Thanks to the snow that fell before and after Christmas the world around our house is beautiful. The highways have been another matter. Sarah and Jake drove to Des Moines in a blizzard and returned in an ice storm, or vice versa. But we have a good 10 inches of snow on the ground and the temps promise to keep it skiable for several days at least. Not that we've skied, but we have good intentions.
Jennifer flew into town last week, followed by her luggage. She and Ann assembled a 1000 piece jig saw puzzle in record time, using our magic expanding dining room table as a work space. They went to the Frida Kahlo exhibit with Sarah Thursday, and Johanna stayed with me for nap, play and lunch. As they drove away they saw a pileated woodpecker up the block, which was cool because a few minutes after they left it was on our locust tree, all loud and lovely.
Antonio and Crystel came over on Christmas day, fun as always. They and their moms brought us a great bounty of fudge and kettle corn and a beautiful bird house the kids had painted. We sledded with the kids yesterday near Ann's friend John's house along Minnehaha creek, and we all had a great time despite hitting the hay bale barrier at the bottom a number of times. I'm surprised we're not sorer than we are.
We celebrated the Saturday before Christmas at the Nassifs' house. They fed us dinner and gave us all manner of gifts including a bread knife I am genuinely afraid of. The evening turned into a Johanna photo shoot, the results of which can be found here. Sarah, Jake and Johanna had their blizzard-drive to Iowa the next day…
Ann is in the kitchen drawing a map for Jennifer, who is moving here from Seattle and trying to get a better sense of where things are. They're going to tour greater Longfellow (our neighborhood) in a bit. I am going to the grocery. I forgot cat litter last time I went, which with three cats has led to an untenable situation. Jennifer is a frighteningly proficient knitter and has finished a sweater for Ann, created a pair of socks for Crystel from scratch, and worked on I-don’t-know-how-many-other projects while she's been here. Above are Jennifer and Ann modeling Ann's new sweater and its twin.
No comments:
Post a Comment