The FREEZE OUT!

Lincoln and the boys, traditionally (since we have lived here), go on a hike with some of the other fathers and sons in our ward. This year, Justin had to work and Chancy had a Dr.'s appointment that would have been very hard to reschedule. Just Lincoln and McKay were able to go this year. It sounds like they had lots of fun. The hike was to a place called The Big Schloss. The hike is mostly on a mountain ridge that borders Virginia and West Virginia and ends on a mountain peak. The upper picture is of McKay in a cave looking out a hole at the camera.

Oh My Gosh!!!

These are the kind of pictures you are glad you see when the guys are safely at home. Can you believe these ledges that they are laying and standing on. HOW CRAZY!! (You see the tongue like ledge? the one with the boys laying on it? McKay is the 3rd one from the edge!)

Christmas Day

I didn't take many pictures of Christmas day . . . . . Christmas was much smaller than normal this year. As the kids get bigger, the price tags get bigger and the presents smaller . . . . They all got what they wanted. Justin, a memory foam mattress and an FM transmitter for his MP3 player. Chancy a Zune MP3 player, and McKay got Rock Band for the XBox 360. That was it, except for stocking stuffers. Fa la la la la, la, la, la, laaaaaaaa.

Hope you all had a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Eve Jammies

Every Christmas Eve we open Pajamas. This is our first year that Halley isn't in the picture:(. Hopefully she will be next year!! That is the plan!

Christmas Eve Dinner

We have a tradition of having Christmas Eve Dinner instead of Christmas Dinner. Hopefully there are enough leftovers that no cooking need be done on Christmas. (We just schlepped off of Trudy for our Christmas Dinner, It was good Trude!!) Anyway, it was pretty funny when we got talking about what we had cooked for dinner. Trudy, Mom, and I, (thanks to Lora) have been kind of hooked on the website Thepioneerwomancooks.com and I fixed these bacon appetizers and this olive bread from her web site. Trudy fixed the mashed potatoes from the site and I made 22 tins of The Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls to hand out to family and friends this year. She (the pioneer woman) has inspired us all!!! I fixed brisket for the first time, and if it hadn't been pre-marinated I think I would have used the Pioneer Woman's recipe for that also. Pretty funny!

Halley's new BABY!!

This is Halley and Ryan's new baby. For more pictures go to their blog and see!! I saw the new arrival when visiting Halley in early December. Mother and baby are doing fine. Both are happy and healthy!! The new arrival has a very good disposition and is very playful and soft. Did you know these babies get "blue eye" instead of "red eye" when taking their picture????? Oh and I can't forget . . . . the new addition's name is Molly and she weighs in at under 10 lbs. Cute little thing, and that is saying something for a person who doesn't have ANY pets!!

Anxiously Awaiting

Cross your fingers for us!! Lincoln and I (mostly I) have been looking for a home to "invest" in to give me more to do with my life. . . . anyway we found this home and dismissed it a while ago because it was just to expensive for us. Well . . . . to make a long story short . . . a series of unfortunate events for the owner, and the new owner (the bank) they (the bank) decided to put this one up for auction. I attended the auction and got the high bid, which, by the way is a good $200K under what they were asking for it just a month ago. So why cross your fingers for us? Because the bank still has seven days to decide whether or not they are going to let us have it at the price we bid for it. We are waiting on pins and needles!! We should know by the end of this week either the good news or bad news. If it is good news, we are going to try to move into this house. It has more square footage . . . a garage . . . and an in-ground pool. Fun Fun.

Fender Bender

The 1st week of December, I flew out to Salt Lake to visit Halley and Ryan. Lincoln was on a business trip and as luck would have it had a leg into Salt Lake at the same time. So I got to spend a week and Lincoln a couple of days with Halley and Ryan. While there we got to go to a Christmas concert that Halley was in. I had a great time visiting with my Grandma Blake, my mother-in-law Claudette and actually the entire Stevens' Family since they decided to have their annual Christmas party while we were in town!!! I also spent an afternoon and evening with Ryan's parents playing games and having a blast. Anyway . . . . . getting to the fender bender . . . . on the day I flew back home to MD, Lincoln picked me up from the airport and on the way home a guy behind us decided to bend over and pick something up off the floor of his vehicle just as the traffic started to slow and bang!!!! ran right into the back of our car!! He had an SUV and our car lost the battle. It is in the shop right now getting $3500 worth of damage repaired while we drive around a brand spankin' new rental car. TAKE YOUR TIME fixing it. We are enjoying the ride, thank you very much GEICO!!! Everyone is fine except our little Veedub (VW)

Merry Christmas!!