachel Siegrist, Lititz, PA

4. Use a meat pounder instead of a fork to make a pretty design on your cookies. -Ann Z., Coon Rapids, MN

All the kids with their stockings!

Makin' Memories

Christmas really is my most favorite time of year! Aaron and I sure made lots of memories this year as we had the privilege of "parenting" our nephews/niece (ages 10, 7, and 5) on a 10-hour trip to Missouri. We were planning on riding along with Vicki and the children, but when her grandmother unexpectedly passed away, we took the kids with us so she and Jeff could go to the funeral and the kids wouldn't have to travel 8 hours to PA, 8 hours back to OH, then 10 hours to MO. It really was a fun trip, but very different from how we normally travel. We hadn't been out of Cincinnati for more than an hour when Kaley was asking how much longer to Grandma's. :-) Then, we discovered what Caleb had received for a Christmas gift - a recorder! Before he started in on it, he did kindly ask, "Let me know if this is disturbing you." We rode along for a little while listening to him shrieking out "Hot Cross Buns" when we finally asked if maybe he could wait until we got to Grandma's house so there was more room for the sound to escape. It was so funny! They were really good and we did enjoy it, but we were ALL ready to be there when we finally turned into the drive about 9:30 that night.


The trip home was much different as it was just Vicki, Kaley, the baby, and me. (Jeff and Vicki had flown out to MO on Christmas Eve.) Jeff flew Aaron back to OH a day early for work and the boys both wanted to go to. Here's Caleb and Drew getting all settled.

Before they left, Jeff took Mark and Phil for a plane ride. They flew over the house and we all went outside and waved as they whizzed by. Yes, the plane is rather small, so click on the picture to see it better.

O Christmas Tree!

Since everyone else has posted a picture of their tree (except me) - I didn't want to be left out. Here's two pictures - one for the "lighting" effect and the other so you can see the ornaments. :-)

Finally - a good investment from all those school fundraisers! Cute little Christmas place cards.

It is Finished!

I have just completed the hardest class I have ever taken!! I submitted the last project and promptly shouted "Hallelujah" rather loudly (literally), which Aaron said was not necessary. :-) I cannot tell you how glad I am that this class is over! It was beneficial and I did learn a lot, but financial management is not something I really looked forward to studying. I will be putting the textbook on the web very soon to sell to the next student as I can hardly wait to get rid of it. Any takers?

Joy!

This is such an adorable Christmas card - that I had to blog this!

Michael and Shawna (my cousins) have 3 beautiful girls - what a neat idea for Christmas cards!

Christmas Parties

I love parties! Isn't it fun to get together with others and just talk, play games, and eat some really yummy snacks?! We went to Mark and Kristin's Tuesday night and had a great time with many people from our church. Here are some of our "actors" from a really fun game we played!

You know how hard it is to try to get people to guess someone's name when you can't say anything! Kristi and Emily both were good at this!

Not many people's names I know are associated with clothes,
but the team knew who it was when Kristin did this. :-)

Heidi and Jenny
("Hello, Buddy the Elf - What's your favorite color?")

A Sneak Peek!

The GBS Christmas Program is this weekend! I always take pictures at the dress rehearsal, so here's a sneak peek of what's in store!

Go Reds!

OK - yes it is winter, and the Reds are not playing right now. But, we wore our red on Saturday and went downtown Cincinnati to enjoy Redsfest 2006 with Matt and Erika. Although I am a big Reds fan, I really don't "know" the players. Erika and I definitely "went along for the ride" and just to be together. However, it was kind of funny what happened. The 4 of us were standing in this l-o-n-g line to get Joe Nuxhall's autograph and Erika and I were getting slightly bored, so we decided to go strolling on our own and have the guys call us when they were done. We went to get something to drink and saw a group of people started to make a line in the corner. We didn' t know what it was for, but the line was short, so we got in it! We were really close to the front when we realized it was a "photograph opportunity" with Bronson Arroyo and Brandon Clausson! I didn't even know what position these guys played (although Erika did), but we also knew Matt and Aaron would wish they would have been with us. It was so funny to think Erika and I were totally doing this!

Here's proof of what we did!

