This photo says it better than I can describe how much this boy loves trains:

(Actually, from yesterday).

Joe: “Evan, did you go potty at church today?”

Evan: “Yeah.”

Joe: “Who took you potty?”

Evan: “Jesus.”

Joe: (shakes head slowly)

Me: “Wow. I wish I could have seen that.”

Joe’s parents, aka Nana and Papa were here for a whole week! They left yesterday, and we loved having them here. One thing’s for sure - they love their grandchildren.

Papa helped Evan build a tower:

They had fun building lots of things, but maybe even more fun knocking them down. Thanks for a great visit!

…since Maren was born, that is.

We don’t typically do much for Valentine’s Day. I think it’s overrated. But Nana and Papa are here, and they offered to keep the kiddos so that Joe and I could go out on the town. Our town is very small, however, so going out on the town doesn’t take very long We managed to find some decent food, but most importantly we got a chance to have a quiet meal together and thank the Lord for our marriage. Thanks Nana and Papa!

So, I don’t have as much time to read these days as in times past, but I still manage to always have one book going if not 2 or 3. They all range in topics from photography, to child-rearing, devotional, history, and so on. I’ve never done a book review here on our blog, so today I thought I’d bring something a little different to the table.

I have read many books about World War II, but they have all been either: a)historical fiction b)written by concentration camp survivors, or c)have been military accounts of battles. I’ve just finished a book written from a different perspective - it is written by a German.

On Hitler’s Mountain, by Irmgard A. Hunt, is my latest read. What makes this book so compelling is that Irmgard recounts her childhood as a Nazi, although the extent of what that meant was not fully realized until after the war. As a German, she and her family lived “normal” lives in the mountain town of Berchtesgaden, until Hitler rose to power and had his mountain retreat built there.

Her story is fascinating, honest, and important as she remembers her life before, during and after the war.

I give it an A+, two thumbs up, 4 stars, the whole enchilada. Go read it!

Yesterday we got more snow with some blizzard-like conditions for a while. The snow drifts in our back yard are at least a couple of feet deep! Since my dad left a couple of weeks ago, Joe has returned to his normal snow-shoveling duties. This morning was quite cold, but duty called, so Joe smelled dressed like an onion with lots of layers to beat the cold. Here he is getting ready (notice Evan copying daddy):

There’s nothing strange about that, right? WRONG!:

Ahhhhhhhh! I can’t look! It’s creepy winter man! All of the neighborhood children are crying for their mothers! Yes, he did go outside like that, but he didn’t last long. He got too hot and had to take it off…thankfully!
Take a look at creepy winter man in action:

Thanks for shoveling the snow, Joe! Our neighborhood sidewalk users thank you - even if you do look scary.