#92: Go See the Plaza Christmas Lights

So, if you live anywhere within a few hundred miles of Kansas City, I'm sure you've heard of The Plaza and it's famous Christmas lights.  It's actually just an outdoor shopping district that was built in the 1920's with Spanish/European influences.  But, hey, it's the closest I can feel here in Kansas to being back in Europe.

Trevor and I have definitely visited the Plaza a few times, but we've never made it out there to see the lights.  If I tell anyone in the Kansas City area that we've lived here for over 3 years and haven't seen them, I always get the "WHAT?!?" response.   The Plaza Lighting Ceremony on Thanksgiving is quite a big deal here in KC.

So a group of us from church decided we needed to do something before we all went our separate ways for Christmas.   Someone mentioned the Plaza and after I said I'd never seen the lights and they said "WHAT?!?", we decided that we should all go out to eat and then get some coffee and walk around the Plaza this past weekend.

So all 12 of us went to eat and then headed to the Plaza for coffee and enjoying the lights.  I somehow didn't get a picture of the group or even everyone individually, but here are some of the fun.  My camera was a little "off" in the dark, so I changed most of these to sepia.  It looks better that way anyway....like we've stepped back into time or something.

Emily

Justin & Karen

Allison & Tyler

Trevor & I

Here's a little view of the "Goertzen's Lights" this year.

And because I am too lazy to write another post, here are some pictures of the next day when 10 of us went to the Chiefs game.  Also a new experience for me!  Thanks for the tickets Tyler!

Tailgating before the game.  We are discussing how we are getting ready to eat the Inloes' cow named Star.  They went out to the field and handpicked him and he even licked Rachel's face.  Mmmmm...  All kidding aside, Star was pretty tasty! :)

We had really close seats.  Look how empty the stadium is though!  I think anyone could have moved down and had seats as close as ours.  The Chiefs have had quite a rough year.

I spent a bit of my time trying to figure out exactly what this guy is supposed to be.  I guess it's not politically correct for the Chiefs to have an Indian as a mascot...

Emily, Paul, Justin & Karen (and the Fields Family in front of them)

Rachel, Michael, Trevor, & I

It was a little cold.  Every time I looked back at Karen she was wrapped up like this in her cocoon.  

It was still a fun experience though.  I'm even  more convinced that I'm a true college football fan though.  NFL fans are brutal....

Well, I think I'm out until after Christmas....I hope you all have a wonderful holiday with your families!

#84: See a Play

Trevor and I went to The New Theatre Restaurant for the first time for my birthday a couple of weeks ago and it was SO good.  I would definitely recommend it to anyone in the Kansas City area that hasn't been.  I had actually bought gift certificates a couple years ago when people at work were talking about how good it is.   Around Christmas (as in now!) you can buy two tickets for $50 and they don't expire for 5 years.  I think it's a really good deal for dinner and entertainment...you'd easily spend that going out to eat and going to a movie.

So the food was AMAZING....which was definitely Trevor's favorite part.  I think he ate $50 worth of steak!   I was really impressed with the quality of the play too.   The acting was much better than I expected and it was hilarious!  

We'll definitely be going back!

#64: Try 30 New Recipes (12 of 30) - Caramel Apple Pie

For Thanksgiving at the Goertzen's, I was supposed to bring a pie.  Guess what?!!? I don't think I've ever made a pie. 

I realized this a couple of years ago, and that's why I put it on my list (#65- Make a pie from scratch).   I've always been more of a cake/brownie/cheesecake person and I've never hosted a holiday or anything....so I just haven't ever made a pie!

I guess this recipe won't count as "making a pie from scratch" because I used this:

Since it was going to be a Thanksgiving pie, I didn't want to totally screw it up.  I'll have to tackle a homemade crust another day...

One of my favorite pies has always been my mom's Caramel Apple Pie, so I thought I'd try my hand at it.  I think it turned out really good!

