big snowman and big news!

We got more snow! It only lasted a day so we had to take the opportunity to make a snowman, as (this time) the snow was actually sticky enough to roll and build a snowman. While Scott and I worked on the snowman (Scott made the bottom and middle, I just made the head), the kids fended for themselves at the little playground.

We couldn't and didn't let Eli wreck the snowman we were building so he had to satisfy that need by kicking the snow off some shrubs instead.

Here's Eli on the teeter-totter.

And Dana (the more cautious one) assessing the danger on the slide...

She did go down after all.

Voila! Our finished work--the best-looking (well most typical anyway) snowman I have ever made, not to mention the tallest (~six feet tall!). Scott and I had to both lift the middle section together to get it on its bottom section.

And Scott, the one who did the lion's share of the work:

The one on the left just received a full three-year scholarship to do a Master's degree in Modern Chinese Literature! We are really excited at this opportunity! Without the scholarship, we could not, would not consider doing this, but all is paid for! He even has an office on campus that he uses as his study space. Scott has been reading as much as he can as fast as he can as a result(yes, in Mandarin!), he has really jumped in with both feet!

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Since Scott has a study space on campus, we have decided to move to a slightly smaller place closer to Eli's school. Eli and Dana share a room now (since Thailand) and so a 2 bedroom is all we really need. It didn't take long to find a suitable one and now we are poised to move on May 1st.