The tree is getting darker

Another string of lights went out on our tree.  We knew they would go out because they burn REALLY bright just before they die.  That's what each strand has done.  So be warned.  If you see your lights burning brighter than normal...it's about to go out.

Oh, Christmas Tree

Our tree has been up for a little over a week now and today another strand of lights went out. See the dark spot just above the middle of the tree? I hope this tree makes it to Christmas. How pathetic.

Deep Freeze!!

I heard Al Gore yesterday talking about global warming and the polar ice caps melting. Since we have been in a deep freeze all week with temps about 15-20 degrees below normal, go ahead and send those polar ice caps down this way. They will freeze in an instant! And winter hasn't even officially started. Last night at 9pm it was a whopping zero degrees outside. This global warming is kicking my butt!

Baptism

This has been another busy week.  After last weeks birthday and Thanksgiving celebrations we were ready to put up the Christmas tree.  What a disaster that turned out to be.  The kids were so excited as we got out all the boxes and Mark started putting our tree together.  It's a pre-lit tree we bought when Em was a baby and it has served us well all these years.  However, last year a couple of the stands of lights started acting up but with a little shake they came back on and stayed on.  Phew...another year we avoided buying a new tree.  

Mark had set up the whole tree and then decided to plug it all in.  We weren't so lucky this year as half the lights would not turn on.  By this point, the girls had put out all the other decorations they could and were ready to move on to the tree.  It was getting late, they were getting tired and Mark's frustration was growing.  He tried everything we could think of to get the lights to work but to no avail.  We were about to throw the whole thing out and just buy a new tree when my neighbor suggested we just string new lights on top of the old lights.  Yeah! It worked and we turned the tree so the dark spots are in the back where you can't see them anyway.  We did have to wait until the next night to put the decorations on but it looks good enough for now.  

Just the other night, another string of lights went out.  Fortunately, it was in the back and you can't really tell.  

I love this picture because it shows Josie's true character.  She won't hold still for  even two seconds while I take a picture.  She was moving on purpose.  She's such a teaser.  

On Saturday, Emily got baptized.  It was a really nice program and Mark's brother (and his family) and aunt and uncle were able to come down.  We had a really nice luncheon afterward and were able to visit with family and friends.  We had a packed house and as soon as everyone left, we headed to Lindsey's dance performance at a holiday craft fair.  When that was done we went back home, gathered up Emily and went back to the fair for their singing performance.  It was really cute.  They did so well.  They are both a couple of performers and didn't seem phased at all to get up and sing in front of a bunch of strangers.  

Thanksgiving Week

It's been a really busy week.  Last Sunday, we celebrated Josie's 2nd bday (I need to find the pics.  Hopefully they're on the other camera.)  On Wednesday, we started swimming lessons again.  On Thursday, we celebrated Thanksgiving with a traditional rifle outing.  The younger kids weren't too interested so they went hiking but Emily and Jaxton turned out to be sharp-shooters with the pink Cricket gun.  Emily hit some pretty good targets.  We found out that pumpkins make really good targets.  We had a mostly-empty spray paint can sitting on a log with a pumpkin.  Emily shot the can and spray paint sprayed out of the hole and painted the pumpkin.  It was hilarious.  She was so excited we had to take a picture of it. 

You'll never guess what we did.  We are having so much fun with Dash that we decided to get another puppy!  Just kidding.  Because we stayed in town while all of our friends left town, we ended up dog-sitting, chicken-sitting and rabbit-sitting.  This pic is the two puppies snuggly during nap time.  So cute!  They had so much fun together it did make us think about adopting one of Dash's bro's from the pound.  

On Friday, we played with the dogs all day and the girls had a sleep-over at our house that night.  On Saturday, Mark and I went with Craig and Eve to the Utah/BYU game.  It was a really fun game to see but we were disappointed with the outcome.  GO UTES!!!

New Puppy!!

So, we finally gave in.  After Lindsey asked for a doggy EVERY DAY for two or three years, it just sort of happened.  We weren't planning on it.  We didn't seek it out.  It just found us...at WalMart.   We got him two weeks ago when he was two months old.  The first night was more horrible than the worst night we've had with any of the girls.  We put him in the bathroom and he whined and cried and cried and whined.  After an hour of this we couldn't take it anymore so Mark played the role of momma and slept on the couch with the dog in his cardboard box on the floor.  Most of the night Mark had a hand on the dog to make it feel like it was cuddled up to his brothers.  He had to take him out to "piddle" four times and by the time morning came, we had made up our minds to take him back.   Emily was heartbroken, Lindsey took the news like a trooper, which completely shocked me because she was the one who wanted a dog so bad in the first place and Em had been indifferent about it.  

We made arrangements to take him back to the owners after we ate dinner at gma and gpa's house but after spending a couple of hours talking about the virtues of having a dog, my dad had us talked into giving him a couple of more days to work out his loneliness.  The second night was much better...he slept in the garage with a hot water bottle to keep him warm.  The third night was even better and then we finally got him a crate to sleep in.  He loved it.  We put him on the back patio with his new home and some blankets and he stayed warm and toasty. 

Two weeks later, we still have him.  I guess he's part of the family now.  He's a pretty silly puppy.  He's a border collie/red heeler mix but he looks like a fluffy black lab.  At two months, he's already got the instincts of both breeds.  When we walk him, he stays right at my heel and when the kids run, he tries so hard to stay with them and herd them like their little cows or sheep.  This is Dash.

One Year Later

I don't know if anyone checks this blog anymore...I don't.  Anyway, I was just scanning Darren's favorite blog list and saw mine and noticed the date.  So, one year later, it's Emily's birthday again!  I can't believe it.  She is now 8 years old!  Oh, my little girl is all grown up.  She had a really good birthday this year.  No illnesses.  We took a bunch of her friends bowling and played several crazy games to keep it interesting and different.  We had a contest and everyone got a prize.  Some of the categories were fastest ball, slowest ball, the gutter ball prize, high score, low score, etc.  It was really fun.  The pics are of Em blowing out her candles and a little tunnel bowling the kids did.  That was part of the frame-by-frame game we played.  That was the kids favorite part.

On Sunday we had dinner with gma and gpa, Davey and his kids and had a little family celebration.  So, today is her actual birthday and we're kind of celebrated out so it was an anti-climactic day.  Now we're getting ready for Josie's 2nd birthday which is Sunday.