New Years Eve in Wisconsin...

Monday was such a fun day. I think it was my favorite day of our whole trip. It started out with an amazing breakfast at the house of the Hobbs, Daniel and Collins parents place. They made sausages and eggs, and smoolosh, a potatoe dish with all kinds of goodies in it. There were scones and waffles, berry smoothies and orange juice. Collin and Kara were there, and so was Daniels sister, Lindsay and her two little girls. We spent the morning eating, and playing with the cats, and reading and napping.

In the early afternoon, Lukas, Sia, Daniel, Sam and I drove out to Half Moon Lake, which was mostly frozen over. There, and in the surrounding park, we did an e-session, where Lukas took our engagement pictures. It was all snowy, and cold, but I have no doubt that he got some very cool pictures. I will post some of them when I get them. It was a lot of fun, walking around in the snow, being with Sam and just playing together. As we were finishing up, Nomi, Lindsey, and Kathy arrived and we all walked across the frozen lake to the other side. On the way back (across the frozen lake) Lukas took a few more pictures, even some of us jumping on the lake. I had never walked across a frozen lake before, and it was a little frightning to think of all the movies I have seen where people have fallen through the ice, or where it has cracked around them. But I was so excited to be out there, that I soon stopped thinking about those scenes. Besides I knew it had to be somewhat safe since there were ice-fishermen out on the ice, and there were a couple other people walking around out there. Although on the way back, we ran through a section that was a little squishy and soft. It was kind of like running along the grass, and then hitting a muddy spot. All in all, it was a fun experience, and I loved it.

Later that evening, we went to the home of Julie Schippers for a New Years Party. Some people came and went, but that was where we rang in the New Year. We played all kinds of games together, ate a lot of snackage, and hung out and talked. Most of the people that were there were friends of the Van Dykes when they had lived in Eau Claire.