Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Happy New Year, 2009!!

Finally...a chance to sit and breathe long enough to post something! Let's see, firstly, Sara came up the day after Christmas and stayed the entire week with us like she did last year. I also found out on Christmas that my cousin Heather and her family had a house fire on Christmas Eve and had to move their belongings out of their damaged home. Since we have just built a large addition, I thought I'd offer some temporary lodging until they found a new place. They were staying with her dad, but he has a very small place and doesn't cope too well with change, so it was stressful for everyone involved. So they stayed a few days with us afterall! It was actually rather fun having all those people in the house! (She has a husband, Chris, and four kids) While Chris, Heather and their two teenagers were working on getting their belongings out, they left their two youngest at my house to play. My dad decided since we had 5 girls who were all 6 and under, he would do something to keep them busy...he's a glutton for punishment! Anyway, he made some dough, got out some jelly, chocolate sauce and caramel sauce and some wonton wrappers. First he had the girls roll out the dough into balls and sticks.


There was lots of flour on the table which inevitably made its way onto clothes and faces, in this case onto Grace's nose!





After they finished their shapes, my dad deep fried it. While he was doing that, I helped the girls put fillings into wonton wrappers. When these were done, he fried these as well. Here they enjoy the spoils of their work!



Here are the results of their fun project! The bread dough was dipped into things like sugar, honey, syrup, chocolate, caramel, jelly and peanut butter! The wonton wrappers were awesome! My favorites were the caramels!



Here are all five of the cuties at dinner later that night. The new kitchen island certainly comes in handy for kids at dinnertime! Left to right we have Hannah, Grace, Luci, Drew and Sara.



On New Year's Eve, I got some hats, horns and leis for the kids. Here is everyone getting prepared for the big event! (For those who don't know him, that's Chris standing at the island.)







To my credit, he KNEW I was taking this picture, and he still made that face!





And what does every couple do at midnight....a New Year Kiss! Heather and Chris appreciate that even though they had a fire and lost their home, they didn't lose too many of their belongings and they along with their children walked away with their lives! We are all grateful for THAT!



Nick wasn't having any of this picture nonsense! (He's 16!)



Happy New Year!!!!!! 2009!!!



It wasn't but 10 minutes or so after midnight when they started dropping like flies! Sara crashes next to the dog.



Drew was next...



Even Heather didn't last too long!



But heaven forbid Luci actually fall asleep! She was raring to go!



Lizzie managed to stay awake, but wasn't nearly as chipper as Luci!


They stayed a few days and managed to find another place to rent just a few miles outside of town. Art came back to retrieve Sara and they left on Sunday. The place has quieted back down and now that the girls are back at school, the routine is finding its way back home. I sure miss waking up without an alarm clock every morning! Oh well! Lizzie managed to tape her mother driving around the island on one of the Plasma cars, doing a great Queen's wave and saying in her best English accent, "Helloooo good people of Tableland!", but the entire clip was too long and too big to post. It was pretty funny, tho! And now for my community service announcement... Yesterday, I received in the mail my donor card for DKMS. Last year, I signed up to be listed on the Bone Marrow Donor Registry and though it took quite a while to receive the card, at length it finally arrived! I'd like to ask anyone who hasn't considered the idea of becoming a donor to please do so! You could save a life! There are families right now looking for a match for a loved one and you could be that person! The registry is sadly lacking in minority donors especially! I know that if one of my children fell ill with luekemia and needed a bone marrow transplant, that their chances of finding one is almost impossible! Another adoptive family launched a huge campaign in China to find a donor for their daughter as a match just couldn't be found on the registry! Thankfully 10 year old Kailee Wells found a generous donor in China and is doing well! All it takes to register is a painless q-tip swabbed on the inside of your cheek! Contact your local blood donation center, http://www.marrow.org/, http://www.asianmarrow.org/, http://www.dkmsamericas.org/, or simply do a web search for bone marrow donation! It really is simple and is truly a matter of life or death for someone unfortunate enough to be diagnosed with any of the diseases which are treatable by bone marrow transfusion!

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