Monday, December 28, 2009:Almost every Monday night, Grandpa Jones spends his evening "working on the railroad" over at his friend Thom's house. But this past Monday, Thom gave all of us a special invitation to come and "run trains." Since I was still too sick (yuck), I stayed home. In fact, just the little kiddos + Sabrina and Grandpa Jones went over to have fun with the trains. 
I wanted to show you these pictures because they are so nice of Grandpa Jones and everyone. Since I wasn't there, I can't give you much of a narrative.
See Karis holding the remote control? She is now big enough to "operate" a train. Grandpa Jones said her remote was controlling the sound effects of her train too.
Jackson looks obviously thrilled to be there, SURROUNDED BY TRAINS ... look at his happy little face!
Sabrina has known our friend Thom since she was a wee tiny girl herself!
Since the kiddos are still too short to see all of the cool stuff in the layout, they have to be lifted up to get a better view. It looks like Jackson is really enjoying being in control of this model train.
Sabrina said that after they had played trains for awhile, everyone went upstairs to visit with Barb (Thom's wife) and their two beautiful little dogs. They didn't return home until nearly 10 o'clock!
Olivia and I enjoyed a quiet evening, wrapped in warm blankets in our cozy jammies, watching Olivia's copy of PHANTOM of the Opera (which I had never seen). Since she is 14, sometimes Olivia just needs an evening that is separate from what the youngsters are doing ~ and this was a really wonderful time together with her for me!
Last Sunday was hodge-podge kind of a day. We enjoyed a great time of worship together at church in the morning. Isn't this a great picture of sleepy Jeremiah and his Aunt Sabrina?!
And I absolutely love this one of Emily! Emily and baby Jeremiah came over early afternoon to hang out with us. Adam had to return to Minneapolis so that he could go back to work, but Emily and Jeremiah stayed here in Grand Rapids for a few extra days ... 
I tried to get a nice picture of the little kiddos still all dressed up in their "Christmas best", but I didn't have opportunity to do so BEFORE church ... so this is AFTER church and BEFORE our pizza arrived ... with facial expressions to match! 
* * * * * * * * * *Later on in the afternoon, I slipped away because I was invited over to Shane's place to have a small Christmas celebration. Kelly and Dylan were there too ... I got a great cookbook from them called "The New Moosewood Cookbook" full of amazing soup, salad, sauce, rice, vegetarian types of recipes ... I can't wait to try them out!
I love this beautiful picture of our Kelly O'Brien and Dylan ...* * * * * * * * * *Since Nana and Roy had been pretty much "homebound" because of the slippery weather, they were unable to come across town to our house ... even on Roy's 89th birthday! They only live about 10 minutes from Shane's place, so I took a few presents and a completely pathetic b'day cake over to them!
Grandpa Jones and I got Roy one of those upside-down tomato growers that you've seen on TV. Roy is famous for his tomatoes! We thought he'd enjoy this crazy tomato contraption, just for fun!
Sunday was Roy's 89th birthday. He doesn't at all act his age! He doesn't look like he is practically 90, does he? He is even nicer than he looks ... and I think he LOOKS extremely handsome! Not everyone gets to live this many years in such great health. On his birthday card this year, I used this verse: "When people live to be very old, let them rejoice with EVERY DAY OF LIFE." Ecclesiastes 11.8
I spent a few days with my Aunt Jan in Detroit prior to flying out to El Paso earlier in December. While I was with her, she made the yummiest turkey noodle soup. I watched her make it, took some mental notes while with her and then promptly forgot exactly WHAT she did WHEN ... but I wanted to duplicate that delicious smell and great soup for our family last week ... so I googled "turkey noodle soup" on the internet, printed out the best looking recipe, and made some! The Monday prior to Christmas, I was out doing some last-minute Christmas shopping. I had a few books "on hold" over at Eerdman's Publishing Company/Bookstore and went over to pick them up. I love this bookstore. They have a wonderful children's section, as well as an entire wall of "slightly irregular" books for 70-80% off! I couldn't resist looking through that sale section, so the few titles I had called ahead to have put on hold kind of grew ...One of my favorites that I picked out that day was "Grandpa's Soup," wonderfully written by Eiko Kadono and beautifully illustrated by Satomi Ichikawa. It was originally published in 1997 in Japan, but Eerdman's picked it up and published it here in 1999.
Rather than to try and summarize the story for you myself, here is what the Horn Book Guide had to say about it: "Unhappy after Grandma's death, Grandpa finally decides to re-create the soup she used to cook. With each try, he remembers another ingredient, and every day he shares his soup with an increasing number of guests -- from mice to children ..."Saturday, December 26, 2009:
Since we had so much leftover turkey from our Christmas Eve meal, and we had so many future lunches to prepare, and I had tasted my Aunt Jan's delicious soup and had a good recipe from the internet, I decided to make some tasty turkey noodle soup. And why not read this beautiful book to Jackson and Karis while I was preparing it?
