HOLIDAZE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Finally....holidays are over and we have once again settled back into somewhat of a routine. Our holidays were all good. There was lots of food, presents, lots of food, family, lots of food, friends, and lots of FOOD! I swore that I would never need to eat again until Easter....but, of course, that resolution was short-lived! Thus, the reason for resolution #2....BEGIN THE DIET! So far, I have lost ONE WHOLE POUND! Woo Hoo! Don't laugh....just how is YOUR diet going??

Seriously, it was great to be able to spend time with so many of our family and friends through the holidays. You all helped to make them special. I apologize for not having any pictures posted. It's not that we didn't take any...we took zillions...but we had them put on a cd and haven't been able to find it!(Guess that means I should clean house!) So between that and the fact that I left our camera at my friend's (Terry) house, I guess it means that all you have is just a boring blog to read for this week. But I guess that's OK since it has been kind of a "slow news week" anyway! lol

So, I hope all of you have a good rest of the week and that you have great success with those diets! And remember, John and I would love to hear from you and to know if you read the blog or not....so, if you DO visit our blog, and you don't find it too boring, please leave us your comments by clicking on the "comments" link at the end of each entry. It is just another way that helps us feel like we're keeping in touch with everyone. So Happy New Year! We love you!

PRESENTS, PARTIES & POPPA!

Yes, we ARE alive and well and, just like you, we've been preparing and looking forward to Christmas! Since the last time I posted to the blog, we began the month by going out with our good friends, Sandy & Al and Jimmy and Shelley, to celebrate Sandy & Al's 38th wedding anniversary. Yes, you read that correctly...Sandy has been "putting up" with Al for a WHOLE 38 YEARS now!!! Wow...I bet Santa is going to reward her with something REALLY good this year! lol Seriously, though, we all went out for a most wonderful dinner at "Lelli's" in Auburn Hills, after which we came back to our house where we gave them their Christmas gifts. It really was an awesome evening...and, once again, Congrats to Sandy and Al!

After celebrating the big anniversary, John and I hosted a dinner party for some friends from church, as well as my brother and sister-in-law. We invited Dawn & Tim Waage and Hal & Linda Barringer over for dinner and conversation. Everyone seemed to enjoy the dinner of stuffed chicken breasts (at least, no one got sick! lol) and then we just enjoyed a lively game of, "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?"...which we sadly discovered that most of us were NOT!!!! lol

Last weekend we were so pleased to have John's daughter, Jessica, and his grandaughter, Emma come for a visit. Unfortunately, they chose the weekend of our HUGE snowstorm to drive all the way up from South Carolina! After about an 18 hour drive, they did arrive safe and sound and more than a little tired. We really enjoyed visiting with Jessica and playing with Emma (who is almost 3). I was so happy to have the opportunity to get to know both of them better, and was thrilled that I am now known as, "Grammy" to Emma! They left on Tuesday to go back home, and we're happy to say that the trip back was much quicker thanks to dry roads.

This past weekend John and I were invited to Randy & Dona Radcliff's for our annual gift exchange & dinner. We were joined by Bob & Jan Marasco, Terry Hall and Harold and Jeanette Cooper. We all were treated to a culinary masterpiece ala, Randy...a wonderful prime rib dinner...which was cooked to perfection! I think now I'm going to have to "up my game" for my next dinner party! After dinner, we enjoyed delicious desserts and then....PRESENTS!! Woo Hoo! Everyone seemed pleased with their "Christmas Bounty", but, as always, the best part was getting together with all of our friends.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and as we do every year, all of my family will be going to my brother's house to enoy dinner and gifts and just time spent together. As I get older (and hopefully, wiser) I find that those times we're able to come together with friends and family to talk, laugh, reminice and make memories, are what I treasure most in my life. So, as Christmas approaches, John and I wish for all of you blessings, love and the warmth of family and friends in the new year! We love and treasure each of you!

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BIRTHDAYS & "HOLIDAY NIGHTS" MINUS LIGHTS

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Whew! After partying all weekend, this old lady needs a rest! What a fun weekend John & I had! On Friday night we met Sandy & Al and Jimmy & Shelley AND Mama K (Sandy's mom), Kirsten (Sandy's daughter), Debbie & Ian (Sandy's sister & nephew) and Debbie's friend, Colleen, for dinner at The Firehouse restuarant in celebration of Mama K's 89th birthday! We all enjoyed a delicious dinner (I had bbq'd ribs!). Following dinner, we proceeded to Sandy & Al's house where we continued our gluttoneous celebration with one of Shelley's most excellent birthday cakes! MMMM...MMMM...GOOD!

If you will notice in the pictures....Mama K has a black eye and her arm is in a sling. Well the reason for that is, that on Thanksgiving Day, she had a slight mishap. She filled her plate full of food and in her rush to feed her face, she tripped on the table leg, then went airborn, then fell to the floor with her face landing firmly in her mashed potatoes, corn and cranberry sauce. Her grandaughter, (seeing the cranberry sauce on her face) thought she was bleeding and became somewhat hysterical. After much confusion and trip to the emergency room...Mama K emerged doing well except for some bumps and bruises and a very sore arm. And, as you can see, she was able to enjoy her birthday celebration without incident! Way to go, Mama K....Happy 89th Birthday!!!!

