Karaoke revolution

Okay, since Joseph began the topic, I thought I'd add some numbers I think are impressive from the Christmas break.

1. 19.5"--That's how much snow we've had in December. 8" of that was on Dec. 1, but very little of it melted, so now we have a whopping lot of snow. It made miserable trips for everyone, but it also gave the guys something to do. They shoveled snow, tinkered with the snowblower, blew snow, cut down trees in the snow, etc.

Joseph and Tracy in front of Sarah and Janet's snow fort.

2. 1.5 degrees--Our temperatures for December have been 1.5 degrees below average. That was mostly at the beginning of the month. It was actually pretty moderate while the kids were all here. The forecast right now is for a cold day or two, then it's supposed to be above normal for awhile.

3. 10--There were ten of us here for 5 days. It was so fun! Thanks to all of you kids who sacrificed to be here with us. As we all get older and our family grows, that will happen less often. I hope we will have the blessing of being all together at least occasionally.

4. 10+2--While everyone was here, we drank 10 gallons of milk plus 2 gallons of chocolate milk. It's been a long time since we've gone through so much milk. We also ates lots of bananas, but I have no concrete record of how many.

5. 40 minutes--The 40 minutes we had to talk to Joanna went by all too quickly,She sounds great and we're thankful that she's doing well. Next year, we'll be talking to two missionaries!

6. 14--The ten of us plus the four missionaries gathered around the table for Christmas Eve dinner. Despite the turkey taking 2 hours longer than we planned to get done, it was nice. Fortunately, the elders had no other plans, so they joined us for pre-dinner FHE and a rousing game of Catch Phrase.

7. 7+3--Our first Scoresby Scamper was a rousing success! Thanks, Emily, for spearheading that. Seven runners finished and three walkers walked the 3.1 miles. And congratulations to Preston for finishing first and taking home the coveted traveling trophy.

Fashionable running gear?

Yesterday, we invited some friends over to make gingerbread houses. I made and cut out the gingerbread and everybody pitched in some candy. Each family made one, so we made three total. It was so fun! There were 3 moms, four kids, Janet and a baby who mostly hung out with Rene or with me. Janet's house turned out really well, but I'll let her post her own pictures of it. Since we don't have many little kids hanging around anymore, we had to find some imports. I don't know about the moms, but the kids all had a great time. After they had all gone, I found royal icing all over the house in the strangest places.

After that, Rene, Janet and I went to cut our own Christmas trees, decorated them, and then Janet and I did some shopping. While we were gone, Rene made a whole bunch of candy of various kinds. I guess we're finally getting into the Christmas spirit after all.

So, this is a picture of the Official White House Christmas card for 2007. Some people are a little affronted because it's definitely a religious message. (It's a quotation from Nehemiah in the Old Testament.) I like it; unfortunately, we didn't get one. :( In fact, we have noticed a definite decline in the number of Christmas cards we've gotten the past few years. In fact, so far this year, we have received a total of five, not including the one the newspaper carrier stuck inside our paper, hoping for a tip. Janet got one from Sarah, but alas, we didn't.

Perhaps the fact that, due to the Internet, we are in better and more frequent communication with our friends makes them think we don't need a card. Do people send email cards now days? I have sent them for other things, like birthdays and lesser holidays, but not for Christmas. I have to admit that, although we did send a lot of cards this year, I made a conscious decision not to send cards to people from whom we've not heard in years. Maybe $.41 postage is the culprit. Or maybe it's the general pace of life now days, although that's a pretty sad reason.

I guess this is my Christmas card thinking: People who mean a lot to us, who make a difference to us even when we don't see them often, who brighten our days even when they're not physically around, deserve at least a personal thought at Christmas. It's not much, but it's a represents a real desire to let them know that we're thinking of them and are thankful for them.

What I'm really waiting for are the cute little handmade cards signed with our grandkids first attempts at writing. Now, those will be Christmas cards to treasure!

Our front yard

Our backyard

Okay, it's December 7 and I'm already sick of winter. Last Saturday, it snowed about 8 inches, followed by about three inches a couple of days later, plus about 1/2 inch last night. Plus, it has been cold. The night before last, it was -11 degrees when I got up. It's pretty to look at, but I don't like feeling "housebound" by the snow. I like to be able to get out and walk or whatever. I read that the NOAA is predicting a warmer than usual winter, with average precipitation for our area for this winter. You couldn't tell it so far! I must be getting old, because I always liked winter when we lived in Ohio. One difference there was that the first big snow of the winter didn't stay until the end of March. Last year, we had to build a fire in the fireplace on Easter because it was so cold. I do like the change of seasons, so perhaps I just need to live somewhere where winters are mild. Another annoying thing to me is that it is getting dark by 4:30 and it's as dark as midnight by 5 pm. That's just sad. We need all the sunlight we can get!

