Christmas with the Henry's

On Sunday we celebrated Christmas with the Henry's. We did this early because Bob and Carolyn left today for Florida to celebrate Christmas with her family. We had appetizers and sandwiches and then opened gifts and had a nice visit. Bob got us a GPS and a WebCam. Now we can see and talk to Liz and Brett in NC!

Sonya, Jordan & Jeff

Jordan opening gifts

Jeff, Bob & Brian

Jacob's huge knife

Jacob opening gifts

Jacob, Grandpa Bob, Carolyn and Jordan

Jacob, Grandpa Bob & cousin Jordan

Jacob & Roxy

Brunch with the girls

I started working at CompuServe in 1984. All the women in this picture worked together at CompuServe at some point in time and some of them still work for Verizon/WorldCom.

Kim, Janet, Lisa, Patti, Bonnie, Beth, Debbie

Making "Sugar Coma" Cookies

After my sister Jenn had kids, we started a tradition of making iced cut out cookies around Christmas. Last year we added Grandparents, cousins and Aunts and Uncles to the invitation list. This year Grandma and Grandpa came, me and Brian, Jim and Amie and Shannon. We had a slight problem with the dough being too warm (I made it just before we got to Jenn's). But Uncle Brian saved the day by going to Meijer and getting a few rolls of store bought dough. The kids are a wiz at rolling out the dough. It takes a little more coordination to pick up the shapes after using the cookie cutters. Of course they all love the icing and decorating part. And Daphne and Bowser loved licking all the sprinkles that hit the floor.

Ally rolling out the dough

Autumn
Nate and Ally decorating the cookies

Sugar Coma Cookies

Book Review

Right now I'm reading a really good series from author David Rosenfelt. He is a former marketing president for Tri-Star Pictures and his main character Andy is a defense attorney who inherited 22 million dollars and opened a no kill animal shelter. He owns "the world's best dog" Tara, a golden retriever. The books are very funny, especially considering there is a lot of police work and courtroom drama. I highly recommend this series. "First Degree" is the first book in the series.

Christmas Decorating

Every year, for the last 23 years, I have put up our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. But this year we were in NC for Thanksgiving and didn't get home on Sunday. Then I spent a week procrastinating and dreading the whole idea of dragging everything out of the garage, up the stairs and getting it all out. The other reason for procrastinating was because until Friday, I still has puppies! Last Sunday, I finally did it. Brian and Jacob went to see a "boy" movie. You know, the kind were things crash or blow up and there is lots of blood? So I decided to use this quiet time to put the tree up. I also baked cookies and watched some programs I had on the DVR (from October!). So here is our tree!

Puppies are Gone!

The last puppy went to a new home on Friday. Yipee!

Windshield replacement

So the Monday after Thanksgiving I went out to my car and noticed a 6 inch crack in my windshield. I didn't have the money to repair it until Friday. But by Friday the 6 inch crack was now 15 inches. So, the whole windshield had to be replaced. We called Safelite and they came to my work and replaced it in an hour. $224 - Merry Christmas to me!

Thanksgiving in North Carolina

Brian, Jake and I drove to North Carolina the day after Thanksgiving to visit and have our Thanksgiving dinner with Liz and her family. We got there around 2pm and went bowling on base at Camp LeJeune. Then we went back to their house for pizza.

On Saturday morning, Brett made breakfast for us all. Then Liz and I put the turkey and ham in the oven and started making side dishes. We were all set to eat at 1pm. It was yummy! Liz and I have decided we need to start a ham support group. After dinner we went on base to shop at the MCX. Brian bought Liz a new vacuum cleaner and Brett a floor jack. I bought Cody a helmet, knee pads and elbow pads to wear while skateboarding. Brett showed us where he works and on base there is a 1950's tank that was pretty cool. After shopping we went to one of their neighbor's for drinks and to sit around a fire.

We took Roxy with us so she could play with Kiki. Here they are playing with Cody.

Roxy and Kiki playing in the front yard.

Roxy actually took the bone away from Kiki.

Two really tired pups after playing hard all day.

Roxy sleeping next to Jacob in the van on the ride home to Ohio.

"Grand-puppy"

I can't believe I didn't write a thing for the entire month of November. Wow! I'll have to make up for it in December. Here are some pictures of Liz & Brett's puppy. Her name is Kiki and she is a 12 week old white pit bull. She is just about the most sweetest, loving dog I've ever met. She obviously doesn't know she is a scarey pit bull!

