Still Celebrating Easter ...

April 22, 2017

The kids were so excited when daddy and Alana arrived ...

Nathan was having a sneak peek around ...

while the kids were waiting patiently on the stairwell for the signal ...

in search of Easter eggs ... inside and out ...

They had a successful hunt ...!!!

It was a beautiful morning ...

Nathan and Mike decided to take a few shots out towards the field ...

while breakfast was being prepared ...

After breakfast ... the gang decided to go for a ride ... 

the boys on their dirt bikes ...

Nathan ... Alana ... Grandpa and Ella on the quads ...

Craig and James were out driving around in the field ... until dad was ready to go ...

as Nathan wanted to take the Dodge out for a spin ...

the boys helped dad check and fill the tires with air ...

Everything set ... they were off ...!!!

'

Ella wanted to have her hair braided ...

so Alana spent the time with her ...

and then Ella in turn ... braided Alana’s hair ...

Thry looked adorable ... and you could tell they were having so much fun ...!!!

Finally Oma arrived to spend Easter dinner with us ...

and her great-grandchildren were thrilled to receive money for Easter ...

It was a busy time in the kitchen ...

baking pies ... cooking the turkey ... and  preparing all the fixings ...

Everyone helping out at one point or another ...

Nathan volunteered to carve up the turkey ... the kids helped with setting the table ...

and Alana washing the dishes as I was finishing up with the final touches ...

We had a lovely dinner ... 

After dinner ... the table was cleared and we were in the process of getting dessert ready ...

Ella thought grandpa needed a new hair-doo...!!!

Amazing transformation with just a single bobby-pin ...

The two of them had us in stitches ... so much fun ... !!!

I think grandpa liked the new look ... ha ha 

We enjoyed sitting around at the table ... chatting ... visiting ... 

We had picked a gift up for Nathan and Alana ...

on our holiday in Texas ... “sauces are hot there”

Craig and Nathan went outside afterwards ... Craig wanted to ride his dad’s dirtbike ...

Nathan was Craig’s age when he got this dirtbike ...

It surprised us at how well he did ...!!!

Ella hanging out with Granpa on the couch ...

and I drove Oma back into town ... 

when I was in town ... I was on a beer run as well ...

I decided to pick up a NHL hockey glass for Nathan ...

as you can see ... he was pretty thrilled when the glass lit up ...

when his team scored ...!!!

 

April 23, 2017

 

Hoping that Nathan and Alana will be able to handle the heat of their hot sauce ...!!!

It was time to pack up the gear and make their way home ...

Craig figured he should take “Old Blue” out for one last ride ...

 

We had a great weekend with everybody ...!!!

 

Colouring Easter Eggs Again ...

April 21, 2017

This morning ... the table was set ...

to colour more Easter Eggs ...

(I had a deal with the Easter Bunny ... so we were able to postpone the egg hunt ...

until daddy and Alana arrived ...)

The kids did a fabulous job on decorating the Easter Eggs ...

Grandpa needed help to pick up a fallen tree ...

out in the field ...

The boys were totally into doing the job ...

as they were able to drive the truck ... 

ANYWHERE ... that Grandpa needed them to be ...!!! 

 

While the guys were out working in the field ...

Ella was in the kitchen ... preparing the base and filling ...

to make Butterscotch Squares ...

I was in the process of making a pot of soup ...

Ella wanted to use my handy chopper/dicer ... to cut up some celery ...

Ummm ... I think there was some celery missing ...

Hey ...!!! What's that in her cheeks ...!!!

 

P

These guys are too funny ... James was laughing so hard ...

they were mimicking Grandpa ... with pulling there stretchy pants way up on their bellies ...

and walking around like Grandpa does ... when he is fooling around ...

and pestering me ...

Hmmm ... Ella has a cane ... oh dear ... I hope she isn't playing me ??? 

No ... she wouldn't ... or would she ...???

Craig was helping Grandpa put the new sticker on the Jeep for this years insurance coverage ...

There was quite a buildup of stickers ... so Grandpa gave Craig the heat gun ... to heat them up to peel them off ...

before putting the new one on ...

 

Finally daddy and Alana arrived ...

the guys were all outside ... and Alana inside ... making Slime with Ella ...

She had been waiting for Alana ... to bring the ingredients ...

It's yucky stuff ... to gooey and slimey for me ...!!!

 

Working in the Shop ...

April 18, 2017

The icepack cover that Ella finished knitting ... was for my knee ... I had knee surgery April 11th ... Ella was my lttle nurse maid ... and she took care of me ...

 

Ella went into the shop and approached Grandpa ...

She figured I needed a cane to use outside ...

