Magic Bullet Fills the Breach

YIKES! Jane had every intention of making dinner tonight, but her part time job got in the way. I arrived home to a request to make Black Bean Soup. What would I do without the Magic Bullet to pave the way? Chopped onion, cumin, black beans, vegetable stock, chunky salsa, a zest of lime and cilantro. Bring it all to a boil and let it simmer and I'm still in time to see the Bears and Packers go at it at Soldier Field on the frozen shores of Lake Michigan. Where would the kitchen be without the fabulous Magic Bullet?

Enough of this VitaMix

Enough with this VitaMix braggadocio. We take the challenge to the ultimate level with the compact and mighty Magic Bullet. My Peppermint Mocha was sooo good and very relaxing on this sub-zero F morning. Coffee, milk, chocolate syrup, and peppermint candies made for a perfect breakfast beverage in less than a minute. I've started with something simple so as to not embarrass the VitaMix clique with the power and flexibility of the mighty Magic Bullet.

More Snow Part II

I sent Danny a video earlier of the snow we've been having here, but now that it's snowing (again) and harder than my earlier video to him I thought I'd shoot part two and share it with everyone. In case you haven't heard, we had more than a foot of snow between Thursday evening and Friday a.m. Jane got to start Christmas break a day early due to the weather conditions. There's been a lot of baking and present wrapping (most of them with Myles name on them) going on around here lately. We are very excited to celebrate this year and can't wait for it to start with Siri's arrival Monday evening. By the time the holidays are over, we will have celebrated with all of our kids (less Danny of course) either in Iowa or Colorado along with Jane's brother, sister, our nieces and G&G Haugen. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Asheville Thanksgiving

I can't let Christmas creep up on me before I get our Thanksgiving celebration posted.

As empty nesters we don't always have much exciting to post to the blog, but that can hardly be said for what is now becoming our annual Thanksgiving celebration with the Kallis family.

This year we rented a house in Weaverville (just north of Asheville), NC nestled in a beautiful setting in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Jane and I drove through the night to arrive just in time to have breakfast at the local Waffle House. We lounged around for the better part of that day before the festivities got kicked off with the arrival of the crew from Canada and later Ben and Chelsa. This year we had the pleasure of adding Chelsa's cousin Karyse and her husband Derrick to the mix. They were great draft choices as Taylor and Danny weren't available for this year's celebration, and we hope they are able to join us for future adventures.

The weatherman was very cooperative which meant we had plenty of favorable days for hiking, biking and hot tubbing (may I suggest either early morning or late night hot tubs for everyone), and of course the obligatory "Black Friday" shopping.

Being all together in the house really made it feel like being home for the holiday, and with everyone pitching in for kitchen duty (cooking and cleaning) we were able to dine like royalty (traditional Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings; gourmet pizza courtesy of Ben and Derrick, great breakfast selections, and pasta by Lyle to name just a sample of the available fare). Oh, and thanks to Deb for bringing the Nespresso machine for 24/7 coffee, latte, and espresso choices.

As is usually the case, the week passed too quickly, but we had a wonderfully memorable time and can hardly wait until our next meeting. I only regret that we can't do this more regularly but such is life when we have other obligations and geography to overcome.

Twenty-eight hour round trip to Weaverville, $150 - Thanksgiving celebration with the Kallis clan, priceless.

He's leaving home, bye, bye

It was 6:18 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008 and Jane and I were up for the sunrise. We weren't necessarily enjoying it as we were on our way home from dropping Danny at the Cedar Rapids airport so he could begin his next great adventure. I don't know why it's taken so long to post this edition. I guess it's because with Danny now on to Iraq, it really hits home that Jane and I have seen our last, and youngest child, launch himself on his way to independence and adulthood.

It is Danny's intent to spend the next year serving the humanitarian needs of Kurdish Muslims as a volunteer for Millenium, a non-governmental organization that provides community development assistance to people living in crisis. Danny will be there as part of a GAP Team (stand in the GAP) until a long term team is formed.

The secondary purpose of his trip is to bring the word of God's salvation to those who have never heard it before. In his own words, "Working w/ this company will be a tangible blessing to the people, but the focus is to bring the light of Christ into a dark place. This region is an un-reached nation, meaning there is no church proclaiming the gospel. They simply have not heard the Truth of God’s son. They have no way to hear what the Word of God says, unless there are believers who will go to them and share it."

No one ever said we raised a bunch of shrinking violets, eh? Jane and I want to personally thank everyone who is supporting Danny on this mission either financially or through prayer. It really is an eye opener to see the hand of God touch so many in making this trip a reality. If anyone would like to join in supporting Danny's mission, feel free to contact either Jane or me and we can relay the information you need to provide him your continued support.

That's all folks,
Jane and Dick

Who says we're not wired?

Yes, we have our application in for the "over the hill gang" but don't let anyone say we can neither be taught nor wired. This is just the beginning of great things to come, as soon as we remember what we have to blog about.