Electrical Frustrations

Two snow days this week! Wow, fun to have some extra time with the girls, and Grammie was here for the second one! We got more last night, so I will need to get the snowblower out this morning before we head to the ski hill. 

Managed to get the entertainment center up and running this week. Played some Sega with the girls and they had fun. Also started watching a movie last night. It's gettting better down there!

What I thought would be a half hour job, hooking up a second hall light, turned into a nearly three hour fiasco. Got so frustrated. I made a couple mistakes but had tons of bad luck. Who would have thought a brand new light bulb wouldn't work? Winter just isn't my time to be productive. 

New entertainment center and hall light.

Second Blizzard

We got our second blizzard of the season before January even started! This one was even more powerful than the first. Lots of trees went down around town and the majority of people in the area lost power for a day or two. We had a white pine snap off about 20 feet up and the top somehow missed our power line. The wind blew it from one side to the other. Very lucky as we would have been extremely low priority - our power stayed on. It took four charges on the snowblower and an assist from Tyler's tractor to get our driveway cleared. 

Made it to Marquette Mountain the day after to enjoy the fresh snow, but they were woefully unprepared. I guess they can't get their employees to show up for work. The main lift also seems to be broken, so we couldn't access the best runs. Hopefully they get their act together soon! 

The girls got to spend New Year's Eve with Grammie and Grampie. They all had fun with fireworks and watching movies and eating junk food and staying up late. What a party. Naomi and I went to bed early and enjoyed an uninterrupted night of sleep. Sure don't miss all the fireworks in the NL! We did have some fun snowshoeing in the fresh powder. Greenhouse is still doing okay, but the banana is not happy - no surprise there. 

Slush under the powder.

Somehow left our power line in tact!

Greenhouse in the moonlight.

No ice yet!

Christmastime

We had a great time together in Escanaba, but took turns feeling sick. The Sinterklaas tradition was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed all the delicious food! Got some rest and even did a bit of work outside. Not much snow at all down there. Looking at a big blizzard moving through tonight, though. 

Had a fun dinner last night with one of Naomi's colleagues. Finally made it over to the Christmas Village. Almost didn't make it this year. Nice to go after Christmas when it isn't quite so crowded. 

Finally got the workshop cleaned up and the family room downstairs painted. Sure was nice to have a bit of time with just the two of us as the girls were at my parents for a couple days. I guess it's about time to get back into the downstairs renovations. Hopefully I'm done being sick for a while! 

Carter's Christmas Village.

Sinterklaas suprises.

Yum!

What a feast.

Ready for a Break

The girls are both tired and ready to get some rest and have fun around our house and in Escanaba. Naomi is past that point! Fortunately she saved up some time and is able to take three weeks off. Much needed. 

I picked up a cold this week, so haven't done much. Did get the greenhouse adjusted as much as possible in regards to the condensation issues. Can't do more until it warms up to the point where caulk will dry. Got the dead beehive cleaned out. The other one is still going strong. 

The girls had their annual Christmas concert at school. No play this year as they are in middle school now. It was fun to see the improvement as they have been playing with the same group of students for a while now. 

Winter continues and although we had a bit of a thaw which allowed me to make adjustments to the greenhouse, the cold and snow are persisting. Managed to enjoy the first runs at the ski hill this season. Hopefully the holiday conditions will be good!

First run of the year.

Piano solo.

Both girls played the trumpet!

Tropical Fish

It's taken a while, but Amélie finally has her aquarium all set up and running! What a wonderful Christmas gift. The fish seem happy, but the plants are not looking the best. I guess we put them in too early. 

We got to go to a hockey game on Friday. It was a lot of fun! Too late for us though, haha. The NMU team has had a terrible season so far. Haven't won a game yet. Still fun to watch though.

Working a bit more on the condensation issues in the greenhouse. Some stuff I can't address until the spring and it gets warm enough for caulk to dry. 

We got the Christmas tree all set up and the ski hill opened this weekend, so we will give it a go this morning!

Got the skis and boards all waxed and sharpened.

Christmas time!

Not a very full stadium.

Happy fish.

Do I Bow to the Rose?

Yesterday was a busy day! We celebrated Sinterklaas with our Dutch friends in town. My parents also came up to see the girls perform at the music recital. They got to play on a grand piano that cost 30k back in 2002. It was a special afternoon! When the music teacher was giving instructions, Amélie didn't quite understand that after she played, she would be given a rose and then could bow to the audience. She thought she had to bow to the rose. 

After the recital, we dropped off some baked goods at French Claire's house and then went to the bookstore. We met with Pish at a Thai restaurant for a celebration dinner. Nice to see her again. Today we will need to catch up on all the chores we missed out on!

On Friday night my Mom, Naomi and the girls made gingerbread houses. They had a lot of fun. I have been feeling sick most of the week, so I went to bed early. It has been good to get some rest, though. Still need some more, but starting to feel better. It is really winter here. Ski hill should be opening next weekend. Greenhouse is performing pretty well, but need to continue to manage the condensation issues. 

Moonlight over the greenhouse.

Amélie and Grammie made a delicious dinner!

Prepping for gingerbread houses.

The final result. Which one is Amélie's?

A beautiful recital. 

Thanksgiving

Sure did have a great holiday! It was a lot of fun to spend time with family. Ate a delicious German dinner at my parent's house with Claire and Matt on Thursday. Abigail came a couple days early and played lots of games. Amélie stayed with us during that time. We worked on her fish tank, did some baking, and managed the effects of this seasons first real blizzard! 8 inches of wet, sloppy snow. Gave our snowblower a real workout. Another three or four inches since then, but they were a breeze. Light and fluffy. Basically nothing in Escanaba.

On Friday we drove down to Appleton. Found some ice skates, snowshoes, snowboard boots and a few other things. Had a great visit with the Sankey's! It was a lot of fun to see everyone else on Saturday for the Thanksgiving celebration. A lot of people canceled due to the snowstorm in Wisconsin, but it ended up being okay. Plenty of good food. Different venue this year as Aunt Sara is still recovering from her car crash. Glad she could make it! 

The drive back to Marquette was uneventful. Just a bit of snow. Spent a good chunk of the morning clearing the driveway. Turns out the greenhouse stayed at temperature (above 40) the whole time we were gone without using the wood stove or the space heater at all, even though it was well below freezing for that entire time. Impressed with that. Looking forward to enjoying some restful time out there this month.

Tree blocking our driveway.

All the windows were covered.

Lots of snow!

Lucky to have such a good machine.

Icicles because it rained a lot before turning into snow.

Thanksgiving dinner. 

Watching Home Alone.