Look at these cute girls ~

Since Christmas is over I can show you the pictures Michelle and Alex had on their Christmas cards. They are so cute. I love the little dresses Michelle found for them and well, I just love these little girls. Enjoy!

More fun stuff ~

If you get a free minute over the holidays, stop over and visit this blog. She has fun crafty things to see and a fun blog candy up for grabs. Enjoy!

Diggin' out ~

It was lots of work but lots of fun too. Brad and Kristine brushed off cars, shoveled the driveway and moved cars around so they were all off the street. Oh yeah, it was snowing and blowing really hard while they were working, so that just added to the fun. The street crew came during the night and did the street so we can get around today. Since the whole neighborhood drains right in front of our house, our street is a priority and they plow it all to the center and come along with their snow harvester and take it away. It is kind of fun to watch them work. From inside with Hot Cocoa of course.

Winter Fun ~

Winter is here! Kristine took the girls out to the backyard this afternoon. It is so fun to watch them run and jump through the snow. I need to try and get video of them sometime. Their ears are flying and then they disappear into the snow. Kristine got on her knees and made trails around the yard for them to run on. It makes getting around easier for short dogs. They love following trails.

Our Christmas Lights ~

In case you've driven by to see my neighbors light show at night you've probably missed my Christmas Lights. We replaced all three of the front outdoor light fixtures and for the holidays we found these beautiful wreaths to show them off. Looks pretty good. Kristine did put a garland up on the front step rails and put another wreath up on the front door. She said it is her job to help us keep all of the traditions. So far she is doing a good job of keeping us in line. Enjoy your day!

Merry Christmas ~

Now that most of the Christmas cards I mailed have probably arrived, here is a little peek for the rest of you, and for the family that happen to read my blog. Hope all of you have a great week with family. Kristine and I have started on our goodie baking and are gearing up for one last shopping run tomorrow. Saturday we braved the mall. Since some of my shopping was for Kristine, we dropped her off at Pretzel Maker with pretzel money and went shopping. She's 13 so it wasn't illegal to drop her off, and it worked quite well, until she called me and said her small order had run out and she was out of pretzel bites. She got to sit there a while without pretzels because I wasn't done.

The other day we had some high school kids came around caroling. The puppies stood behind their gate and barked and howled along with them. It was pretty cute. If you are in our area you'll have to drive by and see our neighbors fantastic holiday light show. It is quite the show. It runs from about 5:15 pm to 10:30 pm. Tune your car radio to 88.7 FM and get in line to enjoy the show.

