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Wow! I should say Christmas is here, but I do have a few more days before I could actually say that. It really seems like I was just stuffing myself with turkey and all the trimmings, and now I'm wondering just how the next few days will go until the "big day".
We've made it through the Christmas concerts - Trevor and Kristin - School, singing and trumpet respectively; Amber, Kristin and Allison - Christmas Music Fireside, all singing, Allison playing on her harp.
The gingerbread houses - Trevor - school; Allison and Amber - Young Woman Daddy-daughter; everyone - home. You may notice that one of the big gingerbread houses looks like it could cave in at any moment. Apparently there was an engineering problem with that one. Luckily that frosting dries about as hard as cement, so I'm pretty sure its not falling down, but really, who knows?
The Christmas shopping - I'm pretty sure we've never been done this early before.
Allison's birthday - she was 16 going on 17, now she's just 17.
And we got our BYU freshman home safe and sound. I hope she learned a little more about making jello!!
The decorations are up - although, the remodeling really messed up my bannister/garland plan - Hmm, I think I'll get over it. :-) Trevor once again took the proverbial reindeer by the horns and got us started. Who knows when we would have actually gotten down all those boxes without his leadership!!! Our tree top angel recently underwent her own personal makeover and I must say, she is looking mighty fine. I think she definitely has many more Christmases in her future. She was looking pretty shabby and not very angelic.
We've listened to The Chipmunks Christmas just enough times to satisfy those crazy Chipmunks fans among us
We've done the Christmas Baking to make the house really smell yummy and...
The Christmas sewing is all wrapped up. Really, you'd think I'd get it done in October since I know I'm going to do it. I'll have to put that on my to do list next year!!!
Mother Nature even provided us with a few inches of snow - yes, you read it right - SNOW!!! and with very chilly temperatures, I predict a very good chance we'll have a WHITE CHRISTMAS! Now that's something for our neck of the woods. I feel pretty safe playing weatherman here, since I have about the same chance as a professional at getting it right!!!
I am using my "Christmas greetings can be late" card (similar to the "Get out of Jail free" card) this year which means I don't have to do anything about the Christmas letter until our new little bit of heaven makes his grand(son) entrance into the world. 7 days and counting! We are excited, but not quite as excited as Ashley and Brandon, which only seems right I guess. (Although Ashley makes a very cute momma-to-be.) You will be happy to know dreams do not always come true which is so good, since I dreamed the baby's name was Joe Keener Peay the other night. Where in the heck did that come from? I am not a late-night eater, so I can't blame it on something I ate!!!
Well Christmas greetings to all - both near and far! Wouldn't it be fun to get together for Christmas - everyone, and eat and laugh and play games and just enjoy each other? Well, of course we can't do that, but we can be together in spirit, and know that I'm spending Christmas with each of you in my heart.
Each year as I learn more, and my testimony of the Savior grows, Christmas, to me, becomes more genuine and less worldly. I cannot fathom the love that Heavenly Father has for us that He sent His son to earth for us. That although He knew the ending before the beginning even started, He was willing to do that for me and for you! My Christmas wish for each of you is that you will feel the love of the Savior in your lives throughout this Christmas season and always.
My grateful list for this post is as follows...
-Christmas lights - preferably clear
-The snow - Trevor is in heaven
-Karissa's mom's chocolates (YUM)
-My Savior
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Prepare one large turkey; mashed potatoes; gravy; sweet potatoes; stuffing (2 kinds); rolls; broccoli salad; jello; green bean casserole; cranberry sauce (2 kinds- we like variety); a relish plate and of course, pies - pumpkin, pecan, apple streusel, chocolate pecan caramel, banana cream, and finally pumpkin pie cake.
Assign out individual foods and have volunteers prepare according to directions then serve to the following:
6 children under ten (5 girls and 1 boy was our mix this year), 3 teen age girls (one of ours was a BYU freshman), 4 parents and 2 grandparents. Make sure everyone eats until their buttons threaten to pop and they are just this side of miserable. (Remind them it is a good kind of miserable. ;-)
Add a Turkey Bowl football game (Paige made a touchdown, and Trevor shows his QB technique above), a trip to Locomotive Park to look at the Christmas lights, and a little apple cider pressing.
