Surviving the aftermath;)................

We survived! Well, most of us has anyway;)

On Christmas Eve we hosted a dinner. We had 15 people over that night for Turkey, Ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, yams and stuffing. We also made pumpkin pies, no bake cheese cakes and brownies. I think it was a huge success, well, I hope it was a huge success! Everyone ate their fill and we had a great time sitting around afterwards visiting with each other. The missionaries ate so much that they rolled out of the house later that night and most everyone left by 10pm. We had one group that stayed late and by the time I got home from dropping them off it was after midnight. WE had a couple of extra Santa helpers to get the main gift out and set up then sent them to bed so we could work on the stockings.

I have been battling a head cold since Sunday evening so I have been feeling pretty yucky. The two younger boys were up at 7am so I slowly got out of bed and found a comfortable spot on the couch and watched the boys come in and see the gifts Santa left for a second time;) They always get up in the middle of the night to see what was left, but they always try to show their excitement when they come down when we are there. they know once they stop being excited, Santa will stop coming:o

Everyone seemed very excited about what they got this year. We got DJ and Kai a new DSi, and they have been having fun finding out everything that little toy does. Christian got another IPod Touch. We told him that this was the last one we will get for him! We got Jori and new camera, one that is better than her old one and I ILuv for her IPod touch. Now she can listen to her music in her room. DJ and Jori got a book series they love to read and Jori has already started reading them. We were able to find Christian an XBox live card so that he can now be hooked up to play with his friends in the states again. Kai got a IPod dock that is a clock radio. Now they can wake up to the sounds on in IPod in the morning and listen in his room while he is doing his homework. Sheldon, well we got him a new suit a couple weeks ago now that he's in the Bishopric and I got him a case for his IPhone that will keep his phone charges all the time! I got a a digital picture frame and Thomas Kincade cottage. I had started collecting them a long time ago but we kind of stopped. I would like to concentrate on more of the church statues but you have to order ahead for those and with no church book store in the area that won't be happening since Sheldon doesn't shop for me until Dec 24th;)

We were invited to Renata's house for a dinner and that was fun! She had a whole bunch of meets that were cut into small pieces and you put them on these small table grills and cook them. I told SHeldon that I want those! They also had small woks that you could cook individual size servings of foods. The kids were a little hesitant but by the end they were having fun and getting some great ideas about what we could cook here at home. So I have a feeling that for my anniversary we will be getting those and will have to try them out:)

We are thinking of going to Paris for next week. Jori so far is the only person who has gone there and we would like to do something tourist like. We will go and see the old stand by's. The Louver, Eiffel Tower and whatever else strikes out eye. I just hope this cold will finally be gone so I can enjoy this trip.

Well, we're going to play "Are you smarter than a 5th grader". We're trying to figure it out so wish us luck!

2 Days and counting.......

So it look s like Christmas will come wether I am ready or not;) The hubby is down at the army post picking up the last Christmas present for one of the kids. Everything got here in time:) Our new washer machine was delivered today, so hopefully this one will work properly and there will be no problems. I have only Sheldon's presents to wrap that will go under the tree and everything for the stockings should be in one place. I am also wrestling with starting to work on tomorrow's desserts so that will be done with.

Tomorrow we are planning on having about 8-9 people over for Christmas Eve dinner. It was suppose to be a smaller group and just kind of snowballed from there. I need to have the hubby call everyone tonight to give everyone a time that they should be here. We are planning on Turkey, Ham, potatoes w/gravy, stuffing, yams, green bean casserole and a vegie tray. I hope that will be enough for everyone. We are planning on pumpkin pies, cheese cakes and brownies for dessert.

I have been fighting a head cold the last couple days. I feel so yucky and hoping that SHeldon can find the right meds for me. I am suppose to go out for a birthday dinner tonight for a sister of the ward. I don't think I will be able to go. I don't think it would be wise to be out too long with everything I have to get done tomorrow. I will call

Renata and let her know. I feel bad for having to cancel. but I need to be well for tomorrow.

Well, I've stalled long enough and need to get some baking done.

Jori is in the house..............

That's what I said, after 4 months Jori is now here with us for the Christmas holidays. I dropped off Sheldon and the boys at church this morning then headed off to Amsterdam to pick up Jori from the airport. Well, it's been snowing the past couple days so the roads were a little yucky this morning. After getting out of Eindhoven the roads were drivable but I had to stay well below the speed limit. About 30 minutes into the drive I got stuck behind the snow plows. How they do it here in the Netherlands is they have 3 snowplows that stagger the lanes so they make it virtually impossible to pass them at all. The only problem to me was that the roads were clear so there was really no need for them to to keep the road blocked like that. I had to follow them for over an hour and they only went 20 mph:( Talk about frustrating. Finally I was able to to get about 10 miles out then the snow started to come down really hard, almost whiteout conditions. I ended up being over an hour late getting Jori, and the poor thing was wondering what was going on since she couldn't call me to find out. Coming home we had a lot of snow up until 15 miles out of Eindhoven. Needless we got to the church with 15 minutes left for sacrament meeting. We missed the whole program, the singing and things. I guess half the ward knew I was on the road driving to get Jori and when we walked in fine they were all relieved. Talk about how sweet!

