Still Winter

Just about the time we were "hoping" that winter was over, we realized we were just getting going.

We thought THIS was cold. Until this:

I mean to tell you THIS is cold.  Did you notice the -20??? And see the Alert??  I've NEVER lived where we had Alerts.  Now we get them....... all...... the...... time.  Winter weather warnings.  Cold weather advisories.  Snow warnings.  NONE of it is good.

First, we had a ton of snow.

The icicles got pretty long as the snow melted and refroze.

They broke off when we opened the door.  The snow, however, was great.  Since Craig had never made a snowman, Stacey and I decided to show him how it was done.  He brought along a shovel even though we tried to convince him that he didn't need it.  We tried to convince him you could actually make snowballs by just rolling the snow.  He was skeptical.

You can see the lines in the snow where we "rolled" the snowballs.  Craig is putting on the finishing touches.

It was a beautiful day.  Notice the shadows?  There was sun.  A rare treat.

Unfortunately, it rained that very night and this is what was left of our poor snowman.

Poor guy.

At the last transfers, we lost both of our Sister Missionaries.  We now have Elders.  There haven't been Elders in Rensellaer for about 7 years.  It was hard to say goodbye to the girls.

This is Sister Winn and Hermana Michael.  They both go home (to Texas and San Jose) in March when we do.  They were AWESOME!!!

We saw a lot of missionaries at the meeting, many of whom were leaving.  Now that we have been here a year, we know so many of these wonderful kids.  This is Sister Williams.  She is one of my favorites:  willing to work hard and serve, truly a great missionary.

OK, so Craig and I have not always been the best about attending District Meetings.  According to President, we are invited, not obligated.  BUT, we found this really great diner in Hebron.  One sister ordered Oreo Pancakes and here is what she got.

This Elder ordered pulled pork nachos.  You can't see how big they are from this photo, but we all gasped when he was served.

Needless to say, Craig and I have been making a greater effort to attend these meetings!!!!

One of the families we have been working with asked Craig and I to help their son, Matt, with his Science Fair Project.  We submitted out first idea, and the teacher wouldn't okay it.  What???

So we submitted another idea.  AND we won!!  Three winners from each class.  Here is a picture of Matt holding up his ribbon.  Second from the right in the back row.  He was pretty excited.

And as a side note, Matt and his mother have set a date for baptism.  We are so excited for them.  We wish we could be there, but we will be gone.

And finally, Craig and the Elders went out to the Luzer's house in Morocco.  On the way, they found this really great log cabin.

Looks comfy doesn't it??

We are looking forward to coming home with mixed emotions.  As I was practicing the organ yesterday, I noticed that the Branch President had chosen "God Be With You" as the closing song on our last Sunday.  I couldn't even practice it without bawling.  Don't know how I'm going to get through that one.

Bring on the Snow!!!

It's not that we haven't had snow.  We've had to shovel a couple of times.  But THIS time, it was a huge storm.  It started snowing Saturday night.  On Sunday morning, only 10 people showed up at church.  A lot of them were snowed in.  In some instances, the snow plows come by and dump 3 feet of snow or more at the end of their driveways and they can't get out.

All during church it snowed.

Yeah, our car was clean before we pulled into the parking lot.  This is about 60 minutes of snow.

It snowed all day.

AND, it snowed all night last night.  We had shoveled a few times yesterday, and I got up and shoveled again this morning.

This is the pile of snow that the plow left yesterday afternoon.  Our snow plow man hasn't been back yet this morning, hence the snow still on the ground.

I woke up to this beautiful scene.  The sun is shining.  The snow is beginning to drip from the roof.  The side of the car facing the sun is completely melted.  The other side of the car is ice, and I told Craig he should pull the car into our parking spot the other way and let the sun do its thing.

Those of you who don't know our car, it is the second from the right.  

See how I've cleaned it off so well???  Notice the pile of snow in front of our car.  Yeah, we aren't planning on going anywhere soon.

Everyone is saying this is the first "big" storm of the winter.  Maybe we'll get a snowman made.

Here is a good picture of the accumulated snow.

We went to Dorothy's house last Thursday.  We've been raking and burning her leaves since October.  We wanted to burn the rest of the leaves but the pile was frozen solid.  Here's a good picture of Craig hanging out out while we all decided what to do.

AND, speaking of Craig, his birthday was this month.  At our zone meeting, he was presented with a cupcake, AND we all sang a primary birthday song.  He's sharing the limelight with one of the Sister Missionaries on the left.  The Mission President's wife is on the right.

We have a sister missionary who looks a lot like Chantel Calder, my sweet daughter-in-law.  I think it's uncanny.

In the mission home, President Woodbury has a "mission map".  The BG area at the top is Buffalo Grove. Not sure what is right under that, but then comes Chicago.  At the bottom is VAL, which stands for Valparaiso.  That's where we are.  See the arrow pointing to the east? See the arrow pointing south?  Craig's finger is pointing to where we actually are: about an hour south of the bottom of the map.  Hmmm, out of sight, out of mind???

After the first big snow, Sam's scratching log was covered with ice.  Our neighbor built him a scratching post.  He LOVES it.

AND he also likes snuggling in the coats.  OK, maybe this picture was posed.

Every other month, we have a dinner in Chicago for the senior missionaries.  We haven't always attended these, well, because it takes over two hours to get there and sometimes we are busy.  But we decided to go to the last one.  I wanted to take a dessert that would be spectacular.  

Oh yeah, it was as good as it looks.  I made it again yesterday for the Branch Break-the-Fast.  Then church was cancelled and we had all this left over.  We dished up several bowls and distributed it to neighbors.  We were popular.

Craig took me and the sister missionaries to feed the horses.  They were at the far end of the field.  When we called them, they came right over.

I'll end with a few more winter pictures.  Other than being very cold, the snow is beautiful.

This is our city park.

I took the following picture on one of my walks.  I have it on my phone screen.  It was NOT taken in black and white.  Dreary days make the world appear that way.

Driving can be hazardous.  This was taken coming home from Pat's house - about 8 miles away.

Even with the snow, I can't tell you how much we love the people here.  We are missing them already and still have six weeks to go.