We're back

We just got back from 2-plus weeks with our kids. The drive up was in the middle of the biggest snow storm in December's Minnesota history; some areas we drove through ended up with 23 inches. It was a blast!

We spent the first week with our son, Ryan, and his wife and child (Emily and Evelyn). Their basement had flooded in the rains that the Minneapolis area got earlier this fall; Ryan wanted to get rid of the damaged paneling and Styrofoam™ insulation as soon as possible to avoid mold growth. So, we spent the first few days tearing out old paneling and insulation. We found the spots where the wall had leaked and plugged them with Portland cement, then we painted the whole basement wall with Drylock™. Then we put up drywall and stuff. We also added a new room which will eventually become a bedroom. I'd say we got about half-done by the end of the week.

We spent the second week with our daughter, Renee, and her family (Joel, Joshua, Rachel, Madeline, and Beansprout, who is about to be born). We had a grand time playing, talking, cooking, singing, etc. We even got to go on a sleigh ride on Christmas day! Good times!

I sure enjoyed the snow while we were there, but it is good to be back home again—even though there isn't much snow here...