The Shearing

Most of you probably know (hard not to notice) that Tyler took “No Shave November” so seriously that it turned into “Don’t Shave December.”  I had begun to despair, thinking I would soon be facing “No Shave ’09,” until Tyler received word from Rosetta Stone that they would be sending him to India in January.  With the prospect of flying internationally on his mind, Tyler began to take seriously comments made about his resemblance to terrorists and decided he need to do whatever he could to streamline his experience at the airport.  Hence, the shearing…..

Can anyone say mug shot?

"Hey, everybody, come see how good I look!"

There are no words...

The only one not rejoicing at this blessed change

Garman Christmas 2008

While pictures from the Wilkie Christmas might look like all we did was eat, pictures from the Garman Christmas would make it seem like all we did was dance…..long live DDR!

Janelle Lee and Natalie strutting their stuff on the dance mat

Tyler and Jon feeling the beat

Once the “kids” wore themselves out with all their groovin’, the experts got on stage to show them how it’s done…..

VIDEO

When we weren’t dancing, we did manage to open some presents and celebrate Christmas with LOTS of family on both sides.

Opening stockings on Christmas Eve

Janelle Lee and Jon....next Christmas they'll be married!

Group cuddle on the couch

What a blessing to be able to share in the joy of our Savior with all of our family!  I already can’t wait for next year .

Wilkie Christmas 2008

My brother, Caleb, hoping he's been good this year

We were blessed this year to be able to celebrate Christmas with family in North Carolina and in Pennsylvania.  The weekend before Christmas day, we drove down to NC to see all of the Wilkie family.  Unlike more traditional Christmas meals of turkey or ham, we opted for the Wilkie tradition of making homemade pizza where EVERYBODY helps – I counted 9 of us working in the kitchen at one time!

Pizza in progress

Lorin looking like she means business

Who let Sierra have a knife?!

Mom making calzones

Just for the record, Tyler helped with the pizza preparation and managed to not cause too much havoc.  He even agreed to cut the peppers and tomatoes!  Maybe there’s hope after all….

Tyler helping in the kitchen

Speaking of liking new foods, my sister Lorin faced her nearly life-long hatred of pineapple (long story with unappetizing details) and decided it wasn’t so bad after all!

Just one bite....

Of course, no adventure in the kitchen would be complete without Oma supervising the whole process!

Oma always ready to provide the young chefs with some expert coaching

The pizza feast was a huge success and sure to be repeated in future years.  We’re thankful for Oma allowing us to take over the Lodge so we have a place large enough to accommodate our large family and all the others we randomly adopt each year for the Holidays.

A toast to a very merry Christmas!

Mom & Dad blissfully full after our holiday meal

Oma and Opa enjoy a seat by the fire

Home Improvements

The next adventure

In my current state of unemployment and consequential free time, I needed a project to occupy myself and so selected painting our second bedroom, which had previously looked more like a John Deere landscape, complete with clouds and rolling hills.  Since my parents apparently weren’t busy enough building their own house, they decided to come visit and lend their expertise in painting my house.

Mom hard at work as always

Dad quite at home with a brush in his hand

Despite being relatively new to the painting process, Tyler and I made sure to supervise our painters and offer our helpful suggestions.

Hmmm....is it too late to turn back?

Tyler made sure to keep our laborers happy by playing the football game form our computer (go Mac!).

The lumberjack learns to paint

My German grandpa, Opa, also came along to contribute his considerable ability in our home improvement endeavors.  He was a master carpenter in Germany, so we benefited in all sorts of ways from his skills.

Opa doing what he does best

In addition to our painting project, mom assisted us with one other desperately needed home improvement project…….

And there was great rejoicing among the womenfolk

I even benefited from a free haircut!

My turn

Three cheers for family coming to visit and help us out!

The final product

Christmas Tree Expedition

My fearless leader sporting the lumberjack look

Saturday Tyler and I decided to venture out into the wilderness to select the “perfect” tree to bring into our home.  The “wilderness,” aka the tree farm, was huge and had many options, but in the end we selected a Douglas Fir.  I let Tyler carry it back to the car so he would feel manly.

The lumberjack in true form

Our neighbor kindly took a picture of the two of us with our perfect tree.

Tree huggers, through and through

As it turns out, choosing our tree and getting it back home was only the beginning of our adventure.  Our “perfect” tree turned out to be fat and dense, and our lights decided to put Tyler’s technical expertise (and patience) to the test.

Tyler playing nicely with the tree lights

But, in the end and after a couple trips to various stores, we had all the lights and a perfect star to top our perfect tree.  A happy beginning to our Christmas season….

Janelle loving having a tree in her house

We have a new cousin!!

Luke Edgar Garman was born on May 2nd to my cousin Jeremy and his wife Nicole

Easter Weekend

img_4213.jpgThis weekend my family came to visit us for easter. It was great, and we got to go snowboarding!