On Saturday at noon, Jeff and 102 'hearty souls' took the Polar Bear Plunge into Carlyle Lake to raise money for Special Olympics. It was 52 degrees and partly cloudy. Winds were from west at 15 mph and it felt like 45 degrees. The water temperature was a chilly 46 degrees. For the record, 46 degrees is cold! I raised $556.50. Over $23,000 was raised by the Carlyle lake jumpers. The Special Olympics website says 1045 plungers statewide raised $258,462. See the Photos section for photos!

Update! The Special Olympics website has posted pictures from the day of the plunge. You might see someone you know! Click here and go to the Carlyle Polar Plunge link.

We were really busy last weekend. We went to Springfield on Friday for Christy's going away party. Lauren's favorite thing about eating at Ponderosa was the chocolate ice cream! On Valentine's Day, we went to The Mills outlet mall in Hazelwood, Missouri. Lauren spent a lot of time in the play area and toy stores! We ate dinner at Fuzio's Universal Pasta. Karri saw Fuzio's showcased on the T.V. Show, Show Me St. Louis. It was pretty good, but it's hard to beat The Hill for good Italian. On Sunday, we traveled back to St. Louis to check out the Home Depot Expo Center. A trip to St. Louis just wouldn't be complete without a stop at Happy Joe's for taco pizza. After pizza, Lauren enjoyed her first Circus Funny Face. It was all good except for the peanut eyes! On Monday we stayed home and relaxed. Thank Goodness! There are some new pictures from this weekend in the photo section.

I added some pictures of Lauren sledding in her new snowsuit on the photos page. She really did say Whee!

The first mom and dad's night out was a big success! Hailey and Elaine came over to our house Saturday for a night of fun while their parents went to dinner and did some shopping. The kids devoured hotdogs and mac n' cheese for dinner. Many games were played, and at the end of the night, Jeff and Karri were exhausted! Check out the pictures on the Photos page.

Jeff