Fog - result of ice finally melting

The snow & ice is completely gone the next day with the near 60 degree temps!

Merry Christmas everyone!

More ice pictures

The ice had started to melt today but then froze again. We stayed up north for Christmas because the weather has been so horrible. When it was sunny the other day, it was so pretty to see the icy trees lit up by the sun!

A Christmas Carol

Tylanna's daughter was the "Ghost of Christmas Past" - she had so many lines & did a great job. This was her first time on the stage & she didn't even look nervous. And was so poised on stage. So proud of her!!!

Ice Storm 2008

I finally got a snow day!!! We had a really bad ice storm this past week. Thankfully the lights just blinked on & off a few times that day. It was really nice to stay home from work. I worked on Christmas cards while Terry looked for jobs. He's got a few leads so hopefully something will turn up soon :-)

Chicago Distance Classic & family updates

My nephew Bryce just ran his first marathon & finished 518 (they keep changing his placement - 635, 516, 517, 518 ... not sure what's up with that). I'd never been to a marathon before - it was very interesting! Plus being in Chicago - it was a bonus. Bryce & his mom (my sister Susie) stayed with me before the race. We had a lot of fun running around the area, shopping, eating ice cream (Oberweiss - great stuff), our first taste of Jamba Juice (thanks to Anne's recommendations) & touring around Chicago. We walked a lot on Friday - ate stuffed pizza at Giordano’s, looked up at the Sears Tower, checked out the art at the Chicago Art Institute, walked to Buckingham Fountain & Millenneum park.

We went shopping at the mall on Saturday. Not sure if it was the excitement of shopping or just the nervousness of doing a marathon. But Bryce only got 2 hours of sleep on Saturday night. We had to get up early - 4 am for me - so that we could get to Chicago by 5:30 am. Sooo early. But we made it. Bryce finished the marathon in 1 hour & 35 minutes. Not bad for someone who has never run a marathon, trained for only 3 months & had never been in Chicago. He was in the top 5 percent!!! After the race he said "I didn't train enough, I could have done better, bet I placed in the 3000s." Silly boy!

I'll give everyone who knows my family an update on the rest of the crew:

One more thing about Bryce - he will be going to Vincennes University to work on a physical therapy degree (was at University of Southern Indiana for the past 3 years).

Brittany is ready to start her senior year at Purdue (majoring in Chemical engineering) - hope this year is easier than last year!

Jaron is going to be a junior at IU (yeah IU - my alma mater) & is majoring in geography (wants to work with GPS systems).

Darin just graduated high school & is going to Purdue to major in aeronautical engineering.

Stephen got his GED & is working at Bob Evans.

Ashlee is going to be a sophomore & is busy with show choir.

Annsley just started high school & is busy with choir activities as well (advanced choir, dance team, and in another choir called Praise).

Madison is going to be in 3rd grade or is it 4th and is taking horse riding lessons???

Karver is in preschool & playing soccer.

That's all - I didn't get any pictures of Chicago this weekend (didn't charge my camera right - bummer) - bye!

My garden on a deck!

Bryce - this garden is a lot easier than your garden - ha! Your garden looks very nice - great job :-)

*****

Susie - you'll probably need to rearrange this when you get here. Does it look better than the flower arrangement?