Christmas (Part 3)

WE had a wonderful Christmas season...it went by way to fast!! I've broken it up into 3 parts, though it isn't in any particular order. It started with Josh picking out and cutting down our tree in early December....we tell the kids this is our last trip to Thorntons, but you never know.....
At least the ground was dry......
Really now....texting?? Okay...in his defense, he was texting Richard who was meeting us there with the truck after he got off work.
Christmas morning before church.....
Here we all are after the festivities and a yummy ham dinner.....
Sadie was adorable opening presents...see the Christmas bags I decorated?
Jon is now a Cardinals fan....but he's still true to the Mariners.....
Josh opening a present...wondering what it is.....
.....tickets to see The Mythbusters in person when they come to Portland next month. He is a HUGE fan!
Jon and his girlfriend...yes I said it....Brittany...while we played games.
My beautiful girl....it was a bit of a challenge bending down to wrap presents.....
Good thing we kept some of our baby toys....they have really come in handy. Grandpa playing with Sadie:)
My favorite time snuggling with Sadie....although she was sick at the time....she was a little cuddle bug!

Christmas (Part 2)

We had a grand time going to see Santa at the mall....going to Zoo lights at the Oregon Zoo....and playing games at home. Sadie was our entertainment most of the time.It was a pretty cold night and there were alot of lines at the zoo....Sadie was a trooper! She loved all the lights!
Daddy was her main man that night....she wouldn't go to anybody but daddy....that's okay...he's a pretty great guy!!
It was Uncle Jon's first time at Zoo Lights too!
We have these wooden soldiers I painted years ago....Sadie kept trying to kiss them. They were just her size:)
Sadie was Grandmas helper when we played games....

It was good to see the boys together again....bantering back and forth as usual ha ha!!

Peek a boo with Grandma...Sadie is such a cut up!

Playing blocks with Uncle Josh....these blocks have been around a LONG time....they're from Great Grandma Drew's house.

Christmas (part 1)....

Christmas Eve at "The Allens" is a tradition for many many years now...
There were lots of cousins who loved playing with Sadie...the baby of the family.
Jenny sat there and as she told me.... taking it all in. Something she has missed since getting married and leaving home. Jon and Jenny used to be the little ones....now they're the adults watching the little ones.....
Tickling Uncle Josh.....
Our beautiful neice Rene with her doggie......
Sadie LOVED the doggie.......
Lots of cousins....1st cousins.......2nd cousins....3rd cousins.....Tiffany's Aayla loving Sadie...
Cheree's Kyler playing with Sadie......
Cheree's Ethan playing with Sadie......
Beautiful cousin Cheree had fun with Sadie too......Sadie was the girl to love on Christmas Eve!!

Another Black Friday Bites the Dust.....

All the talk going on about how violent Black Friday is....people pushing and shoving, spraying people with pepper spray JUST to get a good deal. What is this world coming to??

Things looked a little bleak for going out to brave the crowds this year. Melanie thought she would be gone hunting with her husband, but she made it back in time. HOORAY!! We were a little disgusted with the stores opening so early this year...MIDNIGHT....that's insane! You're darn tootin....and we were right there in the middle of the pack!

Melanie and I were busy making out our lists at the table (shoulda had a picture of that too!) and we were so wide awake we figured....Why Not?? We could go to Kohls and then come home and go to bed before we went out again.

Not exactly how it happened...but a good thought. We left around 12:30am so we would miss all the pushing and shoving...and it paid off. We got most of the things we wanted. No matter that the line wrapped around both sides of the store...we were HAPPY!! So were most of the other people. It's not a day for the faint of heart...or the grouchy ....that's why we leave husbands at home...hee hee! (besides they wouldn't look good in our matching sweaters)

Kohls, Target, Penny's, Fred Meyer, Walmart (we actually walked out with nothing from there....and a bazillion other places. We kept checking our watches...we had SO MUCH TIME!! We went until we couldn't go anymore. Our feet hurt...our brains hurt (from all the overkill) and we were TIRED.

How long did we shop you may ask??

Til 3:00 pm! Yep....nearly 14 hours!! We decided we could have quit like at noon because we were just all shopped out...but then it wouldn't have been so memorable:)

Until next year.....

One Man's Junk is Another Man's.......

