We FINALLY have snow!!!
And we are SO excited about that!!!
I honestly have tears in my eyes – this beautiful snow means so much to me – I just love looking out the windows and seeing it there.
It just makes our winters here up north so amazingly beautiful!
It also brings the red cardinals to our bird restaurant!
We were already up to six at one time over the weekend!
We had two very large snowstorms last week and now have over two feet of snow on the ground.
Both storms had very high winds, so our snow is blown into drifts all over the place!
We got to spend the Saturday morning a week ago with THE GROOM TO BE doing some wedding stuff!
The guys all got fitted for their suits for the wedding, and then we all had lunch together!
It was so very fun!!
We were just missing Chad who was out of town that day – but had been fitted for his suit the day before!
The first weekend of January we had a little birthday celebration during our normal Sunday family lunch that we have every week after church.
It was super fun to celebrate Blake, Kamryn (who shares a birthday with Blake!) and Aspen!
Aspen turned three years old on Tuesday!
The food was delicious!!
David smoked some beef roasts and I made some roasted yams and carrots, a huge salad, and some freshly baked English muffins.
We had an ice cream bar for dessert that Addie made, with some chocolate brownies and roasted bananas!
There were gifts too!!
It was such a FUN day!!!
I spied in one of those photos above two little thumbs that made their way into the photo I was taking!
Do you see them there behind the couch??
Ha, ha, Clydey – you are SO cute!!!
Can you believe how big Saige looks in that last photo?
She is growing and changing so much!
Do you want to know how you have THE BEST SUNDAYS EVER??
Just look at this next photo – couldn’t be anything better than every dish in your kitchen needing washed because your HOUSE WAS FULL.
Be still my heart, dreams do come true!!
Starting at the beginning of the year, I decided to take a break from Instagram.
Instagram has many, many good things – but let’s be honest – it has just as many bad things.
It is time consuming, can make you miss out on life right in front of you, can make you compare yourself to others easily…the list goes on.
I will say, as of right now, I do NOT miss it.
My brain feels so much lighter, for one thing!
I have been enjoying the beginning of our long months of winter SO much, and not being on social media is just making it all the sweeter!
I look forward to the slow months after the holidays when we are snowed in and freezing cold here in Wisconsin!
It gives us time to slow down, enjoy the cozy things of home life, and pour into each other and others around us.
It also allows plenty of time to pursue our favorite things!
For me that has been cooking and baking!
Just look at all the fun I have had in the kitchen the last two weeks!!
The sauerkraut I fermented turned out so good!
I started some new ferments last week during one of the snow storms – some crisp garlic pickles, and some carrots.
We cannot wait to try them!
Thank you for taking this photo, Eliza Claire!
Kay’s headed out on a trip to Kentucky over this past weekend and Addie Mae went with them to help them!
Since it was so snowy and all, my plans of going over to help Kay clean and pack were ruined.
So I decided to make them some food instead!
I have really been enjoying making English muffins, so I made them some and also made them some sourdough blueberry waffles.
Then I tried some cinnamon raisin English muffins for my crew here and they loved them!
David, Kay and their crew got home last night.
I was in a cooking mood yesterday too, so I made them some chicken pot pie to take home when they dropped Addie off so they would have something to eat as they arrived home.
It was SUPER FUN to cook and bake for them!!!!
We watched Kay’s dog Juni for them while they were away.
She is a SWEETIE.
All three dogs got along great!
We even had friends in Saturday evening who Juni became fast friends with!
We miss Juniper this morning!!
What else have we been up to while it has been so snowy and below zero temperatures outside?
We like to read, the youngest two like to do crafts, and I specifically do a lot of deep cleaning and purging while we are stuck inside!
Of course there are still our normal chores and school work to do as well!
The sun is shining today, and we will take it, even though it is dangerously cold out there!
Nineteen below zero currently, crazy Wisconsin!
I have a really neat photo to share – one that Addie stopped and took on her way to work this morning.
We had a sundog!!
It was AMAZING!!
I could see it from our windows, but could not get a good photo because of where it was.
Isn’t God so creative and kind to give us things like this???
It is just such a beautiful day here today!
The snow mixed with the sunshine gives us a sparkly bright blessing!
Now we just need it to warm up enough so we can play in all of that beautiful snow!
I hope the beginning of 2024 has been good and beautiful for you all too!!
Happy winter, friends!!
