Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a nice vacation, because we sure did! It was packed to the max with food (too much of it!), fun and family...

Mason finally got his R.C.!!

Mikayla with her MP3 player and Webkinz

Makenzie with her MP3 player and Webkinz

Mason and Great Grandpa Warnick looking at the animated Santas

Mason gettin' his groove on with the hula hoop Santa!

Ridin' in the Ranger with Great Grandpa Erickson in Wyoming!

Weeee!!

Flying Kenzie!

Airborne Kayla!

Mason's igloo!

Megan had an issue with the sled

But we still used it

And here is the new sled!

Playing board games with Aunt Kim on New Year's Eve

Wii!!

Watching the ball drop

Too much partying!


Good times. I should mention that Megan didn't really break the sled, it was already broken. But we didn't mind the excuse to get a new one!

Happy Halloween!

We had a fun Halloween this year! It all started with the girls' school carnival last weekend, and pumpkin carving and caramel apples for FHE! Then they had a costume parade and class parties at school, and a (kid-friendly!) Halloween movie night on Friday! We actually did something unique this year instead of trick-or-treating. Since we are sort of in limbo as far as church and school go (the girls are going to their new school in town while we try to sell our house) we decided to let the kids pick out several bags of their favorite candy (about what I normally would buy for trick-or-treaters) and then divide it up amongst them. Then we just visited Lane's Grandma at the assisted living home, my Grandparents at their house, and Lane's parents out at their house (plus Meg & Jax & my cute niecies were there)! This year Mason was Woody the cowboy from Toy Story, which has been his latest thing. The girls are into American Girl, and we found these dresses that look a lot like the ones from the Felicity movie, which takes place in colonial times. Perfect!

Oooh, scary pumpkins!

The cutest Sheriff Woody this side of anywhere!

American colonial girl Mikayla

American colonial girl Makenzie

Cute cousins! I love the monkey and banana costumes!

Too much Halloween!

Colorful Colorado

We had a good time visiting my family in Colorado during our spud harvest vacation last week!

Azul, the new baby of the fam!


Cute cousins at the zoo! It's funny how much these two are alike!


Cute cousins at the zoo, part 2! It's funny how much they are alike, too!


Zoo train! We had to go on this one for our little guy!


The animals in the cage where they belong. :)


It was fun going to the museum with Grand!


Rexy, just like in Night at the Museum!


Teenage Mutant Ninja Tuckers (okay, maybe not teenagers anymore)!


Overall, it was a nice visit (except for the part where we had car trouble and stayed two days longer than planned, but even that turned out okay)! We felt very spoiled by my Dad's good cooking and everything my Mom did for us. Thanks you guys!

Critters

I am going to miss living in the country. Where we live, we get to see all sorts of neat stuff. Today was wet and cool and rainy, which is perfect salamander weather. So all the salamanders in the world came to our yard tonight! Here are some pix of the critters we have around our house:

Lane grabbed a bunch just around the porch and ended up with about 20 in this little critter catcher!

Run away, run away!

Little froggies...

I just had to post this one!

Baby yellow-headed blackbird

Daddy yellow-headed blackbird

Meadowlark (one of my faves!)

Woodpecker that likes to peck our antenna

Hummingbird (my absolute fave!)

Fox (can you see it, can ya??)

Raccoon (getting into our garbage, grrr!)

A couple of the kittens that adopted us (much to Lane's disliking!)

And, of course, some of the horsey neighbors!

We get all kinds of birdies (there were a lot of babies this year!), and we also have seen owls, ducks, geese, cranes, and moose (but I coundn't find a good picture of any, darn it)! Don't you just love critters?!

Happy Birthday, Lane!!!

Today is my hubby's birthday!! Man, he's getting OLD! He's older than me, so I can tease him that he's OLD! Even though he's so old, he is a great husband and father. He works so hard to support his family, and we appreciate him for that. He's really good with computers, so I don't ever have to worry that I don't know a thing about them! He loves to go fishing, and I wish he had more time for that! He is a really good cook, so we love it when he makes things for us (maybe a little too much)! He is such a fun dad. He enjoys playing video games with the kids and just hanging out and playing with them. They love him and look forward to the time when he comes home every day. Life is just not as fun when he's not around! Lane, we love you and hope that you have a great birthday!!

Happy Birthday, Mikayla!!!

Today my 2-baby turned 7 years old!! Mikayla is my 2-baby because she was my 2nd baby, born on TUEsday, July 2, 2002, weighing 8 lbs. 2 oz., at 2:02 p.m., when I was 22 years old, and her big sister was 2, AND my b-day just happens to be 2/2! Today was a fun day. I started by making her favorite breakfast, then for lunch we went to McDonald's (Mikayla's fave) with Great & Gpa! At 2 o'clock it was party time! First Mikayla opened her presents, then we had chocolate cake (with purple lettering, of course!), chocolate ice cream and chocolate milk! Then the girls (and Mason!) had a water party outside. The Splash Out was a real hit! After the party, we went to Red Robin and then Coldstones. Overall, a very fun day for our tater tot! We love you, Mikayla! You are such a beautiful, sweet, fun girl, and we're lucky to have you! Happy Birthday!!