Goodbye, Purple Steps!

We tried an experiment in creativity last summer and painted the landing and steps of our front porch purple. The color was nice, but after 4 months of looking at it, Erik concluded that our experiment yielded less than positive results. So, he and the kids set about repainting on this very cold but sunny day. (And yes, that is a Christmas wreath hanging in limbo on the front of our house...time to take it down, don't you think???)

Air Mattress Fun!

This is what we must resort to for fun when we're stuck inside on a cold, rainy January day (as we were today). Our neighbor Abraham came over to join in on the fun. Note: no kids were injured during the making of these pictures!

December Recap

Nothing much happened around here today, and since I pretty much skipped blogging the entire month of December, I figured I'd do a quick recap of what we did over the holidays. I'm sure you've all been waiting with baited breath to find out what we did! :-)

Decorated our Very Tiny Tree

Breakfast with Santa at McMenamin's Edgefield Hotel

Celebrated Christmas early with Erik

(since he wasn't able to come to Red Lodge this year)

Christmas in Red Lodge - lots of snow and Hines Family Fun!

Snowfall, the best gift of all

Happy 3rd Birthday, Stella and Riley!

Happy birthday to my two beautiful nieces. You are both turning into such amazing little girls...Riley is funny and sweet with a bit of a stubborn streak (and she's nicknamed me "Dub" which I love); Stella is so kind and adorable with her curly red hair. You've traveled a long challenging road since the day you were born and are the stronger for it. We are blessed to have you in our lives. We love you!!!

Stella (left) and Riley (right), in the NICU at Emanuel Hospital

Riley (left) and Stella (right), 3rd birthday party

Stella, Aiden, and Riley, enjoying (thoroughly) the antics of Joe Mishkin the balloon guy

Happy Birthday, Kola!

Erik celebrated his 37th year this past weekend. He spent his actual birthday (Jan. 5) at Stella & Riley's 3rd birthday party, so we made up for it the following evening with a nice family birthday dinner and apple "birthday" pie. I must say, I still think he's a hottie after all these years! Happy birthday!!!

Meeting Holden

We made a quick overnight trip to Seattle to see Dylan & Erin and meet baby Holden, who is already 5-1/2 weeks old. He is so precious...I'd forgotten how little newborns are...and he makes the cutest noises when he sleeps. And he sneezes in 3's...seriously, he's quite the sneezer, doing so often during the day, and almost always 3 in a row. It is so very cute.

We were had an unexpected, pleasant surprise when we arrived at their house. About 30 minutes after we got there (around 11:00a) it started snowing! And it wasn't just a skiff of snow...huge, fluffy snowflakes came down for most of the afternoon. And I thought we would enjoy our first snow of the season in Red Lodge over Christmas! Silly me. We had a blast playing in the snow...we built a couple of snowmen. had snowball fights with the neighbor kids, and enjoyed hot cocoa and a warm fire afterwards.

Thanks for having us, Dylan, Erin & Holden. We love you guys and are so happy for you!!!

Holden's first snow...he's bundled up in the sling under Erin's coat!

Mason gave a good effort at trying to catch the giant snowflakes on her tongue

Stop the Madness!!!

Today I received 12 (yes, 12) catalogs in the mail. Seriously, is it necessary to completely bombard consumers with this much information? It's bad enough that I've been listening to holiday music since the day after Halloween. And I'm worried that if I keep getting so many catalogs, my mailbox will eventually be ripped from the side of my house. Where is the meaning in all of this??? Bah humbug!!!