At the end of the day, just sit back and ENJOY the fruits of your labors.
Variations: Just to add a little diversity to the usual Thanksgiving dinner you could do the following
- burn the chestnuts for the stuffing, discard when you realize they are totally unusable.
- dump the graham cracker crust all the way out of the pan so it too is totally useless for the caramel pecan chocolate pie.
- split the end out of the bag you cook the turkey in just as you are putting it in the roasting pan. This will be an even better thing if you don't have an extra bag and have to figure out how to use the broken one.
- decide at the last minute to make the green bean casserole and as you are moving it around to make more room in the oven for other side dishes, dump it out in the oven. Just scoop it back into the baking dish and continue heating.
- when you are checking to see if the pecan pie (also a last minute entry) is done, dump half of the warm sugar/egg/corn syrup mixture out of the flimsy pie pan you used and make sure it goes all over the bottom and all 3 racks of your oven. This is guaranteed to make the head cook dissolve into uncontrollable laughter even though she is trying to talk to her daughter in Texas and in the end has to hang up because she can't get a hold of herself. (Heather, if you are reading this, I burst into laughter again every time I think about this. It is truly one of my favorite Thanksgiving memories! You can check a pecan pie at my house anytime! :-)
All of the above variations were employed during this Thanksgiving, and it was one of the best!
We were lucky to have Chelsie home from college and grateful that Heather, Eric and their 4 very cute girls could bring her up. You can see she is demonstrating her new technique for fixing jello. She must have learned that at BYU.
Rudy, the dachshund puppy also came and although he still has a little bit to learn, he did a good job supplying us with a puppy fix and we are glad he came too. (Sorry we ended on a bad note, Rudy. Things just kept piling up! :-) We'll make up next time we see each other.) Grandma and Grandpa Rietz rounded out the guest list.
The weekend was great and also included various DVDs, a really corny dog movie at the dollar theater, a home improvement project (Thanks Eric), and lots of cousin playing time. Chelsie was able to hang out with Allison and a few other High School friends and they finally got to see "Twilight". Heather and I made lists of books to read and DVDs to watch, Amber was amazing with the younger kids, and the cider pressing was fast and sticky but enjoyed by all who helped. Hayley and Kristin test the fruits of their labors below.
Dana displays her Apple Turkey and Charlotte concentrates to get just the right combo of marshmallows and raisins for the feathers.
Mom and daughter ping pong was fun, and making cookies with Chelsie gave us a little one on one time. The rain dampened Eric's hopes for some r & r time on a mountain bike, but he muddled through and got a little time in on my bike which he was a very good sport about.
Now the company is all gone and we are left here to just wish they hadn't left, but know we have to get ready for our week and all the things that are in store for us in the coming weeks - not the least which include Christmas and a NEW BABY! Here's to a Christmas season in which we celebrate the birth of the Savior and don't get overwhelmed by the hype and hullabaloo of the commercial side of things. I wish the same to each of you.
On a personal note - it seems appropriate that a person who is on the brink of Grandma hood should have to keep celebrating birthdays, and such was the case with me this month. You can't see the number the candles made on my brownies so if you don't know, you don't need to know. Just know this, my arms are too short, and my hair appts. are not close enough together. I have a great life none the less. Come on Grand baby! Your quilt is almost done, I can't wait for you to get here!!!
No big news to report this week. But I think blogging has gotten into my psyche. Last night I had a very vivid dream and after the action was over, I dreamed I could put it in my blog!!! And I dreamed about what kind of pictures I could take that would look good on the blog! (That explains the madness part) That has this 40-something techno-rookie a bit worried. Maybe I better take a little break from this blogging thing. Maybe I shouldn't have signed up for Facebook. Maybe I'm finally figuring out this computer stuff because I actually changed my background from one that is not on the regular blogging website and was something I had to cut and paste, and it worked!!! (This is the success part!)
Well, whatever is happening, it is what it is, and even if I do decide to take a break it will be temporary because you can bet your bottom dollar that when our grand baby comes into the world, this blog will be back up and running!!!
