This evening we celebrated Brooklyn's 6th birthday and gave her a wardrobe made by Grandpa Wally and doll clothes made by Grandma me. She was very happy!
Here she is opening the doll clothes, ready to be hung in the new wardrobe!
It took no time to start getting things organized!
Wally did a wonderful job on this nice wardrobe, which will also be useful as a night-stand.
Look how cute she already has her shoes lined up. 
Today I decided to try my hand at making more of an "artisan" style bread. I'm not sure what that actually means but it sounds pretty smart, doesn't it? Regardless, I made some french bread (first I did the dough in my bread machine) and then I formed the loaf and baked it in my old covered clay pot (a römertopf brand ). It came out great. 
Here is what the clay cooker looks like. (The lid has been lifted off and is sitting beside the base, upside down). I believe it was a wedding gift from 1975, very trendy at that time (along with fondue pots and crock pots!) One soaks the clay in water for a while (prior to putting the food in it), and then places it in a cold oven and set it to a very high heat setting. It provides a certain steam to the food item that is within. I have made some really moist entree's in this and thought it would be interesting to make some bread in it. After searching the internet, I found a recipe that I thought would do. It worked well!
A good day to stay indoors and SEW more doll clothes. 
Aren't these little dresses going to make some little grand-daughter happy?
Oh, for fun!
Hey, says this little nuthatch.... it's cold and we're hungry.... 
Yes, it's getting hard to eat around here! Not much food left!
We'll have to wait.
and wait.
and wait.
Ah! Finally! Breakfast is served!
Is there any chance I could come in? thinks Mr. Squirrel. I think it was even too cold for him today. (Morning temperature was 24 degrees below zero! It's now a balmy minus 7) 
This is why we have given our 4 season porch the name of the "river room." During the winter months we can see the river. We love it. 
I am so enamored with tree branches. 
I said I would post a few pictures of the doll clothes I sewed today and yesterday. Here are some of the clothes. I can't wait to see if Brooklyn likes them
This is a sweet little dress coat. It is all lined. I love it!
The jeans were so cute!
This little jumper now has a black shirt to go under it. (What you see behind it right now is the black dress coat.)
Wow. I dusted off this old friend and am having a bit of fun sewing doll clothes...
Ah, hearty food for a winter's eve. 
We were thrilled to announce the birth of our first born son. 
And ever so thrilled to actually hold him in our arms! Here is John one day old!
and here is John at home with Dad and Mom - he was 10 days old in this picture.
This was one of my favorite pictures of baby John and me.
One of the things I like about going through these baby pictures is seeing the now 32 year old toys that are now being played with by the grandchildren! I always liked this picture too.
In the spring of 1977 John got to go to Canada to meet his grandma Berge.
Here is John with Grandma Crater in New Jersey.
This picture of John was taken in Canada and I posted it because he is reading from our all-time favorite children's book "Oh, What a busy Day!"
I thought a Christmas picture would be fun to see. John was 11 months old here.
The one thing you might not notice in this picture is that I was wearing maternity clothes again. Adam came along in April of '78 - 15 months after John.
Oh, my, our boy is SO BIG!
Yes, our boy is so big! He is now a Daddy and hubby. 
Who was going to let some snow spoil the wedding day? Not these parents!
...and certainly not the bride and groom!
The church was beautifully decorated, the bride beautifully attired and the wedding was a wonderful celebration.
Here is a view of the wedding party up at the front of the church.
Lindsay and Sam were watching and listening to the Scripture reading.
The wedding party looked so pretty - 6 bridesmaids and 6 groomsmen, the maid of honor, the best man, the 2 flower girls and the 2 ring bearers (and yes, they ALL walked down the aisle!) and the 4 ushers - plus the lovely bride and handsome groom.
The bride & groom with the bride's family.
I was worried that the father of the bride would get too choked up and be unable to say his "line" so I typed it up for him and told him to just hold it up if he couldn't say the words!
I snapped this picture right as the newly married Mr. and Mrs. arrived in the foyer after the recessional! They did it! They tied the knot! 
Here is Preston and Daniel "toasting" in the New Year. Preston thought it meant having a piece of toast with his Daddy, so that's what we made for him. 
We had a New Year's Eve visitor in the backyard. His movement turned on the motion light and we got a few good pictures. 
Happy New Year. Just a quiet evening at home with the D's.
