Moosin' around in the North Woods

Eme + Jon + Stress + Snow = 2 fantastic head colds...two thumbs up!

Eme and I headed up to the great north woods of Minnesota's Gunflint Trail along the North Shore of Lake Superior (a.k.a. Jeff's Happy Place) for some outside play time with my family. Even though it was cloudy most of the time it was still fun to be outside in God's creation to enjoy the snow covered wilderness. We hiked up Britton's Peak (pretty small), ate at Sven & Ole's Pizza (A-mazing!), stayed at Adventerous Christians in the Patten Cabin, and x-country skied around the AC. Tip: Check a map before heading out on a remote, wooded x-country ski trail an hour before dusk. Eme, Micah, and I made it around the AC loop...up and down hills, around corners, over rivers, dodging branches, and squinting to see a dimly lit map (because it was dark). We made the entire 4.5 mile trek!

Remember when sledding down even a small hill put a smile on your face like Kaitlyn? Snow is so much fun!

I was keeping Elissa "close at all times" just like the sign says.

You may remember these views from Jeff's August 2nd blog entry. It's just a bit more...white now!

Yes, we got colds on our way up north. A little medicine and crisp fresh air did us good though!

And no, we didn't see any moose this time :( But we did capture a photo of a northland creature in this self-portrait of us. You can see him just over Eme's right shoulder.

The View of an (almost) Empty Cookie Plate!

After a fabulous snowy Saturday of baking Christmas cookies with my mom, Michelle, and Margaret, I had so many cookies I couldn't justify keeping them all to myself. Tis the season to spread joy, right!?! I wrapped up a mound of cookies and brought them to work. Only a minute had went by after unwrapping them and cookie had already been snatched. Now, if you work in an office environment you know that whenever free food is unveiled it immediately draws people to it like a giant magnet. My favorite are the walk by snatchers who think you don't see them, but keep walking to avoid the awkward conversation of taking yet another cookie! It is now 1:45 pm and all that is left are a few spritz. Rave reviews for all, especially the oatmeal, coconut, chocolate chip cookie (which isn't technically a "Christmas" cookie, but still delicious)! I'm not sure who to shout out for that one, but it was a hit.

May you feel the presence of Christ this Christmas and encounter him even in the smallest of activities this season. Have a safe and joy-filled Christmas!

Happy Birthday Nancy!

Yesterday evening we celebrated Nancy's, Jon's mom, birthday. The party ended up back at our house with a couple of yummy pies!

Happy Birthday Nancy! May you be blessed this coming year and I hope your day was filled with love, laughter, and joy.

Global Warming Anyone?

For those of us in Minnesota we saw temperatures fall dramatically from about 37 degrees Saturday afternoon to -5 this morning! According to Paul Douglas (renowned Twin Cities weatherman), "This is shaping up to be the coldest December in Decades." Which reminds me, I haven't heard our friend Al Gore in a while...Maybe his tongue is stuck to a flag pole.

Back and Forth

It wasn't me running from one end to the other... it was my awesome nephew, Oliver. Margaret came over so that I could play with him while she worked on his quilt. It was a fun afternoon. He brought alone his little walker deal and walked back and forth. He would go into a couple rooms and try to shut the door but then walk right back out.

Here are a few more pictures:

Thanks Oliver for a fun Saturday!

Thanksgiving Evening... Stylizing

After Thanksgiving dinner everyone seemed to disperse to either playing games, working on our basement, or for my sister and I, work on painting a stylized tree. Without Michelle, I would not be as far as I am and almost finished - just a few small touch ups are left. Being that she is the artist in the family, I asked her if she would be willing to help. After we had dessert, She jumped right in taking the 8.5 x 11 in. paper picture and penciling it life size on one of the basement walls. It was fascinating to watch it come to life as we painted together for almost 4 hours. (I think we both didn't want to stop!)

One of the interesting pieces to the painting is that all of the colors that were used were taken from paint we already had, paint that is somewhere else in our house - Kinda fun! Besides absolutely loving the tree, the little bird in the corner is my favorite. Here is a picture of our new thanksgiving tradition (a least it should be), but to get the full effect you need to see it in person.

Thanks Michelle for your help!

What more could we be thankful for!

Thanksgiving was such a fabulous day. Thank you everyone for making our first Thanksgiving back in MN wonderful.

It started early with getting the pies (Pecan, Apple, and Carmel Pumpkin) ready and in the oven before we had to put the Turkey in.

Jon's mom and dad were the first to arrive to help with the Turkey - it was delicious!

13 people in all!

We had home grown potatoes - a lot of them. We filled an ice cream bucket with the leftovers!

No pictures, but my Mom brought fantastic buns and my sister brought the corn, which again, we had plenty of. I am certainly thankful for Thanksgiving for all the leftovers!