Happy 14th Anniversary

Reason number 5,287 I love my wife...when it was raining after we were married (December wedding in Portland, who would have thought) she agreed to play some ball while we waited to take some more pictures. Happy Anniversary Julie.

More Snow Fun

The kids are having a great time in the snow. Hershey even got to come out front to see the kids. She was whining in the house because she could hear them outside. It's the first time we have had a sled for the snow. The kids have used my jellyroll pans in the past.
This works much better!

I got a good picture of Mal! She doesn't like me to take her picture so I don't get many good ones.

What's crazy is that it's 10:25 pm and the girls are still out in the snow. I'm not sure if it's going to stick around so I'm letting them enjoy it while they can.

Snow

At about 2:00pm today it started to snow...

I had taken the girls to the store just when it started and by the time I came home the driveway was sled ready. The kids played and then let me know that Dad's car had slid backwards out of the drive way. Thank heavens it didn't hurt anyone! I'm pretty sure it was only because there wasn't any traction for the tires when I parked. Any way, it's 5:00 and this is how much has already accumulated....

and it's still snowing........

A Cardboard Box

So the kids had a great Christmas. I did too, but the day after Mallory decided she wanted to make a robot out of a makeshift box made for one of my gifts. It started out as a thought, then it entered the drawing and planning phase....The other kids joined in on the building part of it and we had a perfect box for the face....
Well it was completed. Next came a game to play with it. Robot became the target for the nerf gun. The kids made all sorts of rules and scoring points.....

What's really funny about all of this is the fact that in the last few weeks Pete and I had a conversation about the Toy Hall of Fame. Some toys we agreed with others we did not. But to prove it's point, the almighty BOX made a fantastic showing. Well done BOX, we shall never doubt you.

Christmas 2009

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, every creature was stirring including the "mouse"... The stockings were hung in the entertainment center with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there....
The girls in there pj's (I'm in mine too)

had a wonderful Christmas

and hope you did too!

Merry Christmas!

Connor's Growth Spurt

I guess I can't really say growth spurt because Connor inches up on a regular basis. One week he fits all his clothes and the next he doesn't. Well tonight I didn't have shoes on and Connor walked up to me to give me a hug and, well, I had to look up into his eyes just a bit. I wasn't going to say anything but he caught it. It's not by much but give him a day or two and it will show clearly.

Basketball

Courtney had her 1st basketball game last night. She's on the competitive team that will feed into the high school. This year they have so many girls (a first) that they have 2 teams. Courts on the teal team.
This is Coach Lu.
Courtney getting a foul.

She did a great job in her first game. Way to go Court!!

Room Makeover

I rearranged the front room and the living room. I thought that the kids were getting bigger and so were their friends so I moved furniture to gain more living space. I like the outcome.

The front room before..

and after...the "dining room" aka our office space before...and after.Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of the living room before but this is the after... I love the difference of the front room and living room now.

Thanksgiving Trip

We took the whole family (yes, that means Hershey too) down to California to our parents homes. In Crescent City we took the kids to their favorite park. It's right by the beach. Pete and I took Hershey to see it and all the birds. She liked it.

I had fun trying to take pictures.

These are a couple pictures to show the wildlife we see going from my home to Pete's.

In Eureka, this is the park we go to. Pete started a competition with the kids to see who could jump the farthest.

The park has a nature walk through some Redwoods (or Sequoia's). We like the trail.

Pete treated the family to the Fresh Freeze dipped ice cream cones. Papa told the kids about the model cars.

We had a wonderful time at home. It was good to go down. Thanks Mom, Dad, Nona and Papa for having us!

A Vacation for ME!

A good friend pointed out that I hadn't entered a post about my vacation. I hadn't because I didn't take any pictures even though my camera was in my purse the whole time! What, a vacation and no pictures? Yep. You got it. Pete had a business trip to Orlando and I was lucky enough to go too. At first a friend of ours was willing to watch the kids but Nona and Papa came early and were kind enough to stay and watch the kids instead.

Pete and I had a normal morning getting the kids off to school and then headed out the door for the airport. I started relaxing even then. The flight was good, our layover was in New Mexico and I have to say I was impressed with Southwest. Anyway, I took Pete to his conference and then drove around a bit. I like to see places and explore the area. When I got tired I went back to the hotel and took a nap. In the middle of the day. It was blissful. The rest of the day I read a book I had brought. That's it. I didn't do anything else. After I picked Pete up, we went out to dinner at this place called Bahama Breeze. I had the coconut shrimp. They were yummy! The next morning I had breakfast with Pete then took him to work, drove around, read my book and napped some more. Pete got done early so I went and got him. We went to Downtown Disney and walked around for a little. Then we went and looked at all of the large Disney Resort Hotels. They are beautiful! My favorites were the Fort Wilderness,and the Animal Kingdom.

So that's my trip. Pete thought I was crazy. I had a wonderful time.

Connor's Fall Concert

Connor had his first concert in 7th grade. He is actually in the 8th grade band this year because his teacher from last year suggested he be placed there. It's kind of nice because he knows a few of the 8th graders from church so we get to see our friends when we go to the band activities. His friends Jordan and Shawn got placed there too. I recorded a little of one of the songs.

I'm really proud of Connor and how well he is doing. Not just with band, but this year in school. He's really doing a great job on staying focused and organized.

A Saturday Zoo Trip

We finally went to the zoo to see the new lion exhibit. It looked a little foreboding so we made sure we dressed warm and brought our huge umbrella.Luckily, the exhibit is all covered. And snug....
The kids had fun on their safari.

I liked how they put the jeep half in the exhibit. There were muddy paw streaks on the windshield.

I didn't know that my kids were part of the zoo....

We went to see the crocodile. After being in the rain it was pretty hot in there.

It was a good Saturday trip. Because of the rain we had areas almost to ourselves. Then it was nice to come home and warm up. The rain hasn't stopped today.