"The Fabulous Stricklan Four": November 2011

Well the snow has hit us in full force, we have about 10 inches or so and the temperatures are a balmy 10 degrees. Dave has been working on his vintage snow machines getting them ready for the upcoming race season in December. He is excited for the fact that the snow is here and it is sled time, but sad that the nova is now parked for the winter and so is the bike.

We are hoping to do some work on the inside of the house this winter, add some shelving in the garage, and turn the downstairs into a personal gym for us, as well as start cleaning out some of those items that we haven't touched in two years, and donating those items to charity.

I have been busy with work. I took a trip to Houston, Texas at the end of October, first part of November and was able to fit a side trip in with Ashley. It was really nice to see her and spend time with her. The puppies she has are very cute! She seems to be doing well and enjoying herself. She is heading up here for xmas this year and Dave and I are excited to have her home for two weeks. I have taken time off and so has Dave so we can all hang out together. We are hoping to do some snow machining while she is home.

Krista is done with cross country and has been trying to find a job. She has been struggling as the economy up here is going really good, so we have had a huge influx of people from the lower 48 coming up here for work. We are hoping she finds something soon as we feel it would be good for her to get a job and learn about the joys of working and learning how to pay bills and what that part of life is all about. She is headed to Illinois for xmas again this year as she said she wanted to be home for her 18th birthday next year. Hard to believe she is a Junior this year. We have been talking a lot about college and the realities that will be coming at her. She is really hoping to go to Montana State University in Bozeman so hopefully she will get enough scholarships and student loans to carry her through what she wants to do. She has a couple of interestes and she is not sure exactly what she wants to do, it is sort of between engineering or special education. So time will tell what she decides.