Happy New Year!

I will overlook my compulsion to have all things in order and insert this post where it belongs in the world of "real time."  Janet and I arrived in Charlotte, NC this afternoon, so we will begin 2014 on the east coast.  This will likely be my only post while here, so I'll have to catch up once again when we get "home."  (This smacks of a "should be New Year's Resolution," but I believe I will refrain due to my feeling that I should set realistic goals.)  And now, it's time for me to celebrate this momentous, once in a year event - by going to bed!  Happy 2014!  May it bring you the best.

Thought for the day

Love demands more of us than duty ever does.

Name that instrument

Can you?

A very cozy bedroom

My backpack is sitting on the end of my bed.

A bucket full of goodness

Other than the candy cane light pole...

does this look like winter to you?

Happy Anniversary, Mr. & Mrs. LiaBraaten

33 years and counting

I LOVE YOU!!!

A typical midwest December

Remember the snow storm of two weeks ago?  

This is today.  See the standing water?

We have flood warnings in our field for the next few days.

Here are forecasted highs for the next five days in Evansville.

Dec. 21 - 60°

Dec. 22 - 51°

Dec. 23 - 33°

Dec. 24 - 30°

Dec. 25 - 43°

That's December in the midwest, folks!  

'Tis the season

For frosted sugar cookies

Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of the finished products.  But they were yummy!

Winter Snow More

This is about as much snow as we have anywhere in this area anymore.  It's supposed to get up to 50 something today they say.  I imagine we'll have more cold weather before long and maybe even some more fluffy white stuff before it's all said and done, but for the present it seems that winter's no more.

Guess what it is #14

Now that we're back in the mode...

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

Guess what it is #13 - Answers

Do you remember these?  (I didn't.)

#1

#2

#3

#4

 #5

 #6

Carolinas bound

Just before Thanksgiving, Janet and I received phone calls to let us know that we had been invited to the Carolinas for Special Meeting rounds in January.  I was ecstatic!  The meetings and visits will be primarily in areas where I was when I had my brief stay in the Carolinas in the spring of 2012.  It will be so special to see those friends again as well as my Very Good Friend, Jennifer Grady, my co-worker when I was there.  And I will try to behave more betterly this time.  :-)

Where I will be for Special Meetings:

Sunday, January 5 - Sumter, SC
Tuesday, January 7 - Summerville, SC
Thursday, January 9 - Myrtle Beach, SC
Sunday, January 12 - Wilmington, NC

Janet and I will fly from Indianapolis to Charlotte by way of Chicago on December 31 and return on January 14.  It will be a very good way to begin a new year!

Post-Thanksgiving Gospel Meeting Schedule

Sundays, December 8, 15 & 22 - Winslow Community Center @ 4:00 pm
     (Sunday the 8th cancelled due to Winter Weather)

Thursdays, December 12, 19 & 26 - Washington Conservation Club @ 7:30 pm
      (Advertised in both English and Spanish)

Come and bring a friend if you're in the area!

Cute puppies

More of the white stuff

This past weekend, Janet and I were up in Crawfordsville, IN for a visitation and funeral.  During that time, we were fortunate enough to get in on some Winter Weather in that part of the state.  It was beautiful!

In which I learn how to weld

Or actually, "In which I watch other people learn how to weld"

On Monday, December 9, I went with one of our friends, Carl Q., to the welding class that he teaches in Bloomington.  I had told Carl earlier in the year that I wanted to see what he did up there.  Now the semester was nearing its close, and Carl would be retiring at the end of the semester, so there was no time to delay.  It was an interesting evening.  I learned a few things, though I did NOT learn how to weld.  

The welding booths

Getting the coupons ready for use

Booths occupied by students

For Kyle and Kalynn

Our dinner plates on Sunday were all from different states.  I didn't get this plate to eat off of, but I did get to take a picture of it before it got filled with food.  :-)

Sunday

One of the two of us just before good-bye

Looking out toward the highway

Safe travels!  Thanks for coming!

