Snow Tubing and more snow!

Wednesday after school, Austin had a birthday party he was invited to.  By the time he got back home at 8:30 that night, he looked awful.  He did not feel good!  I wasn't sure if it was because of the long day or if he caught a bug.  There is so much sickness going around.  I doctored him up and tucked him into bed.  Thursday morning, he got a bit earlier and took a bath and I hopped he would be better.  He still did not look well.  I told him to get back in his pjs and go sleep.  He rested and went with me to Ladies Bible Study as I spoke about the Bible Recap!  Reading through the Bible in a year can be done and this is a great reading plan to follow!  He was patient and was feeling better later that night!

So, on Friday, I was happy to see him outside and shooting his bow and arrows.  The kids had no school because of teachers in service.  And no school on Monday because of Martin Luther King, JR Day.  It's gonna be a long, relaxing weekend at home!

I love hot chocolate and it's cozy by the fireplace!  I'm trying out some watercolor art and it's the weather for this snowman to get painted!

I decided to get the juicer out this morning because we had citrus that needed to be used up and I just love fresh juice!

The sun is so life giving!  Really!!!  It shines through the trees at the morning park walks!  The sunrises are so pretty on these cold mornings!

Austin's got basketball practice and a book report to finish up.

Finished up!

We were geared for Austin's basketball game on Saturday!  We couldn't wait until we got the call saying it's canceled because of the snow falling outside.  What a disappointment!  What now?  It was gonna be a lazy day lingering around the house or maybe we could do what we said so often ... go snow tubing!

I counted the days until spring and it's only 72 more days!  This ground is snow covered and resting and before we know it, I will be buying seeds and working in the dirt once again!

I actually am loving these winter days!!!!

Austin took a shot at watercolor and painted a cup of hot chocolate.

We called the kids and asked if they want along snow tubing!?!  Jeremiah and Hadassah decided to stay back with Gunnar and Jer wanted to hunt in the snow and they had evening plans.  Matt and Daisy said yes so we all hopped into the Audi and drove to Iron Valley Golf Course to go tubing!

It was a lovely day and not too cold!  This was our first time and we had fun!

After tubing down the hill, you got in line to be pulled back up to the top.

You could ride double so of course Mike and I did!  We stopped half way down so Mike had to get up and give us another good push.  As we started going faster, he grabbed my hood from in front of him and gave me a kiss.  We were moving by then and such a fun ride it was!

And here's the crew!!!!

After a bite to eat from the lodge, we left as the sun was setting over the valley!  What a great time this was!

Daisy, Ashlyn and I went down together once too!

Sunday morning, Mike went down to church to help scrap snow and get the sidewalks salted.  Our road wasn't even plowed yet so the kids and I stayed home and watched church online.  It's time to paint some snowflakes!

We got six more inches of fresh snow and the kids came over to build a snowman!  I feel like I'm getting mooned by a snowman all day long!

Austin made some snow cones and measured six inches of snow!

Gunnar came over while Hadassah went out to clean with her business and these two chowed on waffles in matching pjs and crazy hair!

Austin made a batch of delicious cookies for school tomorrow and we get to enjoy the leftovers!

Why don't you have school today one may ask?  Let's look up the story of Martin Luther King, JR and find out.  The kids weren't that impressed but this is a great story of uniting all people, no matter your skin color!

It's so cold outside today and the kids are back to school!  There is A LOT MORE SNOW in the upcoming forecast!!!!  Stay warm!  Stay dry and enjoy these bright, snowy days!

January.

Hello January!  A new month.  A new year.  New challenges and new memories ready to be made!

I am going to do the Bible Recap again this year for my devotions!  I'm excited and have done this now since 2022!  Check it out if you want to read through the Bible in one year!

 

Taking morning walks in January is cold but so worth it!  Linda and I stroll the paths at the park even on cold days.  By the time I leave, I'm warm and got exercise!  Love this!!!!  Watching the ducks on the frozen pond is fun!  

I dug this out of the trash because this seems to be our thing sometime over the weekend.  The kids come over and we go for a Freddy's run.  Again, it's so fun!

And this cutie is such a big part of our lives!  The kids had such a long Christmas break and we went to The Strasburg Creamery before they went back to school to try the Sauerkraut Ice cream.  OK ... I was the only one to sample it but just had to try it.  None of us got a bowl of that flavor but our snickers and cookies and cream was great!

 

Our remains to be lit up.  One of these days the lights will come down.  It's been fun to be a light in our neighborhood!

The winter sunsets here at our house are so gorgeous!!!!

We had a warmer day and I was working outside pulling out the red berries and holly from the outside pots and changing them into "winter" pots instead of "christmas" theme.  I used a lot of fresh magnolia leaves and they look great!

It was the perfect weather to pull off the lights on the outside shrubs and store them away for next year!

Winter skies are so pretty to me!!!

Austin had his first basketball practice and baby dear got to go along!  

