Visitor at the Pitt

Over the Holiday we had a four legged visitor at the Pitt, Sophie. Sophie is Scamp and Pepper's cousin from Virginia and she happens to be Scamps BFF. Elizabeth got to take some great pictures while she was here:

 

On a house related note  - the siding is done! Stay tuned for pictures.

Deck the Halls

I vowed that would not get a Christmas tree until we owned our own place. This year we have our own place and have plenty of space for a tree. Those ornaments we got as gifts through the years, finally have a place to be hung. There was lots of buzz, cooking, baking and family. All in all - a good thing.

Baked Goods:

The tree and fixin's:

 

The Reason for the season (lunch box nativity scene):

 

The story of Bob's Christmas Gift 

Since Bob and I have been together, my mother manages to take every gift idea I have for Bob, and one up me. This is typically not a problem because we benefit by ending up with a nicer thing. This Christmas Maria did not let me down. I bought Bob a U of M Snuggie. This was the perfect gift. Bob is always cold and he doesn't own any Michigan apparel. I excitedly special ordered my purchase and waited for Christmas to arrive. I made no mention of this to Maria (my mom). I was on the phone with her a week before Christmas and asked, "So what did you get Bob?" She replies, "Vell you know Orsika, since Bob is alvays so cold, I got him blanket for couch. It vraps around like robe." Her blanket was indeed leaps and bounds beyond mine. it had zippers, clasps, fuzzy insides. So once again, Maria outdid me.

U of M Snuggie:

Maria Snuggie a like (Doesn't it look like something the pope or Kevin would wear?):

 

 

We hope your holidays were relaxing and filled with warm moments! To 2010 and beyond!

A Milestone

Dear readers, Bob and I achieved a milestone today; we parked both cars in the garage today. This is indeed a glorious day.

Things we are thankful for...

Thanksgiving went off without a hitch. I mean yes, there were 8 people in a house with 1 full bath, an incredible "mysterious" smell coming from a room, but other than that things were great. It was great to see family and have everybody together. Things that we are thankful for:

• Good friends that stop by the night of the family arrival and help us get prepared.
• Good friends that help us borrow tables. (We'll return them, I swear!)
• Family Bingo. This was our first year playing, and we can highly recommend it. When we were getting ready for the big day, Bob and I kept saying, "So and so will say this, or do this..." Finally, a friend suggested that we create a bingo board with all the different scenarios and mark them off as they happen. The rules? We can't initiate the conversations on the board, and that the board remains a secret until the end of the event. It was great fun, and we would like to thank our families for being so predictable.
• A successful turkey with a veg roasting it. 
• Equal pie to person ratio. (Thank you Nuxoll's for teaching us the way).
• Getting all the food on the table within a reasonable time frame.
• Big house where everybody got their own room and a chance to spread out.
• Great family and great family time.
• Seeing the look on Annmarie's face when she first tasted the Ethiopian food.
• An almost finished master bedroom and a great dad that helped us get there!

All the helping hands in the kitchen:

The boys helping out:

The food:

The pies:

The niece and nephew: