It was fun to get together with our grandchildren! The boys, Hap, Hunter and Cash found fun in even 1 1/2 inch of snow! We had to give the timely reminder about yellow snow, of course. And, Madison and grandpa had fun playing on the beach at Soap Lake, even with the mushy ice, and much deeper snow. They were trying to build a snow fort, and that's Madison peeking out of the ice, there. Grandpa was too chicken to go inside the fort, but Madison thought it was cozy. We hope to see our granddaughter Taylor, today. Her other grandparents have custody of her. We'll see if Forest can bring her with him. I miss her bunches!!! Forest will be here for dinner, since we haven't seen him since the Friday before Christmas.

The coming week is going to seem like a boring long one, since we have no activities packed in it! But, we wish you all a happy new year, and pray it brings you much happiness. More later, t

This is our house Christmas morning! It was a good time, Heather and the boys were here for Christmas eve, as well as Ryan (Matt's son) and his wife, Morgan, and their two kids. Madison had a great time with the boys, and the "big girl" who played with her! (Seems that's the name all of the granddaughters are giving Heather. No offense, I'm sure!)

Christmas day we had dinner with Matt's folks, and his uncle and brother. Seems like this whole season has been one big dinner or another! Forest has yet to show. He's been moving, and digging people out of the ditch. He's supposed to be here tomorrow with his daughter, Taylor. Madison got to meet Mo today, as I went to Mo's to drop off her Christmas gift. Margi, you will be getting yours in the mail. It was the first time I remember Madison ever not having anything to say. I've been a mystery to her for years, and now she discovers I not have my own daughter, but my own sisters, too! Matt and my present to each other was finishing the bathroom. You can see part of it, above. Anyway, I hope that everyone had a good Christmas, and a safe one, too. Love to you all, t

Christmas at Trudy's

We went to Matt & Trudy's last Friday night to celebrate Christmas with them. They have a separate room that worked quite well for our brood! Here's our hosts:

This is a picture of Kharsyn and Kesiah "reading". Melyssa, Kharsyn's mom and Brady's girlfriend, babysits Kesiah, so they spend a lot of time together. Kharsyn was a hoot - chasing Kesiah around. and around. and around....

This is Forest - Trudy's son. It was his idea for all of us to get together at Christmas, like the old days. We used to all meet on Christmas Eve, but ran out of space. So Forest got his wish for Christmas!

I wish Heather (Trudy's daughter) was there - her three boys came, and they are all so big! Hap grew 10 INCHES this year! He is now a young man. Boy, does time fly.

I'm getting ready for Christmas Eve and have been cooking all week. I'm making a rib roast and cornish game hens - I DO NOT LIKE touching those creepy things, they have parts that flop all over and they look like mutant chickens. No more cornish game hens for me! YUK!! Give me a chunk of beef that looks you straight in the eye and says MOO! any day.

Hope everyone is keeping warm - there's lots and lots of snow. I've shoveled my driveway four times, the neighbor came by and did it once, and it is due again. It's not really shoveling, it's more like shoving - shoving the snow to the side. Not too hard work, but my berms are piling up. And I DO have a 98 foot driveway.... Forget the sidewalks, there's not much foot traffic in my neighborhood except for the Injuns (don't you have injuns in your neighborhood - little tykes that run around yelling woo! woo! woo!). The injuns can tough it out this winter. The dogs are keeping warm with lots of straw (thank you Quincy!) Spooky likes sitting on the straw bale on top of his house - surveying his kingdom.

My biggest wish is to make a snow alien - like Calvin's.

Hope you have a very Merry Christmas! and remember the reason for the season.

Matt sent a good email - A woman was out Christmas shopping with her two children. After many hours of looking at row after row of toys and everything else imaginable, and after hours of hearing both her children asking for everything they saw on those many shelves, she finally made it to the elevator with her two kids. She was feeling what so many of us feel during the holiday season, overwhelming pressure ..... Finally the elevator doors opened, and there was already a crowd in the elevator. She pushed her way in and dragged her two kids in with her and all the shopping bags. When the doors closed, she couldn't take it anymore and stated, "Whoever started this whole Christmas thing should be found, strung up, and shot." From the back, everyone heard a quiet, calm voice respond, "Don't worry. We already crucified him." For the rest of the trip down the elevator, it was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. Don't forget this year to keep the one who started this whole Christmas thing in your every thought, deed, purchase, and word. If we all did it, just think how different this whole world would be.

Love to all - Mo

If you are wondering what we are doing....

Christmas is a big time for my sisters and myself. Tomorrow we travel to Soap Lake to have Christmas with Matt, Trudy, Forest and the rest of Trudy's family. I haven't seen the boys since Thanksgiving a few years ago. So I am anxiously awaiting to see how big they all are.

Thank you Lord for my sons, who make this journey with me.... They all kind of hang their head when Mom says we need to show up.....but they do it anyway!

I am truly blessed , not only with my sons, but their wives and children. How many blessings can YOU count...let's see - for me, it is my health, my children't health, the strong marriages my boys have made (with little example from me!), jobs that challange our minds, homes to return to at the end of a day, cars to drive, friends to talk to and share my life with, gosh, I guess I have a lot of blessings - I hope you do also. Much love during this special time - Mo

Yes, No, Maybe So....

How about I start with the Maybe So.....people have been asking if the current financial crisis at the state level will affect my job. All I can say at this point is - Maybe So. The current request to cut over $370K from this year's budget is being met by reducing or eliminating travel and not filling open positions. Equipment purchases have to be approved by the VP. But, the college has been asked to prepare a plan to cut 20% from their current budget - a whopping $2.3 million. That's a whole lot of money. Wenatchee Valley College cut 90 classes from their winter quarter, which is a great hardship for students trying to complete a degree or certification.

