Naughty Elf on a Shelf is back

Wilson has been good the last few days and hasn't moved around too much.  This morning I go take a shower and come out to find Wilson drinking a Mt Dew.......... Really Wilson (John) you know I gave that stuff up?   Of course Wilson opened it so either I dump it down the drain or drink it.  I drink it and it tastes soooooo good, he must have known what I needed.  I will never like another soda, and I'm sure some day I'll get back into drinking way too much of this stuff but for now I try very hard to go without.

Angel Elf on the Shelf

Last night was a rough night for sleeping, it was a great night for laying close to each other and just feeling the warmth and love between us.  John was hurting so bad and I couldn't begin to bring him comfort and take his pain away.  We talked, cried and listened to each other breath for what felt like hours.  As much as you know you need to sleep it doesn't happen your eyes are like glued open and you don't even begin to feel tired or if you shut your eyes you might not be able to control what will happen during the night.  After 20 trips up and down the stairs, a mound of kleenex and 4 very bloodshot eyes we welcomed sleep.

Our morning started like it always does, John is off to work and I'm off to they gym.  Ed is standing in the doorway about 30 minutes into my class.  My heart dropped to my knees.  John's dad had passed.  I  flew out of the gym and could not drive fast enough to John's work.  They have no one to answer the phones until 8:00 so I had to drive there and I am so thankful that I got to tell him in person vs on the phone.  He is out of pain but it's still hard to accept.

Our little Wilson wanted to show us that God has gained another angel today.  

God bless you dad, may you rest in peace.

Tired and Sad Elf on a Shelf

We are going through some sad times with John's dad.  He's lived a long life, worked very hard and is getting very tired.  All of our children came to see him tonight, it's very sad to watch everyone be in such pain but we will get through this TOGETHER.  

Wilson is not being naughty tonight, he is a bit sad like the rest of us.  We found him curled up in a Kleenex box.  

Pickled Elf on a Shelf

I have to tell you this elf on a shelf isn't just for kids or maybe John and I are still kids..... {don't answer that}.  You only get to see where Wilson is hiding once a day but actually he hides a lot more than that.  John looks for him when he gets up, I have to look for him when I get up, on my lunch, when John get's home, when I get home.  You never know where he's going to be hiding.  Sometimes he startles me like yesterday morning when he was in the bathroom sitting on the sink.  I didn't see him until the third time in there and I even brushed my teeth and he was sitting right next to the toothpaste.  He watched me pee...... naughty elf!!  Some of the places just make me giggle.  John looked for him Monday morning until it was getting late and he had to get to work..... he found him hiding in his workboot :)

I have been taking a photo of him in all his places so maybe when we're done with one a day I will share the ones that didn't make the blog.  Well Wilson got himself into a pickle tonight, I'm not sure he'll make it out of this one by himself.  

Sweet Tooth Elf on a Shelf

I should have known I would get a elf with a sweet tooth.  Found him today in the fridge eating the cool whip frosting right out of the tub.   Naughty, naughty Wilson

Up North Winter Wonderland

They say we bought a cottage on a snow belt.... they aren't kidding.  There is tons of snow up there and it's so beautiful.  If I could have come down with the flu or a nasty cold while we were there I wouldn't have had any problem calling into work sick....

At least 4" right in the yard

John was checking out the river as I was slipping down the hill with my face in the camera.  I guess I need to pay attention to walking or I'll end up sliding down the hill.

The river is working on making ice for Mallory to go ice skating, she can't wait.

The sledding hill is covered and ready for the first victim who wants to slide right into the river.

If you like to snowmobile get ready it won't be long now.   It started to snow again when we were leaving, not sure if you can see it on the photo below

Here is another one that you can see how hard it's snowing, if I couldn't get sick maybe snowed in would work :)

We are falling in love with this place more and more every season.

Elf and Flo

Sunday John and I drove up to the cottage to check things out and naughty elf hid in my camera bag.  I was doing a few jobs and then I found him making the moves on Flo.  Flo is a Pink Flamingo that hangs out in the bathroom up north and sings a song to all the visitors.  I quickly grabbed my camera, got the picture and Flo nudged him off right into the sink for a cold shower.  I told you he was going to be a trouble maker.  

Elf now has a name it's Wilson.  The normal happenings on Elf on a Shelf is for him to fly back to the North Pole and report to Santa on if the kids are naughty or nice and be back by morning when they wake up.  I think Wilson might be flying up north to visit Flo

Black Friday and Saturday Sister Shopping

My sisters and I went Black Friday shopping again this year.  Even though none of us had anything to get we didn't want to miss it.  We love the excitement of the early morning shopping and what Door Busters are going to be hit hard.  The truck box was full to the edges so we headed home before 9AM.  

Saturday is our all day shopping trip so again off we went early in the morning and filled the truck once again as full as we could get it.  Shannon came with us this time and we reminded her just how goofy her mom and aunts can be. 

