Nephew Gifts

I think my favorite part of Christmas is shopping for my nephews. This year, I got an early start and had all their stuff bought by Halloween. I thought the waiting was going to kill me.

 

Vanessa said her boys could use new clothes. I found a good sale at Kohl's and went nuts.

 

(In the next three pictures Daxsen's stuff is on the left and Valex's is on the right.)

Each boy got a new hoodie.

 

 

New Pajama's

And a John Deere shirt.

 

Valex is getting 5 new shirts.

 

Because Kohl's screwed up my order, Daxsen is only getting 4 new shirts. I was going to get him a 5th one, but forgot. But clearly, they are spoiled enough as it is.

 

 I also found a John Deere shirt for Tyler (left) and Preston (right).

Tyler's is PERFECT for him.

 

Quite a while ago, while we were at Josh's parents for dinner, Preston was asking if they had Rock 'Em Sock 'Em robots. I decided that would be the perfect Christmas gift! It has been so hard to wait for Christmas to come. Because Tyler's present cost a little more, I decided to get Preston a 2nd game. I've never heard of it, but it had great reviews on Amazon. Preston is big into games so I'm hopeful he'll enjoy it.

 

When I saw this construction plate and utensil set I knew I had to get it for Tyler. It even came with a cute placemat. My only worry is his mom will be constantly washing it for him.

 

I tried to wrap up as much fun as I could. Preston & Tyler's gifts are wrapped as 3 presents for each. Valex and Daxsen's are wrapped as 5 presents for each. I didn't have enough name tags, so instead I color coordinated bows. Preston's gifts have a red bow, Tyler's a red bow, Valex's a green bow and Daxsen's a gold bow.

 

Ever since falling in love with that cat at the pet shelter, I keep hinting to Josh I would love to receive a kitten under the tree. Zipper, the ever jealous kitty, decided to put himself under the tree for me.

Work Gifts

I had several of these Nut/Raisin bags and decided they would be great to give as gifts at work. It took a while to think of a cute saying, but I finally went with, "From one NUT to another NUT, Merry Christmas!"

 

 

This year was very plentiful in treats and other cute gifts.

Girl's Christmas Dinner

This year, the girl's got together one night and went to Café Rio for dinner. While there, we exchanged gifts.

 

I got us all matching cupcake necklaces. Randi is moving away and I wanted a way to remember our friendship. I figured since cake decorating class brought us together, it would be the perfect gift.

Jessica got us each a necklace initial pendant. Kim gave us some fuzzy reindeer socks. Randi gave us each a coupon for a free girl's night. I immediately tried to use mine when she mentioned a new store she found in the city, but since she is busy in the middle of selling her home, I decided to wait for a little bit. It expires in May when she leaves us to move to Missouri. 

Santa Jobs

Once again, Santa has stayed very busy this Christmas season. I haven't gotten pictures at most events, but I did get a couple. Most years, he does a lot of family parties, but this year has been more public events. He was Santa after a dance concert, at a Birthday party, Alco, a daycare, after a play in Tabiona, and the pet shelter*. After that, he only did like 3 family parties.

The day Josh shot his elk was the day he was supposed to do the Santa job at the pet shelter. About 90 minutes before he was supposed to be there, he called me at work to tell me there was no way he was going to make it. I was furious and frantic. I made a few phone calls and finally found a new Santa, my brother Alden. Because Josh wears glasses, I didn't have any for Alden to wear as Santa. And we had to keep his wig pulled low because his eyebrows are so dark.

 

Alden loved it. People were allowed to bring their pets to get a picture with Santa. It really was the perfect job for him. He loved seeing all the different dogs and getting them to pose with him.

 

While he was busy with that, I was busy making a new friend. I was so tempted to bring him home, but in the end, I decided we didn't need another cat at this time.

 

Santa at Alco.

 

I still find it funny that my scrooge of a husband loves to play Santa. 

Josh's Cow Elk Hunt

This year, Josh had two elk hunts. The first one was a bull elk hunt in October. He decided since he had a cow hunt later in the year, he could afford to hunt for a bigger bull. He saw plenty of smaller bulls he could have shot, but he was holding out for a big one. He didn't end up getting one, but he had still had fun.

 

After waiting a few months, his cow elk hunt finally arrived. Opening weekend, he had some friends from work join him. They stayed Friday night so they could go with him on opening morning. I had promised to help my uncle with his Dutch Oven Catering, so I didn't go with them. They saw some elk, but nothing they could shoot at.

 

After helping his buddy, his uncle and his brother with elk they shot, he finally got one of his own. Which was a relief to me because we are out of burger in our freezer. That hasn't happened in YEARS. But its at the butcher now so our freezer won't be bare for long.

 



I also had to share this picture of Tyler. Last year, when Josh had caught a beaver, he took it to Melanie's to show them. Unfortunately, Tyler was terrified of it. It was MONTHS before he would even be in the same room as Josh. Josh felt so bad.

 

A few weeks ago, Josh went to his parents to skin out a few beaver he had caught. When he realized Tyler was there, he was worried it would happen again. But instead, Tyler ran up to him and wanted to pet the beaver. He even posed for a picture! Josh was over the moon that his nephew wasn't scared this time. 

