{dear papa stephen, the girls got me sick}

Oh Papa! Gosh darn it! I am getting sick. I woke up this morning with a scratchy throat and I AM ignoring it. Well trying to. But right now, it is one o'clock my time and my face hurts now and my throat feels like it is starting to close up. Oh gosh. I tried to stay away from the diseased ones but it didn't seem to work, since all of them seems to be sprawled out all over the place when they get sick. I just wanted to tell you. I'm kind of sad about it. I was really doing so well! =)

I hope everything is going well at work for you! Say hello to Richard for me! =)

{dear papa stephen}

The girls and I miss you so much. The time we all spent in Florida over Christmas as a family was such a wonderful gift. Ashley is expectantly waiting for Aunty Kathy and Bob to come back to Duluth. They are carrying very special cargo. The dolphin you won her! Do you remember? Gosh, what a funny thing. I will never forget how that man looked at you when the ring actually landed on the mouth of the bottle. I think we were all as shocked as he was! So, yes, she is waiting expectantly. If only you could see her room! It is filled with real palm trees, fish mobiles, and sea filled pictures. She truly loves the ocean and having that dolphin will make it even more complete!

So tell me, how has the weather been? I understand you had some pretty major snow a couple of weeks ago. Are the mountains all glistening with it? Gosh, what a beautiful thing to see I would think. Someday, I look forward to visiting your country and seeing all those things that you love about it. It looks like such a peaceful place. =)

Well, I will drop this note to you now. By now it is 6:00 in the evening your time. I hope you had a great day at work. Are you still judging for the best soup of the day? I can't wait to hear more about that. The girls and I laughed so hard when mom told us. I just really couldn't believe it. But then again, you have the super taster! =)

Love you!

Emily

P.S. How is Jack doing? Does he like his little glow in the dark collar? I'm sure all the other little dogs in the park are jealous. =)

{hmmmmm}

Well hello everyone!

So must update you on all the fabulousness! Guess what I got for a graduation gift from Papa Stephen? A digitial camera. And not just any digital camera but a pretty nice one. Like really nice. Like I will be forever devoted to my blog and posting lovely, wonderful photos of my grand adventures. The only thing is is that I am still in Florida and not able to post any of those fine pictures until after I get home. There is also another great surprise too but that won't happen until I get back either. So, I will be out of the loop for a bit but will be back soon with some fabulous pictures and a whole new look!

Adios!

Emily

{a letter to Papa Stephen}

Hello Papa Stephen!

By now you are just about getting ready to talk to Mom. I just can't tell you how excited I am to see you in Florida for Christmas. It has been way too long since being all together and us girls can hardly sleep at night with all the excitement. Well, at least I know it is hard for me. All that sun, all the laughter and all that wonderful time with you as a family! =)

Can you believe it Papa Stephen, I will be graduating in 21 days from now! I am soooo happy. Don't pay any attention to my graduation meter on the side of my blog. For some reason it is reading the days wrong and I can't fix it. Don't know why. I think I might just have to become a techy for the day to actually figure it out.

Last night I was in class until really late. Gosh... this class is really hard. The teacher paces back and forth in the front of the room and is pretty obnoxious. But he is really smart so we are kind of happy that he does know what he is talking about. It is a class for financial statements. Last night we were calculating the net returns of capital gains on coupon and bond rates. Honestly, I don't even think I know what that means today but I did do it and I did a pretty good job on the assignment as well. Almost done. I can do this!!! =)

Well, I will post this letter for you. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your evening. Talk to you soon!

Love you!

Emily =)

{let it snow! let it snow! let it snow!}

I know... a little sickening maybe but I love snow and today, right now it is snowing like well.... cats and dogs. Big, fluffy pom pom sized snow pluffs falling down. Beautiful! Makes me want to run outside and just stand there in absolute wonderment over the miracle of falling snow. I couldn't live without it and I am pretty sure that if I did try it would make me super sad. I love it too much.

Letter to Papa Stephen:

I hope you are feeling better! Does it snow in Scotland? I heard a newsreel the other day that Moscow is going to be using the Red Army to eliminate snow fall in the city. They are going to do this by shooting the air around the city with some chemical-like substance that will make the snow into rain, therefore eliminating the high cost to remove all that snow. Sounds kind of strange and I should say dangerous to the people, having all of that chemical stuff in the air just to save 2 million rubels. But, that is how it goes I guess. Here is the article on it if you are curious.

The average Duluth, Minnesota snow fall is 78 inches. Quite a difference from Moscow's 24 or so inches. I mean that is nothing. What are they complaining about? Hahah! I also heard that they use some pretty horrible chemicals on their streets that can kill dogs and cats if they happen to walk and lick their paws afterwards. How sad.

All, of us girls miss you Papa Stephen. Hope you are feeling all better! Just a couple months before we see you!

