blooming...

i love snow and i love winter!

and altho i love them, i also love to see flowers blooming!

thank goodness for my violet!

my little pink violet is truly the sunshine in my winter world!

isn't she beautiful?

hope you're having a beautiful day filled with sunshine of some kind!

outing...

my husband, daughter, and i

got together with my

dad and mom,

brothers and sisters,

niece and nephews,

great-niece and great-nephews!

we were celebrating christmas!

finally!

we live about 30 miles from my dad and mom.

this is what we saw along the way~

buffalo!

this rock foundation is in the buffalo pasture. it is incredible! i love rocks and it has fascinated me for a long time. i would love to have seen the house that once sat on this foundation!

this is open water! not too incredible except that it was -5 at the time! the current keeps it from freezing!
isn't that amazing?

i love water and i love snow so this is all

incredibly beautiful to me!

this is the water on one side of the road...

and this is where the water comes from on
the other side of the road!

and the time we spent with my family
was as amazing as the scenery along the way!

flipped over...

we've flipped over (my snowman friend and i!) to a new year!

here's hoping your new year

will be filled with many reasons to flip out!

p.s. my snowman's friends and family

will be showing up to meet and greet you

thruout january!

happy new year!

our wish...

it's new year's eve! the old year is on it's way out and a new year on it's way in! how exciting and promising! a new year! i am ready and excited for a new year! the smile on my face, dreaming about the new year, is as big as this snowman's smile! i hope you have a smile on your face in anticipation of new year! mr. snowman and i would like to wish you a very happy new year filled with all of what your dreaming of for 2010...

snowy and cold...

the snow and the cold are here to stay. and that's ok by me! i'm looking forward to a long winter!

i am sooo ready to hibernate in our home and enjoy the snow and the cold from the inside where it's all warm and cozy!

i hope to slow down and relax some during my hibernation but i also hope to get busy and work on some projects around the house and to stitch and sew some crafts! fun, fun, fun! so bring on the snow and the cold...

a white world...

it's a white world outside my door! it's also beautiful! the storm that was set to hit the midwest over christmas did just that! and this is what it left behind! drifts of fluffy, white snow everywhere! i've mentioned before that i love snow. it is so peaceful to me. it quiets the earth and envelops it in a white blanket.

it really couldn't be any more beautiful than this...

the reason for the season...

truly the baby born today is the reason for the season, the reason we celebrate christmas. merry christmas to you and your family!

and there were shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by nite...

and there were shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by nite... it's christmas eve! an angel will appear to the shepherds to bring them good tidings of great joy! a baby will be born, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger! the shepherds will go to bethlehem to find mary, joseph, and the baby jesus. glory to god in the highest and peace to his people on earth...

and the stockings were hung...

and the stockings were hung... and so i'm ready for christmas! it's sounding like we will have a winter storm here for christmas! i looooove being snowed in at home and being cozy and warm inside, but i've never (never) not been at dad and mom's for christmas day! it's unthinkable for me! it's where i want to be for christmas day! but not this year. this year i'll be at our home with my husband and daughter. and i'm excited about that! it'll be different not being with my dad and mom and my brothers and sisters and all the nieces and nephews but it'll be good! quiet, simple, and good..and then on sunday, when the storm's all over and we've all dug our way out, we're all going to get together to celebrate christmas at dad and mom's! all is good...

walking in a winter wonderland...

i am walking in a winter wonderland! and i love it! i walk thru this lane almost every morning. it's my favorite part of the walk because, in every season, it's beauty never ceases to amaze me.

the trees are sooo incredible frosty and beautiful.

the spruces are flocked and ready for christmas.

the beauty and peacefulness of this winter wonderland is so fitting for christmas.

may beauty and peace be yours this christmas...