Snowy mountains...

We are getting ready to drive back to Washington tomorrow...and I have a feeling some of the mountains we are going through are going to be covered just like this! Aren't they pretty? The first picture is looking to the right from our front porch, the second is panning over to the left from the same position.

 

It was snowing here again a little bit ago...come to think of it I do believe that it has started again! So far it has come and gone, but pretty soon we are told we will receive the snow that will be staying until the spring melt-off next year. We shall see...but in the meantime, I catch myself singing Christmas songs a lot - I can't help myself!!!

A few random pictures of the girls

The other day I got my first lesson on riding the 4-wheeler, and I can't BELIEVE how much fun I had!!! I had only ridden with Michael a couple times, and doing it on my own was very addicting! I even took the girls for a little spin or two on it with me! 

Anyway - as Michael was taking Katie for a quick ride, I happened to wander out to the back yard with Amy. There is this grassier than normal section back there that is usually very damp and almost swamp like, due to the irrigation ditch that runs along it. Kind of weird being in such a dry climate and having almost a swamp in our back yard normally! But, the irrigation had been closed off and the ditch was dry - so that grassy section was dry as well! Amy was sitting there admiring the grass, and I was struck by what a beautiful picture it made. Then (((smacking self in the forehead!))) I realized it WOULD make a beautiful picture!!! So I snapped a bunch of her, then made Katie come over for me too! Had a hard time trying to keep Katie from posing and just be natural...she doesn't quite get that concept yet! But they came out so cute anyway! Here are a few of my favorites:

Our first Wyoming snow!!!

Last night when we went to bed, it was windy and rainy - totally made for a fun evening listening to the rain pound the windows! And when we woke up this morning...it was still windy, but snowing!!! I think I'm grateful that our first snow wasn't much - although I think there is supposed to be a bit more throughout the rest of the week. I waited until we finished school to go take pictures, so it is melting a little - but it really wasn't very much. It was those tiny icy cold snowflakes that take forever to pile up. Not a blizzard yet by any means! So grateful that we finished oiling the outside of the house though - just Saturday actually! Since when it rains or snows, it tends to go sideways here. This first picture is our (covered) front porch if that gives you any idea!

 These next two are looking off the front porch - you might be able to tell that it is still snowing in the mountains!

And here is the back porch: 

And looking off the back porch. 

Kind of wondering how much more we'll get! But for now - we have our official first snow here!

Another few days in the Wyoming life...

Been another few busy days - but thought I would add a brief update on here! It got pretty cold the end of last week, and over the weekend. On Sunday morning, we reached single digits...9 degrees! When we got in the car to head to church at 7:30 in the morning - this is what the thermometer in the car read:

Yep! That is pretty cold in my humble opinion...so on Monday morning - this was my little happy place:

 Nothing like a comfy chair, cozy warm pants, hot tea, and a fireplace! Fortunately things have warmed up this week, and even though we are still down in the teens or low 20's at night, it has been getting to the mid-60's during the day. Which, let me tell you, is WONDERFUL!!! This is what the car said yesterday when I was in town:

And here is the sunset last night - isn't it pretty?!?!?! I took this with my phone, so it's not the best picture, but the pretty sunsets go so fast around here, that I usually don't have time to get my good camera out for a picture without missing the moment.

 Then the other night the girls posed for some pictures for me! 

Here is Katie hammin' it up:

And Amy picking her pose before telling me to take a picture:

I sure love these girls! Aren't they beautiful?

They had so much fun last night - they started music lessons! The pastor's wife teaches music, so they joined a beginning class and are learning piano, guitar, and recorder (a gift from my mom that I am SOOOO grateful they will be learning to play on and not just make noise with!!!) (I love you Mom...)

We also had a surprise visit from a couple the other night - and it turned out to be the man (and his wife) who had built our house! It was so neat to be able to talk to them, and they showed us a few interesting little tidbits about the house that we didn't know about! Like a little hidden fan between the sun room and the living room that pushes the heat from the winter sun into the rest of the house to help heat the house a little more effectively! They also showed us how on our kitchen cabinets, besides being custom made like we already knew, they made them using the same piece of wood, so if you look at the cabinets, the wood grain matches up from one door or drawer to another. Anyway, it was neat to see the love and care that went into building our home.

