Did I Sleep Through Summer?

That is the question, after spring seemed to appear and winter hit soon after!  Yikes!  We are ready for sunshine in the Sunshine State!  We missed school again on Wednesday thanks to Mother Nature.  Here are a few pics of the wild weather.  We are heading to a Murder Mystery at the Britton Bistro tonight. Our church's Chili Dinner is tomorrow.  Should be fun.  Can't wait for the best chicken salad sandwiches in the world!!!  Yum!!

The Azures visited us Saturday night.  Movies, cards, fun had by all!

Snow sculpture!

Graupel.....this appears to be what fell from the sky in sheets on Tuesday.  Along with the lightning and thunder!

Bill H pushes our "spring snow".  Boy was it heavy!

(Almost) March Madness

Megan Goedert fighting for the ball

Ceci and I went to Aberdeen on Thursday night for the GBB District game between Britton-Hecla and Roncalli.  Wow, were we in for a night!  We ended up losing in 3 OTs!  It was quite a night.  The girls fought hard, but Roncalli has a scrappy little team.  I will miss watching the senior girls! 

Next we will travel to the BBB Districts game agains Groton in Aberdeen on Tuesday.  Good luck boys!!  Below are some pics from days gone by!

Hmmm.....must have been about 7th grade?  Too cute!

The boys were ready to "hunt" some pheasants....Redfield Pheasants

Birthdays

You would have thought that with 4 days off from school I would have gotten these posted sooner, but no such luck.  Here are some pictures from my SURPRISE 40th bday party (thanks everyone!) and from Ceci's 4th bday party. 

I thought I was going to the Lodge with some friends when we stopped in Lake City, but the got me good with a surprise party instead.  It was GREAT to have my family and friends all there! 

The next day we had a Sunday dinner, red beers and whist to honor Ceci's bday.  OK, she didn't have all of those, but had many presents and a cake. 

We are so blessed!!

Shots with the girls

Missy, Lori, Carrie and Kris

My best buddy Michelle was there!

What a bunch!  Heading out from the VFW.  Did I mention it was -25 below?

Cowgirl Ceci and Monte

Celine and a friend had Ceci "All dolled up"

Make a wish!

Mom, Aunt Maxine and Matlock

Maybe I should have cropped the bottom of this pic?  Thanks Janel

Seriously?

Thank God this was not Wendell, but he was in the vicinity!  After getting out of Wisconisin, Wendell made it to Sisseton Wednesday night before getting stranded there.  The wind was blowing, but who would have thought we would miss another day of school!  The picture above was on I-29 between Summit and Sisseton.  I got the pic from the MSNBC website.  Looks like we will have school Friday.  What a week!

CRAZY WEATHER!!!

Wendell shoveling in a different snowstorm!

It has been an interesting start to 2011.  Who would have thought we would miss 3 days of school in a row?  Two for snow and one for cold?  It was -27 deg with -46 deg windchill....yikes!  Wendell is stuck in the Blizzard of the Century in Milwaukee.  He made it there safely, although he was down to 30 mph at one point.  He unloaded and is waiting at the plant for conditions to improve.  So, I am left at home to make sure the shower doesn't freeze (darn old house) and that the fire is stoked (it makes for nice warm floors).  Ceci is watching ET and I am thinking about all of the stuff I should be doing.  So, we are all glad to be safe on this cold winter day.  I included a story about the weather that was in the Aberdeen paper......we will remember this one!  Take care, one and all!

Colossal storm roars across nation’s heartland


Paralizing punch of ice, snow stretches from Texas to Maine

BY MICHAEL TARM
Associated Press

CHICAGO — A winter weather colossus roared into the nation’s heartland Tuesday, laying down a paralyzing punch of dangerous ice and whiteout snow that served notice from Texas to Maine that the storm billed as the worst in decades could live up to the hype.
Ice-covered streets were deserted in Super Bowl host city Dallas.
Whiteouts shut down Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

And more was on the way. Chicago expected 2 feet of snow, Indianapolis an inch of ice, and the Northeast still more ice and snow in what’s shaping up to be a record winter for the region.

