It's Ally, the Christmas Dog! (See below for more shots.)

Answers to Brenda's Christmas Survey:

Favorite Christmas movie (cartoon or children's)? It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas

When do you usually start Christmas shopping? The day after Thanksgiving

Favorite Christmas present? When I was a girl, my mom and dad gave me a baby doll one year. But not just a baby doll - a baby doll that had all handmade doll clothes and she came in a hinged case that my dad made for me. My eyes were as big as saucers. That baby doll is still in grandpa's attic. Also, when Rachel was a baby and I was working on our family tree, my Grandma Millard gave me a wonderful scrapbook (before scrapbooking was popular!) of pictures from her whole married life, of my mom and uncles growing up, etc., that included several pages in the back that she wrote all about her life. I'll always treasure that.

Real or artificial tree? Right now, artificial (I'm allergic to real) - but I loved having real up until a few years ago

Colored or white lights? White lights

Favorite Christmas memories? Going to my Grandpa & Grandma Millard's for Christmas dinner - Grandma would always have handmade placecards, there would be a great meal, and the men would do the dishes! At our house (when I was little), I remember making popcorn balls and all kinds of Christmas candy. Since our girls have been born, I have always loved their excitement about Christmas, even now - when they were little it was especially fun to watch them open their presents - their eyes would get real big, and they would say "this is just what i just wanted!" Now, I think my favorites are the Christmas Eve service and our traditional fondue meal on Christmas Eve, our special Christmas breakfast, opening the stockings, and Christmas morning at our house.

Favorite Christmas song? The First Noel

Do you like eggnog? Yes!

Peppermint candy canes or fruity ones? Peppermint

And Now, for some Christmas Cheer, please say hello to Ally the Christmas Dog!

A Happy Christmas Lunch.....

Macey just loves her little sister....

Well, it was a complete pleasure having a Christmas lunch with Rachel, Bren, Jen, Mace & Kels at Alpen Rose today. Macey was darling, as usual, and it's so much fun to listen to her now, as she is talking all the time. Kels was a little bit leery of Aunt Jean at first, and who can blame her - who in the world is that woman who wants to hold and kiss her, anyway? I can see how much she's grown as she is now much more aware of which people are NOT her mom! But, afer a little bit, with Jen sitting nearby, she was all smiles.

Macey tells me that she has a blue house, and a blue bedroom. She noticed that I had brought along a small bag that happened to hold a little stuffed moose and a little stuffed cow. She saw a head peeking out and said "who is that peeking out of the bag?" Of course she soon found out!

We enjoyed our lunch very much and talked a bit about Christmas. We confirmed that we'll be having bingo as usual, but also decided to add Pictionary to our game list this year. (Bren - I think you said you'd check on a paper & stand for the game at your office? If not, just let me know and I'll bring home a flipchart stand and paper from mine. Thanks.)

It was a very stressful day (outside of the nice lunch we had), until I found out aroudn 3:00pm that Scott has KEPT his job at Herman Miller, and so we can breathe a sigh of relief again, at least for now. Haworth just announced yesterday that they are closing down their entire Allegan plant and all told 350 people will lose jobs - I think I'm alright for now, too, but I feel a lot better knowing that Scott has kept HIS job at least. Whew!

Here's a fun idea for our family Christmas party that I'm totally stealing from Brenda and Keith (if you don't feel like participating, no biggie, but could be fun.) I love the idea of wearing the ugliest Christmas sweater you can find - it could be hilarious to see what we all come up with - from the thrift store or an old person's closet - although it will be hard to top Keith's getup. So, if you're so inclined let's have an "ugliest sweater" party! Of course pictures will be taken, and maybe even prizes awarded, who knows?

I'll get back with everyone soon about our menu - still thinking about that....

Enjoy all of the pictures from today. We had a very good time!

"Ho Ho Ho!"

I know, I'm pathetically behind on my posts. It's like I said to my friend Lynne last night - "Christmas is barreling down on us like a freight train!" - and I haven't even cleaned up from Thanksgiving yet! I hear there could be a lot of snow this weekend, so probably a good thing to snuggle up inside and get some work done around the house. I know we'll put up our tree for sure, and I'll wrap some of those great buys we got on Black Friday.

I think Lynne and I will be going to the Christmas Home Tour (that the Holland Garden Club puts on every Christmas) later this afternoon/evening. There are 5 homes on the north side of Holland that will be decorated to the hilt for Christmas. It's those huge mansion-type homes out by the lake. I'll probably been insanely jealous afterward, but it still puts me in the Christmas spirit! And truth be told, I feel very lucky to have my house.