There's something to look forward to!
Grateful thoughts
- the final two doors are painted
- 9 days until Chelsie comes home (Its not too late to make your Thanksgiving reservations, Brandon and Ashley)
- a little Christmas shopping done thanks to a spontaneous mall trip with John (that really should have made the blog. It was his idea to go shopping!!!)
- the new blog background!!
Now that we've fallen back, I've got an extra hour to update this blog.:-) Can't we leave it as is? (The time I mean)
Allison was "Pretty in Pink" when she was all dressed up for Homecoming. Her date, Taylor, in the white suspenders, and she got together with 4 other couples and ate pizza, danced (a little), played games (lots of laughs) and watched "Prom Date" (scary!). A great time was had by all.
October means Halloween and Halloween means carving pumpkins. We invited our friends, the Papworths for dinner and pumpkin fun. They were good sports and got their hands slimy and gooey along with the rest of us. They were rewarded with a jack-o-lantern of their own to set on their porch for Halloween night.
Of course, Halloween also means costumes and trunk-or-treating. Kristin decided to try her hand at crutches and was a poor accident victim. Trevor was in heaven dressed like an army man ready for action. Amber was a super-hero girl, just along for the fun.
Thanks to friends who are moving, we are now able to play ping pong just like the Chinese Olympians. (Okay, so by that I mean, we have a place to hit the ball over the net and return it. Not necessarily as fast as the Chinese do it, but we have the capability should we so desire. :-) They didn't want to move their ping pong table, and we had a spot for it, so after much maneuvering and a few scratches on the new walls and ceiling (darn) we have a ping pong table in the game room. Very fun!!! We challenge you to a match, or better yet to get an aerobic workout playing "Around the World". Whoo, that will get you winded!
Finally, my grateful list for the past few weeks -
-Indian summer days when I can go on long bike rides with friends.
-good medical care available to those who need it
-my sewing machine
-my washing machine (I was reminded several times last week that wash used to be done on
wringer washing machines)
-Beautiful sunsets
Saturday was a lovely day in the valley which was good since we had 3 soccer games all in a row to cheer for. Amber had one more in Pullman later in the afternoon, but we sent her up with the coach for that one. Her team lost the first game, won the second.
Trevor tried his hands at goalie this week. He also played offense and scored at least a few times. He did think goalie was pretty cool. He is just so glad to play. Any day on the field is a good day for him.
Kristin played against 3 of her good friends in her game. She and Alyssa were battling for the ball and Alyssa went down, landed on her elbow and went to the Dr. office to get x-rays to see how badly she injured it. Kristin felt bad, but only let it show after the game. It didn't matter to her that the opposing team's goalie was a girl she has played soccer with since Kindergarten. No...she felt no remorse as she sent the ball into the goal multiple times. No one can say she is not a competitor. None the less, Kristin's team creamed the opposition, but all were still friends at the end of the day.
Amber was also the star of the day. She is into the second year of teenagerhood. Who knew she'd turn 14 so soon? Grandma and Grandpa Rietz came over for the day to watch all the soccer games and to celebrate her big day. We didn't have to pull out the fire extinguisher for the ice cream cake, but in a few years...well, we'll have to keep that option open.
Trevor couldn't wait to get the house in the Halloween spirit, and wasn't done after he and the two younger sisters decorated inside. No sooner had he walked into the house after school today, and he was ready to put together the scarecrow. With little help from anyone else, he stuffed and assembled our rag tag friend. He had a little help bringing the pumpkins up from the garden, but he washed them all himself and arranged them on the porch. If we are not in the Halloween spirit around here, no one can blame it on Trevor. He made sure we have no excuse to forget the next big holiday. Nice work, buddy!
Don't know who to vote for, don't know what the next economic crisis will be, but I do know that Fall is here and that means lots of yummy food!!! So Life is Good!!!
Here is my gratitude list -
- Bro. Jackson - our former home teacher who was faithful about coming and made sure we didn't ever want for anything he could do for us. He passed away yesterday after a long battle with health problems that never could be solved.
