Emily's Weekend

Emily has been staying with us during her winter break from school.  She preferred to do something more exciting than visiting her parents (like visiting Laura Flannery who is also on her winter break) but it just didn't work out.  So Mike and I have felt some pressure to make her visit to us more exciting.

On Friday, I took Emily to town.  The town of Greenville that is.  We went to the library, the produce market, the thrift store, the grocery store and then the recycling center.  Mike called and said he needed some help installing Frank and Lois's Christmas present so I brought Emily back to be his assistant.  This is what they accomplished.

They installed a non slip outdoor heated walkway mat in a spot that is normally very icy in the winter.  
It is plugged into an outlet off the outdoor light which they also installed.  

On Saturday, Mike and I decided to up the level of activity and take Emily out to lunch.  We took her to a Mennonite Country Store in St. Peter, Illinois.  It was soft pretzel day.  The soft pretzels were such a hit we even brought some home and shared them with Lois and Frank.  

I enjoyed shopping at the country store also.
I found some hard to find items like pearlized barley (what I am holding in my hand) and pure maple syrup.  

We finished out the weekend with our first cold snap.  On Sunday, we woke to 5 degrees but no snow.  That would have really been an highlight of the weekend for Emily but it didn't happen.  She went for a walk after church anyway.  I think she cheered up when she and Mike made homemade pizza for dinner.  

Sunrise on Sunday morning.
Too cold to take this picture outside.  

Emily eating frozen cowboy cookie dough.
At least, she has enjoyed the food.