It's Been Awhile....

Okay. So I've been a little busy and blogging has gotten the backseat, but I'm back now!
This is a brief re-cap of what we've been doing for the last couple months...

December Light Parade downtown Great Falls

Emmett and Gracie both had school Christmas programs

Visiting Santa....they are still not sure about talking to the merry old fella, but sometimes they'll do anything for a candy cane!

Christmas at Grammy and Pa's House in western Washington - thank goodness it was a great year to travel at Christmas!

Post-Holiday fun

And what would the holidays be without a little family drama....yes, that was a heater, but after the hot tub cover flew off the hot tub during a dinner-time wind storm, it became a piece of abstract art...
Now, we've begun 2012 and things have slowed down (a little), so maybe in addition to keeping up with blogging, maybe I'll even get to my indoor house projects and some outdoor ones too (since winter has yet to arrive in Great Falls).
Happy New Year!

First Snow

Our first snow of the year was last Saturday and it was just a skiff. We've appreciated the 'long' transition from summer to winter, compared to last year when the green leaves froze to the trees one day and all fell to the ground in 24hrs...

Naturally, the kids wanted to go out and play in the snow. It was also their idea to play football - and why not; everyone in our house recognizes Saturday as a day of football.

I probably should've taken the plastic wrapping off the Poof football, but it was pretty funny to watch.

All's well that ends well.

Halloween video...

Here's the short movie I shot of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and Bumblebee trick or treating...

Emmett's First Deer Hunt

Since Emmett's 4th birthday he's been waiting for fall to role around so he could go deer hunting like Gracie. Last week we got all of the gear together we've been practicing with (binoculars and gun) and headed out to the Missouri River for a white-tail doe hunt.

We got there early and sat around in the truck eating snacks, drinking gatorade, and watching a few early deer mill around in the distance until 30 minutes before dark. After a short 5 minute walk we laid down next to a creek where the deer come out of the thickets at a distance of 50 to 200 yards. I think he had a good time.

Buckets of Candy!

This is probably the first and last year the kids will have "themed" costumes....The girls and I thought it was great, but Emmett was NOT a fan! As you'll see in the video (when I get it to upload...), he changed out of the lion costume and into a Bumblebee (transformer) right after this picture - and was a much happier trick-or-treater!

Yep. My old standby costume - a logger...just missing chest hair and oil stains - always a work in progress! :-)
I'm with my friends Amber (the bookworm), and Kelly (the construction worker with a "baby bump").