O’ Christmas Tree…

This was one of those days where I kept thinking, ‘Now, this is a GOOD day!’ The weather was GORGEOUS, much to Joe’s annoyance… He is under the impression that looking for Christmas trees should be done in a blizzard. Weird, right? I, on the other hand, am perfectly content to look for my Christmas tree in 50 degree weather and then decorate it while it’s snowing outside.

My mom says that my brother and sister and I always liked to be outside when we were little, just like any kid does, but I am positive that my children did not get their love of outdoors from me. My husband is 100% mountain man at heart and all three of my kids have inherited this gene/trait/characteristic (or whatever).

This is Lady, our Beagle, who is a tad plump. She loves us a lot though… she just turned 7 a few days ago. I didn’t remember until the day after and felt sorta’ bad that I didn’t even get her a doggy treat.

This is our other pup, Lucy. We got her for free off Craigslist, not knowing just how amazing she really was. It turns out she has INCREDIBLE blood lines. We’re pretty sure she came from an abusive home because for a long time she would cower every time anyone came near her. She still does if we have to get after her for being naughty, but she has come a long, long way. She has the sweetest temperament but is extremely protective of us and she absolutely ADORES Joe. Getting her was the best decision we ever made.

OK, funniest thing… I just noticed that Connor is winking in the next 3 pictures. Not great lighting, but oh well.

Best thing I’ve ever done in my whole life is teach Maggie how to pose. SO FUNNY! I love how she even has some hip action goin’ on.

Haylie getting some chopping practice in. *Don’t worry- she was far away from the other kids."*

Pose #2

OK people. It took a lot of guts for me to post this picture. I am not at all comfortable with the way I look right now and RARELY get in pictures, but I have been getting little “nudges” lately to start getting in the pictures that normally I would be taking of my family. We wanted to get a picture by our tree (which you can’t really see here) for our Christmas card this year. I haven’t gotten brave enough to make the decision to actually send this out yet. But if nothing else, it will make my mom happy to see a picture of all of us. :)

And just for kicks…

Connor picked our tree this year. It’s big. And sorta’ looks more like a bush than a Christmas tree. But it’s OK because being together was way more important than having the “perfect” tree!