Stormy Weather and Home for New Years

On Monday, my parents, my daughters, and I hung out in Mountain.  We visited Chute Pond to see the water drawdown, did various chores, and awaited a big snowstorm.  At one point it was projected that we would get nearly 15 inches, but by the time storm wound down on Tuesday we got more like five inches.  The Green Bay area got as much as 13 inches. Turns out that the same storm system dumped much rain and ice on Peoria while we were gone.  Our location had only a power flicker, but other places lost power for days. That Tuesday, I went to see the new Star Wars movie with my parents (Kris took Katie to a Chipmunks movie).  On Wednesday, the girls and I drove down to Chicago to pick up Karen at the airport (we made a stop at the Jelly Belly warehouse tour in Pleasant Prairie, WI).  We then drove back to Peoria (we saw lots of broken tree branches and utility trucks in central Illinois) for an evening visit with the Bosma family.  On Thursday, New Year's Eve, Kris led singing at Mass and later went to a party.  Katie and I went to the riverfront because I had heard there were to be fireworks there.  Turns out there were no fireworks (other people were at the location looking for the fireworks, too).  Perhaps the flooding Illinois River cancelled the event.  We returned home to Karen (bedridden with a sore back) with plenty of time to unwind in front to the TV to get to midnight.  When we got back home, we were surprised to see a deer in our front yard near our manger scene (probably attracted to the birdseed in our feeder).  Have a blessed 2016!