Winter Day

 Early morning fun with Millie....

While the rest of the country has wild storms, we've warmed up enough for it to begin snowing again. 

We spent a quiet morning sipping hot drinks and watching the snow out the windows. No, I did not make my personal goal of having Christmas down before Lent and the rest of the week is looking fairly busy. I am guessing I will work on it NEXT week. 

Michael, Dad and I enjoyed a quick trip to a Hotel Cafe for hot drinks and desserts after his appointment this afternoon. It didn't do a bit of good for my sugar level averages, I am sure....but Dad loved it. LOL 

Playdate at BreZaak's

 Valentine's Day was our 37th anniversary and BreZaak's 7th anniversary. I went over this afternoon for a playdate with the kids so Bre and Izaak could go out. They were very excited they had been to the "tooth brush doctor." Ah - the simple joys of pre-school. We marveled at Jo-jo....

Three months old! 

He's a doll. He went with Mommy and Daddy.  I took photos of Annie but I wasn't quick enough to catch her brilliant cuteness...and so I am inserting a couple of photos from Bre right here...

Annie - 2 years old

The kids and I finished their meal,  showed me their new jumping tricks, shared unicorn cookies and then....they had helped me break into the "workshop"....office, craft supplies etc. Yes, I could NOT get the door to unlock, but Bella could. ::snort:: 

Our goal was magna tiles...we created quite a bit of fun and then Auntie CoCo dropped Auntie Stacia off for a visit too! 

Stacia played Simon Says with the kids. They weren't set on the rules - but had fun. 

Back at home, a friend arrived to stay a bit. We welcomed her, had dinner, and settled down for more visits and reading. 

Bre sent this photo of the brothers ending their day...what sweet memories. 

Visitors from "Afar"

I don't think it will ever get old living close enough for adult children to drop by. Josiah, Carrie and Livie had a birthday party in the valley this afternoon. They came by early and spent a few hours with us. 

This is proof that Millie is calming down....she and Livie snuggled without bites, jumps, or barking. 

I baked some unicorn cookies (Bella's honor), we sat around the table and visited - until the table became a play station. The original kind. 
 

We also discussed Fish Camp 2021. I confirmed, despite everyone's memory that I HAD made reservations, I had not. I have hesitated to make reservations as I'm not sure how to pull this year's details into the plan...but I am going to make the plans "by faith," and  continue to try to find respite care for those 5 days for Dad. It's still 5 months away...surely.  As we talked it became apparent we don't NEED 5 days of fish camp....we could make our limit much quicker...but everyone loves the family connection, camping aspect as much as the work/fishing aspect....so...5 days it is....and I will figure out the details. LOL 

Good Morning Ms Moose

 Good morning, Ms. Moose....nice of you to drop by. What a fun start to the week. 

Valentine's Day

 I'll write about our anniversary when I get photos off the real camera. 

Arielle and the boys surprised us at church this a.m. They'd had a rather traumatic morning....a gentlemen tried to get into their home...turns out he suffers from dementia, had gotten out of his son's home and thought they had invited him to come to a party. BUT she didn't know that when a yelling man was trying to enter her home... We came home to Salmon chowder, cake and visiting. 

Benny was happy to help Papa clean the wood stove. He also rewrote the nativity story. Yes, I still have Christmas up, but I suppose I will take it down before Lent....maybe.  Last year I left it up until after the Iditarod. 

Stacia's Valentine's Day cake was a hit. 

Cory joined us when he got off work and we began to make dip-netting plans...Fish Camp 2021. Benny informed me he will need a new shirt. 

Magical Moments

Danny & Cory

Our 37th Anniversary

Feb 14th was our 37th anniversary. I am writing about it on Dec 30th, because I kept thinking I'd find time to say something profound. However, THIS year turned out vastly different than we were expecting on Feb 14th and I never got around to sharing.  Our anniversary is on Valentine's Day. We rarely go out on Valentine's Day as we don't appreciate the crowds. This year we did something different.  We packed a picnic, removed the van's back seats and headed for the mountains. We choose to celebrate before or after the 14th.  We drove into the mountains on Feb 13th.  This left the 14th for church and cake with the kids. We actually broke our "eat out on Sunday" routine and ate at home to avoid the crowds. 

We timed it in time to arrive before the sunset. We found a great spot to back into so we could enjoy our food from the comfort of the warm van while we watched the sun set. Michael ventured outside longer than I to get photos of the scenery. 

I was content to watch Michael from the warm van

📷by Michael

📷by Michael

📷by Michael

Our town is the lights to the left of the mountain range
📷by Michael

📷by Michael

Thirty-seven years of doing life together.  Maybe that's as profound as it gets this year. ::snort:: 

On a side note, it was wonderful to have older kids stay with Grandpa so we could go out, this led to scheduling a few hours a week of respite care. 

Allie moved in Feb 15th. 

Training Millie to Ride Nicely

 It's time to train Millie to ride nicely in the car. When she was little she rode up front in Stacia's lap. We've been putting her in the back, and she climbs to the front. The last time I took her out alone she jumped up front...a bit of a driving distraction. Taking her along when I take Stacia to work is a good time to work on her riding manners. 

She did fairly well sitting on the floor behind my seat....until right as we turned off the highway....she tried to jump into my lap. I FIRMLY told her no and she laid down and then didn't even want to get out of the car when we got home. LOL 

We'll get there.  Note I cut the hair around her eyes so she can see again. LOL