Snow!

(click on the pics for a full size view)

Good thing the elves got busy yesterday and put the Christmas lights up! We are up to 4" of the frosty white stuff here just before Noon on Sunday ... forecast is for a total of 5-8" today/tonight!

The kids have already been out sledding and having a good time! The coats/gloves are in the dryer getting ready for Round 2 of fun! Beverly has slept the morning away and doesn't know what is in store for her yet!
ha ha

Drew has been on the road a little over 3 hours and should be arriving on campus early afternoon. He called from just North of Rockford, IL and had driven out of the snow ... but it's coming for him, too, as the forecast changed in a big way overnight. Kenosha is now supposed to get 6-10 inches of snow with it coming across Lake Michigan at them!

Christmas Elves on the Roof??

These two strange looking characters were spotted on our roof today, apparently putting up the Christmas lights before the 2-4 inches of snow we are supposed to get tonight/tomorrow!

I guess Monday is December 1, but I was hoping to hold off the snow just a bit longer! At least until after Drew made it safely back to Kenosha ... but unfortunately he is driving back in the morning (dorms aren't open until Noon) to a snowstorm forecast to bring 3-5 inches of snow to that area. He'll get on the road a bit earlier than planned in the morning and maybe beat a bit of the storm!

It has been so great to have him home. Now he's back to college for just 2 weeks and then back home for Christmas break!

I'm excited to have the chance to go to Kenosha next Fri/Sat to see him in the Carthage Choir's Christmas Festival program. Should be fun!

Family FotoFun Friday!

See our Thanksgiving photo link on "Diana's Daily Ramblings" at:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Scott Family!

We had a nice holiday ... enjoyed a big meal and now we are relaxing!

After spending the whole morning in the kitchen cooking, we enjoyed a nice meal of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, sweet potatoes, steamed broccoli, corn, green jello with apples (TJ's request) and rolls. The pumpkin pie and cherry cobbler had to wait awhile, as we were too full after our meal to enjoy our dessert!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!

Middle School Dodgeball Tourney!

Tonight was the Tremont Middle School Dodgeball Tournament! TJ and I worked this week to make special tie-dye shirts, and their team was the "Pink Paranha's!" Click on the team picture to see a larger view of the shirts. They turned out pretty neat. Especially considering I had not done tie-dye for a decade. Or two. Or three. HA



Each team had to have 5 players, with no fewer than 2 girls per team.




They won their first game, and lost in the semi-final round. The team that ended up beating them won the 5th-6th grade championship ... so really, they did pretty well. TJ of course had to have his favorite NASCAR number 24 on his shirt, and we put names and numbers on all of the shirts for the team.

Best of all ... the team entry fees and spectator admission fees raised almost $900 for a local animal shelter.








Here are a couple of action shots of TJ.


Give the kid a ball and he's happy for hours!






And another highlight of the evening ... look who's home from college for the first time in 3 months!
Drew arrived home right before it was time to head to dodgeball, and we'll enjoy having him around for about a week while he is on Thanksgiving break!

Five Years Ago!

Five years ago today, we got our first glimpse of our daughter-to-be when we received the packet of our referral paperwork from China!















All we knew about this little girl is that she was almost 10 months old, her name was Guo Kui Yan, and she was living in Zhuzhou City, Hunan. A leap of faith took us on a long journey to meet her, and I can't imagine any other little girl that could have been more perfectly selected to be part of our family.

On this day five years ago, we joined thousands of families who have opened their hearts to adoption and who have chosen to build their families in this way, and we are so glad that we did.

Enjoy the very first pictures we received of Kui Yan, soon to be Abby, as we remember this very special day!

The View from My Window

I have a beautiful view from my office window ... looking out at the Illinois River landscape, with one of the bridges to the north and a second bridge and the Peoria city skyline to the south. Every day the river scene is different ... some days it's as smooth as glass, other days windy and rough. Blue skies, stormy skies. Calm summer waters and ice glazed winter waters. Jumping fish and flying birds. Fishermen, pleasure boats, sail boats and barges. Always something to look at!

I often talk on my cordless phone when taking a work call and spend the time looking out at the river. A couple of weeks ago I saw an eagle skim the river and land in a nearby tree on the shore ... and today, it was this rainbow treat! It's faint and I only had my cell phone camera, but I think you can see it. Click on the picture for a larger view.

I keep saying I'm going to start a new blog to post a picture every day of the beautiful "View From My Window"

We Voted Today!

We voted today, and hope you did too! Here in Tremont the lines were manageable and we got right in and out, unlike the long lines I have seen in newscasts around the area. The perks of small town life! :-)

It was also Drew's very first chance to vote, which is an important day for a young adult to remember. Unfortunately, there are parts of the day he would prefer to forget ... because after he voted he stopped to grab a quick lunch on the way back to campus, and someone hit his car, left a big gash and dent on the passenger side rear panel ... and left the scene. Kenosha police were very quick to respond to his call for help and wrote up a report, but there really is not much to be done without a witness or other info. It really stinks, but I'm sure he will always remember his first voting day. The good and the bad of it!