Miscellaneous

Yes.. I know... I haven't posted in awhile but there hasn't been too much going on here since the holidays. I'll just put a few random pictures of things around here since Christmas.

I've been making some quilt tops, but can't quilt them because Mary has been here working on her own quilt and it's HUGE. It's almost done and I will be able to work on my own soon.
Mary's Beautiful Quilt

Alan was digging something in the yard and uncovered this little king snake that was hibernating. Isn't it cute?

Damian's kids were here last weekend. I let them play games and draw in the computer when they're here. When I got back to check email the kids had drawn this scribble on Paint and I thought it was pretty cool so I saved it. I'm not sure who drew it.. probably Jocelynn or Jacob.

Anyway, like I said... not much going on lately. This weekend is Shayla's birthday so I'm sure I'll have some pictures to post after that. They're going ROCK CLIMBING!

Trikkeing

For Christmas I got a Trikke. It's sort of a 3 wheeled scooter that you power yourself. It's alot of fun, but there's definately a learning curve. You can't just get on it and make it move. Alan and Shayla and I went down the street to where the pavement begins and tried to learn how to use it but there is a slight incline right there and it was HARD making it move uphill! We came back home and watched the video that came with it and I think we could do it now. It always helps to have some instruction... eh? We haven't had a chance to try again because it's turned pretty cold outside, but we will probably do it again this weekend. Here are some pictures of us (trying) riding the Trekke. If you're interested, you can see any number of videos of people riding this thing on YouTube.

The pictures where we're actually moving is going DOWNHILL.

A Unicycle Christmas

For Christmas, Lain got everyone unicycles! Damian, Landon, Tracy and I got one. Alan already had one but had never learned how to ride it. Lain, Kevin and Shayla have all been able to ride one for awhile and were so excited to give us ours so we could be part of the 'circus'. So, after we opened them on Christmas morning, we all tried our luck outdoors. However, the cold, rain and wind kept us from being out there very long.

Lain riding her unicycle!

Shayla riding hers!

Damian and Landon trying to ride theirs.

By the next day, the sun was out and they were at it again. Damian and Landon got better and better each time they tried and pretty soon were able to go across the driveway. Tracy, Alan and I didn't even get past the garage door. Since then, Landon and Tracy have gone back to Washington, but I don't know if they've been practicing. Alan and I have been sitting on them at least and traveling across the front of the garage, but still not letting go. I would really like to learn and I'm sure I will, but I don't want to have to tell any horror stories about how many times I got hurt while learning!

Damian on the unicycle, but Tracy and Alan still in the 'holding on' stage.

Woohoo!! Look at em go!

GO LANDON!

Christmas 2008

Well, Christmas has come and gone. It feels a little like a whirlwind Christmas this year. Landon and Tracy were here from Washington for a week, but I'm sure it didn't feel much like a vacation to them, as busy as they were. Lain came up from Phoenix with Shay and Kevin and got here Christmas morning WAY before anyone was awake! Damian got here on Christmas Eve but wasn't able to get his kids until 10:30am on Christmas morning. Landon and Tracy had Christmas on Christmas Eve at Tracy's mom's house and them came over the next morning. So, after everyone got here and settled down, we opened presents. I was sneaky this year and wrapped each of the grandkids gifts in one box so they thought they were being cheated to only get one gift each. I'm sure each of them will think the best present they got was a box of MORE presents! The rest of the day was full of playing games, eating, cleaning up messes and just generally having a great time.

We had a couple of lights out in the fan so we had a group effort to get some new bulbs in there. Lain finally volunteered to climb the ladder but wasn't able to get the bulb unscrewed so we just lived with a dimmer light.



Jocelynn, Savannah and Jacob

Tracy got a vegetarian cook book for Christmas. This was Landon's reaction to it:

Lain opened her cuddle quilt, but I had a feeling she wouldn't like it.. uh.. maybe because it's ugly. I'm going to make her a different one.

Jocelynn

Shayla

Savannah

Landon and Tracy opened their quilt. Even though Tracy knew about it, I still think it was a surprise for them. They're pretty excited about it and the prospect of designing their bedroom around it.

Savannah

My parents were supposed to be here on Christmas day this year, but Dad had to go to the hospital with a dangerously low sodium level and much confusion and disorientation. He ended up being there for over a week until they got his sodium levels up and he felt ok again. He is still walking with a walker just for security, but he is much better. We're just sad that he missed Christmas with everyone.

On Saturday, my sisters and their families were supposed to come up for dinner and our gift exchange, but everyone decided it would be better if we went to Phoenix instead so we could be closer to Dad in the hospital. So, I went down on Friday and everyone else came down on Saturday and we had a nice dinner, that Alan put together, at Mom's house. We had a fun gift exchange after all the grandkids opened their gifts from my Mom.

So.. it's over and everything is pretty much back to normal. Dad is good and my house is devoid of Christmas crap. We're ready for the new year to begin which happens today. We're opening the office again today and I've already gotten a phone call saying that I need to come in early because there were so many messages on the answering machine asking if patients can come in today. And... so it begins...