Winter Time Adventures

Sometimes you just gotta get out of the house, especially here in the north where winter drags on for half the year! I recently had a fun afternoon snowshoeing with some friends at Letchworth State Park. We just came off of a long bout of subfreezing temps so most of the waterfalls were frozen over. 

The infamous ice "volcano" formed by a fountain. It was about 30-40ft tall here. 

Nick and I took an afternoon date to Rochester to walk the aisles of some international markets. I picked up some pouches of hummus that will be greatly enjoyed on one of my summer camping trips! 

Saw some interesting items at an Asian market, like matcha KitKats and raw jellyfish!

We ate Thai curry for lunch then headed back home. I'll definitely be enjoying some of the ingredients I got to cook with! Not the jellyfish though!

Oklahoma We Meet Again

A couple of weeks ago Brad and I took a short trip to Oklahoma to see family. He had some days off of school and I found us a cheap flight. We left during a winter storm in Buffalo, and after we arrived a big winter storm popped up for most of the US. As the week went on all of the news coverage was about how terrible it was going to be, so I knew our trip home would be  a bit delayed!

We enjoyed lots of visits with my dad, my mom and stepdad, and my brothers. My dad got to show us his "trails" he's been working at his house, and wet got to meet his new dog Bingo.

My mom we recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's so this visit was important for us to see her and spend time with her. She didn't remember us but I did get to spend an afternoon with her and even got her to play a bit of piano! She's an excellent pianist and although I'm sure it has been a long time since she last played, she took right to it and was able to play a couple of pages in each book. 

Brad and his grandpa Gary went out for the afternoon for some fun while I stayed at the house with my mom. I did some light cleaning while she napped then visited with her after I got her up.

We even got a brief visit with my sister in-law Sarah and our niece Zoe. She's just a few months older than Bradley but he is now taller than everyone!

A couple of days before the winter storm hit, our flight home got cancelled so I had to bump it to the next day and extended our hotel one more night. I turned our rental car in a bit early as well so my family wouldn't have to get out into the snow and ice to pick me up. We pretty much just stayed in our hotel room all of Saturday watching the snow outside and eating my rations of snacks and hamburgers I stashed in our mini fridge.

The new flight was supposed to be Sunday afternoon, but in true Oklahoma fashion that flight was also cancelled and I had no choice but to extend it yet another day to Monday morning. As fun as the hotel room was, my brother Eric offered to let us crash on his couch Sunday night so we happily took him up on that. He braved the few inches of untouched snow on the roads Sunday afternoon to pick us up and we hung out at his house the rest of that day.

We got up at o' dark thirty Monday morning and thank you sweet baby Jesus the airport was cleared and beginning to function after the apocalyptic 6" snow fall. We made it to our connection in Chicago but of course now the snow storm had moved east to Buffalo so our flight home was delayed a couple of hours. I soothed myself with an airport hotdog.

Thankfully Buffalo is much better at handling actual snow so we landed safely Monday evening and greeted Nick and Jacob with joy to bring us back home. School had been cancelled that day so Brad didn't have to worry about missing the first day of his new semester, and my coworker switched my shift with me so I could miss that night of work. 

As much as I would have rather been stranded on a beach vs Oklahoma, it was nice to see the family and catch up!

Celebrating 23 years of Marriage

Nick and I recently had a date night out to celebrate our 23rd anniversary! We went to our favorite hibachi restaurant and it was so good! They even made us a delicious dessert to share.

It's crazy how the years have gone by. I have a lot of big milestones I'm celebrating this year so stay tuned. 

RIP To Our Cuddle Kid

February 13, 2005 to January 13, 2026

The Infamous Mr Cuddles 

We are heartbroken to share that we unexpectedly lost our Cuddles on January 13, just a month shy of his 21st birthday. 

He has been here longer than our children, and is the only main pet they have ever known for the whole lives. The house is quiet without him walking around howling for attention and we will miss him every day.

We did have him cremated and memorialized to celebrate his long life and the imprint he made on our hearts.

Catching up and Christmas

These last couple of months have been filled with school activities and prepping for the holiday season! Bradley is in many clubs at school for his senior year, and at their "Senior Tea" he had an art display with a few of his projects. He received a certificate noting his accomplishment!

For one of his classes he had to turn in an essay, so of course he brought out his typewriter for some vintage style.

We all enjoyed a breakfast with Santa at a small place in a nearby town. You're never too old for Christmas cheer!

The house has been very festive with the traditional village on the mantel and our tree in the window.

With the Student Council Brad assisted with a blood drive, then donated blood as well for the first time!

Jacob received perfect attendance for the first semester!

The boys enjoyed their annual trip to the school's holiday craft night. They didn't make any crafts this year haha, however they did enjoy hot cocoa and decorating cookies that they promptly ate.

Brad let the little kids throw rings at his antlers. He's still a little kid at heart.

As we were leaving we caught the gingerbread man coming in!

Jacob also got 3rd place in his Geography Bowl competition.

For Christmas Eve after dinner we packed up and headed out to a charming light display in a neighboring town. Unfortunately we had no snow on the ground for Christmas! But the lights were very nice.

Christmas morning with my boys was fun! First they got to open their stockings to see all of their treats.

Next we had homemade buttermilk biscuits with sausage gravy for breakfast.

After breakfast we headed into the living room to organize the gifts then tear into them!

Even Cuddles got some gifts! He got a new food dish, some treats, and a couple of sweaters to keep warm on the chilly nights.

Now we're just relaxing while the kids are home on break before getting back into normal life next week.

As far as Brad's college update....unfortunately he was waitlisted for MIT and won't find out the final decision until March. He still has a pending application with RIT and expects to get into their Honors Program there--we will find out in late Jan. He has also decided to put in a last minute application for Stanford that is due next week. They also have a very competitive process and low acceptance rate, but we know whatever is meant to be will happen for him!