Grandpa helped her gather the supplies needed ...

he also guided her on the construction of the cane ...

A padded handle and a cane cap was put on ...

then the finishing touches of painting it white ...

I was delighted to have this cane made especially for me ...

It worked really well for outside ...

I could keep my inside cane clean ...

Thank you Miss Ella ... I luv it ... !!!

 

Craig took a selfie showing his fat lip ...

after he wipedout on the BMX track last week ...

He is doing much better now ...

He was happy working on an old ary tank model in the shop ...

James was busy outside getting the little quad running ...

Ella gave Grandpa a hand with sanding ...

the new stand that Grandpa made for the FM radio ...

Once she was finished with the sanding ... 

she came in the house to check on me ...

and help with making icing for the chocolate cake ...

Of course having a taste from the spatula before adding sprinkles on the cake ...

The gang went out to inspect the new track that James had built ...

taking his R/C out to test drive it ...

It'll need a little adjustment on some of the curves ...

Some elbow grease and time will make it better ...

Grandpa gave Ella a hand to make sure her dirt bike was ok ...

(I think Grandpa might be a little too big ... yikes ...!!!)

She was ready to go ... and so was James ...

They were headed down to the neighbours for a visit ... 

and see how long Grandpa was going to be working on the trench ...

It was nice to see Tag and Travis again ...

The kids enjoyed visiting and the treats that Bonnie had given them ...

After a short visit ... we made our way home ... for a nice relaxing evening ...

 

 

 

In the Kitchen ...

March, 12, 2017

Ella helping Alana prepare food ...

for their lunches the next week ...

Looks like they were having fun working together ...

 

 

A Busy Night ...

January 19, 2017

I arrived at the Knight household this afternoon ...

The grandchildren arrived home from school and we got busy with dinner ... 

After Ella showed me her new house and her bean bag chair ... we headed to the kitchen ...

First of all Ella figured we needed to bake a "Crazy Cake" for dessert ...

Ella gathered all the ingredients for the recipe ...

She is so helpful ... measuring everything herself ... and placing the prepared batter in the oven ...

 

I already had the spaghetti sauce made ... and while the pasta was cooking ...

James made his famous Caesar Salad ...

We enjoyed a lovely dinner ... loved all the chatter ... and laughing ...

 

While Ella was icing and decorating the cooled cake ...

I taught the boys how to set up and play Solitaire with real cards ...

 as opposed to playing it on their iPads ...

After a few games we sat down at the table and had our dessert ...

While I finished cleaning up the kitchen ... I helped Ella with her spelling words ...

We decided to play other card games ...

until it was time to go to bed ... as they had school the next day ...

 

Christmas Day ...

December 25, 2016

After all the gifts were opened ... it was time to start making breakfast ...

the kids were busy building with their mini lego sets ... 

Then Craig sat with grandpa for a bit ... checking out the R/C car ...

Ella helped prepare the fruit plate and set the table ...

I was busy cooking bacon and making waffles for our Christmas breakfast ...

Breakfast dishes were cleared ... Nathan and James were taking turns ... 

in mastering flying the drone ... and taking videos with its camera ...

Rob and Cindy decided to check out their scratch lottery tickets ...

all the kids large and small were busy helping with the scratching ... and every once in a while you heard woo hoo .... !!!

Mike was still not doing well ... so Rob was going to take Mike to the hospital ... 

so that I could get our Christmas dinner prepared ...

Nathan stayed home so that he could take the kids out sledding ...

and then take some time to relax in the hot tub to ease their aches and pains ...

We spent the day playing and getting our dinner together ...

Craig ... James and Ella helped with putting up the extra table ...

 and then setting the tables for our Christmas festivities ...

Rob had called from town saying that they were going to pick up Oma and Joe ...

then were on their way home ...

I then informed our neighbours Don and Bonnie ... 

to make their way down to the house ... as they wanted to make sure that Mike was ok ...

before they came down to join us for dinner ...

Nathan had taken over carving the turkey duties ... all the other dishes were set up on the island ...

once again it would be buffet style in this household ...

We had a lovely time ... visiting with our family and friends ... 

It was a very Merry Christmas ... !!!

 

 

What an Evening ...

December 24, 2016

After our traditional Christmas Eve dinner ...

it was time to play some games ...

Nathan brought a new game ... "Watch Ya' Mouth" ...

Oh my goodness ... it was so much fun ... tears rolling down our cheeks from laughter ...

this game is hilarious ...!!!

You are divided into two groups ... each person was given a plastic mouthguard retractor ...

that alone broke us all up ... as we put them into our mouths ...

a few of us had trouble even putting it into their mouths ... !!!

