New Semester - New Classes

Morgan is now into her 2nd semester at school. A couple of changes to her schedule include Innovative Foods and Industrial Tech this semester. There have only been 4 days of school so far this semester, but so far the homework has been significantly less than last semester.

Today she made buns on her own for the first time using the bread machine. They were light & delicious! She complained that a few of them were "morphed" and not quite perfect in shape. We ate them tonight with our supper and still have a small bag that she plans to share with our neighbors. Yum Yum!

She is learning about cars in her Industrial Tech class. Each night she comes home with tidbits of information about things like purchasing oil, how the heating/cooling systems work, etc.

Morgan has been busy preparing for the 1 Act Play Competition that will be held on Thursday. They have a rehearsal tomorrow afternoon and 1 performance for the public/parents on Wed. evening. There are 4 guys & 4 girls in the play - she is the only Freshmen. We have been working on costuming & props. (Thanks to those friends who are helping us out this this!) She plays 4 different characters in the play and has only a few seconds to change from one character to the next. What a fun experience for her.

Playoffs

Paul was fortunate enough to get 2 tickets for Sunday.

One son will be thrilled!!

The other.....not so much!

Paul's Christmas Gift

Paul got a new tv and a blue ray system with surround sound. Here are Paul, Morgan & Matt getting it all set up and adjusted. Yup.....I guess you aren't living until you have 7 speakers in our tiny tv room blaring while you watch a movie in high defenition....good grief. Matt "the pro" came directly from working out at the Y to help out.....forget the fact that the windchill was -30 degrees and he was wearing shorts!
Thanks for the help!

Anniversary Wishes

My mom & dad came back to Fergus Falls with us on Sunday night. They were able to spend the rest of the week here with our families. Morgan made them an apple pie to celebrate their 35th anniversary on Dec. 28th.Apple is her specialty!

Off to Barron

After the Plaza we loaded up and after a stop at the Christian Bookstore in Eau Claire we headed to Barron. Morgan & I had not been to the Klimek's house since they had remodeled. It looked fabulous! I am so envious of their beautiful, spacious kitchen. We had gifts to open and spent the evening visiting, watching movies and hanging out together.

Allie's New Hobby

Allie was getting a little restless during the program at the Plaza. I gave her my camera. After taking several pictures of herself I told her to go and take pictures of other people. I have over 100 photos that she took. I must say they are very "artsy" and "creative". I have multiple pictures of the carpet, items on the table tops, arm pits, shoes, bodies without heads, faces so close you cannot even identify who they are, etc. (I think you get the point.) Here are a few of her "better" shots. Sit back & enjoy!

Celebrating at the Plaza

Saturday the 26th we loaded Allie into our pickup and we headed cross country from Rochester to Nelson. Unfortunately we listened to our GPS and ended up taking curvy Hwy 60 back to Wabasha. There had been rain/ice the day before and the trees were frosty & beautiful. The roads, however, were not beautiful. It was a slow, slippery trip. We stopped in Nelson and had a wonderful visit with Grandma Bonnie. I was sorry we had to cut it short. We were a bit tardy getting to the Plaza for dinner at 1:00. Allie loves to spend time with Abz, Morgan & Emily (she was really missing Emily on this day)
I wouldn't let anyone have any goodies at Grandma Bonnie's house so they would eat a good dinner. Allie told me her favorite part of the meal was the cottage cheese. (She did eat lots of other things besides cottage cheese.)

Abby (or Abz as we call her)

Austin & Andrew

Kids waiting for the program to be over so they can hit the pool.

Girls don't hang with the boys.

Robert played for Morgan when she shared a song.

Paul & Amanda let carols.

Allie & Abby sang along. (Notice the multiple necklaces.)

Pat enjoying the singing.

Jeremy & Kara were able to arrange their work schedules to spend the day with family.

Paul, Tara, Nicole & Chad

Amy & Don

Don & Hunter :)

Sondra, Alaina & Bev

Robert, Paul, Damara & Amanda sang a number upon request

(Oops....what happened to Amanda....hmmm.....Allie might have taken this picture!)

Sweet little Brennen - the newest member of the family.

Morgan & Allie enjoying some goodies and trying out the new stitching boards. I guess I only took video of time in the pool. I will try to upload that later on. (I haven't had much success uploading videos to Blogger lately.)

Christmas Day

Christmas Day proved to be a bit stormy. Travel was not advised in our area, but you know us! We packed up the pickup and late morning we left for Rochester. Once we got out onto the interstate the weather/roads were fine. Paul drove the speed limit (yeah right) the whole way.

We got to Jeremy, Kara & Allie's house in time for a wonderful meal of prime rib. Yum yum.

After waiting patiently all day long & then having to wait until after supper Allie finally got to open her gifts from us. She got a new jewelry box and plenty of "jewels" from us.

She told me she couldn't decide which necklace to wear so she was going to wear three at one time. "However, grandma, the cupcake one is my favorite".

Grandpa Denny & Grandma Pat drove over from Nelson to spend the evening with us. (They are home from Florida for approx. 1 month. )

Oops....I forgot to rotate this photo....too late, I am not changing it now...sorry!

Grandpa put Allie inside this huge Christmas stocking - what a silly little girl!

Grandpa Denny does his own shopping & did well this year. Allie got a "Littlest Pet Shop" critter from him and hauled it everywhere that weekend.

This is what my dear little granddaughter does everytime I tell her to smile for the camera.

I have better luck when she doesn't know the camera is on.

Shoot...more sideways pics....oh well!

I helped Allie get ready for bed. Looks like she didn't get the one thing she really needed.... bigger jammies!!!

We laughed hysterically at them and told her to go tell Grandpa Paul that she needed some money to get new pajamas....what a poor little orphan!

She had bigger pj's in her drawer, but was too busy playing to let me put them on her.

(Note the box - Kara got a dishwasher for Christmas - it just wasn't installed yet.)

Yup....Grandpa needs to get that girl some bigger jammies. Allie you are so cute, thanks for giving us such a good laugh!