Santa Visits Valex & Daxsen

Tyler & Preston can recognize Josh when he is dressed as Santa, but Valex and Daxsen are still young enough that we went to see them again this year. Vanessa had left a present for each boy on the porch, plus I brought one for each boy, so Santa gave them each two gifts.

 

The top row was for Daxsen and the bottom row was for Valex. I wanted to make sure Valex got a helicopter.

 

This year, both boys were excited to see Santa.

 

Well, Daxsen was more excited about the cookies he had, but he wants to be just like his big brother, so he sat on Santa's lap too.

 

Both boys loved their gifts.

 

 

Christmas Tree 2013

I was so excited to get our first Christmas tree in our new home. I always want to get a tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but Josh isn't a big fan of Christmas, so I always wait until the first Saturday of December.

This year, I almost forgot. I had to work for my uncle Kevan, so I told Josh we would have to get the tree early Saturday morning. Then I would just decorate it on Sunday. It was about an hour and a half before I had to leave when I realized, we still hadn't gotten a tree. So we rushed to the tree lot. I actually loved the very first tree I looked at, but Josh decided it was too big. So we walked around the lot a few times until I found another perfect tree.

 Of course, within minutes of getting it home, someone was underneath it trying to find trouble.

Our new home's first Christmas tree.

Thanksgiving 2013

This year, we decided to stay home and enjoy Thanksgiving in our new home. I love the years when we stay home. Its a lot of pressure to do ALL the cooking on our own, but I love that we can do it at our pace with no worry on being on time for dinner. And Josh is such great help that it runs smoothly.

 

I was going to prepare a few things each night, but never did. So I had to do it all today. I started by making two of the pies so they could have time to set up in the fridge. We did run into a few hiccups. Yesterday, while I was at work, I called and told Josh to pull some bread out of the freezer. Turns out, all I had in there was banana bread. We decided we had enough food, we would be fine without stuffing.

 

But then, I realized I needed a few things from the store this morning. (Josh went to the store TWICE for me today.) So we decided to do cornbread stuffing this year. I ran out of time to make fresh rolls, so during one of Josh's store runs, he bought some frozen rolls.

 

Our feast included:

Turkey

Mashed Potatoes & home made gravy

Carrot Supreme

Candied Yams

Cornbread Stuffing

Cranberries

Rolls



Thanksgiving Pies

Today, I finally got brave and tried my pie crust from scratch. It turned out pretty good!

 

I was only going to make a pumpkin pie for Josh and a cherry cranberry nut pie for myself, but I had enough dough left over for one more single crust pie. I looked in my cupboards and had enough stuff for a chocolate cream pie.

 

I'm glad I decided to get some practice at pie baking. I've been very happy with the results and Josh has dubbed each one his new favorite. There is still a few recipes I want to try, but I might take a break from the pie baking. At least for now.

How Much is the Doggy in the Window?

Ever since the week we took Sage camping with us, she has become more needy. She has learned how to climb on the BBQ grill and the central air unit so she can look into the kitchen to see if we are home. Most days, when I come home for lunch, she is looking in to say hello. But she usually gets down before I can get a picture.

 What a silly dog.

And then there is these two crazy fur balls that round out our life. 



Work Gift

Work has been very stressful lately. I don't want to get into the reasons why, but I've been unhappy there lately. One day I realized, I love my job, but I'm not happy where I'm at. It hard to explain without getting into to things. I LOVE my job. I love having my own office, a real desk and freedom to decorate it to fit my personality. But the atmosphere has been hard to deal with.

Just a few days after I realized all of this, we had a position open up in house for a meter reader. I really wanted that job, mostly because of the solitude that came with it. I spent several days talking myself into and out of applying. I even filled out an application.

But each time I looked at my pro and con list, it came down to one thing. I REALLY like having a desk job. The freedom to work basically alone was very appealing, but it would be based out of a truck. And I just wasn't sure I would be happy if I made that move.

So I've decided to fix my attitude. I'm trying to not let the other issues bother me. I'm trying to do the best I can at my job.

And I decided to spoil myself.

I bought myself a fridge to keep under my desk. I've been dealing with some health issues lately. I can't get a grasp of it, and the two doctors I've been too have seemed to brush off my concerns. I need to take control and go back and insist they check me for hypoglycemia. And if that isn't the answer, they need to help me find one. But my company is in the midst of changing insurance companies, so I might wait until the dust settles in January.

Until then, I'm trying to have more protein in my diet. I have oatmeal for breakfast, and that has helped a lot. But I still get shaky between breakfast and lunch. So I've been having a yogurt and glass of skim milk during my break time. That has helped a lot. I also have a glass of milk in the afternoon and sometimes a cheese stick.

We have two fridges at work, but I felt like I was taking up a lot of space. And sometimes it was a hassle to go grab the milk. Then I would wait too long and the shakiness would set in. So I bought myself a fridge so I can keep all that stuff right at hand.

I have LOVED having my own fridge! I'm so glad I made the splurge for myself.