On the road from Mogadore, Ohio to Bristol, Tennessee
Well, it was a wild and crazy return home. But we wouldn’t trade it for anything! We had an absolutely stupendous month catching up with friends, loving on family, celebrating birthdays and holidays – – including Thanksgiving for 23! (By the way, it’s really, really difficult to find turkeys in the middle of October!)
Cody, our oldest Chris, nephew Chad, grt niece Madison, her mom Dawn, Chris’ wife Jessica
Kyle (our youngest), his wife Shena,, my brother Lance, my mom, May
Blaine’s mom, Joan, sis-in-law Donna, Alex, Blaine’s brother Bruce, Max, Blaine’s brother Brian, Blaine’s dad Ron, Blaine’s sis-in-law Barb, Harper, Blaine, Kade
Alex has taken up the cello at school and brought it along to serenade us. He’s only had it for a week!
We were able to try out our new kayak on Mogadore Reservoir one time. Once. Because it’s been so cold and inclement almost the entire month. This new boat is a completely different design and while it will take a bit of getting used to, we love it! It’s faster and more stable and not so calm-dependent so we don’t have to be as careful about wind speed when we go out. Guess we’ll have to wait for further testing . . . But it was a gorgeous day!
Notice the shirt?
It’s not even 10am yet!
The Goodyear blimp! Haven’t seen that for a long time! Too bad the lighting wasn’t better. . .
We intended to take sort of time-lapse pictures.
Pick a spot and then take pictures to show the leaves changing.
Nice idea!
Blaine’s cold notwithstanding, (yes, after over 2 years, he chose now to come down with a cold!) the most dramatic event this month had to do with one of the few dinners that I actually cooked for us. When we first started this phase of our lives, we had quickly determined that we didn’t want to fry anything in the coach beyond bacon and eggs. Frying in oil? Definitely not. It’s way too messy and smelly and smoky in such a small space. So when I got the bright idea that I’d make chicken parmesan (with real chicken breasts, of course!), the plan was to fry six pieces – outside. We’d eat two, and freeze the others for two more quick meals at a later time. Sounds perfect, doesn’t it?
It wasn’t.
Oh, the idea was great. The problem was the weather. It’s been cold(er) here than normal for Northeast Ohio in October. For extended periods of time, and while it wasn’t raining or windy, it was only about 50 degrees (maybe less) outside at frying time.
Word to the wise. Don’t try to fry outside when it’s that cold. The pan couldn’t heat the oil above 250 degrees once the chicken was added. The chicken cooked, but it was a sticky, slimy mess because the coating was mostly parmesan cheese, and oil clung to the meat. Blaine tried putting the lid on, but that just made it a steamed, sticky, slimy mess. Eventually, we brought it inside. We went through about half a roll of paper towels to try to remove the grease soaking our dinner(s). As the oil re-heated to 350 degrees, I removed the towels and coated the pieces in seasoned bread crumbs and fried once more – just to try to crisp it up a bit. So we still had the greasy mess to clean up. And fortunately, scented candles to burn.
Dinner turned out okay. Not great, as it should have been. Mostly because if you didn’t use enough spaghetti sauce, you could taste the oil. But at least the chicken wasn’t tough as I’d anticipated. Good ol’ Giant Eagle chicken breasts (with broth injected)!
My hope is always that when you take the time to read my random postings and ramblings that you’ll learn something occasionally. This would be one of those times. 😊
So, I mentioned inclement weather.
It was unseasonably warm when we arrived. In the mid-eighties. And then Chilly Miss Winter opened the door (without knocking first, I might add!), came in and made herself right at home! With her entrance, the temperatures immediately dropped about thirty degrees to unseasonably cold. And it continued the remainder of the three weeks we were in Ohio.
And we don’t run the heat when we’re not home, or at night. (in case you’re wondering, it’s too noisy at night.
Love, love, love my electric blanket!!!)
One morning we woke up to 48 degrees. Inside. Brrrrr! Hard to get out from under my toasty covers that morning!
As I mentioned, we had a simply wonderful and blessed time back home this month! We took some pictures, but not enough, and I broke my promise to take pictures of everyone we visited this month. We just got too caught up in our fellowship to think about pictures. ☹ Maybe next time . . . .
Here’s some of what we did: (WARNING! The following content contains lots of cute little kid pictures!)
A hike with friends, Brad and Jeannine Chesser where we discovered and Osage Orange Tree (aka Monkey Balls to the locals). Interestingly enough, the Park Ranger didn’t know what they were. It was a local volunteer in the office who told us, and then I Googled it. Supposedly, they keep spiders away. I don’t know how well that works though, because when I headed for the tree, there was a gigantic spider in a web! He certainly didn’t seem to mind that there was an entire tree full of them! I ran out, and Blaine ventured in. : )
We bought a Meyer lemon tree for Kyle and Shena’s wedding gift! Now before you become concerned for our state of mind, it’s supposed to be easy care and you take it in when the weather turns cool. It grows in a pot, rather than planting it. One of the things I learned about it? The lemons are supposed to be so sweet, you can make fair-style lemonade . . . with no sugar! Can’t wait to try one! Hopefully this Spring. Oh! And in case you’re interested in getting one, ours came from fast-growing-trees.com.
It came in this cute little box.
With an cute little window/air hole.
Bet UPS had fun with this . . .
Look how nice it is!
Lots of new growth!
Look at this kid! Have you ever seen the like?
This is Max.
How sweet!
Alex and Kade
These next four pictures aren’t ours. They visited a midevil festival just before we got home.
