UGH! I really don't like putting all the Christmas decorations away. It's so fun to get them all out and put them up but I'd rather have someone else put them away for me. I think maybe I have to much......because it takes me all day or sometimes two or three days to get it all down and in the boxes. But it is nice to get all the clutter out of the way. Makes it easier to clean the house.
New Years eve, and no plans. Amber is going to a Stake Dance in Omaha, and Sam just got invited to sleep over at a friends house. It's his first sleep over and he's very excited. So it's just Ben, Keaton, Bret and myself. No party to go to this year and no big plans. Kinda sad. 2010 is a special year for us, it will mean we've been in Harlan now for 10 years. We moved in, May of 2000. Amber was in 1st grade and Ben was 2. I didn't even have my little Sam and Keaton yet. I remember I was so excited to be done with school and residency and starting our first job. Bret was an official Doctor, we bought our first home out in the country and I was loving life! I slowly got to know people, Bret got to know everyone a lot faster than I did since he took care of a lot of them, and we've made some wonderful friends here. I had Sam in January of 2002, and he was a wonderful addition to our family. I was still loving life......then in 2005, I had Keaton. Just kidding. I love Keaton dearly, and don't regret having him.......really I don't......

We are really enjoying raising our kids here, and just really enjoying watching them grow and experience all that life brings, the good and the bad. We've been so blessed, and can't wait to see what the next 10 years will bring.

Happy New Year to all of you!

After the storm was over we went out to explore the beautiful ice and snow covered landscape! I love the beauty of winter!

Wow what a Christmas. It all started with an ice storm Christmas eve day and a blizzard Christmas eve and all Christmas day. With the ice and snow and wind we experience power outages most of the day. I was a little nervous about getting my Christmas dinner cooked. But I managed to get it all done and we ate, a little later than usual but it all tasted great!

We had our traditional Christmas eve family togetherness. We usually order Pizza Hut but due to the weather we just had some frozen pizzas that I had in the freezer. Not the same put easy to cook. then we went to the living room and read the Christmas story, and the kids played some Christmas songs on the piano that they have been practicing and we sang every taditional Christmas song that we could think of. Amber read us a Christmas story and each one of the kids got to open up one present, their traditional pajamas. Then they watched a couple of Christmas specials and we finally got them to all go to bed. Bret and I did our last minute gift prep and got everything under the tree and the stockings filled. I did my best to get the wrapping done a couple of days before and it was so nice to not have to worry about that and just enjoy Christmas eve. The kids woke us up at 6 am to open presents and before we new it, it was over. Another Christmas has come and gone.

Bret had to work in the Denison ER from noon to 6, so after he spent a bit of time digging himself out he left me with the kids, the Christmas mess and the power going off. But we had fun and the kids enjoyed playing and I even got a little nap.

Christmas ice storm

Love ice storms......except

when you wake up to a broken tree branch on the swing set.

Bret wasn't happy. He wanted to take that tree down last summer....I wouldn't let him.

Now he said it's my fault. I feel awful, but I love those big old trees. They give us so much shade, and are homes to so many birds, and other animals. But I have a feeling they will be gone as soon as spring gets here. I'm not going to be able to talk him out of it this time.

Not a good time for a storm to hit. I wasn't able to get out yesterday a do my christmas deliveries of cookies, I'm not going anywhere today either, and it sounds like this storm isn't going to be gone until Saturday afternoon. So we're home bound for Christmas. We lost power for about a half hour this morning, I hope that doesn't happen again. I have a lot of cooking to do tomorrow. But if we do, we can just have lunch meat sandwitches and fruit for dinner. It will be a Christmas to remember that is for sure. Bret has to drive to Denison to work in the ER tomorrow from noon to 6, I hope he makes it safely and doesn't crash or anything. The kids are so excited and can't wait to open the presents tomorrow. We just got done decorating sugar cookie cut-outs and gingerbread men, that seems to be a fun tradition they like to do on Christmas eve day. I have to admit I'll be happy when all the Christmas and New Year stuff is over and I can get rid of all the candy and cookies that are in my house.