- The foods of Fall - see above
- My hairdresser, Pam - she has a gift
- General Conference - Elder Haight's reminder to laugh will stick with me for a long time.
The Nez Perce County Fair came to town a few weeks ago, and the Rietz clan got bit by Fair Fever. I realize this happened a few weeks ago, but as per my usual way of doing things, I'm just getting to it. Sorry to those of you who are anxious for all the news in a timely manner. :-)
I helped in the Quilt Dept. again this year. Definitely the best place to be. Soooo many great quilts to look at. The judges I help are always full of tips for better quilting, and although they don't often judge my quilts as blue ribbon quality, mostly red ribbons, I still learn so much from working with them, and come home all ready to put some serious hours on my sewing machine. This year was no exception, and with a grand baby on the way, I'm ready to roll.
I did enter my Sunflower quilt and received a red, but also got some good comments on the overall quilt. (no pix available)
Here are the results of the other family entrants.
Amber made an incredibly good-looking blackberry pie that was deemed 2nd best fruit pie overall and blue ribbon in her age division. She also got a blue ribbon on a last-minute paper creation and a blue ribbon on a pillow she made in Teen Living in 7th grade. Her earnings were not only the 9.00 for her 3 blue ribbons, but also a 7.00 prize for her best pie award.
Kristin also tried her hand at Blackberry pie and was rewarded with a blue ribbon for her age division. Her no-bake cookies also received 1st place. Her big win came in the Art Dept. She entered 5 items and received blue ribbons on all five. That made her the one with the most blue ribbons for her age division, so she was the Sweepstakes winner. Along with the big black and white ribbon, she also received a 15.oo gift certificate to a printing place here in Lewiston, which she quickly converted into money by selling it to me. Shrewd, that girl is. She also scored a variety of art supplies from Starbucks. (So glad they held the coffee.) She was thrilled with the whole thing. I think the best part was that she found out about the sweepstakes ribbon while her class was at the fair for a field trip. She was excited the rest of the day.
Trevor showed his versatility by entering brownies from scratch, an art picture, a k'nex tank and 2 lego creations. He was rewarded by blue ribbons on the brownies and the picture. He received red on his tank, and a white on one of the lego creations. He was thrilled with all his ribbons, including the participant one on the legos that didn't win anything.
To call Lewiston quirky is probably fairly accurate. It has some pretty unique things about it, some good (two rivers close by, Costco, not too populated), some bad (Thain Rd., no zoning in the Orchards, and of course, the library), but one really good thing is the fair. I can't imagine entering anything in say the Los Angelos County Fair, or the New York County Fair. No slam intended to those of you who live in big cities. But it is very doable to enter items in the Nez Perce County Fair. It gives all of us regular sort of folks a chance to do our best at things we enjoy doing. I love seeing people I don't get to see very often, working with good people who are willing to give of free time to make sure the quilting dept. is taken care of, seeing the beautiful work of fellow quilters and knowing that although they are just as busy as the next person, they make time to pursue their hobby and keep on creating. As Martha would say "Its a good thing."
I was reading in Proverbs 4 today and came across these words "Ponder the path of thy feet..."
I remember that phrase striking a chord with me previously, and again am reminded to check the path my feet are on. Am I heading in the right direction? Am I doing the things that will help me reach my ultimate goal - An eternal family? Several course corrections come immediately to mind, and give me a place to start. I'm grateful for the reminder.
Also, never wanting to be guilty of the sin of ingratitude, I thought I would share a Grateful List. Its definately longer, but here are a few.
- Indian Summer
- Kids who strive everyday to live the commandments
- John who works hard to provide for our family
- Books
- Quilting
- Friends who support me
- A quick visit with Dawn over the weekend
Just a partial list.
Our Home and Garden section begins with SSR. For some of you, SSR may mean Silent, Sustained, Reading. All well and good, but if you're at our house, and its Labor Day, SSR takes on a whole new meaning.
Amber and I spent all Labor Day morning on the other meaning of SSR - Super Stump Removal. We were quite proud after we managed to remove it with minimum help from anyone else. We are a bit sad the photographer didn't get a little closer, but you'll just have to employ a little imagination as to the size of said stump!!!
