Dog....what have you been getting into?

I saw this wrapper hanging out of the mascot's jowls

can't say that I blame her,

chocolate is good.

Snow Cone Anyone?

This morning we awoke to SEVERAL inches of new fresh powder snow. The boys were so excited. They quickly dressed in their snow gear and went out to play. After a couple of hours, they came into the house to share with us their new use for the fresh powder. They had made snow cones! They had filled a cup with snow and poured root beer soda over the top. Voila, snow cones! C has proclaimed them to be "delicious" and has eaten three today.

Decking the Halls makes a mess...

Yes, I am one of those who doesn't look forward to dragging the boxes out of the basement and decorating for the holidays. But, I usually get over it quickly when I see the excited looks on my kids faces. And, when all is said and done, it is worth it to have a festive looking home.

Here is a little peek:

In honor of Great Grandma Evelyn, here is the ceramic Santa's boot she made:

This is a miniature village I bought through the ABC Distributing Catalog YEARS ago. I am surprised it has lasted this long. It is one of the kids' favorites to assemble. And, since it only cost $12.95 I don't have any problems letting them.
This year, I swear, I am going to put names back on those stockings!

The Ornaments:

And finally, if you have never seen a toilet seat cover Santa before, Santa covers his eyes with his mittens when you lift the seat up...you know, allowing you some privacy. This was one of my favorite decorations as a kid. A little pervy as an adult, but still a must have.

Happy Decorating Everyone.

A Thanksgiving Post

Thanks to our family and (their) friends for having us this year for Thanksgiving Dinner. It was yummy and the company was great.
The best part of our Thanksgiving 2009 occurred when we were making the 1 hour 23 minute and 20 second drive down to Payson. (The boys got new watches with a stopwatch feature...they "stopwatch" how long it takes us to get places now. That's right...."stopwatch" is now a verb.) Our family was crammed in the Ford Fusion, listening to some new music we have recently downloaded from iTunes. We were singing along to Foreigner's 'Jukebox Hero' (if you aren't familiar with it, you can hear it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOilJZbUZwY ) And then, we realized that C, who was singing right along, was singing "juice box hero". Poor kid, too young to know was a jukebox is. Well, we had a good laugh.
The worst part....leaving Payson without our leftovers. Oops, my bad. The next day we were sure hurting f0r some turkey sandwiches.

Now on to Christmas...

Gentlemen...Start Your Engines

PINEWOOD DERBY:

the activity that turns grown men into boys... C with his first ever pinewood derby car.

She wasn't the fastest car on the track this time,

but she made us proud.

Thank You Veterans!

Thanks to all who willingly sacrifice so much for our freedom.

May we never take it for granted.

(Teena Nemelka (L) hugs a picture of her son Pfc. Aaron Nemelka, 19, of West Jordan, Utah, and touches his boots as her husband Michael Nemelka comforts her during a memorial honoring the 13 victims of a mass shooting at Fort Hood at the U.S. Army's III Corps headquarters at Fort Hood, Texas November 10, 2009)

Gotcha

Four years ago today, the CFO and I found ourselves in a government office in China anxiously awaiting to meet a little girl we had been hoping for, thinking about, praying about for 18 months. What an emotional day it was. We are so happy that O joined our family.
(We did not adopt the Chinese man in the middle....this is our guide, Micheal.)