All day we've had snow coming down so after lunch the kids went out for a little while to play in it. We finally found some boots and gloves but this will motivate me to go and get the things we need for the kids this week. I'm sure once I get it all, the snow will melt and we won't have anymore for the year, but at least the boys are ready for their skiing trip in March. It sure is beautiful to watch coming down, and the fields around the house look so pretty. We really love living out here.

Some members in the ward are having a birthday party tonight but the roads are a little slippery and we are all really exhausted. Jori feel asleep on the couch and I have a tired headache from the little sleep I've had this week. I think I'll get to bed early tonight, and tomorrow get up early to make a list of what we need to do the next couple of days to get ready for Christmas.

We will have about 14 people all together for Christmas Eve. It will be a nice evening and hopefully the food will be good;) I just want to have a fun night with everyone. We are looking forward to it.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get some pictures of the kids out in the snow and post them. I need to get better at that!

SNOW!

Yep, that's what I said, snow.......

Well, at least with all the cold we've been having, now is the pay off;) I am one of those people who love's snow, yet it's ironic that I am also the least prepared with regards to having the proper attire to wear in it:( As I rummage through my closet I have plenty of capri style pants that are great for the summer months, but not much else:/ Maybe Santa will need to look into bringing me some pants this year?

I had to remind Malachi this morning that he might want to wear a coat to school. That boy has been wearing a sweatshirt to school this last week with all the cold weather. I just don't get him! Maybe I just don't get teenage boys? I figure that one day he'll get smart(or cold) and then he might wear the appropriate coat. A Mom can dream;)

Tomorrow we need to head to Schinnen Army post to do some shopping and pick up more Christmas presents. I'm hoping that everything we ordered for the kids will be here. I can go without, but I need everything for them to be here. Then I can wrap presents and get them under the tree:)

Well, I need to try and put together a synopsis of the year to send with the Christmas cards I bought this year. Maybe this year I'll get them out? We shall see;) I also need to get some cleaning done since Christian has a friend staying over tonight and we have the YM from church coming tomorrow for an evening of video games fun. I need to get some baking done and get my shopping list done so I don't forget anything when down at Schinnen. Too much to do and so little time. Looking forward to Dec 26th because I plan to sleep that day away!

Brrrr...........

It has been down right chilly the past few days. You think by all this cold that winter is finally here;) I guess it is! I needed to go to the store this morning to buy gifts for DJ's teacher's and a gift for our taxi driver. I was able to catch the bus just a few houses away and go into the Veldhoven city center. The bus is actually a large shuttle van, but it was nice an warm:) The bus only comes through every hour so I have to make sure I'm there on time, even just a little before because her doesn't stop if he doesn't see anyone standing there. And DJ got out early today from school so I had to make sure that I was home before he got here. Now that I know the schedule a little better i will be using the service a little more often. The nice thing was that the center was not crowded at all. I would like to go and back, but know that the next few weeks won't be that easy. Once the kids get out of school and we get closer to Christmas that place will be crazy. I have just a couple more things I need to get for Christmas then I will be done.

Jori flies in this weekend. I was looking at the train schedule because I was thinking about taking the train to go up and get her, but they don't run as often on the weekends. So now I need to go over it with Sheldon then we can make a decision on what we will do. Jori also wrecked the truck driving on snow in Provo so we are waiting to hear from the insurance to find out what will happen with the truck. Monica happened to be there and she figured the truck was totaled, but nothing has been settled yet. I need to get a number for a shuttle service to pick her up from her apartment to take her to the airport on Saturday morning.

I am baking 2 ham's right now or the RS dinner tonight. I hope that all goes well with them. The one in the crock pot is doing fine, hopefully the one in the oven will be good too. I think I ruined my crock pot from the states. I used the transformer like I usually do but then it started smoking:( It would just be best if I buy another european crock pot then I will have two again. I'm so mad about the other crock pot. Oh well, that just means I get to buy a new one when we move back.

Well, I still need to get into the shower. I'm still freezing:( I think I might just have to buy me some long underware for when I go out. I also want to get a couple more things done before I have to go tonight. I will be glad when this week is finally over.