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| Teresa at a nearby sledding hill in Asbury. |
January has offered some classic winter fun - sledding, playing in snow, and being out in our yard. Iowa has some perks for January: (1) it's a bit warmer than Grand Forks, and (2) our front and back yards have hills good for sledding and play (at least for little people). Our kids have reminded us: snow and winter can be fun!
Our town of Asbury had a sledding day at a nearby hill on Jan 15th. It was a great time: 10-20 kids, who packed the snow down well, and a hill manageable for our kids. The local HyVee grocery store served free cookies and Hot Cocoa, which enhanced the fun. The result: Timothy stayed out sledding for 3 whole hours(!) with his Daddy (God bless him; Mama & Teresa ditched them after an hour). These pics aren't from that day (forgot the camera), but from the same hill two days later - on a sledding outing with Daddy on MLK Jr. afternoon.
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| Ready to sled! |
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| Trudging up the hill. ...with a little sister along (whom Daddy had to pull up the hill most of the time), big brother had to huff it up the hill on his own. |
Other winter outings we've made have been ice skating at the local Ice Center (Timothy loved it, Teresa decided she's done with skating - for good), and to Ice Fest at the Dubuque Aquarium, where Clifford made a guest appearance for storytime one day.
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| Timothy skating in Dubuque |
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| Hanging out with Clifford for storytime at the Aquarium! |
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| Ice Fest at the Dubuque Aquarium |
We also have been able to enjoy our hills right in our back and front yards! ...These pics are from a family outing on Feb 1st, when the snow and wind held off for a few hours.
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| Mama gives a hoot of a sleigh ride. Go Mama! |
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| Ready to sled together! |
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| A view from our backyard, looking down the hill toward our sledding paths into our neighbors' yards. (We have gracious neighbors, who don't mind kids zooming through their yards.) |
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| Teresa requesting help to plod through the snow. (It's a little deep for people shorter than 3 feet tall!) |
To be honest, January has been challenging month for us. The winter weather cancelled school 4 times, making for a lot of quality (and not-so quality) "inside time" together, on days too cold and windy to be outside. Our weatherman said it's one of the ten coldest winters on record here (people will soon blame us for bringing the cold). In addition, sickness hit our household: each kiddo has had pinkeye (Timothy first, Teresa currently), and shingles for Maria. It's been 2 weeks now of shingles, with clear signs of progress and betterment (she got treated by a doctor right away). Still, it's been painful, and made for lack of sleep many nights. Also, Troy had a productive month, with no classes - just preparation time for Spring. Still, the loneliness and isolation wears on Troy, however necessary the time and work have been for him. Finally, we also still naturally miss friends and things from Grand Forks (like for Troy, living close to his mother). These feelings came on a bit more after Christmas concludes and the annual January winter blues kicked in.
But on January 15th, we celebrated 6 months living in Iowa - with an outing to where we had our first family dinner in Iowa: Culver's! (sorry, no pics) ...It was a fun outing, and a meal the kids loved more than any fine dining in town (burgers, french fries, chocolate milk, ice cream - and fast! ...why go anywhere else?). It was also a good time to reflect on the good we've found here in just 6 months: a lovely home, great school experiences (for 3 of our family), good neighbors, a church we really like, and a great community overall. We still miss our friends and some things in Grand Forks (Timothy is prone to say so as well, in emotional moments). But we're still very happy to be where we are.
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| Timothy writing his name in the snow. |
