We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving surrounded by loved ones. We spent ours with dear friends. I was in charge of cranberries and dessert. I cut back the sugar in the cranberries and added orange zest, Canadian blueberries and pecans. It made for a little different treat. I tried a new pumpkin pie recipe with a toasted pecan crust. I found it to be a bit bland and would definitely add a bit of sugar to the crust in the future. 4-year-old Mackayla came over Wednesday and helped with the other dessert:
These were quite fun to make! Rebecca ended up helping me in the end; Mackayla’s attention span ran out:)
We have neighbors who are poultry farmers. Each year they do quite an attention-grabbing scene in the yard:
Only in Iowa, I say.
Let’s talk newsletters. If you haven’t received one and you have e-mail, please look in your “spam” or “junk mail” folder. If you still don’t have one, e-mail me and I’ll reply with the letter. As you can imagine, we cut the newsletter cost SIGNIFICANTLY this year. We mailed only about 120 the old-fashioned way! In past years, we have mailed close to 400. When you add up printing, envelopes, stamps, labels, etc., it really makes a difference. I will admit it felt less personal sending them out by e-mail. As always, we welcome your feedback.
The rest of our fall has been typical. I left Canada in mid-October. I taught right away here and there, then went with a girlfriend to Panama City Beach, Florida. We had a lovely time. The weather was ideal! I ate lots of good fish and seafood, spent plenty of time soaking up the sun, and returned rested and brown. Gruper came home in late October. The weather had turned nasty up there–very, very cold, windy, rainy–and he wasn’t able to get some of his last-minute stuff done. Once he could get to it, he headed for Iowa! Our weather here has been great, so he’s been trying to get the yard up to snuff. I’ve been teaching a lot–mostly special education, from preschool to high school.
Our nephew Jake and his girlfriend Jessi were married 11-11-11. They’re both stationed on Whidbey Island in Washington state (Navy). Their wedding was out there. My brother and sister-in-law hosted a reception in their church last weekend so Gruper and I loaded up sister Rebecca and headed to Nebraska. We had not met Jessi–she’s a peach!
Congratulations & Best Wishes from Aunt Andy & Uncle Steve!
I can’t think of much more news-worthy news around here. Oh yeah, many of you have asked about this:
Yes, Gus is hanging around in Iowa! He still pulls the occasional all-nighter and even disappeared for six days after I returned from Florida (I think he was getting even with me). He often comes home covered with burrs and stickers. He is a hunter, through and through. But he is also My Boy–uber affectionate with the purr of a lion! Gruper plays with him something fierce! They make quite a racket in Gus’s room. Hopefully he’ll continue to stick around and you all can meet him in Canada in 2012!
I’ll try to do another post around Christmas time. We’re staying home this year…the first time in 13 years!
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