Snow Hill

The neighborhood where we live has a community owned Ski Hill. It even has the power tow rope to pull you back to the top..... Unfortunately it is broken right now which means you have to walk back up to the top. A couple weeks ago, we got an inch or two of fresh snow so we decided to do P.E. that morning on the hill. It is a good long run down. We used the sleds and snow board.... But is sure is a long walk back to the top. We only made it down twice because the walk back up is a little daunting. It was also FREEZING!!!! But here are some pics of us all bundled up and one of Daddy coming down on the snow board. It was fun, but I don't think we will do it again until the tow rope is fixed.

Birthday Blessings

I had a birthday last week...37!! My kids now think I am getting really old. My friend Deanna and her family brought me these beautiful flowers. They smell so nice and brighten up the winter a little.
A bunch of

my friends back home in Hawaii pitched in and bought me a bread maker as well as a bread knife, a bread slicer, some fancy bread flours and 2 gorgeous necklaces. Thanks so much Gisele, Kris, Kristi, Lillian, Penny, Trisha, and Wendy. And thanks Becky for organizing it and getting it all sent to me. Wendy also sent me a fun book and my Dad sent me a really unique clock to add to my clock collection. My mom sent me $100.00....Whoo Hoo! Samantha sent me a beautiful necklace and I also got an Aveda gift certificate from Chuck and Kathi. I also got another gift certificate for a pedicure from my friend Rachel Bruekner and her family. David and the kids got me some fun clothes from J.jill. (my favorite clothing store).

All in all, I felt so loved and blessed by everyone's thoughtfulness and generosity. I have so much love to celebrate in my life. Thank you to everyone who helped make it such a special day.... You all know how I love birthdays!!!!

Winter

Here are some fun pictures of Josiah and Siri sledding down the hill in our back yard. They were using teamwork to get to the top and then slide down. They had so much fun. But Siri had on the wrong gloves. Hers were not water proof and when she came it her hands were numb and red. She could not even unzip her coat. We soaked them in warm water and had some hot chocolate and that seemed to cure them. Then, dad came home from work and shoveled the walk and put out salt.... It helps to melt the ice. What an adventure.

Wind Chill

This morning when we got up, we checked our weather page, http://www.wunderground.com/US/MN/Elk_River.html, as we do every morning. This mornings readings listed the current temp at -14 degrees .... Did you get that? 14 degrees below zero. The "wind chill factor", which we have learned means "how cold it is really going to feel on your skin when the wind blows" is 31 degrees below zero. On the news, they were warning people that, at those temperatures, frost bite can set in after about 9-13 minutes of exposure. They also have to go around and round up the homeless people and force them into shelters or else...Well you get the idea.... The clean up would not be too much fun. So, needless to say, we are going to deny the dogs food and water today because who wants to stand around outside waiting for them to "find the right spot"....... Oh yeah, I guess that would be inhumane, we will just have to bundle up good and pray that no one turns into an ice sculpture.