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On Saturday, we took part in a fun celebration of the Christmas season with a group of friends from church (and one was my office manager AND my boss!!!) All of us (John & I, Hal & Linda, Rose & Dave and Dawn & Tim) met at Longhorn Steakhouse for dinner. Yessiree....that WAS yummy! After a great dinner and some fun conversation, we caravaned to Henry Ford Greenfield Village for their "Holiday Nights" event. On the way, it started to snow and by the time we arrived, there was probably 1/2 inch of snow on the ground. At 6:30 p.m. they let everyone inside and we walked around the Village, listened to the Christmas carolers (dressed in Victorian attire), warmed ourselves by the warming fires, we took a ride in a Model T Ford (complete with a lap blanket) and toured the houses in the Village. Everything was decorated for Christmas....but Tim was quite disappointed that he couldn't find any "Holiday Lights" (I think he misunderstood something along the way! lol) The grand finale of the evening was a beautiful fireworks display in the town square. The falling snow made it even prettier! With the snowfall, the drive home was quite pretty, but somewhat slippery. Thankfully, we all made it home safely and, thanks to all the walking and fresh air, we all slept like logs! And, yes.....we all made it to church on time on Sunday morning! What a great memory we made!

TURKEYS, JOHNS, AND LIGHTS!

I'm sure you're probably saying to yourself,...."Self, what exactly does she mean by THAT???" Well, I'll tell you...On Thursday, we had a great Thanksgiving, Mom & Dad and Beth and her family were all here...the turkey and trimmings were deeeelish and after dinner (and the dishes)we all enjoyed playing a few table games together. But,unfortunately, I, being busy being the perfect hostess that I am (ha ha), totally forgot to take any pictures! DRAT!!! Oh well, we all enjoyed the day, the dinner and the company, so a good memory was made even without pictures.

On Friday John and I paid our respects at my good friend's sister's funeral. While it was very sad to say goodbye, it was a beautiful memorial service that reflected the love and laughter, as well as the legacy of a beautiful Christian example that she left for her family members. Friday evening we met Jack and Leona for dinner and went to the movies. We saw, "American Gangster" with Denzel Washington. It is the first time we have been to the movies in quite awhile, but I have to say, that we all thought it was a very good movie.

That brings us to Saturday, and the "Johns" part of our weekend. As all of you blog readers know, November 10 was John's birthday. OK...try and stay with me now...Well, December 4 is John, Jr.'s birthday and since we hadn't been able to celebrate John, Sr.'s birthday with John, Jr. and Jessica yet, we all went to dinner at Big Boy's where we all chowed down. Thank you, again to Jr. and Jessica for treating us to dinner. You guys are THE BEST! After dinner, we came back to our house where we had birthday cake and ice cream and presents and the big Euchre challenge. Yes, the men won 2 out of 3, but you can bet that there WILL be a rematch soon! lol

Sunday, as always, we went to church. It was a very good service and afterward we went out to lunch with our friend, Cathy. When we got home, we decided it was a perfect afternoon to paricipate in John's most favorite activity...PUTTING UP THE OUTSIDE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!!!! And that's just what we did! We had everything we needed....warm coat...CHECK! warm scarf...CHECK!...gloves....CHECK!...earmuff...CHECK!...tons of white Christmas lights...CHECK! And, then there is the all-important rake (for hooking those pesky lights up in the skinny, anemic tree in the front yard)...CHECK!!!! Amazingly, it only took about an hour and a half and there were no arguments or broken lights or brances in the tree! And we were only "half" frozen! Ah, SUCCESS!!!! Thus, you have it...."Turkeys, Johns, and Lights!"

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HOLIDAY TIME!

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As you can see, John and I were busy this weekend getting the house ready for the holidays. We now have the tree and a few other Christmas decorations up. Hopefully, we will finish the iniside decorating and begin putting lights up outside by this time next week. Then...the real fun begins....Christmas Shopping!!
As is the tradition in our famiy, I (we) will be hosting Thanksgiving at our house this week. My parents and Beth and her family will be here this year to have dinner with us. Greg and his family are taveling to Missouri to be with friends, so our group is a little smaller than usual. Guess that means that there will be more turkey (and rice pudding) leftovers to share! YUM! John and I wish you all a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving, and we are looking forward to getting together with all of you during the holidays.

PARTY DOWN!

The Jarvis' enjoyed a full weekend of birthday "partying"! Saturday, November 10th was John's birthday, so we began the celebration on Friday night with Sandy & Al and Jimmy and Shelley. We met for dinner at Da Francesco's Italian Restaurant and enjoyed a "delicioso" Italian dinner. After dinner, everyone came to our house for birthday cake, ice cream and presents!!!!! Woo Hoo!
On Saturday, the celebration continued. After John got home from school (yes, he's STILL going to school!), we drove up to Frankenmuth with our friend, Cathy, where we had their "famous chicken dinner" followed by some shopping at Bronner's. Sunday was more cake, ice cream and presents when we went to my daughter and son-in-law's house to celebrate all four grandchildren's birthdays. I think we truly reached our "cake quota" for the year! And by the way....in case anyone is curious...MY birthday is in July...(wink, wink).

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AUTUMN BEAUTY

Fall was in it's glory this weekend, so I took a few pictures in my back yard and thought I'd share them with you. Hope you enjoy them. We had a pretty quiet weekend. Saturday afternoon was spent cleaning and straightening the house (because we all know how messy John is!lol). Saturday night we went to a party hosted by our good friends, Jack and Leona, at their son and daughter-in-law's house. It was great to see everyone we haven't seen in several years and the food was delicious! Sunday we went to church and just spent a quiet afternoon and evening at home. All in all...a very good weekend.

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