Scott and I took Dad to buy a new TV set on Tuesday night. He is pretty excited! I'm happy to say that we found him a nice 47" one at Sam's Club. It's HDTV and he will be getting all set up by Charter Cable today. I talked to him last night (he's already watching the reguar channels) and he told me he could see the score from the Piston's game more clearly than he has been able to for a long time. So, that's great. The man spends most of his hours in front of the TV - I'm happy we are able to make it a little nicer for him.

I was thinking - should we do a quick update via "comments" to my blog as far as how we stand with our buying for our adopted Christmas family? I'm sure we don't want to duplicate items. We should have everything bought by next Tuesday, so that Rachel and I can bring the gifts to Brenda next Wednesday. Here's what my family has so far:

1. Christmas-themed wicker basket for non-perishables


2. Christmas gift wrap, scotch tape, bows


3. 1 set of blue full-size flannel sheets


4. Gloves for the mom


5. Insulated gloves for John


6. Earrings for Sarah


7. Hair straightener for the mom


8. Black bath mat


9. Long-sleeved top for Sarah

I still plan on getting a few canned goods and Katie will be getting a gas card. I was also thinking that the mom probably doesn't get too many luxuries for herself, so I plan to buy her a couple of things from Bath & Body Works. How's it going with everyone else?

On the subject of Christmas, I'm excited that we'll be having it at our house this year! Rachel and Katie and I have been talking about what we might want to do that's fun and maybe a little different from what we've done before, but so far we haven't come up with any brainstorms. Of course we will still want to stay with some traditions, and I think everyone still likes to play bingo, which is fine, but I'm just wondering if anyone has any other thoughts/ideas of fun things we might do? I'll also start thinking about the menu soon and probably ask you to bring something, OK?

Ta Da!

Now Announcing! (drum roll, please) Scott and Jean's new and improved Etsy site! Yes, we were inspired by my sister Carol, who at last count had sold 18 items on her shop - way to go!), to post some of our stuff on our site again as well. We originally opened up an Etsy site like two years ago, but only posted a few items and then more or less gave it up.

However, we've decided to try again. "If at first you don't succeed, try, try"....you get the idea.

If you 'd like to check it out, go here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=73278

Also, about Friday morning - Rachel N., so wish you could join us for breakfast! Bren/Jen, we'll give you a call on Bren's cell phone (I'll bet we'll run into you somewhere, too!) sometime after 8:00am.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

What? Thanksgiving Already?

Everybody wants to get into the act! My little buddies and I wish all our friends and loved ones near and far a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Scott and I tried a new restaurant last night called JoJo's Supper Club - It's in Douglas. We had driven down to Saugatuck to pick up my favorite dressing at the Butler Pantry - and by the way, Saugatuck was having their Christmas Open House and the little village looked absolutely lovely - Christmas lights everywhere, and balls of lights that seemed to be suspended from the trees and floating in the air. It was magical! I highly recommend that if you have a free evening it's nice to just drive through - kind of gives you a nostalgic feeling. Although I haven't mentioned this to Katie yet, I'm hoping that when she comes home for Christmas, we might take a carriage ride in Saugatuck this year. I read that it costs only $5 per person for a 15 minute ride. Anyway, we also decided to drive through Douglas - also very nice - there's something special about the little towns/villages that are decked out for Christmas. I love it! I digress. I had seen this JoJo's place online and we decided to give it a try. All in all, not super great, but like I told Scott, it's always fun to try new places! Actually, I did have a very nice curry carrot soup that was very good, but Scott was not overly impressed with his burger, which was served up on raisin bread! Gourmet, I guess? Oh, well...

Today we went to Sam's Club to stock up on some things before our current membership runs out next week. Got some good deals, and ran into Karen & Gary Collings and our neighbors from down the street there. I think by the time we chatted and got through all of the aisles, we were there for over 2 hours!

I've really enjoyed seeing all of the pics and reading the blogs from the rest of the family. Bren and Jen especially keep up with things so well, and always have entertaining tales to tell, and pics to show. And I'm proud of Carol and her work on her Etsy site! It looks great, and things are beginning to sell, too! Way to go, sis.

