The Winter That Never Ended

Well, Day 4 no school! Blowing snow created ground blizzards down in the Sisseton area and I-29 Summt to Sisseton last night. I-29 was closed this am with over 150 vehicles stranded since 9:30 last night! This ground blizzard came out of nowhere with 39-60 mph wind gust! That's trecherous! I tell you it has been a crazy winter and the Azures are officially bonded, like Gorilla Glue Bonded! LOL! The wind didn't blow quite so hard up here at Buffalo Lake thank goodness. We do plan on having a full day of school tomorrow. Check out the KELOland link below for more stories.

Crews Work To Clear Interstate

Think Spring! Please!

Ok, so after getting back from Christmas we managed to have a couple of nice normal winter days! And then, it started snowing the Wednesday before New Years Eve. It has continued to snow the whole month of January! Really it has. We have had so many storms I've lost count. We have had late starts, early outs, and no school because of the snow, wind, and fierce cold. I don't usually mind being snowed in but I have officially began to complain some about the long winter. We did have two days of 20 degrees plus but as I sit here Monday evening... (no school today and I'm doubting we'll have school tomorrow) I am getting cabin fever! ha ha! As you can see the kids and I did manage to get to Sioux Falls to see Kristi, Georgia, Justin, Mom and Dad. Mom came up and spent Friday evening and Saturday with us and dad came up Sunday morning. We managed to visit the Butterfly House on Saturday. Ahh, what a lovely sight to see hundreds of butterflies and green flowering plants in the dead of winter. I highly recommend it!

Dad and his hats! You gotta love em'!

Hello and Happy New Year 2011

Greetings everyone! I thought I'd add some random photos to the Blog. It has been awhile. We celebrated two Christmas' this year. Brenda and family came home in early December to celebrate Christmas and also have Brady baptized. It was a baptism to remember. We had a good ol Iowa Blizzard along with a lot of memories. We had a lot of fun visiting with family. Celine and especially Monte were a little confused with opening presents but no Santa coming! We then traveled back to Iowa for the "real" Christmas which was quiet without all of us together. Overall we had a nice quiet Christmas.

Monte helping Poppa! He loved to work the snowblower and is/was trying to talk his dad into why we need one at home!

Monte, Blake, and Celine.

Celine's new purse!

Baby Brady and Celine.

Back home to the snow!

Back home to the frozen tundra! My favorite water bottle!

Well it was my favorite!

Sisseton Courier

Happy New Year Everyone,
I realize how behind I am with posting Christmas photos and what not! I've had a few technical problems.... and too many snow storms to procrastinate! We are all alive and well up here in the Tundra! Check out the local paper, who did an article on the trip I won. Who'd ever figure Brenda Sue would make the front page of a South Dakota News paper! Ha! It's a nice article too bad it's not all on line. You'll have to see my dad, mom, or grandma's for the whole article! Love ya and take care, Carrie

Sisseton Courier Check out the local paper who did an article on the trip I won.

ZURICH

ZURICH: We had a much more relaxing atmosphere in Switzerland. Our hotel was conveniently located in front of a tram stop that took us directly downtown Zurich. The gals at the front desk of the hotel were super good at directing us to our next destination. We found Zurich very laid back compared to London. It was also very clean and everyone very helpful and friendly. Here are our Top 20 Memories of Zurich. 1. Tram rides/Novotel stop Lindberghplatz. 2. Bus rides/tours. 3. Cable car ride. 4. Fondue, Bread, Little Bag of Potatoes! 5. Swiss Chocolate. 6.Bellinis 7. More Cheese. 8. Louie and Louise 9. Ferry ride across Lake Zurich. 10. Posting on FB. 11. Chagall windows at Fraumunster. 12. Tina Turner's home. 13. Cold rain and warm hats. 14. Bridges 15. Shopping on Banhoffstrasse! 16. Nice people. 17. LADY GAGA! 18. Old Town Zurich. 19. Pablo Picasso Exhibit at the Arthouse "Kunsthaus" (60 paintings/drawings) and 20. Celebrating Brenda's 40th Birthday at Cantinetta Aninori, a lovely restaurant off Banhoffstrasse.

