2nd Annual Water Pipeline Freeze Posting...

Just wishing, hoping, and praying that I don't ever have to do a 3rd! :) We have learned that if the weather forecast looks anything close to this:

	-19 ° Clear
Humidity:	66%
Dew Point:	-11 °F / -24 °C
Wind:	5 mph / 7 km/h / 2.1 m/s from the WSW
Pressure:	30.29 in / 1026 hPa (Rising)
Windchill:	-12 °F / -25 °C
Visibility:	10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:	0 out of 16
Clouds:	Clear - (Above Ground Level)

we need to leave the water running... maybe check it once or twice during the night! :) :)

Eli and I woke up at our regular 5:30... Eli walks into my room: "have you used any water yet this morning?" - (me) "nope"
"Well, guess what! We have frozen lines."
(the house was awake a little earlier than normal this morning!)

Out came the blow dryers, the turbo heater,
the ladder, several bungy straps,
one of those back massagers(makes a good vibrator), warm jacket and gloves,
a tarp, and a few other misc. items...
Strange conglomeration of tools, but it worked!

Dad, Mom, Hannah, me, Eli, Joel, Noah, and everyone else too... we all helped in some way or another!

Three and a half hours later, after many different systems of unfreezing those icy tubes, we had water again!!!!

A Sunday Evening Walk...

This evening, after having pizza with Uncle Mike and his family, Hannah, Eli, Joel, and I went for a walk. We had a fun time! :) :)

Hannah and me...

Eli, Joel and Hannah under the bridge near the river...

We found a good sliding place, because of the remembrance of my last encounter with ice, I did not join them... It was very slippery and they said it was a lot of fun! :)

It was nice to be able to get outside with out freezing! :) It warmed up to 35 degrees today! YAY!!!!

Canning Apples....

Today Hannah, Seth, Talia, Behn, Tovala, and Asher canned apples.

Behn cut apples and Tovala helped wash and carry the apples.

Asher is a big help too!!!! He helped Lala wash the apples.

Seth put the apples through the food processor.

Talia helped Behn cut the apples.

and if there was anything else to do, Hannah helped! :)
Not only did Hannah make apple sauce and apple butter, but she also decided to make Hummus for our lunch and then she made tortillas for our tacos this evening. I am still trying to figure out what we are going to do when she starts her nannying - she will be gone three whole days out of the week!!! yikes! :)

Wednesday(evening), January 23, 2008

Dad is reading our last Hank the Cowdog to the kids.

~notice the cute pajamas - made by Hannah. She also made a pair for Tovala

Noah is rubbing his shoulders.

Hannah is folding laundry.

Mom is preparing for history class.

Joel is studying for history class.

Eli is studying biology and for a literature class.

and if you use your imagination you can see me sitting in that chair posting on the blog, doing biology and studying for a test. (at least that is what I will be doing.) :) :)

and in about an hour, after all the little ones are tucked in, most of us will gather in the living room, chat for a little while, probably pray around our "prayer chest," say good night, and then head to our rooms again to go to bed, study, or maybe talk some more.

a typical evening....
relaxing,
productive(most of the time ;)),
very enjoyable
and recently kind of cold!


Good night! Sleep well!

Fresh Salmon Straight from Alaska....

This afternoon, for dinner, we had the Salmon that Aunt Marni brought from Alaska! It was really good!!!

Thanks Aunt Marni!

Lots of studying...

We have all been staying pretty busy with school!

Sylvia is helping me study literature today-we are learning about Job! As you can see she is very interested! :)

Missing Nathan...

Last week we were given a bear to represent Nathan since we are missing him! Nathan(the bear) is all dressed in his Air Force uniform with nice shiny boots.

We got to talk to Nathan over the phone on Thursday (apparently we still want to talk to him... the bear is not nearly as communicative as Nathan ;) ) anyways, we got to talk to him on Thursday night for 20 minutes because he got a Red Line Inspection, meaning his bedroom was perfect - and that is pretty good! He is doing well; he said it is very hard but he is enjoying the challenge!

Asher thinks it is pretty fun to carry Nathan around!

Kitchen Wall...

last night, when I was taking pictures, I decided to show you all our new pictures... both of these were given to Dad and Mom for Christmas. Aaron and Jennifer and all of us gave them the picture frame with the pictures and Mrs. Carden gave them the plaque.

Pizza and Movie night...

Over the last couple of months week have established a pizza and movie night, either Friday or Saturday night...depending on when Dad and Mom have their "date night".
It is fun to make pizza together! This picture was not posed, btw, just how it works!
:)

Sylvia is having fun!!!

the pizza was delicious!

this evening we watched the Newsies... it is a fun movie!

Helping....

Tovala and Asher helped with the Saturday morning cleaning... by giving entertainment! :)

Happy Birthday to You!!!

This afternoon we had Mrs. Schieche and her children over to celebrate her birthday!

We had tea. . .

. . . and cake! I think Jonathan liked the cake!

Peek a boo with Sophie. . .

A Snow Man and a Water Fall...

Yesterday afternoon, a few of us went for a hike...

We built a snow man!

Joel let me take a picture of him!!!! That is a seldom occurrence...

a bridge connecting Minnesota and Wisconsin...

and a closer up view...

We went down by a water fall...

the Ice formations were amazing!

we had a very nice walk! It was nice to get outside while it is a little warmer!

Lowell Inn...

On Friday evening Dad and Mom went out for their "Christmas present dinner" at the Lowell Inn in Stillwater. It sounded like they enjoyed it and experienced some strange new foods...

They had the "Swiss Fondue":

First Course

Swiss Cheese Fondue

Fresh homemade Swiss Rye, 9 Grain and Grilled Ciabatta

breads with Roasted Seasonal Vegetables

Escargot a la carte'

(may be substituted for the Cheese Fondue)

Second Course

House Salad

Your choice of our homemade dressings:

Sundried Tomato Vinaigrette

Creamy Gorgonzola Cheese

Parmesan Peppercorn

Third Course

Beef Tenderloin

Breast of Duck

Jumbo Shrimp

Served with sauces:

Dark plum, cocktail, horseradish, tartar, & cajun.

Served with Spaetzle

Dessert

Grapes Devonshire

Grand Marnier Chocolate Fondue for Two

Warm rich dark chocolate gnache with a hint of

Grand Marnier, served with an assortment of fresh fruit and cake.

Dad tried snails for the first time... but he could not convince Mom to try it! (I did not know that Escargot a la carte' was snail!!!

I almost put a picture of what it looks like...but when I looked, I thought better of it...