Neighborhood Christmas Party

Our neighbors, Jon and Jodie, invited us to their annual Christmas party. Of course, Santa visited and was certainly the highlight of the party, for adults and kids.

Reese was terribly frightened by Santa at first. Rhett found it to be quite humerous. It was interesting though, as soon as we stopped trying to get him to go into the room with Santa, he decided on his own that it might be okay.


Raly was so excited about Santa.

Reese didn't sit on his lap, but he stayed near him the entire time.

Our New Christmas Tradition

So our new tradition began on Saturday morning. We drove to the mountains to cut down our own Christmas tree. The weather was awesome and the kids loved "hiking in the forest." It quickly become obvious that Raly would not like any of the trees that Rhett and I found. She would say, "No, but we'll keep that one in mind." Yeah right! Raly and Reese hiked around with a walking stick. Too funny.

Finally found one: our very own Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

We got it up and Raly couldn't wait to decorate it. It's probably 11 feet tall and it can't hold many ornaments. It can barely support the lights. The kids don't seem to mind and each time I see it I think about our fun adventure. We missed having Bozeman with us that's for sure. He loved the mountains.

Emily and Josh's Wedding

Last weekend, Emily and Josh got married in Atwood. The wedding was quite elegant and the reception hall was gorgeous, and we all had a great time. Our entire extended family was able to attend which was made it even more special. Emily was a beautiful bride and all the hard work by everyone paid off (especially my Mom and Dad). I didn't get many pictures on my camera, but here are a few miscellaneous ones.

Reese hung out with his godfather, Kyle, in the basement of the church. Kyle helped watch Reese while we waited for all the guests to be seated and the wedding to begin.

Raly and Owen didn't want to cooperate for a nice picture, but this is better than nothing.

Raly's hair was so cute. You can't really tell in these pictures, but her hair was very curly.

Emily decorated the bridesmaids' toes with flowers. It kept her busy so she

wouldn't think about being nervous.

A Tribute to Bozeman

As most of you know, Bozeman is now in Dog Heaven. We believe that he is running freely and eating as many treats as he can. Raly thinks he is finding many soft clouds to sleep on. Although we know in our hearts that it was time for him to go to a place where he would feel better, we miss him so very much. Because he was such a huge part of our family, the smallest things make us teary eyed. Before Bozeman left our house for the last time, Raly had each of us make "tickets" for Bozeman so that could take them to Doggy Heaven. She wanted to make sure that he would always remember us. One things for sure, we will never forget Bozeman.


One of Bozeman's favorite positions.

Bozeman loved his daddy more than anyone.

Bozeman always got a little nervous when Reese got too close, but here he was getting some good attention.

Raly had been putting on a "Ballet Show" for us. Raly and Bozeman had become pretty good buddies.

One of Bozeman's favorite places: his couch.

Bozeman's last trip to the mountains included a ride on the gondola. We'll certainly never forget his infamous tongue.

In Vail, at our camp fire picnic.

In Vail, playing at a little stream.

On Father's Day 2008, at the South Platte River.

At our old house, Bozeman's favorite spot was just outside the back door where he could catch some "rays."

Christmas 05; Raly reading a book to Bozeman.

Bozeman with Raly on her first hike.

Bozeman, thank you for being such a loyal dog and enriching our lives for nine and a half years. We love you.

Winter Boots

So we had the first snow of the season and Raly and I were without boots. I haven't had snow boots since we moved here in 1998. Don't know how I managed that! Anyway, Raly and I headed out shopping for some SNOW boots. Good news: we both found a pair. Not so good news: Raly also found these lovely Hanna Montana boots. She was willing to spend her allowance on them (which consisted of about $4.25) so I caved! I can't believe it! She's wearing "Character" shoes. AUUGGG!

Emily's Bachelorette Party

For Emily's Bachelorette Party, we started out at Mike and Connie's. We ate, drank, played a few games, and Em opened gifts. Then, we headed out to the bars in a 15 passenger van driven by Matt, one of the TKE boys. Brandi Butler is the TKE House Mom and she has about every connection needed for a good time in Manhattan! I had a great time. I hope that everyone else did, too. Here are a few pictures from the evening. I think Aunt Jane's camera ended up with some of the best pictures. I'm hoping to see those next week!! Emily received several really cute undies, but these according to Aunt Jane, will be the ones she'll wear for her 25th anniversary!

We had a "To Do" list for the bars. Here, we are at the Cock N' Bull and Kelly, Donna, Emily, and Susan are singing "I'm a Little Teapot." Pretty easy gig since there were only two other people in the place. Mom and Aunt Jane did a shot here. I think it was called a "Red-Headed SL*T."

Halloween

Halloween Night before trick-or-treating. Walking to school for Raly's school Halloween Party. Raly couldn't decide what to be so in the morning she was Sleeping Beauty and at night she was Snow White.

Raly's KID Birthday Party

Raly had her kid party at Romp n' Roll. It was a fantastic party! All the kids had so much fun and it involved very little planning on our part. Sorry for so many pictures, but Raly was having such a good time, I just had to include them all!


Of course we had to get one family picture. Reese didn't want to hold still, big surprise!


Time for cake!!

The kids worked on "blowing" up the bounce castle!

Doing the LIMBO!

Holding on tight!

Animal Freeze Dance

Reese didn't really participate in the games. He was too busy!!

Red Light Green Light!

Between each activity, the kids listened for instructions while sitting on the red floor.

The instructors were fabulous and so interactive.

Thanks for a great party, Romp n' Roll!!!

Raly's Birthday

It finally happened! Raly turned five. Here she is wearing the dress from Aunt Brandi. She wore it to school and received lots of compliments!
Playing with Littlest Petshop "stuff."

She was thrilled when she saw that she got the Littlest PetShop Backpack from Grandma and Grandad.

Daddy brought home multiple balloons and she and Reese were running in circles with them. Lots of energy!

This is after opening the card from Grandma Eunice which had money inside. She loves to go shopping...a trait that Granmda Rosie just loves!!!

Grandma Connie Visits

Grandma Connie came for a visit the week of Raly's birthday. Luckily, she was able to watch Reese on Wednesday and Thursday while Raly and I were at school. Reese's babysitter was on vacation. Thank you Grandma!

After picking Grandma up from the airport, we played at the park, got haircuts (where Raly got fancy lipgloss from Grandma and Reese got these sunglasses) and then went for a bite to eat.