Pic of 2015

There were a lot of cool things that happened this year and lots of great pictures taken, but selecting my favorite was pretty easy: a family picture in front of Mt. Rushmore on the Fourth of July  This trip finally took place after years of waiting - even though the trip itself was a bit "seat-of-the-pants".  I hope you all have a blessed 2016!

Into Christmas of 2015

The warm weather continued into the week of Christmas.  Katie and I went for a bike ride on the winter solstice.  The next day, Katie's friend came for an overnight visit and helped us to decorate cookies. The next night, we went to see cool a light display in Norwood, IL.  They had rows of light strings shaped like a Christmas tree that were programmed to show images.  Christmas Eve seemed to come rather suddenly, but we got ready (barely) and made it to Christmas Eve Mass (Kris sang and Karen read).  Katie and also visited a couple light displays in East Peoria.  On Christmas Day, we traveled up to Door County, WI, to visit Karen's Dad, and had a nice visit. Katie beat me in a game of "horse". On the next day, we traveled over to Mountain, WI, to visit my parents.  The next day, my father, Karen, and I drove Karen down to Chicago so she could fly out to Virginia Beach, VA, to her grandma's funeral.

Semester End

Kris, Katie, and I have finished school for the semester and the family is winding up for Christmas in a few days.  Karen,, Kris, and I saw the new Star Wars movie this past week and enjoyed it. Weather has still been pretty warm with no sign of snow. We saw robins getting ready to overwinter in Peoria. Katie and I went for a bike ride on Saturday in East Peoria and had fun.  On Sunday night we took a break from baking to go ice skating at the Winterfest in downtown Peoria.  Katie has never gone before, and the rest of us have not gone skating in quite a while.  We were all pretty wobbly but did OK.

Very warm weekend

Last weekend we visited my sister, her husband, and her new baby in the Chicago area.  All are doing well.  This week has been very wet and warm (with record breaking temperatures today and yesterday in Peoria - five years ago we had a blizzard).  On Friday night, Karen and I took a stroll among the luminaries at the Forest Park Nature Preserve.  While Kris took the ACT exam on Saturday, I stopped by the Illinois River to take pictures in the fog before I gave one of my final exams.  Today Kris was in a concert with her church choir and did well.

Botanical Garden Visit note

Last post I talked about a visit to Luthy Botanical Garden.  I want to add that there was a Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus there that have been at events at For Friends Preschool (which both of our girls have attended).  Here are some pictures of the girls with Mr. and Mrs. Santa from 2005, 2010, and 2015.  Sorry if the pix came out upside down or sideways.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We stayed in town over Thanksgiving weekend and had lots of visitors:  Karen's dad (before Thanksgiving), my parents and their dog, one of Karen's co-worker's family, the Bosmas, and Bob Gayhart.  We had fun, and after everybody left we put up Christmas decorations.  We also stopped by to see the decorations at Luthy Botanical Gardens and elsewhere.

It's a Wonderful Life production

Last weekend, Peoria Christian High School had its production of "It's A Wonderful Life." Kristine played the role of Mary Hatch/Bailey and Katie played the role of Zuzu Bailey.  The production was in "black and white," which meant that the cast members had to wear gray makeup (and look like zombies in normal light) and dress in grayscale.  The set was all in grayscale, too. Even without the cool special effects it was a great production.  Everybody really put forth a great effort and it really showed.  The pictures of the production were hard to shoot (and some of them are not even mine) but I hope they get the idea across.

First Snowfall of the Year

....and it was a doozy, with 4.5 inches of snow!  I did not feel ready for this event, but it turned out to be really pretty with how the snow stuck to the trees.  Here are some pictures, including some of hoarfrost.  (I have lots of other pictures from the weekend, including those of the "It's A Wonderful Life" production at Peoria Christian High School that Kris and Katie participated in, but maybe they will be posted on a later day.)