Gingerbread House Time

It's fun to spend time together at Christmas-time around the table making gingerbread houses and enjoying being together. It's always fun to see the creativity in this group, too! 

Take notice of this!

Adrian begins his gingerbread house, complete with shingles on the roof.

Ethan is making his masterpiece.

Logan working on his creation.

Looks like Adam is ready to dig in!

My little gingerbread house. Notice the gummy bears sledding to the left of the house.

Logan's finished house.

Adrian's gingerbread house is the one in the front and mine is on the left. Adam's is in the background.

The finished product...gingerbread houses and other structures!

Random List

Okay, so Kristen copied it from Logan's blog, who got the idea from a friend...now I'm copying it to my blog...

THIRTEEN RANDOM THINGS YOU LIKE
my family
Milo
Christmas
reading
Friday night dates
family movies
computers
cameras and making pictures
DV camera and making movies
money
big houses
my house when it's clean and organized
snow


TWELEVE RANDOM MOVIES
While You Were Sleeping
Chicken Run
Robin Hood (animated)
Saints and Soldiers
The Best Two Years
The RM
The Home Teachers
The Work and The Glory
Christmas Vacation
I am Sam
Kate and Leopold
Adam's movie for his TV production class


ELEVEN GOOD BANDS/ARTISTS
Phil Collins (I think that's his name...I like his voice.)
James Taylor
Josh Groban
Beach Boys
Mormon Tabernacle Choir
...this one takes too much time to think about

TEN THINGS ABOUT YOU PYHSICALLY
...ooooh, I don't think I want to go there...
good hair and nice smile maybe?

NINE FRIENDS IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER
Adrian
Kristen
Ethan
Adam
Logan
Mama, Verona and other family
Gary and friends at work
Kathleen, Rise, and other friends at church
Laura

EIGHT FOODS/DRINKS YOU LIKE
Mexican food
Chinese food
Japanese food
Mama's chicken casserole
steak
salad
nuts
Mama's pecan pie, pound cake, or chocolate cake

SEVEN THINGS YOU WEAR DAILY
dresses
earrings
shoes
lip gloss
lotion
you get the idea...

SIX THINGS THAT ANNOY YOU
double dipping on anything
tailgating
long lines
being too busy
clutter
criticism

FIVE THINGS YOU TOUCH DAILY
Adrian, Adam, Logan, and other family members
my hair
laundry
cell phone
pocketbook

FOUR SHOWS YOU WATCH
We don't get TV, but have rented...
Smallville
Monk
Lost
7th Heaven

THREE CELEBRITES/FAMOUS PEOPLE YOU ADMIRE
President Hinckley
President Reagan
not sure where to go after that...

TWO THINGS YOU HAVE KISSED
Adrian
other family

ONE PERSON YOU COULD LIVE WITH YOUR WHOLE LIFE
Adrian and all my family!

Ice and Sunlight

The ice is beautiful on the trees with the sunlight shining through. 

Ice everywhere!

Trees in the back yard coated with ice and part of a tree down.

Logan getting ready to come in after checking out the ice storm.

This the special treat Milo is going to get for his birthday supper, complete with one candle for his first birthday.

This is the banner we put up for Milo's birthday today!

Milo sends this message to Elise and Ian... He misses you, but is enjoying his vacation at Grammy and Papa's house and he will be excited to see you again soon!

Down on the Farm

We have that "down on the farm" feel around here lately. In the mornings, Adrian goes out to take care of the animals. Bouncer had her puppies (10, I think). He has a light rigged up in her new doghouse to help add some warmth on these cold winter days. Before daybreak, he's also tending to our chickens, giving them fresh water where it has frozen overnight. As Adrian was leaving this morning, I could here Deacon crowing as I stood at the door. Yes, when you can hear a rooster crowing in your yard, you really do have that "down on the farm" feel to your place! Oh, and another interesting sidenote about our chickens...last night they were roosting and Adrian shined his light in to check on them and was counting to make sure they were all accounted for, and he came up one short; then, all of a sudden, little Sassy's head came poking out between the tail feathers of the two chickens on either side of her. Sounds like she was trying to stay warm! In other animal news, we have been dogsitting Milo since Thanksgiving for Kristen and Cory while they were going to be out of town and he's been a lot fun. Logan mostly takes care of him, making sure he has food and water, gives him his bath, and things like that. He really is a sweet little dog, as are all our animals - down on the farm.

This is our white pine in the front yard during the previous ice storm.

This picture is actually from the last ice storm. I like the way the sunlight shows through the trees with the ice on them. We had another ice storm last night and looks like we'll get more today. The previous one wasn't too bad, just a little on the trees and bushes, but we did have a delay for work and school. This storm sounds like it will be worse. I'm home from work and the guys are out of school, but Adrian had things to do, so he went in. Lots to do today, especially with getting ready for Christmas, so the day at home will help me.

The x-box finally bit the dust, so Adrian and Logan took it apart. I think they both have that curiosity about how things work!

Something about sunrises...I just like them. I like to take pictures, obviously, so I usually have my camera with me. Many times while I'm out and about I've seen something interesting and wanted to take a picture. I don't always stop (I'm usually hurrying to get somewhere) but sometimes I do take time to snap a picture. When I'm on the highway, I wonder if the people around me think either I'm a private investigator or a stalker or something when I snap a picture they're probably in! lol! I hope they realize there's a beautiful sunrise or something else that I'm focusing on and not them!

Ian kicks a ball down the hill. Ian loves balls! He is so cute throwing and kicking them around the house and yard!

Logan with the Christmas tree he made in first grade.

Adrian puts his bell on the tree.

Adam puts on the ornament he bought for me and Kristen to share one Christmas when he was about five. The one he had to "waste all his money on" - I think he'll have a hard time living that one down!

We had a lot of fun decorating the tree together, remembering good times from holidays past. So many of the ornaments remind us of special events and times in our lives.

Milo likes the Christmas tree and looks so cute in this picture.

Bouncer is getting ready to have puppies any time now and it's winter and we've had snow and ice in the forecast and she didn't have a good enough doghouse to keep her and the puppies warm, so.... Adrian, Adam, and Logan worked about all day on Saturday to build her a nice, new house. They had a lot of fun working together and the boys learned some useful skills.

The guys working together.

Getting the roof put on the doghouse.

Adam and Logan inside the finished doghouse! Great job!