Freezing Cold Winter Snow

It's amazing what can happen when you appreciate the little things that make life interesting! (In reference to my previous blog post.)

For one, the weather is a very entertaining subject. Insert slight sarcasm. Mainly because it changes too abruptly for anyone to get very comfy. One week it was seventy degrees and balmy, and the next it is ten degrees and snowing. Therefore, life has gotten a little cold. But we'll show mother nature that we can still carry on!

The duckies are still around! Yesterday, however, we woke up and there were only five left. The others must have flown away. We have been feeding them and keeping the water open, so we'll see if these ones stay. 

This man takes no chances with the cold. The first day of winter, he donned a sweatshirt over his every day t-shirt (red hood), a thermal sweatshirt (gray hood), a heavy winter coat (brown coat), and Carhartts. I'm not sure how he was even able to move around in that gear, but he must have accomplished his outdoor mission (though I forget what it was). 

Two Sundays ago, we went to Ames for church services and to visit our brothers (Jacob and Billy) and other college student friends (all of the below). They were working on their Christmas card picture that afternoon (this was not the final product, but at least I got a picture of them all!). We enjoyed our visit, and if they are anything like I was, I'm sure they enjoyed seeing some familiar faces from home too. They only have about a month left of school for the semester...woohoo! 

Top: Alan, Jared, Billy. Middle: Steven, Jordan, Caleb, Jacob. Bottom: Kurt 

We got to drive home a Ford Edge for a friend who bought a new car. Matt was slightly impressed with his duty.  

And, of course, pictures from the kitchen cannot possibly be left out of a blog post about our everyday life. Because, food is pretty much a part of our every day life. I enjoy experimenting with different recipes when I have things to use up! In this case, it was apples...

My first apple pie...:) 

We still had some chickens in the freezer from when we helped the Steiners butcher chickens. Thus, my first whole cooked chicken...it turned out very delicious, but I could certainly use some carving lessons! 

Matt couldn't let any of it go to waste, of course.  

Finally, married life wouldn't be complete without a few acts of kindness.

Matt thought I needed flowers for our 13-month anniversary (These are the new ones next to the remainder of our one-year anniversary flowers).

...and he spent Saturday working on my Christmas gift at his parent's shop: homemade picture frames to match the cedar bed in our bedroom! 

Frames # 1 & 2 - almost complete! 

Frame # 3 in progress (Frame # 4 is still attached to the tree outside)

We are getting ready for a busy week of family get-togethers for both Thanksgiving and early Christmases! I've still got plenty to do before the second half of the week, but for now, I'm just enjoying the peaceful calm before the st[excitement]orm.

We wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with appreciation for all of the blessings we have been given! And next month we will celebrate the greatest blessing of all: our Savior Jesus Christ. :)