Happy December! Can’t believe it’s December…I was just getting used to November. Zack and I spent Thanksgiving in Michigan with his family. We ate too much food and had a great time with family. On Thanksgiving day, Zack’s mom, Zack and I delivered Meals on Wheels, what a fun experience. All was going well until I realized that we had more than one meal to deliver…needless to say we had to do some back tracking! We also went to a production called Too Hot to Handel, a jazzed up version of Handel’s Messiah – it was AWESOME! Just a few pictures of our weekend.

Sarah, Ethan and Abby - ready to eat!

Zack definitely ready to eat!!!

After lunch we go over to the relatives for dessert! See EVERYONE in the family is tall...poor me.

Yummy!

Zack, Wilbur, and me...he had just woke up.

The Detriot Opera House.

Zack and I!
Check out our matching sweaters!!

P.S. the new addition to our family!

Snow!

SNOW!! It’s here! Thursday night we received 9.4 inches of snow. I happen to be home alone, because Zack was traveling for work. We had some crazy weather last week. Wednesday night I woke up to thunderstorms and heavy rain. Thursday night I woke up to the wind blowing and blowing snow. Bizarre to think last weekend we were raking leaves…good we didn’t put that off any longer. Here are some pictures of the snow at our house.

Along with the beautiful fall weather comes the raking of leaves! Zack and I finally got around to raking…well we “blew” all the leaves into piles and then raked! I believe we ended up with 13 bags of leaves. Yesterday I was out shopping and heard Christmas music over the loudspeaker…can you believe it??? It’s not even Thanksgiving yet!! CRAZY!

My favorite!!

Walking...

A brisk walk can be so refreshing. I just returned from an invigorating and peaceful walk. For those who don’t live in ND, yesterday was VERY windy. I heard someone say there were 60 mph gusts throughout the day!! Those mighty gusts blew all the leaves off the trees so during my peaceful walk tonight I heard the sound of leaves below my feet… music to my ears. The only thing missing was an apple in my hand! When I returned home I had a small piece of Plachenda (small pastry with pumpkin filling), it reminded me of my grandma. Plachenda was one of the German foods my grandma would make for the grandkids. I sure miss Grandma’s cooking.

Remember I said I wanted to start read biographies…well I finished my first one (I know, it took a while) – My Grandfather’s Son by Clarence Thomas. I would highly recommend it. Now on to the next book…hopefully that won’t take too long to read. If I could only be coordinated enough to read and walk, I could sure get a lot more reading done! I'm always open to new book suggestions!

October

October is here! Fall leaves, pumpkins, cool weather, and one more day closer to Christmas. This past Friday Zack and I volunteered at an event where teenage kids come to talk with “professionals” in the area. It is a project our local Young Professionals Network service team takes part in. Zack gave advice on tenant rights and I answered questions about writing a resume and completing job applications. On our way home we talked about how fortunate we were to be raised by such wonderful parents who cared and loved us so much. Yesterday we went to a beautiful wedding. My favorite part was the table spilling over with chocolate delights. I had to hold myself back from going back three times!!! One thing I enjoy about weddings is that you get to catch up with people you haven't seen in a while. This week my dad cleaned out the garden and picked eight lovely pumpkins. I can’t believe all those leaves and vines only produced eight pumpkins. My tomatoes finally arrived and we are inundated with tomatoes. I think my mom will finally get her fill of tomato sandwiches.

Highway clean up and installing a ceiling fan

Another week has gone by for the Pelhams! It was a busy week for us. We did a highway clean-up project with our Rotary club, we had a good time. Zack and I took a section by ourselves…it’s amazing what you find in a ditch. Thursday we found out my favorite uncle from Michigan was in town. Doug was in MN for a class reunion and decided to drive to ND to see his mom (and of course, us!!). It just so happened that Zack and I planned to install our ceiling fan this weekend. Lucky for us, Doug is very handy around the house…SO on Saturday we put dad and Doug to work. The fan looks great, I am so glad Zack and I didn’t have to figure that one out. Even Lucy was there to help.

Dad made us these great tools for picking up trash. We only had to bend over to pick up glass, it was great!

Meet my uncle Doug!

Zack disposed of the fan and entertained Gramma!!

How many Norwegians does it take to install a fan?!?!?!?

Looks pretty good!!

Smell of fall...

The smell of fall is in the air! I just love it... Zack mowed the yard today and that makes the smell of fall even better. Yesterday we went to the street fair and I indulged in one of my favorite treats– kettle corn! Who ever thought of that mixture was brilliant. Well my interior decorator and handyman have finally returned from Europe, so I asked them to come over and help me with a few things today! We have a small space under the stair for storage and until this day it has been in need of serious organizing. Dad helped me put together shelving and lay out a plan of how to most efficiently store stuff! I believe we were successful with maybe a few tweaks down the road. As for my decorator, what can I say, some people were blessed with the gift of decorating (mom) and others were not (me). She has a wonderful ability to make things look beautiful. As you will see in the pictures my gourds have come in handy!!

Singing and Pie...

What a week!! Thursday night we had a McCain speech party. We had a great time! It’s always nice to get together with friends. I am so excited about Sarah Palin, she is awesome and has added excitement to the GOP!!

We also participated in activities at the assisted living facility where my Grandma (dad’s mom) and Grandpa (mom’s dad) live. Saturday night we went to the weekly sing-along! I even requested a few songs! We were invited to come back next week... Today we participated in the grandparents pie social. My uncle and aunt even joined us. Grandparents are amazing people, they are so full of wisdom. I treasure these times and memories I have with them.

LABOR day!

Happy Labor Day…and what a day of labor it was! Since it’s hard to work on big projects during the week, Zack and I tackled some fall cleaning today. We ended up with 3 garbage bags of trash, lots of boxes and a large pile of clothes for a future garage sale. Problem is, not many people wear 15 size shoes, 36x36 size pants or large tall shirts. Oh well! We cleaned the two guest rooms (we were using them for storage!), guest bathroom, hall closet, and office. We now have more storage for more stuff :)
My favorite time of the year is on the way!! I was running errands today and couldn’t help but walk though the “fall” aisle of the store, I wanted to buy everything but settled for a bag of mixed Hersey’s candy in fall colors! Last year I wanted to decorate with real pumpkins and gords but realized they were rather expensive so I decided when I planted my garden this year, I would plant some fall decorations!!! They are doing great, I can’t wait to use them. I think Zack and dad were thinking pumpkin seeds!!