Happy Thanksgiving (11/27/08)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Church wasn't until 10:00 A.M., so we started our day by relaxing in bed...all five of us: Jim & I, Brett, Katherine, and Lucy. Logan was in his own bed. We still ended up rushing to get out of the house in time for church. It happens every time. Our family loves Thanksgiving and enjoyed attending Mount Olive's Thanksgiving Service. Our choir and instrumentalists were exceptional!

After church we drove to Oconomowoc for dinner with the Scheuers. There were only seventeen of us. That is not many for a Scheuer get-together! Grandma told Logan he could sit at the "grown-ups" table. We had a nice dinner. Dessert came after the dishes were clean. Sarah, Katherine, and Elsiana helped Grandma dry the dishes and silverware.

Grandma washed while Katherine and Sarah dried.


Elsiana helping with drying duty.

Before we all left Jim and Stephen were to bring up the Christmas tree from the basement. The two funny guys brought up this "heavy" one first.

Jim and Stephen with the "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree.

Stephen and Jim carrying up the "real" Christmas tree.

Logan, Brett, Sarah, Isaiah, Ben, Grandma, Ryan, Grandpa, Elsiana, Katherine

On our way home we stopped at Daut's house. Sue was at work, but the kids were able to play with Cyrus for an hour. They also got to visit with their Uncle Latif.
Cyrus, Jim, and Brett

Brett and Latif

As tradition has it, we went home, changed into comfy clothes or pajamas, and watched "Miracle on 34th Street." Jim made popcorn. I looked at the ads for tomorrow. It was our time to spend together. It was a perfect ending to a busy Thanksgiving Day.

Congratulations Logan! (11/25/08)

He made it!

Last week, MLHS held auditions for their dinner theater. Logan tried out. Friday morning he looked on the board and saw his name. I didn't find out until I got him after school. I wish you could have seen his face! He was so happy. The high school is doing four episodes of "Fawlty Towers." Logan is the newspaper delivery boy in "A Touch of Class." It is a very small part, but will get him acclimated to the drama dept.

He'll get to be a part of the play and attend the cast party without the hassle of memorizing lots of lines. It's a good start. Check out the British TV show on YouTube (there are three epidodes): http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fawlty+towers%3A++a+touch+of+class&search_type=&aq=f.

The dinner theater will be Valentine's Day Weekend.

Piano Lessons

Katherine started taking piano lessons Monday after school. She was so excited! She and Brett go to their instructor's house from 3:45-4:45 P.M. Brett has been taking lessons since he was in the third grade. He took a break in the beginning of the school year because of play rehearsals. It is so nice hearing them play the piano.

Isaiah's First Communion (11/23/08)

Isaiah's First Communion

We attended the 8:00 A.M. Contemporary Service at St. Paul's-Oconomowoc. I will say it was rough getting the five of us up and out the door by 7:20 A.M. We made it during one of the pre-service praise songs. Whew!! We had the honor of being there to witness our godson, Isaiah's First Communion. He is a bright young man with a strong faith and love of our Lord. We pray for Isaiah daily and ask the Lord to continue guiding him. We went to Stephen & Heather's house for lunch. I wish someone would have taken a picture of Elsiana and me. I believe it was the first time in her two years of life that she willingly went by me and seemed to enjoy it. After lunch, Stephen and I played tennis on the Nintendo Wii. I lost but gave him a good match. Stephen, Jim, Logan, Brett, Isaiah, Ben, and I played tennis and bowling. We have a lot of fun together!

Marching in the Christmas Parade (11/22/08)

Milwaukee "Christmas" Parade

Logan and Jim were out of the house by 7:15 A.M. They needed to be at Milwaukee Lutheran High School by 7:30. The band was taking the school bus downtown. Logan marched in the parade, while Jim walked along with the band. It was just like old times...Jim was in the MLHS band, too. Logan's fingers were so frozen, they hurt. Brett stayed home and watched the parade on television. Katherine was determined to go, even though I told her that we were only staying until Logan and the band passed. Katherine and I stood on the corner of Old World Third Street & Kilbourn.

Katherine and a 40 foot gingerbread man

Milwaukee Lutheran High School Marching Band

Logan is next to the kid looking at the camera.

After MLHS went passed, we ran into my brother, Latif. We drove him back to his car (which was quite a distance away) and headed home. Had we not had a busy day planned, I would have considered staying for the whole parade. Maybe next year.

University of Wisconsin Badgers vs Cal Poly

at Camp Randall Stadium

Logan, Brett, and Lisa before the game

Bucky Badger and the UW flag

We can kick!!

The UW Badger with the over-time, game-winning extra-point kick

36-35!

The boys were impressed at seeing some players praying after their win.

Brett, Lisa, and Logan after the game

Lisa got four tickets to the football game and took Logan, Brett, and me. We had an hour between Logan getting home from the parade and meeting Lisa. We got to her parents' house at 12:30. Logan napped on the way to Madison, and Brett read a book. Our parking spot (thanks to Lisa's Aunt Karen) was across the street from our entrance to the stadium. We were in Row 58, on the 30-35 yard line (right behind the Badgers bench)...great view! Because of the cold weather, we had many layers of clothing to keep us warm. Our toes seemed to take the brunt of the cold, though. The Badgers weren't doing so well, and Lisa and I were yawning. What a game! The referee added seconds to the clock a few times. We just wanted the game to end. Amazingly enough, the Badgers pulled out a much-needed win. Our MVP was the kicker for Cal Poly, who missed three extra-point kicks. Wisconsin-36 and Cal Poly-35 in over-time! Logan and Brett had so much fun! What a great Christmas present. Thank you, Lisa!