Meet McSquizzy!

We finally got a weekend of sunshine, but more importantly, we got a visitor!!!
Meet McSquizzy!! McSquizzy came all the way from Australia, to Seattle, and then to Kentucky. In Seattle the SND class got her all ready for an action packed vacation with the Kaler family. For our first weekend of sunshine, we took her out to see a historic Shakertown village.

The Shakers are known for their craftsmanship and devotion to God and community.
This village in Pleasant Hill has been preserved for adventurers like us!

(look at the door at the top of the building. Its the highest point in the county, where Shaker villagers would watch for armies coming during the Civil War. They were neutral and helped care for both armies, but made sure they weren't there at the same time. Anyway, keep that door in mind for later.)

McSquizzy got to try her paw at stitching!

McSquizzy wanted to find out about this giant creature sniffing her, so she sniffed it back!!

She also got to taste some maple tree sap, which was being collected to make maple syrup.

She enjoyed checking out the village....

and seeing things from new heights.

and new temperatures!!!

The only mishap of the day was a three story headlong fall down the staircase bannister (in the tallest building of Mercer county.) McSquizzy really startled the Shaker woman in the rocking chair when she flew by her head and landed right at her feet!!

McSquizzy is liking the adventures and making new friends. Stay tuned!!

Home is....

A fluid term, indeed. Last Wednesday I (cheryl) boarded a plane to squeeze in a work weekend in Seattle to help get us through the rest of the internship (which is going quite well, by the way!!) It was blizzard conditions in Kentucky, the kind where the snow is blowing horizontally and stings your face. After a brief de-icing, the flight was uneventful, and I arrived to Seattle in its normal, wet concrete state... thinking how wierd is that, to travel around the country for 9 months, taking our time, seeing the sights, learning to chill.... only to (ziiiiiiiiiiip) fly back in 7 hours.

It's got me thinking about home.... the physical one I'll check on in Lynnwood while I'm here, the Winnie one missing its inhabitants, the future one .... ???? I think about those without one at all, those that share with many (thank you Browns!!), and our ultimate Home. I'm thinking about my precious family hanging out in the dorms, while I galavant around and get to see some of their friends. I'm thinking of my precious hubby, home in my heart, who misses Florida and has done all the laundry all year....

Wow, I am blessed.

Let me send out some love to my precious family... Happy Valentines Day, you Kaler Kiddoes... Bring on the blizzards, I'll be 'home' soon! -Mom