 

	___________________________________________ Mom's Caramel Apple Pie
	Ingredients: Filling:
	-6 cups thinly sliced apples (Use 1/2 Granny Smith & 1/2 Jonathon apples)
	-2 T. lime juice
	-3/4 cup sugar
	-1/4 cup flour
	-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
	-1/4 tsp. salt
	-2 T. butter or margarine Topping:
	-1/4 cup butter or margarine
	-1/2 cup packed brown sugar
	-2 T. heavy whipping cream
	-1/2 cup chopped pecans
1	In large bowl, toss apples with lime juice.
2	Combine dry ingredients.
3	Add to apples & toss lightly.
4	Fill 9" pie pastry.
5	Dot with butter.
6	Cover with top crust & cut steam vents in a pattern.
7	Bake at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes.
8	Make topping:
	- Melt butter in saucepan
	- Stir in brown sugar & cream
	- Bring to a boil, stirring constantly
	- Remove from heat & stir in pecans
	- Pour over pie crust
	- Return to oven for 3-4 minutes or until bubbly ___________________________________________

#68: Learn to Make Homemade Bread from Trevor's Mom

About a month ago, Trevor's parents came to visit us on a Sunday afternoon.  Fred needed to pick up some things here in the "big city".  Dee Ann brought a recipe she was wanting to try and announced that she was going to teach me how to make rolls/bread.  I was excited as I'd been wanting to try my hand at it sometime and there's no better person to learn from than Dee Ann. 

I think Trevor has "mentioned" a few times that I should learn how to make homemade bread.  He had it a lot growing up since Dee Ann is a bread maker extraordinaire.   She used to sell Bosch kitchen appliances and would do bread making demonstrations in people's homes.  Now she works for an Internet company that sells kitchen appliances and helps people figure out how to use their machines correctly. 

And I've used a bread maker before....like once.

So I had a lot to learn and I've always been intimidated with the whole kneading thing. 

But Dee Ann showed me how to use the dough hook on my Bosch mixer that she got us for our wedding and it doesn't seem that complicated!

While we were busy baking in the kitchen, Fred was helping Trevor do this in our living room....

We've had a leak on our first floor and we can't figure why it is happening.  It happens when it rains, but this is our first floor....there's a whole other floor between here and the roof.  It's also happened once when it wasn't raining.  It is right below our guest bathroom upstairs, so that might also be the culprit.  So the guys were investigating it...and they figured out nothing.  And we still have a hole in our ceiling while we wait for it to leak again.  Nice.

Anyway, here are the final products of our baking.  We were so excited to try them that I forgot to get a picture of the rolls until we had already dug into them.  They were SO good right out of the oven.

And here's the recipe....

	___________________________________________ Classic Dinner Rolls
	Ingredients:
	-2 to 2 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
	-1 envelope active dry yeast (2 ¼ tsp)
	-2 T. Sugar
	-1/2 teaspoon salt
	-1/2 cup milk
	-1/4 cup water
	-2 T. Butter
1	Combine liquids and butter in saucepan. Heat so it is hot-to-touch. Pour into mixing bowl.
2	Add sugar & salt.
3	Add 1 cup of flour and mix with a dough hook at #2 speed on mixer.  Add another ½ cup of flour with yeast on top and mix at #2 speed until incorporated. Keep adding a little bit of flour until it forms a ball. Knead for 4 minutes on #3 speed. Let rest in bowl with towel over it for 10 minutes.
4	Shape into 12 rolls and place in 8” cake pan or into a loaf pan.
5	Let rise for 30 minute for rolls. 45 minutes for bread loaf.
6	Bake at 375 degrees for 13-15 minutes for rolls or 30 minutes for bread loaf. ___________________________________________

We'll see how this goes next time I try to make these by myself. Hopefully I can do it!

Grandpa Bell

Grandpa passed away this past Wednesday and his funeral is today. I so wish I could be there to honor and remember the great man that he was.

These are some words that come to mind when I think of Grandpa:

• Hard Worker - Grandpa did not completely give up farming until he was in his late 70's. He always seemed to have a "If you're going to do it, you need to do it right" kind of attitude.
• Generous - I knew that because of his hard work, Grandpa had been a successful farmer. Yet, he never felt it important to spend money on frivolous things. He lived simply and was very generous with his hard-earned money. He felt that it was important for his grandchildren to have a Christian education and he generously gave us all some support in attending a Christian school.
• Reserved - Grandpa was a sweet, quiet, strong man. He was a man of few words. He had great wisdom and I always listened intently when he did speak. I can never remember one negative word about someone coming out of his mouth.
• Teaser - Grandpa even teased in a quiet way. I'll always remember that after a prayer when we were all holding hands he would tease us kids by not letting go when the prayer was over. I loved the smile and twinkle in his eye he would get when doing this.
• Devoted Husband - I can remember how after Grandma got sick, Grandpa would tirelessly take care of her. What a great example he was of how to keep the love in a marriage, even in the hard times.
• Man of Integrity - I remember asking Mom once if Grandpa ever yelled. It was hard to picture Grandpa mad. She said that the only time she can really ever remember Grandpa getting mad at someone was when someone accused him of being dishonest in his business. He, of course, was greatly offended that the fairness and honesty that he worked hard for was being questioned. It was important to Grandpa to be a person full of integrity.
• Follower of God - Above all, he was a man that did everything he did with a vision of eternity. He knew very well that this world was not his home. He raised his family to put God first in their lives also. He has 4 children and 13 grandchildren that are all faithful to the Lord to this day. I can only hope that I can leave a legacy as great as his someday.

