Travel

Travel: Portland

If there is one thing that I absolutely love to do, it is travel. This is the one area that I feel is most lacking in my life. Oh I go places. Utah, Seattle, Idaho, Montana and I love going *places* but I yearn to travel longer, farther, and to more exotic locales. But this season in my life clearly isn't the season of exotic travel and that's okay. This is the season of parenting and that is flying by much too quickly as is...but whenever the opportunity presents itself to go somewhere, anywhere... I jump at the chance. When I travel I am a do-er not necessarily a relaxer. I always have a big list of places to go, people to see, things to eat, and sites to visit. I like to be busy. I can relax at home. I love exploring new places and it gives me a thrill to head out of town. Luckily Tyler is the same style of traveler. I was presented with the chance to go on a little jaunt to Portland with my Mom and it was fabulous. The perfect cure for the January blahs. My mom is a great travel companion. We have been traveling together for years and I love it. She is also a do-er...not a relaxer.

The premise for our visit was to travel to Portland to check out a vintage show over there (Junk Salvation) to see if we would like to be vendors at it next year. The answer is, yes, we would. We have been vendors at a Junk Salvation show before...one that was held in Coeur d' Alene...but not their Portland show.

The weather and roads were horrible here. In fact, my mom was an hour and a half late meeting me due to horrible road conditions. But once we got to Portland, the sun was shining, and it was a balmy 49. Oh yes, forty-nine degrees can be balmy if your current weather temps have been 10 degrees.

I love Portland!! It is so beautiful and green...even in January. I could totally live there if it weren't for all that damnable rain...that makes everything so beautiful and green. Haha. It is also a really fun city with so much to see and do. My list of things to do and see were a mile long and my mom had her own list to incorporate into our short trip. We were constantly busy and jammed packed full of fun.

The first item of business was to visit family. My cousin, Paul, and his wife, Whitney, and their adorable little girl, Zoey, live in the Portland area and we were excited to see them. Paul is a professionally trained chef at the most fabulous restaurant. Paul graciously offered to make reservations for us at his restaurant and we met them there. I absolutely loved it. It had a fun, sophisticated, and hipster vibe, great company, and the food was out of this world. We gave Paul carte blanche about what food to order, as both my Mom and I are adventurous eaters, and he, in return, gave us the culinary feast of a lifetime.

Here's some of what we dined upon:

Appetizers:

-Charcuterie: deletable meats, spreads, bread, jam, mustard, and the best pickles I have had in my lifetime.
-Steak Tartare (I had never had it before...delish)
-Pork Belly (divine)

Entrees: (we all shared everything family style)

-Gnocci with a wild boar ragu
-The most succulent and enormous pork chop.
-A heavenly steak dish (both the pork and steak had the most amazing sides like braised brussel sprouts and potato gratins and all kinds of other things.)
-A seafood fettuccine with jalapenos and olives that was to die for.

Dessert:

Ricotta fritters dipped in creme anglaise and dark chocolate sauce, and a chocolate hazelnut torte served with...buttered popcorn ice cream!! (That buttered popcorn ice cream was crazy good.)

All of it was sheer heaven, as was our company. It was so fun to spend time together with Paul and his family. Things are always so wild at the lake when we are all together, so it was really nice to be able to leisurely eat, visit, and catch up on life. Paul and Whitney are talented, fun, and interesting and I loved hanging out with them. Afterwards we went back to their house and visited some more. I had a fantastic time and look forward to a return trip with Tyler in the near future. Thanks Paul and Whitney!! We loved every minute we spent with you guys...food or no food.
 

The adorable Zoey, Whitney, Paul and my Mom

  The next morning we headed out bright and early. We had a wonderful breakfast and headed to the show. It was fun to see Dixie and her sister (the show promoters), my friends, Rebecca and Tiffany, who were vendors at the show, and our other friend, Sharon, who had traveled all the way from Pennsylvania to be in the show.

