A January Blog

The Christmas decorations have been boxed and put away and I am settling into January as graciously as I can.  Some years the post Christmas blues hit me pretty hard,  but this year wasn't too bad.  We had our first monthly family gathering for birthday celebrations.  Everyone, except Megan and her crew, was able to join us on January 13th to celebrate Raphael's 5th birthday.  He asked for sausage. We settled on brauts and hotdogs which PaPa braved the cold to grill.

While building the new, bigger house,  I said I wanted to have monthly birthday parties because life should be celebrated!!  I am hoping that before my family is completed--but will it every be?--that we will have a birthday in every month.  So the next baby needs to be born in February or October!

WGO has been working in his shop getting it set up and organized.  He has completed a shelving project for and with Dan.  I don't think I have included any pictures of the shop in previous blogs so I will today.  I am very anxious for WGO to craft a table for our entry way!  His woodworking hobby is one that I do not resent.  We have many beautiful pieces of furniture in our home that WGO has built.

The annual Association of General Contractors (AGC) conference was this week in Wichita.  It is an annual event but this year  it was special.  Dan was a presenter.  His talk entitled, "Listen Like a Negotiator" was very well received.  At the luncheon on Friday, our son-in-la, Lucas, was present to receive an "Award of Honor" for the building he worked on in Hays.  At the banquet, WGO gave a short speech to begin his term as President of this organization.  (Sorry, no pictures.)

Saturday morning we got up early and headed to Ozawkie for the day.  I needed a baby Grady "fix".  Grady wanted to show off his two new teeth, demonstrate how he can sit up and almost crawl, and entertain us in his baby saucer. Tyler and Laura came out to visit with us in the morning before they headed to Manhattan.  After lunch we went for a walk to enjoy the beautiful day.  While I was napping with Grady, Megan painted a canvas that reads, "It's NOT about ME!"  We headed home after dinner glad we had made the trip.

God is good!  I am blessed!

Happy Birthday Raph!

The "shop"

the "shop"

the "shop"

Complete with toilet and sink!

Look Mom.  No Car Seat.

The Beisel Family

Papa Showing Grady the BobCat

Christmas Blessings

I indeed had a blessed Christmas.  For the first time in many years all of my children, their spouses, and children were together to celebrate the Holy Day Mass Christmas Eve.  We were the guests of my sister, Sister Ann and the Sisters of St. Joseph at Mt. St. Mary Convent.  The Liturgy was beautiful and the party afterward was a lot of fun.
For those present Christmas morning, the day began with our traditional breakfast of texas eggs, fruit salad, orange rolls and Sarah Lee Coffee cake.  My brother Ray and his wife, Vicki, stopped by to wish us a Merry Christmas and to see the new house.

At noon we all gathered, all 16 of us, for our family gift giving.  First came the "opening" of stockings.  The opening of gifts, one at time, from youngest to oldest followed.

It is always my prayer that somehow, in someway this expression of our love for each other in celebration of our Lord's birth give Him honor and glory.  One of my greatest joys, is watching my grown children and now their spouses joking and laughing and loving one another.  Each gift given was chosen with great thought and great care.  WGO's sister Tabitha joined us for dinner of chili and cinnamon rolls.   Unfortunately the day ended all too soon and each family left our home for theirs or for other celebrations.  WGO and I ran into Wichita to wish my siblings and mom and dad a Merry Christmas.  And when I returned home I was happy but very tired.

My sister Nancy and her husband R.P. came for a visit with mom and dad.  She helped me try out my Christmas present from WGO, an "Accuquilt" machine.  We cut out the blocks for a quilt and begin sewing them together.  Sister Ann came down for dinner on Saturday and we played a rousing game of Catch Phrase.  My dear sisters introduced me to a new game on the iPad:  Moxie.  Have you heard of it? After Nancy left town my sister Mary and her son Charlie came to visit our parents.  We will celebrate my mom's 85th birthday on January 3rd.

On New Year's Eve WGO and I enjoyed a steak dinner at the Lackey's.  Following the feast we played SkipBo and lost both games!  Not very hospitable of the young couple.  We almost stayed awake until midnight (on the east coast).  We hosted a brunch for family on New Year's Day.

And that brings you up to date.  Tomorrow I return to work and to a more normal routine.  May I greet it graciously!

God is good.  I am blessed.

I  am pretty sure Trinity is toasting with juice.

