Our updates for all of you

I was taking the opportunity to take photos while we actually had snow on the ground and on the trees. Even back in 2007, the first full winter we were here, there was more consistent snow on the ground then had been the last couple of winters. Cold yes, but very little snow staying around more than a few days after the snow occurred. It usually warms up and begins to rain within a few days of most storms the last few years, the new normal with warming.  This year we had a few inches on Christmas eve with about 8 inches a couple of days after. Then all of this week the cold that settled in right after the holiday kept the snow around although by Monday (01/05) it might be freezing rain or just rain as a warm moist front from the southwest is to be impacting the northwest as the Canadian arctic front moves east. We even had a few mornings of below zero with highs in the 7 to 9 range.  This all made for some great shots though! The top photo is our place in a very nice winter shot afte

A week ago was black Friday and although I had started this post on Monday, it's been busy! After Thanksgiving Thursday, Stacy decided to venture out on Black Friday and see if some of the things she was looking for were still available with many stores starting on Thanksgiving Day again this year. From the news reports I know the trend was for quite a few stores to be going back to Friday being the day for shopping, but many of the area stores and especially towards the more populated areas in our neck of the North Idaho woods had been advertising the Thursday evening or even a few Thursday morning shopping "extravaganzas". So Stacy went out on a cold and snowy Black Friday and a few hours later came back saying it "was crazy" out in the shopping world. Nothing like those Black Fridays back in California when she'd take one of the kids and go camp out well before dawn to be in line for the really special sales at the first opening of the store, most often