 

We had a great day of visiting and shopping. We also visited many of the wonderful and funky districts in Portland and found some great items for Sisters Creed. We had a wonderful dinner at a great Hawaiian restaurant and continued on until late that night finding great merchandise for our business and getting some new ideas and inspiration.

The next day we again headed out early. I made sure I had surprises and gifts for all my family and we were the first in line at Ikea. We are redesigning our booth for Farm Chicks and we found some great things for our booth design, structure, and lighting.  Then we stopped at the infamous Voodoo Donuts.

It wasn't just hype. It was super good. I got the maple bacon bar and the Captn Crunch. My Mom also got the maple bacon and the Portland cream. Yum. We hit a few more stops and places we wanted to go. We grabbed lunch at my favorite Cafe Yumm. I got a big bottle of Yumm sauce to go. My mom wasn't so sure she would like a vegetarian place and a vegan style bowl and sauce but she did and now is hooked on the Yumm sauce!! So good...and a such a good detox from all the rich meat I ate all weekend. I know all you ravenous carnivores hate to hear stuff like this but you REALLY feel SO MUCH better when you eat a vegetarian diet!! I promise. You will have ten times the energy. Even my mom was totally surprised and kept saying that she didn't even miss the meat.  There's a testimonial for you!! Ha ha. She also tried tempeh (my personal fav) for the first time and liked it.

On our way home we stopped at the beautiful Multnomah Falls. I had never been there before and boy was I missing out. Gorgeous! Breathtaking!

The sunshine, the greenery, the complete and utter lack of snow, the travel, and the great company ended January on a high note for me...and it just might get me to March when my next trip is scheduled. We headed home to a complete blizzard and subzero temps. Boo. But...this happened too and it was AWESOME!!

It was pretty thrilling and still the talk of the town even today!! There were some SERIOUSLY EXCITED and HYPER Johnsons at our house!! It's not everyday you get to experience something like that in your state. Very cool!!

Next up Tyler's birthday and all kinds of fun!! Good-bye January. Hello February.

Book Reviews

Book Reviews

I loved this book. Boom. It isn't deep. It isn't that thought-provoking. It's just fun!! I loved Edenbrook by this same author and I loved this book too. Can't wait to read more of her books in the future.

From Goodreads:

Kate Worthington knows her heart and she knows she will never marry. Her plan is to travel to India instead—if only to find peace for her restless spirit and to escape the family she abhors. But Kate’s meddlesome mother has other plans. She makes a bargain with Kate: India, yes, but only after Kate has secured—and rejected—three marriage proposals.

Kate journeys to the stately manor of Blackmoore determined to fulfill her end of the bargain and enlists the help of her dearest childhood friend, Henry Delafield. But when it comes to matters of love, bargains are meaningless and plans are changeable. There on the wild lands of Blackmoore, Kate must face the truth that has kept her heart captive. Will the proposal she is determined to reject actually be the one thing that will set her heart free?

Set in Northern England in 1820, Blackmoore is a Regency romance that tells the story of a young woman struggling to learn how to follow her heart.

I thought this book was fun. I loved the setting and the characters. Hello Henry. Delicious. I especially love that this book is just pure romance...as in it isn't a bodice ripper...although I occasionally enjoy those too. But I found this *clean* romance extremely refreshing...and extremely romantic. As in ROMANTIC!! Win-Win. And... I love that I can hand it right over to my teenage daughter. Could I nitpick a few things here and there? Yes, but I won't, because I had a great time reading it and gushing about it to others. The end.

My Rating: Loved it!!

From Goodreads:


Of all the great love stories ever told, hers is perhaps the most famous. To me, she is the key to my family's fate. To you, she is Juliet. When Julie Jacobs leaves for Italy per the instructions of her late aunt's will, she never imagines that she'll be thrust into a centuries-old feud, not to mention one of the most legendary romances of all time. However, as she uncovers the story of her ancestor, Giulietta, whose love for a man named Romeo proved ill-fated, Julie finds herself increasingly under threat, and can't help but feel that the past and present are very much connected. Juliet is a gripping historical novel of great passion and scope from a remarkable debut author.