My handsome son

G. G.

Kayla and Hadley

Smile Raphie!

Grady is his cap.

The tree.

Ty and Laura

Monica's gift to Aunt Megan

AJ's gift to Kayla

WGO

Don't throw Grady away!

Charlie with the girls.

Our New Year's Eve feast.

December Happenings

It is already past the middle of December.  Where did this month go?  Where did this year go?  This December has been exceptionally fun, but hectic at the Oblingers.  We began the month with the company Christmas party.  We all gathered at Eberly Farm for a great meal and one of those fun gift exchanges.  I came home with some yummy hot chocolate which AJ was really excited about.

The next weekend WGO and I double dated with Kayla and Lucas for a fun evening at the Crown Uptown dinner theatre.  We were celebrating Kayla's birthday.  I don't think either of our husbands were too excited about seeing a stage production of the musical "White Christmas", but Kayla and I were!  Even though they changed the plot a little and some of the music was different it was still a great show.  (It was sort of like going to a movie based on a book--they always change it a little and you wonder why?) Anyway, the food was great, the play was fun, and our husbands proved their love for us by doing something just to please us.

Saturday night we watched Dan's children overnight.  We had a great time making ornaments, making some candy and watching a movie.  I'd forgotten what a beautiful sound a child's laughter is.  Trinity and Monica thought Lucy calling Linus "my sweet Baboo" just hilarious.  After Grammy and Grumpa figured out that you can't put all three children to bed in the same room, we all went to sleep.

On Sunday night we entertained the girls from WGO's office.  We served grilled salmon and chicken with twice baked potatoes and a tossed salad.

Megan and Grady came down on the follwing Friday night for our annual baking day.  (WGO and Lucas went to Topeka to help Chad install a tile backsplash.)   Kayla and Hadley and Laura were also involved in this real test of the new kitchen.  Between rocking, changing and feeding two babies we did manage to get some goodies made.  We had hoped to do some crafting also--but that didn't happen--until later in the evening.  Megan and I did manage to complete a blanket for Grady.  It was one of those pinterest ideas that was supposed to be "easy".  For Megan's first sewing project, I think it turned out mighty fine.

This was also the day of MHS Christmas Dance.  After the baking was done we had to hurry and clean up and decorate the tree.  AJ's date arrived at 4:00 to take a few pictures.  She was very pretty but very nervous.  AJ looked great all dressed up.  Unfortunately the pictures are on Megan's camera so I will have to post them later.

My December activities at Church included "poinsettia day" and the annual Christmas program.  The middle school and high school students take poinsettia's to the residents at the local skilled care and assistant living facility.  The K-6 students put on the "Best Christmas Pageant" each year complete with second graders in costume and a candle procession.  I think several of the third graders were disappointed when they found out the candles were not real but battery operated!  At the afternoon practice I noticed one of the mothers walk all the way across the church to have a discussion with her son who was portraying one of the Magi.  She had asked him why he was walking so goofy-like.  He responded,  "Mom, we are walking in a dessert!  There is SAND, you know."  What a hoot.

We did manage to get a tree, well, actually, two trees.  I wanted a tree upstairs and a tree downstairs.  Because of the height of our ceilings we needed 9 foot trees or so we thought.  To make a long story short after looking at several stores/lots we ended up with one tall fake tree and one tall cut tree.  I've never been a big fan of fake tree (or fake flowers, or fake candles) but if I wanted two I really couldn't justify the expense of two "real" trees each year--thus the compromise.  And WGO won't have to buy the fake tree on the way home from burying me.

My shopping is almost done.  My decorating is in progress.  And I am about to finish up at work.  I am so looking forward to celebrating this beautiful Holy Day with all my children and grandchildren.

Raphie

Trinity

Monica

Headed to the Villa

The Bakers

Hadley and Mom

Grady and Mom

Our Imaginative Wise Man

Joseph complete with beard

The Candle procession ready to go.

God is good.  I am blessed.

Giving Thanks All Weekend

When we built this new house I told WGO that I wanted to be able to serve a crowd.  This Thanksgiving weekend  we got to see how the "open concept" floor plan works for entertaining.
On Thursday we served turkey and all the fixings to 17 of our family.  The girl's helped me do a lot of the prep work on Wednesday including cooking and deboning two turkeys.  Granted, I would have been to bed a lot earlier if we hadn't taken the afternoon to go shopping!  But everything was ready to serve at the designated time.  The two ovens really came in handy.  As I looked over at the buffet line as we were beginning to serve, I noticed steam rising from everything that was supposed to be hot.  Success!

