Blades of Glory

What a wonderful day here in MN!  It was one of those warm winter days where all the snow is dripping off of rooftops, there are puddles forming everywhere, and.... I can actually see the dirt on our road and driveway!!  For those of you that live on a dirt road, you know how awesome this is, to not be driving on packed snow/ice.  It's a small joy, but after being stuck in the deep freeze for so long I'll take it!  We met the cousins for some ice skating at a local rink.  This was Henry and Violet's first time on skates and to be honest, I was very impressed.  I thought I'd get them all laced up and they'd probably last all of 5 minutes but to my surprise, they loved it and we stayed for nearly an hour.  We had a couple of things going for us though.  With the nice warm weather, the ice had a bit of slush, not too much, but just enough for some good traction.  The kids also had double bladed skates which made it very easy to stand up.  The minute we got there, they both took off fearlessly.  There were some hard tailbone falls and a couple tears, but they didn't lose their confidence.  I had so much fun watching them!  Above and below are the sweetest pictures of cousins Violet, Henry, and Jada in an ice skating train... 

Violet was excited that her skates left lines and curves behind her.  She had the walk/skate approach, but went all over the rink.  She even did these teeny tiny jumps and would move her arms in a dance-like motion as if she was performing. 

Henry had a different approach: running!  It reminded me of the old Mario and Luigi from Mario Brothers where they hop/run across the screen at a blinding fast pace.   He didn't slow for a good 20 mns.  Hilarious!

Here's Henry and Uncle Jesse.  Henry insisted on pulling him around the rink.  We had such a good time!

Here's our dear daddy who has been working EXTRA hard the last couple of months.  For those of you that don't know, he is now the official co-owner of Commercial Appraisal and Consulting with his co-worker, Ryan.  They not only bought the business from Jack, but moved it and bought two office condos in Blaine (one for them and one next door to rent).  He's been working overtime painting, cleaning, moving and working after work and on weekends.  With all that excitement comes a lot of financial, physical, and emotional stress but we are confident it will all work out and be wonderful for our family! Here he is with his first check, written out to himself and signed by himself (weird) and a bottle of Cook's Champagne to celebrate - hey nothing but the finest for us!  Movin' on up... to the top... with a deluxe apartment in the sky-i-i!  We love you Jere ~ you're the best husband and the best Dad in the world and we appreciate you so much... love you love you love you!  XOXOXO