A Day of Mourning

Twelve years ago today, the Dutch Mill burned down. I had worked there for two years, 4 months and 3 weeks (to the day). Tonight, we went to the Corner Depot for supper in honor of the Dutch Mill. I ordered a sandwich that would have been the equivalent of the Dutch Boy (a Dutch Mill favorite), fries, a vanilla coke and a piece of Pecan Cream Pie. I'm happy to report, that it didn't even come close! There will never be another Mill. But it wasn't just the food that made the Dutch Mill great. It wasn't just the building with it's dozen dining rooms. It wasn't just the atmosphere with it's 50's decor in the Cupboard. It wasn't just the people. It was a combination of all those things. And all of those factors will never come together exactly like that again.

Long live the Mill!

Christmas Pictures 2009

Monday's w/ Michael

Here are some pictures from the past week. Enjoy!

Jane made me a Santa suit. Here I am with my 2 elves.

We had our family Christmas on Wednesday. For whatever reason, I couldn't find any pictures of that.

On Thursday, we went to my parents.

Here are the 5 guys enjoying an intense game of Uncle Wiggly.


Here is Deacon sitting in the sled that Uncle Ben and Uncle Joel got him.


Deacon also got his very own sleeping bag!



Friday morning, we opened our stockings before church.

Here we are in our Christmas pajamas that Mommy made!


You need to start teaching them early....


After church, we went to Grandpa & Grandma Yerglers for the afternoon.

Deacon enjoyed playing in all the trash.


Gavin showing Phoebe how to use his new mixer.


We spent Christmas evening at Jane's parents. Santa even made an appearance!

Santa with Jane's nephews, Lucas and Liam.


Deacon and Liam watching a cartoon.


The two brothers, relaxing after an exhausting (and very fun) day.


This was Finn's first Christmas. I think he enjoyed it!

Make it a great 2010!

Christmas Date

Monday's w/ Michael

Another Christmas tradition we have is taking turns planning a date night around Christmas. This year it was Jane's turn. So Saturday night, we headed up to Ft. Wayne. I had no idea what we were doing (other than doing some shopping). We dropped the boys off at Lee & Julie's to spend the night so that we could take our time and wouldn't feel rushed.

Our first stop was Headwaters Park for some ice skating. A few years ago, Jane and I bought our own ice skates, but we haven't done it much since. Even though we are both very inexperienced skaters, we had a lot of fun and neither one of us fell!

From there we started walking. Near the beginning of our walk, I asked Jane if we were walking to a specific destination or if we were just walking to walk. She was very evasive and it took a few blocks before I realized where we were heading: Coney Island! This was very sweet and sacrificial of Jane. She's not much of a hot dog fan, but she knows how much I like my coney dogs!

After our delicious supper, we did some shopping. We went to a few stores, the mall and Target. We somehow managed to avoid Jo-Ann's (which once again proves she planned this date with me in mind!) After Target, we headed back to Bluffton and decided to stop in at Walmart to pick up some last minute items. We didn't get home until after 1:00. We haven't stayed out that since we've had Deacon, so it was a lot of fun. Thanks again, Dad & Mom, for watching the boys so that we could do this. And thanks, Honey, for planning such a fun night!

Make it a great week!

Routines

Monday's w/ Michael

Last week, I talked about traditions. Today, I will talk about routines. My routine when I leave work is to take 124 to 301 to 100N. I could take 124 to Thiele to 100N. It would get me home in the same amount of time with the same amount of miles, but for whatever reason, I choose to take 301. I do this everyday.

Today, my mom called me at work. She had something to take to my neighbors and asked if I could pick it up on my way home. I said that I would be happy to take it there. She wasn't asking me to go out of my way at all. All I had to do was take Thiele to 100N and then I would drive right past my parents house. I drive past my neighbor's house multiple times every day, so what she was asking me to do was not difficult at all.

I called Jane around 4:45 and told her that I was doing that for my mom on the way home. Well sometime between that phone call and 5:00, I totally forgot. I followed my routine and took 301. I didn't even think of it as I drove past my neighbor's house. I didn't think of it until I had pulled into my driveway. When I realized what I had done, I ran inside and told Jane. Deacon wanted to ride with me, so I loaded him up in the car and we ran down to my parents.

Sadly, the story doesn't end there.... We picked up the package from my parents and headed to my neighbors to drop it off. Somewhere in that 2.5 mile drive, I totally forgot. I didn't even think of it as I drove past my neighbor's house. I didn't think of it until I had pulled into my driveway. Deacon and I zipped right out of our driveway and down to my neighbor's where we safely delivered the package.

Fortunately, our 1/2 mile drive home was successful!

I hate getting old.

Christmas Traditions

Monday's w/ Michael

As you all know, Jane and I love our traditions. And no other holiday has as many traditions as Christmas. For us, the Christmas season begins the day after Thanksgiving, as we battle the masses searching for the perfect gift on Black Friday. This year, we left home a little after 4:00 AM and got to Target before they opened at 5:00. We had a great day and made a lot of really good purchases. Thanks Mom & Dad B for watching the boys overnight so we could get an early start.

The next tradition comes the following day when we go pick out our Christmas tree. For the past couple of years, we have gotten our trees from the Fennig family at Holly Pines. http://www.hollypines.com/index.html They make it so much fun. They have a straw bale maze in their barn and a cute little gift shop in one of their other buildings.

They offer wagon rides.

They even have their very own Santa!

Deacon enjoyed helping us pick out the perfect tree. Unfortunately, his choices were a little smaller than what we had in mind.

Once we find the perfect tree, the next adventure is getting it home safely.

Later that evening is another favorite tradition: decorating the tree! Deacon was quite the little helper this year. Here he is helping Mommy with the lights.

He even wanted to stand on the stool so he could reach higher.

And he loved putting on the ornaments.

These are just a few of our fun Christmas traditions. This is such an exciting time of the year and we have so much to look forward to over the next 18 days.

Make it a great week!