Monday, November 30, 2009

Thankful

In no particular order:

The Christmas tree. You know. The one that fell on Grandma.


Cade and Brandon checking out the new sled they helped build.


Cade, Brandon and Jeff putting skis on the chair Cade built-turning it into a sled!



Me and Sar! She lives in Georgia now, and I miss her. So glad I got to see her and meet her new hubbs, David.


We ate at Pegasus in Castle Rock. We kissed Pegasus goodbye :)



The tree. See the pretty bird? I think he might have tried to take off and caused the silly thing to fall.


The boys. See how they cooperate. They love pictures.


Grandma and Chloe. You know. The Grandma the tree fell on.


This is how we do trees. Just get one, bring it in, then cut it down to size when it's inside :)


Cade showing Jeff an animation video he made.


Thanksgiving at Uncle Brent's house. There are my boys again.


And some of my gorgeous cousins who knows how many times removed. Cassie, Chloe and Kendal.


And Brooke doing a little Christmas carol recital for us. She's 12. She's tall. She races a 250 motorcycle. And she's pretty. :)


So much to be Thankful for. Thanks for sharing with me!

Umm, yeah-dream on

So we had a great Thankgiving break, to be sure. But guess what happened...OUR CHRISTMAS TREE FELL DOWN! With a crash. Right on my poor Grandma! Don't worry, she's fine. But I confess I was a mess for a while. Ornaments shattered. Pine needles everywhere. And in the end, our tree is now screwed into our wall with string. Oh my. I guess I sure called that one (see the previous post.) More to come on the fun parts of the holiday...

Monday, November 23, 2009

Christmas is Love


I had lunch with a great friend, Sara, today, and we got to talking about Christmas. Isn’t interesting that we both have these romantic notions and ideas of how Christmastime will be (and I have a feeling we aren’t the only two with these delusions!) Maybe it’s the movies that do it to us. Or just our hope that the special time of year really will be romantic and wonderful. During the holiday’s it’s always nighttime and snowing as you look out your picture window with your lovely lighted tree with perfectly wrapped presents below. The tree is perfect, of course, as was the day you went to cut it down-snow was lightly falling, the air was crisp, and of course the tree is shaped perfectly. Decorating was fun and went smoothly with the whole family helping out as you listened to carols and had cider cooking on the stove in the kitchen and Dad lifts little child to put the angel on top. Every night the fire is crackling and there is a sweet Christmas movie playing. A plate of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and egg nog are set prettily in the center of the table. All the family will bundle up and go sing Christmas carols after the movie. The house is clean. There is music in the background. The smell of apple cinnamon wafts through the rooms. A perfectly round snowman waves to passersby in the front yard. Tomorrow night there will be a fancy holiday office party that you can dress up for and enjoy with your loved one while you sip a glass of wassail and mingle pleasantly with co-workers and friends. This weekend you’ll bake and take homemade presents to your neighbors and get to know them a bit more. Your shopping trip for present will take just a few hours and you have the perfect presents picked out for each person on your list. Maybe when you’re done shopping you’ll just sit at Starbucks while the snow falls, sipping your peppermint mocha, reading a nice novel with Frank Sinatra crooning Winter Wonderland in the background. Christmas Eve is full of baking cookies for Santa and gathering by the fireplace in pajamas to read Twas the Night Before Christmas-then all the kids scurry off to bed, excited for the morning-and the adults cuddle cozily by the fire. When Christmas morning comes around you’ll wake up to fresh snow, have a leisurely breakfast (that somehow you didn’t have to make yourself-and somehow will clean itself all up), gather by the tree and take turns opening gifts and oohing and aahhing over each gift (which everyone loves and will not return, and yes, the paper will all throw itself away), he will give you a romantic, thoughtful gift, and he will love the perfect thing you picked out for him, then you’ll watch a Christmas movie, play in the snow (without tracking in mud or puddles when the playing is done), drink hot cocoa and enjoy the rest of the day and evening.

Dream on.

Here’s how it might really go, and why it is still a beautiful time:

