Saturday, December 10, 2011

Christmastime cookout



I would like to tell you that I knew this was always there, that I had seen it several times before, but the truth is... I had no idea it was there...

can you see it... in the beam???












Yes, it's a heart. It's on the beam that is just in front of the woodstove hearth. Our friend Rick noticed it the other evening when he was here for a visit (leave it to a logger to notice something like that). The saying that the "hearth is the heart of the house" must be true, given where this one is placed. So, I can say.. this house has a heart....















The Christmas decorations are all finding their place. Since this is only our second Christmas here in the house, I still don't kn0w where "everything belongs".. but things are finding their place... this is my collection of Breyer's Christmas horses.. Ed got me the first one in 2000, and has made a point of getting one each year... so far I have ten... trusting that number ten is coming this year!!!!!





Now, since Ed's procedure, and now that he is feeling so much better. His next goal is to get some weight off, and hopefully with that, get off some of the meds that he has to take. We have (in the family) a licensed dietitian... Miss Lauren, (Nates' sister). So, I asked Lauren if she would come and give us a lesson in better food choices. She came this afternoon and spent a couple of hours with us, setting up a "starter" game plan and helping us understand the labels on foods and such.




After our food planning time, Lauren stayed, and since neither she or new husband John had been to the farm, I invited them to dinner, along with John's parents, Dave and Deb and Rick and Kelli, and of course the "kids".






I asked the girls if they would get the tree decorated while I got things ready for our cookout... they had a fun time doing that.....and I enjoyed watching the "kids" decorating the tree once again...









Abbie really got "into it". We told her that she couldn't handle the "glass ones" and she would look into the ornament bucket and ask "is that glass??" It really didn't take her too long to figure out what "glass" was and she was good about choosing the proper ones to hang. Though she did tell me that the "tree bit her"....











We had a grand full moon, and as I said earlier, the meal was a real summer time cookout. In another week or so, we'll be having the traditional holiday foods, so I thought something different might be great fun.....













It was a cold night too, but Ed didn't seem to mind having the grill duties. That steak and chicken sure looked good cooking there.....















And as I have said several times before, I love having people in the house. I love the sound of it, and seeing folks enjoying themselves. It's a great house to entertain in, and I try to do it as much as I can.













Summer foods and winter decorations... why not....













Abbie thought the meal was great. She pretty much kept her mouth food of wonderful things.....














But was happy to give "baby" a big smile her front of "her" Christmas tree... how do you like the Lion King??? Her new favorite....

















And she'll tell you... "this one not glass".... kids and Christmas.. does it get any better than that????