7th. day of Christmas:)

Elle and I are feeling MUCH better. Whatever we had, it only lasted 1 day:) Eva and friends are off to Milwaukee for a concert, and Elle is heading out to St. Peter for a party and overnight with the cast of Birdie. Paul and I are either eating at Alaromas, or staying in and having it delivered. The weather is so strange...all of our snow in the backyard has melted, and the high was 50. Supposed to be 18 tomorrow. The Rose Bowl parade and game are on the docket for tomorrow, with lots of friends and a few family actually there. We will celebrate in style with our Rose Bowl/Badger shirts, and then Sunday switch to green and gold for the Packer party. Thanks to Donna for bringing her famous deviled eggs and scrumptious dessert. A lot to look forward to. Spent a lovely afternoon with 2 of my sisters, brother-in-law and my niece and nephew. Thanks to Grandma for the lovely new towels for the hot tub room. We really needed some new ones. I love Liyah's face on this pic, so thought I would include it today. She'll be spending the night tonight...poor Minnie has to work very early tomorrow so this way Liyah can relax and sleep in. Wishing everyone a terrific New Year's Eve!

5th. day of Christmas...sick.

Sorry, no postings for a while...we're sick :( Temps of 102 plus and some type of virus. Ugh.

3rd. day of Christmas...

Fr. Luke did an excellent job at the first service on Christmas eve, and was very welcoming to the over 1300 people in attendance. Another 400 packed the church hall for a separate mass done at the same time. The choirs did a great job as well, and it was so nice to see all the college kids home with their families...we did a lot of 'catching up.' Thanks so much to Debby for the wonderful chocolates. After I took a few of my favorites out, the rest were quickly eaten during a rousing game of Scribblish, with a large group including hungry college kids:) Thanks also to Peter for the treat of baklava, which didn't last long either. Mike also stopped by with homemade caramels, toffee and peanut butter balls. So neat to have such nice neighbors! And by the way Jon...the rum balls and almond cookies were REALLY good. We had a few of Paul's favorites as well, including liver pate, and spinach and artichoke dip. Nothing special for a meal, just a nice ham and all the fixings. Elle and I again made homemade bread which we toasted with cinnamon in the morning, and then enjoyed in the evening with the meal. Thanks to Eva for remembering to use our pretty Christmas plates too! We look forward to Elise and Belle visiting soon, while James is traveling abroad. We already have plans for Nutcracker at the Paine Art Center in Oshkosh, and a holiday open house here. We've been shoring up our plans for the Rose Bowl party on Saturday, and have lots of cute ideas of how to incorporate roses into the decorations and the food. Can't wait to see our good 'football' friends from Valders and Manty. A 'shout out' here to Trevor and his Mom, for dropping off a basket of Spanish cookies and treats, in keeping with Elle's 'Rosie' character from Bye Bye Birdie. What a nice gift, and a great memory of the show for Elle! Off to do a little work now, make an appointment for a tire rotation, and then back home to WII dance with Liyah and Elle. Did we have fun last night! Got a good work out too. Then Elle and I bowled...my score was 253 and Elle's was 203. Then we bowled with opposite hands for more of a challenge. Waiting for our Zumba WII now, which was back ordered, but it's on the way. Since the weather is making it challenging to do much outdoors, we are having a great time with the WII inside:)

Merry Christmas!

I'll be taking a 'cyber' break for several days, to enjoy Christmas through the many masses and celebrations at church, and of course relaxing at home with Paul, Eva and Elle, with Aliyah joining us for dinner on Saturday evening. Hopefully we'll get a chance to skype Elise, James and Belle in Nashville too:) Wishing everyone a blessed Christmas!

Christmas of 1993 :)

We used this photo for our Christmas cards in 1993. It's fun to look back at this time of year.

