Here it is - December and oh, boy! have we had snow. More to come in a few days! The Fall has been so mild and warm for so long, I was beginning to believe we may skip winter...but nope! It's definitely here!
The above pictures are all views of the Land , and of course, the chapel. The main part of the chapel finally has a dark grey roof. Then, today, in subzero wind chill, Frank ran the outside electrical wire from the electric panel on top of the hill to the chapel. Some 275 feet. Dave and I had already rented a trencher last week, and trenched the long, narrow trench for the wire. Then we had to cover it up with tarps before the last snowfall. Frank uncovered it today, put in the wire, and Jeff across the road came over after work and - in this freezing wind-gusting weather - used his tractor to push in the (mostly) frozen dirt on top of the trench. He finished in the dark. What would I do without wonderful neighbors like Jeff and Kyle?
Hard to believe now, but this chapel is going to be really neat when it is finished!
But enough of the Land and cold, cold weather. Let's go back a month and a half and catch up with the triplets. I drove out to Colorado for Halloween, so I have lots of pictures of the kids - making Halloween cookies with some oversized cookie cutters I bought at Williams & Sonoma. The cookie cutters were just a bit too big - and rusty baker Grammie didn't quite make the dough the right consistency, so the decorating was a bit difficult. However, the kids rose to the occasion - and had a blast icing the cookies. (And eating them, too!)
Other pictures show Jack and Jeff cooking breakfast together for the family, and Jack getting tickled by Daddy. And Angela getting attacked (with love) by all three of her little ones!
Of course, the Cubs were trying to win the World Series when I was there, and lost both games I watched. So we used a little superstition and changed what we wore, and took Jeff's Cub's chair which I had brought all the way from Illinois, back to my car. Sure enough! After all these shananigans the Cubs started to win...and well...you already know what happened after that!
The weather in Denver was SO warm. Unbelievable! Even warmer than in Illinois, which was really warm, too. The kids had their lunch outside on the front porch just like summer.
Before Halloween, the local nature park (which is in its desert-like state) had a special family deal where they taught the costumed kids (and parents) about nature related things- owls, hawks, skulls of raccoons and beavers, etc. It was a long circular walk with lots of different learning stations (and prizes). Quite interesting, and the kids seem to love it.
At home, Katie, Chloe and Jack all got a chance to carve pumpkins! Oh! How they got into it! They had so much fun, as you can see in the pictures below.
But Halloween was the big thing , of course. Chloe was our favorite witch, Jack was our favorite ghoul, and Katie was our favorite Ninja. Grammie stayed home and gave out candy, while Jeff and Angela took the kids out. Then Angela and Chloe came back to help me, while Jeff took Katie and Jack out again. Jeff said Katie and Jack did VERY well - were very polite, saying "please" and "thank you" and only taking one treat at each home. He was quite proud of them! Chloe was quite the hostess at home, loving the fact that she could give kids candy. All in all, quite a successful Halloween!
And here we are now - back to cold December. May you have a warm, peaceful, joyous Christmas, dear Reader, with you and yours. And may 2017 be happy, healthy and prosperous for you, as well!
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!