Dum dee dum dee dum

Okay it has been quite awhile since I posted. Anyway life is pretty good. We are getting ready for the insanity that is Christmas, and tonight I am going to the Celtic Woman concert at the Chumash Casino.

No more excuses

Okay tax season is over so it is time to update. Life is slowly getting back to normal. Jeff and I celebrated our second anniversary on the 5th. We were going to go to The Huntington, but they are closed on Tuesdays so we went to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library instead. (Aren't we the wild and crazy couple?) That place is so cool!!! I think my favorite part was going into Air Force One. It was overwhelming to stand in that plane and think that I was standing in a place where several presidents, and their wives had stood. Jeff liked Marine One. The view there is so amazing. I can see why President Reagan wanted to be buried there. We also were able to see one of the four remaining copies of The Magna Carta. It is on display at the library until June. It was awesome to see a 850 year old document I learned about in school.

On our way home we stopped at The Bread Basket to pick up a cake. They made our wedding cake, and our first anniversary cake, so why break tradition? We had pot roast with potatoes, onions, and carrots for dinner and very yummy cake for dessert.

It was a wonderful day. I love my husband more and more each day. I am so blessed to have Jeff in my life. He has brought me so much joy, peace, and contentment. I thank God every day for dropping me in his lap.

Hmmm Take a wild guess

Jeff checking out Marine One

This is the view from President Reagan's grave

Cake Time!!!!

My excuse for not updating my Blog

Two words......TAX SEASON!!!!! Yes it is tax season and I have been working insane overtime. The closer we get to April 15th the more insane work is. So if I survive I will update once it is all over.

So much for falling out of the trees

As many know I have been bitten by the genealogy bug. I have started a family tree at Ancestry.com, and have been doing research on other websites like FamilySearch.org, or Find A Grave.com. Ancestry has a thing where if somebody wants to contact you about your tree they can do it through the website. Ancestry will send the e-mail to you and you keep your privacy and can choose to ignore or answer them.

Back in June I got a strange e-mail that was written in German. I decided to take a look at it since it came from Ancestry. I was able to translate it with the help of the Internet, and a lady I work with. The person (Ursula) had seen my family tree and asked me if I have any information on Heinrich Kahlsdorf who is my great grandfather. I don't know much about him. I know he came to the U.S. from Germany in 18 something with his brother Hermann, and I suspect like many immigrants of the time when he set foot on American soil he was an American and many of the traditions of the old country were left behind.

We haven't been able to find much information on the Kahlsdorf side of the family. My mother has told my father many times that his family must have fallen out if the trees. We have looked and haven't been able to find anything. Even now it is very difficult and Kahlsdorf is not a common name. I did some research and found that many of the immigrants who came to the United States from Germany left from Hamburg or Bremen. Looking at a map of Germany it is most likely that my grandfather left from Bremen. Unfortunately almost all the records were burned during the bombings in World War II

When I e-mailed Ursula I told her I didn't have much information on Heinrich Kahlsdorf, but what I do have I will happily share. The next day I got a e-mail with an attachment from her. It was a pedigree chart, and it has my great grandfather and his brother on it and the family line goes back to 1759!!!

This is so freaking cool!!!! Finally a link. Not only has my great grandfather's family been found, I also have a cousin in Germany!! It is so amazing! I'm still in shock.

Now to find my great grandmother's line. Her maiden name is Meyers. Do you know how many Meyers there are running around?? YIKES!!!!

Christmas Eve

One of my family's traditions is to perform the Nativity Story on Christmas Eve. We pick our parts out of a hat, and then rush about the house putting together our costumes. A big part of the fun is to see who will come up with the most creative costume. One year when my sister Kati was a wise man she grabbed a huge lamp shade off one of the lamps, turned it upside down and used it for a crown. I still think that was the best costume. We laugh about it every Christmas.

My father would make his version of apple fritters, we would perform our play, sing Christmas Carols, and beg our parents to open a gift before going to bed.

Now that we have grown the traditions continues with the next generation. So of course I have to post the photos from the 2008 Nativity Play. Hope you all like them!!!!

The Narrator

The Angel Gabriel

Joseph, Mary, & the manger of presents

Our adorable shepherd & his sheep Horton

The three Wise Men
(more like wise guys!)

King Herod
(He is wearing his Grim Reaper cloak from Halloween)

One of the Wise Men was also the accompanist

Our cast photo - Yikes!!!

This picture could be the Christmas Card for 2009

Something one should know about one's spouse BEFORE one marries them:

Like the brand and model of their first car. Yes I know it is shallow but I may have had second thoughts about marrying Jeff IF I knew his first car was a PINTO!!! If that isn't bad enough it was an ORANGE PINTO!!!!!!!! AGGGGHHHHHH!!!!

However since he is so adorable standing next to his new Pinto my shallow side just sat down & kept it's mouth shut.

Marcia and I have been going through her old pictures and it has been like finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I now have so many pictures of Jeff when he was little I may need to buy five or six photo albums for all his pictures. I would love to post more but for the sake & state of marital bliss I will refrain.

I haven't been able to figure out if Jeff is giving his sister a ride or if Leslie is trying to get him to loan her the car.