Last year, Justin and I were invited to a Passover Seder. There were FOUR occasions during the ceremony where the participants were required to down their cup of Manischewitz wine – this was our kind of religious ritual!
Apparently, we behaved well enough to be invited back this year, so we decided to bake a traditional babka for dessert. By “we” I mean Justin – he did all the work here. I just got in his way and annoyed him while photographing the entire process. It was a lot of fun!
Kaden’s skating class continues to glide along…
Each week, he feels a little more comfortable and gets a little more confident. As an incredibly proud aunt, it’s pretty cool for me to watch his abilities progress and see how far he’s come.
In most American families, there’s a sport that everyone enjoys and follows, whether they play it or not. In my family, it’s hockey. When my nephew Kaden came along six years ago, it didn’t take long for him to jump on the bandwagon. He’s excited to learn to play, but the thing about hockey is you can’t just rush out onto the ice and start shooting the puck – you have to learn to skate first. So for his Christmas present, I bought him skates and signed him up for skating lessons. And when the first day of class arrived, he was nervous, but ready.
We had a great time last year, so my family decided to return to Au Sable View Lodge for my parents’ anniversary weekend again this year. The house has become affectionately known as ‘the cabin’ by my kin, and I have a feeling this trip will become an annual event for us.
Yes, I really made my family stand outside in the five degree air temperature so I could get a shot of all of us in front of the cabin. And they only complained a little!
Inspired by the Winter Games going on over in Sochi, Russia (and the absolutely obscene amount of snow we’ve gotten this year), we had some fun on the hills near the cabin. There were plenty of wipe-outs, but I promise, no one hit any trees!
Although Kaden’s birthday was in January, he insisted on waiting until our weekend at the cabin for his party. He wanted a police theme this year, and everything turned out great – except the cake. We had some severe fondant malfunctions and ended up with a disaster of a police car for a cake. Fortunately, the birthday boy didn’t mind at all!
The wind was howling and the flurries were flying as Winter Storm Ion arrived in the Midwest on an innocent Sunday afternoon. I glanced out the window at the whiteout and said to myself, “This must be what it’s like to live north of the Wall.” (If you aren’t familiar with the Wall, might I suggest watching seasons one, two and three of Game of Thrones. Just don’t get too attached to anyone from Winterfell.)
As the gusts of wind slapped the snow against the house, I pulled on my boots and stepped outside into the storm. I stayed out just ten minutes before I retreated back indoors to the comfort and coziness of the fireplace, but in that short time, I captured some awesome images of winter’s wallop on the farm.
In case you’ve ever wondered, this is what a Mini Cooper looks like underneath a foot of snow. Looks like my little car won’t be going anywhere anytime soon…
And finally, here’s the view down the driveway. What driveway, you ask? Exactly.
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