 

One person from the team ... inserted the retractor ... set the timer ... then picked up a card ...

read it ... while the other team members guessed what the phrase was ...

If the phrase was guessed ... they could continue until the timer expired ...

The team that guessed the most phrases ... won ... !!!

 

I had taken so many pictures ... but ... with all the laughing ...

and moving ... they were too blurry to post ...

I don't think there was one person who didn't hurt from laughing so hard ...

our cheeks and bellies ...

It was quite the workout ... !!!

 

We had calmed down from playing that card game ...

now it was time to open the gifts from Oma ... and for Oma to open her gifts ...

Oma opened her gift from Craig ... James an Ella ...

beautifully ... handcrafted cards ... that touched her heart ...

Our gift to Oma ... were tickets to see a ballet ... Swan Lake ...

The great grandchildren were so excited to receive a card with cash in it ...

now they can add it to their savings ...

We continued to open gifts with Oma ...

Craig ... James ... and Ella were helping grandpa with his scratch lottery tickets ...

Love Rob and Cindy's attire for this festive evening ...

It was getting late for Oma ... it had been a busy day and she was ready to go home ...

(I think maybe part of the gaming exercise wore her out ... ha ha ...!!!)

Thank you Oma for spending this day and evening with us ...

 

While Mike and Rob drove Oma home ...

Nathan started to make the traditional "Knight Family Fudge" ...

which only is made by the boys and men in the family ...

Mike and Rob made it home ... just in time to witness the beating of the fudge ...

getting it to the right consistency ... just before it starts to harden ...

working quickly to get it scraped out of the pot ...

into a buttered baking dish ... smoothing it out to let is set ...

We cleaned up ... by scraping out the remnants and licking the beaters ...

mmmmm ... so creamy ... !!!

It was later cut into little squares ... divided up and placed into airtight containers ...

Some to be eaten now over Christmas ...and the rest for Nathan to take home ...

"Twas the night before Christmas ... when all thru the house ...

not a creature was stirring ... not even a mouse ...

The children were nestled all snug in their beds ... " NOT quite yet ...

they were taking their time ...

a plate of cookies ... carrots ... a glass of eggnog ... oh yes and a beer ...

were put out for Santa and his reindeer ... (Nathan thought Santa might like a change ... )

then they made their way upstairs ... to head to bed ...

they were so excited for Christmas morning ...

Once the children were in bed ...

we enjoyed a quiet evening ... visiting and preparing for the next days activities ...

 

 

 

Christmas Eve Dinner ...

December 24, 2016

Arriving back at the house ...

it was time to start making our traditional Christmas Eve dinner ...

Oma was in charge of the warm potatoe salad ...

Craig was peeling the cooked potatoes for Oma ... and I sliced up the onions ...

Once the salad was made ... the sauerkraut was prepared and heated ...

and the pot of water was boiling for the European Weiners to be cooked ...

I think everyone was ready for dinner ... we gathered in the kitchen for a quick picture ...

before we lined up for our dinner ...

 

We were ready for a Buffet style dinner ...

the fixings of European Mustard ... Horseradish ... butter ... Ketchup (for the grandchildren) ...

a plate of fresh bread and buns ... some fresh vegetables ...

The European Weiners were cooked and kept warm on the stove ...

It was time to give thanks for our meal ...

and be grateful for all those that were able to join us for this occasion ...

 

It was wonderful to see and hear the family ...

around the island ...

The grandchildren decided to sit at the island ...

while the rest of us had our meal at the table ... that only lasted a few minutes though ...

the grandchildren brought their stools to the main table to join us ...

Family all together ... part of it anyway ...

we're missing Ian and his family ...

and I know they are having the traditional Christmas Eve dinner in Texas ...

It's heart warming that this tradition will carry on ...

for many years ...

 

 

Working In The Kitchen ...

October 13, 2016

Ingredients gathered together to make "SemmelKnodel" ...

Bread Dumplings ... with the leftover pork from the weekend ...

A few will be cooked up for dinner ...

and the rest will be sealed in bags for the freezer ...

 

We were heading back to Mazur Meadows ... this weekend coming up ...

I decided to use some of the zucchini from the garden ...

Zucchini muffins ... mini zucchini loaves and chocolate cupcakes were baked ...

They were put into containers to take up to the mountain ...

 

The dumplings were cooked in boiling water ...

then browned in the frying pan ...

We had a delicious dinner ... with the dumplings and gravy ...

Blau Kraut and fresh garden tomatoes ...

I promised Oma ... that I would bring her a few Semmelknodel ...

the next time I go into town ....