Down the road a ways.....

Sister, Linda, and family are planning to move back to
the country in the spring so we took a drive to see the property
they have made a down payment on.  It is just a few miles from the
Zimmerman farm.  It was beautiful and snowy but the wind was brutally cold.

 There's a great old farmhouse on the property.

 A welcoming porch.

 The kitchen and pantry.

Greg and Linda in their new old house!

 Pausing for a second on the porch.

They are not sure if the house is able to be restored

but wouldn't it be awesome?

I love it!

Big changes and challenges and adventure

are in their future and I can't wait to go

back and visit next summer.

More Christmas on the Farm

It was great to be home for Christmas! 
We went to the Christmas Eve Candlelight service in Noonan

and out to eat at the new Mexican restaurant there called Uno Mas. 

We were the only ones there but that was okay with us. 

 And we were okay with not having to cook and wash dishes

that night because that meant we could get to the present opening quicker!!

  Dale's vintage lamp that doubles as a Christmas tree!

 Landon opening up his favorite gift.

 Leanne opening up an accessory to her favorite gift.

 Brian opening up his favorite gift.

Bill got a huge remote-  Brian thought if it was this big he wouldn't

lose it so easily and we won't spend as much time searching

the house for it.  We'll see if it works.  ;)

Grandpa Roland trying out his new face mask.

Linda and her jewelry from Darla.

 Dale and some of his stuff.

 R.J. in his sweater.

 My Dad loves black licorice and got a kick
out of this gift from my sister.
It has a kick let me tell you.

 Sister Karen and two of her boys.

 Sister Diane and Sam.

 

Brian trying out one of my brother Dale's guitars from his

collection. Not sure but he probably has twenty or more guitars!

 Yikes!  It's the jolly green giant abominable snowman!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

I didn't have any outdoor stuff with me so my Dad brought up

this classic Arctic Cat snowmobile suit from the basement

for me to wear.  Groovy.

Christmas on the Farm

 It was truly a White Christmas!

Everything was covered in sparkling white frostiness.

I love old churches and had to get a photo

 of this one along our drive across North Dakota.

Ye old dinner bell.

Ye old slough behind the shop.

 Ye old chicken coop.

 Leanne and cousins.

Another old church along the way home.  Love it.

One Sweet Night

Winter Formal 2010 at the New City Ballroom in Bemidji. 

There were 74 students attending.

Our theme was.....

This is what I am talking about with the blogger photo uploader rotating all my photos that I take portrait. 

Soooo irritating!*!   If you have a simple fix for this let me know. 

I have tried several things.

So you'll just have to kink your neck a little for these!

We had a delicious pasta buffet dinner.

Leanne wasn't too thrilled that her Mom and Dad were there all night but she was a good sport about it and humored her Dad by dancing with him a couple times. 

Bill has some moves let me tell you!

I was very unhappy with the few photos I took and want to blame the camera and dark conditions. 

Or it could be I need to learn how to use the camera to get better shots.  Hmmm...

Some of the guys..........

The limbo.....!

Leanne's pretty good at it but another gal beat her this time.

It was a fun evening of beautiful dresses, fine dining, loud music, and lots of dancing. 

One Sweet Daughter

Last Saturday, the 4th, was Leanne's sweet sixteenth birthday.

It was a busy day because I was helping get set up for the Winter Formal dance that night.  Leanne spent most of the day with her friends, Laura and Shaleah, and they were nice enough to make a cake for her!

Happy Birtday, Leanne! :)

Then the girls got ready for the dance...but more on that later.....

Wow~ my baby is sixteen- can that be? 

She was just born yesterday.  I remember it very well.  It was a cold night.  The labor started in the evening but when we called about 3 a.m. they told us to stay home as long as possible as they wouldn't call the on-call doc until after 6 a.m. 

Here's me just before getting into the van to go in, about 5:50 a.m. 

Bill wanted to know if he had time to take a shower.  I said "No! Does it LOOK like you have time to take a shower? NO!"  Thank God I said no.

Bill dropped me off at 6 a.m. at the ER doors and went to park.  When he came in they already had me upstairs to the birthing room.  The nurse gave me gown to put on and said she would be back to check me.  The moment I laid on the bed my water broke and I may have yelled something like, "HELP ME!"  The nurses came running.  They called the ER doctor.  He had never delivered a baby before- Bill said he was shaking like a leaf.  After two pushes Leanne popped out and said "I'm here!!! Ready or not!!".  It was 6:12 a.m.  Wow!  Bill told me, "It's a girl!"  I said, "Are you SURE?"  I cried.

I could be wrong but I am pretty sure she was the sweetest,

most adorable baby girl ever to be born on this earth. 

Her big brudders thought she was "gorgeous".

And then the parties started--

I can't imagine our family without Leanne, she is sugar and spice! 

She is adventurous, honest, creative, determined, athletic, ambitious. 

She is growing in her faith and self-confidence and discovering her strengths and passions. 

I am sooo thankful God blessed us with privilege/challenge of raising her!

Here's one of my favorite photos of Leanne.

She was busted after sneaking a kitten into her bed.

I didn't have the heart to get upset.  Kittens melt me too.

So Happy Sweet Sixteen, Leanne, I love you!!

~Mom