Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time!

This month truly flew by. As such, I have decided to finish out the year with one big post of all of our Christmas activities and festivities and the like. I hope you're ready.

December 2nd I took the boys to the post tree lighting and carol singing. Santa showed up, riding in on a fire truck.

December 7th we got, set up, and decorated our Christmas tree.

December 22nd Santa came around post, handing out candy canes to all the kids. Again, he was riding on a fire truck.

Truth be told, if I had the option, I would totally motor around town hanging out the top of a fire truck.

December 24th we made gingerbread cookies (and went to the candle light service at chapel).

December 25th was Christmas!

My dad and Karen came over around lunchtime. My mom and all them came for dinner. Josh's parents came the next day. It was great!

I Spy is fun for ALL ages. I'm just saying.

December 27th we hosted the extended family Christmas party at the community center on base. It was so much fun. The weather was mild so the kids could play outside on the playground. There was plenty of room and tables and food and family and presents. 

The day before the party I had gone to The Home Depot to buy a Christmas tree for the party. It was kind of hilarious. First, I got a great deal on a tree (a $60 tree for $10 what?!). Second, so many people were shocked and confused. Most of the people saw my Alaska license plate and figured that that explained it all. I'm not sure how, but okay. One lady walked up to me, put her hand on my arm and said, "Oh! Don't even explain it to me!" then laughed like we were besties sharing an inside joke. Oh yeah.

And now it's December 31st, New Year's Eve. As we wait for the ball to drop, and a new year to begin, I'm here posting and toasting the end of 2014. It's been a really good year. I'm praying 2015 is even better for us and for all of you reading this as well. Happy New Year's!

More Fun at the Fire House!

Last month I posted about the Fire Safety Day thing the firemen on base put on. Well, today was another fun day at the fire house. Our Bible study group collected cookies and made platters to take to the 3 gates, as well as the police department and fire department. I delivered to one of the gates, and to the fire department, and boy am I glad I did.

I waited until after school to drop off the cookies, because of lunch and naps and what's it, but also so the boys could come with me as they love the firehouse. Can I just say, our firemen are great and we had the best time. 

After letting us in to deliver the cookies, two of the firemen on duty (we'll call C and E for their last names and to make it easier for me to type these stories) took it upon themselves to show us pretty much EVERYTHING. They started with a tour of the kitchen and dining area, then it was on to the trucks.

By this time C had learned Finn's name and was not shy about calling him back from wherever he shouldn't have been whenever he was in places he shouldn't have been. They put all of the boys in one of the trucks and showed them all the buttons and gear and stuff.

C thought it would be great to have E get fully dressed up so the boys could see what it looks like. E had the even "better" idea to dress ME up in all the gear.

Awesome. I know.

After I had finished disrobing, the guys showed the boys the bottom of the pole they slide down. C asked E to demonstrate and I said, "Don't you dare volunteer me for this too!" He didn't, because normal people aren't allowed to slide down the pole. Although, E did tell me that if I sent my husband back with a pie or two they'd let HIM slide down the pole. Funny guy.

C actually demonstrated though.

Once the pole demonstration was finished, I figured we were finished too, but no! The guys took us upstairs to see the sleeping quarters and laundry room, conference room and lazy-boy room (a room with a giant tv and 12 lazy-boy recliners just lined up). The lazy-boy room was also where the top of the pole is. It was a very cool and very extensive tour, taking us a little over an hour to do. At the end they gave the boys goody bags and off we went, a happy little group. 

Thank you Picatinny Arsenal Fire Department for being so cool!

Apples, Apples, Everywhere

So, last month, when we went to the farm to go pumpkin picking, we also picked apples. We picked a little over one hundred pounds of apples to be exact. I know. What does one family do with so many apples you might be thinking? I'll tell you. We made apple sauce! 

We made gallons and gallons of apple sauce over the course of a couple of weeks, to be exact.

It was a fun "project" and one I'm sure we'll be doing for the rest of our lives now. And while we're talking about apples, I made my first ever apple pie for Thanksgiving this year!

Isn't it lovely? It tasted pretty darn good too!

And while we're talking about Thanksgiving, we spent the holiday with my dad and his family at my cousin Ann's house. It's always a really nice time there and I'm really glad we went. Thanks for having us Ann!

Molly Pitcher Me

Back in June of 2013 I was presented with the Molly Pitcher Award at the All Saints Ball.  I don't know how to put this but, I'm kind of a big deal. People know me. I'm very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany. (That's for you, babe. Bonus points to anyone else who recognizes the quote.) Anyway! Copied right from Wikipedia, "The Honorable Order of Molly Pitcher is bestowed by the U.S. Field Artillery Association (USFAA) and the Air Defense Artillery Association (ADAA) to recognize women who have voluntarily contributed in a significant way to the improvement of the U.S. Field Artillery or Air Defense Artillery communities. The award is named after Molly Pitcher who distinguished herself during the American Revolutionary War." Here's mine:

I was going to apologize for the size of that picture, but if I make it smaller you can't really see it that well. Not that this is ideal, but it is much better. However, it is a cool thing, I was excited to get it, and I'm not sure why it took me so long to blog about it, but here I am doing it now.

Here are some other pictures from the evening, like the two of us looking fancy:

Col. Turner presenting me with the award: 

Josh having a really hard time with the medal's clasp:

Eventually I Told him to just tie it in a knot so we could all move on. I think the colonel told Josh he needs to buy me more jewelry because clearly he needs practice. I like that man.

And here is me pretending to drink the field artillery punch because a)I don't drink and 2)it is nasty, potent stuff:

And there you have it. Way to go me!