Meet Willow

 I wasn't too sure about adopting another cat after Smokey died, but Seth did a good job in his appeals for a new cat. After a visit to the humane society, Seth immediately bonded with little Willow and she is now a well-loved fixture in the Herman home. She has such a sweet nature and loves to snuggle. Every morning she greets Russ with her front paws outstretched and gives him a hug before she is fed. 

Winter Activities

Seth traveled with eleven other students in his class on a school-sponsored trip to London, England the end of October/early November. He was able to experience the National Portrait Gallery, Westminster Abby, Churchill War Rooms, Benjamin Franklin House, Great Fire Memorial, St. Dunstan-in-the-East, Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, Globe Theatre, Burrough's Market, The Mousetrap play, Hampton Court Palace, Maritime Museum, Piccadilly Circus, British Museum, Camden Market, Kings Cross Station, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Natural History Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, and the London Eye. They packed quite a bit in five days!

I took my own trip about the same time to Aurora, CO to visit Caleb and Mikaela. Caleb had a few days without class, so he could show me around the medical school campus and their favorite places in the area, including church on Sunday. I also met their puppy, Augie, for the first time!

A beautiful mountain hike

An al fresco lunch

Denver Botanical Gardens

 

A view from one of the medical school buildings.

My niece, Emily, was running in the NAIA cross-country nationals for Northwestern College in Vancouver, WA, in mid-November.  Russ and I decided rather spontaneously to take a quick trip to cheer her on. The drive was beautiful and we had so much fun surprising them!

Russ and Coach Wolf talking "shop."

Other than Seth, none of the kids were home for Thanksgiving. Caleb and Mikaela spent Christmas in San Diego with her family and the "Iowa" kids spent Thanksgiving with the Bleeker and Herman families in Iowa. We decided to spend Thanksgiving with our church family and invited anyone interested to join us at church for a Thanksgiving meal. We had a wonderful time of food and fellowship.

Seth's culturally themed "Friendsgiving." Seth brought a French pastry for dessert.

The week after Thanksgiving I flew to Ontario, CA, and met my mom at Aunt Lila's house to visit her for a few days. We enjoyed worshiping at her church, seeing family we hadn't seen for a while, and just spending time catching up.

The girls had their first indoor track meet at SDSU!

Youth group Christmas party at the Rollerdrome.

Now we are gearing up for yet another trip--to Iowa for Christmas and Nicolas and Josie's wedding!