Greetings from the Northwoods of Northern Wisconsin. I hope the New Year finds everyone well. I guess I have a lot of catching up to do, so here we go.................
We arrived at the lake Christmas Eve to some light little snow flakes dancing out of the sky, it was absolutely breathtaking. We arrived to late in the evening to pull off our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of fondue, so we opted for lasagna instead. After cleaning up dinner dishes, our next tradition is to get into our Christmas jammies, grab a glass of wine (or pop) and meet under the Christmas tree to open gifts.
Having our first Christmas at the lake was wonderful and having Rita was even better. Rita has always been very dear to our hearts, but after spending our first Christmas with her........it just sealed the deal. Having her as our new addition to the family is very special to me. She fills the motherly void that has been missing in my life for many years.
This year I surprised all 3 of the boys with hockey skates because you know.....we have a 3800 acre skating rink in our front yard. The guys have been shoveling & manicuring a fine rink. It has been a little cold to get out there and I am sorta scared of falling after having my 2nd surgery. Jonathan wanted a new ipod touch because the new ones now have internal speakers, so we surprised him with a new 32 gb ipod......just what he wanted :) Joel got a new craftsman tape measure, because when Wayde came up to built the new steps, he dropped his in the wall. Never to be seen again. Big Joe has taken up ice fishing, so he received some of the gear he needed. And I........received the most beautiful diamond tennis bracelet from my beloved ;)
We awoke Christmas morning to another light dusting of snow. We had a quiet day and got ready to Christmas dinner with Pam & Steve. Another 1st.........sharing the special season with our friends. After dinner we opened our gifts and shared in the moments.
The following week, Joel spent commuting between the lake & work in Brooklyn Park......a hour hour drive both ways. Jonathan just hung out with his friends, Big Joe ice fished and I went to PT every day!!!!!! I have the most wonderful PT, Larry. He sees me Saturdays, Sundays & Holidays.....he knows how important it is to all of us to get my shoulder working properly. All the progress I have made to date is because of his dedication.
New Years Eve was spent with Pam & Steve. They had never had fondue, so as every knows.....I have perfected the 4 hr fondue. We only made it 3 hours, but it was still absolutely fabulous. Jonathan had his friend, Daniel (our foreign exchange student from Norway) over & they did the 30 minute version and off to gaming they went. We all cleaned the dishes and sat down with a glass of champaign to welcome in the New Year. I think we all were in bed by 12:30 am....with the exception of the boys. New Years Day was just spent working around the house.
Last Saturday, we took another trip back to the MN house to get a couple more things. Jonathan & Daniel came along for the ride. After we took care of our business, we stopped off at Cici's Pizza for the boys. The pizza has got to be the crappy pizza we have ever eaten, but the boys love it! And that is all that matters. During lunch we were talk to Daniel about our town and the MOA came up. So we decided to make a quick dash to the MOA for him to shop. Talk about speechless.....It is so different bringing a 17 year old to the MOA and watch his mouth drop in amazement. Much different than bring a small child......... So Daniel took the opportunity to do some major shopping....in fact I think when the final dollar was dropped, he stimulated the economy to the tune of $1500.00. Before we left, we took him to Hooter's........hilarious. He bought a t-shirt and ALL the hooter girls signed it for him. Can hardly wait to hear the story he tells his father when he goes home in June.
Joel had decided he wanted to stay up at the lake one more week to continue his trail run. I needed to stay as well, because I am getting the most fantastic PT. Back in the cities my PT sessions were 30 minutes long for $80.00. In those 30 minutes it was 5 minutes of charting on each end, so the PT was only actually working with me for 20 minutes. At the lake, my PT is 60 minutes for $75.00 and Larry is working with me the WHOLE 60 minutes. A session consists of working on elliptical machine, weight lifting and stretches. After that it is into his dungeon room for him to crank the living hell out of me. He makes me cry......but I know I have to get through it so I can get back to my normal workout regiment & get these 25 lbs back off that I have gained since the shoulder going to the pot. That would be the other New Year's resolution.....I will get into the dress that I worn to the 1st annual cabin party by this year's party!!
Thursday's little 1-2 inches of snow took Joel 3 hours to get to work. I thought after he got home that night we would be packing up to head back to MN house. Surprise me! He has decided we are shutting the MN house down & moving to the lake.. WOO HOO! we are here for good!!!!
Yesterday Big Joe met up with Bob to fishing with him in his ice house. So I decided I didn't feel like cooking & Jonathan was wanting italian. We headed into Rice Lake to Drag's. OMG, they put Olive Garden to shame. It was awesome food and we all walked away with full tummies.
This morning, Joel & I got up early to head to the local credit union to open up our new checking account here. Now we are one step closer to being official. After we were finished, we picked up Steve & Jonathan and headed to MN house for another load of stuff and Jonathan's car. Jonathan is happy to have his car finally up here. It's Grandma Waage's Birthday today.......
Tomorrow is a big day.....Tomorrow is Joel & my 25th wedding anniversary (also Wayde & Shell's.....can't think of anybody else we'd love to share the date with. Congrats to you guys! )
In those 25 years, we have experienced the ups & downs of life, but we have made it. I have some surprises planned, but will tell later. Also, John, Joann & Grandma Waage are coming to celebrate Christmas & Grandma Waage's birthday.
Well, there it all is in a nutshell. I hope everyone's holidays were wonderful and we are looking forward to seeing you guys up here this winter. Please give us a call or send us an e-mail via the link on the right if you would like to come up for the weekend. There is a lot of fun things to do......skating, snowmobiling, cross country skiing, bon fires and newly added, car racing on the lake (yes, they race cars on the lake over in front of Red's)
Take Care
Check Back Often.....Check Back Soon
Love Joel, Amy and Jonathan
