Bowling

So, what do you do on night FOUR without power????
Pizza and bowling, of course!
We took Grant bowling for the first time in Winterset on Saturday night. I don't think the bowling alley has been touched since about 1976...but hey, it was fun and cheap AND we had the place to ourselves :)

Like father, like son :)

They didn't have the gutter bumper things, so Grant (and Mom) got a lot of gutter balls.

Why are the shoes SO much cuter on him?

When Grant got bored, he just pushed Brynna around in the stroller...hours of fun!

The Ice Storm of 2010

If you haven't already heard...we DO have power back, after 101 hours without it!!! The power went out at 6:00am on Wednesday (the 20th) and did not come back on until around 11:00am on Sunday! Thankfully, Lee bought a generator in Des Moines on Wednesday evening and got that up and running (after sliding into the ditch with the Trail Blazer b/c the gravel roads were literally a sheet of ice). The house got down to 60 degrees on Wednesday evening before the generator was hooked up...brrr! We started with just the furnace and hot water heater running, the next day Lee added the fridge and the deep freeze, the 3rd day we had a two-burner hot plate and a couple lamps, the fourth day we hooked up the washer! So, really, it wasn't all that bad...we were living like hi-tech pioneers :) We invested in a lot of candles and did our cooking on a propane camp stove (until we hooked up the hot plate). All four houses in our little neighborhood now have generators, so we are all ready for whatever may come!

There is some chain saw work to come...

...and a big bonfire this spring!

This old oak stood tall!

This is why we didn't have power.

Sledding...kind of

Sledding, on the road...gotta love living in the country!

Brad Paisley, Miranda Lambert and Justin Moore

Lee and I went to the above concert on Friday night at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. We even got to meet up with some friends for dinner before the concert...what fun!
Thanks to Matt and Tiff for watching the kids.

Playing in the snow!

It FINALLY warmed up enough to get Grant and Brynna outside to have some fun in ALL the snow we have!!! This was Brynna's first time :)

She didn't think much of getting bundled up (maybe she was mad b/c it was Grant's old snowsuit, and the wrong color for her).

Hmmm, maybe this is okay?

Grant riding his Christmas bike, notice all the snow on the roof too!

Grant trying to ride his bike up the snow hill, Brynna crawling around, and Riley with a stick. Welcome to our crazy life!

Monster Jam

Lee and Grant had a very exciting night...they went to MONSTER JAM! 4 wheeler racing opened for Monster Truck racing, Grant was SO excited!
He got to eat a big pretzel with "dip" (cheese), drink Sprite, watch 4 wheelers, Jeeps, and Monster Trucks race and ramp, and hang out with Dad all night!!!
On the way to Des Moines, he was asking Lee to pull over and ask all the other people if they were going to see Monster Trucks too :) They didn't get home until 10:30 and he did NOT fall asleep on the way home...he was wearing a monster truck hat and "roaring" like a monster truck as he walked in the door!

Getting ready to go.

Watching...

This one looked like a dinosaur.

Gravedigger

At the end, with Froggy, and his new monster truck hat (in his hand).



Brynna and I stayed home and watched a movie, someday Daddy will have to take her to Disney Princesses on Ice or something comparable :)

More Christmas pictures

Our house on Christmas (well, the 24th) morning.

Grant showing Brynna how her new toy works.

Grant's new "Christmas bike."

At Brian and Paula's house, Christmas Eve.

From Grandpa Brian...

The present is as big as she is :)

Christmas Eve in Ames.

Brynna's pink camo coat, from Papa.

Grant's new "puter" (computer), aka VTech game.

Brynna and Great Grandma Audrey.

Whitney, Owen, and Brynna.

Grant's new football outfit, from Grandma Cathy.

Brynna, Grant, Whitney, and Owen.