A Morning Up North

Kate and Ethan are married!  I've known Ethan since I was two, and Kate since I was six.  Spending the week before the wedding with Kate and her family was so. much. fun.

Kate's little sister taught me a couple new card games.  She called me Carrot, I called her Cabbage (or Charlene, when she was sick of Cabbage).

This picture does not show how cold it was!  By the end of the week, the temperature had dropped to below zero.   I met a canadian lady on the way up, and even she said that North Dakota is where the really cold weather is.  I don't disagree, but oh, I do love that place!

So long, November, it's been lovely.

A November Day At Another School

 

      Chrissy and I went to Another School's library yesterday to check out some books on Bach (Beth needs them - I don't read about Bach on a regular basis).  There were shelves of books on that composer alone!  I finally just grabbed six that sounded good.  Then we stuck around and split a calzone outdoors - because it's beautiful out there.

      This school has a special place in my heart.   My parents both took classes there, and I took a class there last semester.  From when I was 12 to 16, we came here every Wednesday to run, swim, or play racquetball (with our own rules, of course) in the athletics center.  Many of my friends attend or teach here, now.  I love this place - it just feels like home.

      Also, I think part of the reason why I love November so much is because of all the textures that pop out!  The bark, the evergreen foliage, the bricks and wool and fallen leaves and sweaters.  I just want to drink a cup of tea and slowly enjoy this month and all its blessings.

North

After sixteen busy days on the road in North Dakota and Minnesota, our family is safely back at home.  Here are a few of the highlights:

• Being with my extended family.
• Spending time in Minot with close friends.
• Making cake and going to graduation parties with Kate.
• Seeing Joanna of Jo-with-it's Portfolio and her fun family.  It was the first time in nearly seven years, and so enjoyable!
• Celebrating my cousin's graduation.
• Watching birds.  If you ever want to see a wide variety of birds, including ones you've never heard of (Bay-Breasted Warbler and Philadelphia Vireo, anyone? I didn't know they exist.), go to North Dakota during migration. 
• Swatting vulture-sized mosquitoes.
• David shot his first raccoon.  And killing a carp.  And a rattlesnake.  For real.  Somehow, David is still alive.  
• Music, music, music!
• Reading and painting.
• Meeting Joren, a Swedish woman who was a foreign exchange student at my cousin's school last year, and came back for the graduation.  She was so sweet, and very fun to talk with.
• Watermelon and blueberries. 
• Spending lots of time outside, in the grass, wind, and sun.  
• As always, coming home.  This was especially fun, as Beth and Dad couldn't come with us on the trip.

The Felixstowe to Ipswich Coach

By Russell Sidney Reeves, circa 1940's.

Thanksgiving

We headed up to North Dakota to spend Thanksgiving with Mama's parents.  This is what part of the trip looked like.  David did not remember seeing this much snow before, so he kept asking me if we were in a blizzard.  I had a hard time convincing him that we weren't! While it was pretty cold (the high during the week was around 20 and the low was -7), it did not feel as uncomfortable up there as it does here, because of the difference in humidity.

It snowed most of the time we were there, so Grandpa was busy shoveling the deck and sidewalk. 

Chrissy enjoyed having a reason to wear her matching coat and beret and drink many cups of coffee and cider (and apparently she likes making strange faces).

 My Mama with her Mama.

The view from my Grandparents' house.  My uncle's family lives on the same farm, so that's their house.

     It was a very fun trip!  On the way home, our car broke down while we stopped for lunch at our previous pastor's house.  We were so blessed that it happened there, and not in the middle of nowhere, and that a mechanic was able to fix it in just a few hours!  We have so, so much to be thankful for.  This trip gave us more.

And we went hay bale jumping, in the snow.  I highly recommend it!

Over the River and Though the Woods

We're off to the Great State for Thanksgiving with Mama's family!  I hoping for snow and hay bale jumping.  Have a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving!

An Autumn Weekend

Just us, at a state park.  Every last one of us has been extremely busy lately, and this quiet getaway was a welcome relief.  It has only rained once here since the early August, so the leaved weren't very colorful, but the air was cool and crisp, there were plenty of acorns to throw at each other, the sky was clear and blue, and it was just a little breezy.   

We read.

We went to the Nature Center.

We went inside a watery cave.

One of us caught a frog.

And we visited a lake for an hour before the sun went down.

Geraniums and a Winner

I'm still enjoying our trip to our grandparent's house.  I think I will be for a long time, so be prepared to see many for photos.  These geraniums were on their back porch, where we spent  most of the time.   It was shady, breezy, and smelled like flowers and the sea. 

Now, on to the giveaway news...

Rachel!  According to Random Number Generator, you won with comment number 4 (I did not include mine)! So I'll bring your goodies to you sometime soon!

Everyone else who participated (that would be two people), thank you SO much!  I'd like to have another giveaway in the future, perhaps a larger, more on schedule sort of giveaway.

Sky, Water and Sun

Independence Day weekend was filled with many things.

Patriotism and many dogs, young and old.

Golden sunlight soaking everything.

Viking themed fireworks displays. The Ride of the Valkyries.

Docks and brackish water.