Yes - this is a great time to be fundraising! Many people are so generous, especially during difficult times. We have to reach out to people and educate them of the importance of community colleges during hard economic times. It's a well-known fact - when unemployment is high, enrollment is high also. So it will be hard to balance the possibility of cutting services to students at a time when those services are needed more than ever.

No - I don't have a plan for where I might land. All I can do is dust off my resume, and hope for the best. My financial position isn't bad, as I do have funds in savings, so I'm better off than a lot of people. And not having little ones (or even big ones) to feed is a plus!

The news of a new business at the Grant County International Airport did get my blood pounding for a while - I did SO love my job there (I cried every night for two months after I started my current job)! I really am a people person - and enjoyed each and every person who walked into the door at the airport. But, what will be, will be. There are other industries new to Moses Lake, and maybe a job somewhere else will be in my future.

I do pray my boys and their spouses keep their jobs, and we all keep our good health. I feel this is only the start of a hard financial situation for everyone. Sometimes I wonder about the people who lose their homes, and how they feel when they pack up their possessions and leave their dreams behind. It must be heartbreaking - and I feel they are stronger than me. I can only hope I have the same inner strength as they do if I myself face difficulties. Pray for an economic miracle - that is what we will need to stave off deep job losses in our future. God does listen to us - I know THAT for a fact! Love to all - Mo

Here's one of the pictures we took during Hunters birthday party. Chad and Heather are sitting on either side of Hunter. Happy is next to me, Cash right behind Heather. This was Dec. 1, 2008. Hunter's best birthday, ever! See you guys latter, will post more latter! t

Thanksgiving in Moses Lake

I celebrated Thanksgiving this year at Deb & Wes Marchmonte's house. I have spent just a bit of time over there - what a great new house they have! Here's a picture of the house and shop - I had to back waaaay down the driveway to get it all in:Their house is only a few years old - gosh I've wanted to build a house for 35 years, and never got close, but that's life!

When they had just poured the foundation, Myriah and I went out to take a peek, and swore up and down they made a mistake. Seems like the foundation LOOKS much smaller than when the walls go up.

Anyway, it's a beautiful house on 6 acres - all fully landscaped of course. They make me feel like the slovenly cousin - maybe because I am. I only have an acre, and it STILL isn't covered in grass.....

Wes doesn't favor turkey, but here he is doing his manly duty of carving (actually, the turkey just kind of fell apart under his direction - kind of like some women in his past):

Mr. Turkey, dressing, rolls (from scratch - yea! second time worked well), broccoli & corn dish, plus graving makings made their way from my house to theirs - I have some experience doing that from living on Kiefer and taking the turkey to Canterbury (where Chris & Deena live). Cover the pan in foil, put it on a large cutting board, and wrap everything in a towel and off you go!

Here are Deb & Wes in the dining room - did I mention we had loads of food? Made me feel a little guilty.....

I did find a great combination - sweet potatoes & cranberries. Boy I could eat a ton of that! I found out how to roast sweet potatoes (400 degrees for about 20 minutes, then 350 for another 20 minutes). They are very sweet without any added sugar. I boiled some cheap-o wine with cloves and cinnamon, added it to half a can of cranberries, and mixed everything together. It was quite tasty!

The turkey was delicious - as I mentioned in a previous post, I soaked him overnight in a bottle of champagne (Andre of course!), added a stick of butter underneath his skin, salt, pepper, garlic over the top, pre-warmed the stuffing (because there is nothing on our earth better than stuffing cooked in the bird), stuffed his appropriate cavity, then put him in a cooking bag (with flour) and poured a bottle of sparkling apple cider over the top.

If you are wondering why I'm giving all these directions, it is only because I have to nag another blogger about not sharing a recipe for Jack Daniels turkey.

All in all - a great meal shared with great friends! Hope everyone reading our blog had a tremendous Thanksgiving also! Love to all - Mo

We had a lovely thanksgiving; Hunter and Cash came Wednesday after school, and Forest came the next day. We had lots of stuff, our families K salad, and of course sausage stuffing which is Spuds favorite, and Matt's too, now! They went home Friday evening, and Happy came over and spent the week-end with us; needless to say, I did not cook again until Monday. Monday is Hunters 11th birthday, so I made bean soup (a favorite), and chili. Also made a German chocolate cake and homemade ice cream; corn bread and dinner rolls. whew, I was buzzing all day! Did get to visit with Margi on the phone for about 1 hour, also; had to hang up when my voice started going. She is doing well, Mo, just super busy! So, Hunter, Cash, Heather, Happy and Chad came over for Hunters birthday party, and it was so good to see everyone together! We had a nice time, and Hunter secretly told me it was his best birthday he'd ever had!! Success!
I tried to reach Ryan, both numbers, one was disconnected, the other went straight to voice mail with no personal message. So, I left a message that he needed to get a hold of us, or I would call the sheriff, which I guess I will do today! Will let you know what they tell me.
That's all for now, hope you had a good weekend!
Oh, that dreaded Christmas thing...shopping. ugh. I was not surprised to hear people actually lost their life's on black Friday! Matt, Hap, and I went to Wenatchee Saturday, and did our shopping, and pretty much managed to knock that list into the finished pile! Yeah!!! What a weight that is off of your shoulders, to have that accomplished!
Oh, and the Friday dinner, before Christmas: I was thinking soups, salads and rolls of different assortments. of course dessert, too. What do you think??? Let me know! Love you both, t