Because I love grasses

The Sights of Shoals

Or a couple of them anyway

The famous Jug Rock

At a scenic overlook just outside of Shoals

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland

Karmen and I spent all of Saturday morning at Spring Mill State Park near Mitchell, IN.  

Warning: If you aren't in the mood for many pictures, you should probably stop right here.  :-) 

Also, to make things easier for myself, these pictures are "grouped by camera."  That means that Set #1 consists of pictures taken on Karmen's camera and Set #2 consists of pictures taken on my camera.  Thus, you will take our hike twice if you go through both sets of pictures.  Enjoy!

Set #1

Kamela and Fleece are bundled up and ready to go!

We probably could have driven farther than we did in order to get to the trails, but we didn't want to take any chances.  Thus, the first part of our hike was easy enough on the plowed road.

Except that I chose to walk in the snow most of the time anyway

It was less slippery.

More work

But more fun

Thumbs up for the swimming pool!

Beautiful sunshine through the trees

We spot the sign.

Now what do we do?!

Making peace with the fact that we are about to blatantly ignore the sign's instructions

Footprints in the snow

It'll be easy enough to find us!

Spring Mill Inn

They're a bit hard to see in the picture, but at one point we looked up and counted about 14 turkey buzzards in the trees above us.  We put a great deal of effort into looking alive in their presence!

Will this turn out artistically?

You be the judge.

(I moved this one from Set #2 to Set #1 just because.)

The partially frozen lake

More picture taking

Which way should we go?

It was funny to watch the geese struggle through the slushy water.

The photographer

The photographed

(Also taken from Set #2)

Freshly fallen and untouched

But not for long

We contemplate having a picnic.

Karmen stomps out the beginning of my name into the snow.

Another "before" shot

Leaving our mark

Kind of reminds you of one of those Family Circus "from here to there trails"

Who walks like that???

We can see who walks like this!

And then we found a playground...

Swinging

For real?

Maybe not this one

But I think this one will work.

Indeed!

Kamela reads the sign

Fleece is appalled!

Flagrant vandalism

(Knocking off the icicles, if you can't tell)

A tree chair

Fleece changes seats

The village at Spring Mill Park

The Mill

The next activities we did in honor of our little brother.  We know this is what he would have done had he been with us.

#1 - Find a big stick.

#2 - Knock the icicles off of the underside of the bridge.

#3 - Rake the snow off the rails.

We missed you, Buddy!

Heading back

What?!

At this point, the battery in Karmen's camera died, so all pictures on the way back were taken on my camera.  (See Set #2)

 Set #2

Karmen's ready to hike!

Somebody's already been here.

About to duck under the barricade

Rule breaker!

More tracks

The road before us

Should we go on Trail 5?  Into the lake?

Lots o' geese

You gotta get just the right angle.

This adventure gets two thumbs up!

We were intrigued by the raised snowy patches on the water.  Ice chunks covered by snow perhaps?  Anyway, they're pretty.

Another photo op

Do you know how to write with your feet?

Karmen does!

Signing her work

And taking my picture (after I take hers)

One of my favorite quotes of the morning:

Karmen: "Good thing we're not vehicles.  Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter.  There's no grass."

Sunlight on the water

Just a swingin'

What a brave little soul!

I told her I'd do it if she would.  Little did I know, I should have gone first.  On Karmen's trip down, she pushed off quite a bit of the snow.  That left it a bit more slick for my ride.  Other than a dislocated shoulder, there was no lasting damage.  (Fact: The shoulder was not actually dislocated; it just hurt for a few minutes.)

Karmen pretends to get warm by the pretend fire.

Rearranging the holes in her tights

Re-enacting the Calvin & Hobbes comic strips in which Monsters or Dinosaurs or Other Ferocious Creatures smash entire cities under their enormous while terrified citizens scramble to get out of the way.  Revealed in the last panel of the comic is the reality of the situation as we see Monster Calvin fiercely tromping on castles that he has built in his sandbox.

All in all, we hiked about 5 miles that morning.  And we would have gotten farther if we hadn't taken so many pictures.  But then, that wouldn't have been nearly so fun!  And this blog entry wouldn't have been nearly so long!  Congratulations for sticking with it!