Sydney's Life

Washington DC

This posted was drafted well over a year ago......and obviously just stops akwardly. Sorry. I just thought you might want to see *some* of my photos rather than none of them????? I do plan on adding to this.....but I can't remember what we did on Friday....Ford's Theater? I know on Saturday we took a boat up (down?) the Patomac River to Mount Vernon! Amazing! Just Amazing!

 

Sunday, March 21, 2am

We hopped on the bus at the high school not long after prom got over & trusty Phil took us to the airport in Spokane. The kids were cute with their fancy hair, sparkly makeup & regular clothes!

After a delay in Denver we got to the hotel an hour late, just in time for dinner. The teacher & I graciously handed over our charges to the Close Up program & took the metro to Old Town Alexandria. It really is a cool place. We walked down King Street to the waterfront, it was full of people & quaint little shops. I loved it!

 

 
 Monday, March 22nd

We got up early and headed out for the day to get our week organized. We walked a gajillion miles to get everything done & it would have been pretty great except for the rain. It POURED! We took the metro to the Bureau of Engraving & Printing to watch money being printed. It was a pretty dry tour but Mr. B humored me & I enjoyed it. I learned that 95% of the money printed is to replace worn out money.

We went to the Washington Monument & took some pictures

of it & the Lincoln Memorial & The World War II Memorial

and some gorgeous cherry blossoms

before we moved on to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum to look around & dry out. We were SOAKED! My umbrella didn't really help at all. I hadn't been to this museum before & it was pretty cool to look at the display of Apollo 11 because the day they landed on the moon was the day I was born. You know, 29 years ago.  :)

 

As we worked our way over to our State Represetative's Office & Our Senator's offices to schedule a Capitol Tour & get gallery passes we saw:

The Library of Congress

 The Supreme Court Building

And the United States Capitol.

I thought it was pretty cool that Senator Baucus had Montana Coffee Traders Montana Blend coffee in his office.

We went to firm up our Friday night dinner reservations at the Hard Rock Cafe & we  saw the FBI building

Ford's Theater

 & the US Navy Memorial before it started raining again.

We headed back towards the White House as it started pouring again. We met up with some of our kids there...they were pretty cranky from being so wet too. We gave up, took the metro back to the hotel where I took a serious nap. It was the warmest best nap ever.

After it stopped raining, Mr. B & I took a bus to Georgetown for dinner. It just amazes me to have been able to be in the same places that our former Presidents lived & worked.

I took inventory....only 2 blisters! Not bad! :)

 

Tuesday, March 23rd

Today was my day alone....pretty cool too. I left the hotel a bit later to avoid the morning subway madness & went to Union Station. I got the best yogurt ever from Starbucks. It was dark cherry with real cherries & granola. It was soooo good. I found a bench to people watch & to try my hand a photographing faces. It's so hard...I just can't do it. Its just too hard to take pictures of some unsuspecting person. What if they notice? And get mad? And break my camera? Or kill me, or at least yell at me. My friend Bob captures people so well. I'm just not brave enough. I did snap a few of this cute man. He was so adorable! His glasses were broken & he was trying to keep them on while reading his paper. And I was right in front of him...snapping away nervously.

 

Union Station is so beautiful...there are shops everywhere, restaurants galore & so many people. It's an area attraction that is also a fully functioning metro station & Amtrak station. The architecture is gorgeous.

 

 It was a pretty rainy & windy day so I bought an Old Town Trolley Tour that took me all over & I stayed dry. You can hop on and off all day at any of the stops. Its really a good deal because the tour is narrated.

This was as close as I got to the Jefferson Memorial. I was too much of a sissy to walk over to it! It was cold I tell ya! Cold!

Across the Potomac was Arlington Cemetery. here you can see the Custis-Lee Mansion off in the distance. It's right above the Kennedy graves. And look at those cherry blossoms!!!!

 
We drove by all of the monuments and the White House...sadly, this is my only decent picture of it.

I got off of the trolly at the Smithsonion American History Museum. It's my favorite. I spent a couple of great hours just wandering and wishing that programs wouldn't offer group tours to 8th graders. Grrrr. Seriously though,  it's such a great museum. Here are a few of my favorite things:

Some trains

a huge dollhouse

 

Carol Burnett's curtain dress

Dorothy Gale's ruby slippers

Minnie Pearl's hat

Archie & Edith Bunker's chairs

Michelle Obama's dress

I got back on the trolley and cruised along looking at homes in Georgetown & other places before we went by the National Cathedral. It's so gorgeous!