It will be hard to figure out where to even spend Christmas because she wants to go there, he wants stay here, they want to come here and everyone wants to do what everyone else wants them to do but clearly that is impossible. And so, your company will arrive. OR you will arrive as the company You will have to sleep in an uncomfortable bed. You will bring presents, they will bring presents. The cats will break some ornaments, the needles will be falling off the tree, the paper will be torn on some of them. Maybe you’ll be embarrassed to have company over because there are so many gifts! (weren’t we supposed to spend less this year?) With these generous gifts from visitors will come more dishes, more laundry, more footprints AND more love, more laughter, more memories! Some people will want to watch a movie, some will want to take a walk in the snow, some will want to play video games, some will want to play other games, some will NOT EVER want to play games ;) and so you will try to do it all with everyone. The office party turns out to be a potluck with crazy co-workers and strange food. Christmas shopping was hectic, you couldn't find the perfect gift because everyone else found it first! Freshly baked cookies will turn into crumbs on the table, there might be cat hair on the couch, the TV will be on too loud, the lights on the tree might short out, the hot cocoa might get cold, the game of choice might not get chosen, the kids might cry when it's time for bed, your neighbors might forget your name when you take them burned cookdies, you might even get bored, annoyed, frustrated. You might… BUT, the food will be delicious, the kitties will be loved, people will be doing things together, there will be laughter and visiting and memories will be made. Couples might disagree. Kids might not play well together all the time. Things might not go as planned. It will be day time for most of the day! It might not even snow. The cookies might burn. But you know what all of this really means? You are surrounded by family and/or friends. You are loved and you have loved ones, and getting to spend time with any of them (even if it’s just the two of you) will mean more treasured memories made. Love. Isn’t that what Christmas is about? That’s my dream, anyway :)

Pictures from last holiday season:
snowshoeing

playing with cousin's while visiting grandma and grandpa

family pictures


cousin's helping with dinner

putting on a puppet show!

I can't wait for the memories that will be made this year!

Christmas again

This brings tears to my eyes and hope to my heart.

Christmas

Christian, huh?

This is one of many reasons why some people think christians are judgmental hypocrites.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Random

Just because I haven't posted pictures lately doesn't mean we haven't been up to some awesomeness :) See...

Hanging Christmas lights. It was about 28 degrees. Yep-awesomeness.



Decorated the house for Christmas this weekend! I know, it's early. Usually I wait until the day after Thanksgiving. That's still when we'll do our tree. One friend's hubby said "Thanksgiving will feel bad." I say, Thanksgiving loves Christmas just as much as we do!

Chloe loves the fireplace. She always lays right on the corner of the rug-never on the wood or tile. It's pretty funny.

The annual Santa Clarence pictures. Jeff is NOT impressed. But come on, he's so darn cute. Fat and Jolly and all!



Both kitties enjoying the fireplace :)


We got to enjoy my friend Tiff's gorgeous wedding last weekend. It was so lovely and really fun to see old friends. One of them, Grace, sang with the live band! She was so amazing you would think she was part of the band! (I have no idea why this is underlined)


Gorgeous Grace and Kimmie! They get prettier as the years go by :)


Me and Steph. She is the greatest. Seriously, the GREATEST!


A couple of weekends ago Jeff and I and Scott and Brandy all went up to visit my parents in the mountains. We built a spontaneous snow man. Scott and Jeff also had a snowball fight. It was so much fun!


Well, Jeff really supervised the snow man building.





More winter fun to come!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Let the first gift you buy this year be life.


November 13, 2009. One day viral campaign. $10.

Every day, 4500 mothers bury their children due to contaminated water. They are forced to sustain their families with a diabolical liquid that contains both life and death. This lack of clean water is the leading cause of death in underdeveloped nations. And it just doesn't have to be! So as we gear up to scurry through department stores and browse endless catalogs in search of new jeans, Tonka Trucks, gadgets and dolls....we are pausing. We are pausing. And this Friday, November 13th, we are buying water. Clean, life-saving water. $10 will provide one person in Africa clean water for 10 years. It will literally change and possibly save someone's life. A mother. A child. A brother. A grandfather. We are rallying together for a cause. Clean water. One day. $10. Asking everyone to let this be their first gift. Let water, let life be their first gift of the season. Click on http://www.charitywater.org/pages/water4christmas/to be directed to the secure donation site of the highly recognized, non-profit, charity: water. Click the yellow button to make a donation. All donations are tax deductible, and 100% of your donation will go to clean water solutions in West Africa.
(This was on a friend's blog. I really believe in this and it is a highly reputable org.)

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Friends and Family part II

So not only did I get to see Lusia two weekends ago, I also got to spend time with Jeff's sister Jennifer, her hubby Jake and their daughter Hannah. I also enjoyed an evening with my grandparents, parents, brother, cousin's (my ONLY 1st cousins) and my Aunt. It was a fun-packed weekend :)


Cute Hannah after she fell off our deck :(


Tryin' on dad's shoes. A perfect fit :)


Playing with Cade's penguin. She loved that guy!


Dancing with the penguin.


Where did Hannah go?


Adorable family pictures at the Wyoming vs Air Force football game. Just look at Hannah's smile!!!






Hannah befriended the Old Navy dog.



Dad, Granddad, Scott, Dillon, Janet, Mason, Mom and Grandma


Dillon being Dillon.


Scott being Scott.


You get the idea ;)

An open letter to the school district

 So the plan for school this year, at the K-5 level, was pretty complicated to begin. (the plan was made after lots of meeting and planning ...