14years!!!

Today is our anniversary....14years ago, we got married...it rained in the morning and was pretty cloudy outside, but that didn't deter us......if we were getting married today, the sun would be shining and blinding us off the white snow on the ground and we would be freezing....as it feels like 18F...or to convert for my southern hemisphere friends, that is -8C....

The Days following Xmas.....

Well, here it is...the 27th of December and Christmas Day has come and gone...it was a wonderful day...very relaxing...very happy, especially since I was able to "talk" with my bestie Leanne..we had a houseful of family again with good food and great laughter. Sorry to say, I did not take any photos of Christmas day later in the afternoon...just the morning....we did have a few snow flakes fall that night......yesterday we had more snow.. we were supposed to get alot more, but the majority of snow fell to the east of us and we ended up with only a few inches. Now we are contending with the wind and the drifting of the snow. It is very cold, very windy and just not nice outside today. (hoping my husband is staying warm at work) as I sit here typing this in my warm bed, on my new laptop, I can hear the wind whipping and blowing outside...I bet the coast in Batemans' Bay is ALOT warmer than here!...

Well, how about this...it's Christmas day and I am already posting pictures from last night and this morning!!! Crazy...it just might snow...no really, it may snow today.....well, to all my friends in Australia, I was glad to read that you had a hot Christmas day....the photos of you all on the beach are so far from the long sleeve shirt, sweater and big wooly socks I have on right now....Last night we had Holy night dinner down at Rogers house...it was very good and the boys did not disappoint with the eating of the garlic....they all stink today!....the kids opened up presents last night from that side of the family, as today, Christmas Day, we are not all together...everyone made out very nicely as you will see down below.....I will try and put some comments at each picture to explain down below......

Here is a photo of all the cousins...well almost all the cousins...as you can see Jen is sticking her belly out to have her little one part of the photo....Next year we will have the actual cousin!

Pop-pop and his grandkids!!! Add another for next years photo....

Nick thinks he is going to be the next Shaun White...maybe he will be!...look out for him in the Olympics!!!

This is the gift we got for Patrick...I must say, I think it was his favorite and he may have even slept in it!

Here is Uncle Chris with his niece and nephews...Dosen't he look HAPPY!!!...(notice the alcoholic beverage he is drinking)....

Oh...look at the little angels sleeping........

Oh..no...wait.....that's just Nick and Tyler......

Sorry this photo didn't get very clear....but this is what our house looks like from outside at night.....

Our tree on Xmas Eve...

Our tree with smiling boys this morning!

Mike thinks that Nick looks like a "movie star" from the 70's....(do you know what I'm talking about?)

Here is our future Navy Pilot...(the aviator glasses are new from Santa, and that is Nick's ski helmet...)...doesn't he look like a pilot?

So, there you have it up until now....it is just after 2pm on Christmas Day and very shortly I will be serving dinner of Ham and smoked Turkey...homemade filling...veggies...fresh cranberry sauce..salad and rolls and gravy......Will continue to take photos and update later tonight!...I hope everyone has enjoyed this showing of extremely updated photos!!!!!! Merry Christmas!!!

It is not an illusion......

Well, it seems that I've been fired.....and for good reason.....fall has gone by and I have not updated....I will try and redeem myself with some Thanksgiving photos.....Mike and I hosted Thanksgiving this year....we had a total of 18 people at our house and it was great....As I sat down to dinner and looked out across our living room, it felt really good to have family and friends all together in our house.....We got to eat dinner with some family that we haven't had dinner with in years and that was lovely....and we also invited some friends who other wise would have either gone out to eat at a restaurant, or eaten alone...and these same friends said that it was the best Thanksgiving they had been to in years! So that made me feel great! As you will see from the first 2 photos...we had snow on Thanksgiving....this was the very early stages, but by the time it was all said and done, we ended up with about 2inches of snow and the kids were outside playing in it and having snowball battles...(didn't get photos of that, as I was in full prep mode)...there is a photo here with my brother in it...he wasn't able to eat with us, but they did get to visit with us prior to dinner and there are all the cousins on that side of the family....you will also see "baby" Kendra...she is now almost 2 1/2yrs old and a full on 2 yr. old...Patrick and Evelyn are not in any photos as they were in Disney (again) with Coletta and Steve...we did have Tyler though as he was home on break from college...and our kitchen got broken in...although not completely done, everyone loved it...and yes, I know I know, you have not seen that either...well, very shortly, you will see pictures from beginning to end on this blog...and Yes, I know you will be shocked and awed at that fact!....I hope this suffices for now...I am sitting here with curlers in my hair trying to keep a lifelong friendship alive....Cheers!

