Spring?

I planted peas this afternoon. I don't think I've ever planted anything outside here in International Falls before the first of May. I may regret it but hopefully not. Two weekends ago I started tomatoes, spinach, oregano and parsley in the house. It is definitely beginning to feel like spring here. We haven't had snow on the ground for a while already, but are only very slowly greening as we've had very little rain. We are expecting rain this week so hopefully will speed up the green process.

We had a busy Easter as Jeff and Rachel worked in the sound booth and I worked in the kitchen preparing breakfast for the church family, an annual teen fundraiser for their summer missions trip. We then had Easter dinner here with Nelsons, Sinclairs and Bob Nye. I left church a bit early to be able to come home and send Sarah back off to school. We had a wonderful weekend with her.

Stephen is in Atlanta for the week. He is working as a student volunteer at the International Computer Human Interaction conference. He will be presenting a paper with the rest of the team it was researched and written with. He will also get a tour of the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Speech sections are next Saturday and Rachel is excited and ready. It has been a good season for her.

Enjoy spring!
Diane

How the time does fly!

A month since the last post. Not quite sure why it is so difficult to update here. I think we are living life, not writing about it. In the last month, Rachel has had a speech meet each Saturday. I've had to make the decision to cut hours at the library due to a staff member resigning that I can't replace. And Jeff has recorded 2 or 3 new shows. As a family we've celebrated the Oscars, spent time with Stephen on his spring break, watched winter melt away faster than any year since we've been here and lived day to day.

Yesterday Jeff and I celebrated 22 years of wedded bliss. It has been a good 22 years, even through the rough moments. I wouldn't trade him for anyone else, I don't think there is anyone else willing to put up with my foibles.

I've begun planning the garden and dreaming about what I want to do outside. Rachel is getting ready for speech sections and possibly the state meet. She also competed with the high school band at sections this past Thursday. The band had had some individuals or duos compete but hadn't had the entire group participate in a number of years. They were pretty excited at qualifying for the state meet. Rachel will have a very busy April (but what is new) She follows after her parents and stays involved.

Sarah will be home for Easter weekend and we can't wait. We will be busy while she's here but will enjoy the time we can grab. She is hoping to find work in the cities for the summer and we will miss her if she doesn't come home.

Stephen spend part of spring break in Boston graduate school shopping. He looked at MIT, Harvard and Tufts and was most comfortable with Tufts. He thinks it would be a good fit. He will look at the Georgia Institute of Technology in April while attending the Computer Human Interaction conference as a student volunteer and presenting a paper (with his name listed as one of the co-authors). He is hoping to fly to Seattle in May to take a look at the University of Washington. I keep telling myself, at least he isn't look at graduate schools overseas. :)

Hope your spring is shaping up and everyone is staying healthy.
Love,
Diane

In the News

The family is in the news again, well at least Jeff and Rachel. Check out this great story that ran on NPR this morning. I hope they get a good response and run it on "All things Considered" which is where they were going to run it originally.



And I don't think my link is working this morning so I am going to put the address in below and you will probably have to copy and paste this address to view the story.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/02/26/icebox-theater/

I don't know what is wrong but the link won't load and I don't have time right now to figure out how to make it work.

Enjoy.
Diane

Rachel and clothes

Rachel isn't a clothes fiend, or hog like many girls but she does enjoy looking nice. But she is also an incredible bargain hunter. Yesterday we saw a sign that we thought meant a very nice 2nd hand clothing store was going out of business. Rachel went down after school to take a look. The store isn't going of out business, but they were having a winter clearance sale. Rachel has wanted a formal outfit to wear for a variety of events (like out Oscar party). She found a $10 formal that she really liked and that fit. Her favorite dress, that has been at the store for a while now, is still not on sale but below is the dress she found. I continue to marvel at her ability to find bargains that she likes.

Fourth Day of Christmas

It is the fourth day of Christmas and the family is mostly dug out from the Christmas storm that saw us get about 2 feet of new snow between Dec. 24th and Dec. 26th. I am back at work and writing this post between helping patrons so if it becomes a bit disjointed you'll know why.

We had a wonderful Christmas. We were incredibly blessed by good food, good company (a family that enjoys spending time together is a precious gift of it's own) and generosity of friends and family in plenty of gifts.

Yesterday, Rachel and I got out to the ski trail and I skied my classic ski and Rachel tried out her new skate skis. She is going to have to continue learning. She looks a bit awkward yet. We are looking into finding someone to give her a brief lesson. Our goal is to get out at least every Thursday evening, even if it is just for 1 km.

We have had a terrific time with Stephen, Sarah and Rachel this Christmas. Jeff and I appreciate our children so much and marvel at the adults they are becoming.

Hopefully our Christmas letter will get written tonight and in the mail by the end of the week.

Our love and prays for a joyous end to 2009 and blessings in 2010.
Love,
Diane

Advent

I enjoy the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is time to prepare. I stay busy baking, buying, wrapping and all but have time to enjoy the process. December has also been cold, helping motivate me to stay in and get things done.

The week has been full but at the moment I'm not remembering much of note. This coming week will be a bit different. Jeff has the business fundraiser for Icebox Radio Theater this week. Calls to Santa will be each evening this coming week from 6 -8 pm. You can call and talk to Santa and listen to the show by going to the icebox radio theater website. It will be a busy week for Jeff.

I am hosting a library holiday open house on Wednesday afternoon for staff, board members and city staff. Then Thursday afternoon I will pick Rachel up at school and she and I will drive to Morris to pick up Stephen. We'll spend the night in Morris then all of us come up to Bemidji to finish up our Christmas shopping.

Take care. Hope everyone is staying healthy and enjoying the holidays.
Love,
Diane

December

It is December and the snow has finally arrived. It began snowing the evening of November 28th and has snowed some each day since. The temperature has also begun dropping. So this morning I believe we hit 0 for the first time this winter.

But we have a nice warm house and the outside is pretty white with the trees flocked more beautifully than any human job I've ever seen.

The main news here is that Rachel is now employed. She was asked by one of the local radio stations to man the station during live broadcasts of local sports. She spent two days earlier this week learning the system and last night was in alone at the station for the first time. She is also hoping to get on at a local coffee shop after the holidays as she really wants to learn to make coffee drinks. (I think she also wants smoothies and I believe you get one free drink a shift. :)

Jeff and I were talking and commented on the fact that the first job of both our kids was at radio stations. Obviously they are known in the community for their ability to learn technological equipment and speak (although Rachel isn't speaking on the radio at this point.)

We have begun holiday preparations. We'll pick up Stephen on the 17th and I believe Sarah will come home on the 20th. We aren't traveling this year and will enjoy a quiet Christmas here at home. We will order our traditional (to International Falls) smoked turkey and salmon for Christmas day.

Hope everyone's holiday plans are coming together and that the spirit of the season is present in your homes. We miss all our relatives and friends on the west coast but sure have come to enjoy white Christmases. So anyone is welcome to join us.

Love,
Diane