I've had an upper respiratory infection and was just about over it when BAM! it moved to my chest and became acute bronchitis. Soooooo, I've been doing the bare minimum of what has to be done and taking life a day at a time for the past couple of weeks. My getting outside to take pictures was put on the back burner since we still have quite a bit of snow on the ground and very cold temps. It has been above zero for the past few weeks, which is a nice relief. But the high this weekend has been in the twenties.

This morning, we got up and got ready, threw everyone in the truck and drove to Hans' Bakery for some deliciousness. The poopers were so excited!

They love to go because at every stop, they get a treat. Not just any treat mind you but a delicious alligator treat made in Louisiana! Yum!!

Hans' didn't look busy from the parking lot but when we got up to the door, the line doubled back around the inside of the dining room twice the length of the restaurant and out the other door! Whew!! No donut is worth an hour long wait.
 

So we ventured over to the next donut shop in town, Broncos Sandwich Shop, that also serves donuts.

The thing with these donut shops up here is this....I don't ever see where they make them. I don't see anyone cutting, rolling, mixing dough. No one standing at the fryer, artistically flipping each one as the outsides crisp. And the donuts are never served warm. There's really nothing special about them, they're kinda like the Krispy Kreme donuts they sell at Texaco. Or the ones at the deli in the grocery stores. I really just don't get it. Kinda creeps me out and makes me want to go to Lee's and get a hot, fresh dozen of beautiful glazed donuts.

So after eating sub-par donuts at Broncos, I went to refill my drink and found this beside the ketchup and napkins....

Seems they don't even make their own BBQ sauce for their sandwiches. No famous jar of sauce, no secret sauce, no options of hot, spicy, sweet, mild.....just small, pitiful packets that remind one of Taco Bell sauce packs. Shame, shame, shame. I just don't get these people up here.

On our way back to the house, I snapped a few pictures so you can see our snow is melting and the mud is surfacing. Here's the fun sledding hill, down the street from our house, where we last sled with Luke, Grace, Mark and the poopers.

Here's the park where I took photos of Luke on the playground last Fall.

After we scrounged some breakfast and stopped for dog food at PetCo, we stopped at Micheal's to pick up the picture I had framed. This is one of my favorites that Brandi did. It is her rendition of Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night. She used some type of thick oily crayon things and spent a very long time on it. She did several different versions of Starry Night that year, using different mediums. This just happens to be my favorite.At the bottom, she carved into the oil her signature and 08. She was 15 when she did this. I am so proud. I drove the sales girl crazy having her pull out tons of mats and frames to get this perfect one, but I think it came together nicely. Now to figure out where to hang it in the house.

Whew! What a week!!!

We left Thursday a week ago to go visit Mom in Hot Springs. Should have been a nice, relaxing vacation, but Nooooooo!!! Scott started getting sick on Tuesday night, by Friday he was congested and running fever. Saturday I started getting sick and we both were miserable. We did have some good conversations when the drugs kicked in.

Yep, I married a mama's boy. And she has some huge footsteps to follow in! I love her so much but I cannot compare to her cooking or how immensely clean she keeps house. I am lucky in the she loves me just as I am and doesn't judge me.

Boo came up to see us Saturday. I was so glad, we hadn't seen each other since Thanksgiving. 

Scott worked on Mom's computer, while Boo texted her friends. Then Mom sat down and looked at photo albums. This has to be my favorite times with people, looking at pictures and hearing their stories. I could do that for forever and be happy.

 
Mom built these really nice shelves in her kitchen and I took a picture so I might be able to steal the idea and recreate this in my next house.

So we ended up sick on an airplane, Sunday morning, when we had to make an emergency landing in St. Louis. Definitely a long enough story for another post tomorrow. Until then...