Served up some fancy drinks and made sushi at home with Ashlyn!

Colson was with us all weekend and the boys gobbled down a chilkfila meal on the way to the high school boys basketball game!

On Saturday, Austin watched Colson play his first Upward basketball game and then Colson went along to watch Austin's first game.  They both play for Upward but on different teams at different locations.

We are dreaming of our vacation in the south!!!

These boys had so much fun together and loves the venison bacon and French toast sticks!

I finished up my first book for this year.  A book on friendship and it was a good read.  Ashlyn and I watched God paint the sky last night on the way to the volleyball practice.

We hit the bulls eye with this gift for Austin this Christmas.  His new bow is getting lots of practice!

Another gorgeous view at the park on a wintery day!

I grabbed a bunch of tulips last night to add some joy to the kitchen sink!  I am enjoying these winter days but can't help but dream of spring days!!!!

Back in rhythm!

 We are back in rhythm!!!  The kids are back to school, Mike's at work and I'm at home going through closets and drawers and cleaning up from the holiday season.  January is a month when I like to declutter, organize, get rid of the things we don't need or use anymore and clean house!

It's also the month when the blue birds show up!!!  I love watching these birds and they are very welcome here!

Looking ahead at 2026, I have been thinking of improvements in myself that I need to work on!  My word of the year is hinged around LOVE and to learn how to love deep is a work in progress!  It's easy to love those who love well back but what about the rough and tough folks that are harder to embrace.  The Lord is doing a work in my heart and 2026 will reveal growth and patience and hopefully a lot of loving!!!

Cheers to good days ahead!!!

Happy New Year!

 Wow!  2026 is here!!!!  We cheered in the New Year late last night with some of our best friends!  Eating sushi and drinking Ruthies sweet tea along with a bundt cake sliced at midnight, after watching the ball drop in New York on TV ... it's a great start to 2026!  The house fire alarm only went off just a bit from the sparkling candles.

The free, wild, mountain tree is drying up fast!  Ashlyn and I took off all the ornaments and lights and now we need Mike to haul it back outside for me!

Linda and I still meet at the park for daily walks.  It's been challenging to meet over the busy holidays and we are taking a break while the kids are off of school but she texted me on Friday and said she needs out of the house and needs a walk!  We meet at the park and it felt amazing!  30 degrees with a real feel of 7 degrees but we walked and chatted and got some vitamin D on our winter faces!

Matthew smoked a huge rack of ribs on his smoker and brought it over on Wednesday night.  Some of the kids are still under the weather and fighting off colds but we ate some pork and relaxed!  So good!

I made some goals to read books in 2025!  I'm proud of the books I got read!  I began with the book Atomic Habits and went from there!  It was a great read for the New Year and all these books were fun, inspiring and learning books for me!

And now we go from the old planner to a brand new one!!!  So much of our lives get recorded on these pages and it's how I can keep a busy schedule organized!  I would be lost without this kind of a system!

Mike cut up the tree and hauled it out!  He swept up so many pine needles and it's putting our brand new vac system to the test!!!!  

I am going to use the Bible Recap bible reading plan again in 2026.  I've done this for I think five years now and I don't think I'll ever stop!  I love reading through the entire Bible, in one year, in chronological order!  After reading scripture, I then listen to a recap of what I just read!  It's great!

And a few years ago, I started having a word of the year.  This is a word that I would think about as the year went along!  Last year, it was Seek Discomfort.  I saw it on a sweatshirt that Nata wears and I it took a lot for me to just write out these words on my calendar because I DO NOT LIKE DISCOMFORT!  I'm the queen of normal!  I don't like risk!  It's not in my DNA but I knew it would bring out some courage in me!  Digging through emotions that I didn't like about myself and praying through self motives and letting God deal with my religious beliefs all brought discomfort and growth!

When reading 1,2,3 John just the other day, the words LOVE DEEPLY came to my mind.  Or maybe just the word LOVE.  These verses are all full of love commands and you should read it!  I'm convinced that if I would love like Jesus loves, my worries would be gone.  My attitude would adjust!  My selfish motives and many expectations would improve!  I'm gonna try to make this my word for 2026!

New Years Day we ate pork and sauerkraut with Matt and Lena and our children!  With a heaping scoop of mashed potatoes and a side of brussle sprouts ... it was delicious!

Our house is still glowing at night.  The New Year is here and the lights will be taken down soon!

We met Hadassah and Gunnar at Fashion Cents as the kids and I went through our clothes and took some to sell.  We scooted up to Strasburg Creamery to sample their sauerkraut ice cream but decided to get a scoop of snickers!  🤣 Just don't like that flavor of ice cream.  Then we got some food at Speckled Hen and came back home!  I'm so glad Gunnar is feeling much better and his cold/cough is well!

We still have a few more days of Christmas break but it is time for the kids to get back to their studies and off to a new start of learning!