Little Belle

Belle is under the weather today, and had to visit the Doc, but judging from these photos taken later, she's making a quick recovery:) How cute...she's enjoying Julia Childs!

grade school concert :P

Up early to attend a 'before school' band concert for the elementary grades at Riverside. Aliyah played her saxophone to Jolly Old St. Nick, Up On The Housetop and Jingle Bells. Brought me back to Elle's, Eva's and Elise's 5th. grade concerts:) Afterward I tromped a little through Buttermilk Park, and then came home to tackle the shoveling of several houses. Paul's jazz band is playing tonight, for anyone interested, at the Windhover...7:30 and free admission as always. Poor Elle took a bad tumble on the ice outside of school, and fell hard on her back with her legs sliding under the van:( It was parked, but she really bruised her shins and is sore all over today. The bad thing is she had to do a performance 1/2 hour after. I tried to encourage her to opt out, but she didn't want to let everyone else down. (That's the choir with only 4 voices on each part.) So last night and this morning she was in a lot of pain. Thank heavens tomorrow is the last school day, and she can really relax. Picking up Aliyah later for our last shopping trip for a new dress for her to wear to church. Then I won't go inside a store again for a long time. Bring on Christmas!

30 years ago :)

And 1 more

Christmas of 1990, with a 2 year old Eva and a 6 year old Elise:)

Couldn't resist:)

Here's a cute photo of Elle from this week in 1994.

lonely trail

Paul was up very early to play for a holiday breakfast, so I decided to get out my Tecnica boots and hike a little. It was very cold, so I only went a mile in and back. Elle has a busy day with Cardinal Singers performing midday, and then after school she'll join Aliyah and I to take some food over to the Salvation Army pantry. I think there may still be a need for volunteers at the Fairgrounds for Christmas Day distribution. Any locals interested can go to their site. Also offer an extra prayer for our friend Aaron, whose father is ill and not expected to make it to Christmas. This is a difficult time for him.

Wonderful Sunday...

Aliyah was here all day, and we went to church, baked, shopped, played games, and enjoyed each other's company. Elle and Eva shopped also for Mom and Dad gifts, and we had a wonderful visit with friend Kate:) Paul worked all day on projects...fixing lots of leaky things. This is really appreciated because he had a booking until late last night, and was up super early for masses. He will probably crash tonight during the football game. Won't miss anything anyway:P

graduations

Congrats to niece Kylie who graduated this semester from Michigan Tech, and to our friends at Marian who graduate today. Paul and Eva are headed to Marian quite early, to get in a practice before a mass, before the graduation. Actually there are 2 ceremonies...one at 10:15AM and one at 1PM. Elle and I will shop today for our Charlie Brown Christmas tree, which has always been a tradition. We find the scrubbiest little tree and decorate it with very basic homemade ornaments. Afterward we plan to do a little shopping for our animal friends:) Photo today is one of Elle's new slippers. She had fun last night at a Secret Santa party at her friend Jaime's house. This is such a great time of year!

Happy Anniversary to Elise and James!

Busy day off...

We have to do a repair at our own home today:) There's a leaking pipe in the bathroom that has damaged the kitchen ceiling. Ugh. Paul also is busy buying new front tires for his car. The Night of Silence concert last night was very well done, as always, the music staff did an excellent job. It really feels like Christmas is coming now. Elle went out for ice cream with friends later, and we had a late meal of pizza. Eva is busy with finals this week...don't see much of her, although she and Mike got in a little hot tubbing last night. Thanks to Elise for the cute picture of Belle. I sent her a care package today:)

blizzard

Paul tried to make it to the 8 AM mass but found white out conditions on the highway so turned around. Fr. Vic reported just 1 person at that mass. Everyone else stayed home and slept in. Birthday greetings go out to Mike, who turns 23. Eva and a few friends celebrated with dinner out, and an ugly Christmas sweater party last night. They couldn't get home because nothing was plowed, so everyone ended up staying where they were. For those of you who were considering attending Theresa's concert at Horace Mann at 3:30, it has been cancelled and will be rescheduled. We are waiting on word of the Night of Silence concert tonight. Snow is slowing but the blowing and drifting are the problem now. The same concert will be repeated tomorrow night anyway, so it's not a problem. Elle was hoping for a break...an actual entire day without going out:)

