Were Home!!!!

Well here is a picture of the last few moments at Jeff's Mom and Dad's house and since the day was warmer the snow was melting just enough for me and Lisa to make one snowman before we left. So Kimi here is the snowman you wanted to see. Ha Ha!

Just look at that cute little thing!

We got a late start because of the snow the night before and that put us driving into the heavy fog that stretched about 4 hours south, but as you know in heavy fog it took us much longer. So after driving in rain, sleet, freezing rain, ice, snow, and finally heavy fog I am ready to be home! Can't you tell?

It is about a 812 mile drive there and looking at the trip meter we only have 26 miles to go. hooray!

We had an awesome time up in Wisconsin and we enjoyed every minute of it thanks to Mom, Dad, Pam, Brad, Linden, Leandra, Kaye, Justine, and Lisa. Thanks guys we had a great Christmas. Here is a familiar sight.

Here is a picture of the house all lit up that night minus the snow of course.

J.J led the pack in welcoming us home!

Then Oscar!

and finally Shaggy!

And of course I didn't come home empty handed. I received tons of gifts from everybody up there and a new mixer to boot from Jeff.

These dishes were a great blessing from Jeff's mom becasue as you know I love the oldies and these are around 30 years old according to Jeff's mom and she gave them to me! How awesome is that? The story behind the dishes is even better as Jeff (who knows how much I like old stuff) told his mom I wouldn't want them! I said "WHAT?" Then I told him to call her back and tell her that yes I would want them. Then as we were leaving the next dilemma was how to fit all this extra stuff in the car. Well when it was all said and done we fit it all with room to spare.

The greatest blessing in coming home was the Alter working seminar that night and the services the next day as 21 people received the Holy Ghost! That is awesome!

Snow Tubing on Christmas Eve!!

We tried to find the perfect time to go tubing and since Jeff's niece and nephew had school on Monday and Tuesday the 22nd and 23rd (can you believe they had school the day before Christmas Eve!) the only day we had left was the 24th which was Christmas Eve. When we called to see if they would be open they said they would be until 2:00pm so the time was set and thank God the conditions were perfect because the night before we got more snow and then it was supposed to snow again during the day! Here is a pic of the fresh snowfall the night before.

Here is the first thing you see as you walk up to pay and get your tube.

Up up and away we go! Thank goodness for the escalator or you would be so tired by the time you got up there you wouldn't want to go much more. The hill is three stories high and with the gradual slope and the bumps in between you get to go a pretty good speed by the time you hit the bottom.

Here is the view from the top as soon as you get off the escalator!

Here we are all getting prepared for the next run. You can go at it alone or you can lock your feet in the tube behind you for up to four people and when you do that you can really go fast and far, even if Jeff's brother in law does not believe it. Here is Jeff's niece Justine and mom with Tanner waiting to push them off and jump on.

Here is Tanner and me getting ready for my first try.

Whew I made it. What a blast! My only problem was my boots were not waterproof and they got wet fast and then cold so I headed into the heated shack to warm up! Here is the view from the bottom looking up to the top.

Here is Jeff's sister Pam leading the way, then Mom, Kaye, and Lisa bringing up the rear!

Here comes Kaye, Lisa, and Brad!

Here is Brad awaiting another run down the slope.

Here Pam is headed up for another run.

For a while it was pretty slow and we could get up and down pretty fast, but as the day went on it got pretty busy.

Time to go!

We came we saw and we went away snow covered and tired and ready to eat!
Here we all are at the end of the day!

We took two of these so Jeff's Dad could be in the picture too!

We had a great time and we will not soon forget this trip as it was a wonderful time filled with laughter and tons of fun.

The Snow and the Sled!

Well I know it has been a few dqays since our last post but we got even more snow during this week. Southeast Wisconsin has now beat a previous snowfall record for the month of December with 37". Now we are expecting another 3" tonight before we leave. These pictures are actually from the 23rd of December in lieu of the date on the picture. With all the snow a local hill in the city had enough on it for us to get prepared for the bigger hill coming tomorrow! Ironically the name of the park is Tanner Park. We did have a few spills along the way also. Here is Tanner giving Jeff's sister Lisa a good start!

Here is Jeff's Mom and Dad. Jeff's mom even took a few turns on the hill.

Jeff's dad decided to spend most of the time in the truck where it was warm!
Here is Jeff's mom and Dad.
Here we are after the sledding was done!

Tomorrow we are headed to Kewaskum, Wisconsin to Sunbusrt to go snow tubing!

Brrrrrrrrrrrr!!! It's Cold Up Here!

Well got my first real taste of cold this morning when the low was -10 degrees below zero and just to prove it I took a picture of the thermometer. The temperature on the right is the outside temp and the one on the left is the inside temp. The wind chill this morning was -32 below zero so you could only stay out for 15 minutes and you had to come in.

Here is a few picks of the new snowfall from last night which turned out to be at least 5 inches.

Since Jeff's dad is so tired of all the snow Jeff thought he would get out and shovel it for him. Now he remebers why everyone hates all the snow. One neighbor came over twice to tell Jeff how much he hates this snow. In case you didn't notice the snow is over the top of the deck and it is only December 21st so it is officially the first day of winter.

We are going to be going to Sunburst ski lodge and do some snow tubing one day this week so stay tuned for more pics.

Trip to the Amish

Well we went ahead and took our annual trip to the Amish community up here in Wisconsin to get all the seasonings we need for the year, because last time they were closed as we got there right before Christmas. I took quite a few pictures, but I forgot to take one of the actual general store that we went to. Here is a few of the pictures we took.
How would you like to hang clothes out in the snow. I wonder how long it takes for them to dry!

Here is a few pictures of the (unheated) buggies they were riding around it.

Here is one of the guy plowing the snow from a school or church with a team of horses. Very innovative.

Here is their school house.

They had a sign referring to the highly efficient vehicles and it did heed a warning that you do not want to step in the exhaust...well I took a picture of that exhaust and they were right you don't want to step in it.
As we were driving home we thought we woudl take a few pictures of actual sheaves of wheat done by hand. Pretty cool to see after only reading about it in the Bible.
Here we are headed back to the house because we were getting 3 to 5 inches of snow that night.

Stay tuned because I have another post showing the temperature from this morning and boy was it cold.