December Stuff

A recap of the second week of December....

Trent & I made Gluten Free Peanut Butter Blossoms with Snickers..hahaha!  

Here is my assistant....

the unbaked look 

after they bake we put a snickers in the hot cookie..I thought they turned out pretty yummy!!! 

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Trent had his classroom CHRISTMAS party on Thursday.  

Here he is with a couple of his buddies!

they are playing Christmas Bingo...not to be confused with Holiday Bingo!!! 

Here he is with his new glasses...he got them a couple weeks back, I just never posted a picture of him with them on.  With a bad vision gene like my family has...he was destine to wear glasses..it was not 'if'  it was 'when'??  Next on the agenda..braces!! 

Santa payed a visit to Trent's class room.... 

  

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This deserves a post all of it's own...but because of time....I wanted to post it before April...so I will include it in this one!!

This is a new recipe I tried and let me just say...A W E S O M E!!!!

It's for Peanut Butter Fudge  I found it on Allrecipes (love that website!!!) 

If you have ever attempted fudge and have made delicious Ice Cream topping you are right with me! 

If you have ever tried to figure out soft ball stage, hard ball stage or crackle stage..I'm with ya!

If you have ever had a fudge fail....that's me!  Some work better than others..but trust me, I'm not applying to work of Mackinac Island.  

This is the starting of it....

after I finished I put in a 8x8 pan and put in the fridge 

This is what it looks like already to give away!!!...=)))) 

I gave the recipe to Linda and we are comparing notes on how great we are!!!! 

This is the link to the recipe  allrecipes.com/recipe/easiest-peanut-butter-fudge/detail.aspx

Lets just say you NEED to try this...if I can make it, anyone can!!!!

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Our 2011 Tree

It's a Fraser Fir cut fresh from the famous Kahler Tree Farm!

It appears to be a little crooked...but it seems straight in real life???

Here she is in all her glory! 

a close up of JOY 

a mini snowflake bulb

An ornament my Dad & Mom got us.  

She would get us an ornament every year..I have quite a collection.

On the backside it says 'Steve & Joanne'...

Mom & I were together at a craft show when she got them....fond memories!

Awww....I love snowmen, we are snowman heavy on our tree 

and one of my very favorites!! 

It's a picture of Troy when he was 2..isn't he about the most adorable kid!?!?!

I love that little picture of him!!!

Back when I got it, I never realized how precious that little paper JOY would be.

As a towering 16 year old...the realization of how little he was makes he tear up.  

I would not put myself in the sentimental category..but somethings choke me up..and this is one of them!! 

I do believe, I will keep this one to always hang on MY tree!

TECHNOLOGY!

So I have no idea how to get those words in that box..so just imagine that they are in that cute box! Thanks..that is all!

What's Going On?

A little of everything....

Tyler ordered a desktop computer....in pieces...on purpose!

Tyler and Troy assembling the pieces and parts!

Good News is it works!!!!!

::Getting the tree for 2011::

Here she is.... 

Trent started the cutting 

Troy took over... 

then Tyler cut for awhile 

Steve finished her up! 

Tyler & Alisha 

putting it on the Lincoln.

This was a new challenge for us, as we have always had a truck to throw it in the back of! 

She's up and is nicely decorated in our living room.

Thanksgiving 2011

I'm a little late in getting this up..but ...we did have a Thanksgiving!

We had a Wonderful meal at G-pa & G-ma Buckner's Lodge at 1pm.  We enjoyed Turkey, stuffing, gravy, potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, orange jello, quickie lettuce salad, Waldorf Salad, deviled eggs, rolls and a multitude of desserts!  Loved it all..well except for the GB casserole & stuffing!  Bonnie was so nice to ask my Dad & Linda to join us.

a picture from the loft 

the girls playing Rummikub...Kristi and I were rookies but we held our own. 

On Friday we had a 2nd Thanksgiving at Dad & Linda's with the Griffioen's.  Linda always makes a delicious meal...we enjoyed Ham, mashed Potatoes, corn, peach jello, sweet potato casserole, rolls, deviled eggs and some pies for dessert 

teens table 

Euchre with Grandpa 

Steve playing UNO with Trent 

We got a game of Golf going on!  Linda got a skip-bo quad the first hand and to top that off, she got one the second hand too!!!!  She was pretty much un-reachable!!!! 

