What a slacker! I am seriously considering renaming my blog to this!

I know it has been forever since I have posted. I guess that I think that nothing really exciting has been going on here. Other than a vast amount of cold but sunny days. Which tends to keep us locked up in the warmth of our house. Because of that it seems that I am perfecting my skills on Super Mario Galaxy with Rawley. We did make it to Aggie Days. They hold it at the exhibition grounds here every year, but we have never gone until now. Rawley's preschool had planned a field trip, but he ended up getting pink eye or something the morning of the trip so he had to miss it. I of course felt awful, he had been talking about it for many days prior. When I called his teacher to say he wouldn't be there she mentioned that it would still be there then next day. So brave as I am took Rawley and Emmy to see some fun stuff. It was really exciting. They had baby chicks, and calf's. Miniature horses, sheep and milking cows too! Plus all of the farming machines you can imagine. We had to wait for a chance to sit in most of them, but I think that Rawley had tons of fun so it was worth the wait. We also got to make cream into butter, just by shaking it. Surprisingly it doesn't take all that long to do. A fun day had for all of us. We might just have to go every year now!

Emmy had to be a part of this picture. She is obviously not afraid of heights!
Holding the jar of cream he turned to butter. I had to have him hold still for a good shot.

She loved the cows. Every time she saw one she started mooing.

Looking at the miniature horses.

Sitting in the tractor.

Up in the huge combine. He was having a blast!
This is the tire of the combine. I didn't realize how huge they are!


So I hate to say that it took me a week to post this but I think it did. I was having trouble uploading more than 1 picture at a time. But for all of you waiting for another post finally. Glad that you waited!

Tag

So I thought that since I don`t have anything better to write about anymore I would start doing tags. This one is from my friend Rhonda.

Here are the rules. Write 6 random things about myself, link the person who tagged you and post the rules. Tag 6 people and link them. Let them know they have been tagged.

1. I used to be a morning person, but now I could stay up all night and love to sleep in.
2. Deep water makes me nervous, but I tried scuba diving on our last trip to Mexico and loved it.
3. I can`t read a map to save me. My husband can vouch for that!
4. I love the rain, taking long drives in a thunderstorm relaxes me.
5. I hate to iron! But I get to do it at least once a week.
6. I love to read and can read the same book over and over.

I won`t be tagging anyone in particular, but if you would like to participate feel free!

We're Back!!

Warning very long post to follow!!


So we did decide to come back, but after a fun filled 10 days the thought of accidentally missing our flight home may have crossed our minds. Just Kidding!! We had our fill of Mexico and were missing the kids a lot. We enjoyed wonderful weather, good food and so many fun things. We spent the first couple of days finishing up the house.

Here is what it looks like on the outside.


The Kitchen

Dining area. We painted the accent wall while we were there! I know not something you would normally do on vacation, but when it gets dark at 6pm there really isn't much else to do.

The Bathroom obviously. Still a little more to finish in here.

Master Bedroom.


Second bedroom
Living room




Once that was taken care of we got to play. We first went to Xcaret. It is kind of like a zoo, because it has an amazing variety of animals to see. We had been before and seen the majority of them already, so this time we swam the underground river. And then had dinner while watching the nightly show. It was an amazing show. It told the history of the Hispanic people and how they were affected by colonization. Amazing music and performances by all that were involved.
A must see for anyone that visits.




The butterflies were so cool, when they opened their wings it was bright blue.

This puma gave us a nice pose.



The next day we headed to Cancun to do some shopping and went to the Hotel Circle for lunch. We stopped at the beach to take a picture of the ocean because the water was an amazing color.





Bartered with the shop owners, and apparently I am terrible at it. Want the story? Ask my husband he thinks it is hilarious.

The next morning was Para sailing. So scary at first but totally worth the money! The ride could have been longer but the view was amazing. Then headed to the beach for the afternoon and to Akumal for dinner. If you ever get there go to the Turtle Bay Cafe! Awesome food! We liked it so much we ate there for breakfast, lunch and dinner.






The next day we tried Scuba diving. Yeah I know! It was a little nerve racking at first but we had a great instructor who made sure that we were completely comfortable in the water before we did the actual dive. I was a little nervous when they said to lift our tanks onto the edge of the boat and fall back, but once I was under it was amazing. We are even considering becoming certified.




The next day we went to a little place called The Jungle Room. It was a spider monkey sanctuary and the owners were caring for 15 spider monkeys. We were able to sit in the cages with them and feed them treats. It was crazy to have them climb all over us and try to get the food. They would even pull back your fingers like a kid would trying to find something hidden in your hand. We were only allowed to be in the cages with the females, because the males have inch long fangs. Pat was able to get a good shot of them.