I also got my picture with Snappy Tomato - he/she/it was more fun than the baseball players. What gender is a Snappy Tomato?

They were selling everything there (of course) - even chocolate Reds hats!

Can you imagine a room like this?

The highlight of the day for Aaron and Matt was getting Tom Browning and Mario Soto to autograph their hats. (Yes, I did have to ask Aaron, "Tell me again who that was that signed your hat?") I got their autographs too, but had no clue who they were or what they did or why SO MANY people waited for ever to get their autographs.

The world's largest baseball bat.

Even the Kahn's pig came to Redsfest!

It was a fun day and we made lots of memories (along with the 11,000 other people that were there)!

Eating an Elephant?

"The best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time."

I'm not sure who told me this amazing quote, but it's very good to remember on busy days. And since today is one of those days - that's all I have time to say. Chew on that!

...and a good time was had by all!

Don't you love Thanksgiving! It's a great time to get together with family that you haven't seen for way too long and just eat and eat and then eat some more. Well, we did just that on Thursday. We were at Grandma Herring's for lunch and then headed to Grandma and Grandpa Young's for supper. There weren't near as many cousins at Grandma Herring's this year - but we still managed to get in our game tradition. We played "Facts in Five" (the Englund version) and also "Pass the Cup" - both great fun! It was great to have Seth and Natalie at Grandma Herring's. We are normally on "off" years with them - so we miss them at both Thanksgiving and Christmas. They switched this year because of a new niece that's on the way out in Missouri. Hopefully they will stay with this pattern so we can see them more often. :-)


Learning the rules here for Pass the Cup. Singing and moving your hands with a cup in them is challenging believe it or not. Then - we added a second cup! Ooohhh - two cups at once.

We laughed until our sides hurt!

For some odd reason - Grandma Herring kept ending up with all the cups in front of her! She was so funny!

What a Game!

Way to go, Buckeyes! We had a great time at Matt & Erika's in honor of the big Ohio State vs. Michigan rivalry. You had to wear red and white in order to come inside the house. :-)

Erin went all the way with her Michigan slamming
T-shirt and the Buckeye beads (sorry, Mark).

Even the back of the shirt didn't let it rest.

And of course the party would not have been complete without football sugar cookies!

The final verdict! Hooray!

Happy Birthday, Dana!

Happy Birthday today to my sister, Dana!

Captain Jeff!

Congratulations to my brother, Jeff, who got his pilot's license last week!

Aaron and I got to be the very first ones to ride alone with him. What fun! He's a great pilot and we had a blast on our plane ride. Jeff flew us over to Westfield, IN in only about 45 minutes. Aaron's mom met us at the Indy Executive Airport and got to see us land and take off. She had cold cokes and warm chocolate chip cookies for us - yummy!

It was a blast! Here's the documentation of this new adventure.

The 4-seater plane.

Going through the pre-flight check list (a very good thing).

Leaving the Butler County Airport.

We flew over UBC. It's kind of hard to see, but it's the building in the center with two horizontal white stripes.

Checking things out after landing in Westfield, IN.

We saw a corn maze! It was so cool! Click on this picture to see a closer view of the "Eat Beef" and the cow. I love corn mazes - but had never seen one from the air!

Pilot and co-pilot.
Yes Aaron got to "fly" the plane (thankfully it was briefly).

Coming in for a landing.
Jeff turns on the runway lights by clicking a button (very cool).

We made it - back to OH and on the ground in one piece (whew!).
Just kidding. It was actually a blast!

Rainy Day and Wedding Pictures

Today is such a rainy day outside - but that's OK, because I am very busy working inside. I am finishing up print orders for David and Jessica Hartkopf's wedding. Here are a couple of images from their beautiful wedding.

An African Safari

Actually - this is at Cabela's in Kansas City. What a great place! It's similar to Bass Pro, but better.

No, Aaron and I did not go to Africa and adopt a baby! :-) (Thanks, Leanna!)

I've always loved Zebras! They are such a fascinating animal. It would be kind of funny if people had stripes like that, wouldn't it!? Any volunteers?

The unsuspecting Kaden - calm and cool while a leopard lunges!