Brr!

Not alot is happening up in Minnesota. Just trying to stay warm and indoors. The temp has reached an all time low for me of -32. I can tell when it is below zero when I walk outside and immediately start coughing and it hurts to breathe. The store is a little slower due to the cold weather. We are nearing the end of a load and it is going to be a couple of weeks until a new one arrives, but this will be a good time to get rid of the old so the new can fit. This week the guys have been installing the furnace in the new store so progress is being made, little by little. We are still hoping to be in the new store by Spring. We'll see!

Last week we had Greg and Sheila and Emerson over for supper and the evening. Emerson liked doing dishes as much as Grace does. In fact she was a little protective of her step ladder and was making a little fuss. From the picture it looks like she kept plenty busy in that cupboard. They stood together for awhile until they started pushing at each other.

Grace is making progress towards walking. She now voluntarily stands on her own and giggles in delight. Pretty soon I think she will make the 'first step.' She now blabbers all the time. Her favorite saying sounds like 'bidabidabidabidabida.' Rustin thinks it's funny to encourage her to say that. I'm trying to talk normal to her so she talks with real words. One of her favorite 'real words' is uh-oh. The other day Rustin was reprimanding Grace for something she was doing and she looks at him and says "bidabida....." I started laughing. See what you get when she thinks it's funny! She is also shaking her head no and sometimes yes.

This coming week we are house/kid sitting for a co-worker of Rustins. They have 3 children. It will be an interesting week. Their 3 year old daughter loves Grace and dotes on her except when Grace is in her things.

This weekend's forecast looks like a balmy 20's to 30's. I can hardly wait. Maybe winter is almost over!!!

Happy New Year!

Now that we lived through another Holiday Season I can get back to blogging and regular life. I really do enjoy this time of year: visiting family, eating once a year food, and most importantly reflecting on Jesus and His humble entrance into the world.

One of our dear friends, Larry Nohl, passed away the week before Christmas, so his visitation was on Monday and funeral on Tuesday. Our original plan was to leave for IL after his funeral. After looking at weather reports between here and there we decided to leave Monday night after visitation and drive until we got tired. The roads were fine except for fogginess until we reached IL and then they became a little slippery. We showed up at Mom and Dad's at 6:30 am and visited a little and then crashed. Tuesday evening we braved the icy weather and ate out at Flat-top Grill, Rustin's favorite restaurant. Those of you who have eaten there and know Rustin's food choices are probably as surprised as I am that he even will set foot in the restaurant. Afterwards we dropped Mom off at Bergner's and the rest of us went to Cold Stone for ice cream. Wednesday we visited Grandma and Grandpa Beutel since we were unable to make it to the Beutel Christmas. Grace loved the buttons on Grandpa's wheelchair and she was her usual chatty self. 4:30 was the time for the Koch Christmas, so we headed there next. Grace did pretty well considering her nap schedule was all messed up. She was definitely the squakiest, but that's not unusual.

This is after we opened presents and Olivia decided to push Grace on the scooter. This went well since she can walk. However when Olivia wanted to ride and Grace push, Grace would try to get her off. I think she may have some of her mother's tendancies (bossy, lazy?)unfortunately. That evening when we got home, a few of us played triominos. Thursday morning we awoke early to attend Christmas service. After visiting for awhile we went home. I wasn't feeling the best so I took a nap until we opened presents. We didn't get many px of Grace opening gifts because she was rather crabby. We opened hers and put her down for a much needed nap.

Susan and Matt are good at teaching Grace new tricks. This time it was to take a drink of pop and say ahh! Grace hasn't perfected it yet, but even now a week later she still will do it. After opening presents we made supper which consisted of roast, potatoes, and carrots. It was delish! We played Phase 10 later on.

On Friday we met the Slager crew for lunch at Avanti's. It was nice to catch up and eat some great Italian food. I took a nap when we got home. My sinuses were acting up this trip. When we left Hancock it was -2 and when we arrived it was 20. The temp kept rising all week. That evening we had some cousins over that I hadn't previously seen. We played games, watched babies and talked. Rustin commented that he hadn't seen so many 'babies' together at once.

Grace and Max got along quite well as you can see. Poor Max had just woke from his nap when they came. He came out of his shell later.

We left IL on Saturday morning at a balmy 60 degrees. The temp soon fell as we headed north and west. On Sat evening and Sunday evening we went to Rustin's parents for Christmas. Everyone was there so it was a full house. Now that 2009 is here I am hoping for a short winter and mild weather come about April! (There are new px in my photo gallery.)