OK, after half a year from my first entry we will try to get this rolling again. The girls first backpacking expediation was very successful. We hiked on top of Mammoth Cave National Park for a couple of days and then spent a couple days going through the caves. The 55 degree temperature inside the caves was much preferred to the 95 degree temperature on the surface. The girls were awesome hikers, though. When I mentioned that it would be fun to have grandpa with us, however, they weren’t sure he could keep up.

It is hard to believe that we have made it to March. The year 2005 started with creating many memories with family and friends. Highlights range from Shelly & Jill constructing an amazing ginger bread house with Auntie Shel to designing memory pages (from Westi) with Grandma. The girls proceeded to demolish the gingerbread house with the help of many friends at Pattengale’s New Year’s Eve Bash. The most significant theme to this winter, however, has been the snow. Snow, snow and more snow. Some mornings it can be difficult to take off the covers. Fortunately, times for sledding and building snowman with grandpa while grandma prepares hot chocolate and snacks have been plentiful and wonderful. I even find shoveling snow on a peaceful, quite, beautiful evening a calming and meditative activity. And then the dozen snow blowers power up and you might as well be at a tractor pull. So enough of the snow. When will it be spring?

My favorite things about winter:
Shelly: Sledding and hot cocoa.
Jill: Throwing snowballs at grandpa and the treats after sledding.