The table was covered with pictures taken over the years of practice…not only the practice of medicine, but the practice of practical jokes, funny costumes, fun, and frivolity. Dennis commented, "It’s kind of scary to think we’re trusting our lives to these people!" Carl, seated at the table on the left, practiced with DH before retiring.

DH actually delivered this young woman while he was still practicing obstetrics. Now she works for the hospital.

Once they had a piece of cake, the girls were bored. Out came the DS.

Twenty-five years, and no real plans for retirement. He enjoys the practice of medicine and can’t imagine not working. Maybe he really will make 25 more.

~~Rhonda

DD had a full day. After school DH took her to Dairy Queen for a treat while I finished decorating the cake. I met them at school, took DD to music lessons while DH did some shopping. We went to one of DD’s favorite restaurants for supper, then back home for cake and ice cream. After opening presents, DH and DD went next door to visit Grandma, taking a piece of cake to her.

We have had the kitty cake pan for years. I’ve made lots and lots and lots of kitties! In many different colors. Had to decorate this one in a hurry. DH and I went shopping for a dining room table and chairs yesterday and were home just in time to get this done before taking DD to music lessons.

What does a ten year old girl like to unwrap? Littlest Pet Shop, horses, a book about science experiments, a pair of bluejeans with a top, and some DVDs.

Dad enjoyed watching her open presents. Seemed very odd having only DH, myself and DD here for a birthday celebration.

Adding to her collection.

She said she had a very happy birthday.

~~Rhonda

Gifts included leather garden gloves, a short shovel for digging in flower beds while on his knees (an idiosyncrasy of his which I’ve never understood), and a heater for the bird bath. He has been using the heater we have to keep the half barrel pump/fountain thawed so the outdoor kitties have access to a drink. Now the birds will be happy, too. He also received a cycling jersey and I ordered the 2007 Tour de France 12-hour DVD for him, as well. It should be here this week. Also a special cycling t-shirt which I think he will enjoy.

He is planning his annual “ride my age” birthday ride for New Year’s Day. Fifty-three miles and the weather is supposed to be a high of 27* with 22 mph winds. Yikes…a few friends have committed to going along. Doesn’t sound like an ideal day for cycling, though, does it?

~~Rhonda

• crackers and cheese spread (I left out the chicken.)
• pear/walnut salad
• roast beef (Delicious! Got rave reviews.)
• boiled red potatoes
• carrots and parsnips
• stir-fried sugar snap peas with cherry tomatoes
• almond cake for dessert

Three of the guests came at 7:00, and the others about 7:30, after other obligations. Everyone congregates in the kitchen at our house, so the first three were treated to crackers and cheese spread at the kitchen table, served with kalamata olives. Yummy. DH and I joined them and enjoyed it, too. After our pre-dinner snack, we were surprised by carolers, young people from church. It started our evening with a special Christmas treat.

Lot of chatting, stories, laughter, and good times with these dear friends.

The above punch is one of my favorite punch recipes. It can be served hot or cold. I served it hot at the home extension party last week and served it cold at this one. Our weather has been warmer this week than last and cold punch sounded better than hot.

Spiced Punch

The base:

• 4 c. water
• 1 c. sugar
• 4 three-inch cinnamon sticks
• 12 whole cloves
• 2 T. minced fresh ginger root

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered for one hour. Strain. The base can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Add:

• 8 c. of apple juice
• 8 c. of cranberry juice
• 2 c. orange juice
• 1 c. lemon juice

Makes 16 servings. May be served hot from a crock-pot or cold, over ice.
From “McCall’s Favorite Christmas Ideas” magazine. 1992, p. 108.

I’m working on a post with the Petit Four recipe and will post the recipes for the other dishes I served last night, as well. Enjoy! ~~Rhonda

After the concert, everyone stayed to talk, eat, purchase albums, and tour the house. DD#3 has heard Nathan in concert at youth camp three years in a row, and was very excited about having him perform in our home. She wore her “nathan clark george” T-shirt and she asked him to autograph it for her.

Did I mention the totally yummy food??

Cheese spread on bagel chips and cocktail bread, meat and cheese sticks, meatballs in spicy cranberry sauce, veggie tray and dip, sugarplums, and truffles…what’s not to like!

We have known Nathan for a long time. His father is the pastor of a nearby PCA church, the denomination of which we are members. DH is the presbytery youth camp director and has invited Nathan to do a concert at camp each summer. DD#3 has enjoyed Nathan’s camp concerts for three years and was SO happy to have him come to our home for the house concert. We enjoyed meeting Nathan’s friends, and hearing the three of them in concert was a privilege. We are planning to have them back for next Christmas!