This book has a great premise. There were times when the mystery was really getting going that I was hooked but the dialogue...the dialogue...OH THE DIALOGUE. It was cringe-worthy. It was worse than cringe-worthy. I was embarrassed for the author, that is how truly horrible the dialogue was. Any time that Juliet talked to her twin sister Janice (who was basically just a caricature), I just wanted to stop reading on principle alone.

The historical mystery was interesting. The premise that Shakespeare based his Romeo and Juliet on historical people, and that this tale was twisted multiple different ways through time and on down to Shakespeare's famous take on the tragic duo was intriguing, but I just felt that it could have been better written.

My Rating: Disappointed
 

Say what you will about Phil Robertson, but I love him and I loved this book. If you like Duck Dynasty you will enjoy this book.

From Goodreads:

This no-holds-barred autobiography chronicles the remarkable life of Phil Robertson, the original Duck Commander and Duck Dynasty star, from early childhood through the founding of a family business. Life was always getting in the way of Phil Robertson’s passion for duck hunting. An NFL-bound quarterback, Phil made his mark on Louisiana Tech University in the 1960s by playing football and completing his college career with a master’s degree in English. But Phil’s eyes were not always on the books or the ball; they were usually looking to the sky. Phil grew up with the dream of living the simple life off the land like his forebears, but he soon found himself on a path to self-destruction—leasing a bar, drinking too much, fighting, and wasting his talents. He almost lost it all until he gave his life to God. And then everything changed. Phil’s incredible story tells how he followed a calling from God and soon after invented a duck call that would begin an incredible journey to the life he had always dreamed of for himself and his family. With great love for his country, his family, and his maker, Phil has finally found the ingredients to the “good life” he always wanted.

I liked this book even more than Duck Commander Family by Phil and Korie Robertson. Most likely because Phil is my favorite Robertson. I appreciated hearing his words and his explanation of his background, family history, and conversion. I appreciate his candor and honesty. He doesn't sugar coat anything or care what is politically correct. He is who he is. He doesn't pretend to be something he is not and he doesn't mince words. I really like that in a person. 

As I am a naturally curious person, I love learning about people from different walks of life. I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect of the book. I don't come from a poor family living on a river in Louisiana who could live off the land. Not remotely. I found all of that fascinating. I am also not a hunter, or a bird lover, nor have I ever had even the slightest interest in learning about ducks. This book made me look up all kinds of ducks and listen to their different calls. I enjoyed that I learned something new. I really liked the book and found it interesting. 

My Rating: I loved it.

From Goodreads: 

This practical, positive book reveals the many parenting strategies that Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar use as they preside over America's best-known mega-family.

Hmmm...how would I characterize my interest in the Duggars? In the past it has been zilch. But, several months ago I experienced a horrible bout of insomnia that lasted about two months. In desperation I started watching Netflix at night. In looking at my options, I tried to find a show that would be dull enough to lull me to sleep each night.  How about 19 kids and counting. It did the trick. The TV show has a lovely tranquilizing effect. It is just interesting enough to be bearable to watch (for a short period of time) and just dull enough to send me off to dream land. Surprisingly though, over the course of two months, I grew sort of fond of this family. I appreciate their Christian faith and family values. I was intrigued by how they live and raise this super-sized family. I saw that they had written a few books and decided to read one. The book also had the same pleasantly soothing and tranquilizing effect. It's not too terribly thrilling but readable, with one exception, the recipes. OH MY GOODNESS!! Please tell me that they really don't eat this way. The meals they eat are nauseating. Canned tuna fish mixed with bbq sauce for example. They were all pretty horrifying.

All in all, it was mildly interesting to read about how this family came to be; how they support themselves; how they educate their children, and their parenting strategies.

My Rating: Okay

Things I Am Loving

 

Here are some things that I am loving right now...

