Happy New Year!!!

So we have been stuck in a minus 30 deep freeze for much of this winter and pretty much our entire time over Christmas with company.  My brother and his wife (Andrew and Andrea) came for a visit during the holidays and my mother-in-law and her husband (Nana and Papa) have also been here.  To compensate for the cold weather, I am including some gorgeous sun shiny pictures from my friend's camera.  Ivan got to with his best friend Kohnomu and family for a field supper in the fall when they were headed to karate.  Now that I see the pictures, I am recognizing several families and students that I know.

I have enjoyed the myriad of experiences that my kids have been able to have while living here... from participating in harvest time, boating on the lakes, collecting eggs and driving a combine...

Aunty Sheena asked the other night if anyone wanted to help her with chores the next day.  We asked what kind of chores and when she said that she had to feed the Muirhead's sheep, feed the chickens, collect eggs... Ivan was begging to be included.  He loved it so much.  I'm sure if he had to do it all the time, he'd not like it quite as much, but the novelty effect is pretty powerful.

I haven't downloaded the pictures from the holidays yet, so that is on my list of things to do in the last few days of holidays remaining.

And even though it's excruciatingly cold, we are enjoying the seasons.  When we went for a walk to the frozen lake yesterday, stomping through the deep snow, I could hear the mutted, styrofoam like thump of my steps and I told Nana how I missed that when we lived in Texas.  I missed all the sounds the snow makes.  The shininess of it, the crackle of ice in the spring, the seasons.  And while winter may not be everyone's favorite season, it certainly adds adventure to our lives.

Brian and I got away for a weekend to celebrate our 15 years of marriage and I was apologizing to him that it was so brutally cold and asking if he missed Texas (I certainly miss the warmth), but he says it's all part of the adventure.  Yeah, Brian, as we sloshed through snow banks in the roads, trying to find a parking space that we would not get his small truck stuck in, as he scrapes his windows, plugs in his truck at night in the cold and fixes his emergency brake that snapped in the cold, he can still see the light and the joy and the challenges as forces to make us stronger and enjoy more the warmth of the house, the soup at night, the hot tea and warmth of summer- just some months away ;)