We have a blessed life and have so many things to be Thankful for!

Praising God

Trent & I were luck enough to attend 

The Rock & Worship Roadshow on Friday night Nov 4th at the VanAndel.  

This was the first concert Trent has ever been to!

This was a pay-at-the-door kind of concert..so we didn't have to pre-buy any tickets.  

I was pretty sure I could drive to the Arena with out the GPS..so we took off Southward.  Well, if you know anything about how directionally challenged I am, you will  understand the above statement!!! As soon as I got off 131 on Pearl, I knew I had gotten off too soon..so I took the next right..and Trent's eagle eyes spotted the Arena, we went around the block, parked for $8...just like we knew what we were doing!!!  The line wrapped almost all the way around the block..so we quickly made friends with the people in front of us while we waited..so not like me!!!!  We soon found out she was a nurse and he was a pastor in Petoskey..they were down visiting their kids for the day.  He actually is from a sister church in Traverse City, New Hope Community were the Isenharts go..small world!!!  And to make things even funnier..when their kids joined them in line...they were taking pictures together..and they were trying to get everyone in..I said I would take the picture for them...the guy behind, thinking we were all together, piped in and said "hey I'll take the picture of all of you!"  Hahahaha  A family picture of them, with me tucked in the middle!!

So, after a long wait, in pretty decent weather for the first of November we got in.  It was not very hard to find two seats together..so we had pretty awesome seats...well, if you consider sitting under 14 speakers awesome..than this was your seat!!!

Waiting for the show to start...

more waiting

the 14 speakers over our head

Trent with a shot of the crowd!

Hawk Nelson

Matt Maher ( my personal favorite)

Matt Maher & his band

Trent and his glow cross

MercyMe...they were excellent too!!! 

Trent was getting a little tired of it around 11pm ..so we were thinking of leaving...just then MercyMe started playing....I can only Imagine!!  Ummm...sorry Trent, we have to stay for this one!!!!!  Most Excellent!

Other groups were Jars of Clay, Tripp Lee (some rapper dude) & Group One Crew.

Some of the things I noticed.....

*There were a lot of teens there..PTL!! Sometimes in this world, the news gets me down and I feel like the world is going to Hell in a hand basket.  Sometimes I get thinking that the kids these days are horrible..and that there is no one good left.  I start thinking this generation is all about themselves and God is nowhere to be found!  Well it did my heart good to see so many kids attending and genuinely praising God!  GOD IS STILL ALIVE!!!!!

* I can not text fast....Steve texted me around 9 to asked if we were still there..I was trying to reply...do you even know how many times I had to backspace to correct my spelling!  Talk about embarrassing, I was trying to cover up what I was doing so the others around me couldn't see ..I didn't want to be the butt of their jokes!!!)

* I brought my camera--I might as well brought a 8 track player!!!  I felt like the kids around me were whispering....what is that?  does it take pictures? Nobody carries a camera (at least kids under 25)..they all use there phones to take pictures.

* The music was really loud-it took me two days to get my hearing back.. maybe that had something to do with our seat selection???  maybe I'm getting old???

* It was so good to hear people praising God!  I am not a singer in any way, shape or form...I couldn't carry a tune if it had a handle..but when the music is that loud..you can sing at the top of your terrible voice and no body knows how bad you really sound!

*Trent still loves to go places with his mom (well..if there is fun & food)

We had a great time together and even enjoyed a McFlurry on the way home! 

Ahhh to be 3 again...

Happy 3rd Birthday to our little Jaxi!

Here she is 3 years ago as a puppy.

Awww...isn't she cute!

Here she is now...all grown up!

Ears down 

side ways eyes 

serious look! 

a Boy and his dog! 

Jaxi is loved by all but I have to admit, she loves me the most..only because I feed her the most.  She likes Troy the least..only because he shot a Nerf bullet at her and she obviously has a good memory!  

We love our Jaxi..Happy Birthday little Miss!