I saw the Norwegian Embassy...you know, because I'm Norwegian. :)

We went down Embassy Row....I can't believe how many countries have Embassy's in our country!

Here is a fast blur of the Vice Presidential Mansion

And although it would be tough to live like this, I love these houses! They are beautiful!

As we were sitting at a stop light I noticed this globe sitting in this window. I'm not sure why I love globes.

I took the metro back to the hotel in Arlington & went to bed. It was a fantastic day!

Wednesday, March 24

Today was Capitol Hill Day! We had the kids with us finally as a large group & it was so great! It was funny watching the kids trying to buy metro passes & use them! :) We had an early appointment at the Supreme Court. We actually got to sit in on a hearing. We only got 5 minutes so I really didn't figure out what they were talking about. Something about railways. I just cannot explain how it feels to be in all these buildings. There is just so much to take in.

The kids had a good time picking on Mr. B while we were waiting in line to go in. Off in the distance you can see the Library of Congress.

Afterwards we headed over to the Rayburn building to meet with a Rehberg staffer. Congressman Rehberg was busy voting on health care stuff. I was soooo impressed with the kids from Libby. They asked so many great questions and they were really the only ones who seemed to care.

We walked passed over to the office of Senator Baucus' office to meet with a staffer to take us over to the US Capitol for a tour.

In the crypt of the Capitol is brass compass star which is the literal center of Washington DC. Its worn down because so many people step on it, as demonstrated by Lewis:

 

We then went into the Rotunda. It's absolutely breathtaking.

There are so many things to see in the Capitol, like the Old Senate Chambers.

Lots of statues & busts

like Ronald Reagan

MLK Jr

Charlie Russell

and Jeannette Rankin.

Then we went to The Library of Congress

You don't get to actually go in to the area where the books are when you were on a tour. You can only go up some stairs & into an overlook to see them. There are more books than you can imagine. Apparently if you live in the area you can get a library card just like any other library.

I got some other pictures of the Capitol from the West side

 

I got a lot of pics of the kids while waiting for our buses. Shortly after we got down off the wall a guard came & told everyone to get off. Whew!

 

 

The adults went to dinner in Chinatown. It was pretty interesting to see how stuff was spelled in Chinese! LOL!

 

After dinner we went to the Kennedy Center to see Shear Madness. I loved, loved, loved it! then it was back to the hotel. It was another really long but amazing day! Can you believe how much stuff we fit into a day?

Thursday, March 25

Today we got up early & went to the Pentagon Memorial. It was really moving. 

To honor the 184 victims, 184 illuminated benches have been arranged according to the victim's ages, from 3 to 71, in a landscaped 1.93-acre plot. Each bench is engraved with the name of a victim. The benches representing the victims that were inside the Pentagon are arranged so those reading the names will face the Pentagon's south facade, where the plane hit; benches dedicated to victims aboard the plane are arranged so that those reading the engraved name will be facing skyward along the path the plane traveled.

 

Then we went to the National Cathedral. You can't even imagine how beautiful it is.

 

Did you notice the Montana flag? :)

  I lit a candle for my Aunt Candace

We then took the bus to the Natural History Museum where we saw the Hope Diamond

and the elephant.

When we left we saw this huge eraser wheel. I felt old. NONE of the kids with us had ever seen one. Ever.

We went to see the National Archives next & they cannot be photographed. The flash is very hard on the documents. We saw the original Bill of Rights, The Constitution & The Declaration of Independence. They are enclosed in glass cases that are temperature controlled.

I'm not really sure what we were doing here?

I handed my camera over to Anna while we walked to the Washington Monument. She got some pretty fun pictures of the kids:

 

The Washington Monument is really cool, as are all the memorials.

 

So, I hopped the fence & left the kids with Mr. B because I knew it was my last chance to see the memorials.

