Let it Snow!

I finally have a few pictures to share. Emily's out of school today, of course. We have well over an inch on the ground right now. It might be two. I'm making them wait for the snow fort expert to get home from work to go out and play again (John grew up in Michigan).




One of the things I miss about Fordyce, besides friends, is the bakery. That's Ethan standing on those steps. Pocahontas has no bakery. I've been told that there's nothing fresh here - no bakery, farmers market, etc. I just noticed that we can now click a button to insert a link - what I've been waiting for! Here's a link to the bakery. They do ship orders, by the way.



Not that it's all bad here. We have been very nicely welcomed by the church and community here. One nurse at the hospital gave us a "football kit", which includes a Pocahontas Redskins throw, pom-poms, air horn, cow bell, and mosquito repellant wipes. I had to hide the cow bell - the kids were too fond of ringing it! I didn't even unwrap the air horn.

Also John and I each had our own welcoming party. Mine was at the church fellowship hall, and many people came. It was very well done, and the food, provided by the hospital, was great! Now I'm wanting to go to the hospital cafeteria for lunch with John, which I haven't gotten to do yet.


I do like our new house, especially the kitchen. I would describe the color as Granny Smith apple, but not quite as bright. I have a sweet range, too. Check it out:


I've never had a gas range before, and so far I like it. It's easy to clean, and when I fire it up, it makes a cool little poof sound. The oven is gas, too. It also has two light bulbs instead of one, so it's easy to judge cookie doneness without opening it. I've been looking at the manual, and it has a setting for proofing bread. Cool! It also has convection baking, broiling, etc. If you have suggestions for using this feature, let me know. From what I can tell, it's just faster than regular baking because of the little fan. That's also something I've never had. It's small in the picture, but I want to point out one of my favorite Christmas presents (thank you, Katie) - Alton Brown's I'm Just Here For the Food V. 2 book. His directions for roasting a turkey (I modified for chicken) are great. He has some interesting ideas for grill modifications, too.

I got to try out the oven when I baked John's birthday cake. Here's a picture of him blowing out his candles. Unfortunately, I didn't have 36 candles, so I just used what I had. ha ha ha See the pretty green color on the walls?



Speaking of John's birthday, he is proud of the fact that he shares his birthday with Eddie Van Halen. Van Halen is touring right now with David Lee Roth, and we went to Little Rock to see them last night. I couldn't have cared less about going, but that's the way it worked out. I'll admit it was actually neat to see them perform. It was just Ed, David, Alex Van Halen, and Wolfgang (Eddie's teenage son). Now there's a kid who must be the envy of every high school boy with a guitar. In case you're wondering, DLR can still kick pretty high and twirl a mic stand, and Eddie can still whoop up on a guitar. The sound wasn't very good, though. John was surprised they never did fix that. I wore ear plugs, and John finally put some in. He said it sounded better with them in. We got back home at 1:30 this morning. I think I need a nap!
This picture is exactly how they looked last night, but I don't remember Eddie using that particular guitar. John had a dream the night before that Eddie called him up on stage and gave him Frankenstrat. Unfortunately, that dream didn't come true. We probably could have sold it for quite a tidy sum.