The system that stretched more than 2,000 miles across a third of the country promised to leave in its aftermath a chilly cloak of teeth-chattering cold, with temperatures in the single digits or lower.

Winds topped 60 mph in Texas. The newspaper in Tulsa, Okla., canceled its print edition for the first time in more than a century. In Chicago, public schools called a snow day for the first time in 12 years, and both major airports gave up on flying until at least this afternoon.

The storm also led Chicago officials to close the city’s busy and iconic Lake Shore Drive while crews tried to plow snow Tuesday night. City officials said the move was temporary but that they could have to close it again if high winds push 25-foot waves from nearby Lake Michigan onto the roadway.

Cities across middle America shut down hours ahead of the snow. Scores of schools, colleges and government offices canceled activities or decided not to open at all. Large sections of busy Midwest interstates were closed, and 9,000 flights had been canceled across the nation.

In Missouri, more than a foot of snow had fallen by midday, with no end in sight. For the first time in history, the state of Missouri shut down Interstate 70 between St. Louis and Kansas City due to a winter storm.

‘‘The roads are just pure white. There’s no traffic. Nothing,’’ said Kristi Strait, who was working at Clinton Discount Building Materials in Clinton, Mo.

Others didn’t let the weather keep them from work. The bakery Chez Monet in downtown Jefferson City was open, adding hot oatmeal for chilled customers. Owner Joan Fairfax said she road to work without trouble. She wasn’t sure about her ride home, but said she could walk if necessary.

‘‘I have never missed a day of work because of weather in 20 years,’’ said Fairfax, 54.

The leading edge of the storm slammed first into Texas and Oklahoma after moving out of the Rockies. The blizzard halted production of the print edition of today’s Tulsa World, marking the first time in the paper’s nearly 106-year history that is has not published an edition.

Ice-coated roads were nearly empty in Dallas, where the few motorists who braved the unfamiliar terrain slowed to a crawl as they passed jack-knifed tractor-trailers on slick highways. The NFL managed to stick to its Super Bowl schedule, holding media activities at Cowboys Stadium in suburban Arlington as planned.

Green Bay Packers fans Dieter Sturm and Mark Madson postponed plans to drive from Wisconsin to the Super Bowl in a Cadillac convertible, but said they planned to leave this morning if possible.

‘‘We love driving in the snow,’’ said Sturm, who works making snow for movies and commercials.

‘‘We love having the snow fall on top of us. We’re from Wisconsin. We can handle that without a problem. The icy roads are another story.’’

The pair said they have personal heating systems, including clothes dryer hoses laced inside their jackets that rest beneath their chins to keep their “faces from freezing solid,’’ Sturm said.

Christmas and New Year's--Finally

I am behind! We enjoyed a nice Christmas in Bristol at Wendell's brother's place. We also went to my parent's house on Christmas Day. RJ was home for a few days before he had to go back to Sioux Falls. We survived the big "New Year's Storm", with Wendell stuck in Sioux Falls and Ceci and I snowed in from Wednesday until Saturday. I had to shovel a path to the street so that Cari and Paul could pick us up to go to the movie!
2010 went really fast and 2011 is flying also! How can it be the middle of January already?

These pics are out of order, but I thought I better get them published so I can get a new post ready.  Another late start tomorrow.  It has been a long winter already!

Next post will be of my big surprise bday party, what fun!

We broke out the easy bake oven during the NYE snowstorm.

Maggie was cold!  She loves to snuggle under blankets.

Here is the path I shoveled, just to get to the street so Ceci and I could go to the movie with Cari and Paul.

Princesses Izzy, Ceci and Alyssa



Ceci was an angel in our church's Christmas Program.  Her wings kept falling off so we call her our fallen angel. 



