snow day (or... ice day)

I like snow- it's really the only thing that makes winter worth it to me. It's pretty. And Ben especially likes it when it cancels school for the day. He also really enjoys playing in the snow- sometimes I worry he will wind up like Casper and play in the snow too long (and then dwell in an old creepy mansion as a friendly ghost amongst his grumpy ghost uncles...hope not). It's been cold for a while, so part of the river froze over a while ago. So, Ben and Nick quickly took advantage of that. (And even wore ridiculous life jackets to prove to us how "safe" they were being).

Now, the snow (and ice) has come. And that is fine with me, as long as a heavy ice-laden branch doesn't fall on the power lines. (We tend not to be high on the electric company's list of places to come promptly repair).

Can you tell I like this window?

The playground is covered in ice.

a tiny taste of camp...and the inauguration

This weekend is the winter retreat at camp. I love this weekend- it feels like a small preview of what's to come in the summer. (Luckily, however, it is NEVER this cold in the summer.) Today at lunch, even, the kids were banging silverware on the tables and singing obnoxiously. It's been busy and crazy, but fun. The best part of this weekend is our theme. Camp always has a theme- in the summers it's stuff like "Pirates of the Chesapeake" or "Boot Camp"... so this weekend got a theme too- and in light of the upcoming events on the 20th, it's Inauguration weekend here at the retreat. There are games and there are teams, and the teams are named appropriately as follows: Socialized Health Care, Economic Stimulus Plan, & Big 3 Bail Out.
The cheer for the Big 3 Bail Out team--"Our banking was tanking, we didn't fail out, we got a bail out!" Well, and the Socialized Health Care team didn't really have a cheer because they all just coughed sickly and fell over...
We even played a game called "Barack & Roll".
It's been a good time!

my year in review

2009 is here. And it has been for 9 days now, which is really crazy to me. Although we are a good bit into the new year, I still feel that I would like to bid 2008 farewell with a quick review of my year.

In 2008...
I dyed my hair black as the blackest night in the early winter and learned of its irreversible effects a little too late.

My Sam (really Meg & Dave's Sam) was baptized on the beach.

I attended 10 weddings. Only half of which were even in this state. The wedding marathon kicked off in March and ended in October. phew. And they were wonderful.We celebrated one year of marriage. One whole year and I am really thankful to be married to Ben. We celebrated by eating dinner, and I had the best tuna steak of my life.(We are actually at a wedding in this picture too... but it was really close to our anniversary, so there you go.)

I got to be the director of Day Camp. I. heart. camp. What a fun summer.

I had the privilege of experiencing a cruise. I love vacation... but I am still not sure how I feel about my vacation being on a tipsy floating vessel. I ran my first 5k- in memory of my mom and to beat breast cancer. And (sadly) it kicked my butt! But it was fun!One of our dear friends passed away... and I continue to see God's grace and sovereignty through his life and death.

My aunt & uncle decided to buy a house in Georgia. I've lived in the old line state my whole life, so this change seems big and scary and too far away. But exciting. And it doesn't really get cold there, so you can't blame them.So, there you have it. It's kind of fun to look through all the pictures from 2008. Time to do some new and exciting things to take pictures of in 2009!