Letter from home - December 17, 2014

Dear ones: The good news is I have had a great week! The bad news is that it wore me out and I spent all day Monday resting up! Seriously, I enjoyed every minute of the weekend.

I worked Monday and Tuesday, last week, then put my foot down and took Wednesday and Thursday off. When I went back to work on Friday, all day long I thought it was Monday! It was just so very strange.

Friday, we drove to Stuart and met Craig and Traci’s  for supper at Burger King. We gathered up the Three Hof children and brought them home for the weekend. They were all eager to jump in the car and come along with us.  Erica and Dana had plans that evening and Jack had a friend to stay, so Maddie came along with us too. Audri had been sick on Friday and didn’t go to school so she had to wait to come over until Saturday morning. Her mama said she was up and had her suitcase packed about 6 am Saturday!

Peekers!  the rascals.
 

Saturday, we had a whole lot of playing going on. Bella, Audri, Maddie and Gabby. Joey, of course, found his way to cousin Jack’s.

Saturday afternoon, I got the cookie dough out and we girls went at it. We cut and baked about six dozen cookies. After a tea party and more play, we mixed up about 6 different colors of frosting and iced those cookies. I am still wiping frosting off the floor today! But it was fun, the girls were good and creative and we had a great time.

Sunday morning, we got up, dolled up and along with Erica and Kristy, we headed to Des Moines to the Hoyt Sherman Place to see the Nutcracker. We also met up with Traci and Johanna and Lee and so it was, twelve of us sat up in the balcony, Section C, to watch the classic Christmas ballet.

The Nutcracker Suite
 

Afterwards we adjourned to the Zombie Burger restaurant where we all had various forms of the ‘in’ hamburger. The hamburgers were good but the sauces and appetizers were better yet! I'm going to try to make that garlic mayonnaise. 

Our beautiful models!

Joey was brave and joined us.  He and Lee, 2 men amongst 10 women.
 

I didn’t have to work Monday which was a very good thing. I slept late, lazed around in the morning but by afternoon, Lanny and I got in the baking mode. Lanny cooked up the hamburger and cabbage for Runzas and I stirred up the dough. Always, with Runzas there is extra sweet bread dough so we ended up baking a pan of caramel rolls and a pan and a half of cinnamon rolls. We sampled the cinnamon rolls and they were delicious!

Kristy’s birthday is Thursday. Where have the years gone? Seems like just yesterday I was anxiously (and nervously) awaiting the birth of my first baby. Those days and the following years of three more babies and all the  years of childhood, school, sports, sleepovers, holidays et al, were the best of times! (You really don’t remember me grumping, complaining, yelling, do you? I hope all that has faded over the years!)  Wish we could all go back and do it again.  With what I know now, I would do it all better! 

                                                                                       Love you all!  Ma