WIGEONS!!!!

Christmas Ornaments 2008

My music box Santa from Tom, circa 1985, and handmade snow-
man and Santa from Sue Ren Johnson 2007. Talented lady.


My cute snowman treasure box, circa 1990?



The new tealight candles from Mom. Tom's airplane.




"Mary", "Tom" and "Angelo" snowmen, mini-snow globe
ornaments from Lynn and Colin, 2008. (sorry it's fuzzy.)

Maddy's New Doll

Thanks to the snow, the 2-day special delivery American Girl Doll for Madison that was scheduled to arrive on 12/22 finally arrived about December 30th. It was OK cuz Madison may have been more pleased to have all the special attention after Christmas was over.

GG was here for the doll opening and I think she was really pleased to be included. Before Christmas, GG was happy to be included in the hunt for Madison's Christmas Dress and to be invited to attend the Christmas program for Madison's school. We all love to watch the kids sing (fidget, dance, make faces, run to the bathroom, etc.) The new dress for Madison, the school program, and the new doll, all three added to GG's joy at Christmas. And to Madison's joy!!

Chelsea's Risque Calendar

Christmas Pics 2008

And Allisons's snowman talks with my snowman!

Handwritten Meme

The meme: A combination of the letter meme and the in-your-own-handwriting meme.

The instructions: You leave a comment on this post, and I’ll assign you a letter. You write about ten things you love that begin with your assigned letter, and post it at your place. When people comment on your list, you give them a letter, and the chain continues on and on.

Veronica assigned me the letter 'P' on her blog of the zombieprincess.

The first P has to be for PASTA, as in lasagna, fettuccine alfredo or gorgonzola with chicken or seafood, spaghtti with meat sauce, or Papa's pesto on linguine. All pretty nummy in this Italian household!

Which leads us to Number 2, PAPA. We wouldn't even be Italian without him and wouldn't be scraping up the last of the gravy with the rustic bread if it weren't for him. And life would have no humor or love without Papa.

Number 3 is for all the people I love. A lot of these people have names beginning with P or a maiden name beginning with P. And I just love people, especially characters, individuals, and people that display their uniqueness and their sense of humor. I am jealous of them and their talents.

Purple is Number 4. I love the color purple and I plant lots of purple, plum, orchid, lavendar, and pink flowers. If I see anything, a shirt, blouse or purse, in one of the aforementioned shades of purple, I am immediately drawn to it.

I do love to play, so that is Number 5. I love to play with little kids. I remember playing Transformers and GI Joe with David M when he was 5. And with Julie G. Remember Julianna and Genarro, V and L? As a kid we played in the snow a lot on the farm. The drawback was that when you fell off the sled, you could wind up in cowpies! Maybe the snow wasn't deep enough! And I love to play cards-- bridge, pinochle, and the 5-deck game we play with Joe and Karen. And I love to play the slots when I win! And I love to play with Angelo and my grandkids.

I love Emporor Penguins, and character penguins, so they are Number 6. MJ reminded me the other night that she likes penguins, too. They are cute!!

How could you have the letter P and not think of Parties! Number 7 it is!! Christmas Parties, Valentine parties, spin-the-bottle parties!! Birthday parties. I remember my 6th and my 12th, maybe also my 16th. MJ will always remember her 16th and Chelsea will remember her 13th.

Pansies is Number 8. I had to go back to the color purple for pansies. Purple pansies are the best! Lena Liu and Debbie H. paint the best pansies!!

Prizes came in as Number 9. I love to win the prizes, raffle prizes, sur-prizes. What fun!

I went back to food again for Number 10. I must be hungry. Pizza is wonderful stuff. I especially love Italian sausage on a pizza. My favorite pizzas are "The Works" or "The Supreme" with everything on them. I love lots of meat like sausage, pepperoni, and tons of cheese, stringy cheese.

And there you have it.

The Blizzard of 2008

The wind is blowing and the snow is whirling in all directions. The cold air is entering this old cabin through every crack between the boards. We're just using the electric heaters so far tonight and we're saving the wood stacked at the ready by the fireplace for when the power goes out. The candles are all within easy range as are the flashlight and batteries. There's even kerosene in the lantern. Could be fun!!

The beach was littered with sheets of broken ice earlier this afternoon. The ice floes get stranded on the beach as the tide goes out and then crack up. Lots of ice floes. Out on the water, the ice runs right over the mooring buoys just like the logs do. You'd think the ice would break apart when it hits the buoys, but the ice is harder than you think and doesn't break up then!

That picture of the deck this morning looks very barren compared to how the deck is totally covered with several inches of snow tonight. Last night at 11:30 it was 9 degrees. Tonight it is snowing and has warmed up to about 24 degrees.

The wind is really whipping. I'll probably stay up late just to watch. The glass screen door on the water side is now covered with blowing snow and will probably be frozen shut by morning.
This is the 11:00 report!!!.......Tom is of course asleep in his recliner and Angelo has the couch!

Winter Swans 2008

Five swans showed up this am at 0757. They're
the gray smudge just above the statue of the old
man in the boat. Awesome in real life.

Then we watched them all fly away. Their wingspan
is greater than an eagle's.

I have no pictures of the 50 or so Goldeneye that
soon showed up afloat on the water. And then,
when Angelo and I were walking in the snow,
a noisy, honking flock of larger Canadians flew over
in a double V.