 

1.) A Green Smoothie

I am late to get on board with this trend. Thick, pulpy drinks DO NOT appeal to me...regardless of their color and content. My sister, Kelley, made me a green smoothie about a year ago and while tasty, it just didn't stick.  Ailey came home from Activity Days two weeks ago with a whole little booklet of smoothies that the girls had made, tried, and put together. I was blown away that Ailey's favorite drink was the green smoothie called THE HULK. To say that Ailey is a picky eater is the understatement of the century. She is THE pickiest of all the picky eaters that have ever lived; and the fact that she gave this drink the thumbs up and said that it was her favorite of all the fruity smoothies that were blended that night, meant that it must truly be delicious. Ailey was in charge of Family Home Evening last night. She taught a lesson on good manners and requested that we make this for our treat.  It was delicious.

(Proof: Ailey wanted to show you all an action shot. Here she is actually drinking it and liking it.)

Here's the recipe:

The Hulk

1 cup green grapes (frozen is nice but not necessary)
3 cups frozen pineapple chunks (Costco sell a big bag)
1 cup firmly packed baby spinach (washed)
2 cups pineapple juice (chilled)
3/4 cup vanilla yogurt
2 T Nutella (one tablespoon would be fine too)

Blend away until very smooth. Can be served over ice if you didn't freeze anything.

It's REALLY good. Every single person in our family sucked it down and requested a second batch and then drank that down. Seriously...if Ailey will drink it and LIKES it... you can't get a higher recommendation.

2.) Hoarfrost

Hoarfrost is a real term for frozen fog or dew. It makes the most beautiful landscapes and scenery. If you hate winter like I do...hoarfrost makes winter not only tolerable but beautiful. No snow or ice on the ground and roads, but it's still frosty and wintry. And...it's fun for the kids to say. My warped children like to refer to it as "Frost of the Hoar".

3.) My new ring tone

I get bored very easily and am always needing a new song as my ring tone. Tyler very lovingly changes things up for me and makes my ring tone the exact part of whatever song I am currently loving. This past week Tyler unearthed an ENORMOUS bin of old CDs from the garage. (Remember how we used to have to store our music? Quaint.) Anyway...this was the tub of CDs (the last one of many) that he could not part with even after he had nearly everyone of them on a music file. Tyler's passion is to collect music. His collection is VAST. But this was an old tub of sentimentality...and hoarding. Anyway, he brought the enormous bin in; and low and behold, there were all of my Connells CDs. Oh yeah!! He did whatever he does to get the music from the CD onto the laptop onto my phone. (It's a mystery to me.) The Connells were my very fav group from the early 90's. Flash forward to 2014...Scotty's Lament is my new ring tone. Glory be! How I love it!! I call myself from our landline, Ty's cell phone, the kids' cell phones, multiple times a day just to hear it. (Even though I have it on my playlist.) When my cellphone does ring...I must dance before I answer...much to my kids horror. So, if you call and I don't pick up right away it's cause I'm dancin'.

You can dance too!!




(If you know who the Connells are (sisters don't count) you win the prize as my coolest friend.)


4.) Grapefruit

photo actually taken by me

Is your mouth watering? It should be. This is my newest addiction. Costco has some seriously good grapefruit. I have to pace myself. Yum.

5.) Cookies hold little appeal anymore

What did the Johnson kids do over MLK day? Made cookies. This was a rare treat. I think I've mentioned my loathing of baking. Three of my four kids wanted to make cookies. I relented. Let it be known that my kids are pitied by their cousins because they don't get snacky foods very often. Dane and River send them snacks and treats "because they don't get them at their house". How cute is that? Aunt Kelley and Elle bring granola bars to swim lessons for Ailey and Bryn and it's like Willie Wonka has arrived. All are very much appreciated by our kids. So when I said the kids could make cookies...IT WAS A BIG DEAL.

Santa brought Ailey a much wanted, and begged for, Easybake oven. She and Bryn couldn't wait to make deletable treats! Easybake is code for total rip off...but every girl needs to find this out for herself.

 

These two were undaunted by the microscopic size of the cookies and declared that they were fairy cookies and that they MUCH preferred fairy-sized cookies to larger gluttonous cookies. The boy was making much larger gluttonous cookies.

