Decorating For Christmas

On November 27th we decorated for Christmas in the snow. Aiden is a big fan of putting on all of his snow gear, and a big fan of wanting to take it all off 30 minutes later because he wants to go inside. Once we all warmed up we decorated our little tree and got out all of our Christmas stuff. The countdown is on at our house. Literally, it's on the fridge.

Camera Hog

Aiden begged me to take some pictures of him, as if I had never taken one before. These pictures where self selected favorites of his. Topnotch!

Thanksgiving Mayham

We celebrated Thanksgiving at Travis and Rhiannon's house this year. It was so nice to not have to travel. Rob was really sick and had a high fever. He didn't even get to come to Thanksgiving dinner. The poor guy slept for four days. Granny Suzy came with us and enjoyed not having to cook for everyone. Whenever we spend time together as a family we are always surprised by how much our niece's and nephews have grown up. We love them all to pieces. My crazy sisters and I of course hit up the infamous "black Friday" shopping event at Walmart. They picked me up at 3:00 a.m. and we shopped the night away. We had some delirious fun!

Trip to Colorado

On November 19th we made another super quick trip to Colorado for Rob to get tattooed and to get some studying done for his upcoming exam. We stopped late night in Wellington to visit with Trevie and get caught up on the status of the restaurant. Then off to visit more of our Colorado families. It's always fun to see everyone's kiddo's. They all grow so fast. Aiden went to Kemmerer and stayed with Grandma Janie and Grandpa Darrell on Friday night, and Grandma Leslie and Grandpa Randy on Saturday night. He had some fun in the snow at both places. A snowman building and knocking down session at the Alder residence, and shoveling snow with the four wheeler at the Burris house. Then it was all back home to start another fast paced week.

The Romantic Haunted House

Recently Aiden was telling us about a haunted house that one of his daycare buddies told him about. He said it was up on a hill, and the doors opened and closed by themselves, and that it was really romantic. We kept asking him if he was sure that the haunted house is romantic. And he continued to adamantly tell us yes. We finally asked him to tell us what he thought that romantic meant. And he said, "You know mom, like really huge." We both laughed and said, "You mean gigantic!" And he said, "Yeah, whatever." Too funny. Now Rob and I joke about going to the romantic haunted house.

Baby Emma

I recently got to go visit my girlfriend Christy's new baby girl, Emma. She is so cute and so tiny. Rob and I anticipate the possibility of adopting a child of our own in the near future. Spending some time with Emma and Christy reminded me of how much they require from you. You lose sight of that when your children become somewhat independent. We will gratefully take that step backwards and are grateful that baby Emma got here safe and sound.

Off It Went

On November 16th I decided to cut off my hair. I haven't had short hair for quite some time so I figured why not. I was also so sick of fighting the Wyoming wind. I now realize that it is never going to stop blowing, ever. Change is good every now and then.

Granny Suzy's Birthday

Granny Suzy's birthday was on November 13th. It was her first birthday with us here in Wyoming. Aiden made sure that we followed our usual birthday protocol very closely.

The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree

The U.S. Capitol Christmas tree was selected from the Bridger-Teton National Forest of western Wyoming this year. The tree was toured throughout the state of Wyoming prior to it being delivered to Washington D.C.. A banner was placed on the truck that could be signed by all those who visited. On November 12th, my co-workers and I took our CBI program students to see the tree on its way through Rock Springs. It was freezing outside that day, but they were all excited to sign their names. School children from all corners of Wyoming submitted ornaments for the tree reflecting the theme of Wyoming-Forever West. It is tradition that one child from the tree's state light the Capitol Christmas Tree with the Speaker of the House.