Let it snow:)

Excited for tomorrow and the 'big dump' which is expected. All of us, minus Paul who is booked for a dance, are planning to go sledding at the UW hill:) Any locals who are interested, today at noon at the PAC is the Night of Silence dress rehearsal. It's free with most of the area middle school kids attending. If you can't make it to the Sunday or Monday evening performance, this is nice alternative. It really is a great concert, and it's always packed. Elle has another Cardinal Singers booking tonight at 8 PM, so the day will go long again. Eva is busy wrapping up the semester in finals. Off I go to shovel the 2-4 inches from last night!

Cute Elle with Jon

Thanks to Elle for the cute picture this morning. They thought it was funny that they 'matched' on that school day, and had 'matched' for 4 days in a row without planning:) Weather wise, I'd say this is the calm before the storm, so I'm taking advantage by finishing the outdoor Christmas decorations. Later, I have to run an errand to the Fond du Lac Seafood store (THE greatest place for fresh seafood) and then pick up a box of Hughes chocolates for the holidays. Yesterday we baked some mint surprise cookies, from a recipe my Dad sent me 20 years ago. We make them every year and they are a still big hit. Off now to a few hours of work and a quick bike ride before the expected snow.

Holy Day

Today we remember the Immaculate Conception of Mary, and Paul has 5 masses in 4 venues throughout the day. I was surprised when a friend told me that the Islam religion also believes in the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Might be fun to do a little reading on the subject. I'm going to Marian at 12:15 for a mass/concert with Eva's group. Yesterday I caved in and moved the stationary bike in from the garage to start our 5 miles a day routine inside. It was just too cold to be out walking/riding the trails the last few days. Thursday should be warming up with a good chance for snow, so we'll have to dust off the sleds and toboggans and head to the UW for a little fun. The pictures today are really just random. There are a couple cute ones of Belle, Elle showing off another delicious trifle, (this time cherry chocolate chip,) and Elle and Eva from last night getting ready to entertain at the Grande Cheese Christmas party:) Busy season. Bring it on!

Good friends...human and canine:)

Had a nice visit with some old friends and their critters before the vocal jazz concert at Marian. Elle had to record some Cardinal Singers music at the Cathedral so couldn't join us. Taco bar all ready when the concert ends!

Amy and Belle

Thanks to Elise for the nice picture of Belle and her Godmother Amy. James and Elise shopped while Amy watched the baby:) This holiday season is proving to be as busy as last year. Between Friday and today, we've had 2 concerts, an afterglow for one at the Elks, provided the entertainment for 2 Christmas parties, Cardinal Singers, Cardinal Ringerz, the holiday parade, practice for the young composers recital, and the usual rounds of choir rehearsals and masses. Whew! For the locals, the Night of Silence concert is next weekend, on Sunday night and again on Monday night. Everyone really enjoys that concert. Today Elle and I are planning to shop for new winter coats, and then get some groceries for tonight's taco party. Hopefully the Packers will beat the 49-ers, and everyone will be in a good mood. Also a shout out here to high school friend Rhea, who lives in Alabama and owns a llama ranch. She is such an optimist...I love her comment on upcoming winter. She said she "is looking forward to the winter solstice so we can start making our way back to summer light!" That's great.

So cold but so pretty!

All alone on the trail in Taycheedah...a great hike:)

Cold walk, warm cookies :)

Ok it's time now to switch to the indoor track at the Y. It was SO cold yesterday and today, but I managed about 5 miles each time. Also decided to bake a few dozen cookies, which are cooling now, and then plan to head over to the group home for a little surprise. Henry is warming up to strangers lately, and when the city water crew came in to inspect sump pumps, he asked, "Are you a good boy?" They thought that was cute. The other night he wanted to be held by a student's father...he'd never done that before. He was very gentle. Good boy Henry:)