Happy New Year!

OK, I know it’s been the new year for a few weeks but this is the first chance I’ve had to sit down and visit with you. A malicious virus ate through pretty much all of my files, so I’ve had to do a lot of recreating:(

We have been busy, busy, busy. Gruper and I spent the holidays in South Padre Island, TX. The weather was awful but we had a great visit with Ron and Karna! It was good to see them. Gruper and I stayed on the Gulf and had lots of time to relax. We returned just in time to hop in the car and head to Nebraska for our niece Anna’s wedding! Some of you met Anna at Camp several years ago. Well, she and Benny tied the knot on Jan. 4! It was a wonderful event filled with love and laughter! Here are just a few photos:

Benny just enlisted in the Air Force.

My Bubba Bruce dancing with his lovely daughter:

Jake is Anna’s oldest brother. He and his wife Jessi are both in the Navy and live in Washington (state) with their busy boy Jack:

Caleb is Anna’s older brother. He lives in Bellevue, NE:

My oldest bro Dan and his wife Connie live over in our corner of Iowa:

They are parents to Dan (and Vanessa) and Wendy, who can be seen here dancing with great-nieces Mya and Alysha:

Dan and Vanessa also have newest great-niece Emma:

Of course, Rebecca and Mackayla were along for the fun!

And no party would be complete without Aunt Andy and Uncle Steve:

I brought a piece of Canada with me. I made these coasters in my glass fusing class in Dryden. They turned out nice so I gave them to the new couple:

Until yesterday I wasn’t sure I would have any of those photos to share. My SD card went whacko right after the wedding. I had no photos from the event until Camera Corner did a recovery. Some photos were lost but I am grateful to have so many good ones!

We have officially begun the show circuit. Our first show in Council Bluffs, IA, was a resounding success! Gruper left for Schaumburg this morning and I’ll join him tomorrow evening. I’ve been teaching full-time since Nov. 18 and will continue to do so until March 3. One question: what was I thinking???? It is tough work. I love the kids and the staff, but there’s a lot to do all the time and not enough time. Thank goodness I have such a good helper at home:)

Our buddies visited late last fall. Jerry took some incredible pics. I shared some in the last blog entry–which feels like ages ago–but here are some more to wrap things up. The Bear’s Den moose got a workout that week!

Tom supervised while Petey cleaned fish:

Three eagles…you have to look for the mature:

We’re using this one at the sports shows:

I shared this one before but it is an awesome picture:

Angry sky:

Misty morning: