Dodge Ridge, CA

We went to Dodge Ridge Ski Resort yesterday with our friends, Steve and Kathy and their kiddos, Taylor and Halle! We had a great time. The men skied and the boys snowboarded. Nick is becoming quite the little snowboarder! They loved it! Kathy and I stayed at the bottom of the mountain watching the littler ones play in the snow. The weather was beautiful and it was so nice being able to see(and play in)the snow right before Christmas!! The boys enjoyed themselves so much, they are going back in a couple of weeks. I'm thinkin' season passes may be in our future!

Nicholas and Taylor

Jackson and his first snowball of the day! He made PLENTY of these over the course of the day. At one point, he and Halle were even trying to 'sell' their snowballs to fellow skiers. Sadly, they never made a sale! Haha!!

Snow Angel in action!!

Snow Angel: Complete!!

Halle and Jackson

Me and Kathy!

Nick and Taylor gettin' the boards on!

...almost ready

Halle and Jackson playing in the snow. Halle would collect snowballs and make PILES of them everywhere. Then she would say, 'Look at all of my gold!' And then she would say, 'Please don't let the baby touch them!' It was a long day for poor little Cade!

Kathy and Halle

Steve, Nick, and Taylor at the top of the mountain!

Nick and Taylor

The boys are getting the boards on. Ready for the 20th run of the day!

Merry Christmas...

...from our home to yours!! I LOVE decorating for the holidays! Almost too much, I think! It's especially fun trying to decorate a new home for your first Christmas in it! I bought enough ribbon to cover one and a half football fields if rolled out end to end. Jeff sweetly reminded me that we do not have THAT much stair railing but one just never knows! Ha! Since the arrival of the puppy, the presents have been removed from under the tree. And I thought Cade would be the problem! The Christmas tree skirt is removed hourly by the sweet little pup himself. It just doesn't look right without the skirt, so I put it back each time he removes it and I repeat that same motion multiple.times.per.day!! Merry Christmas to meee!! I'm so looking forward to Christmas this year and feel so very blessed!

...more Dempsey!!

Introducing Dempsey....

The boys got a new puppy for Christmas! Yes, I realize Christmas is still a few weeks off...but do you know how hard it is to HIDE a puppy? Pretty darn hard!! He is almost 8 weeks old and just as cute and sweet tempered as can be. Well, we are just on day ONE!! I might have different words and thoughts for my next post!

Pismo Beach, CA

Pismo Beach is amazing!! We got to experience a little Pismo fun this weekend. Our friends, Steve and Kathy, invited us out to the beach to camp with them...and we had a blast! We roasted marshmallows by the fire and made s'mores. Steve took me on a 'night ride' on the quad and let me tell ya...those sand dunes are like a roller coaster ride! I'm quite sure they could hear my screams back at the camp site! I've never seen so many quads in one place before, even pick ups and suv's were racing up the dunes for speed and excitement! We stayed up late visiting around the campfire while the kiddos were all tucked into the trailer with a movie! We cruised through the town the next morning and did a little shopping, had some bowling fun and ate, ate and ate some more. We enjoyed a fabulous seafood dinner at Steamers. It was a grrreat weekend!

Steve and Halle...

Jeff ridin' the dunes.

Caden LOVED riding on the quad! He was also pretty content on the golf cart!

Steve taking the kids for a crazy golf cart ride! They loved it!

Jeff chillin' on the quad!

The kiddos are watching 'Up'...while the adults visit by the camp fire!

Mom and Dad's Visit!!

My parents were here for a whole week from TX last week! It was soooo great seeing them and spending time with them. About an hour after they arrived...Jack decided to bust his forehead open while tripping on the stairs. Thank goodness my parents were here as I don't really react well to the sight of blood. And there was a TON of it. Dad went to me to get Jack all stitched up and stayed with him while I vacated the building! Jack was a trooper though and is back to running up the stairs! Sheesh! My parents also helped us with a lot of little projects (and NOT so little projects) around the house! They made me a BEAUTIFUL window treatment for my living room! I LOVE it!! Mom sewed other window treatments as well while Dad was shoveling holes in the front yard for some Queen Palms. Dad learned quickly that his project was going to be waaay bigger than he originally thought when he realized our dirt is 'hardpan' and is like digging in cement. Jeff was hoping he'd just go ahead and dig the hole for our pool while he was at it but Dad politely declined!! Ha!!

Jackson and his FIVE stitches! Ouch!!

Before picture of living room window...

Caden assisting with the project!

My beautiful new window treatment! This picture doesn't even do it justice!

The before picture of the front yard...

Palm 1 successfully transplanted...

Peepaw and Caden taking a much needed break!

Jackson helping Peepaw with some diggin'!!

Palm 2 successfully transplanted...

And now all 3...

Peepah and the Fresno Zoo!!

Here are some pictures from our Zoo experience! The weather was perfect and the company was grrrreat!!

The whole boy crew!!

Nick and Jack with the baby elephant statue! Aww!

Giraffe feeding time!!

Caden was a wee bit intimated by that long tongue!

And was much happier just watching!

Caden also preferred the stuffed stingray to the live ones!!

He's checkin' somethin' out in there!

Eww!!

Jack's trying to see if he can get the camel to spit! Luckily, he CAN'T!

Peepah with Nick and Jack!!