This is Alex, Chris, Kyle, Harper, Cody, Max and Kade
Alex, Kade, Cody
Alex and Kade
I think the first thing we did, was actually dinner with our oldest son, Chris and his family at our favorite Mexican restaurant, El Fogon.
Max, Cody, Blaine, Alex, Chris and Jessica
Ok. I think you’ve see their names enough.
If you’re not sure, and you’re still interested, go back and check it out. : )
We went to Kyle and Shena’s one day so I could make her a birthday dinner. Her birthday was actually in August, but I’d never had the pleasure of preparing a meal just for her and it used to be our tradition. So that’s what we did. Unfortunately, other than dessert, it seems we were too busy fellowshiping to take pictures at dinner.
The sun catchers were a snap to make – even for toddlers! Take a walk. Pick some pretty things. Color a paper plate. Cut out the center. Put clear contact paper on the back (sticky-side up). Press your pretties on. Punch a hole. Thread a string and tie it. Hang.
Making Shena’s birthday present!
Blaine caught me crawling out of the bouncy house! : )
Arby’s apple turnover clone.
Yumm!
One Saturday, the older boys visited us at Countryside for the day! We had soooo much fun! A special thank you to our hosts, owners, Gary and Tammy! Tammy had a ton of activities planned and the kids had a blast! And the campground was decorated for Halloween!
Of course, we had to start the day with Gpa’s homemade waffles – covered with butter, syrup, strawberries and whipped cream!
While Gma and Gpa cleaned up, the boys started on a puzzle. They worked really well together, sharing pieces, etc.
A rousing game of miniature golf!
Even trick-or-treat!
Here we have – –
Master Chief Alex (from Halo)
Bumblebee Cody(from Transformers) and
Ant Man Max (from . . . . well, from Ant Man)
Yes, they got to take these monster pumpkins home!
The campground activities ended with laser tag.
That’s Tammy!
A walk in the woods alongside Mogadore Reservoir
And the completed puzzle!
Alex uncovered a gigantic worm and Gpa said, “I’ve got a great idea for a picture!”
He didn’t really put it in his mouth. : )
Kade celebrated his 3-year birthday with a Spiderman theme! He has the Spiderman web-shooting motion down perfectly! A fun time with 32 guests (I think)! And blue icing!
Harper’s offering to share her well-licked, icing-free cupcake with Gpa.
He actually took a bite!
Hi parents gave him a new bedroom for his birthday!
He loved it!
Another day at Kyle’s where we watched the kids for the day. It was also Kyle’s birthday, but we opted to take them out rather than cook another meal. The kids made him a gift too, but no one took a picture! Sigh! It was a salt/flour paperweight that the kids pushed rocks into before we baked it. It was supposed to say, “Dad Rocks”, and they started out putting the little stones in the lines I’d made, but then they got the artistic bug.
The kids also helped us tear up four loaves of bread for the stuffing for Thanksgiving. Some got eaten. Good thing it all got cooked well. : )
Gpa and Kade playing the disappearing leaf game.
Whoa!! Magic!!
We tore up four loaves of bread for stuffing. Harper tired of tearing and decided she’d read to us instead.
That kid’s a wiz with a phone already! She’s only 2 1/2!
Chris’ family was supposed to come over one night to celebrate his birthday which is in November. We were going to cook steaks over an open fire and have smores, etc., but the weather didn’t cooperate! We took them to Outback instead. And again. No pictures.
Our next-to-last night, found us back in Wadsworth with all the grandkids, since Kyle and Shena had the boys for a sleep 0ver. A bit chaotic with all five kids there, but what a blast!
A very serious game of Monopoly for the guys.
Shena and I didn’t participate. : )
Alex discovered he also has a knack for the guitar! Kyle only showed him briefly, and he came upstairs and just started playing! It sounded really nice! I think God has given Alex a gift for music. I pray he pursues it because God-given gifts shouldn’t be squandered.
Later that night we attended a Halloween Party at our friends’ Rich and Martha’s. There were about 20 people in attendance, some of which were electricians Blaine used to work with. We ate, played “Left-Right-Center” (where the winning pot was $60!), and watched “The Mummy” in their garage on a big screen! And a good time was had by all!
Martha’s cousin Bree from California showed up!
(actually it was our mutual friend, Cathy, but who’s gonna tell?)
There was some Fall/Halloween clothing, but Cathy and I were the only ones “in costume”. : )
Rich and Marth
You can decided for yourselves who’s who. : )
This is Kyle and Shena!
They were at their own Halloween party. Wow! Do they look good, or what?!?
Whew! We’re tired! And we can both tell that we’ve spent a month socializing and eating out rather than cooking at home and exercising. We’ll have to work back up to our hiking, biking, kayaking. Hopefully, it won’t take long! And I have to remember how to cook for two.
It’s always sad to leave family and friends. But there are some perks!
- No more makeup! Well, except on Sundays and a few special occasions. Oh. Wait. Everything we did this month was a special occasion! No wonder I wore so much!
- No more up and out by 7:30-8am. But that also means no more drives to Wadsworth to spend time with our two youngest grandkids.
- No more visor-less days. That’s because we’ll be back to more sun and warmer temperatures. Which is okay most of the time, but I still miss snow . . . .
And later today, we’ll be back to exploring this amazing country of ours! Which also means back to work for me, as I resurrect the blog. I’m so excited to share our adventures with you once again! Wonder what God has in store for us?
We are so very blessed to have so many who care for us!
Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!