Lebbon Christmas

They say pictures are worth a thousand words...
Holy Presents!!!

Ed with our new blender.
Dave and his new 5lb bag of gummies.
A jealous Justice.
Justice playing Santa with Mom.
Woo Hoo! I got my iPod Nano!!
We are heading to Toronto for a spa weekend!
A wrapped Emily!

Aunt Mo's Party

Wow, what a night! We had so much fun with the family, that I am not sure it will all get recorded here. However, I have pictures!


We arrived about 6:30pm and were there for a few hours. We got to see Uncle Joe and Aunt Leigh, Uncle Dave & Aunt Paige with all their children and grandchildren. Grandpa and Grandma have arrived for good from Texas. WOO HOO!

Grandma spent a few days in the hospital with chest pains. She seems to be fine, but we are all watching her very closely. It was great having Grandpa and Grandma with us for the holiday.

We took pics of all the grandkids.

We also took pics of all the great grandchildren.

It was a really great night and I am so glad we got to be there.

Christmas Prep

I have been baking and baking for days now. All in preparation for the Christmas Holiday. I am giving gift bags to a few neighbors, and bringing yummies to family. Justice has already started getting into the Christmas spirit, as seen from this picture.

Justice and I will be heading to Lansing on Tuesday. There is a party at Aunt Mo's on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day at Mom & Dad's, and, depending on weather, Christmas with my fam on Friday. Amanda rocks and will be feeding Arthur while I am gone. Check out this awesome picture. I am addicted to "Fringe" on FOX, and I just LOVE how they put cool pictures up before commercials.

Uncle Abe

This is a pic of my Grandma and Uncle Abe from the Spring. It is still hard for me to believe that he is gone. I am on the hunt for more pictures, so if anyone has any, please let me know!

Saying Goodbye

My phone rang at 11:30 last night. It was daddy calling to tell me that his brother Abe had passed at 11:00pm. He had cancer and it finally won it's fight. I HATE CANCER!!!!

Uncle Abe and Aunt Betty live in Georgia, so I am not sure where/when the services will be. If I cannot make it there, I am hoping family does something in Michigan.

Ed's Visit

A pic of the two loves of my life.

Ed got home and Justice decided he was going to sit on him. He licked his face for quite awhile. I am pretty sure Justice is making sure Ed cannot leave again.

Lebbon Thanksgiving Part 2

Justice met the new puppy, Lola. It was NOT love at first sight. She barked at him a few times and he decided she needed to quit so he let out a big dog bark. Lola tried to play with Justice's blue puppy. He did not appreciate that either. At one point, he was seen running with the blue puppy in his mouth and Lola trying to catch up. I think by the end, he was learning to tolerate her. It definitely clarified that he is a jealous dog and there is not room in this family for a second dog.

It was really great seeing family again. I had not see the kids since July, and the adults since Frank's wedding in the fall. I cannot believe how big the kids are getting. Having a chance to spend time with Ed was great! We spent all day Saturday together doing some Christmas shopping, having lunch, watching a movie. It really hit home how often we are spending apart. I am ready for him to be home.

Meinema Thanksgiving

Grandma Meinema and the girls
Justice got a little jealous of Mel hanging out with Ed.

What a great Thanksgiving. It was small with just 6 of us - Vicky, Lori, Andrea, Gramma Meinema, and us. We also had the 2 dogs- Justice and Mel. Having Andrea home was AWESOME. Her trip to South Africa was way too long. She had some great stories and some wonderful gifts for all of us. The greatest gift was getting to wrap my arms around her and not let go for awhile. Seeing Gramma was wonderful. It is way too long between visits, and I need to remember that I do not have forever with her. She is 96 years old and has lived a wonderful life full of laughter and love. I want her around forever. She is so full of love and generosity.

Lebbon Thanksgiving Pics (thanks Dave!)

Justice's Scarf

Andrea made this a couple of years ago and Justice loves wearing it. It is getting cold enough here, that he may actually need it.

New Shower Curtain

Our new shower curtain. It was time for a change and it made a HUGE difference in the room.

