Emilie & Logan go to a Lakers Game

Rebecca just sent me these photos. These photos were taken last Friday when Emilie and Logan went to work with Rebecca. I believe the picture above of Rebecca, Emilie and Laura was taken outside of Rebecca's office in Santa Monica.





Clay and Rebecca treated Emilie and Logan to Chinese and a Lakers game. They were even on the Jumbotron at some point during the game so that was exciting as well. What are the odds of Emilie getting on the Jumbotron? When she went to see the Cinncinati Reds play, she was on the Jumbotron there as well.

We picked them up at the airport yesterday. They left LA at midnight Saturday night and didn't get here until 12:45 pm (our time). They didn't get to sleep much on the first leg of the trip because they were on opposite sides of the aisle and in the middle. Emilie sat next to some guy that was around 6 foot 10 inches tall. She said she felt sooo sorry for him because he was squished in there like a sardine. Logan said they came through quite a bit of turbulence and one lady ahead of them was freaking out because she said the plane was going to crash. They had a lay over in Minneapolis and I think they misunderstood the term "layover" because they said they both laid literally on the floor and slept until a plane landed and people started coming through the door right by where they were sleeping. haha! They had many great stories to tell of their adventures. I will try to get Emilie to sign on here and post some of her stories of their time bonding with their California cousins.

Thank you Rebecca and Laura for taking such good care of my gal and her beau!

For more pictures, check out this link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2049651&id=161502582&l=7411e.
Once Emilie gets me her photos, I will post them for all to see.

Emilie & Logan in California

Emilie and Logan are spending their Spring Break week in California with Rebecca and Laura. Reports back are that they are having a GREAT time bonding with the California cousins! They have laid on the beach, spent many hours riding bikes, went boogie boarding (Emilie says she wiped out but Logan did quite well), ate wonderful California food, and tonight they are going to a Lakers Game thanks to Clay. I'm pretty sure that these first two pics were taken at Rebecca's place. I don't have any of Laura and Ted yet, but will try to post some when they return.

They leave to fly back home tomorrow night at midnight and won't get into Indy until Noon on Sunday. The funny thing about that is that they will be in the air when Daylight Savings takes place so they will not only lose the time change coming home, but an additional hour thanks to Daylight Savings. Logan says that he is getting plenty of reading time as he is an early riser. Sounds like he enjoys his early morning times of solitude on the beach. Emilie sent me this pic live via her Mac just before they left for one of their 8 mile bike rides. She says she sunburned her knees that day. I can't wait to hear about all their adventures when they return!

An Idaho Christmas

hello family! this is a bit late, but i wanted to share with you all a smattering of moments from our idaho christmas! above you'll see the ever-faithful Buddy, dad's favorite companion and mom's new "child." in his mouth you'll see one of about 1,000 chew toys/bones/snacks he owns. he also owns my parents and owned me during my 2.5 week stay at the old farm.

apparently, no christmas was complete without playing "rockband" on the x-box. matt brought his set over and we jammed away for several hours. i also played this with friends on new year's eve, as did many of my ohio companions. this was the game of '08!

my cousin cassidy (from the janzen side) stopped by for a pre-christmas visit, and we made the traditional batch of sugar cookies in fun, festive shapes. from this i learned that a 7-year-old is better with icing than i'll ever be.

dad's friend lolo from church was in san francisco and was nice enough to bring us 3 fabulous just-caught crabs. he picked them up, drove through the night and delivered them to our kitchen, where we enjoyed them heartily in the janzen style.

i have been LOVING my new camera, (thanks to lou for help picking it out) so i spent much of my break playing around with it. i had a great time snapping scenes of the farm in it's rare blanketing of snow.

i was also able to take a few drives and catch some mighty beautiful sunsets. the cow shots were for dad...

lynn and mike had us over for a pre-new year's dinner, and during our conversation the similar hats were modeled.

this was a wonderful christmas for the janzen family, and we wish you all a spectacular 2009!

Christmas with Ben's Family

Ben and Monica made the trek down to Kokomo on Saturday so we could celebrate Christmas together. It is amazing how fast the grandkids grow when you don't see them weekly. Alex laid down on the floor next to Poppe in this picture. It was so cute and reminded me of a time when the boys used to do that to my dad when he would exercise on the floor. Haley is really stretching out and is not that much shorter than Alex now. I can't begin to express how much we enjoy and love our grandkids. We are truly blessed!

To see more pictures, click on this link: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2047486&l=1a9dd&id=161502582

New Year's Day Dinner

For New Year's Day, we had an Italian Feast and ate each course separately per Marlin's request. We started off with Zuppa Toscana (soup and bread) followed by an Italian salad, lasagna and finally dessert. In this picture, Curt and Joe are having "Wedding Ring Wars". It's kind of like the old paper football game that guys play in Junior High. You can see in this picture that Curt is getting ready to launch his ring on the catapult spoon. While I was up getting the camera, Joe flipped his wedding ring in Julie's soup and soup went spraying everywhere. Marlin says they ruined his BMW t-shirt as you can see, but he was just being dramatic (don't worry it washed out). haha!

For more pics, go to http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2047483&l=1a6cc&id=161502582.

Here is my soup recipe in case anyone wants to try it!

Zuppa Toscana

1 lb. Italian Sausage
1/2 lb. Smoked bacon, chopped
2 (14.5) cans Chicken Broth
1 Quart Water
4 Large Potatoes (I always add extra, sometimes up to 6-8 depending upon the size)
1 Medium Onlion, chopped
2 Large Garlic Cloves
2 Cups washed & chopped Kale or Swiss Chard
1 Cup Whipping Cream
Salt & Pepper to taste

Dice potatoes and place in a soup pot with the water, broth, onions, and garlic.
Add salt & pepper. Cook until tender. While potatoes are cooking, cook sausage,
then the bacon. Place in a bowl with paper towel to absorb the grease until ready
to go into the pot. Once potatoes are tender, add the sausage and bacon and simmer
for 10 minutes. Add the Kale and the Cream to the pot. Let cook another 5-10 minutes
until the Kale is tender but not overcooked. Eat and enjoy!