We had a really fun Thanksgiving. The Clarks came over from Minneapolis. We played lots of games, ate lots of good food, went on a fun hike at the Dells of the Eau Claire, did a couple of puzzles and Mary Ann and I even did our traditional craft day. It was fun to have the house full of people. Here are some photos. Janet even made one of the pies, a pumpkin one. I guess she's trying to compete with her brothers. The picture is of a little pie she made with the leftovers.

Here are some of the things I'm thankful for this year:

1. Two beautiful, talented, kind, and smart daughters-in-law and one wonderful, sweet, talented, intelligent son-in-law. It's such a blessing to our family that our oldest three children have found spouses who are such good people, trying to live the gospel. We love you, guys!

2. Safe travel. Our family travels a lot, for fun, for work and for school. I'm thankful for all the years of safe travel that we've had.

3. Missionaries. It's been awhile since we've had a missionary out and it brings a special spirit to our home. Now we'll have two. I don't know exactly how we'll afford it, but I'm thankful for Joanna and Sarah's desires to serve missions.

4. Health and strength. We all have our ups and downs, but the little granddaughter on the way and the return to health and strength of Sarah's knee are miracles to me.

5. I think we have the best friends in the world. They're scattered all over the world, and we don't get to see them much, but they have made us so happy over so many years. This summer, I had the opportunity to get together with one of my college roommates. I hadn't seen her for almost 30 years, but we still have the bond that existed back then. I count some of my seminary students, who are now adults, as friends, too, and that's a wonderful blessing.

There are really too many other things to list, but I know that the Lord has blessed us. I hope you will all spend a few minutes pondering all that you have to be thankful for.

Well, basketball season has started. Last night, Janet had a game in Kaukauna, which is 1 hour and 40 minutes away. On a school night, no less! She got home at 11:50 and still had homework to finish. Obviously, none of the coaches care too much about academics. None of them have kids older than elementary school, either.

Anyway, the DC Everest Evergreens lost to the Kaukauna Galloping Ghosts, 66-64. (Don't you just love these mascots?) Janet played well, scoring 13 points, including three 3's. The team has 11 girls on it and 10 of them got a lot of playing time, so Janet did well for the time she was in. Everyone is still trying to figure out the coach's strategy (or lack thereof!) Just when the starters are picking it up and coming on, he pulls them out and puts in the subs.

This was a non-conference game. The conference season starts Friday when Everest plays Marshfield. Incidentally, both Kaukauna and Marshfield's colors are orange and black. It makes me a little nostalgic!

Can't wait 'til Sarah can join us for twice a week games!

Go Evergreens!

Okay, okay. I know it's been awhile since I posted anything. I guess life has been boring here. But finally, I have something new to post.

This past weekend, we made a quick trip to Fargo, ND, to go to Brandon Hendrickson's wedding reception. It was very nice, but the best part, as always, was being with family and friends. We stayed overnight with the Hendricksons and went to church in the Fargo 2nd Ward. When we lived there 25 years ago, there was only one ward, but now there are two wards and a student branch. There were only a couple of people we knew there, but that's okay. It was fun visiting our old haunts.

Here is a picture of the chapel. It's the building where Ben, Emily and Joanna were blessed. Janet went to YW in the room that used to be the nursery. It's where Joseph figured out that if he sat at the head of the table and ate his snack quickly, he'd get another one, because the teachers couldn't remember where they started passing them out. It's also the place where Joseph was a big hero with the boys in Primary when he was a Sunbeam because he could "Name That Tune" in one note. I think it was "Book of Mormon Stories".

After church, we drove around and showed Janet the married student housing where we lived. She was thrilled. :( But Rene and I enjoyed it. Here's a picture of the very apartment we lived in for 3 1/2 years, 264 E University Village. It looks exactly the same, just a little more run-down.

Sorry, Sarah and Janet. Since we moved when Joanna was three weeks old, this probably doesn't have much relevance to you. But we have happy, happy memories of living in Fargo, ND.