A Day Off

What a great day!!

We went to GWS to go ice skating and out to lunch

with some great friends! It was mine and Jolene's

first time on ice, she fell a few times and I managed not

to fall at all!! I kept my distance from those I thought

might take me down with them! It was so much fun,

the girls had a great time!!

After skating we went to lunch, all the girls ordered hot chocolate!!

While we were eating, warming up and visiting it was snowing outside!

What a great way to spend a

day off from school!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to me!!

Yep, I'm another year older and hopefully wiser!!

I opened the door this morning to send Raychel to school and was greeted by

a web of PINK!! The "Birthday Phantom" got me again this year!

That evening we had parent conferences for Raychel.

Ward surprised us and made it home in time to go with us instead

of trying to meet up with us.

The conference went great!! Raychel has been getting A's and A+'s on

all her papers and tests so it was no surprise to see her grades

were the same. Her teachers said she is doing great, she is coming

out of her shell and participating in ways I never would have imaged.

She has been doing the morning announcements for the Christmas

fundraiser her class is in charge of, over the intercom for

the whole school to hear! Her reading scores improved 216 words,

they said the average student only improves 100 words for the year!!

She did this in the first quarter!!

We are so proud of all she has accomplished a such a short time.

After the conference we went to dinner at Sammy's to not only

celebrate my birthday but Raychel's great accomplishment as well.

Earlier in the day I received flowers, they were from

my oldest sister Carey. What a great surprise!!

They were so beautiful! They brought a little bit

of Spring with them!

Trick or Treat

We don't remember days......We remember moments

As Halloween grew near the girls asked if we could

do something different this year. For the past 10 years

we have gone to the trunk or treat they have at our church.

It has always been fun; games, food, friends and of course candy!!

But this year they wanted to do some different.

At first I was against it, but then as I was thinking about it I thought

Halloween is for the kids, if they want to do something different why not?

We ended up going to GJ for the day. They wore their costumes they whole time,

we had a few errands to do, each store gave them candy. Then we went to the

mall to trick or treat. It was great. We were inside out of the cold, they didn't have to wear jackets, and they enjoyed showing off their costumes. And every girl that was handing out candy loved the masks they were each wearing!! EVERY store in the mall handed out candy.

There was the longest line all the way around the inside of the mall, lots of people

dressed from the young to the old! Afterward we went their favorite restaurant

Texas Road House, they love the food and who wouldn't love throwing peanut

shells on the floor!!

We had a great family day!!!

Halloween

"Boo"~tiful

Both the girls made their own masks

Our Masquerade Princess

Our beautiful little bat

Jolene was going in for a "bite"

Tooth Fairy

Jolene decided her tooth need to come out!

After school all she did was wiggle it,

then she would ask if it was ready yet.

We would try, but nothing, so she would go back to

wiggling it more. Then she would ask again for me

to try, just as she was getting ready for me to stop

out it came!!

Oct. 26, 2009

After the first one came out and the tooth fairy

made a visit to our home, it was time for the other

tooth to come out. She wiggled it non-stop for a few days,

then asked me to try just once, once was all it took

out it came!!
Oct. 28, 2009

Snow Already

Our First Snow Fall

What do you do when you receive 8 inches

of snow in 24 hours??

Build snowmen of course!

A Weekend At The Cabin

We have waited for this weekend all

summer, for an open weekend

to escape from our busy lives, so when a

weekend presented itself, we took it.

Time to enjoy ourselves in our favorite place,

The Cabin!!

The girls played games while they waited for

breakfast.

Raychel all ready to go fishing!!
The beautiful lake.
How can you sit by the
still water, breath the cool fresh air
and not feel renewed?
I needed this more then I knew. To
just sit back and listen.


The girls walked the shoreline finding "treasures"

Waiting for the "big one"

The girls love fishing Both girls caught fish, but Raychel caught the first one

of the day.

The girls love to push each other around

the camp in the carts

Raychel got a lesson on how to build a fire

Not bad!

Sitting in the rain waiting to roast marshmallows!

Smile

Roasting marshmallows

Jolene doesn't like hers black just brown!

YUMMY!!

Ward likes his......burnt!

More fishing anyone???

Our little camping beauties

Off exploring

Saying good bye until next time is never easy.

It is such a perfect way to get away! We enjoy the

quiet peaceful feeling of being in the cabin as a family

taking time to get to know each other again without,

phones, TV, or other daily interruptions! We are able

to leave the cabin and feel renewed and ready to jump

back into our lives until we are able to escape to the cabin again.

This time it wont be so long before we're back.

The view on the way home....

Cow crossing!

A Day In Aspen

October's Party

The leaves by hundreds came-

The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,

And leaves of every name.

The Sunshine spread a carpet,

And everything was grand,

Miss Weather led the dancing,

Professor Wind the band."

George Cooper, October's Party

Star Sighting

Stanley Tucci~

We headed up to spend the day in Aspen and as we stopped at a stoplight on the main street as we entered Aspen this familiar looking man crossed the street in front of our van. I thought to myself he looks so familiar, but why? About that time Ward calmly says, "That man in front of us is an actor." And then it hit me all the movies we had seen him in!!

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl~ 2008

ER seasons 14 & 15~2007 &2008

The Devil Wears Prada~ 2006

Shall We Dance~ 2004

And the new movie he is in, Julie & Julia~2009

School Days

I love being invited to spend the afternoon

at school with Jolene and her friends.

They talk and giggle more then they eat!!
It was a beautiful Fall day to be outside
playing tag and just "hanging out."

After recess, it's math time.

Lots of counting, adding, sorting and learning.

One of the math centers was sorting and counting

beans at least to 100, so much to do in so

little time.

I enjoyed my day going back to first grade.

Weather

The month changed,

and so did the weather!!

Ready, Aim, Fire!

One our way back into town from our adventure these big

boys were standing proud in the field,

nice tease!

We went out as a family to help Ward sight in his

gun for hunting season.

Both of the girls got a turn at

shooting the 22 at a target, which they both hit....

near the center!

After Ward sighted in the BIG gun, he pulled at the 223

for us to shot with at different targets.

There is something so powerful about lining up the cross hairs,

exhaling, and pulling the trigger!

Love that feeling!

There are the two golf balls I hit!

Raychel's turn....

After careful instruction Raychel hit her golf ball

on her first try.

HUGE confidence builder!!

And finally, Jolene's golf ball.

She took very careful aim, LOTS of time and then

asked loudly with her ear plugs in,

"ARE YOU READY?!"

FIRE, she too hit her golf ball on her first try.

Ward is proud, future little hunters!

We got to enjoy a beautiful cool fall evening and

watch the sunset before coming home.

Shooting is a very tiring!

School Days

These two beauties

are mine

and I couldn't be prouder!!

Welders

Ward brought home welding job over the weekend

and the girls thought it was the coolest thing ever!!

They had to be in the garage helping with

anything they could to be near the action.

It was pretty cute to see them in the welding

helmet watching and giving their suggestions.

Jolene in the welding helmet

Raychel in the welding helmet.