Priceless

The kids gave Luke some photos for Christmas. I love that Becky caught them smiling at each other like this...they do it all the time, and I love having it captured on film.

Charlie Brown Tree

Dylan told me he didn't like this tree, because you can see the middle. But we got it anyway, because I like Charlie Brown trees. And Dylan wasn't paying. So there.

The Manger

This is one of my favorite Christmas traditions. Each good deed or kind word earns a piece of straw for the manger. It's nice to see Izzy and Dylan being especially well behaved; not because elves are watching, but because they want baby Jesus to have a soft place to lay his head on Christmas morning. Perhaps I should leave the manger out all year long...

Desert Day

Each year on the Saturday following Thanksgiving, our family heads out to the desert for some fun. We roast hot dogs and marshmallows, gather cedar to decorate our houses for Christmas, and shoot guns. Not an average family tradition, I know, but tons of fun nonetheless.
Dylan got in on the action this year. Desert day is no longer a spectator sport for Bucky...he is official. His friend Camden let him borrow his Crickett rifle, which ended up being the perfect size. Dylan was able to load and shoot on his own, and burned through an entire box of ammo in no time at all. He had a blast!


Izzy helped Luke send a clay pigeon or two flying for the big boys, shot for a little while,


then decided to hang out by the fire with me. I took a picture of her looking all grown up


and she took one of me hanging out by the truck.


We had a chance to hang out and chat while the boys went out looking for rabbits.


Bucky was hot on the trail of a couple, but didn't have any luck finding one. No complaints, though. We got our fill of sunshine, fresh air, and quality time together. The hot dogs weren't bad, either. Yippie for desert day!

Silly Putty

If you didn't get a chance to hear about our last silly putty experience, please click here.
Now that you are up to speed, take the bright yellow putty and instead of giving it to a child, give it to a yorkshire terrier. Awesome. There are no pictures of this event, because Luke was busy rubbing peanut butter on Ozzy's paws, eventually shaving them, and I was getting silly putty out of the carpet. And just so you know, eating silly putty makes dogs sick, so Luke got to clean that up, too. The true miracle of the season this year is that Ozzy lived to see another day. Barely.

Memories

This picture hung in our family room in the home I grew up in. I looked at it every day (it was above the big Zenith TV), but never really noticed it. Last year at a family party, one of Luke's cousins had the very same picture hanging above her mantle. It flooded me with memories of my sisters, my grandparents, the set of World Book Encyclopedias that were on the bookshelf by the window. I could smell my old house. I could feel the brown carpet under my feet. I closed my eyes and I could see every detail of that room. There are so many memories of that house, of that time in my life. When we all lived under the same roof and got to see each other every single day. We ate Sunday dinner together and laughed and loved and fought and cried. We opened Christmas presents and played Tetris in that room. I remember playing poker for Max Factor make-up with my sisters. So many memories! I was lucky to have two incredible parents and three amazing sisters. Especially at this time of the year, I am reminded of how thankful I am for them. And more than any other season, I miss them. I sometimes wish I could have just one day to go back and take it all in.

Happy Halloween

Harry and Hermione had a blast trick-or-treating. We hope all your ghosts and goblins did, too!