Some of you may have heard that Herman Miller will be letting go quite a few workers in the next few weeks. Although we feel pretty confident that Scott will keep his job, it's still a bit unnerving. All those who will be let go will know prior to the Christmas holiday, so that's good. The company has been very good about keeping everyone informed. They offered a "buyout" to whoever was interested, but we decided to wait it out and see what happens.

Can't wait to have the kids and Ally home for Thanksgiving! They arrive on Wednesday, and will be staying until Sunday morning. You know what THAT means! Whoo Hoo! Friday morning shopping! There should really be some good deals this year. Hey, I was wondering - would any of you like to meet the girls and me for breakfast somewhere around 9:00am or so? Where would be a good place? It would be great to see you, since we'll be at the Hamberg side of the family for Thanksgiving this year. How about sharing your ideas either on your blogs or via email?

Are You In The Holiday Spirit? I Am.......

Greetings one and all!

http://mistletoemakeover.com/?79576d0ed9e910acc8b0dd882c95a5d6

Cute As Can Be!

OK, Rachel forwarded this on to me; she had received it from Dave. For those of you who love cute little puppy dogs, check it out!

http://cdn1.ustream.tv/swf/4/viewer.45.swf?cid=317016

Dave - Where did you find this?

Cold in Chicago, But Warm Hearts All Around...

Welcome to Shedd Aquarium!

Katie and "friend."

As "per normal" we had a great time in Chicago visiting our wonderful children. Dave and Rachel bought a bed and dresser for their 2nd bedroom, and we brought back a mattress set that we had been storing for them. So, they now have a very comfy 2nd bedroom in their condo, which Scott and I used this weekend - and we slept like logs. It was great! We also stopped at Katie's place to see her new couch - she picked out a very nice one - it looks terrific!

The pictures above are from our trip to Shedd Aquarium, where we went on Saturday. Had a great time there, and especially enjoyed the show they call "Training the Shedd Way" - where they had some rescue dogs which they have trained to do tricks using the same methods they use with their dolphins, seals, etc. It was very entertaining. We also really liked the "Planet Earth" presentation entitled the "Shallow Seas" - we had to wear 3-D glasses for that - you know, where everything on the screen looks like it's coming right at you. Plus, there were really cool effects like wind blowing, things poking you in the back of the head, swishing around your feet, etc. - great fun! We really enjoyed ourselves! Then, on the way back to the condo, Dave stopped at one of our favorite places - Choppers! They have the best chocolate shakes I've ever had, plus great Chicago "dogs." Very good food, lots of it, and for a good price, too. Rachel was all prepared to make lasagna for us last night, but we ate too much at Choppers, and so we decided we couldn't eat that much (she made it tonight instead, I hear...), but she made some of her delicious guacamole and chips for us, and that really hit the spot. We even played a fun round of Trivial Pursuit before heading off to bed. What a fun day!

Dave went to the Bears game today, and so he left early with his friend Chris Gall (one of the groomsmen - remember?). It was really cold out today so he had to bundle up. Rachel made waffles for Scott and me, and then it was off for Holland. We made it home by early afternoon, and so were able to relax, watch the Lions for about 5 minutes before I got totally disgusted, and then watch the Pistons lose to the Celtics. Let's just say that the earlier part of the weekend far surpassed the later part.

We'll be dropping off the little red sports car at Dad's tomorrow to store in the garage for the winter (boo hoo). That means it's getting cold out! Since we missed having him for dinner here today, we're taking him out to Russ' tomorrow night. I think maybe I'll have the turkey dinner that they have this time of year. I have to admit that I do enjoy the foods that are typically served in the fall, like baked squash, pumpkin pie, etc. Yum! Hope all of you had a good weekend! Looking forward to hearing about Jim and Rachel's trip, too....

What a Lovely Day!

What beautiful weather we're having! I'm enjoying the Indian Summer. I have put out my cute little Thanksgiving pilgrims that I bought up in Glen Arbor when we were there. Decorating the house always gets me in the holiday spirit.

It's been a big week for "change" - new president, and new Detroit Piston (which is more important - ha ha?). I was initially VERY disappointed to hear that both Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess were traded to Colorado (for Allen Iverson, just in case you've been living under a rock or have been in San Francisco for the last few days). However, I trust Joe Dumars, and from what I hear he wants to make room in the salary cap for LeBron James down the road. But, I'll miss "Mr. Big Shot", that's for sure. He and Dyess are both class acts. I wish them well.