Hope all of you are safe and staying warm this Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Holy cow am I tired. We are hosting a couple of Kevins friends from Texas for a few days , they're here for some deer and pheasant hunting. So I've been trying to give them a taste of Iowa hospitality. Which means lots of time spent in the kitchen. Today after being woke up at 4:45 to Kevin's alarm going off down stairs in the living room, I got the cinnomin roles ready for the guys to eat because they were going out on a early deer hunt. Made pancakes for my children, got them off to school. Started the venison stew that the guys were going to eat for lunch, and while that was cooking I made some gingerbread men for the kids to decorate tomorrow. Fed the guys lunch, cleaned up from that, then started on the pheasant pot pie that was for dinner. That took a little longer than usual because I had to throw away the crusts I made earlier and make another one, because right after I made the two crusts I was making the stuff that goes inside the pie and realized i didn't have any chicken broth and no chicken bouillon cubes or anything! So I had to run to the store to get some. By the time I was ready for the crusts they sat to long and just fell apart as I tried to put them in the pie dish. The bottom one I just kind of pieced together and mashed it into the pie plate, but the top one just fell apart and looked awful! So I scraped it off and threw it away and made another crust. After I finally got that bad boy in the oven I started making a broccoli salad and a fruit salad. Then The kids tell me they don't want pheasant pot pie, and I realize that they're probably won't be enough pie for all of us anyway, so I make the kids spaghetti. I must say I'm a little tired of cooking and being in the kitchen all day. But it's all worth it when you have happy kids and very happy company praising your cooking and enjoying full bellies! But now I'm tired and going to go to sleep. I have french toast, bacon and eggs and hashbrowns to make in the morning.

Bret gets stuck again!

You can't really tell from the picture, because Bret had already been digging for 30 minutes but he went and got himself stuck in a huge snow drift on an "unimproved, "enter at your own risk" country road last evening. I wish I had a picture of each time Bret got his truck, or his tractor, stuck in something. Whether it be a mud hole, a ditch, or a snowbank, which he's done twice already this month. This time his friend Rob came and helped pull him out. He thinks they are so invincible and can plow through anything. Which they can't. I think Bret is going to start getting a reputation in town about always having to have someone come help pull him out of something. But I love him. He makes life so interesting and never a dull moment.

I feel like I want to just go hang out in a log cabin, up in the mountains for the month. That way I wouldn't have to worry about having to buy Christmas presents and wrapping them and sending out Christmas cards and making all the different kinds of Christmas cookies that the kids want me to make. Just a tree and a nativity. Just focusing on what really is important this time of year. It seems like Christmas has become a lot of work. Work that the world makes us do because it's expected and not because we want to. Gifts are given out of obligation not out of love. Every year the scale gets grander and the presents get more expensive. It's not "it's the thought that counts" any more, it's "the more you spend the more you love me." I don't like watching TV this time of year what with all the adds and big sales and everything to buy that really have nothing to do with the holy day that we are to be celebrating. I need to find a way to change some things, at least in my own family for my children, so they don't forget the true reason for celebrating Christmas.

Sorry this is a bit off the mark but I just needed to get that out. I'm not trying to be a scrooge or anything, and I do love giving presents and making cookies for people I love and want to say thankyou for being such a good friend. I love seeing the kids faces on Christmas morning when they open there presents, but it just seems like every year it just gets bigger and bigger and more and more! Where does it stop? It's not simple any more. Parts of it aren't fun anymore. And to scale down would hurt feelings. So what do you do? Retailers count on this time of year to make money to make ends meet, but people are going into debt buying things they can't afford, because they think they have to. It's not right. I don't think the early followers of Christ meant for this time of year to be this way at all. I think they would be very sad to see what this holiday has become.
So, okay I'm done, and I'll hopefully get my log cabin Christmas one of these years, but until then I can turn off the TV and keep what I do simple and try to show love for my family and friends in simple ways. So Merry Christmas! By that I mean a Christmas full of love and health and family, serving others and feeling closer to our Heavenly Father for sending his Son.

Sorry a bit of an emotional mess today, and feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Here's some pictures of Ben at his Band concert. He likes the trumpet and the drums, we're trying to decide if we should get him a drum set for Christmas. He's asking for one.

Ben likes to play the clown. This was before they started thank goodness. What a ham.

Mocha's first hunt.

This is Mocha. She went on her first hunt last Saturday and she did such a great job. She wasn't quite sure of the gun going off and stayed pretty close to us. But it didn't bother her to much. At least she didn't run strait to the truck!

Snow everywhere! With quite enough to spare.

