Yay! 2009! Here's to upcoming roadtrips, spring backpacking, having a backyard to play / relax in that's flood-free, perhaps another baby, working ourselves out of credit card debit, more veggies and flowers from the garden, and the holidays all over again! May your 2009 be full of happiness, good health, stable finances, and loving family and friends.

Our Snow Trip '08

Yeah! So on Sunday Morning, the plan was to head toward (or pass) Payson until we saw snow, and we actually found a lot of it and didn't have to go far...just on the other side of Pine/Strawberry. And it was pretty deep too! Riley was so funny just walking around...this was his first snow trip so he wasn't to sure what all the white stuff was. Ivy remembered from the last snow trip ('o6) and set to work on her ice tower and throwin' snow clumps at everyone. The trip was nicely rounded off by a CCC snack - "Cheese and Crackers and Cocoa".

Can't wait to do it again next year!

The Joys of YouTube...

Here's my response to Liz's header with the amazed prairie dog.
So dang funny and a stupid waste of time. You know I love it.
Blame Steven (Kim's boyfriend) for showing me such moronic fun.

Deerly Departed

This is SO funny...sorry about the language though...





This is from a webcomic called PennyArcade. For some reason they named the reindeer "John Travolta"...Freakin' Hilarious.

A Redneck Christmas...

Imagine my surprise and amusement at seeing this odd box on the porch. We done got delivered a Redneck Christmas! Yes, it is a tupperware storage box COVERED in duct tape.

Since Kim got to come home for Christmas (along with her Boyfriend Steve) she had to ship all her presents home, already wrapped. Since the Post Office doesn't like wrapped boxes, she thought that if she covered the box,that wouldnt say much and the box could actually make it to Arizona. But duct tape? She said it took 2 whole rolls to cover it all.

Poor Little Angel...

A Christmas Story for people having a bad day:

When four of Santa's elves got sick, the trainee elves did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones, and Santa began to feel the Pre-Christmas pressure.

Then Mrs Claus told Santa her Mother was coming to visit, which stressed Santa even more.

When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two others had jumped the fence and were out, Heaven knows where.

Then when he began to load the sleigh, one of the floorboards cracked, the toy bag fell to the ground and all the toys were scattered.

Frustrated, Santa went in the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered the elves had drank all the cider and hidden the liquor. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider jug, and it broke into hundreds of little glass pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found the mice had eaten all the straw off the end of the broom.

Just then the doorbell rang, and irritated Santa marched to the door, yanked it open, and there stood a little angel with a great big Christmas tree.
The angel said very cheerfully, 'Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't this a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you Where would you like me to stick it?'
And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.

Girls rule...but we already knew that...

REMEMBER THIS AT CHRISTMAS TIME

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers! In the summer each year, male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November to mid-December. Female reindeer retain their antlers till after they give birth in the spring.

Therefore, according to EVERY historical rendition depicting Santa's reindeer, EVERY single one of them, from Rudolph to Blitzen, had to be a girl.

We should've known... ONLY women would be able to drag a fat man in a red velvet suit all around the world in one night and not get lost.

My Mother's Obcene Christmas Cookies

Yes...I know. Looks like something off of a nasty porn website but certainly not a batch of cookies out of a sweet Grandmother's kitchen. But, they are. I was over visiting my mom Sunday morning after work while she made her famously delicious Christmas cookies. The dough from her batch of cookie bon-bons (I always remembered them being called something else...) came out too gooey and spread out in the oven, falling off the chocolate kisses. Only the top of the kisses poked through and the result was...well...nipple cookies. Mom and I about died laughing which lead to talk about icing tassels. Also the idea came up of giving a pair to Kim for Christmas since she used to talk about getting Breast Implants. Free Boobs for Christmas...nice, huh. (No insult was meant by that, Kim. What's a better present that free ones?)

Happiest Season of all?

I saw this on one of Karen's cousins blog page and realized it's SO relevant to share at this time of year...

Can someone please tell me how screaming at a poor, underpaid, over-worked, frazzled-but-trying-to-keep-her-spirits-up cashier for wishing you "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" is in keeping with the spirit of the holiday which you claim to cherish? Seriously. I hear a lot about "The War on Christmas", but, to be honest, I feel like all of the shots are coming from the pro-Christmas side. There is a reason that we call this the "holiday season" and wish "happy holidays". It's because there are a lot of holidays during the space between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, not just Christmas. If you think about it, wishing someone "happy holidays" is actually really friendly- "Hey, even though I'm not sure what religious holiday you observe at this time of year, I still hope you have as great a time as I am!" If we want to bring the "Christ" back to "Christmas", shouldn't that start with us? Isn't it more Christ-like to show love, friendship, understanding, tolerance, and hope to all of our neighbors? Maybe it's just me, but I doubt that Christ would want us berating people in his name. I could be wrong, though, I suppose...

So right on the money. And yes, I do believe that we need to remember that Christmas isn't about presents but is about the example of how Christ lived his life. That is what this season is really about. Charity, love, family. I really doubt our Father in Heaven or his Son want us fighting amongst ourselves and even least over his name. So, if I wish you a very Happy Holidays...I'm not declaring war on Christmas...I really mean it.

Merry Christmas
Happy Hannukah
Happy Yuletide
Happy Kwanza
Happy New Year

There, did I cover them all?

Our Thanksgiving

Yeah, I know. It's already December and I'm just now posting the Thanksgiving pics? Sheesh! The end of November really snuck away from me. And yes, I was extremely tired that day, since I was up at 6am to start cooking. (But for all of you that cooked thanksgiving dinner I'm sure your day was pretty much the same.) Thankfully, my mom came over about 10am to help. And geez did I need it. We had a total of 14 people at my table, which was enough to make my head spin. And of course, Ivy and Riley wouldn't take a nap since Grandma was there, so they were quite orny by the time dinner got here. Oh, and the reason Riley isn't in any of the pictures, is because he fell asleep during the prayer. Phew! John and I both agreed...we're going to visit family and someone else can cook Thanksgiving dinner!