working at the grocery store

Ivy has been talking about this for WEEKS, and now the day has finally arrived! She was scheduled to go to work (REAL work) at a grocery store on Friday so here we are! She was hired for the day by Grampa Z. (It really helps when you know the manager!) :-) Our little girl is growing up...she already has her very first job!

Ivy was a VERY busy girl at her work. Her work duties included:

...working in the bakery icing the donuts and then decorating them with sprinkles. (She even got to bring the sprinkles home with her!) While working in the bakery, she even got to see and greet her Aunt Julie and her cousins, Kaya and Riley as they were shopping in the store!

...working in the deli.

...stocking and fronting the shelves.

...putting up signs of the special offers the store was having for the week.

...checking groceries out or "beeping stuff" (as Ivy would call it). This was Ivy's FAVORITE job at the store.

...making her own signs for the store while being a security guard watching all of the surveillance screens to nab any shoplifters that may come into the store. (Talk about a multitasker!)

All in a day's work!

Ivy LOVED working at Grampa's store, and Grampa said that she was such a good little worker. She even got paid $5 for all of her hard work. Keep up the hard work, Ivy! Thank you, Grampa, for taking the time out of your busy day so that Ivy could have this fun and unforgettable experience! And, thank you, Grampa, for taking all of the great pictures!

By the way, did you notice Ivy's outfit? She has had this outfit picked out for weeks to wear especially for her work in Grampa's store.

Also, the donuts that Ivy frosted and decorated at the store...well, Daddy bought them so that Ivy, Owen, and their cousins could have a special treat. Here's Ivy showing her cousin Anna the donuts she created!

The following is a quote/poem entitled Sketches by Ben Burroughs that Grampa shared with Nathan and me one day many years ago. I'm not sure if he still does (I'm pretty sure he does though), but at the time, he said that he has carried this quote in his wallet ever since he was given it many, many years before that:

"It's a privilege to be able
to go forth to work each day
ready, willing and able
to earn my daily pay
it's a blessing to possess the health
and strength to go along
coping with the problems
making life a song
it's wonderful to know someone
on whom I can depend
few things are more precious
than a trusting friend
to have a love to cling to
and children's happy laughter
gives me something to live for
now and forever after
these are the necessary things
without them I would be
like a piece of driftwood
tossing on life's sea
but with them I am privileged
and I give thanks to God
who gives me faith to travel on
when roads are rough to trod."

But we urge you, brothers, to do this [love one another] more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. ~I Thessalonians 4:10b-12

dancin' with cousins

While visiting in PA, we also plan at least one trip over to Aunt Julie's house to see her and my nieces Kaya and Riley. Conveniently, they live right next door to Grampa and Gramma Zipf so it makes it easier to get there for a visit. During warmer weather, we are able to get together more often as there is plenty to do outside. This time home, we were only able to get over there one time as we had to plan around the holiday and different work schedules (Aunt Julie's and Ivy's) :-) and such.

It is always great to get to see them, and the kids love playing with all of their toys.

This time, the girls found the princess dresses to wear...

Then, they went to the royal ball to dance...

*Remember turn off the music on the right in order to hear the video.

Meanwhile, Sir Owen the Knight found a sword to scare away all of the evil enemies of the palace (and the royal princesses, too). :-)

zipf thanksgiving

For the past few years, we have purposely planned to spend Thanksgiving with Nathan's family as, over those years, Nathan's Uncle Glenn and Aunt Linda graciously host the entire Brocious family, including all of Nathan's aunts, uncles, and cousins. We look at it as a family reunion and are thankful that we can see and visit with his whole family at the same time and place, something that we wouldn't have done or got to do otherwise. This year, we had a smaller crowd than usual making it a relaxed and enjoyable day.

Among other duties, Gramma was in charge of stuffing a turkey. AND, as is tradition for the past 3 years, Ivy ALWAYS helps her Gramma pull apart bread for the stuffing. They always seem to have a great time doing it too.

Well, Thanksgiving Day has finally arrived...

Letty joined the ranks of the sleepyheads on the couch...

The Thanksgiving season seems to be forming itself into containing a lot of tradition, which I have grown to LOVE. What better way to remember special times and events and then pass on a spin-off of some of those special times and events than through the consistency of traditions! Another tradition that we usually have on Thanksgiving Day is for all of the ladies and any kids that want to join them to gather around and make a craft. (The men could join us, but they seem to think watching football and falling asleep on the couch is more fun.) This year, for some strange and crazy reason (I'm blaming it on being pregnant last year), I volunteered to come up with and "teach" the craft to all of the ladies. I was rather ambitious with this venture and thought that we would have the time and energy to do two crafts, but we ended up only making one. We made the Christmas tree ornaments pictured on the top of this picture...

Great job, ladies and kids! Thank you for your patience with your "teacher" - I am NOT a crafty person AT ALL! :-)

I'm sure there are a ton of thoughts flowing through your mind as to why Gramma is on her hands and knees under the table...Is she hiding? Is she pretending to be a dog? Is she looking for an earring?

NOPE! Just being a vacuum cleaner! :-)

Nathan was caught here taking his 6th or 7th piece of pie. (And he's suppose to be on a diet.)

I guess this is what one looks like after eating almost a whole pie!

The kiddos also made their own fun...

And then, it was time to eat AGAIN!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

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On the day after Thanksgiving, as is also tradition, we went back to Uncle Glenn and Aunt Linda's house to eat the leftovers. Nathan's brother and his family finally joined us then, and Ivy had fun with her cousins there...

Letty is now pulling herself up to a standing position. I finally caught her on tape doing it...

HAPPY DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING!!!