Emily =)

{still counting}

Fifty-nine days to go until graduation! Okay... just wanted you to know that. Hahahah, because I am SUPER excited about it.

Letter to Papa Stephen:

I heard that you are sick with a really icky cold. Know that us girls are thinking of you here back in Minnesota. We love you so much and hope you feel better soon! Sending you warm hugs and prayers of a fast recovery!

Love you so much!

Your girls =)
Emily, Laura, Ashley and little Lucy... well and Mum too. =)

{introducing Jack!}

So this is Jack! Say hello every body! Isn't he the dearest dog you have ever seen? He is a King Charles Spaniel and the trusty and loyal companion of my Papa Stephen in Scotland. I am hoping to get more particulars on Jack so look forward to another post all about him!

Thank you Papa Stephen for sending me this picture!

Today has been just lovely weather and all. Sunny for a change but very cold. I had a wonderful lunch with Mum today and we had a great talk. It was so nice to catch up on all that she did with you when she was in Scotland and the Caribbean. I will post on some other events and happenings tonight when I get back!

Emily

{finishing up class}

Just got done with class. Sheesh... what a long four hours. Four hours of my life I will never get back. Now that may sound like it was the worst four hours of my life but seriously it really wasn't just a little boring. I can't stand boring classes. It really could be so interesting too. I am just not getting enough meat. I mean it too. Not enough of all that good stuff that keeps you wanting to read more, study more, and yep, I'm going to say it want to be enthused about taking notes. I am a serious note taker of a person and I can't even take notes for this class. Ahahah! Really spoiled, I will agree.

So how is everyone out there?

Gosh is it cold out. The weather has really shifted to the cold side now. They are talking a chance of snow this weekend. I don't know if I am entirely ready for that kind of thing yet. Well, I am very excited just not ready to get the arm muscles in shape for shoveling. Not with everything else I have going on. I so wish we had a snow blower. Really. You would want one too if you saw the size of our drive way. I am really feeling bad for myself right now.... okay just kidding. But really, I am. =)

Papa Stephen, I was wondering if you could send me a cute smiley face picture of Jack (King Charles Spaniel). I want to put him up on the blog here so everyone can "Ooo" and "Awe" over his cuteness. Hmmmm... maybe Mum has a picture of him I can steal from her. He could be my little mascot for the blog! Jack's corner! I think that is a good idea! What do you think Papa Stephen?

Any way, I hope you all have a wonderful evening!

Keep up the happy blogger outlook and keep your comments coming!

Emily =)

{Hello Papa Stephen!}

This blog post is a special one going out to my Papa in Scotland. I can't quite explain to you all how wonderful it has been knowing how much fun my Mother has been having in Scotland and the Caribbean. She will miss you so!

So update for Papa Stephen:

I am back at work today and feeling much better. What a horrible thing to have the flu. It nearly knocked me off my feet and I hate feeling that way. There are a few people at work that are really sick right now too and at home recooperating. I am just glad that I don't have a fever anymore!

The weather is really cold here and alot of the leaves on the trees have changed color too. They look so lovely and guess what Papa Stephen? They say it is going to snow this weekend. SNOW! Can you imagine it? Well, it is definitely cold enough so I am sure it will. It was actually sunny for the first time this morning since being cacooned in a shadow of mist and fog for the past week. Love mist and fog, just not every day all day.

School is going very well too! I only have three more weeks of this term before I start Fall number two, starting on November 2nd. I only have 71 days of school left until I graduate! I am so excited! No more school for me. Well, not for a while yet anyway. =)

Love you so much!

Talk to you soon!

Emily

{park point getaway}

Today actually turned out to be really beautiful. Although it was pretty cold the sun decided to shine through regardless of the time of year. The sky was colbalt and pressed itself hard and thick against the Earth. The amber leaves on the trees glimmered against that sky and somehow made it all the better to see and feel it close to your skin. The wind played funny games with the little birds. Eddies and swirls of currents lifted up and shifted leaves and an Eagle far above. It was too good to stay home. So us girls decided to have dinner out by picking up all of our favorite things at drivethroughs and driving down to Park Point. The sun was setting then. It was 7:30 in the evening and the wind had died down. The air still crisp and charged with anticipation of autumn sprung into your lungs with every full breath. The sand was cool and felt much better on bare feet then it did getting into shoes so I just decided instead to just carry them. The picture here is taken by Laura. Doesn't she do a great job of capturing that sunset?

*Letter to Scotland.....

So glad to know that you are both safe in Scotland again dear Papa Stephen and Mum. I can't wait to hear of all your stories in person when you come home. Christmas is almost here and I can't wait to spend it with you all as a family in Florida! What delight! The days couldn't go fast enough. But I am counting them down one by one with a big black permanent marker. Hahaha!