Christmas Highlights

G and I were lucky enough to get to celebrate Christmas twice this year. We celebrated in Pueblo with my family on Friday night before, and then got up on Saturday and drove to Clearwater to celebrate with his family.
Here's some pictures from Friday with my family.

"Are we there yet?"
Oreo and Jonah enjoy riding in the car- we took them to stay with Grandma & Poppie (my parents) while we went to Kansas.


The bugs. :-)


"Is Santa coming???"
My mom made stockings for our puppies to hang with their puppies' stockings.


This is one of my favorite gifts we got, from my brother & sister-in-law. We are going to hang them in our kitchen.



Then we got to celebrate Christmas on the day with G's family in Clearwater. Only his sister and her family were missing.

The nieces got lots of cool things!


Ellie got a Go Diego Animal rescue set, and Addy got a really neat scrapbook kit from aunt K.

Here's Jayme opening here Christmas ornament that I had lots of fun shopping for! "Fra-gi-le" :-)



Here's B opening his really cool TV trays (my shoulder is still suffering after affects of all the painting! :-)


All the brothers got these really neat helicopter fliers with launchers. Here is G playing with his new toy. :-) B didn't get to play with his too much- it broke after only a few launches- but he had to help G get his off the garage roof!


I also got some very nice gifts from my wonderful husband- my two favorites are my flannel lined jeans and my new purse! (Ellie and Addy like my DVD "The Grinch who stole Christmas!)


All in all it was a good time, tiring but good.
We are so very thankful to have lots of family to celebrate and visit with. But it is nice to come home too.
And Oreo was sooooo happy to see us she got up and danced! :-)

Thank You

DEAR GOD:
I want to thank You for what you have already done. I am not going to wait until I see results or receive rewards; I am thanking you right now. I am not going to wait until I feel better or things look better; I am thanking you right now. I am not going to wait until people say they are sorry or until they stop talking about me; I am thanking you right now! I am not going to wait until the pain in my body disappears; I am thanking you right now. I am not going to wait until my financial situation improves; I am going to thank you right now. I am not going to wait until the children are asleep and the house is quiet; I am going to thank you right now. I am not going to wait until I get promoted at work or until I get the job; I am going to thank you right now. I am not going to wait until I understand every experience in my life that has caused me pain or grief; I am thanking you right now. I am not going to wait until the journey gets easier or the challenges are removed; I am thanking you right now. I am thanking you because I am alive. I am thanking you because I made it through the day's difficulties. I am thanking you because I have walked around the obstacles.
I am thanking you because I have the ability and the opportunity to do more and do better.

I'm thanking you because FATHER, YOU haven't given up on me.


Wow did I need this kick-in-the-pants! Sometimes I forget to thank God just because. We always wait til the situation is right, or we get what we want, or whatever. I need to make more of an effort to thank God for the hour, and for Him being in control so that I don't have to worry about tomorrow.
"So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" Matthew 6:34 (NASB)

Holly Jolly Christmas

Work Place 23rd Psalm

The Lord is my real Boss and I shall not want.
He gives me peace when Chaos is all around me.
He gently reminds me to pray before I speak,
And to do all things without
Murmuring and complaining.

He reminds me that He is my Source, not my job
He restores my sanity everyday and guides my decision,
That I might honor Him in everything I do.

Even though I face absurd amounts of emails,
System crashes, unrealistic deadlines,
Budget cutbacks, gossiping co-workers
And an aging body that doesn’t cooperate every morning,
I will not stop--- for He is with me!

His Presence, His Peace and His Power will see me through.
He raises me up, even when they fail to promote me.
He claims me as His own, even when the company may let me go.

His faithfulness and love re better than any bonus check
And His retirement plan beats every 401K that exists!
When it’s all said and done, I’ll be working for Him a whole lot longer
And for that I bless His name!

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
Colossians 3:17 (NASB)

I am having a hard time of it today at work. And I have to keep repeating this to verse to myself- it is hard to work for the Lord when you are serving ungrateful people, working in a system that doesn't work (welfare system as well as computer system- which has been off-line all morning)and have co-workers who can not be grown up enough to clean up after themselves. I have been praying all morning, and have a feeling I will be that way all week the way its going! I know my memory verse for the week! :-) Hopefully I'll feel better after going to the chiropractor this afternoon...

