Tubing

We enjoyed the perfect tubing day with cousins; the warmish weather and magic carpet ride to the top was just icing on the cake.  Indie even loved it for a while, giggling on the way down and waving "bye" to everyone in line. When she and Eden got cold they got to head back to the toasty car with Dave.  Milan, Cora, and I closed that place down, taking advantage of empty lines and fast trips down the hill.  It was so much fun!

Christmas in Ontario

Dave had a week and a half off of work for the holidays so we made a last minute decision to get the heck out of dodge (and avoid all of our looming projects) and head for the Torlands.  We broke out our semi-annual Kindles and the kids did really well for the 12 hour drive.  The Torlands are used to our phenomenal planning skills and welcomed us into their warm and cozy home.  Marie made us some delicious meals and showed us a good time with the YMCA pool, snow tubing, Boise Aquarium, and Kiwi Loco frozen yogurt, and the Carl's Junior Play Place.  The rest of the time, the girls loved playing with cousins and Dave even got to go duck hunting with Scott.  

Despite all our fun Christmas toys, the Torland's Nerf Gun Stash were some of our favorites.  We have since bought ball guns for our house and have some epic battles.  I kinda love them because now we almost have a fighting chance to beat Dave!

 These dogs had a love/hate relationship with Indie.  They definitely loved her food throwing habit and this time she wasn't even shy about grabbing a box of crackers of Wheat Thins from the pantry just to feed the dogs.  However, the price was that Indie loved to chase these poor dogs around the house, hug their faces, poke out their eyes, disrupt their eating time, and shake their booties.  

 Poor sick Garrett.  He and Scott both had strep, which was later shared between Milan and Indie.  Indie even took it a step further by adding Scarlett Fever to her recipe, but oh well, a small price for valuable family time and memories.  

 Here's Cora sporting a couple of her favorite gifts, a real "toleda" and Bubble Wubble.  After months of requesting a real Koala, Panda, larger driveway, ice skating rink, phone, and real Ruby, I was glad when she settled on a Bubble Wubble instead and she has sure loved that thing!

 See that car track in the foreground?  I thought Indie would love it.  She doesn't.  But she sure loves her time with all her favorite people.  

 Milan loves baking and cooking and I don't so it seems to be the perfect fit.  

 The jury's still out on this Little People Farm Gift.  Indie seems to like it some of the time and I saw saw it out in the playroom today so I'm counting that as a victory.

Hangin' Around

I have been trying to find the light in this house, which can be a bit challenging with busy lives and early sunsets, but I did manage to capture some cute shots.  While looking through these photos, I remembered that my living room was almost finished for .3 seconds, but then I shopped it to finish off my guest bedroom.  I am now a little too obsessed with finding the perfect antique Persian rug to fill the space.  Stay tuned as the eBay saga continues....

O' Christmas Tree

We had a sweet artificial spinning tree for almost a decade, but it was dying a slow death so we left it in Omaha when we moved.  This year, we drove up the Snowies, purchased a $10 tree tag and cut down the perfect Charlie Brown Christmas Tree.  The girls had a blast playing in the snow with the Redd girls, Dave got to bust out his sawing skills (just look at that happy face), we all got to enjoy some beautiful nature, and there was even hot chocolate (thanks to the Redds, who are apparently way more prepared than us.)  I hope this becomes a new tradition and we have 30 more years of family tree hunting pictures. 

Nope, we did not get a new puppy, but the we let the girls pretend with this cute little guy.

 It is against the rules to cut a tree without an extra permit, but these girls loved their cute little trees so much we just let them roll with it.  Plus, what can you really do once it's already been cut???

Cancun, Mexico

Since we're such amazing planners, we threw together a last minute getaway to Mexico two weeks before our 12th wedding anniversary.  Luckily for me, I was able to remedy my expired passport with a not-so-quick trip to the Denver Agency and we were ready for a relaxing weekend together.  Dave and I didn't do a whole lot, but it was an amazing 5 days together in Paradise.  One of my best decisions, after marrying this fella.  

We also managed to find the perfect babysitter for the girls.  Dave's dental assistant was phenomenal and some of the highlights were fake nails, Black Friday shopping, preparing Thanksgiving with Megan's mom, eating dinner with Megan's extended family, playing with their dogs, watching the Grinch at the theater, visiting the Children's Village on a beautiful day, scavenger hunt at the Wyoming Museum, trip to the library, non-cereal breakfasts, and making an awesome 'Welcome Home' sign.  I was hoping that the girls would have fun and feel loved and they did so much more than that.  So, basically the perfect weekend for everyone.  

Family Pictures

This year 's family pictures were pretty easy with low expectations and outfits from our existing clothes.  It wasn't too surprising when Indie fell asleep on the way and woke up like a grouchy little bear, but the older girls had so much fun joking around and Indie warmed up a bit to the photographer's watch.  All in all, it was a fun hour in a beautiful setting.  Even though this season feels a bit crazy, I sure love these people and I'm glad we were able to capture this time together.