After we were finished with the monkeys we headed to Xel-ha, we did some snorkeling and went swimming with the dolphins. No pictures of that because the cost was outrageous. I did manage to get one picture before we went in with them. The snorkeling was amazing, the fish would circle all around you.




On our last full day there we headed to Coba. They are about 45 minutes from our place and we wanted to see some of the ruins, we had done the ones in Tulum on our last visit and at Coba you are still able to climb up and walk around on them.

This was the temple. I don't know how tall it was but from the top you can only see one other ruin which was called the Watch Tower.

The little bit of grey is the Watch Tower.


My legs hurt for a few days after the climb. But just being able to climb something that was built so long ago was an amazing experience.

We stopped for lunch in Tulum and Pat could not resist an opportunity to hold this enormous iguana. This is his dream pet, and as you can tell from his huge grin he was ecstatic.



We had an awesome trip, with over 500 pictures to show for it. The kids missed us terribly which was fairly obvious. Emmy wouldn't let me go for a hour after we got home. My sister was done too, after 10 days with sick kids and almost no sleep she needed a couple of days to rest. Thanks a bunch Renee. We miss you already!

Here it is my long awaited post...

unfortunately it will be shorter than I would like because I am taking time away from packing to do this. Yep packing, tomorrow we are leaving for Mexico for 10 days with no kids! For that I have to give my sister Renee a huge thank you for coming to babysit again. So to get down to it since my last post we have been busy. December always comes in like a lion. It seems that we are constantly running around. We did manage to get to a couple of Christmas parties including one for Pat's staff and the Ward Christmas Party. They both were full of great food and good company. The kids were also able to see Santa again! I think we saw him 3 times this year!! Emmy was terrified of him so no picture this year.



We also have a family Christmas party every year at the home of a friend of Pat's parents. This year I was without Pat because he was stranded in Calgary due to a broken bus. He was at a Wrestling tournament for the high school. With all of the hustle and bustle with 3 kids plus food to bring I of course forgot the camera, but hopefully will get some copies. Every year they do a nativity and this year Rawley was Joseph and Hadley was an Angel.

Rawley stole the show at his Preschool Christmas concert. They had some great poems and songs. And don't you think he looks handsome.




Hadley's school didn't have a concert this year. The schools in our district rotate to visit Fort Whoop-up and this year was their turn. We didn't make it out to see the lights and take part in the festivities. It was much too cold for my liking.

We also took some family pictures thanks to my SIL Shauna. We were able to get one fairly good one. Which most of you hopefully got!



We decorated gingerbread houses and made cookies for Santa.




And got a couple of unexpected gifts.





This is the gift that we gave to their teachers this year. It was filled with popcorn.




We celebrated Christmas Eve at Pat's parents house and the kids all got to open their presents from Grandma and Grandpa. We also got to eat lots of yummy food.





We spent Christmas at home this year. No running between houses which was nice. We also had Grandma Reggie celebrate with us. I made Gingerbread Pancakes for breakfast which were supposed to be waffles but were still super yummy. I have to thank my friend Jamie for the recipe. I hope she doesn't mind that I give it to everyone but they are something that have to be shared.


Gingerbread Waffles (Makes 5 Belgian waffles)

1/4 C. butter, melted

1/2 C. brown sugar, packed or can substitute 1/3 C honey instead of sugar

1/2 C. molasses

2 eggs beaten well

1 C. milk

2 C. sifted flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. salt

bananas

whipping cream


Cream butter, brown sugar, molasses, eggs and milk. Sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Add to molasses mix. Bake on greased waffle iron. Top with sliced bananas, buttermilk syrup and whip cream.

Buttermilk syrup recipe

1/2 C. butter

1/2 C. buttermilk

1 C. sugar

1 tsp. corn syrup

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil and boil until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and add baking soda and vanilla.


Santa was good to us this year. Maybe a little too good. I think next year I will take the advice of my friend Rhonda and give my kids just 4 gifts.
1. Something they need.
2. Something to read.
3. Something they want.
4. Something to wear.

We hope everyone has a Happy New Year. I know we will!

Has it really been that long since my last post?

Yes, I know it has been more than 2 weeks since I last posted. I truly feel like there has been plenty happening, but that also means that finding the time to post about these events is a lot harder. I promise that I will get to it soon. The last day of school tomorrow only means that there will be more to add, but I will wait till that is over then bombard everyone with a post like no other! So stay tuned!