Katie called me from her office this morning to let me know she had returned safe and sound from her San Francisco trip. She had a wonderful time, but didn't get home until midnight last night, so she's very tired. I told her to rest up tonight, because Scott and I will be going to Chicago tomorrow around noon, to stay for the weekend. Rachel and Dave were trying to think of some fun things for us to do, and we decided it would be fun to go to Shedd Aquarium on Saturday. They have some kind of a show about training animals, including dogs, and so that will be fun. http://www.sheddaquarium.org/new_at_shedd.html.

They also have an IMAX-type thing there, where when you go to view the movie, there are also sound effects, wind, smells, etc. Cool. http://www.sheddaquarium.org/4Dtheater.html

I'm looking forward to our family breakfast next Saturday, at 9:00am at the Biscuit. For those of you who need to know, it's located in Washington Square, right across the street from Pereddies. See you there!

Is It Halloween Already?

I got such a kick out of seeing Dolly in her "hotdog" costume (see Brenda's blog)! How cute! It got me to thinking about last Halloween when Ally spent Halloween evening at our house. She sat out on the front porch with me all evening as the trick-or-treaters came and went, and of course everyone loved her and had to pet her. She helped me pass out candy and was very polite to everyone who stopped by. That was fun! This year of course she'll be in Chicago with Dave and Rachel - hey kids, will Ally have a costume? If I remember right, I believe Macey will be a fairy princess this year - how about little Kels? Of course I can't wait to see pictures! I think the weather is supposed to warm up, so that will be nice for the little ones. It's so much cooler today that even I was chilly! Ha Ha. You KNOW how often that happens - like never. I really love this time of year - putting new flannel sheets on our bed, lighting the fireplace and burning candles in the house. Puts me in the holiday spirit already! I always feel like once Halloween is over, the holiday season is really upon us.

Katie called the other night to say that she bought a new couch for her living room - I can't wait to see it. She has really decorated her apartment so cute. She will be leaving on Saturday for a few days in San Francisco, to attend a conference for work. It is quite a big event that occurs each year, with special speakers and such. She was excited to find out that the Foo Fighters (I'm so hip, right?) will be there one evening. Have fun, honey!

Well, I can't wait for the Pistons to play their first game of the season this week - finally, a team that can actually PLAY pretty well. What a pleasant change. I miss my sports - can't get too excited about the World Series, and of course the Lions don't count.

Aren't these felt Christmas ornaments adorable?

I'm thinking of buying the kit to make them: http://www.rosylittlethings.com/ornaments.html

Not much else going on at the moment, so will sign off for now. Happy Halloween everybody!

Well, Here I Am Again (Finally).....

The trouble with not posting for awhile is that I can't remember what I last wrote about, but oh well, no matter, I'll just give you a quick update of what's happening my way.

I think we all enjoyed Dad's 90th birthday cake/coffee celebration at church last weekend, followed by a BBQ lunch at our house. As you can see, I have attached a few pics. Speaking of Dad, I took him to have his hearing checked this week. As you know, he is one of the most lovable and even-tempered seniors around, but he still has a few feisty bones in his body - he was irritated, (I was too!) because it seems like every other month or so one or both of his hearing aids seems to need repair. Well, when we went in for the appointment, I asked about that, and we learned that even though his hearing aids were still under warranty, every time they were sent for repair, OLD parts were used to fix them! Duh! That's like using an old light bulb to replace the one that just burned out. Suffice to say, we left without him having his hearing tested - in his words (and he said this to the woman there) "I've had about enough of this outfit!" I had to laugh.

I'm watching the World Series tonight, but of course it doesn't have the same excitement as it would if either the Cubs or the Tigers were in it. I'm rooting for Tampa Bay. Also looking forward to the start of the Pistons season next week.

Scott and I went to our last art show for the season last Friday and Saturday - at the Little River Casino in Manistee. We also stayed there for the night. Very nice rooms, and we enjoyed a nice prime rib and seafood (well not me for the seafood) buffet there on Friday night. The art show ended up being pretty much a bust, and I quickly lost my $20 limit in the slot machines, but we still enjoyed ourselves a lot. On Friday we drove back up to the Beulah area, and I stopped at Mecca - the store that Carol raved about. It definitely was very cute and I spent quite some time there (while Scott slept in the car, as per normal). I picked up a cute little glittery red bird. Had pleasant memories of our stay up north as we also drove up M-22 to enjoy the colors, and went right past good old Herring Road. The colors were just perfect last weekend, and the weather cooperated nicely.

