Christmas Craziness!

Ahh, Christmas time! A season of celebrating Christ's birth, of spending time with family, of festive lights and colors, of snowy white scenes, of sugary treats, of love and laughter! It is an exciting year for us, as we have moved into a new home and can share that home with others!

We started out our Christmas activities with our staff Christmas party at the Landmark here in town! We left the restaurant with very full bellies!

The next night we had a little 'housewarming' party with my parents, grandparents and siblings. Joe cooked an AMAZING prime rib and we ate till we couldn't eat anymore! The conversation and laughter filled my home - I loved it!

On the 23rd we went out to my parents house for our own family's Christmas celebration and had a delicious breakfast for supper feast! Such a great thing to be able to spend the holidays with family!

Have I mentioned yet all the goodies and homemade treats everyone has given us?! Sugar rush!

On Christmas Eve, Joe's family came to our house for our Christmas celebration and yes, once again, we had a feast! Had a great time opening presents and spending time together!

For Christmas Day, Joe and I actually just stayed home and relaxed. Joe had to work the evening shift and I wasn't feeling too well, so it was good to just rest. I think we watched Christmas movies all day long!

The day after Christmas was the big Hilger family reunion. Wow - lots of people! Not everyone made it due to the weather, but several families braved to slick roads. The guys cleaned out the shop out by Joe's parents house so there was somewhere we all could fit! They even took the TV and the Wii out to the shop so the kids could all play. Laughter rang out, conversation abounded and we all had a merry little time!

Oh - and Joe's aunt and uncle and their 8 kiddos stayed with us for a few nights. I love that I was able to offer family a place to stay - again, I love my new house!

I think that is all for now! It has been a very BUSY Christmas - but oh so good. So good to be around family. So good to have a house full of kiddos and love and laughter! A good Christmas, indeed!

Judson's Birthday

We decided to throw Judson a surprise birthday party! We went behind his back and planned the whole thing - bowling, Bionicle/Transformer theme, cake, punch and all! We decided he would come over for his piano lessons as usual and then mom would head home, but take a detour at the store long enough for me to set up the decorations at the house and beat them to the bowling alley. Kelli was coming from Garden City and Rach was on her way home from college. Now, Judson wasn't expecting Rach to be home until really late that night. I don't think he quite figured out what all was going on until Rach walked in the door! He wasn't expecting to see her so soon!

We played one game, not that any of us were great bowlers, but we had a lot of fun! Judson wanted the bumpers up, but we gave him a few pointers and he got a few pins here and there. He even managed a strike at one point!

We ordered pizza and went back to the house to eat. Then the presents came out and FINALLY it was time for the Transformers cake. Mmmm...it was delish!

I sure hope he enjoyed it! I think the rest of us did! It was good to be together!

November 2009

Wow, what creative titles I have come up with! And wow, it has been a while since I have posted, too! Whatever have I been doing?

Well, since we bought the house in October, we thought MAYBE we would be in by Christmas. Well, thru a whirl-wind of activities, we actually moved in the second weekend in November! We spent one week furiously cleaning every knook and cranny and did plenty of painting. Since I decided to paint a beautiful red color on my kitchen wall - it took 3 coats of paint plus primer. I didn't think I would ever be done painting it. But, I must say, I LOVE how it turned out!

My grandparents wanted to help us out by either helping pay a down payment or by helping buy new furniture. I had already started saving up for a new dining table, so the extra money meant I could buy one earlier than I had planned. We decided to make a trip to Garden just to pick one out, but I really didn't expect to find one I liked. I had been looking, but never found 'the one'. Well, we go to the first store and I tell the sales person what I am looking for - a square table that seats at least 8. The only square tables they had were the taller counter height ones, not what I was looking for. HOWEVER, right beside those tall square tables was this GORGEOUS, dark, long table. It was a simple style, yet a little bit elegant. I fell in love! Yep, it now graces my dining room and I couldn't be more happy!

Best of all, we celebrated Thanksgiving at our new house with Joe's parents and their pastor's family - and we all fit nicely around the big table! I love having a big table for big dinners!

Oh, and one of the most AWESOME features of the new house...I have a scrapbook room! An entire room dedicated to scrapbooking! Already I have used it so much! I actually haven't scrapbooked, but I have worked on Jr. Church lesson materials and getting crafts ready for the kids! I truly love that I can spread out my stuff, and if I don't have time to put it up right away, then I don't have. I wasn't able to do that before, I needed to have the kitchen table cleared to eat at!

