Ahhh...quiet

We inherited working appliances when we bought our house...working, but not the most modern. Our dishwasher was made by a company called Magic Chef...does that company even exist anymore? Our estimate was that it was at least 20 years old. The cycle sounded like a jet engine and ran for over an hour. Surely, there had to be a more energy efficient and QUIET dishwasher out there?

Ta-da - this was the real highlight of our weekend, forget the snow. The crew from Home Depot installed it on Saturday, in the middle of the weather mayhem.

John and I could have an actual conversation in the kitchen last night when it was running. Domestic bliss!

Stormy Weather

We think the storm dumped another 5-6 inches on the area...we are at 104.5 inches for the season. Last winter it was 107" total...so our guess is that we will pass that sometime in March...if this winter ever ends...

Here's a cool pic that John took of the storm and some recent artwork of Maren's. We are hopeful for spring!

Weather Girl

Maren was inspired by the sun on Sunday and wore a bathing suit all day. I drove down to Kzoo to check on my Aunt Nan and Grammie (health status - not good) and she put her snow boots on to wave good-bye to me on the front porch (temp - 32 degrees). For good measure, she made a snow ball for John (who took this picture).

The Hill Climbers

Maren and John burned off the winter blahs with a climb to the top of a big hill while we were at Meijer Gardens. The cell is not great at zooming, but... you get the idea. My little mountain climbers :).

Meijer Gardens Adventure

We did our best to soak up the sun in Grand Rapids last weekend at Meijer Gardens, both in the Children's Garden and the Greenhouse.

Hilton Head!

We had such a good time in Hilton Head on our delayed Christmas vacation. Jensens were down there as well for the week, so we (Maren) were able to take advantage of the indoor pool at Surf Watch and lots of attention from four grandparents, aunt and cousin Allison.

John is proud of Maren's first cannonball, right into Grandpa Jensen's arms.

Maren loved the pool, playing with Alli, using Alli's old scooter (we were impressed with her coordination) and she celebrated Christmas and birthday (again!) with Aunt Jodi and Alli and Mr. Potato Head, a classic we are all excited to play again.

Heat Wave!

Record high of 61 yesterday, Maren wanted to get out her pool. She settled for a quick jaunt with Daddy up and down our street on her Big Wheel. It should be noted she thanks God for her Big Wheel in her prayers more regularly than she thanks God for her parents. Hmmm....

Going to Work

We had our first temps in the 40s in AGES this weekend. Some pics from Meijer Gardens will be up soon.

Here is a picture of Maren, who dressed up and told us she was going to work...tutu, Mary Janes, backpack (a new key accessory).

Garbage!

"Garbage!," Maren yelled from the back seat. "Mommy, who says garbage?"
"I do, so that I don't say bad words," said I.
"Oh, like stupid and dammit?," said Maren.
"Yes, Punkin, like those words."
So, we are only having moderate success with banning bad words from our house.