Thanksgiving Day, 2024

Thanksgiving Day was a wonderful holiday - we may have been a smaller crowd (that will change at Christmas), but we had so much fun, laughter, and good food.

Wednesday I spent much of the day baking. Pepper believes in helping, a job she takes seriously even though she is retired from Guide Dog service.

I guess I was a little too energetic when I rolled out the pie dough!

Two homemade cherry pies and two pumpkin. The house smelled heavenly.

Florida Son Kyle was joining us for the holiday and came in late Wednesday. 

Tammo was so excited to see his dad and even climbed into his lap. 

Things began hopping early Thanksgiving morning. Helped by Mama, Pepper, Tammo, and Nash (who is over chatting with Kyle), we all pitched in to get ready for our other family members who were coming for the day.

The table was all set and ready to go 

and the cheeseballs were set out for those who came extra-hungry.

Lisa outdid herself this year, making three different kinds. A cheddar pecan,

a beef and green onion (my favorite),

and a chocolate chip dessert cheeseball (middle). There was also a cheese platter (Leslie's hobby is making homemade cheese), pickles, and olives.

As folks arrived, they put their dishes out on the serving table and pitched in in the kitchen.

Wrong knife for carving a turkey, Jenny, but I am sure Kyle appreciated the offer to help!

We took a family selfie before we started diving into all that food.

Lisa, Rick, Leslie, Jenny, Kyle, me, Craig, Eric, Steve, and Cindie.

Father and son. I love this picture of Craig and Kyle.

Dinner dishes cleared away, we played a VERY rousing game of Bank. (Eric, Kyle, Craig, me, Leslie, and Rick.)

So rousing that this message appeared on Lisa's Apple Watch:

Yep, that's the Isenbarger family playing a game! Even with a smaller group!

New to Bank, Steve was very happy when he won the first game.

Games over, it was time for pies. But first, we took a sibling shot. And then we ate pie, more cheeseballs, and sat around talking and watching football and basketball on TV.

Pepper cuddled up with Jenny. She's a cat lover with five cats, but said she really liked having Pepper show her some love.

Nash and Tammo were not very subtle as they hoped Kyle would notice them and share. (Nope!)

The festivities wrapped up around 10:00 PM. It had been a terrific day and I went to bed replete not only with food, but with happiness and gratitude, too.  

Unfortunately, just two hours later I awoke to a text that a family member was in the Emergency Room and being admitted to the hospital.

Stay 'tooned for another blog post coming later today, but probably not until after 11:00 AM Eastern time.

Memorial Day 2024: Sarah's Tornado Begins It

It started with the tornado sirens blowing.

Twice.

I had just sat down to write yesterday's second post of the day when I received that video from Hawkeye Sarah and a one word text.

"Welp."

Welp, indeed. She and her family were preparing to drive from their home in Iowa City to ours and a line of tornadic storms had just reached them. Thus began a flurry of texts between us.

The tornado passed their home by less than a half mile but they were safe, thank goodness. Iowa City suffered some damage, but compared to other recent tornados in Iowa this spring, the city was fortunate.

Needless to say, I never finished that second post of the day - I had some errands to run and some cleaning to finish before they arrived. (They ran into more heavy storms on the way, including one as they pulled into town.)

The hay in the neighborhood hay field was baled and ready to be taken to the barn.

I don't know if it was picked up before the storm system blew through here; I hope so.

We laid in a supply of necessary snacks - always a priority because we will be playing games late into the night all weekend.

Sarah and her family met Tammo for the first time. They'd brought Blue and Rhett with them, and we were a little surprised that Blue accepted Tammo immediately. (Then again, look at that face. Of course she did; wouldn't you?)

We'd ordered pizza for dinner. Lukie helped carry the boxes in. (With some help from Cousin Trinity.)

The pizza pick-up crew. Trinity, Todd, Ian, and Lukie.

The games began right after dinner. The adults were still sitting around the dinner tables and chatting when Lukie piped up, "Aren't we going to play cards or a game or something??" (Craig, Todd, Vanessa, Curt, and Lisa.)

Curt, Lisa, Sarah, and Trinity.

Of course, we played Bank, a game that can have lots of people (regardless of age) playing all at the same time.

We had some very high rolling games!

Okay, I am hearing noises from the guest rooms and Blue, Rhett, and Tammo have all popped in to say hello. (Pepper got up with me and is by my feet as I type.)

Posting may be sporadic this weekend, but I'll do my best.

Stay 'tooned!

Thanksgiving, 2023: A Doggy Sunday

 Before I write today's post, I wanted to share a couple of things.

First, for some reason I am getting an error message every time I try to respond to your comments. I've been trying to fix that, but not been successful. Please know that I am not ignoring your comments and that I read every single one!

Second, there is a lot going on here and my blog entries may become sporadic, late, missing, or even several in a day as a result.

Mountain Mama Jessica popped in yesterday morning while I was writing,

 and then Titan joined her, and it was absolutely the best! Pepper liked having them join us, too!

In fact, Pepper is loving having family here - so many people to give belly rubs! (Or "welly bubs" as Pony Pal Melissa calls them.)

And SOME people in this family know how to fly Pepper's frisbee well. Cambria's throws did not go on top of the pavilion, into a neighbor's yard, or even into the lake! (To Pepper's dismay, I have been guilty on all counts.)

As we all walked into the house after Church, Nash showed us the new "toy" he'd found while we were gone, proudly trotting down the hallway from our bedroom and into the living room to greet us with it.

A dumbbell from the new set of weights I'd gotten Craig for our anniversary. (We are celebrating our 47th anniversary today.)

Oh, he loved that FIVE POUND weight and thought I'd gotten it for him to play with!

I actually had gotten the dogs some new toys, but he had absolutely no interest in them - not when his purple dumbbell was close to hand. (Paw?)

To Nashie's dismay, I took the dumbbell away and went back into the bedroom, placing it on the edge of the spa tub thinking he'd not find it there.

Not two minutes later, he trotted back into the living room, dumbbell in mouth. 

Again, I took it away, this time putting it up high where he could not see it or, if he did see it, reach it. 

Believe it or not, out he trotted AGAIN, dumbbell in his mouth. The dumbbells had come in pairs and he'd found the second one hidden under the bed!

By this time, the whole family was almost in tears from laughter, me included. That dog really wanted a dumbbell. 

Well, he's going to get one tomorrow. I went on Amazon this morning and bought a pair, one for him to have at home and another he can play with when he visits us.

The rest of the day was filled with napping, talking, watching some football, and a delicious meal of pumpkin fettuccini, salad, and breadsticks cooked by Jessie and Andrew. (Go here for the recipe - it is terrific!) We never did get out to the barn - Cambria and Titan were doing other things and would like to go another time. We can do that!

After dinner, we settled into jammies and comfy clothes, gathered on couches and chairs, and watched Holiday Inn with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. 

When it was over, we headed over to the dining room table and played several rounds of Bank. It's an easy group game and you only need two dice and the app to play it.

The app is free but don't sign in to anything or register - you don't need to and if you do, you will begin getting ads. (You can just delete the app and then get it again if you do.)

The game is played in ten rounds or so. Rolling a seven during a round takes everyone's score for that round back to zero; poor Craig rolled four sevens in a row! But that's playing a game, right?

The family is up; gotta go! More tomorrow.

Stay 'tooned!