January Bliss

Yesterday we hiked up the hill to the Abby in Mt. Angel with our friends Michelle, Tirzah and Henna. The girls had a great time and we enjoyed the peacefulness of the monestary. We also enjoyed the taxidermy museum there. Amazing!

The girls played "church" at the grotto, which is on the pathway up to the Abby. They sang songs, prayed and "decorated" the "church".

My little kitchen helper - Annah - LOVES helping in the kitchen. Here she is with our weekly batch of sugar-free (honey and molasses sweetened) granola.

Our little inauguration party with red, white and blue presidential muffins and Obama family paper dolls and Mira wrote an essay titled "Our New President". The girls played "white house" much of the afternoon.


The girls chasing chickens at a friend's house. Soon they'll have their own to chase around!

Beach Day in January

Great Book Recomendation

Little Heathens:
Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression

by Mildred Armstrong Kalish

I am almost finished with this delightful book and just wanted to let others know about it. It's a great non-fiction read - a simple story about how to find meaning and purpose in the simple tasks of everyday life during hard times. I think it's especially relevant with all that's going on in today's economy. I got it at my local library. Let me know if you read it and what you think!

Here's the synopsis from Publisher's Weekly:
Kalish's memoir of her Iowa childhood, set against the backdrop of the Depression, captures a vanished way of traditional living and a specific moment in American history in a story both illuminating and memorable. Kalish lived with her siblings, mother and grandparents-seven in all-both in a town home and, in warmer weather, out on a farm. The lifestyle was frugal in the extreme: "The only things my grandparents spent money on were tea, coffee, sugar, salt, white flour, cloth and kerosene." But in spite of the austere conditions, Kalish's memories are mostly happy ones: keeping the farm and home going, caring for animals, cooking elaborate multi-course meals and washing the large family's laundry once a week, by hand. Here, too, are stories of gossiping in the kitchen, digging a hole to China with the "Big Kids" and making head cheese at butchering time. Kalish skillfully rises above bitterness and sentiment, giving her memoir a clear-eyed narrative voice that puts to fine use a lifetime of careful observation: "Observing the abundance of life around us was just so naturally a part of our days on the farm that it became a habit." Simple, detailed and honest, this is a refreshing and informative read for anyone interested in the struggles of average Americans in the thick of the Great Depression.

Read more about the book here: www.little-heathens.com

Christmas and New Years!

Christmas sisters in their new dresses from Grandpa Ben, Kirsten and Mikkel in Denmark.

Christmas Eve with my sister Leyah and her boyfriend Eric

Lil' Jule aften dinner (the night before Christmas Eve) for Chip's annual shrimp feast!

Mira painted this watercolor (all onpicture from a Santa statue at Mimi's house. Isn't it beautiful?!

Snow Girl! We had a great time sledding down a hill on our street.

Happy New Year!

Watching the Glockenspiel in Mt. Angel come to life! Amazing!

My first rag rug! Shane's mom taught me how to do it.