The Adventures in Sledding

Christmas was good times this year. We spent Christmas Eve at Jason and Heathers with Mom, Dad, Jodi, John, Anna, Nando, Lizard, Jason, Heather, Micah, Weston and Rylee. We had good food, a white elephant gift exchange and played games. Then it was off to driving 35 MPH on the interstate to get to Mom and Dad's house on very snowy roads. Yep...we got a white Christmas! Christmas day was all of us minus Jason & Heather's family, they stayed at their house. We stayed inside all day since it was horribly windy with snow and sleet, which lasted all day and until sometime in the night.

Friday the weather was better, still cold with some snow flurries. We all went sledding at the ranch, except Michael, Danae and Mom. Jason, Heather and I were in the Cherokee and everyone else was in Dad's truck...fortunately Dad was driving because if anyone else stuck the truck as good as he did, they would be in deep doo doo.

While driving around the sledding area, my Dad found a waterhole hidden by the snow and thus the truck got very stuck... So, we decided to just sled until my Uncle Tom could make it out and pull us out with his John Deere. Rylee was upset she had left Giraffee at home, so Heather stayed in the truck with her. Heather was still healing from surgery the week before anyhow. Dad, John and Jodi even took a turn or two sledding down the hill. It was fun and cold!







We couldn't get in touch with Tom for a while, so Michael was at my parents running around looking for him. He couldn't find him so he found Shawn. He and Shawn showed up in Shawn's truck and attempted to get Dad's truck out...it wasn't going to budge. Just before Shawn showed up, Jason, Heather, John, Rylee and me were trying to take the Jeep into town, so we could be dropped off and there would be room to take more people back into town if needed. Well, vehicle #2 got stuck. Shawn also got stuck...temporarily...vehicle #3. Then Tom shows up! The John Deere pulled us all out and we were on our way back to Mom and Dad's to warm up and drink hot chocolate. It was fun!!




Just some random pictures:

Husband Tag...

OK...Emma tagged me, so I will play along...looks fun!

Husband Tag...

1. How long did you date before you got married? 2 years

2. How long have you been married? 5 years

3. What does he do that surprises you? He will pick up some flowers once in a while, but the best surprises are when he makes stuff for me.

4. What is his best feature? Do I have to pick one? He has warm brown eyes, a contagious laugh, a huge heart....

5. What is his best quality? Once again...do I have to pick one? He will do just about anything I need him to do and he stands behind his word.

6. Does he have a nickname for you? All those little names like sweetheart, etc... make it in there.

7. What is his favorite color? Usually green

8. What is his favorite animal? Horses

9. What is his favorite food? All food, but he likes (and cooks) a mean steak with potatoes and biscuits

10. What is his favorite sport? Rodeo

11. When and where did you first kiss? September 1, 2001, the night we met at the Rockin' Rodeo

12. Favorite thing to do as a couple? Anything. We ride horses, go shooting, cooking, watching movies, yard work, etc...

13. Do you have any children? Surilla Danae

14. Does he have a hidden talent? Not really hidden talent... but he's a talented little cus (leather work, wood work, welding, roping....)

15. How old is he? He will be 30 before me and that's all that matters :)

16. Who said 'I love you' first? He did. He said "would I be out of line if I said I love you?".

17. What is his favorite music? Country with a mix of other stuff

18. Do you think he will read this? If I show it to him

I LOVE YOU Michael Paul!!!

I tag: Anna (for her fiance), Jodi & Casey

Oh Christmas Tree...

Yesterday we met with our friends Bear & Jennie for our second annual Christmas tree cutting. They put up a live tree and like looking for and cutting their own. My Dad lets them cut one from the 'ranch', this year he was in town and went with us. There was about a foot of snow on the ground which made it lots of fun! Aiden and Caleb had a blast playing in the snow (I'm sure Danae will too, next year). It was lots of fun and one thing I got a kick out of was watching Aiden giggle and blow 'raspberries' while playing in the snow.







...and we wrapped it up with some hot chocolate and hot cider...YUM!!

