Christmas and supper

We had a good Christmas this year. Dan, of course, was pretty busy with church services on Sunday, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. The kids and I went to one service on Sunday and Christmas Day, but managed to make it to both churches for Christmas Eve! Sarah especially enjoyed holding the individual candles for those services.
After it started snowing on Christmas Day, we rushed to pack the car and leave early for Iowa in order to stay out of most of the storm. It worked pretty well, and we had a wonderful visit. More on that later.
Tonight, we had a supper worthy of You Can Make That Again!
Yummy Tortillas
Fill tortillas with scrambled eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, salsa, sour cream, and cheddar cheese. Eat and enjoy!
It was a pretty simple recipe. :)

Videos Are Here

I think we figured out how to post a video of Sarah's dance recital on YouTube so here goes (it's only a little over a minute long): Sarah's Dance Recital
Just click on the green link to watch it.
Sarah's the little one second from the end with dark braids who jumps a lot and waves at the camera. Yes, she does. :)
The 3-5 year old class has only met 7 times so far, so we were impressed that the teacher got them to line up and follow her at least most of the time! She's a good teacher, and the girls really like her.
We'd also like to call your attention to Dan's Transformers Frenzy Video, which seems to have become an international sensation on YouTube. Notice that there are two (yes, TWO!) comments on it, one from England and one from Croatia. We are very proud.

Sarah's Dance Recital

Sarah had her first dance recital tonight! Her group has had seven classes, and they did a lovely routine to "You've Got a Friend in Me" from Toy Story. They clapped, jumped, spun, and even did a plie or two. Here you see Sarah trying to hug a classmate and jumping up and down while they get ready for the music to start.
The recital was in the gym at Family Wellness, where we go for swimming, gym class, and dance. We were guessing that most dance recitals do not have a basketball bouncing-sound prelude, but it worked out just fine.

The boys even had a good time at the recital tonight. Here you see Michael demonstrating "Touch Your Nose" for the camera. This kept Dan entertained too, but he's holding the camera so you can't see it. :)

Roast Pheasant!

Tonight we had our first roast pheasant, after a year and a half in South Dakota! A family from Hurley brought a pheasant and some stuffing mix to the open house yesterday, along with instructions on how to fix it. We had it tonight for supper, and it was delicious!
Dolores's Roast Pheasant
Cut off legs of pheasant. Brown rest in butter in cast iron skillet. Remove pheasant, and cook onions and celery in drippings. Add cubed up thin slices of Irene's failed wheat bread (or any other bread, if Irene hasn't given you any bread that rose too much). Add a box of Stove Top stuffing and about 2 cups of water to skillet. Cover with foil and bake in oven at 350 for about an hour. Enjoy!

We had this with butternut squash, mashed and microwaved with brown sugar and butter. Squash is one of the kids' favorite dishes.

Musicians in the Parsonage

Here we have our little musicians. David is playing his recital piece, The Flower Song. He looks pretty serious in the first picture! Don't worry, though. He can also be quite silly (see the other picture).

Sarah has developed an alter ego based on some shoes that she got on a dollar store trip with Grandma Redhage. When she puts on the blue feathery shoes, pink backpack and hat, and grabs the Fisher-Price electric guitar, she turns into Lavender Blue, the rock star. Some days, her name is Lavender Pink. It just depends how much of each color she is wearing. In this picture, she has set her guitar down and is just doing a funny dance.

Recipe update

Friday's lunch received a You Can Make That Again rating for the cheddar and pepper jack grilled cheese sandwiches. Tonight's supper of Sweet and Sour Turkey, however, did not....

The Ice Store

We had an ice storm Friday night! We went to the Centerville Library open house after supper and enjoyed a silent auction and bluegrass concert and even walked home with no sign of any stormy weather. Early Saturday morning, however, David woke me up by shouting, "Winter is here! There is snow everywhere! It is December!!!!" The roads were too slippery to go anywhere, so we had a good day at home. David and Sarah spent much of the day outside, as it wasn't too cold, and David shoveled our back sidewalk and built an Ice Store, where you can purchase all kinds of ice. There are big flat pieces, little flat pieces, big curved pieces, little curved pieces, and even icicles. The Ice Store even shipped some big flat pieces of ice to the chair on our front porch today.