I will tell you, Jackson and Karis were less than enthused about the prospect of turkey noodle soup! But no matter, I certainly wasn't going to force them to eat it ... and there were plenty of other folk coming and going around the Jones Junction that perhaps (!) WOULD like a hot bowl of soup for lunch ... so I was undeterred!
I didn't have time to take many pictures of this whole process. I KNOW Karis and Jackson's little faces don't look very happy in these pictures ~ but actually, they DID enjoy the story very much!
And I absolutely LOVED reading it to them as I made the soup!
This huge pot-full of soup was enjoyed (by at least some of us) for a few lunches. It made our whole house smell yummy and delightful. I'm glad I made it! :) Here is the recipe I used:COUNTRY TURKEY NOODLE SOUP (printed from COOKS.COM)3 (14-1/2 oz) cans Swanson clear ready-t0-serve chicken broth (I used some leftover turkey broth + 1 can of Swanson's)1/4 C chopped celery1/4 C chopped carrot1 Tbsp minced onion1 Tbsp minced parsley1/8 tsp poultry seasoning1/8 tsp thyme leaves2 C diced cooked turkey1 C cooked medium noodlesIn a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat, combine all ingredients EXCEPT turkey and noodles. Cover; heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low. Cook 20 minutes until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. (Actually, you can cook these vegetables much longer and just let them kind of stew on LOW). Cook noodles according to package and then add the cooked noodles and turkey, making sure the turkey is heated through before serving. Grandpa Jones thinks this recipe would have been better with less turkey broth, because of the fat content. He says perhaps equal parts water and turkey broth would have worked better. Perhaps he is right!* * * *It is now New Year's Day 2010. I am very behind in posting pictures from the last week. I plan to work on them during the next few days and kind of post a day at a time. Grandpa Jones is sicker than a dog. Both of us were way too exhausted to go the New Year's Eve party we were invited to last night ... we stayed at home like a couple of lumps and did absolutely NOTHING. It was actually kind of wonderful!It's difficult to believe Christmas has come and gone. It feels like kind of a BLURR. Lots of stuff happened. We made many many nice memories with our family which I will share in the days ahead. But I would be lying if I didn't tell you there were some "bumps" along the way. I've decided to sit down in the next day or two at my computer and write down the activities and plans that worked well and the ones that did not ... as well as all of the meals and holiday goodies that were made ... how could things be made simpler next year? Two of our Texas families weren't even "home" this year ... what would happen if EVERYONE was able to come home for the holidays all at once? How could we possibly accommodate that many folk eating that many meals at our house? So I'm going to try and figure that out while everything is fresh on my mind. In the meantime, I hope your New Year is the best one ever ...
NOTE: Grandma Jones is a little bit behind posting pictures and telling you our Christmas story. I like to keep current because journals ought to operate that way! But sometimes life just interferes with our best-laid plans, and then you just have to roll with the punches. ...In the last few weeks, I've been surrounded by "sick" folk with various forms of "bugs" ... but remained healthy! I was thinking I was in the clear ... but NOPE! Christmas Eve I felt rather squeemish, and then Christmas Day I woke up rather ... sick! But what can you do but forge ahead? So that's what we did! At one point during the Christmas dinner, it looked like a scene out of "Home Alone" where everyone is bumping into each other scattering to get everything ready ~ we had 14 people partaking of our Christmas feast, and even though I was less than well, we did have a lovely time together ... one of the happiest Christmases I can remember!Presently, it is late in the afternoon on the Monday after Christmas. Andrew, Sabrina, and the children have gone downtown to visit one of the museums for the afternoon, so I am going to try and do a little "catch up" with this blog. CHRISTMAS DAY 2009:Grandpa Jones and I were abruptly woken up at 7:45 a.m. Christmas morning! How on earth did we manage to sleep in?! Yikes! The little kiddos had been awake for ... a long time (!) and really wanted to open their stockings. They had already read the Christmas story (without us) and were ready, set, go (!) to attack their stocking stuffers.
Since Karis is the youngest of the family, she was the first! I loved her comment when she yanked this Ken doll out of her stocking: "Oh goodie! A BOY Barbie!"
Jackson got some very very cool stuffers too: LEGOs, NERF equipment, and I forget what else (see what happens when you don't journal right away?)
Olivia's stocking was stuffed full of the very things this beautiful young lady enjoys. She was so pleased!
And then it was Sabrina's turn ...
I loved this expression! Well ... it's not every single day you receive DIAMONDS for a present!
Aren't they beautiful?
