Winter!

Here is the last picture I have of Chilly, on Christmas morning. It's one of my favorites. This is Snowy on Christmas morning. "This is my pile of destroyed Christmas wrappings. Do not attempt to take them away from me"!

Vanessa and I getting ready to walk the dogs. Its about 3 weeks before Christmas

Rick and I, dressed for dog walking in Wisconsin.

All bundled up, ready to go! We get to feel like Randy, the little brother in "A Christmas Story". "I can't put my arms downnnnnnn!!"

Chilly Becker 1/25/01-12/26/08

On the day after Christmas, we had to put our 7 year old samoyed, Chilly, to sleep. He had developed a lung condition over the past few months that accelerated 2 weeks before Christmas. We consulted with a surgeon in Illinois, but the surgery was unbelievably expensive and there was no guarantee the surgery would be successful. He was starting to struggle to breathe, so on Dec. 26th we made the agonizing decision to let him go.
Chilly was such a sweet, loving boy. Always happy to see anyone, ready to give kisses. Barking at the moon was a favorite past time, along with playing in the snow, stealing socks, greeting people on our walks, licking feet, and sleeping beside Samantha's bed at night. He was a big, beautiful samoyed whose parents were award winning show dogs. He got us instead of awards glory, but I don't think he minded. :) Chilly and his buddy Snowy. Snowy is a bit lost without him.

An absolutely adorable pup!

Look at that mug! This is him at 6 weeks old. When we saw the size of his paws, we knew he was going to be huge!

Good-bye Chilly. We will love and miss you every day.

Christmas Stuff

Here is our Chilly, taking a snoozer near the tree. The tree that still is not decorated other than lights. :) A few years ago, we started to collect the Department 56 Dickens Village series. Rick built a table with 2 tiers. I made all the brick work to look just like the ones Dept. 56 sells, along with roads, ponds, and even a snow hill. We have lots of fun collecting and setting it up every year. It's one of my favorite things at Christmas.

Big Snow!

Today we had our first big snow of the year. These pics were taken at about 7", but we are expected to get over a foot. Can you spot the beast??? Snowy---"I'm not going out there. No way. You can't make me. I don't care if I have to hold it all day. Now let me back in the %!#!! house.

Vanessa's car buried in snow. Schools, business' etc. all closed.

Chilly, in contrast to Snowy, would stay out all day if he could!

House Pics

This is a pic of our house before we painted it. We painted it an eggplant color, but its hard to see on this pic.
Here is a pic of a wreath I made a few years ago. Its on the front porch and has seen better days, but I hate making wreaths so I just keep hanging on to it. :)
Heres my Chilly watching me through the front door.

Hanson Concert

Saturday night, we went to see Hanson in Milwaukee at the Rave. We had a blast! We've been Hanson fans for 10 years, ever since Mmmbop. They are so gifted musically and are such a joy to watch live. Isaac Hanson did a cover of a Bill Withers song "use me" and it was awesome! I have other pics of the concert that I'll try and post later. Jennifer, Vanessa, and Samantha. I think these 3 will be pushing each others wheelchairs to see Hanson when they are old!!
THE best part of the whole night was that we finally got to meet a Hanson brother!! Zac Hanson is the youngest brother (22 now) and came out to sign autographs and picture taking after the concert. We were all thrilled!! What an incredibly nice guy. He was so patient and kind and never in a hurry to move on. Just the sweetest guy. I actually had a conversation with him about Paul Newman, who died the day before. :( Every time I turned so someone else could talk with him, he just kept talking to me about Paul Newman and his movies and philanthropy! The girls were just freaking out! As you can see in this picture, Jennifer freaked out the most. She waited 10 years to meet a Hanson and when she finally does, she freezes. She couldn't even talk to him! We will be giving her crap about that for the rest of her life. LOL
Thats me, talking with Zac
Vanessa, Zac and Samantha. They will never forget this.

Door County

The girls gave Rick and I a gift certificate to a resort in Door County for Christmas. Door County is the upper peninsula of WI. We had a really nice time. Lots of shopping, eating, relaxing. Wonderful art galleries and antiques. The weather was beautiful, although the colors hadn't started to change much. This is a pic from from the shoreline at Gills Rock, where we get the ferry to Washington Island Sunset at Sister Bay
This is a pic of one of my favorite artists shop. Pipka is world famous for her Victorian Santas and her shop is in Sister Bay. I just love her work and her shop is so beautiful and whimsical. The first time I went to her shop, I got so excited that I got out of the car too fast and sprained my toe! No injuries this time! lol See her work at http://www.pipkasofdoorcounty.com
Its hard to see, but these are the goats on top of Al Johnsons restaurant. They grow grass on the roof and bring the goats in all day to graze there. Then they go to a farm at night. Its just one of the quirky things in Door County!
This is how clear the water is on Washington Island. We have friends who live there. The only way to get there is by ferry, about 1/2 ride. This is schoolhouse beach. The whole beach consists of these beautifully smooth, white stones. No sand. If you get caught taking just 1 rock, it is a $250.00 fine! Needless to say we don't collect the rocks. lol When we were at this beach, it was just us and complete quiet. Almost forgot what that was like! So peaceful. Our friends have a beautiful home right on the shore on a different beach there.