A 12 Hour Day In The Groomer......

My favorite groomer operator!!

Heading down the trail with Glenn following in the other groomer.

Driftskippers Snowmobile Club

Team work...

Taking a break.

Craig and Glenn.....Don't you love the hat?

Repairing trail signs.

Looking ahead down the trail.

Sunday Blessings

There were very few of us at church this morning. Maybe only 40 in attendance. Everyone was complaining about the blizzard. At our house it is a blessing. After church we went to my parents for dinner then we came home and Craig asked me to come outside to take some "winter wonderland" photos. I also got some great pictures at my parents house of my Dad's birds.

Big Mistake.......

This is what I looked like after I got home from driving to Dowagiac to pick up the snowmobile part for Craig this morning. I am totally traumatized!! It took me 3 hours to drive there and back to my parents. My parents live 5 miles from my house and I barely made it there. I had to stop at their house and compose myself before heading the rest of the way home. There were times that I was totally blinded and once nearly ran head on into a truck. I am now safe at home......

OOPS!!

Craig and I went riding last night. It was only 10 degrees but thanks to hand and feet warmers I stayed nice and toasty. I had my first crash last night too. Well, it wasn't really a crash. I was barely starting to move. I went down a steep hill and got off the trail and flipped the sled into some trees. I was fine but the windshield shattered. Craig and Caleb are on a club ride this morning and I am off to the parts store to purchase a new windshield.

Winter Welcome

Signs By Our Back Door

It's amazing what a little snow (ok, a lot of snow!!!) will do to put smiles on faces around this house. It's been feast or famine this winter and we are happy to be enjoying the feast right now. There is several feet of snow on the ground now with a storm warning for even more.

Seadra & Zo-Zo With Their New Winter Coats

Snow Day

The kids had a snow day from school today. It's a day to play in the snow!!!!!

It's About Time

Craig and Caleb loaded up the sleds last night for a trip up to Traverse City for a day of snowmobiling. This was out of desperation as even the trail reports up there were saying the conditions were only "fair". Well low and behold....... when they got up this morning to leave there was at least a foot of snow on the ground here at home. It was a happy household here this morning. Craig jumped in the groomer at 5:00 this morning. After a few hours of grooming he is now out on the trails with Caleb and a few others sledding. I am looking forward to accompanying Craig out grooming later this evening. Let's hope that this snow sticks around for awhile.........

Zo-Zo and the Pink Chair

Jordan got a new pink poodle hair chair. Zo-Zo loves it!!!!

We've been busy....

We've started and we can't stop. Jordan's room is all done, with the painting that is. Now we have moved onto the upstairs bathroom. It's getting a new surround around the tub, paint, new lighting and new decor. Then we are moving onto the downstairs bath. Craig says that the downstairs bath is his and Caleb's bath and they are in charge of picking out all the colors. More power to them!! I'll post pictures soon.

Just Dreaming.....

Here are some pictures of us in the UP snowmobiling last winter.

Just dreaming..............

Work in progress........

Jordan and her girlfriend Courtney have been at it all afternoon. I'm really proud of the job they are doing. So far Jordan loves the color......... Next is lime green. More to follow......

Where are the birds???

Where are the birds? I've had my feeders up for months and I'm lucky if I see one bird a week. I really miss my birds. Why are they not here this year? Could it be the neighbors cats that constantly roam our yard? Could it be the mild winter we are having? When my parents lived on Hipps Hollow they had the most beautiful birds that constantly fought over the feeders. I was always so envious of them. I want to try and put up some blue bird houses this year too. Maybe I will have better luck with them.........

Jordan's Room

Jordan and I are starting a project this weekend. We are painting her room. Jordan has been trying to get this accomplished for over a year. Jordan has chosen hot pink and lime green. You know I have come a long way as a mother. In the past if it was against my better judgment to allow my daughter to paint her room hot pink and lime green I don't think I could have let it go. I have learned that there are much more important things in life to fret over. In fact I have gotten to the point that I am excited about the possibilities of the outcome. I'll post pictures when we are done (it may be a bit)...............

Let It Snow.....

We've finally broke out of the 37 consecutive days of above normal temperatures, but still no snow or snowmobiling. We are well into January and the snowmobiles have not been out yet. Craig and Caleb have all but given up. LET IT SNOW; LET IT SNOW; LET IT SNOW!!!!!

P.S. This picture was taken last year which was not much better of a winter.

Wizard Of Oz

Caleb and Jordan have been practicing for the spring musical everyday after school. Caleb has landed the part of the scarecrow and Jordan has several smaller dancing and singing parts. The play is the middle of March. More to follow.............

Pneumo-Vac

As if I haven't been down enough on my luck lately...... I got a pneumonia vaccination Tuesday. About 24 hours after getting the shot I had a severe reaction to it. My arm was swollen, red and feverish and it just kept growing and growing. It felt like my arm was on fire!! I spiked a fever of 104, had the worst body aches....the list goes on and on. I was first being treated for cellulitis but then it was determined that it was the pneumo-vac that was making me sick. Today is the first day that I feel human again but I still feel like I've been to hell and back. I'm hoping I have paid my dues for a while now....................

Andy Griffith Show

For those of you that know me, you know what a huge fan I am of the Andy Griffith Show. For birthday's and Christmas I've been getting the complete seasons on DVD. I love it!! I finally got to meet Andy at the MGM Studios in Florida........
This is my favorite ornament on my Christmas tree. Mom gave it to me a few years ago.

Florida

Well, after months and months of anticipation and even canceling our vacation because of my hospitalization right when we were suppose to leave, we finally made it to Florida/Disney and joined the rest of the family.

I started to get sick about a week before we were to leave. Tuesday I started getting desperate and went to the doctor because I was feeling worse and worse. I was told that it was only a viral cold and was not given anything. By Wednesday night I was in agony. I couldn't breath, my headache was the worst, and I could barely move. Craig took me to the ER in the wee hours on Thursday. After tests and Xrays it was determined that I had pneumonia. I was loaded up with morphine and antibiotics and sent on my way. As soon as I got home and the drugs wore off I was worse than when I went to the ER in the first place. Craig took me back to the ER again in the afternoon and this time they admitted me. I tested positive for mico-plasma pneumonia, a type of micro organism pneumonia. The good part was that it was treatable with antibiotics. After 4 days in the hospital I came home on Xmas Eve.

At this point Craig and I had cancelled our vacation and put the kids on a plane and they were in Florida with Craig's parents as originally planned. The next day Jordan decided to send me an email from Florida telling me how much she missed us all being together and that it wasn't going to be the same without us. It was this event that made us decide to try and go to Florida to be with the family.

Craig and I flew down on Wednesday. I have to say that I was very nervous as to if I was making the right decision. But much to my surprise I did much better than I thought I would. It was the right decision to go. When I got tired I just went back to the resort and rested. The kids were especially happy that we were there. It was nice being all together with Craig's family.

Here are some pictures of the trip..............