Walking on Water

My brother and sister-in-law brought my nieces for a visit this weekend. I haven't seen them since Christmas break, except for in church last Sunday, and I've missed them. Ember told me, "I prayed to God last night. I prayed that I could come to your house." Very sweet.

The girls got to walk out on the lake with their dad. It's kinda freaky to walk out onto the middle of a lake. If you look really hard you might see 2 tiny dots in the distance, and that's Ember and Cheyanne.


They brought their Easy Bake Oven and, with help from their mom, they baked some treats by the heat of a lightbulb. I had one of those ovens when I was a kid and I have very clear memories of cooking up things in my basement.

An Advance

Last weekend we had a glorious weekend of knitting and feasting together. 3 friends from Minnesota, 1 from Wisconsin and 1 from Chicago all came for a visit. We actually met at my parents' condo since they are in Florida. We called it a retreat but I just remembered that I used to work with someone who preferred to call it "an advance." We had so much fun with sticks and string (and food, of course!)

Camping on Ice

Looking out the window today I saw a bunch of tents on the middle of the lake. The wide open space is usually water, but is now ice. I guess they must be ice fishing out there. They packed up and left when it started getting dark, but they spent most of the day out there. Brrrrrrrrrr...

Another Snowy Day

Wow! 3 snow days in one week. UNBELIEVABLE! I'm not in Kansas anymore. My friend, Kristin, asked if I really have a snowblower. Yes, I most certainly do. It's my new best friend here in snowy Michigan. This county touches lake Michigan and we're in "the snow belt," so you can imagine how much snowy fun we have here. I need some snowshoes. (Really, Kristin, people around here also have snowshoes. Weird, isn't it?)



My parents wisely chose to leave yesterday instead of today so they escaped to Florida before last night's blizzard. I'm glad they are on their way somewhere warm.

A Snowy Gift

Yesterday the temp was in the 40's and rainy, but they called a snow day. I'm guessing it was because of the mushy rural roads. It was weird to have a "warm" day and not have to work. I worked on a new pair of wool socks.



Overnight the temps dropped 30 - 35 degrees, the wet roads froze over, and a blanket of snow fell to cover it all.

My folks are supposed to be arriving today and hope to leave for Florida on Friday, although a blizzard is forecast for Thursday night to Friday, so who knows. I guess I'll need to get out and see if the snow blower will start on this cold, windy day.

A Sad Farewell

I heard today about the sudden death of a friend in Minnesota, Jane Bowman Nigen. We knew her as the joyful and energetic singer, song-writer, and musician from The Back Porch Band. We always tried to catch their shows at The Blue Moon in Red Wing, MN. Jane loved kids and would often try to get Cheyanne to go on stage with her. Cheyanne wasn't sure how to respond to Jane's boundless energy and enthusiasm and preferred to draw pictures that Jane proudly displayed on the front of her keyboard during performances. We'll always have fond memories of Jane, and we've played the Back Porch Band CD so much we wore the first one out. To learn more about our friend, Jane, click here. Goodbye, Jane. You'll be missed.

Great Movie and Sugary, Fatty Food

My sister-in-law is visiting this weekend. We both really wanted to see the movie Juno so we decided to catch it at a local theater. It was a great movie and definitely worth every penny! I suppose it is more of a "chick flick," as they say. We loved it, including the music. Check it out! Now we are home and she is making beignets. YUMMM!!