Grandpa with 8/13 of his grandchildren, their spouses, and great-grandchildren this past summer.

So, today, as the family says goodbye to a remarkable man, I am filled with sadness at the thought of not being able to be with him again on this earth. But I can't help but smile as I picture Grandpa arriving in heaven and hearing God say, "Well done, good and faithful servant"....

Thanksmas

I am way behind on blogging everything, but I figured I needed to get this post cranked out before it was too untimely. 

We spent Thanksgiving this year with Trevor's family and we went ahead and celebrated our Christmas too.   Thus the name "Thanksmas".

Heather and her boyfriend Dave didn't arrive until late Friday night.  So on Thanksgiving we ate lunch at the Emporia church of Christ's Thanksgiving meal that they provide to the community and Dee Ann, Fred, and I stayed and help serve the meal.  Trevor wasn't feeling good so he head back with Adam, Elaine and the kids.  It was nice to feel like you were doing something for someone else on a day that we remember just how blessed we are.

I'll let the pictures tell the story from here:

I couldn't get enough of this little turkey.

I thought Levi's face in the second picture was hilarious!  Allie sure does love her little brother.  Maybe sometimes a little too much... :)

Eating Thanksgiving dinner at the Emporia church.

Grandma & Levi

Piercen came over to play with the kids.

Levi got his first haircut!  

Grandma & Allie made Reindeer Snacks.

Friday was all about football.  We watched the Huskers beat Colorado and then Adam, Elaine, Trevor, I, and the cousins Colin and John went into Emporia to watch the movie, "The Blind Side".  If you haven't seen this movie yet - you need to!  It was REALLY good....even if you don't like football!

Saturday morning we had our Christmas...

We got Allie the movie "Tinker Bell & the Lost Treasure."  She was very excited!  Elaine said they hadn't let her rent it yet since she thought she would get it for Christmas.

Allie and her new dress from Grandma & Grandpa. Here she is twirling in it on Sunday morning!

Trevor had to take a picture of me with one of my "practical" gifts.  I got a Pyrex dish, glass nesting bowls, steak knives, a serrated knife, a pantry storage set, and a new crockpot.  Oh, and a garlic press for my birthday.  I asked for these things - do I sound like a 40-year old lady or what?  And I can hardly wait to organize my pantry and try out the 3-in-1 crockpot! :)

Heather with Dave opening the grilling utensil set we got him.

Levi woke up from his nap and got into the gift opening too!

We were told that he needed "boy toys" so we got him these  trucks that rumble across the floor.  It won't be long and he'll be crawling after these!

Levi apparently wanted to skip the "boy toys" and move straight to the "man gift".  He grabbed this beef jerky the first chance he got.

Trevor wanted to see what his 4WD could do, so he and Adam took off and went somewhere "off-roading".  Just what I would want to do with my new car.  Oh boys...

Saturday night we had our Thanksgiving dinner. 

Look at this cute little boy!

We actually got a picture of all of us!

Somehow some arm wrestling contests got started.  First up was Trent and John....Trent's next victim was Trevor.... 

Let's just say Trevor thought he needed a confidence builder after that, so he called over his dad thinking he'd get an easy win....watch the video to see how that went! :)

Sunday morning before church we snapped some quick pictures...

Adam, Elaine, Allie, & Levi

And we got another picture of the whole family!

What a fun time we all had together!  After getting back to work and hearing everyone's stories of their holidays with their crazy families, I realize that I am now even more thankful for having such a good family for in-laws.  Trevor and I have a lot to be thankful for!