 

So, yeah.....there is a baby! :)

And he really is the most gorgeous grandson you've ever seen!  You may think you've seen cuter babies, but you haven't!!!! LOL
 
His Great-Great Grandmas pretty adorable too! I'm in love.......

sydneycward's Playlist

Today I was honored to be able to recite scripture with a few other folks during our church services. I had it memorized but......I was sooooo scared that I would mess it up so this was my answer to my dilema:

 

I'm so lame. I wish I was brave............

Do you have any idea how many times my kids got in trouble for writing on themselves? Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, right?

Working Hard.............

 

Today................

Today is the day we got our first big snow.....and I'm still not ready for it.

Today I have decided to blog....I have been wanting to share so much of what HAS happened that I just never say anything because I feel so far behind. So....you probably will get to see some pictures of fun stuff we've done this year, I'm just not going to worry about it. I'm starting over. Today. :)

Today I have been certifying payroll that I should have done in July & September....and October.  Only I didn't think too. The report directions say it should take 55 minutes to certify one week. So far I've been at it for 5 hours & have only 2 weeks finished.

Today I'm sitting here with a sore shoulder. And I'm not bowling tonight because of it.

Today I'm changing my playlist back to Christmas music. I leave it on, minimized most of the day. I love my playlists. Go ahead, you can minimise my page & listen too. Once I get in figured out. It's been awhile since, you know, I've edited my blog...it could be a chore.

Today I want to watch Sarah Palin's "Alaska" since I missed it on Sunday night.

Today I need to do laundry & clean bathrooms.

Today I'm thinking about how blessed I am. God has blessed our family in so many ways.

Today I have gotten to talk to both my son & my daughter!

Today I think I will have a nap with Maya & Rudy.

Today will be tomorrow by the time I get through with 1/2 my stuff!

I hope you are having a fantastic "Today!"

I'm. Going.To. Be. A. GRANDMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so stinking excited, I'm already in love with the little babe. I took a picture of Malarie's "one month belly", and I plan on getting a new picture each month until its born. I hope she'll let me post them on here! We found out a week ago, and now we have to wait.......until JUNE! I hope I can make it! :) 

3rd Annual Benny & Joon Day

Those of you that know me know that Benny & Joon is one of my all-time favorite movies. But what you don't know unless you are a member of my immediate family or Mark the Tour Guide is that the 1st Saturday in September in Benny & Joon Day!

The 1st Benny & Joon Day was in 2008 when my family & I spent the day with some fun friends in Spokane, touring some of the sites where Benny & Joon was filmed. We had a stinkin' blast. There is a photo album on my sidebar, if you're interested.

We've found the house, the hospital, the restaurant, the Milk Bottle & Benny's Shop but Ruthie's house & Eric's house have eluded us....until now. Today I finally ran across a tidbit of info regarding the locations. As soon as I go back to my beloved city of Spokane, I'll go find them and take some pictures. I've told my daughter to not even think about going there alone. I'm really not sure what kind of neighborhoods they are & well, I want her to be safe. :)

Here is some trivia:  www.imdb.com/title/tt0106387/trivia

Do us both a favor, rent it & watch it this weekend...you won't be sorry. I went to rent it a few weeks ago because we thought my dvd was out at the cabin & I found it only on VHS. I could rent it for $1 or buy it for $2. LOL I'm now the happy owner of a VHS copy too! :)

I offer no excuses....

I'm just seriously lame! But I wanted you too see this! It really will put a smile on your face! I got it from a friend, thanks Cathy for sharing it with me!

http://www.wimp.com/oneball/

Wow!

I have decided that I'm a terrible blogger now! I have all these ideas & have started posts and look......nothing good comes from it all! Geez! So...I vow, no, I pinky swear, to get back on it! And you know that when you pinky swear, it's legit, right? :)

Does Your Husband Wish He lived in a Desert? by Sue Cramer

http://praiseandcoffee.blogspot.com/2010/04/does-your-husband-wish-he-lived-in.html

I'm home!

And I'm in the process of going through almost 1800 pictures! I got some really great ones and some really bad ones! I will post them but don't notice the composition, just see my vacation, ok? Ok!

Paige & Kody.....Prom 2010

"When you marry someone, you are entrusted with the heart of another human being. Whatever else your life's great mission will entail, loving and defending this heart next to you is part of your great quest." ~John Eldredge

Maya is One!

Such a sweet little baby girl!

Paige made her this adorable party hat and of course we had to put it on Rudy too:

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

                                            

Happy Birthday Marie!