It was also kind of cool to find out that they were believers! They noticed the teapot and bowl on our counter, and commented on how beautiful they were. When I told them it was from our church family back home (thank you Day Creek Chapel!) - they then told us about the former owner of our house...turns out she was a practicing witch! They suggested we pray over our house - and I'm glad that we already had - but we made a special point of it that night for sure! Made me more grateful for all the prayers from our friends and families that have covered us every step of the way on this move - and I'm sure paved the way in this new home. But they were tickled that the home now had owners who loved the Lord!

Okie Dokie - time for me to head to the post office, return a movie, grab the mail, and get home so we can do some re-arranging this evening. We are in the process of getting a furnace installed - they started yesterday on the process - and tomorrow they are cutting the vents in the tiled portions of the house. Apparently that makes quite a mess - so I have to move all our homeschooling stuff, my scrapbook stuff (YIKES - that's  a job right there!), and clean out the bathrooms and laundry room a bit tonight to prepare for them to do that. So...will be a busy night!

Sending love to all our family and friends - in Washington, Hawaii, and everywhere else! :0)

Washington Trip - part 3

And...other than pics on the way there and home again - this is the last set of pictures I took! We spent a lot of time with a lot of people...I just didn't think to take pics of it all - too busy having fun I guess! This was celebrating Amy and Gracie's birthday - since this was the closest we would be getting together near their birthday's. Here are the birthday girls:

Sissa made cupcakes for them...and I helped frost and taste test them (apparently I was going through a sugar craving that day and fully satisfied it! I even ate frosting, and anyone who knows me knows I usually HATE even the yummiest frosting!) They were GOOD - obviously! 

Amy blew her candle out... 

...then Gracie blew hers out. 

Then they opened gifts to/from each other. 

Short, simple, and sweet - but fun! 

That's it for now! I will hopefully be catching up a little more here soon!

Washington Trip - Part 2

Okie-dokie! On to part 2 - the afternoon we spent with Michael's half of the family! Started with a birthday party for Amy (as well as Grandpa Joe...even if we DID forget to bring his card with us - or take any pictures of him!) Grandma Shelley made a super yummy carrot cake for her - and didn't use those silly candles that you can't blow out!

And there were a few presents of course...including some clothes that got changed into immediately because she loved them so much! 

We had a great evening - and stayed really late, but had so much fun hanging out and visiting. We even got to see the ADORABLE engaged couple! (((Sigh)))...makes me feel all romantic just looking at them - I remember those days so well!!! 

And obviously we stayed up too late, because by the time the evening was over, Michael and two of his brother's had all had a haircut from me...the exact SAME haircut in fact! Here are the brothers all together and looking sorta related: 

The back view: 

And the mug shot...good thing Michael won't ever be arrested if he's gonna smile for his mug shot! 

What a fun evening! Wished it could have gone on longer...but who knows what would have happened to us girls and our hair if we had stayed much longer! 

Trip to Washington - Part 1

Whew! Finally got around to some MARATHON picture editing so I could post some pics of our trip back to Washington. This is part 1 - the birthday party for Amy and her cousin Cameron with my side of the family. Good looking couple of kids, don't you think? 

...and having a cousin can be a little like having a brother! I'm glad...since they don't have brothers! Every girl should have that experience of a "big brother" - the good, the bad, and the ugly! 

Here is the cake we (((gasp))) bought from Haggen for her...after the trip home, I was just too lazy to try to make her one, so we cheated. It was pretty yummy though...

Here is Amy with her big sister "not" helping her blow out the candles - sorry Katie - I got proof on camera! Look at that lip pucker! 

Turns out though, I accidentally used the candles in my mom's stash that re-light after you blow them out. So I guess a little big sister help was needed. Note the look of frustration on Cameron's face?  :0) 

...and it turns out that having a cousin can be a little like having a little sister too...Amy decided to repay the pestering favor! 

Opening presents... 

The infamous singing birthday card from Grandma and Grandpa V. 

And the little puppy we got for Amy, so she had one gift to unwrap from us for her party here. Can you tell she liked it? 

Can't believe I didn't do a better job taking pictures of everyone else! But at least I got lots of these two! Okay...off to round 2...