Fraumunster Church.

Of all the church spires that pierce Zürich’s skyline, the slender, blue spire of Fraumünster (Minster of Our Lady) is the most graceful. And it is best known for housing magnificent stained glass windows by Marc Chagall. WE couldn't take photos inside so I found this on the Internet.

University of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

Albert Einstein was its most renowned professor.

Brenda relaxing in a printed love seat that reminded us of something mom would like!

Ornate = Lovely

Fraumunster Church where we were able to view the famous "Chagall stain glass windows.

Old Town Zurich.

We traveled across Lake Zurich by Ferry. Darn misty rain!

Swiss Chimneys! Hey, I liked them!

Like I mentioned before, these are just some of the pictures. Brenda has many more that I hope to attain and add to the blog. We really did have some great adventures and fun times traveling together. Priceless. Big thanks to Tim for being such a great dad and supporting me on this trip! I missed him and the kids and am happy to be home safe and sound. :)

London 2010

LONDON: We traveled afar for two great concerts and two amazing cities. Our adventures and laughs were many. Overall London was super busy and oh so beautiful. We felt like we were on a movie set at times and in the middle of mass chaos at others. Transportation was extremely expensive and challenging. We figured out their subway "Tube" system thanks to a hospitable worker named Julie. But to our dismay the tube #1 scared us with the amount of people smashed underground and the delays involved. We rode it once to Covent Garden. We attempted to take it back to our hotel but we both got the heebegeebees and turned around and walked out through what seemed like 100's of people ! We then figured out the bus. And #2 the lines we needed to use on Saturday were closed down for construction. We think due to London preparing for the up coming 2012 Olympics and Lord Mayors Day which is like our Veterans Day. I'm going to list the Top 20 things we saw and did in London and then another Top 20 List of Zurich in honor of celebrating Brenda's 40th Birthday which she celebrated Thursday November 18th! Love ya Bren.

London 1. Expensive Black Taxi Rides! 2. Vauxhall Comfort Inn/South London Girls. 3. Lights in the hotel/hallway. 4. Covent Garden Fish and Chips. 5. Green Park. 6. Leicester Square. 7. The Original London Tour. 8. Parliament 9. The London Eye. 10.Westminster Abbey. 11. Big Ben. 12. Horse Guards Changing *really quick* 13. Harrods 14. PETA Protesters at Harrods

15. Top of the bus cool wind on our face. 16. Backdoor or Buckingham Palace! 17. Duke Wellington and his horse Copenhagen whom he rode in battle for 16 hours! 18. Private Taxi Drivers cost less! 19. Brixton Bars. 20. Singing along with The Goo Goo Dolls in Concert!

Here are my photos. Sister Brenda has the rest that I look forward to receiving soon.

PETA protesting in front of Harrods! They were loud and created even more traffic problems. J.K. Rowlings home. She is the author of the Harry Potter books!




Brenda looking for our bus in front of Harrods.

Harrods was breath taking, opulant, just amazingly beautiful.

London was celebrating Lord Mayors Day. Equivalent to our Vetrans Day. Little did we know what a huge impact it would have on the local traffic due the parade.

Westminster Abbey.

Fish and Chips.

London Chimneys.

Big Ben.

Albert Hall.

Going Goo Goo To Gaga!

Here I go! Ready to take the trip I won courtesey of FM 105.1 Fargo Radio Station. Departing from Fargo tomorrow evening at 7:00. Brenda will fly into Minneapolis where we fly directly to London. Spending Friday and Saturday in London. The Goo Goo Doll concert is Saturday night. Up early Sunday to fly to Zurich, Switerland to see Lady Gaga in concert Monday evening. Fly out of Switerland Wednesday early. Home to Fargo late afternoon Wednesday. It has been fun having everyone telling me congratulations, they heard it on the radio, and sending me off with Best wishes! Will try to update blog as we travel....