A Schrock Family Tradition Indiana Style

In the fall of 1907, Great Grandpa Samuel Schrock homesteaded out to Colorado. He was 43 years old. Guns were an important tool for survival in the west and during the Great Depression when so many people were starving. The skill of shooting a gun has since been passed down from generation to generation. Curt bought his black powder rifle when he was around 10 or 12 years old. I've always said that he was my little Daniel Boone. Almost everyone got in on the action on New Years Day.
To see more pics of these rootin tootin gun slingers, go to http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2047488&l=ce297&id=161502582.

Ushering the New Year in with Daylen, Curt & Julie

Curt and Jules stayed with us for a few days during the break. We played games and ate and sat by the fire. What a relaxing way to spend the day. Daylen spent the night with us and even helped usher the New Year in by sitting faithfully by Julie's side while we watched The Great Escape with Steve McQueen and others. Curt has a unique way of playing with Daylen but I don't think Daylen liked his Uncle Curt's game.

For more pics of Julie, Curt and Daylen, go to http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2047488&l=ce297&id=161502582. You don't need a Facebook account to look at my pics.

Daylen and Poppe

What an unusual day it was today. Can you believe that it was 64 degrees in Indiana? I mean it's the end of December for crying outloud. Where is our snow??? Marlin and I went for a walk on the Walkway today and I was in short sleeves believe it or not. That will all change tomorrow as the cold front is coming and it will be back in the 30's. Joe brought Daylen over tonight. They're going to go watch some fight on Pay Per View at a friends house.

Christmas 2008

On Christmas Eve this year, Marlin, Emilie and I made treats to give to our friends. I made fudge, sugar cookies, and Starbucks Cream Cheese Pumpkin Muffins. Marlin made his annual mice and helped frost the sugar cookies. Emilie made Peppermint Bark and Marble Bread. We celebrated that night by attending our annual Christmas Eve service at McGrawsville. It was a really nice and meaningful service. Christmas day was spent preparing our meal of Rosemary Herbed Roast, Dijon Carrots, Roasted Potatoes and Onion, Green Bean Casserole and of course, our traditional cornbread stuffing. Grandma brought her custard, my personal favorite. Emilie made an apple crumb pie and a key lime pie. After dinner, we all played Apples to Apples. Marlin one both rounds. See more pictures at: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2046742&l=eede8&id=161502582.

No Snow for Christmas Here

Tuesday was my last day at work for the year and it ended on an icy note. My boss let us leave early because the rains that tormented us all through the day turned to ice and the cars as well as the parking lot had turned into an icy mess. The drive home was a little scary in spots where there was water sitting on top of the already iced over roadways. I had to drive 20 mph all the way home. When I got home, the ice had already formed a shell on the drivers side and when I opened my door, it fell off in one big piece. On Wednesday, Christmas Eve, I awoke to the sight you see in this picture. The temps continued to rise and the sun even came out a bit later melting all the ice off the roadways.

Christmas Morning On Sunday Night

Emilie is the Queen of themed parties so this year, she planned a Christmas Morning On Sunday Night Party for some of her high school friends. Everyone was supposed to come dressed in their "jammies". Emilie made waffles, pancakes and french toast. The boys brought sausage and the girls brought milk, juice, monkey bread and snacks. They played games including Risk, cards and Telephone Pictionary followed by their Annual Christmas Tradition...Watching Home Alone. They even took pictures representing the cover of the movie. Follow this link to see more pics: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2046578&l=80953&id=161502582.

Christmas Party at IWU

Each year our President throws us a big Christmas party. The activities include the kids getting presents from Santa, free Christmas movies in the Globe Theater, a jazz band playing in the background, food and plenty of fellowship. We took Daylen this year and he was certainly the center of our attention.










Afterwards, we stopped to watch the Musical Christmas Tree. I don't have any pictures of it other than this one taken of Emilie and Daylen watching from the backseat, but it was really awesome. A professor at IWU puts it on. Each song takes about 30-40 hours to program according to his wife who comes out to the car and brings you a program and cookies. Daylen was mesmerized and pointing at the lights until I took this picture. As you can see the light from the camera gave him a scowl....funny!

More pictures can be found at: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2046576&l=2a4dc&id=161502582.

The Grinch Appeared at IWU

Emilie is an RA in North Hall Complex this year. It is the Freshman Mentoring dorm and she is loving her position in leadership. The University throws a Christmas Party at the end of the semester and leadership activities always involve contests. Needless to say, it is evident that their dorm won the coveted Costume Award for 2008. Her RD (Resident Director) in the the Grinch Costume and all the rest of the girls are the RA's. For more pictures, check out this link: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2046574&l=ffa91&id=161502582.

It's beginning to look alot like WINTER!!!

Farmer's Almanac says: "After a mostly mild November, snow at Thanksgiving will signal the coming of a very cold period, especially in the west (of the state of Indiana, that is) . Temperatures will seesaw from January through March. Precipitation will generally be below normal, with above-normal snowfall in the southwest and below-normal snowfall in most other parts of the region. The coldest periods will occur in December, early and mid-January, and in early and mid-February. The snowiest periods will be in early and mid-December, early to mid-January, early February, and early March." Well, so far, they are right on the money. There's only one thing to do when the weather's like this. Walk to the mailbox and look for your latest installment of Netflix! Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow...

For more pictures of what you're missing, click on the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2045937&l=fc033&id=161502582

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.