The rest of the crew also worked hard on Labor day. We can now report that our yard is ready for hydro-seeding and is now is in a holding pattern waiting for that to happen. Trevor was particularly excited to use the roller thingey. (Technical terms need not apply).
Apparently, our little red tractor had developed a little attitude this summer, and as we go to press, won't start for the gazillionth time this summer. We've had enough of its sass and decided it's time for a little attitude adjustment or maybe just a new starter. We'll see what the very nice tractor repairman has to say. We were glad we caught the tractor on a good day on Labor Day.
And in the news category of "Jobs I finally did that I couldn't put off any longer", I am happy to report that the ceiling of the dining/living/kitchen area is finished!!! Yaa Hoo!!!
In local news, We are all in a whirlwind to get our entries ready for the fair. This week is the big week. We have high hopes in the Art, Foods, Sewing and Lego/craft departments. Look for results soon in upcoming blogs. Exciting!!!
In the sporting news this week, we can report that Amber's soccer team is up and running (literally) and have 4 games under their belts. Two Saturdays ago, we all went up to Spokane and watched her play in a double header. The first game was well-played and the LC Ice won. The second game was also well-played, but the score was not in their favor. Amber's knee got stepped on towards the end of the second game. OUCH!!! She would like you to know, she ended up with welts.
This weekend brought another double-header, this time they had the home-field advantage. Unfortunately, they couldn't capitalize on either one, and came out on the losing end in both games. But, this reporter is happy to report, that she witnessed Amber giving her best effort ever in a game!!! Good Job!
In Arts and Entertainment , you will be interested to hear that we now have a trumpet in residence with the other instruments in our home. Kristin has a loaner from friends, and is starting this week to 'Blow her horn'.
For our religion report, I bring you news that Stake Conference was held for the Lewiston Stake this weekend. John spoke in the Kamiah session, and conducted the Saturday Evening session. The new Family History program was introduced and is scheduled to be up and running by the end of the month. Very exciting!!!
I had an irritating thing happen Saturday night as I tried to get to the dinner before the Sat. Session. Due to a few extenuating circumstances that alone weren't too bad, but together created a dilemma for me, I ended up with no keys to the only car that I could have taken to the church. I was stuck. After Alli brought me keys, and I was driving to the church, it occured to me that like my dilemma, without the keys of the Gospel on the earth today, each of us would be unable to get where we are going. I'm grateful for those keys, held by the Prophet that enable us to obtain saving ordinances for ourselves as well as others. (Probably not a new object lesson, but it was new to me.)
And finally in the editorial section, I want to put in my two cents worth about politics. I really like the image Sarah Palin portrays in the media. I'm pretty sure she has more self-confidence in her pinkie than I possess at all. I don't hold it against her that her teenage daughter is pregnant. I don't know enough else about her to judge if she is a good candidate or not. I do know this - I'm so glad I can be there for my kids to help them get things ready for the fair, work with them in the yard, cheer them on in soccer games, volunteer in their schools, read with them, and sit with them in church. I truly can't imagine being able to do any of those things and being VP of America. I don't fault her for her ambition, I do question how she is able to be a Governor and the mother of 5 children. That is way more than I could handle. I imagine there are a few nannies involved, but nannies aren't moms. - M.R.
Well, we knew it was coming. It hung over some of us all summer; couldn't get here fast enough for some others - the end of summer. New school supplies, a few new clothes, a new fuel pump for the suburban (that was a surprise!), and most importantly of all, a new college freshman. (note the blue words in honor of BYU!!! ;-)
We took Chelsie down to BYU last week. We had a plan, knew which day we were leaving, got the laundry done, Chelsie was packed - we were close to being ready - when, SURPRISE, the suburban broke down. Wouldn't turn over, wouldn't budge. A bad fuel pump was to blame, and after a rush repair job, we finally got on the road Thursday afternoon about 4:00. Only about 8 hours later than we hoped.
