Monday, February 20, 2012

It is Winter somewhere...

Where is Winter???  I've been asking this question for about 2 months now!!  While we have had a few short blasts of snow, it hasn't been sticking around much.  In fact, after it arrives, the temperature seems to shoot up into the 40's and all that lovely snow melts away.

Thank goodness for snow making machines!!!  We purchased season passes to Snow Trails in Mansfield and they have done a GREAT job of keeping snow on the hills.  So, when Winter is nowhere to be found, we can go to Snow Trails and "pretend" it's Winter.  :-)

Yesterday was FABULOUS!!  We were thinking that the conditions would be pretty crummy, but instead, the snow was FAST FAST FAST!!  We enjoyed about 3 hours of great conditions and the sunshine made it even better.  I quit a bit before my husband so I could grab my camera and capture a few pictures.  Let me tell you... those hills are STEEP!!  When you are walking up instead of riding the lift or skiing down, you can really feel the pitch of the hill! Yikes!   I managed to stay upright and caught a few great photos of my husband racing down the  hill!

Maybe all this warm weather means we'll be having Winter in March and April??  I can only hope...   !!


























Wednesday, February 8, 2012

February Birthdays

February brings us the birthdays of Washington and Lincoln... and 2 other famous people (well, they are "famous" to me!).  My dad and my nephew (who is my godchild) celebrate their birthdays in the month of February.  This year they both have a number "6" in their age (smile).   The Rombach family gathered together to celebrate my Dad's birthday first and the result was an evening filled with lots of laughter, funny kids, yummy food and a special dessert.  We still manage to "squeeze" everyone around the huge dining room table for dinner and afterwards, there is a rousing chorus of the Happy Birthday Song (led by the kids) complete with "cha cha cha's" added in.  I'm not sure where the "cha cha cha's" came from, but the kids started doing this years ago and it's always amusing.  Dad gets to make his wish and blow out the candles on a plate of cupcakes (there is always a lot of "help" with the blowing part!).   Cupcakes aren't the only dessert.  My mom makes her fabulous cherry pie that we all love.  When I was little, my grandmother had a cherry tree in her yard.  She took special care of those cherries (climbing up on a ladder to cover the branches with netting so the birds didn't eat all those lovely cherries).  We all remember picking cherries, pitting cherries and best of all, eating cherry pie.  Grandma had a special recipe for the crust that my mother still uses (and it tastes "just as good as Grandma's!!!).  You can see how good it looks in the picture below (yes, it tasted as good as it looks!).  


I'm posting a few photos from the party below.  It was such a fun evening!  Lately, every time my family gathers together, I end up with sore cheeks from laughing so much...  I'm so blessed to have a wonderful family that is able to gather together for nights like this.  I hope you enjoy seeing a few images from the birthday party.


Oh... and happy birthday to George and Abe too (I've got George and Abe on the brain as my first graders are learning about them right now!).


PS  My youngest niece applied her own lipstick in the photo below... I think she needs a little practice or maybe she should look in the mirror so she can find her lips! (ha ha!).