Frigid Day; family picture tour

Here I sit with a blanket around me on this frigid Saturday morning.  We've had a much milder winter than the previous two, but this weekend is certainly breaking this winter's mold.  We're hanging in the single digits with wind.  Not too much snow, however, in this part of PA.  I'm so thankful for our small, easy-to-heat house.  Here are a couple of pictures I took out my windows this bright, crispy morning.

As I mentioned at the end of my last post, Tuesday was Fasnacht Day here in PA.  Some of you said you never heard of them.  They are cake donuts.  The tradition apparently was to use up all your lard, flour, sugar, etc. before Lent, since you would not be eating goodies during those weeks.  It is always observed the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which is the start of the Lenten season.

So the Greater Buffalo Run Valley church, which I am secretary for, made and sold fasnachts on Tuesday as a fund raiser for the building fund.  It was a LOT OF WORK!!!  I was not helping, since I had my own work in the office to accomplish.  But I told them to let me know if they dropped one on the floor, hahah!!  They really were delicious, warm and rolled in cinnamon sugar.

Other than that, not too much picture-worthy going on here this week.  So I'll share other family pictures.  First from Anthony and Lori's house.  Remember that I said Austin played basketball while we watched the Super Bowl on Sunday evening?  Yes, he has a basketball hoop in the house, and a light basketball.  This week Lori posted this hilarious picture.  Looks like it's not just a basketball that he aims toward that hoop!

And speaking of basketball, Anthony shared this really funny conversation with Austin one morning this week:

Austin: "I bet you're too tired to play basketball."
Me: "That is correct."
Austin: "You're always too tired for basketball when you wake up. But after you've had your coffee you're nice and perfect and ready to play."

And while I'm at it, here's another conversation Anthony shared a few weeks ago.  This boy!

Austin: "Why do we call a wall 'wall' and not 'floor'?"
Me: "........uh....hmm....well...I'm not sure you'd understand..."
Austin: "Really daddy, why? Who decided it would be called 'wall'?"
Me: "Most of our words come from an old language called Latin, and there was probably a Latin word for walls that sounded like 'wall'."
Austin: "Yeah, but who decided in that language?"
Me (internally): "You're 7, act like it."

And moving on to Miss Bianca now.  Recently Sam and Jenn switched the children to a new daycare/preschool.  Sammy immediately loved it.  Bianca resisted.  Last week they sent Jenn pictures of her finally participating in a craft for the first time.  And having fun!

Frank and Lauren moved to bigger house last weekend.  Frank posted this picture one night this week.  He said he was up installing a new floor and found his little helper fixing the bathroom vanity, hahahaha!!

Meanwhile in Florida....  Grandma Mary has been spending these cold weeks in Sarasota with friends, as she usually does each winter.  Yesterday Lisa and Sophie spend time with her.  Looks like they were painting a little bird house.

Look at those Florida tans!  Grandma Mary will make us all jealous when she returns next weekend!  Lisa has a new job as track and field coach at Sophie's school, thus her tan, even with regular use of sunblock.

And Sophie has now outgrown Grandma Mary!  On the left is last year's picture, and on the right is this year's!

Meanwhile over in Europe!  Jeremy and Mike, along with two of their neighbors, are visiting a few European cities this week.  They spent two days in Amsterdam, pictured below.  Today is the first of three days in Paris, then they'll move on to one day in London before returning home.  

In Sweden Miki is working on the illustrations for another children's book, which apparently will feature Katrina as well as Bjorn this time!  

And since I don't want to leave anybody out (even though I doubt if my kids even read my blog!), Thyda and I were having fun this week sharing the first pictures I had of her and Ray back in 2007.  Here's a really adorable one taken at Thanksgiving that year, after they had each completed Basic Training and their specialty trainings in the Navy and were AT LAST both assigned to orders in VA, which was an amazing answer to prayer at that time.  They were so young for all that they committed themselves to.  I'm so proud of them. 

And now one last thing.  Remember Jordan Smith who won The Voice this past season?  He already is coming out with an album!  The first song, which is an original that he says is his story,  became available yesterday.  Here's it is on YouTube for your listening pleasure.  As always, it just gets better and better thoughout the song. I think he's right up there with Josh Groban.