2010...

...is going "out" like a LION...lots of snow and 9 degrees is our predicted "high" today!! However, the beautiful, bright blue sky makes for a winter wonderland outside.  It's beautiful!  I'm thinking we have had our fair share of the white stuff this winter, we need to be generous and share with the rest of the US!  (Our son in Michigan is enjoying 50 degree weather on this New Year's Eve day! No fair!!) :0)

Our neighborhood

These snow piles, in all the parking lots all around town, will be with us until Easter, I'm sure! :0)

Good-by Christmas...

Time for cleaning up, putting away, and getting ready for 2011.  I just wanted to share three more Christmas pictures.  "K" and "A" on Christmas day!

"K" loved all her new clothes...as she opened each package she put on the newest thing...I'm thinking she looked a little warm in all those layers, but she didn't seem to notice! :0)

Star Wars...always a good choice!!

Matching jammies for "K" and her new American Girl doll that Santa brought.

Santa's Helpers...

These two adorable Santas aren't at the North Pole, but they are still much too far away!!!!

Tis the season...

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.

-Hamilton Wright Mabie

Santa Baby...

It always makes me happy to get a new picture via text message on my phone!  This arrived today.  I love this picture of Baby "G"...I just want to reach down, pick him up and kiss those sweet baby cheeks!!! Oh, I miss this baby boy, and his big brother and his Mommy and Daddy!!

Happy Birthday...

Happy, happy birthday to our 3rd child, and youngest son, Jon!  In my eyes he only has one thing I wish we could change...he lives waaayyyy to far away from us in Michigan.  I do love Michigan, and it's a really fun place to visit, it's just not close enough to Idaho!! 

It's hard to believe that this chubby little toddler is all grown up!! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JON!!

It's beginning to look....

...a LOT like Christmas!!  Our Christmas tree is up, decorations are out.....

and, we have SNOW (OH MY GOODNESS, do we ever have snow) !!! Jamie sent these pics of "K" having a great time outside in the snow this afternoon! 

I even have our advent calendar up and ready BEFORE December 1st this year!  Ready for the season to begin!!

Seattle, Shopping, Special Times....

Jamie and I returned this morning from our weekend in Seattle (we were at SeaTac at 6:20 AM...very EARLY wake-up call)!  Our Christmas shopping excursion was FANTASTIC...we are thinking we need to make it a yearly tradition!  Our hotel, The Westin, was in the heart of downtown Seattle...a short walk to Pacific Place, and Westlake Center.  Every time our arms were full and the load became too heavy to carry we could bring packages back to the hotel, drop them off, and head out again!  And, there was even a Starbucks that we had to walk right past on our way...how convenient! :0)

We had a beautiful room on the 42nd floor with a unobstructed view of the Space Needle!

Also, from our window we saw these guys doing the scariest job in the world...can you even imagine lowering yourself over a 50+ story building to wash the windows!  YIKES!! (Sounds like a challenge from "The Amazing Race!!")

P.S. The "2 bags free" policy on Southwest Airlines came in very handy...we were able to carry all our "goodies" home for free!

And...."5" years ago today this special little guy joined the family!!

Happy, Happy Birthday to "L"!!

Holly Jolly...

We had a little "skiff" of snow this morning...it's gone now (yipee!!), but it does help me get in the Christmas "mood!" :0)  I had fun scrapbooking some Christmas 2009 pictures yesterday!!

And, tomorrow morning Jamie and I are headed to Seattle to do a little Christmas shopping and have a fun mother/daughter getaway!! (Luckily I had a free airline ticket that was about to expire, so we decided this would be the perfect way to use it!!)  And, the bonus is that Southwest lets you take "2" bags for FREE, so we can carry home all our treasures !! :0)  Leaving soon to head to Spokane....

Hello November...

SO happy to have November here...not because winter is just around the corner, but because our house completion date was end of October!! :0)  It's finished, we're in (YIPEE), and slowly getting unpacked and settled!!  So far, we have moved in everything that we had with us for the past 9 months in our temporary housing...our basement is FULL of boxes of things we packed away and had in storage.  Our quandary now is "Do we really need all those boxes and boxes of things that we have managed to get along just fine without for the past several months??"  (Probably not!) :0/

And the den (my scrapbook room), still in need of some TLC!!

Our "littlest" goblins....

I should be unpacking (OH MY GOODNESS), I have SO much to do.  (Or, if not unpacking, I should be over at our former house CLEANING to be ready to be out of there by October 31st....but, posting this new picture of "L" and "G" is so much more fun!! :0) Baby "G" looks so worried about wearing that skeleton costume!! :0)

I will have more "scary" pictures to share after the weekend!!

Back home...

I am HOME....really kind of bittersweet!  I had a fantastic time in Michigan and it was hard to leave there and go SO far away, but it's always good to be home.  After Michigan I went directly to New Orleans to meet Jim for 4 days (he had a meeting there).  I have lots of great pictures to share here on my blog (incredible fall leaves in Michigan and two very cute little boys), but will do that later because for now I am busy getting ready to move.  The moving truck comes on Monday and I am so unprepared to pack up and move, so for now I will just post these pictures (taken with my phone :0/)  of "L's" early 5th birthday party that we celebrated with him.  (Gotta love those party hats...especially on "Baby G!")

"K" and "A" were there, too!  It was quite a party!!

Tomorrow...

I get to kiss these sweet, little "rosebud" lips tomorrow!!!

Octoberfest...

SO much to look forward to in OCTOBER...

~Decorating our house with these cute "little" pumpkins!

~A trip to Michigan to see our newest grandson (he is almost 3 months old...

yikes, how did that happen??) and his big brother

~MOVING into the new house :0)

~Our first ever trip to New Orleans

~Beautiful 70+ degree days and cool nights

~Amazingly colorful leaves on the trees

~Lots of fun Vandal football games, and tailgating parties

~A fun trip with my daughter and her children

~Lots of doodling practice (to improve the skill that I learned in my doodling class)

~Packing, cleaning and organizing

(ONLY looking forward to this because it means we are

M.O.V.I.N.G.)

~Celebrating Halloween with the grandchildren! 

I LOVE their enthusiasm for Halloween!!

Three more weeks...

Getting very close to D.O.N.E....YEA!!!

Brothers...

I woke up yesterday when I heard the "ding" on my cell phone...a text message!!  I was SO excited when I opened the message and saw this adorable picture!! 

I think these two are going to have lots of FUN together!!!

Hello FALL...

Fall in the northwest is beautiful!!  Our town is transformed...colorful trees everywhere!  I really love fall...football games, tailgating, pumpkin spice candles, cool evenings, colorful trees, sweaters...but, I could enjoy this season SOOOO much more if it was followed by spring!!  :0/

I'm not sure what happened to that tiny, precious new baby boy that I was rocking and snuggling just 6 weeks ago....this little guy is 2 months and 1 week....growing up wayyyyyyy to fast for my likes!!

I'm going back in two weeks for a visit...I can't let any more time go by without holding this precious little guy and playing with his big brother!

And, this weekend we are off for a few days to Green Valley Ranch Resort in Henderson, Nevada.  Jim will be learning some new Governmental Accounting and Auditing techniques, and I'm going to be enjoying the 100 degree weather and this beautiful place!

After we return home we will be PACKING and MOVING!  Yipee!!

Getting closer...

October, our completion date (fingers AND toes crossed), is getting closer, and things are really beginning to take shape at the house!!