Hmmm...does Kameron bake often you might ask? No. Never. But last week one of his friends brought cookies to school that he had made and gave them to Kam and his buddies at lunch. Let's just say this blew their minds. Now they are all making cookies and trying to out do each other. Kameron decided he was going to attempt to make cookies as well. He choose to make Mrs. Field's Triple Chocolate Cookies and yes, he brought some to school to pass out to his friends today. Ha Ha. This recipe is huge and made about a million cookies and Kam was a slave to the oven most of the day yesterday so this may be his last batch for awhile. He did a great job and they were very good. I also got to tell the kids the legend of Debbie Fields and her magical Mrs. Fields Cookies Store and how just one cookie could sustain 4 teenage girls at the mall for hours. Back to my point... I have no great love for cookies anymore. Seriously. I don't dislike them, but I never crave them. I ate two of these babies when they were warm and gooey and I was done. Now cake on the other hand... that I do crave.

6.) This show

This show is definitely PG-13 but holy crap is it hilarious!! New favorite. Schmidt!! Best character on TV ever. EVER.

7.) My new workout playlist

Thanks to Tyler's tub of sentimentality, I am rockin' it at the gym 90's style. Oh yeah...the Connells,  Origin, Blind Melon...sometimes even 80's style...Howard Jones!! You beautiful man you!! Seriously? How great was Howard Jones? When I was a teenager and was "going with" my much older and cooler next door neighbor boy, he tried to educate me with all kinds of "cool" music. Sadly, when he thought I was up in my room listening to his mix tape of the Dead Kennedys and other punk music, I was really dancing and singing Howard Jones at the top of my lungs. That's right!! HOJO = awesome.






So there you go.

What's Up?

What's Up?

From Pinterest

Not much. January is the month of the year I like the least. Too long, too dreary, too cold, and too gray. All the holiday merriment is over and the long cold winter has set in. Okay...maybe this January is one of the nicest we've had in years. Okay...maybe it isn't all that gray. Still. I am not a fan. So far this month we have been staying home and cozying it up. Some people love that...they are nesters. I am not. I like to be OUT. I like to be going places and doing things. I like being outside and being active. January gives me a horrible case of cabin fever. Every.single.year.

I have been quite productive in my cooped up state. I've deep cleaned, sorted, organized, reorganized, dejunked, uncluttered, packed up, and hauled away ten tons of things. I'm all caught up on things for my business. I am definitely productive and yet... blah.  The January blahs are here with their usual vengeance.

So I blog...with nothing much to say. I also blog because I had a situation occur with Reilly over Christmas break. She got on my blog and was perusing the year that was coming to an end. Then she  said to me, "Thank goodness you blog Mom or we would never remember all the fun we have had and funny stuff that has happened." Yep, and so I blog...so that 50 years from now one of my kids as an old lady/man can log onto the ol' interwebs and find the Springdellgirl blog and remember their childhood in great detail and how much their parents loved them. So I blog...even with not much to say.

Here is something worth remembering...

I stand behind this statement after having four kids. The age of four is THE MOST adorable age of all. Seriously! Four year olds are the most loving, kind, and enthusiastic people out there. They love everyone and they love life. This girl is no different. In preschool they are studying cooking right now. They have gotten to make chef hats, learn kitchen skills, and make their snack two days in a row. One day was cinnamon sugar tortillas and yesterday was soft pretzels. They even practiced cutting with knives. Bryn said, "Not real knives Mom!! Only plastic ones cause sharp knives are DANGEROUS and I told Mrs. Crater I was NOT allowed to touch them!!" They have learned all kinds of things and Bryn has loved every minute. Her enthusiasm is so darn cute.

I also rearranged all the chores for all the kids and ended up taking away a chore from Reilly, one from Kameron, and one from Ailey and giving them to Bryn and in true four year-old fashion she SQUEALED with JOY!! (While her older siblings looked at her in amazement.)

