A Busy Time of Year

It's taken me a long time to get this blog up and running.  Rusty and I have found our UNL classes to be quite time-consuming, and have felt a real push to finish projects before the end of the semester.  The experience has been enjoyable, invigorating and stressful.  I'm pretty sure we each will get an A in our class.

Rusty, working on my portrait.

Me, working on a green-screen project

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Rusty's family here in Lincoln.  Lindsay and Jeff hosted, and we were delighted that Anna (from New York) could join us.

The White Family

Celeste & Rusty, hanging out together.

Olivia, Pierce and Reece joined us for a few days right after Thanksgiving. 

Gretchen, of course, was perfect entertainment for Reece and Pierce.

Reece couldn't get enough of her.

The boys enjoyed helping Rusty build a nice fire.

Pierce got to light it and add some wood.

Hangin' out with GiGi.

The boys wanted to go sledding, but there wasn't enough snow.  This is the top of the run at Choo-Choo hill.

There was, however, enough ice to provide some entertainment.

We had a post-Thanksgiving dinner, with homemade pumpkin pie and real whip cream.  

We have so much to be thankful for!

I am especially fond of attending events that happen in the Haymarket or downtown Lincoln.  Rusty is good about going along, and has a good time once we make it out of the house.  Lincoln has a wonderful art walk the first Friday of each month.  The Keichel Art Gallery is one of Lincoln's treasures.

Standing in front of a couple Jacobshagen paintings.

Tavern on the Square is one of my favorite places to stop in for a drink.

Each December I meet with five of my life-long friends (all former Irving teachers) for a lovely afternoon of traditional English high tea, book reading, and camaraderie.  This year we celebrated 25 years!   We rented the dining room of The Ferguson House, a 1913 home on the historic records.  

We each brought a special tea cup to exchange.

Scones with clotted cream and jam, cucumber-dill rounds, chicken salad sandwiches, cheese, fruit, and Christmas cookies.

Some of us elect to wear hats to the tea, some not.  (No surprise where I fall in on that one!)  This year I planned a special surprise.  I purchased a hat especially for each individual lady, and put them in hat boxes.

Then I hired Will to be the delivery elf.  Everyone wondered who could be the gift-giver.

Jan in her golden brown fascinator.

Lorraine in a lovely blue, brimmed hat.

Kathie in her "Jackie" pillbox.

Linda in her sequined ball cap.

Chris in her polka-dot and feathered fascinator.

It was so fun to see each lady open her box and squeal or laugh upon seeing her special hat.  I was able to keep it a secret for almost a half-hour.  So fun!

We also raised over $600 for Fund-A-Need, which we ear-marked for the Irving library project.

And now for one last picture of the four-legged creature who has changed our comings and goings...

Gretchen

Just a short blog to let you know that life at Casa Blanca is forever changed.  We acquired a 5-week old puppy Doberman on October 19th.  We've been very busy being new "parents."  She was so tiny when she arrived that we felt we could not leave her alone, even for the shortest of times.  She slept in a kennel at night and asked to go out about every hour-and-a-half.  Unlike a new baby, when we put her down somewhere, we can't count on her being in the same place for very long, so she requires constant monitoring.  The first week we canceled all of our outings, including church.

Our life has literally been all about that dog!

In the two weeks Gretchen has been with us, she has:

• decreased her need to go out in the middle of the night to only 3 or 4 times
• gained 4 pounds
• grown 2 inches
• learned to go up and down the stairs
• learned to sit for her food
• barks (sometimes) when she needs to go out
• learned to be on her own for as long as 2 hours
• wormed her way into our hearts.

The Adventure With Daughters

Nearly a year ago, Rusty and I reserved our guide for a 2015 fall trip.  We wanted to share our love of the wilderness with our daughters, so we invited them to join us.  We were able to get 3 out of the four daughters to come, plus one grand daughter!  (For those of you who read the Rhino Love blog, you will see many duplicate pictures.)

Olivia, Felicia and Ruby joined me in the wilderness for four days and three nights.  After we came out, Rusty and Anna went in for their own wilderness experience.

We rented canoes and complete outfitting from Piragis.

We watched the video telling us about rules in the wilderness.

Rusty helps Ruby get sized for her paddle.

Everyone needs a Personal Flotation Device.(PFD)

Once our gear was ready to go, we went to the Chocolate Moose for dinner.

Surprise of all surprises, we ran into two couples from Lincoln who had just completed their trip.

Cindy & Tim Golden, me, Gerry and Chris Saunders.

We spent the evening at Canoe On Inn.  The rooms are very small.  Ruby wanted to know where we would be able to eat.

The next morning we had a big breakfast at Britton's and then drove to the Lake One entry point.

Everyone seemed a bit unsure as we figured out how to load the canoes.

gear loaded---ready to go!

We paddled through Lakes 1,2,3, and found our campsite on Lake 4.

Felicia, Ruby and Steve paddled the 3-person canoe.

Olivia and I paddled the tandem.  No surprise, Olivia was a very good paddler!

We had a lovely campsite...

...and a gorgeous view!

Steve hauled in a canoe-full of wood and Olivia began sawing it into useable pieces.

Felicia helped provide the much-needed tinder.

After roasting some pine cones, Steve shows Ruby the seeds.

Aunt Olivia could always be counted on to braid hair.

Aunt Olivia also enjoyed playing with Ruby in the water.

We checked out the map and took day trips.

There were some rocky portages.

Steve showed us how to read the fish scales...

...count the rings on trees,

...identify mushrooms (one ended up on our pizza that night),

...eat certain berries and leaves,

and much, much more!

I was delighted Olivia wanted to portage the canoe.

We had awesome meals!  Steak, pizza, blueberry pancakes, ham and eggs, etc.  This was a huge improvement on what Rusty and I usually take.

Of course one night we had s'mores.

Steve was great at entertaining Ruby in the canoe.  Here she is writing her name in the water.

We had fun being silly.

We howled like wolves.

We enjoyed the beauty of nature.

Olivia had some nice solitude in the boat.

We saw eagles every day.

We caught more fish than we could eat.

Steve cleaned the fish while we watched.  Ruby shares with him her knowledge about blood.

And we paddled in some very beautiful places!

It was great women-bonding time!

In March of 2002, Felicia planned a 3-day backpacking trip to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.  Olivia and Felicia made it an early mother's day event for me.  It made me believe that big adventures are really possible!  This BWCAW trip with my daughters and grand daughter was another such memorable adventure for me.

We're pointing into the future, maybe 10 years.  Wilderness adventure yet to be determined.

After four days, it was time for my family to go back home and for Rusty and Anna to begin their adventure.

Anna is stylin' in pink.  She said she had all red underwear!

Anna caught the best fish on the trip, a large-mouth bass.

With a little guidance, she cleaned her own fish.

Silly Anna.

Anna saw so many eagles she said she was "so over the eagles."

Father-daughter boating.

I think these two are related.

Mighty pretty!

Mushroom rock.

Anna the Wizard!

Nights in the 20's made for some frosty mornings.

Enjoying some hot cocoa in the chilly morning.

"I survived!"

Ely is a tiny town and not easy to get to.  It took some effort on everyone's part to get here.  Thanks to each of you for joining us in this adventure!  

Good night from Ely, MN.