Housewarming potluck dinner

My brothers-in-law Mike (Liz's husband) on the left and larry (Joan's husband) on the right

Geezer and cutie (Brittany)

Love birds (Katie and Justin)

Love birds in the kitchen

My oldest sister Liz

My youngest sister Rosemary

Pretty Brittany

My mother and my neice Carie

Carrie's daughter lauren

My middle sister Joan with Carie's husband Tim, their kids, and Adam

Some pictures of the living room and kitchen before the guests arrived

The living room looks half empty because there isn't enough furniture yet to fill it up.

I invited my mother and my sisters and their extended families over for a potluck dinner/housewarming this past Sunday. Too much food was consumed, but it was all delicious. Strangely, two of my sisters brought a total of three large dishes of cheesy potatoes, so there was a lot left over. A mini-blizzard hit just a few hours before everyone was supposed to arrive, but it didn't keep them away. The place feels more like a home now that we've had a house full of guests.

Catching Up

Grandma and Sarah

Grandpa and Sarah

I haven't done much with my blog recently because I was so busy with house related things that I got lazy. We went to Michigan just after Christmas so Grace could see the new baby. We ordered this huge pizza for dinner and the five of us were barely able to eat half of it.

While we were there, we drove around to look at a lot of houses that were for sale in the $15,000 to $25,000 price range. I made an offer on one and will close on it this Friday. I may look around for other houses when I go there for the closing.

Grace in front of our new house.

Why Americans dont emigrate to Arab countries

Their culture

Our culture

I rest my Case

God bless America

Merry Christmas

Part of this year's baby boom

Grace and me with my mother

Two of my sisters - Rosemary on the left and Joan on the right

Adam wearing one of his gifts

Adam in new coat and hat

Adam with "Hung Bao" and new pants

Adam in yukata from Japan

We went to my sister Joan's house on Christmas. We all ate too much turkey and the usual trimmings and had a good time getting together with extended family and their SO's and SE's. My mother was there - out of the nursing home for the day - and there were numerous nieces and nephews with their children - including three newborns.

Front View

View of back yard (through screen)

Partial view of living room

Kitchen

We just got the news yesterday that the lender has accepted our offer for the house we are trying to buy. We should be able to close on it in just a few days. We got a great deal on it. It is just under 1900 sq feet (53 pings) with a two car garage and a basement that are not included in the 1900 sq ft, and a yard that is over half an acre in size. The house is seven years old, has 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, and a large living room and kitchen. Adam will be staying in it until we decide to move back to Ohio.

Merry Christmas

Our makeshift Christmas tree with presents under it.

Winter Wonderland

It snowed all day yesterday and most of it stuck. I may have to chisel my car door open to get into the car. I took these pictures outside the place where I am staying. The weather was so treacherous yesterday that I didn't even go outside. There were lots of snow related accidents all over the Columbus area yesterday.

Nearby McDonalds

Parking area outside my building

My building. I'm on the bottom floor.

My car which I bought from my brother-in-law. The snow is frozen to the car.

Unusual movie theater

Adam and I went to see the movie "Quantum of Solace" and the theater we went to was set up like a Las Vegas showroom with long narrow tables in front of the seats and waiters bringing popcorn and drinks, or food and beverages - including alcohol - to the people watching the movie.

Sarah Elizabeth Thompson

Adam and I drove up to Michigan (3 hour trip) to see my son Tim and his wife Skyla and my new granddaughter Sarah Elizabeth Thompson who was born on November 21. We had to cut short our visit because a big snowstorm was moving in the next morning, so I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted.

Sarah slept almost all the time we were there, but I understand that she keeps her parents hopping during the night every night.


Sarah was born five weeks prematurely. She weighed only 5 1/4 pounds
(less than 2 1/2 kg). She is so tiny that I felt like I might break her when I held her.

The proud parents. They put their Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving - apparently a family tradition of Skyla's family. I've never known anyone to do that before.

Lucy who lost her status as "only child" is now Sarah's staunch protector.

Watching football

Adam and I went to my oldest sister's house to watch the football game between Ohio State University and the University of Michigan. It is the biggest rivalry in sports and is always shown on national tv every year. As diehard Ohio State football fans, we always look forward to watching the game every year. Our team won with a score of 42 to 7, so it was a very satisfying experience for us.



My brother-in-law Mike with Adam.

Adam needs to shave.

My youngest sister, Rosemary, watching us watch the game.

We needed the heater to keep warm because it was so cold outside.

My favorite grandneice Brittany. She gives the world's best hugs.

The pugs like to sit behind you on the sofa and nuzzle your neck from time to time.

As soon as I walked in the door of my sister's house, I was assaulted by these two yippy-yappy pugs jumping on my legs to welcome me. They're cute but too friendly .

The windows of my rental car were all covered with frost and it took a long time to thaw them out.

These pictures are in reverse order to how I wanted them to be. I'm still learning how to do this.