one day i was having a really hard time being away from my family and i was talking/sobbing/complaining to my mom about hard it is not to see your loved ones more than once year. well, that good woman said she would come visit. and then she said that cory and i should come to minnesota instead! so thanks to dad's airline miles, we scored tickets for the president's day weekend/valentine's day/dad's birthday (a whole four days to be with my family)!
i have to say, growing up in chicago winters and living in utah, i feel like i know the cold. i was SHOCKED when i went to minnesota! it was like a race to get from the car into the house into a store into a car, where there was heating. we spent friday exploring my parents' awesome new house. it's already gorgeous with several acres of beautiful land, but mom has been redoing several of the rooms. there's columns and lots of huge windows and fun hexagon tile and a pool and hot tub and a basketball court and double doors everywhere and a butler's pantry and two fireplaces and a five-car garage! they had to buy a john deere riding mower/snow plow because their driveway is SO long and it can't be shoveled!
erik came down from minneapolis that night and we had a dinner and cake for dad's birthday. the next day, we went to a downtown area with little shops and looked at those until we got too cold :) we had a tasty dinner at redstone restaurant, with the most amazing banana cream pie. ahhh, what i wouldn't give for that right now!
sunday, we went to church with mom and dad and spent the day lounging (a nice break from classes) and monday, we couldn't figure out what winter sport to do! snowmobiling is fun (we did it in logan) but so expensive. so we settled on snowshoeing! i was SO bundled up in about ten layers with mom's eddie bauer coat on. i was sweating while we were snowshoeing around lake cleary. it was really fun but not when you fell over! it would take the assistance of someone else to pull you up! we went to the mall of america and mexican food! mom bought me a beautiful red wool coat that i only got to wear a few times as the weather in provo became unseasonably warm! too bad i'll have a big belly next winter! it was such a wonderful time spent with my family. i love them so much. i love the ease and comfort of being together. of playing family games and eating mom's delicious meals. i can't wait to be with them again!
