Quotes of the Week

"Sometimes when I'm talking, my words can't keep up with my thoughts. I wonder why we think faster than we speak... Probably so we can think twice!"
-- Bill Watterson

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning."
-- Albert Einstein

"No one rises above who he or she has been without first having fallen down. The best time -- in fact, the only time -- to make a real change in your life is in the moment of seeing the need for it. He who hesitates always gets lost in the hundred reasons why tomorrow is a better day to get started."
-- Guy Finley

Lake Effect Snowstorm

It's been snowing and snowing and snowing and snowing around here. Like for three days and nights straight. Turns out we got many inches more snow than some of the ski resorts. We have never had this much snow before on our back deck.

The grill is almost blended right into the white scenery.

The weathermen call it lake effect snow. We call it way too much snow for one snowstorm!!!

All we know is there was so much snow for Glen to deal with. He not only clears off all our snow, but has also been helping take care of the neighbor across the street from us who has recently had a hip replacement and needs the other hip replaced soon.

That's a lot of driveway for Glen to keep clean after he's already done our driveway. And Glen doesn't just stop with that neighbor. He helps the other neighbors as well.

He was never so happy to see blue sky once again.

We're hoping it means NO MORE SNOW!!! At least for a while to let his muscles recover from this storm.

Quotes of the Week

"Growing into your future with health and grace and beauty doesn't have to take all your time. It rather requires a dedication to caring for yourself as if you were rare and precious, which you are, and regarding all life around you as equally so, which it is."
-- Victoria Moran

 "Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for."
-- Epicurus

 "There's always going to be bad stuff out there. But here's the amazing thing -- light trumps darkness, every time. You stick a candle into the dark, but you can't stick the dark into the light."
-- Jodi Picoult

The Rest of the Christmas Holiday

Abe and Ben had big plans for some fun times while they were together. The fun included going to movies and going skiing/snowboarding. This is their happy faces knowing that in a couple of hours they would be on the slopes.

Their reward for a long day of skiing and Klarissa's reward for a long day of being housebound on a snowy day was take-out Mandarin. Before anyone starts salivating thinking they missed out on a delicious meal--it was a big disappointment. I made the mistake of trying to order some of it dairy-free and gluten-free (to accommodate my new food restrictions) and the results were disastrous!! Sorry again, family!!

This is the crazed-Abe look. He and Ben were not very happy that my special order caused them to wait 45 minutes at the restaurant. Double sorry once again for that little inconvenience!

Abe chillin' with the babe.

Some little people came up to chill with Abe, Klarissa and Newland.

Caroline loved getting Newland to smile.

Well, let's face it--maybe Brooke didn't really care all that much about Abe, Klarissa or Newland. Her mind was on coloring a picture.

This particular day--two days after Christmas--was a red-letter day for me. It was the day I got to hold Newland. I was finally feeling much better and my coughing was much improved. I felt strong and able to watch the little guy while his parents were off playing.

Here's this baby's beautiful mother. Klarissa was getting ready to go on a fun outing with her family. Too bad Abe had to do some work and ended up not being able to go with them.

Haley was back from her Christmas vacation in New York with her family. Ben enlisted the help of several cute girls to get his favorite chocolate/Oreo ice cream made.

Brooke's job was to fill the bucket with snow since we didn't have enough ice for the ice cream mixer.

Abe playing with Rebecca's kids.

Who likes Papa John's pizza??????

Sarah's family also wanted in on some of the fun with her brothers.

It was a real treat for us to go to "Music and the Spoken Word" Sunday morning. We got there so early we had our choice of up-front seats. What a great way to start the Sabbath day.

Here we are having Sunday dinner.

Notice Abe and Klarissa eating in the quarantine area.

The reason is Klarissa and Newland were trying to avoid all the sickness everyone else in the family had been getting since I started it all off. Abe should have been on the sick table with the rest of the family.

Jeff's phone kept Eli happy while the adults were playing a game.

Another thing that kept Eli entertained for a long time was wearing the army guys' bucket on his head. So funny and so cute. He even wanted it on when watching the popcorn pop.

The end of December had come which meant the end of Abe, Klarissa and Newland's visit here with us.

So long cute family. Thanks for coming. We love you! Happy New Year! See you again soon...we hope!!!