Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

Almost Caught Up - Getting the Tree

We decided to get a real tree this year. Yeah, that's right - a real tree. I can't even remember the last time I had one of those. The kids had a great time at the tree lot.

We picked the perfect tree and took it home. Unfortunately, our house isn't quite as perfect, so we had to trim a bit off of the bottom. Here are my boys hard at work.

My big, strong, handsome man carries the tree inside.... (sorry the pic is a little blurry)

But, alas, the tree is still too tall. So, it's back to more trimming.

And here's the finished product.....

Catching up - Thanksgiving

For the second year in a row, we spent Thanksgiving with our friends Steve and Laura and their son Alex, who is one of Logan's good friends here. Laura brined the turkey (same as last year) and I tell you what - it was by far the best turkey I've ever had. No offense Mom, or anyone else. Brining is just the way to go. Being the picky eater that I am, I only like white meat and I'm not a fan of gravy. So, the turkey is usually kind of dry. I've been known in the past to spread mayonaise on the turkey to give it some moisture. Anyway, the brined turkey was not dry at all and it was so flavorful...yumm. We brought the mashed potatoes and homemade rolls. (Thanks for the great recipe, Mom). We basically hung out at their house all day. Here are some pics:

The Turkey

The "Grown-up" Table

The Kids Table

My Sweet Girl

My Handsome Boy

Catching up - Logan turned 6!

I know I already posted some pictures when Logan turned 6 last month. I failed, however, to mention anything about his party. Here you go.

Logan was allowed to invite 5 friends. He chose:

Alex

Brooklyn

Emily

Meygan

Noah

And, of course, Lexi was there, too.

They started with pizza.

Then they moved on to playdough, video games, and just plain playing.

Then it was present time.

And finally the cake. I was going to surprise Logan with an Indiana Jones cake, but decided last minute to let him choose his cake. He chose Wall-E.



A good time was had by all. I think we'll do it again next year.

Catching Up - Halloween

Halloween was pretty low-key this year. Logan knew at least 6 months in advance that he was going to be Indiana Jones. With Lexi, we once again waited until the last minute and didn't what she was going to be. We finally decided on a punk-baby. My department at work decided to dress up as Dalmations. Jon went as the best husband/dad in the world - his normal garb. We went trick-or-treating with some people from Jon's work. Here are some pics.

Before and After - Again

Exhibit 1: Before
It was time for another change. I had unknowingly decided to grow my hair out since I moved to Idaho. Meaning - it just happened. Before I knew it, my hair was longer than it's ever been - or least since high school (and I won't even say how long ago that was).

It eventually got to the point where I was just putting it up everyday, because it's just so darn thick that it takes forever to do. And - Jon kept wondering what happened to the blonde he married. So - I decided to kill two birds with one stone.

Exhibits 2 and 3: After
My head feels about 10 pounds lighter and I'm using way less shampoo. I still put my hair up half of the time, but hey - you can't win them all.