Trick or Treat

Roxy & Daphne

I'm not sure if Daphne thought the puppies were fun

Trick or Treat was on Thursday in our neighborhood and Saturday in Jenn's. So we went both nights. We took Stella and the puppies to Jenn's house. After the kids went trick-or-treating we went inside to play.

Ally & Bill

Alley, Autumn & Nathan as Butterfly, Pocahontas & Harry Potter

Crazy Uncle Brian

Fox Family Reunion

Amie & Jim
Ally, Scott & Autumn

Ally & Jenn

Brian, Liz, Carey & Cody

So, where did the month of October go? Here are some pictures of the family reunion. Sadly it was not well attended so we won't be having one next year.

Seriously?!

Black and brown puppy

White puppy sleeping funny

Black puppy sleeping funny

White puppy face

White puppy 3 days old

Stella had puppies again (third time) on September 20th. Even though we got Gabe neutered, there are apparently bullets still left in the gun for several months. So, we have three females and 3 males. One of the females is mostly white with some black markings. All the rest are black, brown and white. We are so blessed - NOT! I will say that they are cute.

Apple Picking

One of my favorite things to do as a child was to go apple picking at the Ohio Orchard with my siblings, Mom and Grandma Morris. Sadly the Ohio Orchard is no longer in business but Lynd Fruit Farm is. My favorite apple is the Suncrisp. It's yellow, tart and crisp. I love to bake with it. Last weekend we picked Jonnathan and Jonagold. I made four apple pies and a huge pan of apple crisp. Yum!

Nathan Autumn & Ally

Big brother trying to pull Ally between the rows of trees.

Bridal Shower

The gifts
The cake

Now I tell ya, how many times have you been to a bridal shower and got to watch the wedding on DVD? I bet zero. Well that's just what we did at Liz's bridal shower on September 12th.

Liz got some great stuff for their new home.

The Wedding of Liz and Brett Wendel

In church waiting to get ready.

Talking to Carey to calm her nerves .

Putting on makeup.

Getting the veil just right

The dress is on!

Now some jewelry. She wore a pearl bracelet and ring her Grandma Lorraine gave her. This was her "old". She wore my pearl earrings as her "borrowed". Her dress was "new" and her flowers were "blue".

Giving last minute directions to a guest.

Cooling of a little

A barefoot bride.

Daddy looking a bit nervous...but the bride is smiling!

Brian walking her down the aisle.

Brett waiting for his bride.

Listening to Pastor Mike

During the ceremony.

Getting ready to exchange rings.

"The Kiss"

Mr. and Mrs. Wendel.

Brian, Liz, Brett & Bonnie

Cody (Brett's brother) with Brett & Liz

Grandma Betsy & Grandpa Bill with Liz & Brett.

Parents and Grandparents with Liz & Brett.

Nathan shaking Brett's hand.

Autumn with Liz & Brett.

Carey and Cody decorated the car.

The handsome couple outside the church.

On Saturday, August 29th, my daughter Liz was married to Marine Lance Corporal Brett Wendel in a small ceremony in their church in Hilliard.

They decided on Tuesday, to get married on Saturday. Who says you can't plan a wedding in four days!

We found Liz's dress at Eastland Mall. It's a strapless dress made of ivory chiffon with a tie around the neck. With heels on the dress didn't touch the floor so she decided to wear ballet slippers and at the last minute changed her mind and went barefoot. All the celebrities do it, so why not Liz. The morning of the wedding she got her hair done at the salon I go to. Then we went to Garden Ridge to pick out flowers to make her bouquet. We made it from two red roses and two white roses and a blue flower. We wrapped the stems in red, white and blue flag ribbon.

The wedding went smoothly, with the only exception being the pastor called her Lorraine twice (it's her middle name). He asked Brett for Liz's middle and last name just before the wedding and we think he was concentrating so much on that, he forgot her first name. He remembered before he got to the vowels and then used Liz.

My brother-in-law Scott took 220 pictures and said not one of them should be deleted.

They will leave for Jacksonville, NC in a few weeks. Then back to OH in mid-October to pack up the house and pick up Cody and move to a home in Jacksonville.

Thank you for all your support, encouragement, prayers and love.