Maine Wedding Celebration

Just after Thanksgiving, we held our third (and thankfully final) wedding celebration. This one was very casual. No dress, no cake, no DIY decorations. We held it in my parents' house. My mom did a great job decorating with red and gold. Our colors worked very well for a Christmas time celebration.
We invited guests that I knew mostly from my growing up in Maine and had a great turn out especially because it is a difficult time of year. Some of my favorite guests were these kids.

Two couples win the award for traveling the furthest. I am so pleased to have some of my Boston friends there. Joe and Joanne made a weekend of it. It was great to catch up especially because Joanne and I had both married since we had seen each other.

Laura and Tim also visited from the Boston area. I was delighted to meet Squiggles. Until then I had only been adoring photos of her from Laura's blog.

I was also so excited to have some of my friends from the high school days.

Apparently we all enjoyed seeing each other.

A lot of the other guests were friends from church and growing up. It was so wonderful to see all of them. It was a joy to catch up with all the people who have had a profound effect on my life.

Ice, Ice Baby

Edmonton holds an annual ice sculpture festival. Ice sculptures are displayed and extreme artists gather to create winning sculptures. Here is a bit of what we saw.

I think the Canadian Goose was my favorite piece. It seemed so dignified.

You are not looking at a giant, lightly toasted marshmallow standing next to the panda sculpture. That is actually me.

Jerry licked ... I mean ... liked the penguin sculpture a lot.

Everything was pretty aMAZing.

Most of the sculptures were just there for show, but the competitors were busy chiseling away at their artworks. If I were a judge, this would have gotten the blue ribbon.

Sinterklaas

Sinterklaas kapoentje,
Gooi wat in mijn schoentje,
Gooi wat in mijn laarsje,
Dank je Sinterklaasje!

Saint Nicolaas
Throw something in my little shoe
Throw something in my little boot
Thank you, Little Saint Nicolaas

Every year in early December, in The Netherlands, Sinterklaas and his .... um, well ,,,,, friend (that's what we'll call him) Zwarte Piet arrive on a boat bearing goodies for the well behaved children. On the evening when he comes (not Christmas Eve) children set out their shoes and expect them to be filled with goodies the next morning.

Sinterklaas found his way from the Gray, Drizzly Low Lands to the Cold White North and filled our bunny slippers. I would say that he did a great job this year bringing Jerry the traditional chocolate letter, and Michelle festive candies that tasted just like candy corn.

The Skirt

About two weeks ago, I finished my skirt. I learned a lot along the way about things that I have basically forgotten at this point, but I completed it. I made some gospel analogies along the way - seamripping = repentance (I did a lot of this), my inability to sew a straight line = apostasy (this created the need for seamripping), learning to read a pattern = understanding the scriptures (the pattern was like a foreign language) etc.

My goal was to wear the skirt in public. So the first Sunday after I finished, I put together this outfit. I haven't decided whether I looked cute or just a little frumpy, but here I am.

Stockings

I have been wanting to learn how to sew for a long time, and a lack of a work permit has given me the freedom. I have my very own sewing machine and am in a class where I am learning with moderate success to sew a skirt.

I decided I wanted to make stockings to commemorate our first Christmas as married people.. I succeeded and I am very proud.

Experienced seamstresses (or the male version thereof) might be able to see areas where improvement is needed. I sure do. But this is my first sewing project success, and I am going to bask in the glory of it until tomorrow.

It Begins ...

On Saturday, Jerry looked out the window and said, "Oh, Michelle you aren't going to like this!" Well, I guess it had to happen sometime. Snow has hit the Great White North.
From this view from our apartment, you can tell that it wasn't a huge storm. That came today as the snow went from small specks to ominous marble sized flakes. True to first-storm-of-the-year tradition, drivers forgot how to drive and children were filled with Christmas cheer.


I took these on Saturday. On my way to the library, I walked through a small park downtown. I was shocked to find a tree that still had leaves on it.


The long winter is starting and it is time to put some real effort into finding boots for this Snow Grinch.

The River

Yesterday morning, Jerry peered out the window and informed me that ice chunks were floating down the river. Today, I decided to take a morning constitutional and check it out for myself. I bundled up and took a brisk walk across the bridge and found this.


If I can bear the cold, I will get another shot when the river is completely frozen.