All good things must come to an end

 I have had fun making our little 700 sq ft apartment our home away from home. I have been collecting amazing depression glass while I've been here. I will miss the antique malls of New England!

It now looks like this around here.
All boxes and bare shelves. We leave Friday to start our journey home. It is bittersweet to be leaving.

Farewell Party

All things Harman was the theme for our farewell party, thrown by our fun friends the Mooneys.

The decorations, the food and the activities were all geared around things Elder Harman and I liked. We had baked Potatoes for dinner. There was a cow theme inspired by Elder Harmans dairy and cattle background. We even had chocolate milk! We ate on Milk Glass dishes because I have been collecting glass pieces ever since we got here.

 Elder Mooney had set up a golf course and we competed in several rounds of golf activities.

He even dressed for the part:)

We played pick up sticks to represent Kents habit of picking up every piece of wood he saw here. We played pictionary for my love of Art and then we did a ring toss into beautiful glass dishes. The favorite was the relay where the inside missionaries had to dress in a FM shirt and do timed activities like vacuuming, taking out the trash and cleaning toilet bowls! It was a hoot!!

There were even prizes that included beautiful napkin rings Elder Mooney made out of spaulted maple.

What goes up, must come down!

 We have spent the first couple of weeks in January taking down Christmas. The stable for the animals had to be unassembled and stored. The trees and the decorations in the Visitors Center and Residence are taken down. We remove the wreaths and all things Christmas. The lights on the bushes and all the low lying trees have been removed and checked and put away. The temperatures have been in the negative digits and we have to be careful not to stay out for long. It really burns your face and hands and even the inside of your nose. We run out and get as many lights as we can in the cold and then return to the shop to check, fold and put them in storage bins. The lights in the high trees will have to be taken down in the lifts after the snow melts in the spring.

Elder Adams and Elder Harper have been great helpers. They seem to be able to endure the weather a little better than us old people! 

Its always nice to get things cleaned up after Christmas but it seems a little sad after  taking down everything, when it is so beautifully decorated.

Sea of Ice!

We woke one day to a sea of ICE! It was such an amazing sight. EVERYTHING was covered with a coating of ice. It was impossible to walk on unless you stomped hard enough to break through. It made for a beautiful shimmering lake everywhere you looked!

What do you do when the warnings say it feels like -30 and the world will be covered with ice??? You go to the top of the hill and body slide to the bottom. It seemed like a good idea at the time:)

Wood turners dream come true!

The "BABY" burl

 The Vermont woods have been a paradise of wood collecting for Elder Harman. He seems to bring some little and sometimes big pieces of wood home everytime he goes out. His collection has grown and he will be sending it home so he can spend his days creating beautiful keepsakes!!

Christmas in Virginia

 We found out we had four days at Christmas off so we decided to spend it with our Virginia kids. We hopped a plane the day before Christmas Eve and started a fun filled time with the East coast kids:)

We ate fabulous gourmet "Fancy Food" on beautiful plates!

Coles version of "fancy food"

We built a gingerbread house and made cookies for Santa!

We did sealings with Niki and Brian and saw the beautiful DC Temple lights!

I think they may have more than four old missionaries putting theirs up:)

 Cole REALLY wanted to take his Granpa bowling so we made it a priority! It's their happy place:)

 We drove through a light display that ended in a street side carnival. Cole wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel. We knew it would be a bit risky with all the flashing lights but we chanced it and he had a blast!

We ended the night with a camel ride....Don't ask!!

So Fun!

We visited Arlington Cemetery and saw the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

 We made grandma Millies famous carrot cake and even had time for a pedicure!

Santa heard Coles wish and he got his mini pool table:) It was seriously "THE BEST TIME" had by all!!!!!!