What is normal anyway ~

Well the past few weeks have certainly not been normal. Usually my life is pretty even and kind of boring, I like boring. So a few weeks ago, we start getting ready for a new grand daughter by having an Early Thanksgiving Dinner. Yummy, we had all of the good stuff and fun cooking with Michelle here to help. Way too many pies, but they were so good. Wonderful day with all of our family. (That would be all 8 of us.) That night we kept Kymber with us while Michelle and Alex had a night away before getting up early to go have a baby. Now, I am not a night person at all and this little girl is, especially when she isn't in her own home. So after not much sleep we get to take this sweet little girl to meet her new baby sister. What a treat. This new baby is so tiny and cute, makes you totally forget that you didn't sleep a whole lot the night before. We had a lot of trips across town to see this new little family. Kymber started to recognize the hospital halls and knew that was where her Mama was. With this little family safely back at home, it was time for second Thanksgiving. Yup, we did it all again. We had to do more pies too. Nothing is better than homemade chocolate pudding pie. This time there were just 5 of us for dinner, but we still had to have everything. Friday morning Rod and I were up at 4:30 am to go shopping. I still can't believe we went out so early, but it was fun and we got a good start to our shopping and some great deals. Jen had to work at 5 am at the mall, so it was fun to stop in and see her working. Saturday was pretty normal, leftovers, relaxing, just the way I like it. Got stuff moved back into my craft room after doing the wood floor. It looks so good. More about that later. At 9 pm we were getting ready to drop Robert,s Jeep off at the airport so we wouldn't have to stay up until 11 when their flight got in. Then Rod got a call from Heidi, my sisters daughter that is going to school in Rexburg. She had gone for the Holiday week to Colorado with some friends. On the way home, the car broke down and so she was calling for help. They needed a ride from Pinedale, Wyoming. He said, yes, we'd be there then we checked the map to see just where Pinedale was. If all went well, we should be there at midnight. Kristine wanted to come, but we told her to stay home and we would take her sometime during the day so she could actually see Wyoming. We dropped the Jeep off at the airport for the Haws kids, picked up gas (cheap gas, by the way. Just $32 to fill the TrailBlazer.) and Dr. Pepper and peanuts for Rod, and we were on our way. I called my sister to let her know we were on our way. Luckily when I talked to her, the weather and roads were great, so she got a good report. They didn't turn ugly until we were off the phone. Smart Heidi had called and talked to Rod first, so when she called her mom to say she was stranded in Wyoming she could tell her right then that help was on the way. We felt a little like the rescue party for the Martin-Willie handcart company. Except we were so glad for the warm vehicle, 4 wheel drive and bridges. We crossed the Hoback River 14 times and the Snake River 4 times. Wouldn't have wanted to do that on horseback. It was so good to see Heidi and her friends. A nice lady had let them stay in the convenience store until we got there so they were safe and warm. After lots of happy hugs, we loaded up the three girls and their luggage. (It was just as good to see Heidi this Thanksgiving as it was last Thanksgiving when she was able to come after her big surgery.) The two boys wanted to see how far the car would make it without being loaded down. So we followed them all the way home. We got the girls dropped off at their apartment building and made it home by 4:30 am. Kristine had brought the dogs up to her room to keep her company while we were gone. And she read a book and tried to stay up and wait for us. Don't remember much about Sunday, but Monday morning I headed out to help Michelle and the little girls for a few days. So much fun. Michelle does such a good job with her girls. I don't think I could keep up with little ones everyday like all of you young moms do. But I've got the grandma thing down. Back home again to my Mom of a teenager job and a family that really did miss me. The past week has been busy with Rod's work party, working on Christmas gifts, putting up the tree, and getting a cold. We put a baby gate up in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room, so the hounds can't get in to see the tree or the presents, or answer the door. So our presents and our tree are safe and when you come visit you won't get mauled by dogs happy to see you. They will just howl from behind the gate. Brad just moved back in, since the semester in Rexburg is over, so I am back to figuring out how much milk it takes to get through the week. Hopefully I am back on top of things now. I'd better be since there are only 9 more sleeps until Christmas. The girls (both daughters and puppies) and I went out to take pictures for Christmas cards yesterday. I played with Photoshop last night and they are ready to pick up this morning. I'd forgotten how much fun (and how frustrating) digital stuff can be. I also did a baby announcement for Michelle. This past month has pretty much flown by. I've been so glad that I've been able to help my family, both as a Wife, a Mom, a Grandma and an Auntie. Can't wait for the next few weeks to see what other fun things happen. Maybe this is the new normal.

Here are a few of the pictures from our photo shoot.

Little Visitors ~

We had a surprise visit from Michelle and her cute little girls yesterday. We watched Sydni while Michelle ran some errands in town. I wish we would have kept Kymber too, it sounds like Michelle would have enjoyed the time without a little helper. Sydni was so sweet and waited patiently for her Mom to come back. Here are a couple of pictures for all of you that can't get over to see the little sweetie.

She is really growing. Yesterday she was up to 6 lbs. 7 ozs.

New Santa ~

We are a little slow, but the Christmas decorations are starting to come out of the box and be out where we can enjoy them. I just got a new Santa to add to my little collection. These are from the Jim Shore Collection. Last year I got the two big ones and just got the little one this weekend. I think they are my new addiction. I'll give you another peek at other fun decorations tomorrow.

I found another fun blog to visit if you are into crafty things. She has a fun give away too.

I'm back ~

Well I just got to spend a few days with the cutest little grand daughters ever. Kymber is so sweet with her tiny little sister, and Michelle is a great Mom. It was fun to be there with them. It will be fun to watch this new little one grow up. And I was glad to get back to my Mom job after doing the Grandma thing. Now we are working to get ready for the holidays and deciding just how many goodies we can squeeze into the diet, without overdoing it. The goodies list is getting quite long.

If you are into cute crafty things you will want to Check out this blog. Bea is doing a give away to celebrate the holidays in Sweden. Such cute stuff!!