Sixteen...

Hi, everyone. I hope you're all doing well and staying warm!

 We're having a very cold and snowy winter this year...so cold that some of the pipes in the church froze and burst a couple weeks ago. What a mess that was to clean up! We've also had frozen pipes in the school, but thankfully they didn't burst!

We've missed about a week and a half of school due to snow and frozen pipes, so we're going to have to use some of our Easter break to make that up. Our church and school is in a rural residential area, so our roads aren't top priority getting cleared. In the last snowstorm we had, the snow plow didn't come until five days after the storm. The roads were still awful though, because the temperatures stayed too cold for the snow to melt.

Our forecast is calling for more snow tomorrow night, so we'll see what happens! We may have to add some more days on the end of the school year.

Katie's 16th birthday was on the 7th, so we had a party for her at the church on Friday night. 

Her cake was made and given to her by her schoolteacher. I thought she did a great job on it!  We're so thankful for her generosity. I know cakes are expensive and take a lot of time to make.

Katie loved it! :-)

Katie's teacher made the cupcakes too!

Some of her friends came up with this idea. They arranged little tea lights in the church pavilion, and after Katie had opened her gifts, we went out and gathered in a circle around the lights. Her friends took turns letting Katie know what she meant to them, and there were sweet and funny little stories about things they've done together. Katie loved it, she said it was her favorite part. 

After the party, she and some of the girls spent the night at the church, so I stayed with them. Unfortunately, my air mattress had a hole in it, so I got very little sleep. As soon as I got home, I took a nap! :-)

 

It's hard to believe how quickly she's growing up! What a blessing she is to our family. I'm so thankful God chose me to be her mom.♥

Thanks for stopping by today. I always enjoy hearing from you. :-)

Take care,

~Melanie