GZ Tai-Tai

Happy Easter!

Christ is Risen!

Getting Ready for Easter

Today was a busy day in our house after the grocery shopping and a nice lunch we arrived home and I got busy making Hot Cross Buns, hard boiled eggs for Expat Son to color, Resurrection Cookies and Pizza for dinner. Whew I am beat and I luckily have asked Hubby to play the Easter bunny tonight because  just cannot take another step my feet are killing me tonight!

Here is the recipe for the Hot Cross Bun I used though I did deviate a bit to make the crosses by simply mixing the flour and water in a small zipper bag and cut the corner off to make the crosses on top of the buns before I put them in the oven.  They are yummy I had one right out of the oven.

Here is the link  to Delia online.

This recipe was simple and I will use it again. I will post photos of all of the goodies I made today but not now it is time for me to go to sleep so that the Easter Bunny can leave a nice basket of goodies for Expat Son.

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Happy Birthday GZ Expat!  GZ Expat's birthday shares Valentines day. Well it is his birthday and that is what we celebrate, however, I do give a mushy Valentine card to him as well with the birthday gifts and cards.

Happy Birthday and Happy Valentines Day to the love of my life!
Really sappy, I know...

 

New Year is here

We packed up the Christmas decorations and put them away on New Years Day. Everything now looks clean and new, less cluttered for a new beginning.
We have a new year to make new beginnings in our lives with friends,families,acquaintances, and with ourselves too.
Just like when we pray and ask for forgiveness the slate is wiped clean for a new beginning.

So what will you do with your new beginning?

Happy Birthday Baby Brother!

I remember when Mom and Dad brought you back from the hospital. I was so glad you were a boy and not a little girl! I had a bad dream of a little red headed girl that was really mean and always getting me in trouble and doing bad things to me! Instead it was a pleasure to have a little brother to look after....

I remember taking you to the movies when I was old enough to drive and sometimes to the local DQ. Wow that would make you about 10 and I was around 17. It was cool having a brother that many years younger because all my friends thought you were cute and they said you looked like me!

Yes you embarrassed me too... a few times but I couldn't stay mad for too long. You would sneak around and peek when one of my boyfriends was around and then tell everyone that he kissed me! That was not a nice thing to do to me.

I will never forget when a date picked me up and you were laying on the sofa watching TV. You farted so loud and then all you did was laugh and fart some more! I was so embarrassed and my date laughed so hard when I apologized, that we ended up laughing all the way to the school dance!
Then when I was married and I would visit with your little niece, you were always so sweet to play with her or sing to her. I love the fact that you would get into the kiddie pool  with her and let her pour  buckets of water over your head. 

After church on Sundays you taught her to drink the  coffee creamers... well I am not so sure about that little trick!
Or how about the time you came over to our house for pierogi that I made from scratch.... you disappeared and we found you had eaten all the pierogi in that gigantic bowl! WOW!!!

You were always a talented kid and had a great personality, very easy going and not uptight at all about anything.

As a grown up you are still talented and have a great personality and I am proud that you are my baby brother.

I wish you Happy Birthday Baby Brother in a bit of a silly way... I love you! Have a great day!

Merry Christmas

I leave you with a beautiful rendition of O Holy Night sung by Josh Groban

Happy Birthday to my Brother

This post is dedicated to my Brother. Though we live miles apart I still remember your birthday and wish you much love and happiness!
I think about all the times when we were kids that we did silly things. I think about all the times you beat the crap out of me hahah kidding. I know I deserved some of it being the older sister but not wiser, that liked to egg you on and get your goat. Remember getting spanked next to the Salt Lake because we were having a fist fight in the back of the truck? I did not remember what the fight was about but I wanted to just get that spanking out of the way and take yours too. Funny I have no desire to visit Utah!

Do you remember the bathroom brawl in our jammies with the water fight and then you karate kicked me and i grabbed your foot and down you went. That was something you never saw on Hong Kong Fooey! That scared the crap out of me and I kept asking you if you were alright. Geez! we were mean to each other back then. Thank goodness we grew out of all of that because if we had kept it up we would probably be on the WWF!

I remember lots of good things too by the way! Like going to piano recitals and band performances, and being so proud of how well you played. Track and Cross Country events and cheering you on. How proud I was of you when you graduated from MSU and I made the trip even being very pregnant with Expat Daughter. Playing football with all the neighbor kids in our yard or on the street. Running around the woods behind our house looking for berries or our youngest brother. All those hunting trips, and camping trips we went on every year!

I guess what I am trying to say in a weird way... is that I love you and Happy Birthday!

Not exactly Hallmark but I think you will understand

Christmas Humour

It's that time of year and Christmas is just around the corner. We have decorated the house and done a little Christmas shopping, more to be had of that in the coming days ahead, but not too much. This video of Mr Bean reminds me of Expat Son when he was much younger playing with the Nativity set in our home.
I love Mr Bean he is hilarious and I love this little skit of him Christmas shopping and playing with the Nativity set in the department store.
As you are gearing up for your Christmas shopping remember to have a good sense of humour when battling the crowds.

Thanksgiving

Later this week we will celebrate Thanksgiving. Over the years our Thanksgiving celebrations have changed mostly because of living in a land that is not our own, very much like those Pilgrims that celebrated all those years ago. 
The Pilgrims left their homeland to find freedom of religion and found a new land with many trials and tribulations. They battled Indians that did not want them there, they battled illness and death the first year,they lost nearly half of their fellow Pilgrims that sailed with them to the new land. Yet the spirit to survive and to find a way to live in the new land and make friends with the native people was still in their hearts.
We left our home for different reasons than the Pilgrims. But we are in a strange new land with local native people that have a very different culture than our own. We also have friends that are from other lands that have different cultures than we do. Yes we have that same spirit in our hearts to be friends and welcome those people into our hearts and our homes. We also miss our families and friends in our homeland. Yet we are thankful for the many blessings that are given to us each day and those include our family and friends both near and far, the many wonderful experiences we have living in a new land, the hardships that we face in the new land, and we are thankful for each other. We are thankful that we have a loving God to bestow on us such wonderful  blessings.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Remembrance Day......Remember

This week Expat Son came home asking for a donation for a poppy that he could wear for Remembrance Day.  I was more than happy to send a donation for him, that afternoon he came home wearing his poppy and he wore it all week.
We don't get the day off here as we do in the states and it is called Veteran's Day in the states and  Armistice Day in  France, Belgium and other countries. However it is a day set aside to remember all those people who served in the  World Wars and also a time to remember those who served in other wars and those in the war now,and all those who serve our country in our military.

This You Tube was sent to me by a church friend at home in the states, it is quite moving. It was moving for me as my father served in the military, even though he did not fight in the war, he was away from us serving our country for 18 months while he was stationed in Africa in the late 60's. We at home missed him and we counted the days he would be back home with us.