With a snow day yesterday, and with most of the schools around the area being closed again today, the kids were not happy about having to go to school today. It was a two hour late start which in my book is the best of both worlds. I get to sleep in a bit and I still get rid of the kids for the day. Only problem was my car was in the garage and there was about a 3 to 4 foot snow drift blocking my way. The drift wasn't small either, it went out about 25 feet! So what am I to do. I have to get the kids to school. So while the kids are getting ready I bundle up and grab my snow shovel and get to work. I only have about an hour to get this done. I look at all the snow that needs to be moved and think "oh man, I don't think I can do this." But with one shovel load at a time, and a little help from above I had the strength to finish just in time. I have no idea why we don't invest in a snow blower. I guess in the past we've always had a friend come by in time to dig us out with a tractor, which we did, only it was around 2:00 in the afternoon. Anyway I got the kids to school on time, and I got to go home and relax a bit. I have a sore back and my arms are very tired but other than that I feel great. I guess all that running is doing something for me.

Tonight we went to Ben's band concert. It was the Christmas concert and he playes the trumpet. Before we went we had a little fight about what he was wearing. Jeans and a t-shirt with a sweater over it wasn't going to cut it. The sweater was fine but he needed to change his pants and put a nice white church shirt on under the sweater. He didn't like that idea at all but I ended up wining and he looked very nice. I know I only have a few more years where I'll be able to do that. The concert was great. They sounded really good for only being in 6th grade.

I just called my sister Sandie in Seattle and agreed to run the Seattle marathon with her at the end of June. So I need to get my butt back in training mode. I've really been bad at being consistant with my running and my eating has been awful. I'm also running the Dam to Dam 20K at the beginning of June as well so that will just be one of my long runs, and a part of my training. I hope I can do this right this time and stay injury free. I love running but I tend to over do it sometimes. Planning a run tomorrow in town as soon as I drop off Keaton at school. I hope it isn't windy. It's hard on my face to run in the wind.

First winter storm

Well we survived our first winter storm. What can I say, the kids were home from school early yesterday and are having a snow day today. It was very nice to sleep in and listen to the wind howling outside, knowing I didn't have to go out in it. Bret however had to go in to do a C-section and had a bit of trouble getting out of the driveway. Very big snow drift right out side of the garage doors. I watched him for awhile then he looked up at me through the window and said "come here and help me!" So like a good wife I put on my snow gear and went out in the cold wind and snow to help him dig out. I thankfully got in the cab to do the driving while he pushed! Finally he was out and off to the hospital. REALLY why do these things always happen during a snow storm! You'd think these babies would have a bit of inside info on these things.

It's been fun getting ready for Christmas this year, the house is all decorated inside and out. This year I decited to go out on the roof and put up the outside lights myself, because Bret doesn't have the time during daylight hours, and he has a problem going out on the roof in the dark. So it's done and it's beautiful. He wasn't to happy with me. The first thing he thought when he came up over the hill and saw the house was, "I'm going to kill her for going out on the roof!" But no harm done and it wasn't like I haven't done that before. I did the same thing with our house in Omaha, during residency. Which I did get yelled at by my neighbor who couldn't believe I was out on my roof. She's was an older lady who's husband did everything like that I'm sure. But you know, when your husband isn't home a lot you have to do things yourself or they just don't get done. The tree is up. Amber picked out a nice big fat one, that wouldn't stay upright in the stand. It kept wanting to fall over. It almost did right on top of Ben, but Amber was there to catch it thank goodness. So with a hook and some twine we tied it to the wall behind the tree. I'll have a nice hole in the wall when Christmas is over. I guess i'll have to find a bookshelf or some thing to put there. Darn it I hate shoping :)

I went bird hunting with Bret last Saturday and that was fun. Bret got his limit in little under an hour. The dogs worked great and I had a good work out tromping around in the tall thick grass with heavy hunting boots on. I like watching Bret get excited about the whole hunting experience. It's nice that the kids are getting a little older so I can go out with him more. I forgot how much I like that. It's been a few years since we were first married.

We went to Sam's Christmas concert last week and it was so cute. He's loves being on stage singing and dancing. Makes me wonder what he's going to do when he gets older. I love living in a small town in Iowa where we can still sing the traditional Christmas songs in the schools and wish everyone a Merry Christmas. It make it that much more special during this time of year.

So here I sit snowed in at my house and loving every minute of it. I think I'll go make some hot chocolate!