Halloween Blizzard of 1991

As we celebrate Halloween today, my mind is filled with memories from 20 years ago.

Halloween 1991 is one that Minnesotans will never forget and is for sure one that I will always remember. I was nine months pregnant and due any day!

(Ha! Even then I usually wore contacts but those glasses make me laugh!! Oh, and the hair!)

I remember earlier in the week, that the local weathermen were saying that there was a chance of snow on Halloween, but that it would definitely not stick. On Halloween, the snow did start falling around 11am and made the roads icy. The snow kept falling as I drove carefully home from work.

I remember Pete and I being cozy and safe in our little apartment and waking up on November 1st to even more snow—and it was still snowing. Everything was cancelled that Friday- which meant no work for us and an unexpected day off.

It snowed all that day and we soon realized that we were snowed in. We lived at the end of a very long road that winded though the townhome style apartments and they were just beginning to start digging us out.

I remember being so worried about what we were going to do if I went into labor. We could not get out and emergency vehicles were getting stuck everywhere and would not have been able to make it in.

Two blessings came with this situation. The first, my Dad was the City Administrator for the city we lived in and he said he would get a city snow plow through if we needed it. And the second blessing was that baby Tyler decided that he would wait out the storm. :)

The storm, which was being called the Halloween Blizzard, continued for 4 days with a total snow accumulation of 30 inches!!!

We finally were dug out of our apartment and made it back to work on Tuesday, November 5th. Pete drove me to work that day and the roads were still treacherous and traffic was horrible making for a very long commute. Late that evening, we were at the hospital and Tyler was born on November 6th! Our snow baby!

{It is hard for me to believe, but we have absolutely no pictures of this unforgettable snowstorm.}

Family Weekend

This past weekend was Family Weekend at Tyler's college. We had such a nice weekend visiting,

doing a 5K fun run in a beautiful arboretum,

a chili lunch

and a football game.

Fun Family Weekend!!

Pumpkins, Polka & Frisbee

Last weekend was one of those perfect kind of weekends with a mixture of fun, family time and relaxation. And on top of that, it was MEA weekend here in Minnesota, which meant for an extra long weekend for Jake and Drew.

Some highlights of our weekend included heading over to our local pumpkin patch.

Friday evening we went out to a German restaurant in Minneapolis called Gasthof’s. This is a fun restaurant that is very lively and can get pretty rowdy. We haven't been to this restaurant in over 10 years, so it was a fun way to spend an evening.

We enjoyed some German food, German beer, and accordion music.

After dinner we went downstairs where a band was playing and maybe we even a did a little Polka-ing. :)

By the end of the evening this basement area was packed- with mostly it being a much younger crowd but there was this sweet elderly couple that with no care in the world, came out for a night of Polka.

Saturday, we headed to Eau Claire, WI to see Tyler playing in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament. Honestly, I don't really understand this game too well, but it is fun to watch and it was a gorgeous day out! Plus we got to chat with Ty for a bit! His team name is 'BAM' (Bad A** Monks). Kind of funny. :)

I love this sequence of pictures:

We watched a couple of games, said good-bye to Ty and then headed over to Chippewa Falls, WI to the Leinenkugel's Brewery.

We sampled some beer.

And took a tour of the brewery. We took some pictures of the beautiful grounds and the buildings but were not allowed to take any photos inside the buildings.

Sunday was our perfectly relaxing day. We enjoyed a special treat of donuts and time to read the newspaper.

The boys spent the day watching a little a lot of football while I spent my time in the kitchen doing some baking and making Sunday dinner. One of my favorite things to do on a quiet Sunday is to take my time in the kitchen making my family a meal and maybe doing some baking. I love quiet Sundays!!

On this Sunday, I made some homemade applesauce. This is so good warm and is great just as is-- but would also be amazing on vanilla ice cream or on oatmeal.

I also tried a couple of new recipes, both of which the family absolutely loved. The first recipe was a 'pork chop and stuffing' recipe from my Aunt Jeannie, that is in our family cookbook. I didn't get a good picture of this- but it is so good and something I will make again soon.

The other recipe I tried was one I found on Stone of Remembrance blog awhile ago, and knew I needed to try it. Apple Dumpling Surprise is a perfect Fall treat and my family loved it!

family + fun times + perfect weather + good food =

amazing weekend

Apple Orchard Traditons

Last Sunday was our annual fall trip to the apple orchard. We have been going to the Pine Tree Apple Orchard yearly since the Fall of 1992 (when Tyler was weeks away from celebrating his first birthday). So… this makes it our 20th year of making memories, enjoying family time, and getting some great apples and apple treats! This is one of my favorite family traditions!

The scenery at this orchard is so beautiful, especially on a sunny fall afternoon.

Our first stop was the tractor ride with a tour of the orchard.

Next was the corn maze.

There are letters scattered throughout the maze and the goal is to find all of the letters and unscramble them to make a word. A word that usually has to do with the orchard somehow.

This always takes quite awhile but is a fun challenge. At this point, after only finding the letters R, R, and C-- 

 we texted Jake who was at home if he knew what the word was. He is SOOO good at things like this--

 and  he immediately texted back with the word "TRACTOR" ...

And of course Jake was right! :)

After the corn maze we stopped at the pumpkin patch.

(When did Drew get taller than me??)

And then walked back to the apple barn

to buy some apples and some apple treats.

It was another great day of making memories at our favorite apple orchard.