Winter Vacation in Seattle...

The first picture is Derek at work with the gift he wrapped all by himself, for Natalie....(what we won't do for someone we really care about :-), the others are of Natalie and her family and little brother.

Winter Vacation in Seattle...

Snow, snow and more snow...it truly was beautiful and fun to walk in. Sue was holding the measuring stick...we did get more than this...but didn't get a picture showing the total amount! Jenny, Sue and I took a walk in the snow....it was just so pretty.

Winter Vacation in Seattle...

Ben and Sue were so excited about their new little friends that came to visit their tree and yard. Sue put out warm, sweet water in the feeder out in the cold, snowy weather. The ANNA HUMMING BIRD came for a visit. She seemed so sweet and continued her visits so they named her Hannah. A male ANNA has been coming around as well, so Ben and Sue are hoping to become "grandparents" one of these days. It was fun to watch them everyday. They, of course, loved the warm nectar on a COLD day.

Our Winter Vacation in Seattle, WA

Jack just LOVED the snow...jumping through it...when he saw it was time to come back in the house he really drug his feet...he's so used to sunshine we didn't know how he'd do in the snow, but surprisingly he loved it! Tom was out shoveling snow...there was plenty to shovel to keep the walks clear. These little birdhouses all covered in snow were so cute. Just looked like a big dallop of whipped cream on their roofs.

Our Winter Driving Vacation from AZ to WA/2008

We left Lake Havasu December 19th for Seattle, knowing we may encounter wintery conditions. True to it's promise....we drove through snow, ice, cold temperatures and fortunately in the comfort of our 4x4 Suburban. It took us all the way to WA and back home again with the "greatest of ease"...Jack (our dog) and Daniel, sacked-out in the back seat, blowing snow over Snoqualmie Pass, the beautiful blue sky over Blue Pass in Oregon, and that "0" temperature showing us that it truly was colder outside and it made us appreciate the our heated seat warmers on the inside! :-)

Christmas Shirts from Anna & Zane...

So we received some packages in the mail today and we're wearing some of what Anna sent to us in the mail....she and Zane sent some "treasures" from Florida for us...so, we decided to model them for you Anna :-). Thanks too for all the other stuff! Dad wore his shirt to the gym today. I wore mine too...but his is pretty cute with the saying on it: "GET IN LINE LADIES"...as Snoopy is standing under the mistletoe. Thank you for all the goodies...

Self-Portrait down at the London Bridge...

The kids went down to see all the lights and this was a picture they took of themselves. Thought it turned out cute of them all.

Britney & Ciera Came to Visit...

Britney & Ciera came to see Daniel & Malia and spent the weekend here, coming from California. It was special to have them over...we had a good time playing games, the girls went shopping (what girl doesn't love to shop)! They also went down to the the London Bridge to see all the beautiful Christmas lights. It's a winter feeling in the air. We have NO snow but we sure have it cold here and so many we hear about have snow...it's pretty exciting!

Anna, this post is for you!!!

I know, I know, it's a "GUCCI" but not a real one...because I am 'clueless' about brands, and name brands are NOT important to me...I just go by the look and feel of something and if I like it, it doesn't matter to me if it came from the thrift store, garage sale or whatever. Tom & I went down to Mexico yesterday...I had a little bit of birthday money left from my October birthday, and so, I went prepared to bargain on a new purse! Here's the one I ended-up with. They started out with a $100 price tag, but I said "no way"...ended-up paying $35. That was the bottom price I could get them to come down to. It is well made and I'm happy with my new purchase.

More From Our Hike...

As you can see, we saw some beautiful scenery even out in the middle of the desert!!!

Hiking today...

Today, Tom and I went on a really neat hike here in Havasu out from Sara Park. It was 5 miles and we hiked down to the Lake. What a beautiful spot. We'd heard about this hike from others and so we finally made-up our minds to just "do it". Do it we did and it was well worth the effort!

Also, I've been making cards...

O.K., so besides making Derek's scrapbooks that were to be done last May (2008), I also love making cards...I normally go every Monday morning with some other professing ladies and we make a couple of cards at the card shop downtown. I got this idea to make several cards at home to give as gifts, so I've been busily making cards along with my scrapbooking, THUS, the house didn't get cleaned this week. Glad to say, I'm done with the scrapbooks (mostly), and can say the same with my card making for now! WHEW! Now I get to clean my house :-)

What I've been doing with my time recently...

I've been feverishly working on getting these scrapbooks (with an 'S') done, my ONE book has turned into two. I started it last year thinking I had lots of time to finish it by the time Derek graduated from high school. Graduation has come and gone and I didn't have them done in time to give Derek at graduation, so now I have finished them in time to take with us to Seattle and I can give them to him for Christmas! There are 82 pages all together, meaning there are 164 total sides (pages) I scrapbooked!!! I'm learning as I go. I made Anna's for her in a little over two weeks! How I did it that quickly, I'll never know. Now, I have two left to make for, Daniel & Malia when they graduate. That gives me two years. Theres always mistakes to learn by. Anna & Derek's I made as 8 1/2" x 11" sized books. They no longer make that many books/supplies etc. for that size, so I'll be switching to the 12 x 12" books for Daniel & Malia. Once again, I hope I don't put it off so I'm stressing to get them done in enough time. Procrastination always seems to find a little spot inside of me...and with winter setting in, it's trying to find a cozy 'home' there.

BEAUTY IN OUR OWN BACKYARD...

We watched this beautiful sunset from our window last night as we sat at our kitchen table, looking out into the back yard....aren't we lucky to have such beauty 'right in our own back yard'?

In the top photo along with Glen & Claudia is Bryan & Teresa from Kingman. They're the new couple that moved there for 5 years while Bryan does his residency there. We had Thanksgiving with them along with others over at Ron & Karen's home. The 2nd picture is Jean & I. Jean is Claudia's mom, and then at the bottom is a group photo of all of us at our house after Thanksgiving.