After 3 trips to Target {yes I said 3} this little elf jumped in my shopping bag.  I can't believe he wants to come to my house, there are no kids there to keep an eye on.  I guess he just remembers me from when I was little and Mom had a little elf just like this.  I'm not sure what happened to Mom's elf but this little guy sure brings back memories for me and he brightened my whole day.    

I'm thinking I got a bit of a naughty elf though, he is up to no good and I'll try to capture his naughtiness and share them with you until Christmas.  He might look all sweet sitting in his shopping bags but just wait.

Shopping was a blast as always and we did get to scratch a few things off our lists

Happy Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving this year was very nice, we had a perfect morning and afternoon just John and I.  We prepared our Thanksgiving day feast, cleaned house and hung up Christmas lights outside.  We actually hung lights in t-shirts and John even wore shorts, it was beautiful weather.

Adam and Monica came over with the news of our new grandchild.... It's a boy!!  we tried to get names out of them but so far they haven't narrowed it down but what they do have picked out sounds perfect for a Hemmer boy.  They had her Thanksgiving day dinner to get to before she had to work so off they went.  Shan and the kids came over late afternoon.  Garrett and Ellyn were perfect, they played so well and made Grandma smile even more.  Lynn, Jesse and kids stayed at home this year - we missed them lots!!  

It started to get dark so Shan and I started working on getting the meal ready.  First is the centerpiece I made last weekend, isn't he the cutest?  Gotta love pinterest!!

We were texting Adam to time supper as he was coming in from hunting.  He was climbing down as we were dishing up the food.  We only had a few minutes as we waited patiently for him to drive here. Grandpa was a bit grumbly as the food smelled so good and he had to sit and smell it.  Then before we could start everyone had to say something they were thankful for.  {Another grumble from Grandpa}.

For those that know me..... my food can't touch. {I am thankful for divider plates}  I had to take a picture of my plate just to show you how the perfect Thanksgiving day plate looks.  Nothing touching, no gravy to run into the turkey, creamed corn is NOT runny (thanks Deb Poyda for the perfect corn recipe) click here for recipe.   Elly saves her's till the last thing she eats because she loves it but this year she ate too much and couldn't finish it.

My brother Randy is much worse than I am.... he needs a separate plate for each item and only dishes up one at a time.  He'll eat his potatoes first, then gets another clean plate and eats the stuffing, another clean plate and gets the turkey...... I can at least have them all on the same plate but I only eat one thing at a time and turn my plate around in a circle until that thing is gone.  Just a FYI.... we are normal the rest of you are freaks :)

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and have lots to be thankful for.

Hunting results so far

Hunting season is a big deal at this house.  It starts sometime in August and doesn't quit till about January.  John enjoys his time at the shack with his brothers, nephew and son just as much as he enjoys hunting.  The stories that we hear from each year just keep getting better.  I don't think they care if they get any deer just spending the time together is enough for them.  But this big guy happen to walk by John on Monday morning and of course you can't just let him walk by.  

Sorry for the tongue and blood in the photo, guys like that stuff.  I ask John to put his tongue in his mouth and I get a "are you kidding me" look and I'm not touching it so you have to look at it like this.   The walls at the shack are getting a bit crowded so maybe this won't be a head mount..... yeah right who am I trying to kid I'm sure they spent hours talking about where this one will hang which way they have him looking, if he's a brother to one of the others, if he's bigger, taller, wider..... their nuts about their deer but that's okay because they do it together and there is nothing better than spending time with each other.

  

Kid-o Sneak Peek

Couple of cuties came for a visit this last weekend.  Mr W has such a fun personality, he remembers my name, remembers the toys that I have for him to play with, does such a good job smiling and is such a good big brother.  Couldn't ask for better kids.

Love Miss R's little smile with her tiny teeth.

She's such a little peanut for being 1 year old.  She loves her monkey so we had to have a few with him. 

She loved sitting on a chair by herself but she was very wiggly, mom is seriously a few inches beyond photo view.

Miss R you are too cute.

Everyday Photos

We are entering a bad time of year for photos.  I leave the house in the dark and come home in the dark.  And it's not very pretty out there anyway.  Here are a few I grabbed over the weekend.

Anniversary Celebration

We've been married for 30 years......that's crazy to hear and even harder to say.  I can't believe where the time has gone but wouldn't change a thing.  John and I have gone through lots of ups and downs but each one has made us stronger.  It probably started when the priest that married us on our wedding day told us his prediction of our marriage..... 6 months.

We were young but we were determined to make this work.  We couldn't have done it without our wonderful children.  They really mended us together and gave us a reason to make this work.... with them at our side it was just easy and each new addition to the family is making it easier.  We are pretty much like the song "Stuck Like Glue".  

