Mo Bed!

More Bread. Sarah is a do-it-herself-er. If Mom is not responding (quick enough), she'll just get it herself. Then it's usually taken away, but not before she has stolen a few bites. This is the challah that I make. We have discovered how scrumptious French toast is when made with this bread and topped with warm buttermilk syrup. I have been using a recipe book by Beth Hensperger called Bread Made Easy. It's a wonderful book about bread making, but don't be fooled by the title. There are no one-hour loaves in this book. Every recipe and variation that I have tried has been delicious.

Ice Skating at Lake of the Isles

I can't believe we got two pictures with everyone standing! Michael spent a lot more time sprawled on the ice than he did standing, but he had a great attitude. Anna managed to make it around the "rink" a few times, and was very happy about it. Emily hadn't skated in ten years, and was never any good, but it was good to remember that she can skate forward. We couldn't compete with the 3 and 4 year-olds decked-out in full hockey attire and looking like they were born on skates, but we had a great time. Travis nobly held Sarah while the rest of us skated. This is one of many free outdoor rinks in Minnesota. This one is part of a frozen lake. We have two ice skating rinks and two hockey rinks (roughly made, but I think they deserve to be called rinks) in our own neighborhood! We bought some skates for $5 off of Craigs List for Anna, but Michael and Emily used skates that are left in the warming house for people to borrow. Our wonderful afternoon was free! We love this place.

Snow

We got dumped with a heavy snowfall over Christmas, and it was mild enough (high 20s low 30s) that we could have a lot of fun sledding and building snowmen. Travis took the kids sledding on a real hill (with Christmas sleds brought out early) and we built a little sledding hill in our backyard with all of the snow we shoveled over Christmas. Sarah loved sledding on my lap! For two weeks it's been too cold to play in the snow much, but the kids still have fun at recess. Anna hauls pieces of ice to build a snow fort that is destroyed before she gets back to it the next day. Michael's school (He's at a K-3 and Anna is at a separate grades 4-6 school) brings out sleds and they sled and have snowball fights during recess. Driving is slippery and my husband is always cold, but I love it here! Our house is dripping with icicles and every tree branch in Minnesota is delicately frosted with ice. So beautiful.

-9 Degrees in Minnesota

That's without the wind chill. With the wind chill it feels like 28 degrees below 0. It's hard enough to send my husband out when it's even colder and earlier, but sending Anna and Michael to the bus stop when it's this cold is hard. They leave at different times and I can't see them from our house. At least it's not far, and they're dressed very well for cold. Everyone wears snowpants and all of the appropriate winter gear here. Yesterday Anna had her first indoor recess because it was colder than -7. There's ice coating the inside of our windows and Sarah wears multiple layers of pajamas to bed, but we're quite snug in our house. Driving is tricky because it's icy and Minnesota doesn't spend a lot of money on salt. I know this cold will get tiresome, but so far we're pretty cheerful. Minnesota is beautiful all covered with ice and snow, and as long as you're not out for too long, the cold is invigorating. I don't think that's the word Travis would have used late last night when he schlepped four 50 pound bags of salt for the water softener from the (detached) garage into the house. And my fifty pound bag of bread flour. I guess people weren't kidding when they warned us about Minnesota winters!

Christmas 2009

We had a happy Christmas! For the first time in several years, Travis didn't have to work and we were able to celebrate Christmas at our leisure. I think everyone was happy. Even Sarah felt the magic of Christmas morning. She has been playing with the toy kitchen, scribbling on her Magna Doodle, and pushing Michael out of her chair ever since. Michael has assembled all of his Legos and he and Travis love to play with his remote control helicopter, lovingly bought by Anna with her hard-earned $30. Anna loves her new doll, who used to belong to Emily. It's fun to discover games, art projects, and new books throughout the Christmas break too. This is our last Christmas on our own--too far to visit family. We are very excited that we'll live close next year, but we have had fun on our own too. We had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner together, but on Christmas night we ate dinner with several friends in the ward. Good times and good memories.