We have thoroughly enjoyed being homeowners. No, the house isn't perfect, and there are many things that we would change. It still is the nicest place we have ever lived, and most importantly, it is OURS!

October 2009

Picture of Table Rock Lake, Branson

It has been so long since I have posted, it has just been so busy lately! Where did October go?

So what has kept us busy this month?

We are now officially home owners! Yay! After many phone calls, tons of paper work and several signatures, we now own our first home. We bought Andrew and Meghan's house, as they are moving out to the farm. We hope to be all moved in before December gets here!

With plans to go on vacation for the last week of October there was much preparation. I had to work ahead on things at my job, as it is a busy time of year. And right smack dab in the middle of it all, our chickens - which mom raised for us, since we live in town - were ready to butcher. So the day before we left on vacation, we went out and butchered 19 chickens. Yes, most people think it is gross, but it sure does save us alot of money at the grocery store.

At last, the long awaited final week of October got here. Joe's parents decided to take all the family to Branson for a week. This was all a part of Joe's dad's birthday celebration. You see, on Sunday, we all went to church with Joe's parents and had a surprise birthday dinner and party after church. Yeah, Nin thought we were up to something when we all showed up at their church! After the party we took off for Branson.

We had to stop off at the Springfield Bass Pro Shop, of course, so the guys could get some fishing gear, but on Monday afternoon we finally made it to Branson.

It is SO beautiful there. All the leaves were turning to their glorious fall colors and it made for some amazing views! We stayed at a resort right off of Table Rock lake. The guys enjoyed a little bit of fishing and even caught a 15 pound fish on their jug lines.

We went to the Talking Rocks Caverns (and no the rocks do not talk!) and had quite the time there.

One day was spent at Silver Dollar City going on rides and shopping at all the little shops. Even I rode a roller coaster - but only after my hubby tricked me into it, but that's a whole other story!

A few of us went to downtown Branson and did a little shopping and ate out. Each evening we relaxed in the awesome hot tub - which was especially nice cause us flatlanders were just not used to walking up all those hills in Branson!!

The week came to an end and the girls left the guys in Oswego to hunt while we made the drive back home. As much as I LOVED the vacation and all the fun that we had, it was really good to be home!

And now on to November, which will be just as busy as October was. I need to start packing. I have a new house to paint, clean and move into. The holidays are coming up and I really need to start thinking about Christmas shopping....

We'll see how long it takes for the next post!

Sisters, Sisters!

While Rach was home for the summer I intended to spend alot of time with her and Kelli. We weren't able to spend as much time together as we would have liked to, but the bits and pieces of time here and there were lots of fun!

One particular trip to Garden was great. We had breakfast at IHOP and went to the zoo. After hours of shopping we hit Patrick Dugan's Coffee for a little break. I so enjoy the time I get to spend with my sisters. I am very glad that we all have a good relationship! I hope next summer when Rach is home we make it a point to get together more often!

Picking the Garden and Canning the Goods!

Well, this year is my first year for a garden and my first year to can. I was VERY nervous about the whole canning process. I was afraid that I wouldn't do it right and all my food would be ruined. I was afraid that I wouldn't get the canner lid on right and it would explode and I would burn my face with the steam. I was afraid all my jars would break or that they wouldn't seal. Yes - I imagined up every possible scenario!! I had read the books my mom gave me, but I still wasn't feeling very confident, so I asked for her tips. Well, bless her heart, so typed out the whole process - from beginning to end - and emailed it to me. I printed it out and read it several times and most of my worries were put to rest. The next day I went out to my garden and dug up all my carrots and spent the next few hours washing, peeling, and slicing them! And when it came time to can - well, that was the easy part! I was able to get 5 quarts of carrots and they all sealed! Now, I just have to be patient till winter time and pop open a jar and see how they taste!

I am now confident that I can do the rest of the canning. I only got 2 pickings out of my peas and then it got too hot for them - but they were delicious! I put one quart of peas in the freezer. My green beans are doing really well, and we have had them for a few meals. I will have to save a few days worth of pickings to be able to can them. We have cucumbers and LOTS of yellow squash! The okra still has a ways to go - but so far so good. I have one little bell pepper, but several more blooms, so I hope I get a good crop of bells. Joe's jalapeno's have taken off and the plants are full of them - his habanero's haven't really done anything yet, though. And our tomatoes, well, they aren't doing so great. Of the 6 we planted, only one is still alive. The one has lots of blooms and just the other day we found our first little tomato! So I hope all those blooms turn into tomatoes!