Since it was a milestone anniversary we had all the kids over for a celebration supper.  With all the little ones we decided to have supper at the house and let them be able to be themselves and play vs going to a restaurant and making them sit still.  Of course I cannot have everyone in the same spot without a photo to remember this day.  I always wanted a big family of my own and it looks like I'm getting my dream..... next year we'll be joyfully adding another to this family.  

Our grandchildren mean so much to us.  They don't all like to get their pictures taken but they were so good tonight we got them all in the same spot without someone running away and we even got giggles from them.  I'm not sure who did what to make us all laugh but I love this photo.  This is who they are..... grandpa's even smiling.

Here is the glue to this family..... This photo makes me tear up.  We are very strong and anything that happens we can deal with it as long as we have each other. 

It's not very often that John and I have our photo taken together and Elly wanted to take our picture so this was her being like Grandma.  

Then Lynn took over and she is so funny with a camera in her hand.  She ohhh's and ahhhh's after every photo.  I'm not sure these are too much to ohhhh and ahhhh about but this is us, this is who we are.  The love of my life at my side....... we made it more than 6 months :)

After our photos we all piled in Shannon's van and went shining deer.  Something the kids and us would do every weekend.  Shannon would fall asleep, Lynn would be scared we were going to run the deer over and Adam would be glued to the window.  The grandkids loved shining deer, we seen a big buck right out Max's window, he seen that one up close.  A total of 23 deer were seen all in our 10 left turns.  My dad always says, if you're lost just keep turning left you'll get back home sooner or later. 

We played a few games, watched a few stupid gold digger shows, wrestled on the floor, rode the RZR, and best of all.... enjoyed every minute of the night.

I love you all.  {sigh}

Jasmine's Sneak Peeks

Jasmine is an artsy girl with lots of ideas and questions.  She would ask me questions about everything which I found to be pretty cool.  

She wanted a few photos outside but with our little window of daylight that's all we had time for was a few.  

I so think she looks like her mom :)  It was somewhat warm out with a bit of snow from the day before.  I love the contrast of the pines, red berries and the white snow with her bright shirt choice. 

 And of course a few indoor

Jasmine you are a beautiful girl inside and outside.  

Jasmine Tease Pic

Jasmine was sounding anxious to see her Senior photos so to just tease her a bit I'm only posting my favorite until I get more time to do the rest of the sneak peak.  

Sorry Jasmine you really will have to wait for the rest but don't worry they are just as beautiful as this one.  

30th Anniversary and Garrett's Birthday Party

This last weekend John and I went to the cottage Friday afternoon for an early Anniversary get-away.  It is our 30th Anniversary and we should go somewhere for the special event and well since we just bought a special get away it couldn't have been more fitting.  We got up there and decided not to "work" on our projects so we went shopping.  John is a really good shopper, he let's me go where ever I want, he encourages me to buy whatever I want and doesn't care how long it takes.... Well I bought a scarf.  He then wanted to go out for supper but I decided to cook back at the cottage.  We had a little fire in the pit and watched a movie and just enjoyed the night.  There is something different about being up north that I can't explain..... it just feels so right.

The next morning we got back to our list and got a few things done before Lynn, Jesse and the kids came up.  Max and Mally loved exploring and being with Grandma and Grandpa.  They went to bed so good for a new place too.  The next morning we are woken up by little squeaky voices jabbering, how can you not wake up with a smile on your face.... even though it's only 6:30.  We tried to hide out in the bedroom to see if Lynn could get them settled back down... no luck.  Max is now walking around yelling "Gwampa, Gwampa, Gwampa".  He has Grandpa's hat and wants to give it to him.  I let them in our room for a bit of snuggling and we're up for the day.

We ate breakfast and started to get ready for the Birthday Party.  It's Garrett's 4th Birthday and he is having his party at the cottage. 

Here is Mallory and Max helping me with the balloons.

Shan, Elly, Garrett, and Adam got there and the fun started.  Garrett needed his 4 year old pictures taken so him and I went for a walk to get just a couple.  Here is the special Birthday boy who is the first to have a party at the cottage.

He was so cute, his eyes were watering because of the cold and the sun on the water.  I would wipe away his tear and he would say "Granma my eyes are just leaking"

After about 15 minutes the rest of the troops could come out to play.  They loved the water/ice and skipped many rocks over it.

They explored the woods

They climbed over things, under and anywhere they could squeeze though.  Even Maxwell got carried along by his El

yep Max has to do everything the big kids do and El is so patient with all of them.

It was such a beautiful day we sat by the river for a long time.  Getting all of them in the same spot was a bit difficult but we did it.

Next it was time for lunch and birthday cake.  And of course a Happy Birthday song.

And blowing out the candles

What a perfect weekend for a special Anniversary and Birthday.  This is the first of many celebrations that will happen at the Up North River Cottage.