Celebrating Kinsley and Nathan!

This little miss turned three the other day!

She is definitely full of spunk and knows how to hold her own with

big brother, Nathan.

 

Since her birthday, and Nathan's, are only four days apart, we celebrated them

both at Rachel's house.

Rachel had a delicious brunch for us and then we  opened presents!

Nathan really enjoyed this dart board!

Rachel and Elenna are sharing "a look".  Wonder what that's all about?

We got Kinsley a really neat tea party set that both Elenna and Nathan

seemed to enjoy also.

Rachel and her dad.

Random conversation at the table over Fruit Whips, which I initially

thought were shoe laces.

It was a fun day with beautiful weather outside!  Notice the sun coming in?!!

 

Nathan is Five!

We all love this little guy so much and can't believe he is

FIVE  YEARS  OLD!!!!!

Love you, Nathan, and hope you have an

extra special, wonderful day!

Thawing

 Almost 40* - a great day for playing basketball!

Frozen!

 Our high today was 7*.

The boys were once again helpful in tidying up the sidewalks and porch after

the additional blowing snow from yesterday.

Tonight it's supposed to get down to -17*.  WOW.

More Snow.....

Light flurries developed again early afternoon, which got heavier as

 the day wore on.  I was making dinner when my cell phone had an

Emergency Broadcast alert come on.

SNOW SQUALL WARNING!!!!

My goodness, what a January we have had so far!

Getting Out of the House!

It's been a week since the boys and I have been out of the house because

of the big winter storm!  Joe finally got out on Monday to go

 to his exercise classes.  

I was desperate to get out of the house and also really needed to load up

on groceries, especially since we are expecting more snow. 

  We also enjoyed a nice meal at our favorite Mexican restaurant, La Cocina. 

Sweet Memory

 Joe and Elenna

Matching!

 Love these two boys so much!

Trapped in the House!

 
Blizzard conditions, up to 40 mph winds.

An additional five to six inches of snow.

Incredible drifting all around the house and many roads are impassable.

Our view out the front door.

And out the front bay window....

The temperatures are in the single digits with windchills around -17*  

So, we all did some school this morning and played a fun game that Joshua got

for Christmas this year.

Magnetism - an Intelligence Strategy Game

It was great fun, and Joshua came out the champion every time!

Grandchildren

We are enjoying Rachel's three for a few days to help her out while

she's at work!

Here are Nathan, almost five, and Kinsley, almost three, with Isaac!

 

Remembering Willie

 We had our beloved dog, Willie, put down today.  It was time.

He was 17 1/2 years old and had really started failing in a variety of areas.

Back in 2006, Joe and Jonathan found Willie and his twin on our dirt road after a day's work

on the farm in Arizona. 

They would never have survived the night because of the wildlife, so they

brought them back to our Sahuarita house that we were living in then.  We called neighbors and

finally the local vet who immediately said they had been dumped.

Another homeschool family took one dog and we kept Willie.

Rachel took ownership of Willie and he has been the absolute best 

little Border Collie ever.

Joe called Willie "The Old Gentleman"

Rest in peace, dear Willie.

Sunshine and Blue Sky!

Finally!

After about seven inches of snow, and blowing and drifting, the storm has moved off.

So good to see the sunshine today!

 

First Snowstorm of the Year!

The snow started early morning and has been going much of the day.

We have had about four inches so far, with more this evening, the weathermen say.

Having boys to shovel is a real blessing!

This was taken early morning during breakfast.

Mid day

 

Even the trash truck that was picking up our neighbor's recyclable bin

got stuck.  It was very entertaining to watch!

A tow truck for semis finally was able to pull him up the road.  We are supposed to have

regular trash pick-up tomorrow - we will see if they make it!

(This picture was taken when a neighbor was using his Bobcat to try to dig him out)

I'm very glad I have nowhere I need to be!

Winter Storm Warning!

 This is the major topic of conversation today.

All of the public schools are closed tomorrow - they are predicting 5-8" of snow.

We will see how this all plays out!

New Crockpot

I use my crockpot A LOT.  The one I have is about four years old and is

still working well.  But after having one spark and almost catch fire when

we lived in Arizona, I decided I would rather replace it before anything disastrous

happens!  That's what I told Joe I wanted for Christmas, and he told me to pick out any

one I wanted.  I got a very basic model like I have always had  - I don't need all the

programmable functions that some offer.

Just the basics.

 

Celebrating!

 Joe and I decided we would celebrate my "cancer-free" date each and

every year.  I got a glowing report today from my radiologist, which along with

my normal mammogram, has given me a big sigh of relief!

So after Joe's exercise class, my appointment and then some errands, we

enjoyed a nice BBQ meal together.

Here's to many more cancer-free years!

January Weather

 Today it is cold and misty, with a little bit of fog out there.

And the sidewalks are definitely icy!

Glad to be able to be home nice and snug today.

NORMAL!!!!

 After a year of breast cancer treatment, which included surgery, chemotherapy, and

radiation, this was the best possible news I could have gotten today!

Thank you, Lord Jesus!

Putting It All Away!

2024 - A Brand New Year!

 

I'm trying something new this year, and we'll see how long I last.

Instead of doing long blog posts, and usually catching up because I'm way

behind, I'm going to try to do "A Picture a Day", or sometimes two a day.

This will capture random moments of everyday life, and hopefully be more

complete.......and easier.

Of course, there will be some big events this year, which will require a much

longer, in-depth post.  Like Courtney's wedding!

So, here we go.  Our annual tradition of French-Onion Soup 

on New Year's Day!