weekend pics

Here's some pictures from the weekend at our house courtesy of Aunt Sue and Uncle Keith:

Uncle Keith and Dad (can you tell they are brothers?)

Playing Dominoes after lunch in the not-yet-redecorated back room. This is everyone with the exception of Joel and Uncle Keith (who took the picture). Where is Joel, you ask? Hmm... in the next room with control of the remote? Sounds about right.

Working on Dinner

The after-meal relaxation, Scott and Dad

And what would pictures be from Aunt Sue and Uncle Keith without Master Gavin?!? I believe these are from their Thanksgiving.

With Uncle Pete and Aunt Amy

thanksgiving re-cap

Had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. Spent the day at the Nyboers, and followed our meal with a couple games of Yahtzee. Mom, Dad and Joel were in town, too, and spent Thanksgiving at the Harris'. We ended up getting together on Friday and Saturday. Sarah and Doug were at home in DC, and we missed them dearly! Here's a couple pics from their Thanksgiving Day. Looks yummy and very festive. Miss you guys so much!

Friday was insane. Mom and I were at Penney's by 6:30am to start off the Black Friday shopping adventure. It was so much fun. We hit lots of stores, and I was her consultant for all things "man" (Joel, Scott, Doug, Dad). The traffic on John R. and 14 Mile was crazy, but we managed to maneuver around and be the most efficient ladies that we are.

On Saturday, Scott and I had Grandma M., Aunt Sue and Uncle Keith over for lunch (along with Mom, Dad, Joel and Grandma B.)! They made the 2.5 hour drive to our house and spent the afternoon visiting and playing dominos. We really had a nice time. I'm hoping to get some pictures from our visit (wink, wink, Aunt Sue).

The holiday weekend was definitely packed, but every minute was enjoyable. Now on to Christmas...

always

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

gourmet gone wrong

A weekend of sports, and a weekend of losses... where shall we start? U of M? State? How about the Pistons, Wings or Lions? They all qualify.

Another weekend loss: my attempt at making Italian wedding soup. I just love Giada de Laurentiis on the Food Network, and some of her recipes are delish. This one, however, was not! I followed the directions perfectly, and even though it smelled wonderful, and looked so pretty in the bowl, I couldn't even finish it. Scott wondered where the little noodle-balls were. I explained that this was the recipe from the infamous Giada, not the Smith-Jones wedding reception with Americanized "wedding soup". Nonetheless, it did not go over well. Turns out we are not gourmet people (we snacked on popcorn later that evening).

I won't give up, though. For Christmas at the Meyerings... Giada's Pizza Rustica?!?

the week's end

Gosh, nothing really new in the world of Scott and Rach! But I feel compelled to keep the blog updated and new (and hopefully it keeps a few people coming back and checking regularly). So this is it. Maybe there will be something exciting from the weekend to re-cap on Monday (besides a little-known football game between Michigan and Ohio). Have a great weekend, everyone.

happy birthday to you

Today is Mom's birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom! We were back in Grand Rapids over the weekend to celebrate (see Dad's post below in the November 2 "here we go").

What a nice weekend home. Got to see Grandma and Uncle Keith at the lake... we raked leaves (Joel used the blower, of course) and had Grandma's famous homemade bread. On Saturday evening, 3/5 of the Nelson clan came for birthday cheesecake. And after church on Sunday, we had an all-time favortite... Ham Dinner! Grandma came over for that, and it was super... yummy, salty gravy on mashed potatoes... mmm!

Sunday afternoon seemed to be a repeat of exactly one week ago... high winds which caused Scott to miss out on the Lions game. We lost our cable last Sunday, and yesterday the power went out at my parent's house in the 3rd quarter. And to think, the Lions were actually winning.

We hit the road shortly after, and made it home safe and sound!

heart walk 2005

A couple weeks ago, Dad and Grandma (his mother-in-law) drove to DC to see Sarah and Doug for a visit. Dad's a big fan of DC, loves practically everything about it (except for the events that cause local road closures, and therefore hinder his opportunities as a visitor). And I suppose Grandma was looking for an easy, brief vacation.

Their trip so happened to coincide with the annual Heart Walk. Sarah works in cardiac rehab for a local hospital, and sort of heads this up every year with her patients. They all meet at the hospital and take a shuttle right to the heart (no pun intended) of DC for the walk. Here they are, one last photo before boarding the bus.

Grandma said it was a chilly day... sunny, but windy. That explains being bundled up so much, I suppose. But it was a good time, they all said. Sarah's patients are really fabulous people, very caring and generous. I can only imagine the fun they had at the walk. Here's a picture of Sarah, Doug, Grandma and Dad.

whatta weekend

The two of us were definitely busy this past weekend. Friday night we watched one of our free movies from the library, Ladder 49. I told Scott I wasn't going to get emotionally attached, but in the end, I needed a kleenex. It was a tear-jerker for sure.

Saturday was our big day with Habitat for Hummanity. We signed up through church, had a great time, and are now full-fledged experts when it comes to siding a house. Lots of up and down on the ladder, making measurements and cuts. I only managed to put my thumb in between the hammer and nail three times! Hopefully there will be pictures to post soon.

Sunday was incredibly windy. I thought the roof was going to come off our church at any moment, it was pretty powerful. It was All Saints Sunday, complete with a trumpeter and "When The Saints Go Marching In". Can you imagine all of us Lutherans bellowing AND CLAPPING! What a sight.

With all the wind, we lost our cable just before half-time of the Lions game (boy, was Scott disappointed). This also meant that we had no internet. Couldn't exactly start raking leaves with all the gusty wind, so it ended up being a low key afternoon. Had dinner at the In-laws, and then came home to watch another freebie from the library. I'm happy to report that as of this morning, we are finally back in business with cable. And to imagine, I had lived without it until the age of 20!

day off

We are both off of work today and it's been productive so far. We had another door contractor out to see about installing french doors. This is turning out to be a much more complex project than we anticipated.

We stopped into a local lumber place on Gratiot and got some quotes on custom-size doors, and also asked for more recommendations on contractors. The two that have been out already haven't really impressed us that much, so I guess it can't hurt to keep looking. Lowe's and Home Depot haven't been too helpful either... their double-hung doors only come in specific sizes (sizes that we don't want).

So it's on to other things... this afternoon we'll cut the grass, put some burlap around our new arborvitae bushes, and maybe grill some roll-ups for dinner. The weatherman says 70 degrees today! Just have to grill before it gets dark. But it's shaping up to be a beautiful Fall day with sunny skies. Incredibly warm for November, but no complaints here. Looking forward to getting outside...

happy halloween

We're not usually the kind of folks to attend a Halloween party, but we did this year. And this is our costume. Can you guess who we are? Kind of a play on words... we're the...


... Black Eyed Peas! Scott was uncertain about the idea, but it was hassle-free, cost only 25 cents, and was very warm and comfy. Now how can you go wrong with that?

weddings everywhere

We've had a busy late-summer and early-fall. My best friend was married in Wisconsin and we made the journey through the UP as part of our summer vacation.

(Jess and Gabe)


After Jess's wedding, we went took a journey throuh the midwest and ended up in St. Louis for the tri-annual family reunion. Had a blast. And saw lots of the same family a couple months later at the wedding of my little sister, Sarah. It was a beautiful day in September, we had such a fun time.

(Sarah and Doug)

us...

This is us. On our wedding day back in 2004. Life has been interesting as newlyweds. Never realized there was so much to figure out about each other, but we are loving it!

here we go...

this is it, my new creation. ready to share...