Saturday, October 20, 2007

Apple Dumplings, The Doll Hospital, and the Birthday Celebration


Shannon's birthday celebration was delayed until Friday evening. The celebration was to take place at Ryan and Lisa's house. Bob's contribution to the dinner was homemade maple walnut ice cream using our own maple syrup. My contribution (with Bob's help) was apple dumplings.

Friday was a busy day. We had to make a trip to Rochester to get my two dolls out of the doll hospital. When I called the doll doctor, she told me that I needed to be there between 2:15 and 2:30. That meant we would have to leave by 12:30 to get there. We decided that we would go to Ryan and Lisa's house after picking up the dolls in Rochester. So, we had to have everything ready for Sabbath before we left for Rochester.
Lisa, Shannon, and Caroline (Lisa's sister) were all planning to go to the Women's Retreat on Sabbath leaving all the kids with their husbands. Ryan had called on Thursday evening to ask if the three dad's and all the kids could come up Sabbath to spend the day. Of course I said yes. I really enjoy having company and getting to have the grand kids was an extra bonus!
Bob and I started early Friday morning cleaning the house and cooking for the weekend.


Bob made a blueberry crunch for Sabbath lunch.


Pinwheel cookies made from the left-over pie dough from the apple dumplings.


I also made marshmallows just in case we want to have a bonfire Saturday evening.

We got everything done and left for Rochester just as we had planned. When we arrived at the doll hospital, there was a note that she was at the bank and had her cell phone number written for us to call her. I called, and her husband answered telling me that she would be at the bank until 3:00. What should we do for 45 minutes was the next question. We answered that question quickly, with a trip down the street to an antique store where I found a couple of doilies I couldn't leave without.

The antique store clerk was a really good sport to pose for this picture knowing I was putting it on my blog!

After my quick purchase of the doilies, we headed back to the doll hospital. The dolls had been in the hospital for one week. I feel kinda guilty spending so much money to fix these dolls when they can't be played with and I have nowhere to put them to keep them safe except in a box in the top of my closet with my metal play kitchen set I had as a child that I have also stored in my closet for safe keeping. Why do I do this?


This is the doll doctor who was so sweet to fix my baby dolls and pose for this picture. The doll the doctor is holding is the doll my father picked-out and bought for me when I was only two years old. My mother told me that I took it everywhere. It is very special to me. That is the original dress too!

With my dolls out of the hospital, we headed for Ryan and Lisa's house. Lisa had made a wonderful dinner of three types of pasta dishes, garlic French bread, homemade dipping oil, and salad. It was delicious.

Ryan got Shannon a tee-shirt with "Drama Queen" written across the front.


Andy, Shannon, and Madeline pose for a picture while the rest of the gang sang Happy Birthday!

After the birthday celebration, we all sang songs and had worship before heading home. The kids were so sweet singing songs together.


The guys all made it to church with the kids all looking really good. Ryan told the children's story. I had asked him Friday evening if he could think of a true story about disobedience for me to tell for the children's story. He told me he had several true stories about disobedience that he knew first hand. He told the story about when he and his neighbor friend Donald destroyed the lawn on the side of the house and tried to cover it up by mowing the lawn and using the lawn clippings as a camouflage over the muddy mess.



After church we went home and had lunch together. We had gluten steaks, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, corn, stuffing, and blueberries crunch for dessert. Oh, and we had home canned grape juice to drink.



After lunch, the guys went for a walk. The trees are at their peak this weekend. I stayed in the house so Gracie could take her nap and I could work on my blog. This has been a truly beautiful Sabbath day.

2 comments:

Rachael said...

Wow. You're making me really hungry reading this post. Guess what we had for Sabbath dinner? Grilled cheese sandwiches. Horrible, I know. I want what you had!!! Esp. those apple dumplings.

I remember the incident Ryan told about. They were playing "slip 'n slide" in the grass on the side of the house and when they were done, it was just mud, no more grass. They knew they were in TROUBLE!

Shannon said...

I remember the incident too! Grandma Annie was there that day and she had no clue how she was gona fix that mess.

I cannot believe you get so much sone in one day. And, you still have time to post.

Andy was suprised you didnt put a pic of him on your blog. He said you made him pose for it.

Madeline made it home safely. Thank you for making the weekend so much fun for all the kids so Lisa and I could enjoy going the the Women's retreat. It was so nice.