Also, at four, Bryn is completely besotted with her big brother. She cannot wait for him to come home from school and play with her. Kameron is great to make sure he sets some time aside for her every day. He is a super big brother. One day Kameron was really busy with homework. He was in his room studying and Bryn started heading on in with her coloring book and crayons. I told her that Kameron couldn't play with her right now and not to bug him because he need to get some things done. She said, "I know Mom, I just like to watch him do things." Ha Ha!!.. and that she did.

A New Year

A New Year

After a few days at home for Reilly and Tyler to run into work for a day or two, fulfilling our callings at church, and stopping in, to see a few friends we returned to the lake to ring in the new year. We, unfortunately, infected my mom with our germs and she got sick with the nasty bug but luckily she was feeling better by New Years Eve. Sorry about that!! After all of the kids got over their G.I. bug we all got nasty colds. Awesome!!

It had snowed while we were gone and the lake had a good inch on top of it. We got out the broom and shovel and got to work clearing off a nice big patch and continued our fun on the frozen water.

The weather was great and we got to enjoy being outside playing yet again. I am loving the weather this winter. I hate being cooped up inside during the winter!! After the sun went down, we headed inside and began a Downton Abbey marathon. My mom had not seen Season 3 and with Season 4 about to start up... we watched the season for the 2nd time. Still good...but so darn sad. So we snacked and watched until it was nearly time to welcome the new year. It was funny to see how interested our two teenagers were in Downton Abbey. They have had no desire to watch any of the episodes but now they are hooked and they have only seen Season 3. After every episode both Reilly and Kameron would yell "Start the next one!!" So funny. Goes to show the universal appeal of Downton. :)

By midnight only me, Ty, Reilly, Kameron, and my mom remained awake. We toasted the New Year and headed outside onto the ice to ring in the new year with the other lake revelers who were lighting fireworks and celebrating. After ransacking our fireworks horde all we had left were some sparklers but they did the trick. So we lit a bunch of sparklers, banged pots and pans, and whooped it up out on the ice.

Then we headed home the next day to enjoy the weekend before everyone headed back to school. We shopped (everyone had gift cards and Christmas money to spend), ate out, binge watched multiple TV shows on Netflix. I don't think I have watched as much TV all year as I did during Christmas Break Pukefest 2013. I watched multiples TV series start to finish and I can officially say that I am so done with TV for awhile.

In other news... I got released from Primary after five years.  I don't know what to do with myself? It was so weird to go to Relief Society again. Why does Primary always get such a bad rap? I think it has been pretty great.

Now onto setting new goals for 2014. This was the subject of our Family Home Evening last night. We opened up our little box and evaluated how we did on our goals that we set last year. Apparently I got the big THUMBS DOWN from all four of my children on my goal of "yelling less". Bummer. We set our new goals and I hope that we will do better this year at accomplishing them. We were about 50-50 on goals for 2013.

As the new year begins I am happy to bid farewell to 2013. It hasn't been our best year. But still we have been richly blessed in so many ways. We are looking forward to a healthy, happy, more prosperous, and "yelling less" year.

Happy New Year!!

Christmas 2013

Christmas 2013

Christmas 2013 was interesting to say the least. Oh the best laid plans... yeah...they didn't work out. I was very excited to have an old-fashioned Christmas out at the lake. Our family, my mom, my grandma, and Stacey and Kelley and their families were all going to be there. We were going to have a simple tree with paper chains and have the kids string popcorn and cranberries...and just enjoy being at the lake. We planned for weeks. I haven't had a Christmas eve and Christmas morning out at the lake since I was about 5. Needless to say on the morning of Christmas Eve all my kids started puking and didn't stop until the Christmas night! I cried. Not fair. We were crushed. All plans were cancelled and the kids were absolutely miserable. It wasn't a light G.I. bug either. They all threw up at least 10 times. I think Kameron had the record at 12. It was horrible and hands down THE WORST Christmas Eve on record. The kids could barely rouse from their sick beds to put on their jammies, put out their socks, and take one horrible picture. They were all in bed by 8:30pm. It was an absolute disaster!!

Looking good Johnsons...Looking Good!