Plywood Plant Fire

I know it was a few weeks ago but I wanted to post some pictures of it. It was a pretty big deal, I still don't know if they've figured out the cause. 3 businesses lost most or all of their equipment. It's been an inactive plywood plant for some time now, but these 3 companies were leasing space and providing jobs in our community. It really sucks. Here are a couple of photos.....the rest are in an album to the right. The first one is the frame of the massive 4.7 acre building...the second one shows a burned up excavator.
 

Rudy + Mud = Could it really be spring?

Spring Time!

I love seeing calves in the spring!

 

Ouch!

³¹"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.

 ³²"All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;

 ³³and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

 ³⁴"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

 ³⁵'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;

 ³⁶naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'

 ³⁷"Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?

 ³⁸'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?

 ³⁹'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'

 ⁴⁰"The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'

 ⁴¹"Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;

 ⁴²for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink;

 ⁴³I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.'

 ⁴⁴"Then they themselves also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?'

 ⁴⁵"Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'

 ⁴⁶"These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."  ~Matt 25:31-41

Ahem......Excuse me while I go ice my toes....

Happy Birthday Beautiful Girl!

I hope you had a fantastic day. We love you so very much!

I'm Famous!

http://www.thewesternnews.com/articles/2010/03/02/news/doc4b8c7c978129f110249378.img

Fishing on the Kootenai River

Hello All! I thought I'd take a break from working my fingers off and post some pictures of an eagle that we saw last Sunday. He was pretty far away & I was freezing to death so they aren't that great but he was pretty cool. At one point he was right next to the highway in the top of a tree but he heard me sneaking up on him before I could snap a single photo. I was bummed!

 

 

 

How great is it that we live in a place where we can see these guys regularly?

Stepping Into the Ring

The Invisible Woman

I won! I won! I won!

Check THIS out:

http://praiseandcoffee.blogspot.com/2010/02/winner-and-san-diego-update.html

Also....I'm hoping to host a Praise & Coffee Night here in Libby. I have a packet from Sue & really want to do this! Anyone interested? :)

And...I want to win this too:

http://mckgiveaways.blogspot.com/2010/02/kelly-moore-camera-bag-giveaway.html

You can enter if you'd like..... :)

Meet Rudy

Maya needed a buddy! She's much happier & he'll be adorable when he's potty-trained! Just kidding, he's really a precious little man! He got new clothes yesterday so he doesn't have to wear Maya's girl clothes!

Grace

-n   the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God.

Thank You God.............

Las Vegas - Updated with a ton of photos!

I pretty much had the greatest time in Vegas with my sister. We had so much fun. I really missed my own family, a week is a long time to be away. But, not a single responsibility for a whole week was pretty dang good too! My sister's family was great & I got to see my aunt & uncle & grandma. We were so busy I don't know how much I can recap for you. I can't remember everything. I know I was tired tho! 

Monday- I flew from Kalispell to Vegas. It was kinda scary, I've never flown Allegiant Air before & they had to de-ice the plane. A little nerve wracking.....but I made it just fine without throwing up!

Tuesday- Sara & I went over to our aunt's house to visit. And our grandma was there too. It was so good to see them both.

 

Our aunt had this cool collection of door knobs:

 

And a gorgeous backyard:

We took Grandma with us & went to Kohl's & Savers. It was fun. We went to play bingo at Arizona Charlie's but nobody won. I did, however, get a donation to the 2010 Senior Class: 120 decks of cards for their casino night gift bags. That was pretty nice of them!

Wednesday- On our way to get Grandma we saw this:

We didn't understand but we sure laughed!

We went down to the Tropicana to figure out what we needed to do for Let's Make a Deal. I bet $10 on black & lost. Bet $10 more on black & won. Bet $10 more on black & won. Put it all in a slot machine & promptly lost. Sigh......THAT'S why I don't gamble.

We then proceeded to shop till we dropped! This gift shop was fun!

This sign was just too funny!

We then tried to get pictures down on Fremont Street but it was just too scary! I got mostly normal guys & posts & walls. Grandma was in the back seat telling us to put the windows up & Sara was driving too fast! LOL I was just wanting to get a photo journal kind of thing about that way of life. It's really very, very different than what we know in our little neck of the woods. I do wish we would have taken Grandma to the Fremont Street Experience though, it's truly amazing.

