Merry Christmas

 

I hope every one has had a very Merry Christmas.  The word of the day at our house has been awes(ome).  The kids have been having so much fun with their new toys.

 

Holli using her new back scratcher.  This may be her favorite gift!

Awes!  Legos!

  We also just returned from a very nice visit with our family in the Midwest.  It was great to see everyone for the holidays.  I will post pictures from our vacation in the next few days. 

Anothe One Bites the Dust

With a little help from an apple and Dylan's foot, Holli lost another tooth today.  I sure hope the tooth fairy remembers to come tonight. 

 

Holli's 1st Rodeo part 2

Here are some photos from the rodeo today.

Getting ready in the snow.  We were so happy to see that the rodeo was indoors.  We thought it was going to be outside and that would have been pretty rough with the snow and cold.

 

Holli and Tigger warming up before the start. 

 

We had a break in the snow so she was able to ride a little outside while waiting for her turn.

 

Little Miss Rodeo Princess

Holli's 1st Rodeo Part 1

Holli participated in her first rodeo today.  She was VERY nervous but got through it.  She is already talking about her next event.

Frosty's Here

Dylan and I don't need snow to build snowmen.  We just need some power tools, plywood and paint. 

 

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!  We started the day off with the Turkey Trot at Fort Lewis.  Holli and Drew ran in the 1 mile fun run and they both did great.   

Here they come...

 Crossing the finish line!

 

I hope every one is having a great day.  We have had a nice, relaxing afternoon at home and are looking forward to a nice meal this evening.

Tis the Season

We are starting to get into the holiday groove. We made this log cabin with pretzels and lots of sugar.  The kids had lots of fun decorating.

Got Meat?

Drew and Chewy have headed out to (hopefully) fetch us some food.  I'm hoping that Drew's effort at hunting proves more fruitful than my attempt at gardening last summer.  We did get enough lettuce to dress a couple of hamburgers but everything else was a bust.  Drew has four days to get a Bull and he's been instructed by Holli to "not come home empty handed". 

The decision to take Chewy was last minute.  Since we don't have a fancy orange collar, she is wearing an orange dish towel.  I don't think she minds. 

Art Center

This morning Dylan and I joined Holli's class on a field trip to the Durango Arts Center.  We went to DAC to see the Seuss exhibit.  The kids had a great time.

 

 Kids made Dr. Seuss hats. 

DAC is just a few blocks from school so we were able to walk.  Dylan loved being the crossing guard.

Need a ride?

The kids are so happy to have their Jeep up and running again. 

Dylan loves to chauffeur Holli to and from the bus stop.

Happy Halloween 2011

We got to start Halloween a bit early this year with the Three Springs Hallowen Festival on Saturday.  Drew was out of town on a rafting trip.  The kids and I met up with some friends and hit the streets of Three Springs.  

Scary Witch and Vampire.

Disco Dad, Skeleton and Scary Witch.  Dylan wasn't sure what he was going to be until an hour before they left.  Thankfully, he has a trunk full of costumes to choose from. 

Winnie was feeling a little left out so she decided to put on a costume, too!

Jumping Horse

When Holli began horse back riding lessons the first thing she wanted was to learn how to jump.  Now, two years later she is doing it!  She is having so much fun jumping Tigger. So excited for her to start competitions next year. 

 

The jump is about 12 inches.

Motocross

Last weekend we went to our friend Johnny's Motocross race in Aztec.  Johnny is a great kid that Dylan just adores.

 

  

 Dylan and Johnny

 Johnny on the right.  I couldn't believe how much air they got.

More air!  Johnny was so good and came in 2nd!

Now, of course, Dylan wants to be a motocross racer. Here he is dressed for a race.  Ski helmet, swim goggles and a life jacket under his jacket for padding.  He is so creative!

Happy Birthday, Drew!

Happy Birthday to my better half, Drew.  I feel so lucky to have found such a wonderful husband and father.  We have so much fun together and I can't wait to see what the next 50 years has in store for us. 

I found this Dr Seuss quote on another blog and thought it was so perfect for the way I feel about Drew!

You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.

We celebrated with a Cajun Boil...

and Gooey Butter Cake.

Pumpkin Patch

We just spent a nice week with Grandma. We love when Grandma visits and it was extra special that she was here for my birthday. Unfortunately, I did not get any photos of the birthday celebration but here are some from the Pumpkin patch. We went to Sutherland Farms in Aztec, NM and got some great pumpkins.

 Kids showing off their pumpkins.

 Holli's fingers got smashed right before we left for the pumpkin patch so she had to wear a sling!?!

 

Strong boy holds pumpkin!

Visit

 We just finished up a nice weekend with Deron, Tina and Mimi.

  

Deron and Dylan playing

We watched Holli play soccer Saturday morning.  

 

Enjoyed donuts at Doughworks

 

 Celebrated birthdays and an Anniversary at Steamworks. (I don't think I cooked all weekend :)

 

Mimi, Drew, Holli and Dylan

Today we are getting ready for Grandma to visit.  She'll be here this afternoon and is staying a week.  Yay!

It's Snowing!

I can't believe that is is only October 6th and it is snowing!  I hope this is a sign that we're going to have a good winter!

Patriotic Potatoes

 Our neighbor brought us some potatoes from his friend's garden.  He gave us a red potato, white potato and blue potato. The kids thought it was pretty neat.  We've never tried blue potatoes before.  I'm happy to report they were pretty good.  To be honest, I thought they all tasted the same but the blue were the most fun to eat!

Home Alone

Oh my...I am home all by myself tonight.  Dylan and Drew are camping and Holli is at a slumber party.  I do believe this is the first time in at least 8 years that I have spent a night all alone.  This calls for a good movie and something sweet to eat.  I'm going to try and enjoy this night. 

Ready for School

This is how Dylan dresses for school.  He has a GREAT teacher who fully supports his inner super hero. 

Updates

Life has been very busy lately.  Three of us are in school, Holli is playing soccer,  Drew is coaching soccer and we have a horse to care for.  These are all good changes but I do miss the easy going summer we had.  

Holli rides her horse most everyday and is getting better all the time.  She has lessons once a week and helps with all the horse chores.  Unfortunately, she had a rough day yesterday.  Tigger bucked which caused Holli to fall off.  She was not hurt but it was scary.  We knew this would happen sometime.

Over the weekend we had a fun horse adventure... we took Tigger on a trail ride.  There were 4 people and only 1 horse so we all took turns riding.  Tigger was great and this allowed us to go farther than we normally would have.  We're excited to try it again. 

 Taking a break.

Holli and Dylan on Tigger.  They did great together.

Holli and Tigger.

Hummingbird

Dylan and I came home after a nice morning swim to find this Hummingbird INSIDE our house.  I have NO idea when or how he came inside.  Poor little guy was trying to get out our front windows.  I opened the front door and it didn't take too long to persuade him to go outside.

Father Son Backpacking

Drew and Dylan went on a Father / Son backpacking trip over the weekend.  They went with 3 other pairs and had a GREAT time.  I obviously wasn't there but here are some photos.

The hike in was only about 10 minutes.  Dylan carried the tent and some water in his pack.

 
Dylan on the zipline.  He wasn't a big fan.