Oz's Birthday Party on New Year's Eve 08

Christmas Afternoon

Christmas Day in the northwoods was a beautiful, sunny, maybe even warm day. I went out to try my snow shoes. Jack wanted to ski.
Jack tried to ski but the snow was far too fluffy. The video of this effort looked much the same as this photo.
Grandpa tried to plow down some snow.
Jack managed to scoot down the hill but then didn't know how to get back up. Jeff had an idea.
Jack's personal ski lift...Dad!
Since plowing didn't work Jeff had another idea. "Give me your poles and I'll pull you!"

Needless to say that was quite a work out for Jeff.

Then they all got smart and put Rueben to work. They used the tow rope that some people use for water skiing. Jack was nervous at first but ended up LOVING the ride!

Grandma and Grandpa watched skeptically. It was a fun day!

Christmas Morning

Jack woke up early but had the good sense to go back to sleep for an hour or two before waking us up at 8am! Good kid!
We had plans to go skiing over break so he got some goggles. Hopefully these won't fog up.
He got a Harry Potter wand. Here he is saying, "Expeliamus" or something like that. He still maintains that he can't find a book as good as the Harry Potter series.
Aunt Lis gave him 3 really cool pair of underwear and then surprised him with a newspaper article about a Harry Potter exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. She'll take him there in May! Now that's a creative idea!
Then he went on Santa's scavenger hunt. He searched high and low and finally found the Nintendo DS that Santa had left for him.
He became a zombie from that point on. He's quickly becoming an addict.


Jeff got an IPOD Nano. Jeff and Kim (mostly Kim) were nice enough to preload it with all of Oz's really cool music. Jeff loved it!



Another great Christmas morning. I can almost smell the cinnamon rolls now!

Christmas Eve

We were at Mom and Dad's for the first Christmas Eve in the newly renovated house.
It has come such a long way in a few short months! It is beautiful!
We opened gifts on Christmas Eve. Dad's Aunt Vera made towels for us girls.
I got a pair of snow shoes! I'm so excited!
Jeff got an impact driver! Who wouldn't love it?!
And Jack got a BB Gun just like Grandpa's. He's very excited! Don't worry, targets only... for now. :)
Mom got a vibrator... I mean a foot massager. It was humorous!
Jack got puzzles from UJ and Aunt Christina. They were fun!
Jack and Aunt Lis got to snuggle.
It was a perfect Christmas Eve! Thanks for such a nice evening!

Preparations for Our First Cabin Christmas

We made an impromptu trip to Wisconsin this weekend. Stay tuned to Jack's blog for more information...maybe tomorrow or Tuesday.

Anyway, we had to be in northern Wisconsin anyway so we went to the cabin for a day and got some work done.

We stained the doors for Jeff's parents. They are beautiful!

We also went to find a Christmas tree. We found a cut-your-own place and off we went.

Jack was all about cutting it by himself!

So proud!

He even insisted on carrying it back himself too!

It was a little Charlie Brownish, but after Jack put his homemade ornaments on I loved it! The tree skirt is from Jeff's growing up neighbor Mary Ann. It is perfect for this tree!!

We used the bottom boughs to decorate the mantle.

And some more to decorate the kitchen! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving started out with a slimy turkey. Jack was a pro-salt and pepperer.



After dinner we enjoyed a fire and a nap.



Shawn, Elaine and Jack came over for dessert. Elaine remembered that she still had the pecker. Jeff and Shawn went to make a special delivery. Luckily Oz was nice enough to have a ladder in his basement.



It was the zip tie that gave them away.



We had a great time playing Dominoes.



The boys enjoyed Aunt Lis's pies.



Oz and the kids stopped by to borrow the log splitter on Friday. Good thing Sam is tough!

Aunt Lis brought Elaine and Meli to town to get some craft supplies from the Ben Franklin. She made bracelets that look just like they did in the magazine!

Fall Colors

Well, I haven't posted in forever and I've heard that you're supposed to start with your most recent pictures and go backwards.

The fall colors in the Northwoods seem to be a great place to start anyway!
This is our road that leads to the cabin.


This is the deer that eats the clover on the road that leads to the cabin.

This is the man that cuts the wood by the deer that eats the clover on the road that leads to the cabin.


This is the boy that splits the logs, cut by the man, by the deer on the road... you get the picture. :)
We're having fun with the new log splitter as we prepare for winter. Doesn't Jack look cool in his flannel shirt?! Such a lumberjack... Get it? LumberJACK?! I crack myself up!
Abby loves to go for a boat ride! We took one last ride around the lake to look at the colors!


They were unbelievable!

Tree Frog at The Windmill

Jack found a tree frog at the Windmill.

He wanted to take it home but Aunt Kim wasn't so keen on having a frog in her vehicle.

So we took pictures instead. Turns out we have a little tree frog on our front window at the cabin too!