After living just short of 99 years Grandma Drew accumulated a few things. Not worldly things as would be measured by todays standards, but her things nevertheless.Grandma died in 2002 and some of her "things" have been floating around family member to family member. Saturday night my cousin Jane, who had aquired several boxes of Grandma's things, brought me 7 boxes to sort through. I must say....the buck stops here! I spent nearly 8 hours today sorting through only 5 of the boxes. This will be the first blog of several as I reminisce the life of Esther Drew....and other family members along the way. One entire box was full of yellowed and torn up newspaper clippings of recipes, ripped apart cook books, recipes of the month from Fred Meyer, Safeway and Albertsons.....stacks and stacks of slips of paper with typed and handwritten recipes on scraps of paper...always dated and where the recipe came from.
I managed to sort through and discard...throw out...get rid of...lots of JUNK! Yes I said it. But there were some treasures as well....so not to fret family:) Last count Richard took 4 sacks of paper to the recycle bin. There were several really old booklets...products I had never heard of. Anyone ever heard of Ryzon?? It was a baking powder back in the early 1900's. The book pictured below was copyrighted in 1917. How about "10 Cakes Husbands Like Best"....This one is old....BREADS Clever Housewives Serve. Wasn't life simple back then? I want to think I'm a clever housewife....and I guess you could say the bread I made for dinner tonight was clever. Me and Mrs. Rhodes...ha ha!
This one is very interesting....I can't do it justice. It's from 1918. It's an Official Recipe Book from the U.S. Food Administration...It says: The recipe book is offered to the women of the United States as a definite guide to food conservation. It is not a mere preachment upon the necessity for saving; it tells in detail how essential saving may be acheived" It was prepared during the war and tells what YOU can do. "Everyone MUST help if we are to win.....this is your war guide for use in YOUR home....It tells you what food we must save to provision ourselves and our allies; it tells how we can stretch our supplies so everyone will have enough..America and her Allies must not run out of wheat, meat, or fats. If we let that happen Germany will win the war. We must save sugar, use every drop of milk, and we must learn to follow directions." We are blessed to live in a day when we don't have to live like that....yet. So PREPARE yourselves family!!This Watkins booklet from 1937 and Successful Baking Recipes booklets from the 1930's as well. They are chock full of little newspaper clippings and other handwritten recipes which Grandma has pinned or taped inside...and alway...ALWAYS everything is dated!!
Grandma did not waste ONE BIT of paper! She typed or handwrote recipes on anything and everything....one recipe from 1968 came from "A Cookbook for the Leisure Years" Some were typed on the back of and sometimes the front of (right over) Boise Cascade notepads (where in going through some things Uncle Robert worked) or Fruit Valley Elementary scrap paper (where Aunt Adele worked). There were it seems hundreds of papers typed up with recipes from someone named Mary Cullen. I finally found out who she was....a Oregon Journal contributor. Grandma had newspaper clippings with her recipes ....I can't imagine she could cook all those recipes. But then again, how many things do I have in my recipe files that I have yet to prepare. There were recipes sent to Grandma from Jane and Debi....some in shorthand. I have envelpoes for you girls. On the back of one of Mary Cullins newspaper recipes there was a Safeway ad....dated Dec. 11, 1947. Ritz crackers were 30 cents....a 1 lb. bag of coffee 43 cents.....vanilla wafers 19 cents. FUN STUFF!!
Now what was I saying.......One mans junk is another mans.....JUNK....and sometimes with a few treasures to boot!! Stay tuned:)

Forget Me Not.....

I throughly enjoyed President Uchtdorfs talk in the Relief Society General Meeting on Saturday! He used the forget me not flowers to uplift and help us understand who we can be. The five petals on the flower represent 5 things we should "not forget." 1. Forget Not to be patient with yourself 2. Forget Not the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish sacrifice. 3. Forget Not to be happy now. 4. Forget Not the "why" of the gospel. 5. Forget not that The Lord loves you. I can't wait until next spring so that I can plant some "Forget Me Nots" in my yard to always remember who I am!

Newlyweds

This summer we had TWO very special weddings in our family....my brother Ron and Tami were married in August....AND...... my Aunt Adele married Merril last week end. THANK YOU to those who posted pictures on facebook, otherwise I wouldn't have any (me the picture taker of the family forgot her camera BOTH times!)Ron and Tami married on the beach at Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach Oregon....it was a beautiful day! There were 3 others weddings at the same time on the same beach.
The reception was in Astoria Oregon and I must say it was a beautiful setting. All 7 of their kids were there...now that's a big family!!
Here they are with the magnificient Astoria Bridge in the background. This bridge crosses over the Columbia River to Longbeach Washington and is so tall for all the ships to get through. It is considered the "mouth" of the Columbia because it is where the Columbia meets the Pacific Ocean. Aunt Adele and Merril have known each other for years and years. They attend the same church and both are widowed. Recently Merril took to calling Aunt Adele and a romance blossomed. He is a wonderful man....very friendly and very kind. He is getting a very special lady!
Their wedding was at home and was attended by their children. A reception followed for the rest of us. It was very nice. Angelia, a grandaughter of Adele, got these very smart bride and groom hats and aprons for "The Newlyweds"
Between the two of them they also have 7 children.....here is their new family.
My cousins Jane and Neal.....Jane will be my new neighbor as she moves into Aunt Adele's house and sells her own. Lucky me to have her living so close:) Neal is the official family photographer and does a great job!
Here I am with my brothers David and Henry and cousin David. Lots of Davids in our family!
Congratulations to both sets of "NEWLYWEDS" we are so HAPPY for you!!!

First, Last and Other Things.......

Josh has the distinction of being the only one of our kids who passed their driving test the first time. He is the first....but also the last. This will be a year of alot of "lasts" for us.....last year of high school....last year of seminary......the last child syndrome.Here he is Sunday making his first "solo" drive to church.
I'm glad I remembered to quickly get the camera and snap these for his scrapbook.
Saturday I looked outside and saw this cute little squirrel in the grass. He ran onto the porch....
.....and down the chair. We tend to have alot of squirrels....I get irritated with them sometimes because they dig in my flower beds to hide food and disrupt my bulbs.....but they are SO cute!!
This was my Saturday project....sewing baby towels. Pretend you didn't see this if you are having a baby....you'll have to act surprised.
I've made hundreds of these after receiving one for Jon when he was a baby over 21 years ago!. When I find towels I like I get a bunch of them....
As you can see they are REALLY BIG....but I've had people tell me their kids are still using them years later and their kids get really attached to them.
Like me.....I'm just a kid at heart:)