It was good to see most of the family over the weekend; we haven't seen Dave in awhile, and are really looking forward to all three of the Chicagoans (I guess I should say 4, including Ally) visiting for Thanksgiving. For those who don't know, we'll be having Thanksgiving with the Hamberg side this year; but the Nykerk Christmas will be at our house on Christmas Day! Thanks to Brenda for checking out the idea of our family sponsoring another family that's less fortunate - that should put all of us more in the Christmas spirit!

Have you heard? Ally got enough votes on the "Save the Chessies" site so that she will be a pin-up girl in the 2009 Chesapeake Bay Retriever calendar that the organization puts out. She is such a pretty girl! (A little bird told me that we will be receiving one from Dave and Rachel for Christmas....)

Hope Carol is starting to feel better soon....love to all!

A Good Time Was Had By All....

Well, we did it! Our trip up north was a success, and I think everyone had a good time. Hopefully dad enjoyed it too, although I'm sure it will take a few days for him to recover! He may need some extra sleep for awhile. I have to give him credit - he even tried going out on the pontoon boat on a chilly day. What a trooper!

Rachel and Katie have just left to go back to Chicago. I'm so glad they were able to come, too. I'm posting a few of my pictures here, and the rest I've posted to Snapfish.com (shamberg@charter.net, password: nellie, to access).

Thanks everyone, for making our family trip a success - it meant a lot that so many of you made the trip, and I know it meant a lot to dad.

By the way, our last crafting time will be Thursday evening at my house. Come one, come all!

"The Craft Extravaganza" and More.....

Carol in front of Zingerman's Deli - our trip to Ann Arbor


The "Craft Extravaganza" - don't worry, you can all join in on the fun when we go up north!


Well, it's been quite some time since I've posted to the blog, but with sister Carol in town, I've been extra busy! We've really enjoyed spending time together - going to Colon to visit Jen and the girls, then to Ann Arbor one day, and of course the big "craft extravaganza" that took place for a full 2-1/2 days at my house over the weekend! We were crafting fools - Carol spent most of her time working on "altered art" objects - things that can be hung on the wall, journals, etc. I made mostly gift tags, journals and jewelry - charm bracelets and necklaces. What fun! Brenda joined us for awhile on Saturday, which of course we enjoyed immensely. She has got the crafting thing down pat, and left the house with some adorable magnets that she made. (Bren - I'll take the journal you made with me up north.) Don't have any pictures to show you at the moment, other than one of the three of us working at the table (above). As Carol would say, "suffice to say" the days flew by, and even Scott helped out by cutting up matboard and helping us drill holes in scrabble tiles. He is quite the artist himself, of course. Hey, Carol - did you know there are two kinds of art?......inside joke....)

Well, I'll bring some supplies and samples of what we made up north - that way, anyone who wants to can work on some simple crafts during our vacation, too. Can't wait - Rachel N., Carol and I will be leaving tomorrow morning - we'll get the cottage all set up and ready for when the rest of you arrive! See you soon - we will have great fun, I'm sure! (Little Kels, please get better soon, doodlebug!)

Great Fun in Colon!

Jen, Mace and Kels were most gracious hostesses as the "Nykerk" clan invaded Colon yesterday! Bren & Jen's friend "Sis" joined us, too - what a lovely young lady she is! We all enjoyed seeing "my cottage" as Macey put it, and then seeing Colon itself and a couple of the houses that Jen and Jason are considering buying. We went past Jason's school (we saw his yellow locker) and drove to an Amish general store - you see all of us sitting in front of it in the picture above. It was so nice to see everyone and we all enjoyed the day so much - the weather was great and the girls were absolutely adorable, "per normal." Too bad we missed Kels starting to crawl by only one day, but we could tell it would be any day - go Kels!

Having breakfast at "Remember When Cafe" - to start out our day with full (and I do mean FULL tummies!)

"Hi From Colon!"

Just a Few Quick Pics.....

Had a nice time at Megan's wedding last night, and wanted to post a few pictures of that, as well as my fun lunch with Bren, Jen and M&K this past week! Sorry not much time for news, but we'll be leaving for Chicago shortly...can't wait to see Carol! Love to all.....


Try as we might, we couldn't get little Kels to look up! Aren't these little ones just darling?

Poor Kelseroo! Aunt Jean just HAD to hold her and make her pose for a picture!

All the rest of the pictures are from Megan's wedding last night.....