Seafood.  On an island.

Bird watching.

Old wood.

White boats.

The heavens declaring the glory of God.

P.S. Tomorrow the winner of the giveaway will be announced!  Enter before 9:30 A.M. centeral time tomorrow if you haven't yet!

And We're Off!

To sunny, blue waters.  Not the ocean, but just as deliciously sandy, wet and breezy.  See you sometime next week!

P.S.  Don't forget about the giveaway below! 

An Old Farm

Mama used to tell us about how she used to go with her mom to explore abandoned farms. Today, Mama, Chrissy and I got to do just that! We'd stopped at this farm before, back when it was in slightly better shape, to take photographs for an art class, but only really noticed the blue shed and hydrangeas in front of it. Not so today.

Joy! At first we were thrilled by the real wishing well. Ha! We didn't know what we were in for.

Inside the light blue shed (which used to be a fruit stand, by the looks of it), there were weathered grocer's permits, bushel baskets, and shelves. A staircase painted blue, yellow, green and red led up to a forgotten loft. There was a white chanel bedspread in excellent condition, an old, avacado train case, a disheveled Santa Suit, and many old theater-type props (including a cardboard wishing well). So fun! We found an old iron in the barn - I was amazed by how heavy it was.


Some one had way too much fun papering this house. If you think these ladies are crazy, you should have seen the kitchen! How many horrifically busy, clashing prints can you plaster on one wall without being arrested? Several, apparently.


This caught my eye. I love its Scandinavian look. It's so neat to think about who used to live in this old house, what they encountered, and where they may be now. Hmm.

Skiing

Despite living in North Dakota for almost ten years, I have never been skiing before. Chrissy, David and I went with some home schooling families from our church on a ski/snowboarding trip yesterday. First time skiers + one hour of "experimental skiing" before lessons = three very sore people the next day. But it was still fun!


David, friend George, and George's dad.

Myself with Christina (she is exactly one year younger than Chrissy!). Sorry about the fuzzy picture. We'll pretend it's supposed to be that way.

Chrissy coming out of the ski lift.

Call me crazy, but I have always wanted to go on a ski lift, even more than I've wanted to ski. It was so fun!

As to skiing, I was expecting to swiftly glide down the slopes, in complete control of the situation, but after about thirty seconds on the snow, I decided to abandon this misconception (or rather, it abandoned me). Pride comes before a fall. Ouch.

Waiting

Chrissy and Dixie have been laying in the living room for the past couple days - Chrissy because she's sick, and Dixie because of her back. They've both been abnormally quiet. I can't wait until they get better, though Dixie has been up and about more today - the pain meds are having their effect. Chrissy has an ear infection, a sinus infection, and bronchitis. We're so thankful for antibiotics!

In the mean time, David and I are at the college in town. I'm sitting on a window seat waiting for his guitar lessons to finish. A funny scene is happening in front of me:

There is a LARGE, hard-backed wall map that needs to be moved through double doors.

A man and woman are politely debating whether or not it will fit. He says he's pretty good at estimating, and it probably is too big. She measured it herself. They have four inches to spare. Thank you.

A man with a foreign accent is studying the waiting map and explaining how his wife came from Spain. He also seems to be interested in Alaska. And the Arctic.

Several bystanders are asking questions of the map-movers.

The man with the Spanish wife is having an exciting conversation (in what sound like Spanish) with a couple of friends and they agree with whatever it is that he's saying.

The map-movers are now unscrewing the double doors, to make room for the map. Will it fit?

It did!

Perhaps it's not really that funny, but it seems so to me!

Head in the Clouds

Both Mama and I had our heads in the clouds today. Quite literally.

I spent a couple hours this morning painting at a new pediatrician's office - the doctor is the mother of the Wonderful Family. She just started her own practice, and the office is so fun. The theme is stick people which look as though a child drew them, so in each of the rooms there is a figure smiling at you - a football player, a baby dragging his security blanket, and a boy in a wheelchair for starters. The waiting room has a recessed ceiling with hot air balloon shaped light fixture, and I've been painting clouds in the recess (which has a blue background). I will post some pictures just as soon as I remember to bring my camera over there. You have not seen a cute pediatrician's office until you see this place!

Mama's head is in the clouds as I write this, as she is flying home! We'll leave in just a few minutes to pick her up from the airport. I'll be so glad to have her back! Life is just not the same without her...

Berries at the Farm

Mama is planning on flying there this Saturday to be with her parents. We will miss her!

Hay Bale Jumping

At Grandpa and Grandma's.







Have you tried it?

A Trip to Viginia

After Christmas, we visited our grandparents in the Virginia. One of the nights, we went to a botanical garden which had a Christmas lights display. It was so pretty!

A beautiful Christmas tree in the conservatory. The conservatory was my favorite part of the whole garden (it was also the warmest).



One of the cute squirrels in the the children's wing of the conservatory.




There was a Christmas tree in the garden's library that was decorated entirely with ornaments made from materials which grew in the garden. There were dried roses and puffy seed heads - that tree was Mama's favorite.

It was a cold night, but absolutely gorgeous!

Photos provided by Chrissy. :)