So close, yet so far

Today, my Munchkin, Andrea, leaves South Africa and heads home to the USA! I have not seen her since June and cannot wait to wrap my arms around her. Unfortunately, when she arrives in Chicago tomorrow, I cannot be there. But, I am spending Thanksgiving afternoon with her and my never let her leave my sight again. I have missed her so much, but am so proud of her that she took this trip. She learned a lot, took great pictures, and made sure to keep in touch. If you never had a chance to view her blog, click on "Andrea" under "Family & Friends" on the right. Thank goodness for Skype, or I would have gone this whole time without see her face or hearing her voice. We have both been rocking our Coco's this summer!

New Phone

It was time to upgrade my phone, and with as much as I text, it was time for a full keyboard. I got onto the Cingular/AT&T website and purchased this baby! I have had it for one full day, and am realizing it will take me awhile to learn all that it can do.

Damage and Recovery

New Addition

Well, we found a new vehicle! Ed is driving a 2006 Ford F150 4x4. There will be pics later.

Appreciate what you have

I have this dear friend, L, whom I have known since Andrea was 9 months old, so about 20 years. She has not had an easy life, and I thought I knew everything about it. Maybe I did and just cast it out of my brain. Her step dad was a thief, a drug dealer, a wife beater and a child abuser. She recently sent me a letter that she has written so she can get back into college. It made me cry and it made me want to dig up her stepdad's grave and kill him again. She has come so far, and has so much to give. We have supported each other through a lot, more than anyone will ever know, we lose contact because of schedules and distance, but we always find our way back. I know that no matter what, she is someone who will be there for me always. Reading her appeal, I realized that, yes, my life was not easy, but compared to some, mine was a cake walk. My parents may not be perfect, and I may question and disagree with choices that they make, but at least mine were not forcing me to do things that would stay with me for the rest of my life and impact me in a negative way. Sometimes, you never remember how lucky you were until you remember, and hear, that others had it worse and yet they still came through it.

PHEWW!

Ed called this morning. He set his alarm for 3:00AM so that he could get fresh Quality Dairy donuts and bring them to his former co-workers here in Ohio. So, I get a call around 7:30AM that wakes me up. Ed was calling to let me know we may have to go car shopping this weekend. He hit a deer at 3:30AM going about 75MPH. I have not yet seen the car - do not think I want to. He mentioned his car is covered in hair, GROSS!! I am just glad he is okay and able to get home so we can get this situation taken care of. We will publish pics of the car later.

Faith

I am trying to remember what it is I believe in and why. The world these days is in an upheaval and I want to believe it is going to get better. I do not mean for me, I mean for every single person. Yes, I would love to get a bigger paycheck, sell my house, live with my husband, and be closer to family. We need this world to understand that the only way to get us better is to treat eachother better. I no longer watch the news because it depresses me. Every reporter is giving bad news - someone was murdered, someone died in a car crash, there is a serial rapist in your neighborhood, a bomb went off and killed civilians & soldiers. REALLY? Is there no good news in the world?

Fall in Ohio

Change

People are afraid of change. Me, I welcome it when it comes to this election. Our country needs a shake up and President Elect Obama is the man to do it. Yep, I voted for him, unlike most of the people I know. People were shocked - "but Stacy, you are so conservative, you are a hard worker, you HATE social welfare programs." These are all true, but when I looked back on the last 8 years under President Bush, I could not find one thing that made me happy that he had been in office.

I am hoping that President Elect Obama keeps his promises and changes this country for the better. Social welfare programs are good, if they are done right. They should not be forever, there needs to be limits per person, there needs to be requirements that you are in school, or getting job / career training. This country is the "Land of Opportunity" and our citizens need to take advantage of this and make something of themselves. It is so much more rewarding when you earn what you get rather than sitting on your ass and waiting for a handout. Stand up, be proud, make something of yourself.

Privilege

Today is election day. It is not a right to vote, it is a privilege. For those who feel that this decision does not affect them, please think again. Let's take a look back at the last 8 years and ponder this...would my vote have made a difference? Would the world be a different, better place if I had voted?

