Happy Birthday to our sweet Lydia! What a fun young lady and so capable! 

Last night was Emma's final concert at the elementary school. Next year she moves on to the middle school. She will have 3 orchestra concerts, but those will be at the high school with the other area school orchestras and bands. Next year Cole will be at the elementary. Thank goodness!

It was a blustery day - snow showers and cold. Our first taste of winter. We also made a stop to visit our friend Tammy. It was good to see her.  

Amazingly, our snowless ground continues. We have had plenty of rain this week. They say we are about 14 degrees warmer than normal this month. There are years we have had minus 20 and lots of and lots of snow, as we did last year, but just the opposite this year. In some ways it would be great if the nice weather continues during our holiday travels. 

As long as I can recall, Christmas cards have been an important tradition during the holidays. I can remember helping my Mom write the notes in our cards. I loved doing that. Most of our married years I have written a letter to send out to friends and family. I so look forward to getting cards or even getting ecards. I see fewer and fewer of these arriving each year and for the first time, we will not be getting a card from my mother in law or Aunt Doris Biederman. We did receive an early Christmas letter from family friend Marge Lange, but she passed away just a week or so later. I miss hearing from these special people. Today as I battle the flu, I miss my mother in law calling up to ask how I am doing or my own mother wondering how I am. These special people and traditions they carried on will be missed. 

I made a batch of Krumkake using my newish Krumkake Iron. I used to use a stove top iron but that did not work on my flat top electric stove. 

This is a collection of buildings I collected over a few years. I chose ones that mean something to me: a church, a farm house, a barn, a library, train station, light house and school. 

We purchased and decorated a tree on Saturday. I have narrowed down the ornaments the last year or so. When I was growing up we always had a real tree until I went off to college. My parents bought an artificial one that year. My brother and I went out and bought a real one to put in the basement that year. I don't remember if we did that every year after that until I got married or not. We have had a real tree in our home all 40 years but one. In 2009, we gathered at our daughter Katie's for Christmas since our daughter Leslie was about to give birth to Lydia. I bought a small prelit tree that we put in the dining room that year. I then used that tree at the library to decorate. We still like real trees despite the mess to clean up after. The decorating of the tree brings back memories as I hang the ornaments. Lynn helped me decorate this year - the first time ever I think. 

 Of all nights to head to bed before a game is over, this was not the night to do that.

We could not get the game, but I was keeping track on my  phone to the score. By ten it was 20-0 so I thought they were going to lose this one too. 

When I got up this morning, Lynn said guess what,  Aaron had the game of his life. I was shocked. 

Fantastic!!!! 27-23