Indoor Sledding

One of Mcayden's favorite games of late, is to "sled" inside. He and Addison sit on top of "Bob" (Mcayden's blankey) and we pull them around the room. He only wants to "sled" if Addison is with him too.

One Stamp?

This is our Christmas card for 2008. We ordered them through Costco and when we picked them up, I was surprised at how big they were this year. I told the person at the camera counter and she assured me the postage was "still one stamp".
So, a couple of days later, Rick and I got all the letters addressed and stamped and I headed to the post office. I had a package to send, so I waited through a line and up to the counter. I asked the postal worker to check the cards I was sending out of the country, to make sure I had enough postage. She then asked about the other stack. I told her they were "domestic". She then gave me my total for the "foreign" mail and then told me the cards I was mailing were too big for just one stamp. She checked them in a little cut-out thing and told me each card I was mailing domestially would cost an additional $0.41(not to mention the additional $7.00 I spent on the "foreign" cards). What?? Eighty three cents PER card? You have got to be kidding me. I explained to her I was assured they were only one stamp and she again checked the size and said there is no way. I was ticked. We had about 48 cards to send.
When I got home, I called Costco Corporate and explained the situation. I was told to call the store directly where we ordered the cards. So, I did. I talked to a really nice person in their photo department and she told me they were worried about the size as well, but they had been told the postage would remain the same. She told me to bring in my receipt from the post office and they would reimburse me the additional postage. I was so thankful.
Today we received to cards from other friends, that they had ordered through Costco. They had only one stamp on them ($.43) and they made it just fine. Maybe our post office is just strict or other post offices just didn't care with the holiday rush.

Naughty or Nice

Naughty? or Nice?


This little Santa outfit has gotten some good use out of it. Mcayden wore it when he was a baby and now it's on to Addison.
We had a Christmas party with some friends lastnight and Addison wore her "Santa Baby" outfit. She looked so darn cute, I must say.
We decorated Christmas cookies, made candycane reindeer and enjoyed wassail, warm soup, cranberry scones and the company of some great friends. I love this time of year. My friend Christine did face painting for the kids (and me).



A Rock or a Toy?
The other day Rick was explaining to Mcayden that Santa brings presents to kids who are good and he gives kids who are bad, a rock (i.e. coal). He asked Mcayden which he wanted and Mcayden replied, "A rock". So, Rick continued, "Would you rather have a rock or a toy, like a train?" and Mcayden reponded, "A rock train!"
So, there you go.

How Do I...

tie a big bow?
I couldn't remember how to tie a big, fancy looking bow, so I checked on YouTube and.... wallah!
I wrapped this package for part of my Young Women's lesson, on Sunday (I teach the 12-13 year old girls at church). What did we ever do without the Internet?

Eight Months

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

It was a beautiful, cold-n-sunny morning when we headed up to RedFeather to cut ourselves a Christmas tree. Rick has been looking forward to this day for months now. We met Smokey the Bear- in the forest! What luck.

Mcayden and Addison being pulled along on their sled.

The kids were awesome! We hiked about a mile in the snow (up hill both ways) looking for the perfect tree. We looked. And looked. But, it was no where to be found. The kids didn't complain and Mcayden had a BLAST tromping through the snow. He loved it! (I was sooo pleasantly surprised.)

A lot of people were leaving with trees tied to the roof of their cars and we were a tad envious, but agree we would rather have no tree than an ugly tree (and there were PLENTY of those we could have cut down).

Rick took us four-wheeling (unintentionally), while making a U-Turn, and we got stuck.

But he got us out. Good thing he brought a shovel! What a Boy Scout.

And here it is. Our tree. What a beautiful sight. We didn't cut it down, but we have a beautiful tree! Where we got it...you'll never know.

The morning after we brought the tree home and set it up, we decorated it. When Mcayden woke up in the morning, he came downstairs and said, "I love you, Christmas Tree."

Thanksgiving in Utah

We went to Utah for Thanksgiving and spent the time with our families. This year, after clay pigeon shooting on the mountain, we had Thanksgiving dinner with my family (the first time since we've been married, I think). At night, we went bowling with Rick's family (an annual tradition) and had an all-around great day!

We stayed three days longer than we had orginally planned and I stayed busy making "crafty things" and spending time with my mom and sister. The kids had a ball playing with their cousins, aunties and Grandmas. It was a fun trip.

When we got home, Rick said he wanted to celebrate my birthday again, with the kids, and made me a delicious chocolate cake! I love having my birthday all week long!