January...."in a nutshell"

Wow! What happened to January? I guess we have been so busy with "life" that it slipped by without realizing it!

SPECIAL ACTIVITIES:

This year started out extra special as we hosted a youth group party on New Year's Eve. This is a picture of the group playing a game in the barn....this is where we have a "game-room" with air hockey and ping-pong....(of course, it is now located upstairs in the loft as Anna is making a photography studio in this section. )

Then, there was the extra "bonus" of Josh's presence for a few more days! Here he is playing a very competitive game of Apples to Apples!

I'm not really sure what happened to New Years Day.....it seemed to come and go much like any other day. We did watch the football game (OSU of course!), so believe it or not, our "special" dinner was a whenever you are hungry, fill up your plate and eat by the television! No candlelight, no china, just football! :)

Josh made some lemon pepper chicken (but I think I let it get a bit too dry trying to keep it warm in the oven). Macaroni and cheese, kielbasa and sauerkraut (Burlin's requirement), bok choy, and of course banana pudding completed the meal! I may have missed something in there...can't remember. I had taken pictures of my "beautifully set buffet", but had given up on the thought of making a post, so they have since been deleted!



BIRTHDAYS:

We also celebrated the birthdays of Burlin and Abigail this month!


Abigail was excited about her #15....she now gets to wear make up! This has been an experience for sure! I should make a post on "how not to wear make up!" She is getting there...it just takes time and practice.....and lots of "wedges" to soften! She was also able to have a cousin over for the weekend.

SCHOOL EVENTS!

Basketball is now in full swing! Fortunately, all of our home games are over for the season....we don't plan to attend the away games until tournaments the end of February.

We had the unexpected pleasure of driving Amber back to college! She had a ride planned, but it didn't work out at the last minute! Even though it was "spur of the moment", and a very long drive, it was still nice to be able to drive her back to Northland! The weather was great for this time of year, and God gave us a good and safe trip. We took Ben along with us, and left Anna in charge of the other two girls. I liked that we took the UP on the first leg of the trip, and came back through Chicago. It is a beautiful drive! It was hard to just drop off Amber and head out, but she knew we were on a very tight schedule...........besides, she loves it there now!! No worries about her getting "home-sick"anymore!

Well, that was January....the "highlighted" version anyway! I look forward to what lies ahead in February!

UPDATE: Yesterday I was uploading photos off Abigail's camera, and came across a few pictures from her birthday! I thought I would share them!

Here is a picture of her special cake: Buckeye Cheesecake! It was absolutely delicious.....but, even with fat free cream cheese I am sure it is quite calorie laden!

Anna wanted to play a joke on Abigail and only put 14 candles on her cake, but Burlin told her he was sure she would count them so the joke would be on Anna in the end. So, here is Abigail counting her candles to make sure there are 15!!

Silly me....I forgot to take the ring off the cake ........I noticed it when it was time to cut it!! Oh well!