Birthday Girl

Emily celebrated her 12th birthday with a few girlfriends and a Movie Night Sleepover. There were nachos for dinner, a chocolate fountain for dessert and enough movie size boxes of candy to drive the girls into sugar induced frenzies.

Ear Bobs

A very brave little girl got her ears pierced today. She only cried for a minute and was then caught admiring herself every chance she got.

The Precarious Perch

Two weekends ago, Jeff changed out most of our light fixtures. The only light he did not change was the chandelier in our entry way. This is a two-story entry way and the light could not be accessed by an extension ladder.

Jeff first rented an electric scissor lift, but after getting it home, realized that it was too heavy and would not be able to get into the house without some damage. He returned to the rental center and came back with this pallet jack type thing. The owner warned him that it was not made to hold humans, but we really had no other options. Jeff placed this huge butcher block from the garage on it and away he went...

Almost there...

The view from above.

"I should not look down."

Before liftoff.

But it was all worth it.
The light at the top of the stairs was changed out the weekend before.

"It's done!"

More Pictures

I received a new camera and here are some of the pictures from the test sessions.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We hope that everyone enjoyed their holiday!

Jeff was delayed in Irvine, CA by the first Colorado blizzard. The girls waited patiently for Jeff to return and we opened presents on Christmas morning.

We were scheduled to go to Cheyenne for Christmas, but postponed until New Years because of the weather. Here are the girls with Uncle Scott and Aunt Namsuk.

Jeff

Noelle and her newest Dora.

Windy and Reese

December Blizzard, Part Two

One week after a horrible snowstorm, we were dumped on-again! This time, there were two cars stuck in front of our house at the same time.

Holiday Blizzard of '07

Here is a picture of someone who got stuck on our street. The drifts were about 3 feet high.
That's Emily, sitting in the bank and watching. But she did contribute the kitty litter.

Here is a picture of the back yard. The one drift is about 4-1/2 feet high in the top corner.

Here is a picture of Reese trying to make a tunnel in the snow drift.

If you scroll down the page a little bit, you will see a picture of the retaining wall in all of it's glory. Here, the retaining wall is covered by snow drifts. I guess this is a small test to see if it holds.

It took 4 men with shovels and a few handfuls of kitty litter to get this Tahoe unstuck. He did finally make it, and convinced me that I should probably stay put today.

6th Grade Band Concert

This evening, the TMS 6th Grade Band performed for friends and family at the Liberty High School Auditorium. We were not seated properly to get a picture of Emily while she was playing her clarinet, but there are some pictures of her before and after the show.

"When does this thing start?"

Before the show

After the show

Noelle's 5th Birthday Party

Noelle celebrated her 5th birthday at Focus on the Family. She was joined by her playgroup friends and some friends from preschool. It was not the happiest birthday ever, as she was up most of the night with a tummy bug and still has some residual effects the morning of her birthday. She was a trooper and pulled herself through the day. She felt much better that evening and was able to enjoy a trip to Chuck E. Cheese for a family birthday dinner.

The Dora Cash Register from Mom and Dad.

An ATM piggy bank from Reese.

Emily indulged her with a joke book and a children's CD.

Some of Noelle's guests eating pizza.

Thanksgiving in Minnesota

Here are some pictures from our recent Thanksgiving trip to Minnesota.

Funny faces with Mimi.

Saying good-bye to Kayla and Madison.

"We love Uncle Shirley!"

"Please stay, Uncle Shirley!"

Emily in a tryptophan induced state.

This is really funny. Reese is operating the pedals, Emily is operating the gears and Noelle is driving.

A nice picture with Mimi.

Dog piling Dad.

Don't ask me where they get it.

One of the rest areas in Nebraska had a pond with fish in it. We tried to feed them some pretzels and goldfish crackers, but they were obviously well fed fish.

I think some people were getting bored in the car.

Can you tell?

Preschool Field Trip

Today, Noelle took her first class field trip. She and her class walked to a local pond to feed the geese and ducks. The weather was perfect and everyone had fun.

Day at the Park

Sunday was spent enjoying a beautiful fall day at the park. Hard to believe that just over a week ago we were socked with 18 inches of snow!

The New Garden

With a lot of help from my Uncle Scott and a masonry grinder, the back garden is in place. It is now just awaiting spring so that it can be filled with herbs and vegetables. We used the Courtyard by Allan Block system and I have now been forbidden to visit the rock yard to pick out landscaping material. Although it is a beautiful garden, it was not made to sit in a sloping yard and caused a lot of work and grief, especially when my aesthetic tendencies lie towards curvy objects. However, this is another project that can be checked off and along with the completed retaining wall, the backyard is closer to completion.