Happy Birthday, Ben

It was Ben, our son-in-law's, birthday on Dec. 24.

It's an event that often gets lost in the shuffle of Christmas and

he never really minds but here's a list of reasons

( by no means all inclusive) that we are glad he's in our family:

1. Go-to guy for any car questions

2. His smile

3. Likes just about anything I cook

4. No drama

5. Is a great daddy and considerate husband

6. Took me out in a snowstorm to help me replace my cell phone

when it died last week.

7. Just quietly takes care of things

8. Loves my decorating :)

......

love you, Ben

two days before Christmas and all through the house....

A couple of creatures were stirring....

But not a mouse! We have cats!

E and A share a moment near her tree.
( and yes, Andrew is chewing like crazy. His first
tooth broke through later in the day.)

here and there...

claire and everleigh w/gas

team gingerbread

a new story book

Andrew and his tongue

An attempt at a Christmas picture

nice kitty....

five little ones (and four big ones)

GG and Everleigh share a giggle.

So..we've had a busy couple of weeks. The big midwestern snowstorm

and then time to celebrate Christmas with family and extended family.

We were at Ami and Scott's Saturday for gift sharing with Everleigh

and Andrew. Then, Sunday, we hosted the extended Mieska

clan for cookie-baking, gingerbread house-making, football-watching,

snack-eating, catching up kind of open house....good times.

Happy Birthday, Boys!

Two of my favorite boys have birthdays this week:

Jonathan Ketcher turns 10 on Wed (15th)

Josh Docken is 30 on Thurs (16th)

(That bottom picture was taken a while ago but

it's one of my favorites. We enjoyed a few summers

fishing on Battle Lake.)

H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y , G U Y S!!!

Happy Birthday, Jer!

Tomorrow is my nephew, Jeremiah's xxth birthday...

Here are a couple of pictures from Christmas past. First

one is circa 1980 and Jer was doing so well as the

angel in our family Christmas pageant...until a door

slammed on his fingers! So he pretty much cried through

the whole production...but the show did go on!

(Can you name the other cast members?)

and there he is a few short years later, playing opposite

Cousin Heather in "The Porcelain Dolll and the Teddy Bear".

That production was at Gma Mieska's house with all

the Mieska stockings hanging above. That's Josh looking

on (I think playing a customer in the toy shop or something)

Every year for several years there were Christmas productions

for the Mieska cousins.
We usually had one day to plan, organize and practice and

it never failed to please. good times...

Jer---I have lots more pictures if you'd like....Happy Birthday!

"ta - da"

Family room...both ends

Greg's office..former bedroom for Scott and then Jesse

and maybe even Chad was in here for a while.

So we have put the finishing touches on the basement!

Last weekend we finished the floor tiling, washing walls, cleaning

& moving furniture, and putting stuff away. The end

results are shown above. So...since Sept 25...countless hours

on our knees, one exhausted vacuum, with marriage

still intact, we will enjoy this new/old space...

girl meets dog; Thanksgiving; and Christmas is coming

Everleigh spent the night before Thanksgiving at our house

and enjoyed getting better acquainted with Olive, the

black lab....yes, Everleigh ended up in the water dish!

All dressed up for Thanksgiving dinner

Andrew gets better acquainted with Mary, Joseph
and baby Jesus.

Then, Everleigh instructs him on who is who....

Looks like they're plotting something....

So...it's been a couple of weeks and we had our Thanksgiving

Dinner at Scott & Ami's with Jesse,Ben, Andrew, Sue and Julie....

lovely meal. Then...it's time for the Christmas tree and the

nativity. I found this plush nativity set recently so Everleigh

and Andrew could have a "hands on" experience with the

story of christmas. They seem to enjoy it.