This is the first year of my life where I paid attention to the candidates. I always voted, but I was never really into it like I was this year. I watched the debates, I read the mail that I got about candidates, and I listened to the issues that were up for vote. These past 8 years have really shown me what I do not want this country to be. It is time for a change and you can help make that change happen.

If you have already voted, GOOD FOR YOU!! If you have not, or do not plan on it, SHAME ON YOU!! Get out there and VOTE today. You CAN make a difference!

Sad News for Me

The Pistons reached a deal with the Nuggets today. They are trading my Chauncey and Antonio McDyess for Iverson. I am completely depressed.

Interesting Saturday

Amanda popped over again this weekend. It was not planned, as I was not really feeling well. We did a little shopping at Meijer and then came back to the house and put on our pajamas and vegged out. We tried a new shot - Candy Corn - and drank some Midori & Sprite. Both were YUMMY!! We drank more than we thought because it all tasted so good and so easy to drink. I am afraid that these pictures show how "happy" we were.

We tried some new recipes - truffles, lemon bars, spinach artichoke dip. The best spinach artichoke dip I have had. We even toasted our own pita chips to eat. Truffles were easy, but not. They were pretty labor intensive, only two ingredients, but messy as you are rolling them in your hand and trying to get them to not melt. The lemon bars are some of the best.

We watched a couple of movies - I Am Legend and Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. Let me just say "OH MY GOODNESS!" Thank goodness Amanda was here, because if I had watched "I Am Legend" by myself, I would not have slept for days!!!! It was phenomenal, but freaking scary! Thank goodness for Magorium, it helped get rid of some of the images in my brain.

What a week...

Ed left for Michigan and I headed back to work.  It was busy busy. The weather got really cold and then got really warm.  AND, I started getting sick.  HMMM, imagine that - rapidly changing weather and people catching colds.  At least it was beautiful for Halloween.  I missed it this year, due to work.  Which was good, since I did not buy any candy.Had my first actual order for the bakery!!  I made some mini mocha cappucino cupcakes for a birthday.  I hope they like them.  I am waiting to find out on Monday how it went.

Justice & Ed In Pictures

As you can see below, Justice enjoyed having Ed back home. Of course, I think it was just so he could remind Ed who is in charge around here!

Weekend

Ed came home for the weekend! It was nice seeing him, as it has been about a month since I got to wrap my arms around the love of my life. I made my chicken in a white wine cream sauce on Friday night. We ate pretty late, as we were just spending time with eachother when he got home. On Saturday, my friend Amanda came over for dinner - I made lasagna. It was nice having them finally meet. After all, Amanda is here every weekend that Ed is gone, and she has become a very good friend.

Today, we got up and did a little grocery shopping. Ed is making meatloaf and I am handling the mashed potatoes. I am also making carrot cupcakes for Lorraine - it was her birthday on Friday and she wanted carrot cake - I talked her into cupcakes!

This week, I make my first order for "Indulge with Stacy" - co-worker ordered cupcakes for her son's birthday!!! I will try to take a pic of the finished product.


On a side note - way to go, Nate! We saw your report card and we are so proud of you! AND, we heard about your 30 yard reception in Saturday's game. Love and hugs!

Lambie

This is Lambie. He is free at Bath & Body Works with a $15.00 purchase, and comes i black, white, or grey. He is so soft. I needed to buy a few things there, and decided to take him home. Justice, of course, thought it was a new toy for him. This year, they have changed their "Softest Ever" Blanket. It is MUCH softer than last year, and has the same face as Lambie. This comes in black or white. It took everything I had not to buy the black one.

House Guest

We have had a house guest since Wednesday. Her name is Cleo, she is a border collie that belongs to my co-worker, Jarling. Cleo is a rescue dog. She has a very sensitive stomach, so her food is a little complicated - soft food, rice, and dry food. She is a loving dog, and just needs a lot of love and attention. However, as you can see, she LOVES watching out the window for hours at a time.


Justice, not a huge fan. He is a very jealous dog. When I try to give Cleo attention, he makes noises and then "noses" her to start a fight and show he is the Alpha. It was very hard to get a pic of them together, but I did it. They are definitely reluctant friends.