They were immediately followed by a flock of
Trumpeter Swans, no noise from them, just the
quiet swish of about 100 wings keeping them aloft.
Stand quietly. They fly softly and make a lasting
impression on the world.

GG's Gathering Pg. 3

Lorraine and Patty, back of Melain's head and half of Ross on right.
(I didn't get a picture of Gary.) Cory took a group photo and Gary
is in that. We all should check his website, (www.coryparris.com).


Patty, Ross and Duane.



Mikayla and her mom Melain and dad Terry.

GG's Gathering Pg.2

LOGAN!!!!!


Tom, Riley and Alyssa.


Riley, Alyssa, Kyler.



Madison being shy and dad David.

GG's Minshull Christmas Gathering 2008 Page 1

Dana, Ronnie, Frank MJ, Thom and Chloe in back.


Thom, Logan ducking, Pam and Carissa.



Bailey, Cory and Leslie with son Riley's eye lower left.




Mikayla (sp?), Mike, Titan, Ariel and Tom's tummy.

A Nummy Bacon Post for Zenmomma

I quote the Everett Herald newspaper of 12/8/08:

"The Kings, an Elvis Presley cover band, plays punk rock and eats ice cream.

And so, fittingly enough, it has both an ice cream flavor and a song it wants you to check out.

The group, whose four members are split between Everett and Lynnwood, supports Seattle ice cream shop Full Tilt. Particularly, the Kings recommend a flavor called Memphis King, which includes peanut butter, bananas and chocolate covered bacon. "

The article goes on to talk about a song they due, "Blue Christmas", "souped up.......with some punk rock flare."

...."for a taste of Memphis King, hit Full Tilt, 9629 16th Ave. SW, Seattle." Gotta' get some!!!

The Best Night of Our Lives

Every year the granddaughters come out to spend a night, carouse, and decorate our Christmas tree. After the woodsplitting, activities included the annual decorating of the tree, and the glueing together of the gingerbread. Before and after the junk food, Papa's garlic and butter pasta, porkchops with mashed potatoes, gravy, and applesauce were a hit for dinner.

And this morning, everyone's favorite breakfast of pancakes and sausages was a hit! Don't forget the Sunny D!!

December 5th Wood Cutting

(Pictures in reverse order)
Woodsplitting first, then sunset.

I thought I got pictures of Megan and Chelsea splitting wood,

too, but both of the pics are MJ taking whacks! Megan, Chels,

and MJ all split a few rounds!! For the first times in their lives!!

I tried not to watch and I'm sure their parents are glad

they didn't watch either!

Tree Hunting in the Rain (We like snow better!)

Tom, MJ, Me and Angelo November 28, 2008
On top of Old Pilchuck....


MJ, Chelsea, Denise, Madison, Chris, Gunner and Megan in the pouring rain and blowing wind.



Bundled-up Emma, Lila, Erin, Erik and Ella.

We were all soaked,!! We drank some hot chocolate and dashed for the warm vehicles and made a quick jaunt home to C & D's. We turned up the thermostat, dried off a little, then enjoyed our snack lunch of salami, cheese, chips, peanuts, grapes and other good treats. Then we went straight home for dry clothes!!

Chelsea and Thanksgiving 2008

Chelsea had a wonderful birthday and we all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Dinner included:

Antipasti

18 pound turkey with Italian sausage dressing

Sweet potatoes with brown sugar, butter and marshmallows

Mashed potatoes and really good dark gravy

Fantasy Fudge

Green salad with Italian dressing, salami and olives

Vanilla ice cream

Fresh hot rolls and real butter

Butter pecan ice cream

2 Blackberry pies

2 Pumpkin pies

1 Granny Smith Apple pie

Attending were:

E, E, E, and L; C, D, C, M and M; V, F, M and J; T and M

Thanksgiving Pole Dance

First, may I start by acknowledging the most memorable charade of all-time at our house:
Sandy C. who "wuthered" and wuthered and wuthered again, on the vine so to speak, for half an hour and still no one guessed --

Wuthering Heights

Frank and Veronica still have her withering on video and we review it from time.



But yesterday, Erin took the cake.

She started by reading the title, indicating one word, three syllables.

First syllable:

Right here is a picture of Erin doing a pole dance. Can't you just see it??!! The first attempt in her entire life. On an imagineray pole.

We all looked at her like "what the __?" and we're laughing and carrying on. And on, and on.



Then, out of the blue, Tom says "Poltgergeist"!!

And he's right! And he brought the house down!!

All we can figure is that Tom has seen some pretty horrid pole dances in his life!!


*One little footnote as a reminder to those present: Flab-eye-rinse!!

Chelsea Turns 16

Happy Birthday, Chelsea!!!

Remembering all who served and are serving

Thinking of all our loved ones who have served our country and are currently serving: Ross, Scott, Tom, Larry Sr., Grandpa Alec, Uncle Fred. Some in Viet Nam, some in Korea, some in War II. Thank you.

Denise's brother Frank is still in Afghanistan and we worry about him daily.

PS> November 10th is the birthday of the Marine Corps.

Halloween, November 1st & 2nd, 2008

Emma the Cheerleader came to trick or treat
at the beach.


Little Bo Peep was here, too!!! Lila, the kitty,
didn't get her picture taken, nor did Maddy,
the 50's poodle skirt girl.



Sunday, Nov. 2nd, was Denise's b'day. We had pot roast,
pesto, and everything else! The cake is lemon with
lemon-cream cheese frosting. Nummy!



Sunrise November 1st, a beautiful start to the month.