The Rest of the Weekend

With our bellies filled...and filled again...and filled some more, we waddled back to Merkles for the rest of the weekend while Scott and Laura were visiting. We did some shopping, hung some Christmas lights, played some Wii, wrestled, visited, and of course, ate more of the fabulous leftovers (including the infamous "Bobbie" sandwich: turkey, mayo, whole berry cranberry, and stuffing on white bread or a good roll...sounds different and kind of wierd, but trust me, it's delicious!!!). Anyway, lots of fun was had, as always in the Merkle house, aside from listening to Toehead sing his "Pittsburgh's goin' to the Super Bowl" song a thousand times! Man that's a catchy tune!

Laura and Toehead...pre-Steelers game
Jon surfing? on Uncle ToeyMonster

Uncle Toe and Aunt Laura got this for Lizzie for Christmas, but when they saw her walking all around the house holding just our fingers, they decided to let her open it early. We'll see if she's walking before Christmas. I don't think so, but she might be cruising by then anyway. Thanks for the great gift, guys! And it comes in handy since the one the boys used to learn to walk with got run over by Daddy!!! Oops!

Lizzie opening her first Christmas gift. Christmas morning is going to be so fun this year!

Turkey Day, Part Deux

Jake and David playing foosball
Kara holding Liz; Kara is going to make such a great babysitter in a year or so!

Kara, Darnel, and Nat entertaining Lizzie

So as to not completely stuff ourselves on Thanksgiving Day, my side of the family gets together the day after at my Aunt Bev's house. We have a family of wonderful cooks and bakers, even the kids, so it always proves to be a fabulous meal. Each year, we have a few of the basics and some have their signature dish that we all look forward to: Kathy's corn casserole, Cheryl's sweet potatoes, Dad's homemade rolls...YUMMY!!! Then we experiment with new things each year, too: Dad's eggnog bread pudding, Darnel's chocolate dipped Ritz and peanut butter sandwiches and blueberry cream pie, my peanut butter topped brownies (oh-so-rich! Grab your milk!) and warm blue cheese dip, even Stef's semi-homemade apple pie. Good food is never hard to come by. With our family, there are lots of kids, so that's always fun. Their ages range from Darnel who is 13 all the way down to Lizzie who is 8 months. And also, there is Stef and Joe who are 18+ who still get into the mix. But they all manage to play so nicely together. They had a blast playing tag outside, hide-and-seek, pool, air hockey, ping-pong, foosball...fun central!!! And while they're playing, the "grown-ups" have some interesting, to say the least, conversations!!! Always a fun time...

Turkey Day

This Thanksgiving, as in years past, we have so much for which we are so incredibly thankful. We are truly blessed with an amazing family, good friends, a beautiful home, plenty of good food to eat, clothes to wear, a good job for Andy, and most importantly, an abundance of love and happiness in our hearts. I pray that each of you took a few moments on Thanksgiving, if not every day, to give thanks, as well.

We spent the actual turkey day at the Merkles in Woodstown with Mommom, Popsy, Kimmy, Toehead and Laura (who ventured up from Nashville) and the five of us. Delicious food, as always, and lots of fun.

Jonny devouring a turkey leg!!!

Jake took this picture of Andy and I.

Cheesing it up for the camera himself

Toe and Laura (aka the Tennessee Merkles)

Lizzie enjoying some Cheerios


Mommom hard at work getting a wonderful meal on the table

Jon, Kimmy and Popsy anxiously awaiting the dishing out of the famous mashed potatoes

Football and Wrestling

Striking a pose. What a tough-looking crew! Ha!

Protect the ball, Jake!

After church on Sunday, the kids and I decided to head up to Woodstown to spend the day with my family. The boys always enjoy playing with their cousins and it's always nice to visit with everyone. Darnel's cousin, Elijah, Darnel, David, Jake and Jon took advantage of the nice weather and played football for awhile then brought the games inside to wrestle. Jon is a hammer! Man! That kid was taking on everyone, even the big guys and holding his own, I tell ya! That kid is tough!

Thanks for a fun day, guys!

Catching Up

Okay, it's been awhile and a lot has been going on with us, as I'm sure it has been with all of you; It's the nature of this time of year, I guess. So, I'll go back to Nov 21st. ANDY TURNED 33!!!! His folks, Kimmy and Don, Tait and Jack Stamp all came down to help celebrate. I made a big lasagna dinner and Andy's favorite Jewish Apple cake for dessert. We all had a great time.

Andy left on a trip, his first in months, the next day, trying to squeeze in one before Thanksgiving, Jake's birthday, and of course, Christmas. If he didn't make it out before the end of the year, he'd go non-current, which is a big no-no, I guess. Anyway, we were a little nervous that he'd get stuck out and be gone for his favorite holiday ever...turkey day, and wind up spending it in Turkey, instead. But, he made it back in record time...four days!!! Yahoo!

Pumpkin Scones with Berry Butter

YUM! That was the consensus when I made these for our little playgroup a couple weeks ago. Many of the mommies asked for the recipe, so here it is, for you all to check out. I had never made scones before and they were surprisingly easy and oh so good!

Pumpkin Scones with Berry Butter
2 Tbsp craisins
1/2 c. boiling water
1/2 c. butter, softened
3 Tbsp confectioners' sugar
Dough:
2 1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 c cold butter
1 egg
1/2 c. canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
1/3 c. milk
2 Tbsp chopped pecans, optional (I didn't use these)

Place cranberries in a small bowl; add boiling water and let stand 5 min; drain and chop. In a small mixing bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy. Add confectioners' sugar and cranberries; mix well. cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, pie spice, salt, and baking soda. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, whisk the egg, pumpkin and milk; add to crumb mixture just until moistened. Stir in pecans if desired.
Turn dough onto a floured surface; knead 10 times. Pat into an 8 inch circle. Cut into eight wedges; separate wedges and place on a greased baking sheet.
Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown (took mine longer). Serve warm with berry butter. (I took butter out to soften just a tad before serving).
ENJOY!!!!

We Have Music!

Well, in trying to keep up with the "Tennessee Merkles," I've added some music to our blog. I hope you enjoy the songs as you read and check out the photos. All you Merkles, make sure you click on Apache and do our little dance once in awhile! ha ha!!!
Thanks, Laura, for helping me get that set up!
See you guys in a few days! We can't wait!