Happy Turkey Day

Thanksgiving Day was beautiful--sunny and snowy. We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in the morning. Joe's mom (Donna) and sister (Allison) have come to visit from North Carolina for Thanksgiving. They arrived on Thursday about 1:00, and enjoyed a little Guitar Hero while waiting for dinner. We ate mid afternoon and then headed over to some friends' house for a rip roaring game of bingo with excellent prizes and dessert. Joe can be seen modeling some of the prizes.

"Mommy, is it winter yet?"

That is the question Emma keeps asking me, given the weather this week. The kids were really hoping for a snow day today, and the chances seemed good, with about 10 inches falling overnight and high winds. But they're hard core here, and so school went on as scheduled. We got more during the day. The bus was running really, really late, and so the kids and I were all about frozen after standing out there for 20 minutes this morning. The lake effect storm seems to have moved through now....we are learning why they call this area "the snow belt." The Cleveland stations love to do their broadcasts from the Chardon town square when it is snowing. We are the highest elevation coming off the lake, so while downtown Cleveland (25 miles to the west) doesn't have any snow on the ground, we could be in a white out. We have been busy serving up hot chocolate and drying all the snow gear. I love snow!

14 years of service...

I sure wish I had some pictures to go along with this post, but I had to share it anyway. On Friday night, Joe and the boys camped out at the Church for the monthly boy scout campout. It was quite cold, but not cold enough to snow, and heavy rain was forcast all night. But, being Boy Scouts, they camped out anyway in the tent that Joe and I bought 14 years ago. It was August of 1994, and we were newlyweds, about to drive out to BYU, carrying all our earthly possessions in a trailer hauled behind our 1989 Ford Tempo. We couldn't afford hotels, and our stuff could have been stolen anyway, so we were going to camp. We went to Sears to buy a tent that was on sale. To our delight, that one was sold out, so they gave us the next biggest one for $59.99. It officially slept 5. Really, the two of us plus our stuff. The first memorable moment with the tent came in Kansas as we struggled to pitch camp late at night (that means in the dark.) I don't remember the details, but suffice it to say that Joe ended up sleeping under the stars that night :-). We got the hang of setting it up, and we used that tent to camp at Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Zion, Grand Canyon, and Yosemite National Parks while at BYU. Upon our return to the East Coast, we went to Shenendoah National Park several times, all while staying in the tent. Then when Jacob and Katie were born, camping was out of the question for a while, so the tent moved unused to Texas, California, Maryland, and then Michigan. While in Maryland, we upsized to a tent that could actually fit our whole family. It is mammoth. And our communication skills have improved as well--set up was a breeze, even the first time. Anyhoo, back to this weekend. The boys woke up to the fact that Joseph was sleeping in the middle of a rather large puddle. I guess he was on the downhill side of the tent. Jacob's set up was wet, but only a little. So Joe gave Joseph his dry sleeping bag and headed for the car to finish out the night. So, apparently the tent leaks. Sadly, it was thrown in the dumpster before they came home. I'd say we got our money's worth out of it. The site of them hauling all their wet gear inside was a riot. I had a sleepover with the girls in the family room, and hadn't slept very well on the couch, but I wasn't complaining after hearing their story. It took all of Saturday to wash and dry all the sleeping bags and clothes...I asked Jacob why they didn't go inside to sleep, and his sarcastic response was, "Because it's not the 'Boy Scout Way!'"

Not a Pet

Well, back at the Great Geauga County Fair in September, they hold an animal auction...it's a pretty big deal, and many kids in the area work hard to raise various animals (pigs, ducks, cows, etc.) to be sold at the auction. As we were watching the auction, Emma asked if all the animals were going to be killed and turned into meat. I told her they were. She looked so traumatized that I quickly followed with, "Or, people can take them home and keep them as pets." She was visibly relieved, and said, "Oh good. That's what I would do." Joe's company always buys a pig. We named him Porkchop." He came to us via Mr. T's Smokehouse. Joe brought home some sausage, bacon, and this ham, along with a shoulder steak. We just ate the ham this week. Tasty!