This weekend, Saginaw had a very special visitor all the way from Denver, Colorado. ALINE!! I was blown away when she said she wanted to come visit, especially after seeing our metropolis of a city and wondering what we would do when she was here. After fair warning, she said she still wanted to come. And for that, I was blessed and grateful. Especially since her days off from residency at the hospital are few and far between. She arrived on Friday and we spent most of the day and night catching up, telling stories, and eating delish soup while the the temperature was dropping outside. After dinner, we went out to Tony's to meet Dan & Tricia for a jumbo banana split. I didn't have my camera with me then, so let your imagination run wild. I will tell you this: It was jumbo and it was good.


The next morning we took it easy, hung around and talked some more over hot tea. In the afternoon, we took a trip to my favorite new town, Frankenmuth, MI. It is a Bavarian town that has all the German flavor you could want. The buildings are in Bavarian architecture and horse-drawn carriages glitter the streets. The last two weekends, Frankenmuth was hosting their annual "snowfest" where snow and ice carvers come from all around to compete in a big carving competition. The sculptures were very impressive, needless to say.


Frankenmuth is known for its "famous chicken dinners", has its own brewery, winery, and country store. not to mention the cheese haus, fudge shop, and sausage shop :) We stopped first into the brewery to get a couple of growlers and try a few different kinds of beers. After that, we went to the Frankenmuth Cheese Haus and tried all kinds of cheeses!





After a freeeeeezing day in Frankenmuth, we warmed up to a homemade meal "Bernard style" of wine, lasagna, salad, and bread. It was a wonderful weekend and I am so thankful Aline could come! What a treat!!