Here was our delightful Christmas eve jammie picture. Luckily the kids still had somewhat of a sense of humor and posed with 7-up, saltines, and Imodium. It was horrible...and we texted it to all our family.

Christmas morning they all felt a tad bit better. We were able to open presents, lay around and watch Christmas movies, and play games. But no one ate a thing. The day before Christmas eve I spent 12 HOURS...12 HOURS...baking all kinds of Christmas treats and snacks to enjoy and to take to the lake. Most of which are still uneaten.

Tyler and I never did get it...which was a blessing. I consoled myself by watching this:

 Downton Abbey Season 4...all of it...EARLY.  Merry Christmas to me.

We did end up coming to the lake the day after Christmas and that felt like HEAVEN to all of us. It was nice to get outside and enjoy the fresh air. The lake was frozen perfectly. Black ice...no snow. Perfect ice conditions.

My hero taking me all over the lake. I fear my ice skating days may be done. We love this Norwegian sled. I think we may buy one for ourselves. It provided hours of entertainment. What is so cool is that you push off on the ice and then hop on the runners and can glide all over...and give someone else a ride too. They can be used on ice or snow. Awesome.

When you are the "runner" you get the joy of ice skating without actually ice skating because you are riding on the blades. When the ice is snow packed like it was over New Years it gives you more of the feel of cross-country skiing. If you are the rider...it feels like a sleigh ride. Win-win-win. It was perfect to go all over the lake and get a good work out.

Oh yeah...those pink Hunters were purely for style. I quickly resorted to my Grandpa's old moon boots from 1980 and about 6 sizes too big. Oh moon boots. Come back. So warm and toasty...and ice friendly.

Reilly donned the ice skates though and bipped around.

The old runner sleds were awesome too. The cousins enjoyed launching each other out onto the ice.

 Expert Launchers!!

Bryn and Elle weren't so sure they wanted to get out on that slippery stuff...but once they did they were hooked.

The ice was busy with people...ice skaters, fishermen, people walking all over. At night snowmobiles and ATVs would zip around. I don't think I am that brave.

The ice was pretty trippy. Normally we have a layer of snow on top of the ice. This was a rare treat. We always have to shovel the snow off to make a skating area and that layer of snow muffles all the crazy sounds that ice makes. Ice is pretty noisy. It moans and makes really loud whale sounds. It pops and cracks. Pretty crazy! The kids loved it.

**Disclaimer** The ice was super thick and tested by the old timers (my uncles) before anyone was given the okay to get on it. My kids are 5th generation out here and my family knows the ice. My great-grandpa used to cut the ice in big blocks and store it in the ice house to sell to the tourists in the summer. My uncles used to help him. Tyler also got out the auger and drilled down and down and down and then gave up. That ice was THICK. No worries.

We all played and played on the ice. We had to drag the kids in. It was so much fun. Even Granny got to get some fresh air.

Who would want to go in when you can play on pink ice? It was gorgeous. (No filter was used.)

  

One night was forecast to be super dark...not much moon. Tyler and I bundled all the kiddos up and took them out on the lake. We had everyone grab Christmas candles and set them down on the ice and made the ice glow. Then the kids all laid on their backs on the dock and looked up at the Milky Way which looked to be directly over our heads and in a beautiful glowing trail right over the lake.
 

Then Tyler turned on the music and the strobe light and the dance party began!! We have some wild dancers in the family. By then the little kids were all tired out and ready for bed...and the games began for the adults and teenagers.

The kids (and Aunt Kelley's) favorite game this year was a wild game of spoons. But my personal favorite was this:

This is my new favorite game although some of the things I saw and heard may haunt me for life. No joke. I may need therapy. Still...absolutely HILARIOUS.

Old faithful...Monopoly... never failed to entertain the kids either. They watched movies and played and had fun together.

Check out the cute Santa bags my mom made for all the grandkids. Heirlooms for sure. Along with beautiful handmade ornaments with a circus theme and a toy for the little kids and gift cards for the older kids. Perfection.

All too soon (truly) it was all over and we had to head home (for a few days) and then it was time to glide into the new year.