Then we took Grandma home & told our uncle to put her to bed! :)

Thursday-Sara & I took our aunt & grandma out geo caching today

 

This is grandma with her seat belt  buckled behind her! She worked so hard too...... :)

And if you see a pine tree in the middle of Las Vegas......it's probably a cell phone tower:

Friday- no pictures! Just a fantastic spa day with my sister. We had massages, facials, manicures & pedicures! And Port-of-Subs for lunch where we met the most immature 12 year old I've ever met in my life! He had the foulest mouth & thought he was some kind of stud. All we could do was laugh. When we got home we took a nap & Sara's husband made us home made mac & cheese! It was so dang good!

Saturday-Shopping for costumes day...there were so many options!

We went to Las Vegas Motor Speedway...man was that cool!

to actually stand on pit row!

They had the Richard Petty Driving Experience going on...Steve is so going to do that next time we go to  Las Vegas! You get to ride 3 laps I think. The cars sound awesome!  

Went to Margaritaville for dinner

 

I ran into Edward Cullen & Donny & Marie on our way in. Thanks goodness they understood my race-track windblown look!

Oh...And I found the lost shaker of salt! I bought it & brought it home for safe keeping!

Sunday- Off to Let's Make a Deal! It will be airing right after St. Patrick's Day...I'll let you know for sure when I know the exact date! 

It was so much fun! Obviously, we had a very full fun week. And we were tired! We could never keep that pace if we visited each other more than a couple of times per year! :) I so so so love my sister! I flew home Monday and Steve picked me up at the airport! I was so happy so see him & Paige & Brandon & Malarie & Maya and oh...just about EVERYONE! :)

The Love Dare, Day 12

Do no merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Philippians 2:4

Can you think of some things that you & your spouse fight about often?

Unless someone starts giving in, these same issues are going to keep coming up. And up.

Some things are worth defending, obviously.....morals, obedience to God. These things should be protected. But stubbornness is common and defending our rights and opinions is what we do. It's detrimental to our marriages.

Can we compromise? Do our heels just dig in deeper? The only way to get beyond these stalemates is to stop being stubborn, to become willing to cooperate and compromise.

"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus" Philippians 2:5. -the attitude of willingness, flexibility, and humble submission. It means laying down for the good of others what you have the right to claim for yourself.

The very moment one of you says "I'm willing to go your way on this one" the argument will be over. And though it may cost you some pride and discomfort, you will have made a loving, lasting investment in your marriage.

If you are afraid of looking foolish, you already have been by being bullheaded and by refusing to listen. If you don't want to lose, you already have. You've made issues that may not really matter way more important than your marriage. You've said things that were hurtful.  

The wise and loving thing to do is to start approaching your disagreements with a willingness to not always insist on being right. Give strong consideration to the way your spouse sees things. "The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield." James 3:17. Instead of treating our spouse like an enemy, we should be treating them as our closest, most honored friend.

We won't always see eye-to-eye, but we should listen and learn from each other. It will be good for both of us, and our marriage.

Today's challenge is to demonstrate love by willingly choosing to give in to an area of disagreement. Tell him or her that you are putting their preference first.  

Home Again

I'm home. And I'm so happy! I missed my family. But I miss my sister & her family. And its cold here. Brrr. I couldn't post pictures of my trip because my old laptop has broken usb ports & my new laptop won't boot up. Sigh. Anyway, it's good to be home & I'll post pictures SOON!

Sonny & Cher

We had soooo much fun! Let's Make A Deal is being filmed at the Tropicana here in Las Vegas and we got to go yesterday! We didn't get chosen but it was still so great to see how it all works. It will air sometime around St. Patrick's Day. Weren't our costumes Fabulous?

~Sisters

I'm having a really great time here in Las Vegas with my sister.....it's been so fun. We have been gone from moring till night everyday & I'm TIRED! Tomorrow is spa day tho and then home for a nap. :)

We have been spending time with our aunt & grandma too....shopping, eating, geocaching. So nice.

Sunday afternoon we are going on the TV show Lets Make A Deal!!!! How cool is that?

G'nite!

Week 2: Best Face Photo!