This garden has been a learning experience. We don't have a bumper crop or the nicest looking garden - but we are getting some good produce and are learning how to do things different for next year!

July 4th Weekend

Moe and Jess invited us to go with them to Canton Lake in Oklahoma for the July 4th weekend. Jess's family owns a few trailer houses down there and have a few boats, jet ski's, tubes, and kneeboards and make use of them all as often as they can get to the lake! We were very excited to go as we have never been jet skiing, tubing or kneeboarding before! And, well, we miss the ocean and the lake was as close to the ocean as we were gonna get! We were in for a surprise because the lake is HUGE - I wasn't expecting it to be so big! Joe and I both got to ride the jet ski's and the next day we took turns driving them - I think they were my favorite part! Tubing was quite an experience! It was such fun, but my arms were so sore from hanging on for dear life! Joe attempted the kneeboarding and even got up on the board a few times, but didn't make it far. I didn't try that one - maybe next time! I loved being in the water and now have a good tan - a few burnt spots too - but they'll tan nicely!! In the evenings, all the guys set out jug lines for fish and the next morning they went and picked them up. Jess and I had stayed back at the house and when the guys came back Joe was yelling for me to get my camera - they had caught a BIG fish. Big was right! The catfish weighed 20 pounds and was 34 inches long! Those guys were so excited about their catch! It was such a great weekend! A great time getting to know Jess's family. A great time on the water. A great time for fishing. A great time to just get away and have some fun!

Aimee

My newest neice, Aimee Michelle Elizabeth, born on June 12!

5 Years!

My how time flies! Seems just yesterday I was walking down the aisle in my wedding dress smiling at my handsome hubby-to-be! Yet so much has happened in these last five years! A deployment to Afghanistan, a move across the ocean, a new 'culture' to get used to (and I mean the Army, not the island!), an amazing three years on my beautiful Oahu, snorkeling adventures, hiking adventures, a deployment to Iraq, learning deployment survival, running my first 5K, church on the beach, several friends made (and unfortunately several friends lost), lots and lots of coffee, a move back across the ocean, a new job for hubby, a new job for me, life in a tiny duplex, a week of hurried painting and fixin' up the new house, our first Christmas tree, our first garden, fishin' and campin' trips, and the list goes on! What a crazy first 5 years! Who knows what the next five years may include. My hopes are that we have a lot more time together (easier now that Joe is out of the Army!), have a few kids, buy a house, Joe's dream to compete in a triathlon comes true, lots of family vacations (and hopefully one back to Hawaii), and that our relationship keeps growing, as it has done the last 5 years! We have had our ups and downs, we've had our moments of pure happiness and we've had moments of sheer pain too. But those moments - all of them - have made us who we are.

Joe's Birthday Adventure!

This year for his birthday, Joe wanted to go fishing and camping at Meade Lake. I took off work and Moe and Judson tagged along! Driving to Meade, it rained on us the whole way, but once we arrived it let up. After about an hour there (by the time we got our camp set up and were ready to get out on the boat) the sun decided to come out! We spent the afternoon on the boat and had a great time! Evening came around and the park ranger was speeding to all the campsites to let everyone know there was a forecast of hail and a tornado heading our way. So we jump in the car and head south, away from the storm, and wait it out. Turns out we only got rain at the camp - no hail or tornado. The guys stayed up late fishing, even caught a bunch of crawdads to use as bait the nest morning - only problem was that the coons got the crawdads sometime in the night!

The next morning it was gray and cloudy out, but it didn't rain, so we kept on fishing, still hoping to catch something. Sure enough - Moe caught something - a turtle. A not so very happy turtle! It took Moe a bit to unhook the turtle cause he kept snapping at him! We finished out our day without catching a single fish (though we kept seeing them jump out of the water the whole time!) - but that doesn't mean we didn't have quite the adventure for Joe's Birthday Fishing Trip!

Splish Splash!

Bethany and Morgan are some pretty lucky girls - their uncles LOVE to play with them, even if it means getting wet! They love their water balloon fights - in which the girls are WAY more drenched then Joe and Moe!! Last week, they even pulled out their slip-n-slide and had their uncles playing on that too!

Here are a few pics of their water adventures!

My Roses!