Painting party at Melody's new house.  Nothing like drinking beer and painting with a bunch of teachers!

The fam at Christmas

Ceci loves her Belle!

And her walking dog!

Ceci and LeRon, I mean Santa!

Janel's big 4-0 party.  We headed to Amherst for beers and a huge junk plate and couldn't resist driving the car parked in the corner!  Shut your shiny white teeth!

Cats Playing Patty-cake, what they were saying...

This is so funny! Ceci and I are watching it over and over!

Almost Thanksgiving?

Hard to believe that Thanksgiving is just around the corner! Where does the time go?  Here are some pics that go along what has been going on at the Anderson household! 

Ceci was a "good witch" for Halloween, complete with her own Halloween kitty!  We have two stray cats "living" on our front step.  "Halloween Kitty and "The One-Eyed Kitty" (she has a bad eye :( ) will hopefully find new homes soon, although Ceci loves having them around and they are nice cats.

Ceci and Cindy, her day care provider...whom Ceci adores!

Ceci can pout with the best of them!

MAGGIE!!!

Ceci LOVES gathering and playing with stuffed animals.  She has quite a collection about the house.

The One-Eyed Kitty is very patient and Ceci loves her!

Last week we visit Ceci's aunts, Rochelle, Tammy and Charlene and did some crafts. 

Before Halloween, Ceci, Grandma and I went to Siouix Falls to visit RJ.  We stayed at a hotel and Ceci enjoyed the pool.  We did some shopping and took RJ and the boys to Buffalo Wild Wings for supper.  We also visited RJ at Sears where he is currently selling TV's for his part-time job.

Webster, Bath, Mina.........

What do these SD towns have in common?  They are all places I have run in the past week.  Carrie J and I did the Pumpkinfest run once again, and then the 10-10-10 trail run near Bath, and then the grande finale......1/2 Marathon this past Saturday near Mina Lake.  Whew....it was a bit windy out of the north, but not as cold as it could have been!  It was a great run around the lake.  Who knew there were such nice cabins/houses on Mina.  We even had a train honk at us as it went by (a first).  OK, so we usually look the same in our pics, tired, hot, makeup-less, but here we are anyway.  I think we will go on hiatus until spring. 

Otherwise, we survived Homecoming and school is its usual October whirlwind!  Enjoy the beautiful fall days and God Bless!  I am doing a Bible Study of the Book of Daniel and it is very interesting.  I am learning a lot about Babylon of the past and also the Babylonian challenges of today.  Until next time......

Cool Ceci



 Webster Pumpkinfest-weather much better than last year.  No ice or snow!



The Locken Farm south of Bath.  They had rugged trails and even camels.  Another first!



 Roncalli Cross Country sponsored 1/2 Marathon at Mina Lake.  We were last (someone behind us dropped out), but VERY proud of our time since we did not train much and it came up at the last minute!

2010 Homecoming Court including Queen Tara and King Wyman...what a great looking bunch!

Check out that JAWS float! Proud of the seniors for their effort, even though they didn't win first! 

Heading into Fall

Wow, it is October!  I hear it may have froze last night, but my uncovered plants look OK.  Last night Carrie J. and I decided to go for a run.  We got a ride to the North Dakota border and ran back to Britton.  There was a north wind, which helped us complete the 10 miler!  It got dark earlier than we expected, and we also had to contend with a dog that wanted to follow us.  Luckily a deputy was fueling up at the cop shop and he took the dog home for us.  Just as we got to town we heard the coyotes howling.  Spooky!!  It was a lot of fun! 

Otherwise, we are staying busy with school, pasture cattle and preschool activities such as dance, library time and other fun stuff.  Tomorrow is our church's Octoberfest which is always fun. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

 Ceci in her leotard

 Elton John?

 Isn't this a cool pic?  Ceci, Maggie and the prairie

 Can you say football in September weather?

Ceci and Brittany had fun with Ceci's stuffed animals