This week over at iheartfaces they are having a a photo challenge called "Best Face". I'm sure you all will agree that this sweet baby is THE WINNER! Isn't she gorgeous? I'm so thankful to have her and her family in my life. This was taken on New Year's Day when we all went sledding together!

  

 

Sorry to tell you, please don't be too jealous while I'm in Vegas, Baby!

i heart faces contest

I have recently joined the i heart faces group and they are having a fantastic contest this week in honor of their first birthday! We were allowed 5 photos for this week only. I really had fun with this, do I know some beautiful faces or what?

 
 

 “I am submitting this photo into the I Heart Faces logo photo contest. By entering, I am granting I Heart Faces LLC permission to consider my photo for use in the marketing and promotion of their website.”

FYI

Do not drink 4 large cups of Starbucks Espresso Bean Bold coffee before you go to bed or you will be trying to sort and match up people and things and you will be trying to figure out which knitting needles you need from the going out of business sale all while you are actually trying to sleep! Trust me on this!

Resolutions

I never set any News Years resolutions but this year I vow to:

*wash my face EVERY night

*floss my teeth EVERY day

*lose 15 pounds

*drink more water

*eat less sugar

*exercise at least 3 times per week

*remember to take my vitamins EVERY day

as I was thinking about this list I realized that all my resolutions have to do with taking care of myself. I know for the most part I do ok...I eat fairly well and get enough sleep, but some how these other things have begun to be put on the back burner. How does that happen? Why don't we take better care of ourselves?

Hello 2010

We had a fantastic day yesterday, full of family, food & fun! We went sledding, ate way too much, played games & just hung out together. It was a great!

This is my mom heading down the hill.....notice my family above her all watching...and especially notice Paige (in purple). It just crackes me up! Don't worry, grandma survived:

 
  I pray that 2010 bring you all much health & happiness!

Goodbye 2009

It's been a bittersweet year.....so good, but also so hard. Losing my Dad was the hardest thing I've ever been through. It's still a very raw wound for my family, its still so unreal. We miss him so much.

On the flip side...we gained an AMAZING addition to our family: A beautiful daughter-in-law. She's so great and we love her very, very much.

 
And my sister became my best friend

All in all, it was a good year. We had a decent year at work, we have a great group of employees. We have great relationships with each other & also with our family and friends. We have a warm home, our bills are paid. We have a great church and church family. We have a great big awesome God!

     

Oh yeah, and we gained this sweetie too:

You are valuable because you exist. Not because of what you do
or what you have done, but simply because you are.

  -- Max Lucado

A friend of mine sent this to me....I hope you enjoy it!

Random Christmas Pictures

Don't you just LOVE the shoes??

My beautiful Nativity scene

A couple of Christmas Cds 

Reading the story of Jesus' birth 

A road trip 

and an unhappy hypervenilating yorkie. 

Cookies

some birdies  

some cousins & some presents
 

some adults & more presents.

Goodies from Santa

and a fantastic suprise! 

 
A photo shoot

a remedy for the ride home

More precious family and more presents. Lots and lots of love. We had a fantastic Christmas.  

 

Blessings

We had a fantastic Christmas full of family & friends in Great Falls. We ate Howard's Pizza, we shopped a bit, we had lasagna dinner, we ate appetizers all Christmas day, we played "Right family Christmas" and Apples to Apples and Catch Phrase and we opened lots of presents! It just was so good to spend time with our family over there. We don't see them all often enough. Brothers, cousins, nieces galore, aunts & uncles, my step-mom, friends.......it was so good. It was hard too....this first Christmas without my Dad. I sure missed him.

Our families at home here in Libby and in Las Vegas all seem to have had a wonderful Christmas too. We sure missed them all...it was strange being away from our normal Christmas activities. I missed the time we usually spend with them all & I missed our Christmas Eve church service. We still celebrated Jesus and read the story of his birth but I missed the beautiful service we are always so blessed by.

When we got home last night we spent time with Brandon & Malarie. opening more presents, eating more food.....best of all spending more time with people I love.

My heart is full and I feel so blessed to have such a large wonderful family. I love you all!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Presents anyone?

Facebook's A Year in Photos

Gift card holders

These took a while but they were kinda fun. I got the pattern at the Two Peas website.....they turned out pretty cute. Hopefully no nephews or brothers-in-law will be checking out my blog before Christmas!

Christmas-y stuff: updated