Happy New Year!

We had a wonderful Christmas excurion to Indiana. We were actually gone for 10 days! On the 19th we left Augusta for our drive up to Bath, it was in the mid 70's and very sunny. By the time we arrived, we had declared ourselves cold weather wimps. Erik and I were eating at Greek's, one of our favorite restaurants in Muncie, when we heard the weather forcaster say it was 3 degrees, -23 degrees windchill. Needless to say, we are not that wimpy, just had to adjust to nearly a 100 degree drop in temperature. It was really great to see the giant star lit 100 feet above my grandparents house as we arrived.

Erik and I stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Rosenberger for a few days for Graham and Tess to each take a day of individual time with my parents. Tess baked cookies and did crafts with Grandma Suzy and Grandpa Brack (affectionately known as G.B.) and then played dress up with Ann and Grandpa Bill. Graham played Big Game Hunter, Baseball and Fishing on the Wii with Grandpa Bill and even beat Ann bowling (don't feel bad Ann, Graham is the Wii Bowling Champ here too.) With G.B. and Grandma Suzy he made stockings for all of the big kids (Erik, Auntie Elissa, Murrell, and I) set-up his very elaborate train set, where he named the tunnel that they built "The Lion Tunnel." He and G.B. took a grand adventure into town, where they did some business at the bank and enjoyed McDonald's for lunch.

Erik and I visited our Alma mater, Ball State. It was clear the University had grown exponentially since we had last been there. McKinley now has a big tower, David Letterman has a new building, the Football stadium has been totally renovated and added on to (this must be why they were so good this year.) The bitter cold and whipping winds were still familiar though.

Erik and I also got some yuchre in with Paul, Ethel, Alex and Robby which is always spirited.

We spent one evening ice skating at Miami with my mother which was a lot of fun. Tess's ability is selective, if she wanted to catch up to someone she could manage, if not she just wanted to be pulled along. Graham was the read dare devil of the group though, he was the bravest skater on the ice! G.B. didn't actually make it out on the ice, but we quickly forgave him when he treated us to Skyline Chili. There was a slight mis-hap on this night. When we parked on High Street in Oxford (which is all brick) the was freezing rain. Just as we entered the restaurant 3 UPS workers sitting in the front of the restaurant said someone had just run into our Jeep. Fortunately, we had all just stepped into the restaurant and no one was hurt. As we pulled into the drive at the Brack's everyone was gazing at the beautiful white lighting and reindeer in the yard, as we slowly slid off the lane because it was so slick, we couldn't get back onto the drive and had to park in the yard until it melted.

We celebrated Christmas mass at Liberty, which was very nice. It was really great to see the church have so many people in the pews! Christmas Eve with The Brack's and Grandma Maxine was a lot of fun. A warning to all: Grandma is a Sequence Hustler. Christmas Morning we headed over to Bill and Ann's and enjoyed a hearty breakfast, only to celebrate Rosenberger Family Christmas at noon. We all had very full tummies!

We joined the Hendrickson side of the family in Boonville on the 26th. Lynn fixed a nice meal and we opened gifts, met Alison's Isaac and Vance's Megan. We also got to visit with Vinson for a while the next morning.

We were up early in the morning so we could get doughnuts from our favorite place, The Pioneer Bakery. They are so delicious and fluffy! I don't know what they do to make these so wonderful, I did ask the lady behind the counter if she made them. She said, "the owner comes in late at night and starts them, then me and another lady come in and finish and sell them." These really are the best doughnuts anywhere, if you are evern in the Boonville area you should patronize this baker. Though it can be tricky, as there is no sign indicating there is any kind of business in the the tiny, house-like building, or any kind of advertising whatsoever. They open early and close as soon as they sell out.

We spent an evening visiting with Erik's friends from H.S. Erik P., Grant and Grant's wife Sandy. On Sunday we spent some time with the Scales family. They are so enjoyable! Then on to El Maguey for lunch with Bobby, and back to Lynn's for a mean game of Monopoly!

Graham and Tess thoroughly enjoyed their visits to see Grandparents, and returned home safely loaded down with goodies.