New Year's in Laona

There's a lot of new snow in Laona, and that means lots of fun, inside and out. Here are a few examples!

Evidence of our skiing and snowshoeing...




Snow shoers...



Twilight zone marathon watchers...



Hot chocolate drinkers...



Snowmobilers...(guess who they are!)

More visitors!

Okay, now our house has become the feeding trough for the whole nature neighborhood!

Frank's new toy

If you put out the corn...they will come! Frank got this cool camera that is motion sensitive and takes pictures at night, so we can see who comes for the food that he faithfully puts out each day.

At home Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas at home yesterday! Frank and Ben and Kristin and I woke up and opened gifts while looking out the window at the beautiful snow!



I got chicks!



Frank and his new mug...Kristin made it at Studio You.



Goldie sporting her new collar. She thought she was so cool!



Kristin with her new mittens. Kristin also got a new eye toy workout game that we enjoyed a lot!




As usual, Frank was far too generous, Ben was the most grateful, and Kristin the most creative (note my chicks!). We are so grateful for our good health, family and friends! We love you all!

Merry Christmas!

A few years ago Frank gave me the greatest gift when he built this creche for our yard.  Every year we put it in our yard and light it up each evening.  While we were sleeping, God covered the entire scene with a fresh coat of snow.  I thought I'd share the gift with you for Christmas...much love, Cindy

Holiday decor

Kristin's "friend" Nick came over yesterday and helped us ready the house for Christmas by making a gingerbread tree!

It now graces the center of our table...

Can't wait to eat it!

Christmas, round three

This weekend is Christmas with Bobbie and Becky! We took advantage of Becky's early release from school to snag an extra weekend with them, and enjoyed a special Christmas time at our house. Needless to say, there were the prerequisite omelets, last minute shopping and a fireside viewing of the two Grinch movies back to back. We'll meet again in a week in Laona for more festivities there, but it sure was nice to have this time with them this weekend!

My little buddy and I...



These cousins sure love each other...



Bobbie and her new travel mug...



Frank and his happy hat!

Who plays in our yard at night?

Frank got this cool new camera that takes pictures of the critters in our yard after dark. Here is just one piece of evidence...

Pictures from Jean's phone

Jean added me as a contact (yay!) so now we can share pictures! Here are some of hers from our Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations...thanks Jean!

Christmas, round two

Kati had to work late today, so she and Kyle came over afterward to share our second round. We enjoyed more food and even more gifts...

Then, we piled into the car and engaged in a bit of pranking...traditional caning...it was a blast placing canes in the new snow! Great fun!

Christmas, round one

It is a beautiful weekend for our first Christmas celebration, and Mom, Tom, Jean and Kati graciously offered to visit us again! We started off the weekend with a terrifc meal and lots of fun gift exchanging.



Jean and her new bowl...



Tom and his new memory



Kristin enjoying Tom's gift



again...still...



Mom discovering her new computer!

First ski of the year!

All of this beautiful snow called me to ski it today, so I headed out to Blue Mounds where the greatest trail groomers in the world had done their magic...incredible!

An old fashioned blizzard!

Every five years or so we get one of those winter storms that shuts everything down. We are completely blanketed in about 16 inches of heavy beautiful snow. I feel like it offers us the chance to stop running around and rest a bit, especially during this holiday season. We'll be baking cookies and having some soup and maybe even trying a ski...

Superhero neighbors

Every week we have our neighbors over to hang out with Kristin for a while, and every week we are surprised by their growth. But this week imagine our surprise when we found that our neighbors have grown into superheros! (Check out their muscles!) Leo told me that he flew over here and Oliver informed us that his car can fly too. So if anyone needs a ride today to escape the blizzard, you know who to call!

First snow!

The first snow is always a surprise...even as long as I have been living here in Wisconsin. The sheer magnitude of it and the way it blankets all of the grayness of fall. It has such a purifying effect on the landscape.



It also covers the food source for our local turkeys, so they come looking to us for breakfast. Frank gladly obliges and even shovels paths for them to access the corn he throws out for them every morning.

Oreo cows...

Not only do we have the finest dairy products in the country, we also have cows that look like Oreos (double stuff, no less!) Wonder if they give Oreos too?

Incredible Buck!

Every year, Frank goes hunting with his dad, his uncle, his cousin and his friend. They are not the typical, card-playing, tv watching, beer drinking hunters (although some of those things may happen at camp!) They really hunt. They know the woods well (some trees are known by name), and they search for deer sign well before the season begins. They also usually get deer. But this year, Frank got a trophy! 21 points on an atypical spread. This buck had been spotted by some Northwoodsmen before the season and news of his capture is fast becoming the stuff of legends. Enjoy the view...

Ahhh...

After all of the eating this weekend, it was so nice to get outside and walk some of it off! It was a beautiful day, especially for this late date in November...

Thanksgiving Feasting!

In preparation for this year's Thanksgiving, Kristin and her friend made multiple (edible) table favors...pilgrim hats, teepees, and turkeys...very cool! They adorned our table to make it the prettiest it's ever been.






After the feast, and a rousing round of "celebrity", many of us decided to share these edible reminders of the season with our friends and neighbors, so off we went into the night. Some of us dressed in our darkest pranking clothes to avoid detection.





The morning after we were all treated to Jean's famous Swedish pancakes...delicious! Could we possibly eat any more?!



After all of the eating and great excitement, some of us crashed...