We were anxious to get to Utah, because Brandon and Ashley (with her cute little baby bump) were there. We couldn't wait to see them. Luckily, we got there safely about 2:45 am. and the next day, the party began. We hung out at Pineview Reservoir with Ashley, Brandon and his family, the Cleggs. (I'm pretty sure the Rietz contingency was boring because we were all tired, sorry Cleggs.)
We managed to sneak in a quick visit to Grandma Hughes. She about had heart failure when she saw 10 of us lined up at her door. But after she recovered from the shock, she really enjoyed our visit, even though it was shorter than we planned. Her smile was from ear to ear.
The rest of the day, we hung out at BYU - spending money at the Bookstore, eating creamery ice cream, and walking around campus a bit. Kristin learned what I mean when I say BYU is the best place to play the license plate game, we even saw Hawaii!!! Very exciting for some of us!
After a few days at Clegg's, we drove south and spent the next two nights with Joni and Jim. Joni hosted a nice Sunday dinner and the Schreiners and Kuntz's were there. Kalli showed up for a bit, and it was nice to spend time eating and chatting with everyone. Uncle Jim took Trev fishing Monday morning. What a guy!
Monday was D-day. We checked Chelsie into David John Hall at BYU. John took the rest of the kids to a few BYU sights, and I helped Chelsie unpack, get a little settled and make a list of all the things we forgot, or didn't know she needed.
Sadly for John and I, when we're in Utah, we can't avoid shopping, so that took up most of the rest of Monday. A happy thing about Utah is that Olive Garden is close to BYU, so we met Joni and Jim, and about made ourselves sick on yummy salad, bread sticks and pasta. Jim was the only one who managed to get a refill on his pasta, the rest of us were too stuffed.
Then, the inevitable came, we had to leave Chelsie in her dorm, and head up the road. I was not ready to leave her, but really, when would I be ready. She was the only one on the floor, and I was worried she would be lonely. Little did we know, Spencer Clegg, Ashley's bro-in-law, was also in Provo, called her, and they hung out a little. Thanks Spencer. Hopefully she was able to climb into her bed without hurting herself. She wanted a little storage space under her bed, but didn't expect a bed so tall she needed a step-ladder to get into it!!!
Cleggs hosted us one more night which cut a little time off our trip, and after a little sleep, made an early morning departure. We plugged along all day, and made it safely home.
Kristin knew before we left that she had Mrs. Kinzer and Trev found out he had Mrs. Feeney. We made it home in time to get to the open house on Tuesday. Good thing because the next day was...
The first day of school! Everyone seemed to get out the door with no problem, but silly us, forgot to bring umbrellas. We can't remember the last time it rained on the first day of school, and it didn't just rain, IT POURED, just about the time Kristin and Trev had to be there, so all 3 of us got a little wet.
Amber was happy to be with her 8th grade friends. Alli was VERY happy to be able to drive herself to LHS by herself, and Michele wasn't quite sure what to do with herself at first, but we all will adjust just fine, no doubt.
Travel logs aren't much fun, and as I read this, I realize that is exactly what I have just written, so to end I'll give you just a few of our favorite highlights to maybe take the edge off the boringness.
- Ashley and Chelsie watching me try sushi. Now I can cross that off my list
- Singing to our favorite Disney songs in the car (I look once more - just around the river bend...there goes the baker with his tray like always...you've got a friend in me...lavender blue, dilly dilly. Just to name a few)
- Seeing the baby bump and feel him kick
- Olive garden bread sticks
- BYU football QUEST T-shirts. Only $5.00 at the bookstore
- Playing the license plate game at BYU
- BYU creamery ice cream
- Seeing Chelsie's reaction to all the couples holding hands on campus (She was not ready for that.)
- Being able to spend time with the aforementioned friends and family
- Pulling into our driveway Tuesday afternoon
A few other bits non-trip related. (Note the color change)
Trevor got to attend his first pack meeting last week. He received his Bobcat badge and is already working on his Wolf. Keep up that enthusiasm, Trev. All the way to Eagle Scout!!!
Also, here is a picture of our house, complete with exterior paint, gutters and downspouts. As you can see, the yard is next on the list. Not sure if it will ever be the same.
I leave you with a sunflower from our garden. A sweet reminder of summer's end, and fall close on it's heels.