Several years ago my mother passed the baton for hosting Thanksgiving dinner to the next generation.  I remember thinking how much I loved this holiday....until I had to be responsible for cooking the meal.  Let's be honest, ladies (and any men who are the chefs in their house) this isn't the easiest meal to put on the table.  Couldn't our forefathers have served a big pot of chili that first Thanksgiving day?
But this year I actually enjoyed it.  I don't know if it was because of the new kitchen or just that I have a few years of cooking this meal under my belt and have learned a few tricks

My brother and his wife from Portland, Oregan traveled to Kansas for the holiday.  They spent Thursday in Hays with Deborah's folks.  So on Friday, we gathered again to celebrate family with a nice meal.  My brothers came from Kansas City and Manhattan to visit.  Instead of serving leftovers we had ham, cheesey potatoes, and funeral dinner green beans.  My brother Ray made his awesome spinach salad and others contributed desserts.  Twenty-three people in all went through the buffet line around our kitchen island.  It was a very enjoyable evening.

Saturday morning, I went in to my mom and dad's to visit with my brothers and did some Christmas shopping.  In the afternoon WGO and I went out to Burns, KS to enjoy a bowl of chili with his sister.  It was a beautiful evening for a drive to the country.

I am not nearly as tired today as I thought I would be.  I spent most of the afternoon, (between loads of laundry), making Christmas stockings for the newest members of our family, Grady and Hadley.  I've made my Christmas "to do" list and I am actually getting a little excited.  Maybe the Christmas spirit will really take hold of me this year.

I am blessed.  God is good.

My brother, Kent and his family helped with the clean up!

The Beisel's enjoying the beautiful weather.

Too much turkey?

Hadley Ann and her daddy.

Grandma with her youngest grandchild, Tori.

Uncle John

MoMo, TiTi and Raphie

There was room for everyone.

Add caption

My mom and dad, my brothers and me!

Chili at Tabitha's

Frank

Ruby

Sunset on the edge of the Flint Hills

Zootacular

It is hard to believe that it is the middle of November already and we have been in the house two months.   It really started feeling like home when we got some pictures on the walls and unboxed other decorative items for the shelves.  I have found that the routine of life takes over regardless of where you live.  The secret is to train your car to return to the right address.

I did take a break from routine last week to go to the zoo with the "rainbow tribe".  Kayla and Hadley Ann joined us on the outing to make it even more special.  It was a beautiful fall day.  Cool enough so that the animals were moving but not so cold that the humans were uncomfortable.   Each of the kids got to choose one exhibit to visit.  Monica chose the penguins.  Raph wanted to see a crocodile so we went to the reptile house.  Trinity's choice was the jungle building.  There we saw the bats moving up and down a rope and a large blue bird flew down in our path and startled the heck out of me!  Kayla had never been to the tiger or gorilla exhibit so we headed there after lunch.  The tigers were moving!  We even saw one saunter into the water for some playtime.  We saw a Gorilla run across the field.  On our way to the exit we saw the meerkats, the hippos out of the water, the rhinos and giraffes.

As you can tell I really like to go to the zoo.   All the animals with their unique characteristics remind me of the awesomeness of my Creator.  What a wonderful imagination our God has!

WGO and I have been doing some furniture shopping.  We bought a love seat and chair for the den.  We also purchased  a new chair for the basement replacing the 27 year old "brown chair". We ordered a chair for our bedroom and updated the bar stools for the kitchen island.  I really enjoyed our Friday afternoon tour of the furniture stores and am happy with all of our purchases.  Our budget is now depleted so the rest of the furnishings will have to wait until another time.

It is time to think about Thanksgiving.  We will be hosting the meal for some of our children, my mom and dad and a couple of my siblings.  Then an Friday, more of my family will be in town and we will gather again at our home.  So I have lots of cooking ahead of me this week!  Megan, Grady and Laura are coming down Tuesday evening--the help will be appreciated.

I am Blessed!  God is good!

Hadley's first trip to the zoo.

Monica watching the Tiger

Trinity

Hadley Ann

Monica

My Zoo Pals

Ray in the Jungle

The Den