Beautiful February Days

On the way back into town, I stopped at one of my favorite lakes to check out the status of the ice. It has been so beautiful out the last couple of days, today included. Hardly a cloud in the sky, only a slight breeze. Without any wind, you could literally fish out on the ice in only short sleeves.

I don't know what it is about the U.P. and the kind of stars that you can see at night, but I swear the only other places that I've lived that can compare to the night sky and the amount of stars would be Maui and Utah. We live so far out of town and away from any sort of "city" lights, it is pitch black out. With the cold, crisp air at night and all the stars, it is such a tranquil feeling. I think after throwing snow at night and how loud that is, the quiet and peacefulness is compounded after I'm done because of huge sensory experience of the snow thrower . . . then all is quiet, dark, and cold. It is hard to explain. Almost like being in a sensory deprivation tank, but with a dark night sky full of an unbelievable amount of stars. All I can hear is the sound of my own heart pounding because of the work involved in clearing snow out of our 150' driveway. I love this time of year, I suppose from the experience of being out in the cold, dark nights . . .

Little One Loves to be UP!

She is always asking me to lift her "up to the ceiling daddy!"

Blogger & Kids

Decorating the tree . . .

The Blogger

Hangin' ornaments with the kids, Christmas '09

Happy New Year 2010

Breanna as Snow White

Anna in her Snow White costume at Christmas. She also received Cinderella, Belle, etc., etc. in a Disney box of outfits. She LOVES to dress up . . . she is all girl.

My Little Anna Bell

She can't make up her mind if pink or purple is her favorite color . . . so she picks both . . .

3 Great Kids

Kellen, Kameron & Breanna - 02.06.2010

I'm 3 ! ! !

Birthday girl with Cheetos on the face! What's a 3 year old to do?

Snow Sculpture

First Place Snow Scupture at Michigan Tech's Winter Carnival. Sorry about any earlier confustion by calling these "Ice Sculptures." I was informed that these are not ice sculptures, but indeed, snow sculptures. I didn't realize Tech students did not take too kindly to the other label. More to follow . . .

Breanna with Great-Grandma Crooks

We were in Minneapolis visiting Margie Jo's Grandparents and extended family and Breanna's great grandmother pulled out the beads. I was going through some old pictures and had to post this picture of the two of them as it is such a great shot. It really is unbelievable how MJ's grandmother is so much like my own. Both 4'11", both fireballs, both just totally in love with their kids. It has been fun to get to know them both, grandma and grandpa. It is like having grandparents again which is really nice. I wish they were closer than MN, but it is still nice to be able to visit at least 1-2x/year.

It has been some time since I last posted to the blog. We have been busy with life as with everyone else. The holidays were great fun. We always say that we are not going to over-do it with gifts, but on Christmas Eve as everything gets gathered under the tree, we can't believe how much ends up there. Grandma, Margie Jo's mom had a lot to do with that this year as she was so very generous with us and the children. It took two loads in the back of the 4Runner to get all of the gifts she gave to us home. We were certainly spoiled this year. December had record snows this winter, just a ton of snow. Then January came and went and I don't think it snowed more than a foot or two. There was even a stretch of weather that went above freezing for a couple days. Too weird. Now the first week of February hasn't been too bad as well. A very mild winter overall in the Keweenaw. They say that they are pulling the Trout out of the ice up in Copper Harbor and I think I'm going to take the boys up this weekend and see if we can't pull some Splake out of the black ice. There isn't any snow up there on the ice, and you can see the rocks/boulders on the bottom through 2o feet of water, of course after the 4 - 5 inches of ice.

We were able to get out and enjoy Winter Carnival this year and see Michigan Tech's student's Ice Sculptures. They are always fun to walk around and see as the kids enjoy them. The fireworks are always as good, if not better than the 4th of July. We parked, literally, right underneath where they were lighting them off. MJ is from Ripley and we stopped on the way to her house, right where they were shooting up into the sky. It is the closest I have ever been to fireworks and will definitely be there next year too. It was a fun evening out in the fresh, cold air. I love being outside on cold winter nights. Just something about being out in the cold and dark; weird I guess.

Every0ne is healthy, a blessing I am thankful for. We had Breanna's 3rd birthday party Saturday. She had some of her little friends over and it was so fun to watch her socialize. She has developed quite the personality. She is so sensitive and yet so strong. She is so shy, yet such a chatter-box . . . and she has a daddy that is totally in love with her . . .