A Schrockapalooza Thanksgiving

I've been cooking Thanksgiving meals with Emilie since she was about three. I used to pull up a chair and she would do whatever I was doing. Now, she has moved beyond those days to preparing most of the meal herself. She made around 10 pies this year. Not all of them were for us. Seems she has a baking business on the side. She made Pumpkin, Pecan, Apple Crumb, and Buttermilk Coconut (her grandpa's favorite). After lunch we revisited a past event of balancing spoons on your nose. Can you do it? We used to think it took the Schrock nose to do that, but Julie proved that persons not born a Schrock can do just as well.
After eating, we all retreated to the front room for shenanigans. I recently bought a white scarp which we all took turns trying on. The girls decided that Curt should try it on to, but they weren't man enough to take him down and force him to try it on. See view more fun pictures, go to

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2045932&l=418a7&id=161502582 and

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2045935&l=6f768&id=161502582.

No Movie - Movie Night

So we planned a movie night the eve before Thanksgiving because Joe Layne was going to be down from Chicago, but we didn't end up watching any movies. Instead, Emilie suggested that we play "Telephone Pictionary".
Emilie got a little frustrated explaining how to play it to the boys, and as a result, her first phrase was "My family is illiterate". It ended up being a lot funnier than we had anticipated.

It got so comical that Curt and Joe laughed til they cried...literally. Marlin and I managed to pick similar phrases so the drawings on his were similar to mine. In addition, I am surrounded by children and a husband that do quite well at art so you can imagine how sad my little drawings were compared to theirs. For more pictures on this event, go to http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2045923&l=5ac70&id=161502582.

Pray for Dale

Dale Graber is married to Marlin's cousin, Ann. He has been a friend of ours since high school days. He had surgery today and was found positive for brain cancer. He will now have to undergo chemotherapy and radiation. Won't you join us in praying for him?

This first picture is one that I took back in 1974 just prior to my graduation. The second was taken some 34 years later. Dale still has an eye for his Ann!

The Birthday that keeps on Giving...

On Sunday, we celebrated my Birthday as a family. Emilie asked me what I wanted for my birthday meal and I told her Chicken Stir Fry. I had no idea she was going to find a recipe for P.F. Chang's Orange Chicken. She also made me a White Chocolate Black Raspberry Cake. Everyone was there, and can you believe it? I forgot to take a sibling picture...well, maybe at Christmas. I did get a picture of "Oma" and the grandkids. Daylen calls us Oma and Poppie and I hope that name sticks for the other grandkids as well. I didn't think anything would ever be better than having your own children...but I was wrong!


For more pics, click on http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2045688&l=0ce9c&id=161502582

Today is my Birthday!

Today was a good day for a birthday!

Emilie took me to lunch at Mi Pueblo followed by a stop at Starbucks for dessert. Curt & Julie had me over for supper. Julie made french onion soup, the kind that takes you about four hours to prepare. It was really really good! Julie and Curt gave me tea and honey for a present so we all enjoyed a spot of tea with our birthday muffin!

For more pics, see http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2045679&l=1b452&id=161502582

You're Not in Kansas Anymore Dorothy

Ben, Monica, Alex and Haley out on the town looking for candy. They're off to see the Wizard!

BatDaylen, Eastside Unit Retreat & Zombies

The evening started out with a visit from my favorite little Bat...BatDaylen! We discovered that he loves Sour Patch Kids. Emilie bought the Batman outfit for Daylen for his birthday. Daylen walked right in the back door, and said "Trick er Tweet". Mallory said he cried at home when they first put on his costume. She has the funniest picture on her camera, but he was fine by the time he got to my house. Poppie came home just in time to see him before they had to leave.









Emilie showed up not long after that with some of the girls in her charge as RA of "Eastside" for a Halloween Sleep Over. The girls started off with a fashion show of old clothes and costumes that Emilie has used over the years, then ran around in the dark playing Flashlight Hide and Go Seek while I made caramel corn in the house. When they tired of that, they came in and watched movies.









Joe and Mallory stopped by on their way to a Halloween Party. Joe figured this would be a great year to dress up like a Zombie Stock Market Broker since everyone is out to get them. Mallory went as a Zombie Cheerleader.










For more pics, make sure you check out the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2044683&l=ccc6f&id=161502582