Eleven Years

The night we met 11 years ago:

For those of you who don't know, I had gone out to Seattle to visit a friend of mine that I'd met while on a missions trip.  I nearly missed the plane (like I was running through the airport and they closed the door of the plane behind me and we left) because I had gotten lost on my way to the airport.  This was back in the day when cell phones weren't everywhere, so of course I didn't have one.  I was supposed to meet my parents somewhere so they could take my car.  By the time I'd showed up there, they had given up and gone home.  My dad thought I decided to not take my trip.  Ummmm....who does something like that?  Anyway, I barely made the flight by the grace of God.  My friend was recently engaged and the three of us decided to go swing dancing, something I used to do a lot in college.  Philip was the friend they recruited to come along with us.  He almost went and built speakers with a friend that night instead.  Think how that would have changed history. :)

Anyway, Philip was nearly everywhere I was the rest of the weekend.  We're enjoying remembering that weekend this year, as we do every year.  Philip even made pancakes this morning in honor of the fact that we had a pancake breakfast the morning after we met. :) This year is fun because it's the first time the dates and days of the week match up. 

Last night we were able to go out on a date thanks to a couple in our small group.  We went to a great Japanese restaurant near our house and I actually ordered sushi for the first time.  I'm sure that made Philip very happy....he loves sushi. :)

So, here's to lots more years and new adventures together!!  We've only just begun. :)

Christmas Memories

Here's a few more pictures from Christmas that I forgot to post earlier.  This is Andrew copying Grandpa again.  He was even lounging on the couch the same way.  it was pretty funny (but hard to get a good picture!)

 

The boys had a kitchne project with Grandma one day.  They made a kind of super healthy truffles.

The whole family that was together this year!

 

Our family

Super cute picture of the older boys.  Especially great because of the orange shirt Caleb is wearing under his nice matching clothes. :)

Christmas in the Warm South?

Not quite.  Seems like wherever we go for Christmas, we take the cold with us.  Oh well.  It may have been cold outside, but it was nice and warm inside. :)  We spent 11 full days (plus travel) with my family in Charlotte.  My parents, as well as youngest brother and sister were there.  The boys just love playing with their Uncle Tim and it seems like I hardly saw them the whole time we were there!  I, of course, did lots of cooking and baking.  I made a Buche de Noel (Christmas Log) for the first time.  It was a lot of work, and sadly I wasn't totally thrilled with it.  But my dad loved it!  He also loved the fudge and divinity I made...Kroboth family tradition!  The fudge this year was arguably the best I'd ever made. MMMmmm!

Here's Dad with the meringue mushrooms for the log.

And the finished product:

We went to a lovely Christmas Eve service, which the boys attended with us (except Andrew).  We had already gone to see the lights the night before, so we came right home afterwards...that is, after we could get out of the parking lot!  We had opened our traditional one gift on Christmas Even before heading to the service.  Joshua was especially thrilled!

Caleb's favorite gift was a joint gift for him and Philip, Trans America, which is a railroad strategy game. 

He was so excited to receive it!

 

One of the highlights for the boys was making Marshmallow Soup with Grandpa.  One of Joshua's favorite books is Duck Soup and in it Marshmallow Soup is mentioned.  In the spirit of silliness and adventure, Grandpa decided to invent some for the boys.   It was so much fun they did it twice. :)

We also got to spend time with my Grandmother, Grandma Lucy, and had two lovely visits with her.  Which, of course, included a reading of Duck Soup, by Joshua.

There were many games of chess and our checkers played during our visit, especially by these two serious fellows:

Andrew and Grandpa also had fun playing the mimic game.  Andrew would do something for everyone else to copy.  It started out with tapping patterns on the table and evolved into more complicated things like putting your hands on your head, or your nose, or stretching one direction, or looking under the table.  Andrew particularly liked to look under the table because he realized pretty quickly that Grandpa couldn't do that!

Grandpa also dressed up as "Father Christmas" on Christmas Eve to bring in some extra spirit...or maybe he was cold. :)

Grandma and Andrew:

On Christmas morning, we enjoyed Swedish Pancakes, thanks to Philip!  He wore bright yellow to make sure we didn't miss him in our bleary-eyed tiredness. :)  Just kidding.  We always get up at a reasonable time like 8:00 on Christmas!

New Years Eve was very fun.  We decided at 6:57 to ring in the Italian New Year with the kids at 7:00.  So we did!  Then the adults stayed up playing Wise and Otherwise, which is the most fun when everyone is silly...which we all were that evening.  Philip, Tim, Deborah and I made it all the way until the New Year before heading to bed.  Happy New Year!

Deborah and I on NYE

It was a really wonderful visit and we were sad to have to leave!