Just an update...

I sit here on a beautiful Saturday morning, drinking my cup of coffee contemplating the start of my day. Last night we had Jen and Joe and Steve and Coletta over, sat had some drinks, some laughs and we marveled at our "almost" done kitchen. I am getting so very excited....the floors are done, the walls painted, the cabinets up and the appliances are in.....at this point it is alot of finishing things now. When we are completely finished, I will have photos from the beginning to the end. (yes, I have been taking photos all along, to document all our hard work)...

As the night went on, Mike and I enventually ended up in front of the fire by ourselves roasting hot dogs and having a last beer.....as we sat there, I said how I missed my dear, dear, bestie who lives so very far away from me. Mike agreed. I so wish one of us had a money tree in our back yard....since we don't, I guess we need to continue "talking" via skype and blogs....(Just wanted you to know how very much I am missing you right now...)

Ok, with that said, the unofficial end of summer is upon us as school is beginning all around us. Justin and Jessica began this past Wednesday and our boys will begin this Wednesday. Luckily we still have summer for a few more weeks, before we switch our seasons with our Down Under friends....I am looking forward to it as Fall is my favorite season. I am ready to bring out the jeans and my Baxter boots!

Well, I need to get my day moving.....this day is just screaming to me to hang out my sheets and get that fresh air smell on them...(love that, when I crawl into bed at night!).....I hope everyone else is enjoying their Saturday no matter which hemisphere we might live in.....:)

Last Friday I took the boys and 2 of their friends up to Boulder Field which is a state park about 50minutes from our house. It was a great day, because it wasn't super hot and it was actually cloudy out, which meant it wasn't horrible to be outside. We hiked around the whole field and than made our way to a local lake/beach area. (Leanne, you have been here). The boys had a blast and I enjoyed the time just relaxing on the beach! When we arrived in the morning, we were the first car in the parking area and it was actually cooler. As you will see, we had sweatshirts on in the beginning and than by the end of the hike, they were wrapped around our waists. After the beach, we made our way to another hiking trail and found a water fall. The boys were in heaven, finding rocks to skip and they even found a toad and a snake.

Our mini get away.....

Well, Mike and discussed getting away for a few days or taking a few days to just bang out the kitchen. We opted for the 1st choice and figured the kitchen would still be there when we got back. With that said, we left Wed. afternoon and headed north into New York state. We were supposed to stop there, but I was doing good driving and we decided to push on into Rutland, Vermont. We stopped over there and stayed in a hotel for the night. The next morning, the boys hopped in the pool for abit and than we headed up to Killington resort and went mountain biking. This was our first time actually biking down the same hills that we normally ski down, so we were definately newbies in this, sometimes very extreme sport. From the ski/bike slopes we headed to a local microbrewery for a late lunch and than headed south to my brother's. On Friday we hung out at home for a bit and than headed over to a friend of the family and went out on his boat. Some of us went tubing behind the boat (not I) and than we headed all the way down the lake, ordered dinner to go and ate on the beach. It was a great afternoon! Saturday, Jen, myself, Benton, Adelaide and Nick went to a local craft fair and the dad's and L.Michael went on an extreme bike ride. Again, a good day had by all. Dinner was a wild turkey that my brother had shot a few months ago and fresh veggies out of the garden. The drive home is always a long one, but it was uneventful which is always good. And when we did get home, the kitchen was still there.....