If Home Is Where Your Heart Is. . . .

So, the day before the storm blew in, the animals were everywhere. . .I knew it was going to be a big storm because all of the big bucks seemed to be just hanging out all over town.  It was hysterical to see them crossing in the cross walks and standing in the playground.  They literally were everywhere.  I just had to share these two pics.  One is from our front yard and one I took on the way to the airport.  Crazy!  (I take pictures like this all the time to text to my dad so he'll get jealous and want to come visit us more often. . . so far only the jealous part is working!)

This weekend we FINALLY had our first snow storm of the season and it was wonderful!  It snowed for nearly 48 hours and brought with it about two feet of fresh powder (more to the slopes).  We are so excited!  Friday I let the three littles skip school (sorry Hays & Maggie) and I called in telling the school that they were taking a "sledding" day.  Why not? Yesterday Andy and Dax went up to the mountain to snowboard for the first time this season.  Today Andy took the four oldest kids up.  Everyone is so excited to get their boards on and the sleds out.  This is why we love living here! Last night was also Gabby's debut on stage ballet performance!  She was a bon bon in the Nutcracker and she was adorable!

Here are just a few pictures from the past couple of weeks.  Nothing deep.  No news.  Just pics for you to enjoy now and for me to enjoy when I print my blog! Gabby and Baylor by the fire. Hays got to go hunting with Pops after Thanksgiving and this was one of the bucks he shot. Andy & I at Tamara's wedding! This is how she was watching TV the other day.  No fat on her back side, so she needed a pillow! Gabby modeling her skirt we brought her back from India Our little ballerina Gabby modeling her outfit we brought her back from India.

I hosted the annual neighborhood Christmas party this past weekend.  I volunteered so eagerly!  I love Christmas!  I love my house decorated for Christmas!  And I love hosting parties!  I also thought it was a ladies' cookie exchange.  It wasn't.  It was the KIDS party and I couldn't get out of it!  But it turned out to be a blast!  We had about 40 kids there and they behaved perfectly!  I loved every minute of it!!! Gabby & Santa Hays doing his homework right in the middle of the party.  I think he really wanted to be a part of it, but thought he was too old.  I loved it that he was there! They wanted a "funny" picture.

Yes, I have been asked this question more than one time in the past month!  Most recently, many of you have asked what Andy is doing in Iraq and I have not had any answers (which have led many of you to wonder if I'm lying or if he is, indeed, in the CIA or what).  Well, he sent me an article today and it answered so many questions for me (not WHY he is there, but WHAT he is doing at least). (Andy is sitting in these meetings which are being held in Sadam's old palace.  What in the world?!?!) Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki chairs a meeting alongside Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elarabi during the “International Conference in Solidarity with Palestinian and Arab Prisoners and Detainees in the Prisons of the Israeli Occupation” being held in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. According to Al Arabiya News:   Iraq hosted an international conference on Israel’s Palestinian and Arab prisoners on Tuesday, the...

This past weekend we got to go to "Rwanda in the Rockies."  It was a fun event that the 8th graders in Silverton, Colorado, put on.  They have an amazing teacher and together they raised money to bring over three Rwandan students for a month.  And what a month they all had.  I'm SO impressed with that school!  Anyway, we happened to run into them at the ice skating rink and at the bowling alley and they invited us to this evening pot luck and show and we had the best night we've had in a long long time.  It was fun to be with the people of Silverton and our family had the best time together! Tiki was loving videoing the show!  Terrible picture of Dax, but I wanted to show off the cute dress Lesley literally whipped up for the occasion.  She used fabric I bought in Rwanda when I went to pick up Tiki! Gabby with one of the Rwandan students, Esther.

Oh my!  I just realized that I didn't post about our fun Thanksgiving.  What have I been doing?!? After break, when people would ask me how was your Thanksgiving, I gave them all the same answer: relaxing.  It was just what we needed.  Andy was home for an entire week and we just enjoyed time together. . .just the seven of us almost the entire week!  We put puzzles together and the boys went golfing and Andy took the kids to see movies.  It was so nice.  There was no school for the week, so we slept until 8 and laughed a lot!  It was perfect! On Thursday, we did fry a turkey (our newest tradition) and we walked over to the home of our friends for a nice lunch.  It was a great day. We have SO much to be thankful for and it was nice not to get caught up in the chaos and just enjoy those six people that I am the most thankful for.  That is what I was the most struck by this Thanksgiving:  how much I love and cherish my six favor...