Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Korean Food Feast

Last night was Korean night. Mary and I made Bulkoogi and Yakimondue for 11 people! Of course we had sticky white rice to go along with it! Brandon and his family and Lyle, Sarah's friend, came for dinner and fun times. I can say as the cook that the yakimondue could have had a little more flavor. Good thing Jeff mixes the tasty dipping sauce! We topped the dinner off with brownies ala mode. Lyle took the picture.


Matthew got his cast off today! Jeff and Sarah went with him to his appointment. The bone has healed to the doctor's liking and now Matthew needs to work on his range of motion. He will also go to occupational therapy for a month. NO SPORTS or weightlifting until he gets his range of motion back. He won't let me take his picture right now. He goes back to the doctor on February 12th, the day before he turns 16! He does have a splint wear for safety's sake.

Today was a long day for me. I worked early the past 3 mornings, only today I ended up working 13 hours, on less sleep than I usually get. I made it through and now I am off until Monday morning at 0800! Mary spent the day with the Cory's. Today was snow tubing day. It is sledding but on an tube. It is a lot of fun! Matthew was invited, but sledding is too dangerous for him right now.

Our last box of Christmas gifts arrived yesterday. Thank you for the nice gifts! Opening presents is always fun. We were glad to hear that our box made it to Florida too.

Last weekend was pretty exciting too. Saturday was catch up on some chores in the morning so we can have fun in the afternoon. Mary went out to Brandon's house for more gift exchanges and probably movies and singing. Jeff and I went to a birthday party. While we were there, the snow started to fall pretty heavy. Although it was very pretty, it left the roads very slippery. Needless to say, I was concerned about Mary driving home on the back roads from Brandons house. For her safety, she stayed put there for the night. Turns out their driveway had a layer of ice and even Brandon's dad had a hard time going up their driveway to the road. Sunday morning came and Sarah drove out and picked Mary up for church. Church went well, the orchestra played fine and attendance was good even for a snowy Sunday after Christmas. By afternoon, we went back for the van and Brandon was able to drive it right up to the road. The layer of snow made it easier to drive on than the icy conditions the night before. Mary went with the Cory's to see "Sherlock Holmes" Sunday evening. She liked it a lot. Matthew saw it today with his buddy Mitch.

Monday Mary and I made the bulkoogi so it could marinate for 24 hours. Then we went to Grand Rapids for gift exchanges. We found lots of good specials and were able to return items that didn't fit and find one that did. We had dinner out and then got home in mid evening. One of the new fun activities here is to play Mario Kart Wii racing game. Matthew and Sarah are the best players. I have fun but come in last place most of the time. Sometimes I can't even finish the race.

What is ahead? Tomorrow I can sleep in! Yay.. 3 mornings in a row of waking up at 0420 takes a toll on you. We will see in the new year with friends. Then we have just a few more days before Sarah needs to be back at Hope College. It has been a good Christmas break with the whole family.

I think that catches everyone up for now. Sorry for the wait on my updates. I will try to do better this weekend.

Grace

Just a few more days of my Christmas music and we will go back to the regular music player. Might keep the snowmen up during more of the winter. We shall see.