Tag: family

Thanksgiving day and beyond

Ok… so where was I?
Oh yes. We left for Laurie’s parents around noon yesterday and arrived around 1 for a great Thanksgiving meal with contributions from everyone.
Great turkey, stuffing, sweet potato pie, potato casserole, fruit salad, rolls and more.
I think Laurie had fun giving her mom a hard time because the two of us, her brother and her cousin ended up at the “kids table” while Jake and Brooklyn some how made it to the “adult table.” I guess things never change ;-).
After dinner I ended up wrestling with Jake and Brooklyn for a while as Jake tried to find his sock that “somehow” went missing.

As the Cowboys game kicked off we were brought into the living room to help judge an art contest for one of the local high schools.
The theme for the contest was, something to the effect of, “I can change the world by…”
Made for some interesting conversation and discussion.
We had to say our goodbyes around 5 so we could head to my parents house where we watched the rest of the Cowboys game and enjoyed some leftovers while playing Loaded Questions.
Afterwards we tried to get a good family photo but as you can see below, we didn’t have much luck staying focused on the task.
Laurie and I got home around 11 last night and had another great morning of sleeping in.
It’s a little after 1 and I’m still in my PJ’s and Laurie just started painting in the dining room again.
Guess I better get dressed and start pulling down those Christmas decorations and putting up the outside lights.
Should be a full afternoon and evening.

Almost done – well not quite


Pre-painting

Well it’s been a fun few days around here.
Tuesday afternoon I got a new job offer – more on that later.
Tuesday night we had a game night for our community group at Amy and Gaylan’s. We had a great time hanging out and celebrating Gaylan’s birthday. We’re planning our Christmas party back over there in a couple weeks.
Wednesday Laurie and I headed back to work and then went to Aaron and Keri’s for the Lehmann Thanksgiving festivities. Always fun to see all the Lehmann’s and enjoy their great food and fellowship.
We got home Wednesday night around 8:30 and Laurie went right to work painting the dining room. I tell you what, when she gets her mind set on something there’s not much that can stop her. She had briefly started painting on Tuesday night before our community group but we really went to town Wednesday night. Unfortunately we ran out of painter’s tape so we avoided some spots near the ceiling and window trim.
We ran out of paint in our first can around midnight so Laurie started cleaning up and getting prepped to make her infamous potato casserole for our Thanksgiving meal.


Almost done
Originally uploaded by Jonathan D. Blundell.


It was then that she realized she needed more sour cream and hash browns. Doh!
I headed out in the cold to Wal-Mart in Lancaster, who were luckily still open.
Grabbed the food, some more painter’s paint as well as Christmas lights.
We’ve got plenty of miniature Christmas lights, but I wanted something different so I bought several strings of larger white lights for outside the house.
We enjoyed sleeping in Thursday morning and Laurie got up around 10 to make some great cinnamon/orange rolls and to finish the potato casserole.
We left for her parents around noon after the casserole finished cooking and I got OrangeNoiseRadio set up for Orange Friday.

More on Thanksgiving fun coming…

Matthew steals the show


Matthew
Originally uploaded by Jonathan D. Blundell.

We enjoyed an early Thanksgiving dinner with my family today at the retirement center my grandparents and Kara and Tim live. The center provided dinner for all the residents and their families.
It became apparent as soon as the forks and knives settled that Delaina’s son Matthew was going to steal the show. It’s crazy to think that he’s a year old. One of Laurie’s first contact with my family was right after Matthew was born and he was having a minor heart murmur. With her medical experience, Laurie was able to give some advice and comfort to everyone involved. I guess it’s just hard to believe that wasn’t much longer than a year ago. (read my dad’s blog entries at the time)
I’m so thankful for my wonderful amazing life and her amazing smile, comfort, peace and love she brings with her everywhere she goes. God has been good and my love for both Him and Laurie just continues to grow every day.

My granddad and cousin Delaina

My mom, Aunt Beverly and Matthew

We’ll have more Thanksgiving fun this Thursday with Laurie’s family and then with again with my immediate family. I checked the scales last night and I’m down to 228. It may be the first time I’ve been below 230 in 5 or 6 years (if not more) – the real test will be whether I can keep dropping with all the Thanksgiving food that’s on the way.

Another succesful dinner club

We weren’t sure this month’s dinner club would come to fruition with the sudden horrible nasty swelling Poison Ivy rash I had this week (mmm that sounds appetizing) – but with the offensive steroids I took Friday evening and Saturday morning we figured what the heck – let’s do it.
We had a great time with friends from encounter.
Brian and Heather came, along with James and Mary and Jose and Sally.
We had a great meal full of Mediterranean flare.

Laurie and I made Fattouch and Kufta, as well as white rice to put under the Kufta.
Brian and Heather brought a Roasted Chicken with vegetables (I know it had a much fancier name than that but I’ll have to let Brian or Heather remind me of it).
Jose and Sally made a pasta dish with spinach and cheese.
And James and Mary made “Chocolatosophogus” with “Greek coco.”
We also had a great time after dinner with a rousing game of ImagineIf and “Big Bubba” aka “Big Booty.”
It’s amazing what you can find out about people through a game like ImagineIf and even Big Bubba – maybe even more so than a Myspace survey.
Heather took the win on the last round of ImagineIf and won the “Winners Sombrero.”

Oddly enough though, the sombrero is still sitting in our living room. I wonder what that means?
Of course all the photos are online at Flickr – so be sure and check them out. Although without Josh and Shalyn snapping so many photos this time we ended up with a few less than last time. But everyone got their moment to shine.
Next month we’re looking to do a cajun cuisine night and hoping for some really good gumbo so be on the lookout for a possible invite.
Anyone else doing a dinner club at their place – or at a friends? Let us know what theme’s you’ve used and how they turned out.

2nd monthly Casa de Blundell Dinner Club

Well, if the new steroids I’m taking for poison ivy start kicking in as they’re expected, we’re still planning to host our 2nd monthly Casa de Blundell Dinner Club tomorrow night.
Tomorrow night’s theme is “My Big Fat Mediterranean Dinner.”
I’m looking forward to it. I’m a big fan of Greek, Lebanese and Mediterranean meals. It will be fun to see what everyone comes up with.

We’re planning to fix Fattoush (one of my favorite meals in Nigeria) as well as Kofta – another favorite while I was in Nigeria.
Funny how my favorite meals in the middle of Africa were Lebanese 😉 although I did love the red stew we had during several meals.
We’ll let you know how everything turns out – as long as the steroids kick in.