Growing up, I always wanted a rose bush! Everyone said they wouldn't grow well out here, so I just put the idea out of my head. Well, our house has a rose bush out front, and, well, when we first moved in, there were only a few puny roses on it. So maybe it is true, they don't grow well out here! Well, after a few tips from Andrew, Joe cut the bush way back (I thought it looked horrible, but he assured me it would be good for it.) Well, that rose bush has taken off and now grows gorgeous roses! I am so happy to finally have my beautiful rose bush!

Chef J

Oh, Judson! The kid's whole world revolves around Lego's. That is all he thinks about and talks about is Lego's. But every once in a while he'd tell people, "I'm a good cook you know". So it seems that every once in a while when he wasn't thinking about Lego's he was trying to cook. Hmmm, maybe this interest in cooking could distract him from Lego's a bit more often! So, being the 'favorite sister' that I am - I bought Judson a kid's cookbook and a set of oven mitts/potholders. I gave him the cookbook and he flipped through the whole thing and had several recipes he wanted to try. His fav recipe is Broccoli with Magic Cheese Sauce - though mom says he usually just makes the cheese sauce! He has been cooking pretty regularly and really enjoys it - I think mom enjoys having someone to help cook, too! Again, being the 'favorite sister' I decided every chef needs a chef's hat - so I bought a yard of fabric and made him one. He's a full fledged chef now! He's not Judson anymore, he's Chef J!

Meet Lela

A couple from our church had recently rescued a golden retriever who had puppies and they wanted to give the puppies to good homes. Well, of course, after losing Hilo, we wanted to get a new puppy. All the dog experts around here decided that Hilo most likely died of poisoning from something he got into under the house and most likely not from parvo or some other virus. Though we did take precautions and bleached everything down before we decided to bring home a new puppy. And we blocked off the hole so the new puppy couldn't get under the house!
Monday evening we went to the couples house to take a look at the puppies and we found a sweet little one that we brought home. We named her Lela. She was quite scared in her new surroundings, but after the first day she started warming up to us! She loves to get out and play with us! The first evening we had Lela, our nieces, Morgan and Bethany, came over to see her. They both crawled right into the kennel with her and held her and pet her! When it was time for the nieces to go home, I didn't think that we would ever get Bethany away from the puppy! I told her that at least I knew if I ever needed a dog sitter, I knew where I could find one!
I hope our little Lela stays with us for a VERY long time!

First Pick

Our first pick of the season were the radishes! I was so excited when I went out yesterday and saw them pushing up out of the ground! I picked a small handful and we had them on a salad for supper - they were so good! And to think, this is just the beginning of a summer full of fresh pickings from the garden!

Hilo

On Friday, we adopted a puppy from the pound - a sweet little black lab. He loved Joe, followed him around everywhere. We named him Hilo and in a few short hours, he had stolen our hearts! Saturday morning, however, he started throwing up and kept doing so through out the day. We called the vet and he said it was probably a virus and could get very costly to treat. He told us to not let Hilo eat or drink anything for 24 hours in hopes that it would pass. We woke up Sunday morning and he had died sometime in the night. I was amazed at how attatched I had become in 2 days - which is a miracle because I am allergic to animals. But Hilo did indeed find a place in my heart. I'll miss our sweet little puppy. But at least he had a home before he died - at least he didn't have to spend his last days locked in the pound. Rest in peace, little Hilo.

Grow Garden, Grow!

This is our first year to have a garden and we are super excited! A month ago we planted our peas, carrots and radishes. They are all up and we actually ate our first radish yesterday - it was great, though it wasn't very big.

Today we planted green beans, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, cilantro and squash! I am so anxious for everything to start producing - though I know that that will mean alot more work: picking, chopping, canning, freezing, etc! But it will all be worth it!

Dodging Tornadoes!

Well, I had an exciting time in Wichita this weekend! Joe had Guard this weekend (and I am happy that he only has one left - YAY!!) I shopped till I dropped - ok, maybe not that much cause we really didn't have much to spend. But since this was my last Wichita trip for a while, I had to get to all the scrapbook stores!



Anyhow, on Sunday afternoon I was killin' time waiting for Joe to get done with Guard. It was about time for him to be done, so I decided I better start heading for the armory. All of a sudden it is a downpour - I have never seen it rain like that. So here I am driving down the interstate at 25-30 mph, I have NO idea if I am staying in my lane, or am in the next lane. I thought of pulling over, but I didn't know where 'over' was! I just kept following the tail lights in front of me all the while praying that God would guide me! About the time I finally make it to my exit it lets up. Phew! It's over! And thats when the tornado siren goes off! I was so glad that I was at the armory when it went off! Joe's calling asking where I was and to take cover and I told him I was right outside the armory. I parked real fast and ran inside. The tornado was north of us and headed northeast, so we were ok where we were. It rained on us half way home - we hit a few short downpours, but no big deal (and Joe was driving)! Finally we were out of the storm once we left Pratt. I tell you what, Ulysses Kansas has never looked so good!

Garlic-Lime Chicken with Olives

(Ok Alyssa, you told me to post a recipe - here it is!!)

1 pound chicken breast
1 cup diced onion
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. lime juice
1 T. molasses
2 tsp. Worchestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup pitted and slice Kalamata olives

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Coat a large roasting pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine chicken, onion, garlic, lime juice, molasses, Worchestershire sauce, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Transfer chicken to prepared pan and pour over any remaning marinade. Arrange olives over and around chicken in pan. Roast 20-25 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

4 servings

Rainy Days

It is not very often that Joe and I both have the same days off. This weekend, however, we did! I was so happy! Partly because we had the same time off, and partly because it was a holiday weekend! We contemplated going out of town, but decided we should just save the money for summer vacation. We did end up going to Liberal on Friday to shop and have coffee and then stopped to eat at Cattleman’s in Sublette on the way home.

On Saturday, we didn’t know what to do – but we didn’t want to stay home. Alyssa had called asking a few questions about the skirt she was making and I decided we should just go out to her place and I could help her and Joe could hang out with Jerrad – which is a good thing, cause Jerrad said I couldn’t come over anymore unless I brought Joe!!!

We had a great day with friends, sewing, eating, chatting, and who knows what the guys did!

It rained most of the day Saturday, and on Sunday morning it was still raining. I guess in my mind I always pictured Easter morning as being cold and rainy. You know, Jesus had died on the cross and they had buried him. His friends and family were grieving. Just a sad, dreary day. Now, of course, it didn’t stay that way because Jesus rose from the tomb – I can just imagine how the dreariness of the rain turned into a brilliant sunshining day! Granted, the sun never came out this Sunday – but the rain was still pretty fitting, I thought!

I had looked forward to Easter Sunday all week. I know I should always look forward to Sunday, but there is just something about Easter Sunday! The choir had several specials worked up and Pastor Sam preached on how important Christ’s resurrection was. We had a church dinner, and I don’t think I have ever seen so much food at a potluck!

We spent Sunday afternoon laying around with full bellies and watching TV!

Gotta love rainy days!

Love/Hate Relationship

I have a love/hate relationship with Kansas.

Some days I simply can't stand to live here - I down right HATE it here! The dry climate that brings on the itchy skin, the dry, sore nasal passages, and all the static electricity! And don't even get me started on all the allergy problems that come with living in this barren place! You have to drive forever to get to anything; there is nothing to do out here in this boring place.

Then there are the days that I simply love it here. It's home. I am comfortable here. This is where my family is. Where some of my closest friends live. This is where I have made my home (even if we are still renting)! Granted, it isn't my beautiful tropical Hawaii, but Kansas has it's beauty too - I love the sunsets and the full, harvest moon! I so often LOVE living in a small town; no traffic jams, you generally don't have to wait in line at the check out counter, there is no crazy hectic pace, and everyone knows everyone and takes the time to stop and say 'hi'!

I don't know if the Love/Hate thing will ever change - I really doubt it will! But I suppose if the Love part outweighs the Hate part, I'll be okay - and for now, I think that it does!

Scrappin'

It's no secret that I LOVE to scrapbook! I love to create my scrapbook pages. I love all the pretty papers, all the neat little embelishments, and just the process of taking several items and putting them all together into a beautiful page. Mostly, I love that each time I look at the pictures on my scrapbook pages, I re-live that particular moment in time over again! I love that someday my children will get a glimpse of my life before they came along.

Here are a few of my favorite pages that I have done lately.

Beautiful Day, Beautiful Hike

Since today was such a beautiful spring day, Joe and I decided to get out of the house and enjoy it. While we were planning our camping trip last summer, we thought about going to Picture Canyon in Colorado on the way to New Mexico. In the end, we never made it to the canyon. Since it wasn’t a terribly long drive from Ulysses, we decided we could go in an afternoon. So after church today we took off to Picture Canyon. What a beautiful place! We went from flat brown Kansas to beautiful green and red canyons! We went off the beaten path and explored the canyons - even climbing to the top of one for an amazing view! We did tons of hiking and were pretty tired once we were done. But it was such a fun day together! We hope to go back again someday!!