High School season is over, and only the Devo season remains. On the weekends, Girl of the House skis with the Welch Village Junior Devo Team.

Saturday we drove up to Powder Ridge in Kimball, MN for a Devo race.  It was 22 degrees.  Down right tropical in comparison to a month ago when she raced in -25 degree temps.

You just gotta love these small Minnesota ski hills.  

You see such a wide variety of skiers and snowboarders.

When I learned to ski in high school, we wore blue jeans.  It just wasn't cool to even admit to owning snow pants.  Boys wore long underwear beneath their jeans, girls wore pantyhose.  Good to see that still works!

A true Minnesotan ski family.  For lunch, they set up in the parking lot.  It was amazing to see all the equipment come out of the back of this Suburban.  

Burgers, wieners, and a Mich Golden Light - what more do you need?

(Love the cow apron.) 

Two finished objects, on the third of the year

The Ten-Stitch Twist blanket has been completed, tested, and has been found satisfactory.

I like it much better than the sweater the yarn was in its former life.

The Noro Kureyon makes a pleasant light weight afghan.  Finished size is 42 inches across, just right lap size.

This pattern doesn't require a great deal of attention when knitting.  This made it a great knit for movie watching, or visiting with company. 

Hippocampus mittens knitted with leftovers from my Kauni cardigan.  They have gone to live with Bekky.

They were so much fun to knit that there is another pair on the needles for Girl of the House.

 

Have you discovered Settlers of Catan?  

Girl of the House received the game for Christmas, and we've been playing quite a bit while we're huddled around the fireplace for warmth.  (Once again, it's severely subzero in Minnesota.)

It's good for three or four people, and there's an expansion set to make it fun for more people.

Happy New Year 2010!

Did you do something memorable to bring in the New Year?

Did you do something pleasantly memorable to bring in the New Year?

I'd like to think my days of doing regrettably memorable things for the New Year are far in the past.  So far, so good, I must say.

 
In honor of the rare New Years Eve Blue Moon, we snowshoed out into the subzero temps to fully experience and celebrate the frosty glow.  Even the dogs frolicked in the cold snow.

It was difficult to get decent photos - my fingers darn near froze off.  Naked hands for photography did not work so very well.  I finally had to give it up and be satisfied with what I had.

Do you think, in 19 years when there is another New Years Eve full moon, Girl of the House will remember the bright, cold snowshoeing celebration she had when she was 14?  Will she tell the story?  Will it be pleasantly memorable?

IT'S BACK

After struggling with the blog for a few days, doing intensive research online, and just about kicking the computer into the snow, I've finally got it back where it belongs.

I have no idea why it went wonky.

I'm just glad to get it back in place!

Merry Christmas 2009!

We have traveled to the north shore of Lake Superior in hopes of some Christmas skiing.

We have traveled to the only area in all of Minnesota that does not have piles of fresh snow. It's sleeting here, the temp is a bit too warm for snow. It keeps trying, unsuccessfully.

But it's a great storm to watch while we sit in front of our fire and play board games. The big lake is always mesmerizing.




Santa found us. There were socks, jammies and boxers in our ski boots.








Here's the traditional boxer shot of my men.


I have 17 years of Christmas boxer photos of these guys. Someday I'll put them all in a frame, together.



If you look closely, you'll see Paul's new scar. He's healing well after having his ascending aorta replaced and a new aortic valve installed. (Part of the reason there has been very little blogging going on 'round here...)



And yeah, I forgot to pack the Christmas stockings again.

Maybe it'll become a new tradition?