Have Yourself a Merry Little Chirstmas

Snugle bugs

Here's how we found our puppies sleeping yesterday morning. :-)



They like their new toys we gave them (little chew ropes to play with when they are inside), but even with their own in front of them, they want the other's. :-)
Just like children- they fight and play just like a brother and sister!

And wore themselves out! :-)

WOW!!!

Wow! Wow! Wow! I went to my appointment at the chiropractor and I already feel much better! My elbow & hand are not numb, but my shoulder is still sore- but tolerable now! I have to go back on Monday because he couldn't finish working on my shoulder because it is soooo jacked up! He told me he would make it too sore if he kept going, so will have to wait. He used this new machine called a Pro-Adjuster. It's really cool, and gentle- not like the old maual cracking your back stuff. He said my shoulder and first rib were slightly dislocated and 5 of my 7 cervial and 11 of my 12 thorrasic vertebre were all out of alignment! (kudos to my hubby though- his nightly bear hugs have kept my lumbar vetebre in pretty good shape.)
I still can't believe how much better I already feel! I'm looking forward to Monday to see what a second adjustment brings :-)
WOW! :-)

The “gift” that keeps on giving…

I was in a pretty bad car accident in 1999. The girl hit me from behind so hard that it broke my seat back and I ended up laying down when all was said and done. At the time I was off work something like 10 or 12 weeks because of all the problems I was having; whiplash, couldn’t turn my head, dizzy spells, TMJ. I had them all. Eventually, with the aid of lots pf physical therapy, all the symptoms seemed to go away. I have had an occasional dizzy spell, they did get pretty bad a couple of years ago and I had to go to an ENT (ears, nose, throat) specialist because my doctor thought I had vertigo. The ENT doc said it was after effects from the whiplash, because mine was so severe, the swelling would come & go and mimic the symptoms of vertigo. He put me on a round of steroids to get rid of the swelling, and no problem since. Or so I thought...
Since January, I have been noticing that anytime I tried to lie on my left side, which I have always done, my shoulder would start popping. I could be lying perfectly still and “POP” would go my shoulder. I didn’t think much of it, started laying on my right side instead. Not a big deal. Then, about a month ago, out of the blue, I had a pretty good dizzy spell. I was standing outside my supervisor’s office when it hit, and I hit the floor. My behind was pretty sore (I sat strait down on the concrete floor from a standing position) and then it moved up my back, but I went home took a hot bath and stretched on my exercise ball, and by Monday I was as good as new. Until this past Wednesday, then my shoulder started aching quite a lot, I shrugged it off thinking I had aggravated it by unloading my car full of groceries on Tuesday afternoon. But then yesterday, my hand and arm starting hurting too, and then started going numb!!! That freaked me out! So last night I spent two and a half hours at the emergency room in Pueblo (an hour drive from our home), because I refuse to go to the “hospital” in La Junta (yes its that bad); all for the doctor to say he guesses its from the car accident, it might be a pinched nerve, I need to go see an orthopedic doctor and get an MRI. They gave me some pain pills and a sling and sent me home. So I am sitting here at work this morning, my left arm in a sling, my leg itching where the hives appeared this morning (side effect of the Vicodin), trying to type one- handed (and did I mention I’m left-handed??) and trying to decide which chiropractor to call, because I want to see if they can fix it without any more drugs or expensive tests… What next????

Update- I got an appointment this morning with the chiropractor here in town! I am thankful they could get me in so quickly! I hope this works, otherwise it's gonna be a long weekend with a numb elbow & hand...

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Donkeys Rule!!!

Chiefs drool!!!
Another victory for our Denver Broncos- against the Kansas City Chiefs, in Denver!!! Yea! They won 41-7!!! Sorry, Sally and Colonel, but we have to celebrate OUR team winning ya' know! :-)

Another Classic

Frosty the Snowman

Another favorite! Addy & