Pop-gun

Shelby was so excited to get this pop gun while we were at Gander Mountain in MN.  Now Vivian cracks us up with her facial expressions as she shoots the gun.

Thankful for our 2-year-old!

Today we celebrated Thanksgiving and Vivian's 2nd Birthday!  We ate a non-traditional Thanksgiving meal: steaks, mashed potatoes, greens beans sautéed in bacon grease with peanuts for Josh & I; homemade chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, steamed carrots and cauliflower for the girls.  Then we finished with birthday cake!  Not just any birthday cake, but Double Decadence Chocolate Cake, which we all love!!!  Of course, just after breakfast we opened presents and that was great timing as the girls played the whole morning so we could cook/bake all the yummy food.

Vivian made out like a bandit!  Backpack, car, hat, cd/microphone - all of which she is loving!  And Shelby, too.  :)

Our pretty 2-year-old, with painted nails.  :)

Presents!!!

They could hardly wait for Daddy to get the car put together!

And the car needs gas!  What better "gas pump" than a ... gun?  Hehe.  Love their imaginations!  

Happy 2nd Birthday, Vivian Ruth!!!

Looking back it is funny to see that we are eating just about the same thing for Vivian's 2nd birthday as we did for Shelby's 2nd birthday!  (We are having macaroni tonight!)

Our Thanksgiving table decorations we moved aside so that the girls (and us) could enjoy a fun "tablecloth"!  My mom brought this down to Sanderson last year and we didn't use the whole thing, which is great because we had lots of fun coloring, playing tic-tac-toe, and the dot game this year, too.

A "new" swing set!

Kind of a strange story, but we got a "new" (old) swing set for free!  I have been driving by this particular house that is For Sale just about every time we go anywhere.  There was a swing set in the yard and it was killing me...just sitting there...not being used.  So I emailed the Realtor, who is a great guy! and asked if he would be willing to contact the owner to see if we could buy the swing set.  Long story on who owns the house, but we'll skip that part and just say that they said YES!  We could have the swing set...for FREE!  I love that.  :)  Thank you, Lord!

So Josh and Greg went this morning to go get it.  The girls didn't know where daddy was going, just on an errand I told them.  As they drove down the drive to our house Shelby saw what it was an yelled, "A Swing Set!" very excitedly.  So even though it is cold outside and even though Shelby has been sick, we put on our coats and went out to swing for a bit!

Vivian, over the past 6 months, has decided that she doesn't like to actually swing, but she enjoys sitting in the swing.  

On a warmer note: A couple days ago I made cookies...and Vivian helped me clean up!

We are excited for this sweet girl to turn 2 this coming week!

tick tock

Josh got some new woodworking tools over the last few months and we are excited about how much easier that makes his/my/our projects.  Today he finished the clock and I love it!!!

Just three more projects to go...and then maybe we'll add some more.

Shelby the Piano Player

Aunt Z!!!  We thought you'd be proud of Shelby!


She has music for and can play three songs: 1) Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, 2) Row, Row, Row Your Boat, 3) Mary Had A Little Lamb

So fun watching her grow!  And the seat she and Vivian use to play the piano cracks me up!

Horses!!!

We all love horses, mostly from afar, but they are majestic creatures that amaze me.  Just a week ago today Josh got to start on the Horse Patrol.  He is in training for three weeks and today we ventured down to the stables to see him train.  It was so fun to watch!  We are excited for him and proud of him.

This is Shelby petting the huge horse named "Moose" who is quite a bit bigger than all the rest!

Our first WA snow!!!

What excitement there was as we woke up to snow!!!  I could hardly get the girls dressed and fed before we were out the door.

Shelby's snow angel (her idea) was awesome!  Vivian just moved her legs and then got up.  :)

Yummmm, snow!

Then we played "find the football" where Shelby and Vivian each had their bright orange Sanderson football and we would hide it in the snow, then kick around to find it.  They loved it!

The girls left no snowflake un-trampled.  :)  We ran all around the front yard and the back yard, up the drive and on the deck.  

Then it was inside for hot chocolate by the fire.