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was Micah & Weston's 7th birthday. I think they had fun eating pizza, cake and opening gifts. Of course Rylee was in on the fun too! She liked feeding Danae and we played a little hide and seek. I about lost it when she was hiding and I was 'trying' to find her. I asked Michael to help me because I just couldn't find her. We were standing in her room and she was hiding behind her large toy riding horse. We pretended we couldn't see her and I asked Michael "where could she be, I've looked everywhere". He said "I don't know, but that horse looks like it needs to poop". Rylee immediately lifted the tail on the horse to investigate. Priceless!

Heather recently had surgery...hope you feel better soon Heather!

Make Some Cash!

My friend Ahna has started up an e-Bay business. If you have something to sell, she can take the hastle out of selling it for you for a small portion of the sale (20%). Anything you want to sell, jewelery, electronics, art, tools, clothes, etc... If you are interested, call Ahna at 928-567-4868 or e-mail her at ahnamarie@hotmail.com

Christmas Decor

Just wanted to share some pictures of our Christmas decor. I especially like the star on our tree that Michael made this year (the last couple years it has been a cowboy hat on top of the tree)

My Creative Gene

A few years ago I had made stockings from old Wranglers for me and Michael. I had our names embroidered on them and they had just a hint of freyed fringe on top. This year I needed to make one for Danae, so I made new ones for all of us...each with its own personal touch. ...and yes, I did sew them!! By the way, any of you out there who wear Wranglers...please send them my way when you are done with them, I like to make things like this out of them, its better than throwing them away and they don't have to be in great condition. I'll pay for the shipping too.

Snap Shots

Dad in his new adventure in the Bill Williams Mountan Men Club. Part of the deal is wearing the skins and a dead critter on your head...he has a three tailed raccoon on his (not sure if that was inspired from a Nintendo character or if thats how they used to do it). He was in Cottonwood for their Christmas parade. He was carried through the parade route on my trusty steed, T-Bone. Dad seems to really enjoy being in the club, he just joined a few months ago. Michael is a prospective Mountan Man...he is very interested and hopefully next year we can afford for him to join.



Michael read Danae the storry of the Three Little Javelinas, the southwestern version of the Three Little Pigs, I really like the book. Danae stayed awake the whole time, watching the pictures and her Daddy's face. Michael also sings to her when she gets fussy and she stops fussing usually...



I just love this picture, Danae curled herself in as close as she could, with her little feet just helping her keep her place.

I Just Had To...

I couldn't resist...I had to take the naked baby pictures with some props I had in the house. I think they are cute...although, we couldn't get through them without her piddling.

The Bummers of Getting Old

My 11 year-old dog, Miller, has been limping and has a swollen joint. I was crossing my fingers it was arthritis...but unfortunately it is much worse. My old boy has cancer in his leg and in his chest. I am just going to manage his pain, spoil him a bit (he LOVES sleeping on the bed). Michael doesn't care for the dogs to be in the house (other than their dogroom/laundryroom), but he has a soft spot too and brought Miller in one evening and gave him a dish with some peanut butter...Miller loves the peanut butter. Nala, Miller's shadow for the last four years, was crying for him and Miller was so happy being in the house with us he just ignored her...poor Nala. (If she wasn't such a hyper tank and Tukir didn't pee on things or have a bi-polar issue {not knowing how he would be with Danae}, they could all come in). Anyhow, I am bummed, but just have to roll with it and do what I can for him.

Danae's Blessing

Sunday Danae recieved her blessing. My dad gave her the blessing and my brother Jason and brother-in-law John were in the blessing circle with some friends of ours from church. My family, and Leigh, Tonya, and Leslie, all made it for the event. Michael's mom is visiting from Kansas and his dad is here from Utah. We all met back at the house for chilli and conversation. I think everyone had a good time...thanks to everyone for coming!

First Bath

Danae's cord finally fell off so we were able to give her her first real bath, not just a sponge bath. She was not happy, but eventually realized she was just going to have to deal with it so she began sucking her thumb. She really tugged on her daddy's heart strings when her bottom lip began to quiver. She also gave us our first parental lesson in bathing...put the diaper on as soon as you can...you probably aren't going to be able to make it from the master bath to the nursery without an accident...actually, you probably aren't going to make it out of the bathroom without an accident.