And lastly, Sir Andrew opened his stocking which was full of very very nice pens for his office (I was coveting some of those pens!) and I believe Sabrina purchased a beautiful new watch for him that was hiding in the bottom of this stocking ... I think we took a little break and had breakfast at this point and I haven't the slightest idea what I fixed or how many of us ate any of it at all! Because very soon, we were back to opening more presents. I'm going to run a few pictures of that process, commenting only when necessary.
Okay ... Grandpa Jones thought this was pretty hysterical. This package of Littlest Pet Shop had this warning label plastered across the top. Read it carefully because Karis had her third b'day last February and will turn four in just two months ... so ... hmmm ... it's not for children UNDER 3, but it IS for children ages 4+. Sigh. I guess Karis will have to wait two months before she can play with this! (I hope you know I'm joking).
This is the beautiful calendar Sabrina made for Grandpa Jones and I. Doesn't she do a nice job? We will treasure these great pictures of her family ... all year long! :)
Jackson's passion is LEGOs. He likes to build models by himself, but he also likes the very detailed models that are SO difficult to build! I do have a picture (somewhere) of Andrew building some of these presents for Jackson ...
See how slightly enthused (!) Jackson is when he opened the gift from his Uncle Adam and Aunt Emily?
And Karis Danielle received a Pixie outfit (that is the cutest little costume I have ever seen) from Uncle Adam and Aunt Emily ... we took SO many pictures of her wearing it and it was difficult to choose just one!
Dylan and Kelly were supposed to travel to Minnesota to join her family for Christmas, but our wintery north put a halt to that plan for them. I was sad for Kelly ... but I was happy that we got to share our Christmas with them, as well as with Shane, this year. 
I love this digital frame that I received as a present from ... Adam and Emily ... I have wanted one for ever so long!
And did I mention how nice it was to have Shane sitting here in our front room enjoying our day with us? I know I have, but having him here just made my Christmas extra special. 
And look at baby Jeremiah's outfit ... what a little doll!
Grandpa Jones could not have been happier than he was toting this precious grandbaby around with him all day ...
Aunt Sabrina did get a FEW turns holding her newest nephew ...
And then it was time to sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY to JESUS! I would show you a more detailed picture of the cake, but it was SO pathetically decorated ... long story ...
Ah yes! Here is the snapshot of Andrew putting one of the LEGO models together. He did a very nice job of it and Jackson was pretty thrilled to see it all come together.
Grandpa Jones and I got Karis Danielle a little tin tea set ... I think Sabrina was enjoying herself hugely playing with it ...
What a great picture! MOST of these pictures are from Grandpa's camera. I didn't do much with picture taking Christmas day.
Christmas 2009 is over ... lots of nice memories were made ... and hopefully JESUS was honored and adored throughout. I have more stuff to tell you about and some more pictures, but it will have to wait for another day when hopefully I am feeling better! Take care now!
P.S. We talked on the phone with Jesse, Diana, Emma, Christopher and Matthew in El Paso. We passed the phone around and let Jesse talk to several of the family ~ and then later in the evening, we happily talked to Nicolas in Bandera. Our Bandera grandchildren were napping at the time, so we didn't get to hear their voices ... I also spoke to my brother, David (Florida) who was heading over to EPCOT with his school choir to do some singing ... and I talked to my sister, Ruthanne (Detroit) as well. Nana and Roy were prevented from joining us because of the very slippery road conditions, so we were sad for them! But I was able to go and visit them on Roy's 89th birthday two days later ... I'll show you some of those pictures ... later. :)
Grandma Jones actually woke up rested, refreshed and ready to play last Tuesday morning. Naturally, I had a few kiddos who thought playing was a good idea!
We got out our wooden block sets and built roads and garages and all kinds of stuff for our little cars and trucks down in the basement playroom. It was SO nice to finally not be sick!
Children have such amazing imaginations. It was so fun to just play and play with all of the nice toys we have accumulated down through the years.
After naptime, a few of the brave and daring (all 3 of them) enjoyed about 40 minutes in the hottub ... Karis swims like a little fish! Jackson stayed inside and played LEGOs right by the door where he could watch the action outside. 
And a little bit later on, Jackson was my "kitchen assistant" and helped me make a very nice Chef's Salad for the family dinner hour. I think this was my favorite time with Jackson because it was just the two of us talking and interacting. Jackson is a very nice little grandson and was very helpful in making our dinner!
We dumped out a pile of foam stickers on the dining room table and went to town making great pictures that afternoon.
This is a great way to pass an enjoyable hour with children of most any age. The best part is just chatting with everyone around the table.
Grandpa Jones picked out an old fashioned ice cream maker for Christmas this year, the kind with the crank and the barrel tub. Everyone got in on the action and made the MOST delicious ice cream ~ rich with almond flavoring, soft and creamy ~ YUM!
And after we ate up all of our ice cream, we got ready for bed and watched the first half of "Up", one of the best animated films I have ever seen! So we really had a nice day Tuesday ... glad I could share it with you!
