The "blizzard" finally hit, and church is cancelled

For several days the forecast was for a big blizzard to hit us on Saturday.  I didn't schedule anything and looked forward to a day of cocooning.   Only, it didn't come.

Instead of snowing, it rained all morning long (which was fine with me--you don't have to shovel rain!).  Then just before noon, the rain turned white and before long the grass was getting covered with the snow. 

Finally, just before dark, the winds arrived.  They howled all night, whipping the 3-4 inches of snow we got into drifts.  The lawns and fields are all bare.  The roads have drifts.  The wind chills are bout -20.  There is ice under the snow.  And we have the entire day to ourselves.  Our ward was cancelled.  The afternoon ward cancelled as well.  So I think we'll engage in a musical "fireside" with the sister missionaries, playing the piano and violas and violins.  This will also be a good time to finish up my Christmas cards.  Except I keep doing things like catching up on my blog. 

In reality, I'm just postponing the moment when I get all bundled up like Nanook of the North and go shovel the drift in the driveway. The worst part is what the snowplow left at the end of the driveway.  Happy Holidays!

So what if Thanksgiving was a few weeks ago?

 Just a few pictures to remember the crazy fun time we had at Thanksgiving!

We pretended we were in a canoe on the ocean on Grandma's bed, (which bought me some more time before I had to get up.  Did I ever tell you that I don't see myself as a morning person?).

We tried something new and went to an indoor water park, were we hung out... 

 and found it to be fun mostly because the rules were quite relaxed as far as the kids went.  Brenna was able to go down slides by herself.  Alastair was allowed to ride with an adult.

I lost count early on as to how many times we climbed the stairs for yet another run.

The parents even caught some slow time in the hot tub.

We had to show the new generation the Fenelon Place "Elevator", which is the world's shortest & steepest railway.

They assured us it has never killed anyone.  But it does cause a bit on anxiety as it moves up the hill on the cables.

 We all made it to the top (it took two trips), so we could see Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin all at the same time as we looked out over the Mississippi river.

We visited it 20 years ago--in 1990.  The benches are the same.  The house in back looks just about the same.  It's only the faces that look different.  (Well, I guess all the coats and winter wear are different as well.)

 There was a lot of silliness...

 a lot of games...

 a lot of eating...

 and even more silliness.

What a great holiday!

Let's do it again next year!