Christmas

Now That's More Like It!!!

Yeah!!! It's really been snowing this week!!! These pictures are from a couple days ago. The snow is even deeper now & the roads are pretty bad because of the extremely low temperatures. The kids & I are pretty much house-bound. For me it's just as well.......I don't feel like leaving the house much anymore anyway. Maybe God is helping me hibernate. But, sadly, it's keeping Deb & the girls away for Christmas. The weather could ease up a little so they could get here safely. Then God can snow us in again. It's so pretty!!! And the kids are having a blast outside! LOVE it!


House.

Rock.

Bush.

Snow man.

Snow-something.

Before.

After.

Snowball fight.

Our First Snow of the Year........LAME!!!

YEAH!!! SNOW!!! Last week we got an, um, half an inch or so. Not enough to make a snow man.......but just enough for Jarod & Micah to make snow babies!!! Awwww. We keep hoping for more snow, but it just hasn't happened yet. (You Seattlites are hogging it all!!!) It has been extremely cold here ALL week!!! Pretty record breaking temps for Nampa. One morning it was -5 degrees!!! So we still have LAST WEEK'S snow............but we want MORE!!! It supposed to snow a lot next week. Here's hoping!!!

Titus is the only member of this family who doesn't want it to snow. Mr. Neurotic-I-Hate-Dirty-Feet-I-Love-My-Shoes-I-Want-To-Wear-My-Shoes-To-Bed-And-In-The-Bathtub.............HATED his snow boots & snow clothes!!! He went outside for about 30 seconds (it took about 10 minutes to get him dressed!!!) before he pitched a fit & wanted back inside. The week before, thinking about how he LOVES his shoes, I bought him some cute little slippers to wear around the house. He hated those as well. He said, "Mom! These are NOT shoes!!!" ........and promptly kicked them off. Brother. Where did this kid come from?! And when did he start having opinions about footwear?! (BTW.......his eyes are yellow because he wanted to highlight his prettiest assets, OK?!)

Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post of some REAL snow next week!!! And maybe a picture of Titus smiling.

Seattle Visit

I haven't posted in a while because I've been out of town visiting my family in WA. My baby sister, Keri, was having her first baby & she wanted me to be her labor coach. I was very happy to help her (& honored that she asked me!!!). I loaded up the car & all the kids & drove the whole 10 hours by myself. That was an adventure. I've decided that I HATE semi trucks. Long story there. I arrived a week before her due date & we waited.......................for 2 more weeks! We stayed with my parents who were very brave to let their 5 grandsons & I stay for 3 whole weeks!!! I am sure they must be glad to have their house back now that we are home.

Anyway, Keri finally gave birth on Monday morning of the 24th to a 9lb, 5oz, baby boy! His name is Braeden & he is ADORABLE!!! I LOVE fat babies!!! My sister Gloria is a massage therapist & aided in the labor room as well. (She says she's going to come give me some massages while I'm in labor too! YEAH!!!) My bro-in-law, Rory, was super sweet to Keri during labor. He cracked me up with his play-by-play of the contractions...........and his joking around with all the nurses. He had Keri laughing even at 7 cm!!! Together, he, Gloria & I made a pretty good labor team. And Keri did an AMAZING job!!! (I'm so proud of you, sis!!! You're such a good mommy!!!)

During my stay, I visited lots of in-laws & had two Thanksgivings. One with my family on Thursday & one with Justin's family on Friday. We picked Justin up Friday morning from the airport & the boys were SO HAPPY to see him. Gideon had started asking me if we going to live at Grandma's forever & had been starting to cry at night for his daddy. I was startin' to really miss my man too. I think the next trip to WA won't be so long. It was a very nice visit, but also very nice to get home. And Justin drove. YEAH!!! I'm sure the semi trucks were happy as well. Don't ask. I think I'm done with adventures (or even leaving the house now) for a few months. I'm starting to feel a bit like a beached whale. I need a nap every couple hours. So, I'm staying home to finish baking my own bun in the oven. If anyone wants me, I'll be hibernating. Leave a message. ;-)

PS. My sister, Trixie, is also expecting a boy a week before me (I'm due Feb 19th, she's due Feb 12th). It is her 3rd baby, but her 1st boy. Apparently, God didn't think I'd contributed enough boys to the family yet.