Monday, January 24, 2022

Happy Birthday Mark!

Happy 48th birthday to Mark! I love birthday weeks! We kicked off the celebration with dinner at Fuji on Saturday night with Sawyer and Amanda. Mark and I had just finished The Long Night, so lots of yummy food was just what we needed. Sunday was his actual birthday, so he got to pick dinner, which of course was pigs in a blanket and mac n cheese. 😂 That went right along with our comfort food theme for the month. He also got an old fashion donut cake and chocolate milk for dessert. We did presents, and he made a haul; perfect gifts from everyone. The fun didn't stop there; Steph and Eric took us to Texas Roadhouse on Tuesday night to celebrate. Mark deserves to be celebrated, so I'm glad it was a fun week. I'm forever grateful this guy was born. 😁

Dinner at Fuji.

The dinner of champions!

Sawyer and Amanda got him Rocksmith. It's a super cool way to practice guitar and base. It's just like Rock Band, but it's real. He's had lots of fun with it so far. I'm glad he's finally playing again. 

New workout gloves and pistachios from Bailey and Mason.

A tonneau cover for his truck bed from me. It' already installed!

Yay for birthdays!

I wish I would have taken pictures of everyone with him, but I forgot.

Monday, January 17, 2022

Happy New Year!

 We spent New Years Eve with Steph and Eric. We ate lots of food, played a fun new card game, realized how bad we suck at Mario Cart (except for Mark, he's really good), threw boiling water outside in the bitter cold temps, and cheered and yelled at the stroke of midnight. It was the perfect kind of night for me!

Mario Cart!
Mark was in a league of his own, and Eric, Steph, and I were terrible! 😂

Happy New Year!

If you throw boiling water outside in freezing temps, it evaporates in the air. So cool!

We used to do this all the time when our kids were younger.

2021 was a great year! Here are some of my favorite highlights:

*Two great Arizona trips

*Montana frozen waterfall adventure

*4X4X48 Challenge

*Arches/Moab trip

*Sawyer's wedding

*Bryce Canyon weekend/ultra

*Oregon Coast

*Kayaking fun

*Beaverhead 100k

*Country Fan Fest

*Exploring the Wind Rivers

*Lost Souls Challenge

*Finding our we're going to be grandparents

*Girl's Trip-Redfish Lake

*R2R2R Grand Canyon adventure

*Moab sibling trip

*Too many camping trips and runs to mention

I can't wait to see what fun 2022 will bring. I'm most excited about becoming a grandma!

Sunday, January 16, 2022

Christmas Fun!

Yearly Christmas Ornaments:

We gave Bailey and Mason their ornament while they were here in November for Bailey's birthday weekend. That way they could take it home and put it on their cute little tree.  


I think it's soooo cute!

Sawyer and Amanda got their ornament later in November. Theirs turned out super cute too!

They weren't ready when I took this picture, but I had to post it anyways. Look how cute and excited Oreo is for the picture. 😂 I love that goofy girl!

Now they're ready, and Oreo is still in the mix of it. This is the front side of the ornament.

Their wedding picture is on the back side. I love it!

Decorating the Tree:

Our tree stood in the living room undecorated until Bailey and Mason got here the week of Christmas. I didn't want to do it by myself, and Sawyer wasn't the least bit interested in helping, so there it sat. Poor tree! Bailey and Mason to the rescue! It's one of the first things they did when they got here.

Decorating the tree!

Look at how cute that baby bump is! 😍

Mason hung lots of ornaments on the same branch. 😂

Ta-dah! We finally have a decorated tree!

Puzzles:

We did three 1000 piece puzzles while Bailey and Mason were here for the Christmas break. Mason is a puzzle pro, so we got them done fast!

I loved this one! Mark and I have a goal to visit all the national parks, so this was perfect!

My puzzle crew!

We got this during the height of covid, and finally got around to doing it. How fitting that it had one piece missing. 😂

This one is an oldie but goodie. We got it back when Sawyer was a baby. The first time we put it together was at Grammy and Papa's bar at the Lakeside house.

Tidbits From the Break:

Sawyer's hair is long enough for a ponytail. 😳

Mason fixed my under cabinet radio! Unbeknownst to him, it is mostly just used to play Christmas music, which is not his favorite. 😂

It was fun having these two here for the week. They enjoyed time without work or homework. It was a much needed break for them.

I felt baby Nora kick! Ahhhh, so fun! Mark and Sawyer felt her later in the week too!

Reeses breaks all the rules now, and goes on the carpet pretty much whenever she wants. She's old, and just wants to be by us, so Mark doesn't even get mad at her anymore. This picture basically melts my heart. Mark had always been her favorite. 😊

We busted out the instruments. It's been a long time since we've done this. Sawyer even took his guitar home with him, and will hopefully get back into playing! 

The snow finally flew!

Mark got to use his new toy to clear the driveway several times over the break.

Christmas Eve:

We did the usual for Christmas Eve; cooked and ate yummy food, decorated cookies, read Christmas stories, and watched a 'Christmas' movie. I sure love my peeps!

Matching outfits for the girls.

Tricia-Bailey-Baby Nora-Amanda

We had lots of yummy snack to eat as a warm up before dinner.

Some things never change! 😄

We had a big ham and turkey dinner with all the fixings. We all ate, got up and cleared the table, cleaned up the kitchen, and Bailey turned around and busted up laughing. Sawyer was sitting at the table still eating his food. He was determined to fit as much in as he could. 😂

Decorating cookies!


Mason & Bailey

Mark & Tricia

Amanda
Sawyer was on the couch playing a game, so she decorated his cookies for him.

Amanda made these yummy, and very pretty banana cupcakes for dessert.

Sawyer read Olive the Other Reindeer to us, and Bailey read The Crippled Lamb.

Amanda got them their first set of matching Christmas jammies.

All ready for bed!

Christmas Day:

Christmas Day was filled with presents, more yummy food, relaxing, and just spending some good, family time together. It was fun having four kiddos here instead of just two!

Santa came!

We sure love these kiddos of ours!

A stocking for Baby Nora!
Christmas next year is going to be SO FUN!

Lots of Christmas treats for the pups!

Going through stockings.

Ahhhhsome!

Bailey wanted some good shower caps, so I found her some fun ones. 😂

The Cursebreaker series for Amanda.

More treats for the pups.

Each couple got one gift from us this year, and then they each got their own stockings. The one big gift was a massage gun. 

Yay!

Our present from Sawyer and Amanda. 😂 We can't wait to  put it up when our new place is done.

Bailey and Mason got us a 1000 piece puzzle of us on one of our coolest adventures!

Mason, Bailey, and Nora's loot from everyone.

Sawyer and Amanda's loot from everyone.

Mason got Bailey a pregnancy body pillow, and she loves it!

Mason with his very own Christmas pie! 😁

Bailey and I worked on her baby registry, and these guys played Rock Band.

It was fun to have everyone here for a couple days. Merry Christmas everyone!