~~Rhonda

After touring the house to see the decorations and the trees, we sat down to enjoy the delicious food. It was quite a feast!

We had so much good food, some of it had to overflow to the drinks table.

Even DD enjoyed the treats.

The weather was rainy, extremely windy and got colder as the day went on. The temperature was about 60* F at noon and down to 36 by 6:00 p.m. But it didn’t keep down the crowd by very many. We usually have about 200 guests and this year we had 170+. It was a tremendous amount of work, but a tremendous amount of fun, too. DH wasn’t able to take as many pictures as I had hoped he could, but others took pictures and I hope to get some copies of those. The party was supposed to start at 2:00 pm and we had company as early as 1:30, so we didn’t have time to take “before” pictures which I like to do each year.

Our friends Gary, Laurie, Bethany and my sister Genny all helped in the kitchen which was great. It’s become a tradition and we so appreciate their generous gift of time! They keep the cookie trays full, the coffee filled, and the punch flowing. I don’t have to give it a second thought. I know it’s in good hands.

The grand-baby tree was a favorite. Everyone liked it.

On the right side of this counter I have a deer. It sits on a piece of tabletop glass which is elevated on wooden blocks. We put white lights under the glass and batting on top. Makes a lovely night time display.

The grand-baby tree sits on the counter in the addition where the guest room, laundry room and downstairs bath are located. Across from the tree there are pictures of our children as babies. I wrap them each year as gifts.

The laundry room and downstairs bath, just off the hall in the addition, have a garden theme for Christmas. The little tree in the laundry room is decorated with garden ornaments, pansies, birds, butterflies, and insects. The tree sits in an old wooden sugar bucket from DH’s family farm.

The wreath on the laundry room door has pansies and small green balls on it.

On the bookcase in the guest room, we display the book A Tale of Three Trees.

The tree in the guest room is decorated with a Victorian theme.

We had a slide show of the baby pictures in the library on my computer and a slide show in the office of cookie making. Guests enjoyed those.

The piano in the office is decorated with pictures of our children. These are pictures that have been used in our Christmas cards in years past.

The young lady who cleans house for us came today and vacuumed cookie crumbs throughout the house. But she didn’t have to do much other cleaning. My kitchen crew had cleaned the entire kitchen, took the serving tables apart, put the tablecloths in the wash, etc., so Sam cleaned the baths and vacuumed the floors. Made it all fresh again. I delivered cookies to the teachers/staff at DD’s school and then did my grocery shopping while Sam cleaned. Now I am enjoying a very quiet relaxing afternoon, which is quite a change from the hectic work we’ve been doing for a few weeks.

Thursday night about 15 women from my home extension group will be here for our Christmas party. The 14th we are hosting a house concert by Nathan Clark George. He has a beautiful Christmas album and will be performing songs from that on the 14th, accompanied by two other musicians.

On the 15th, 12-15 women from a local PCA church are coming for a house tour and potluck supper. A busy but fun time of year.

Time to get supper started. I will try to post more this evening.

You can see these and other pictures on my flickr site.

Cookie Buddies – my friends Laurie, Bethany, and Gary kept the kitchen running and the cookie trays full, along with my sister Genny, who missed getting her picture taken. Because of their tremendous help, we were able to concentrate on greeting our guests.

I put up a “grand-baby tree” in the hall of the addition.

It was decorated with baby items, pictures of the twins, baby footprint ribbon, and blue/pink glass balls, and a fuzzy pink baby blanket served as a tree skirt. This tree garnered a lot of comments. It was a favorite along with the “glass” tree in our bedroom.

Just before the open house, DD1998 added the holly berries to the wreath we painted on the door to the addition. We use poster (tempera) paint. Easy and a fun decoration. DD uses her finger to make the berry dots. This door was originally the front door of the house DH’s father was born in and lived in all his life.

DD1984′s tree had paper doves on it.

DD1987′s tree was decorated with twiggy stars and felt ornaments.

I changed the little tree in the corner of the kitchen counter to display framed pictures of our family.

Saturday afternoon Gary brought over his latest creation…the windows for the door to the downstairs bath! They are beautiful!! Thank you, Gary!

Tomorrow I will post more. Now I’m headed for bed and a good night’s sleep! ~~Rhonda