BLACK COHOSH AND CHRISTMAS CARDS...

See, there's english on the bottle. And it's all natural; bonus!! This thick, black miracle syrup is also affectionately termed black medicine (by the children) and has kept us from many a sickness. So you make all the fun you want of my black cohosh as you clean up vomit and wipe green snot from your kid's noses. But my breathing machine has seen far fewer breathing treatments since this little bottle of licorice -flavored goodness has come into our lives.

Also, I got 54 cards this year. That's it!! I really thought I would be closer to 100. Next year I will start begging earlier. Tally up people, it's time.

WELL, IT'S OVER

Reading about Jesus and then having some monkey bread/birthday cake for Jesus birthday. Nolie wondered "is Jesus gonna share with us?" and then Jaydie said "is Jesus gonna be here?" We will probably start working on the concept of omnipresence in the new year. I think they're ready. The tongue in cheek is saying "sure, I'll take a picture if you give me something."

All his Christmas dreams came true when he opened this little goodie. He's working on it as I type.

Thanks to Nana and Papa for the Nerf goodness. We've been shooting each other ever since.

ARE YOU SICK OF SNOW PICTURES YET?

Pull, sled boy, pull!!



I promise not to post snow pictures again for the next ten years, 'kay? It's just that this is the stuff that blog dreams are made of. The second day of snow-fest 2008 was made up of snowball fights, sledding, and lots more dirty clothes. Memories that will last a lifetime.

P.S. I now have 226 cards!! How popular am I?? Just joshin' ya, I only have thirty eight. What in the world?!

ODDS AND ENDS

The twins got a pirate ship but Nolie wonders "what did Brenner get at Grammie and Grampie's house?" We're going to start working on sharing fairly soon.
This here is the last picture you will see of me when my hair was normal. I am now goth; not that there's anything wrong with that if you like it. It's just not for me.
We had a lovely little Christmas with Grammie and Grampie before they ditched us for Oregon.
Just some outdoor fun and some cute boys.


The neighbors' jeep that my boys enjoy abusing.

SAKES ALIVE...

I still cannot believe how much snow we got!! Are we in Montana, or what?

One of our five grassy snowmen.



Truly, the boys were outside all day, with the exception of coming in screaming because of hypothermia setting in. Nothing that a little hot chocolate couldn't cure though. Yenner even peed his pants in an effort to stay warm and have more outside time. Jaydie got a ride behind a quad on a little sled which he thought to be the cat's meow (I don't know where I come up with this stuff). And Nolie thoroughly enjoyed sloshing through the gutter. A true winter wonderland.

IT'S SNOWNING!!

As Yenner puts it "it's snowning" and it has been all day!! Isn't it glorious? The boys think so and have been out rolling in it all morning. I am definitely not at all irritated by the slippery, nasty, wet, dirty mess that it brings and have been blessed by it all day long. No, I really do like it. The only other place we've seen snow has been at Disneyland and, let's face it, that's just suds compared to this. There will probably be more snow-day pictures since I've taken 5000 so far. And for you grandparents out there, don't worry, I bundled them up more as the day went on. They were just so giddy at first.
Trying to thaw out.

GREETING CARDS HAVE ALL BEEN SENT...

Nolie decided he liked Santa when I told him he would get a candy cane. Bummer he didn't figure that out when the other two were taking a picture.

I took a picture for a friend of mine for Christmas. My first professional job, although I didn't get paid for it. It was fun, but I was nervous. I have 21 cards now. Keep 'em coming people; it's not enough!!

GOTCHA DAY...YIPEE!!!

Can you believe that 7 years ago today our baby came home!!??? I can't and yet it's true. How faithful is our God!!?? Just think that for six years before that I was whining and crying about not having a baby when all along God had this great, great gift for us. Are you crying yet, because I'm trying not to. Our little tub-o-love was like manna from heaven and we are sooooooo thankful!!!

THE CHRISTMAS RUSHES THROUGH...

We had our friends over for some good old fashioned Christmas fun the other night. We ate, we decorated gingerbread houses, celebrated a birthday, and ate some more. If you want to have a successful dinner party then you have to book-end your party with eating; works for me!! Rob is deforming people's faces in this picture. Talk about a captive audience.

I tried to take some pictures without the flash but you can see how that worked out for me. I don't know how you all do it.

P.S. I now have 7 Christmas cards!! That's gotta be a record. So what if one is my own and one is from Desert Christian Schools.

LET THE COMPETITION BEGIN

I mean, Jesus is the reason!! Let's be honest though, it is a competition with the cards and if you all want to be my friends then you will say that mine is the best. Brittany wins for the first card received category; congratulations, way to be on top of things!! Will yours be a winner? Send it to me and we'll see.

CHRISTMAS, CHRISTMAS, CHRISTMAS (SAID WITH A LISP)

We've had fun getting ready for Christmas what with all the decorating, crafting, and adventing. The children did a fabulous job decorating the tree and, for the most part, stuck to the approved ornaments and put them in the approved positions on the tree. Thanks to Dena for the darling advent calendar and Emily and Google search for the ideas to go in it. Honorable mention goes out to http://www.kaboose.com/ for the sweet crafts. Good times.