Stripping

I've learned a few things while stripping this door...


One, I should have never started to begin with.

Two, the previous owners liked to repaint their door every year, it appears.

Three, when the bottle says it will strip off multiple layers, it lies.

Four, chemicals purchased to strip paint off doors also apparently strip flesh off hands.

And five, I should have never started to begin with. ( or did I mention this already)



I'll let you know what it looks like when/if I finish.

Sledding

Lots of sledding. Even grandma hit the slopes.



Charlee would take the sled down by herself, but she much preferred to belly it.

There's nothing like a few hikes back up to wear you out.

Bringing In 2010/Eggrolls and Chocolate

Last New Years Eve we started a tradition with our friends out here. Eggrolls, fried rice, and the chocolate fountain. Lori brings over the stuffing (SO YUMMY), we all wrap up the rolls, she fries them, I whip out the rice, and we gorge ourselves on chocolate afterwards. A recipe for perfection.


It was hard for the guys to do the fireworks with the kids. Not sure if it was because it was snowing, freezing, or just because the fireworks were leftover from 4th of July 2008, but all most of them would do is smoke. Oh well.


I has to post this picture of Molly which reminded me of the following picture of Dillon from the year before.


Dillon, New Years Eve 2008

Christmas 2009

We were blessed again this year to have Grandma and Papa join us for Christmas and New Year, and even better, they brought GG with them. There were many good times spent together playing games, sledding, eating yummy food, and watching the kids enjoy a wonderful Christmas morning. It was sad to see them go, but we know it wont be for long. Thanks for sharing the holidays with us, We Love You!

Christmas Eve and Grandma reading a bedtime story.


The kids in their Christmas pj's and ready to hit the hay, anxious for the big day.

Christmas Morning

The kids were overwhelmed by the packages, until they noticed Santa and his reindeer had eaten all the food we put out for them. They had to stop to discuss this for a while.


Dillon


Molly


Charlee

This kid has a passion/obsession for candy. With all the loot she got that day all she was interested in all morning was the candy from her stocking... and the candy from everyone elses stocking. I finally had to sweep the house for everything sweet and hide it all completely away before she would even acknowledge that there were other things to focus on.

Christmas Dinner with Family and Friends (well they're pretty much family too)

Lots of time spent playing Mario Cart on the Wii (thanks grandma and papa for the Christmas gift for Dillon, it's a great game!) And an extra treat left by Santa in the basement. The kids were very excited to find it and get their "roll on" with their friends. (Do you have any idea how long it took Santa's elfs to blow thing dang thing up?!)

A Christmas as merry as they come!

The Gingerbread Houses

This is not one of my favorite traditions. I know we're gonna do it every year, and every year I just want to get it over with. The houses never seem to stay together very well, the kids eat more of the candy than they put on the house and even more than they eat ends up on the floor, and afterwards you have this big lump of sugar that takes up space until you can get the kids to forget about it long enough to throw it away. Well this year I used my hot glue gun to put the house together, much easier! And we didn't even make the houses until Christmas eve and they were thrown away by the day after Christmas. Not so bad. The kids did enjoy decorating them, and Charlee enjoyed eating 5 lbs of candy.

Santa's Workshop

In the five years we've lived here we haven't yet missed Country Lights at Lake Farm Park. The kids built some toys with their elf's in Santa's workshop (Dillon's elf was especially cool, after we got home he was sure he wanted a mohawk), took a wagon ride to check out the lights, and got to visit for a while with Santa. Definitely one of my favorite Cleveland Christmas traditions.

Christmas at Tower City

We were sad to see that Bruce the Spruce had retired to Flordia this year, but we still enjoyed the Toy Soldier's preformance at Tower City. We also enjoyed the elabrite display of gingerbread houses/mansions, and a quick stop in the Dollar Store for the kids to get each others Christmas gifts, and a pose in front of the nativity outside.






I had to put this picture in because two weeks from now Travis will no longer be working in this beautiful building that shadows over all the rest in Cleveland. I always got a sense of peace when I drive around town and can see the sky scraper peaking off in the distance, knowing my husband is there and feeling close to him. I know this is for the better and great things await us, but I suppose I'll never quite look at this building the same. Goodbye Key Tower.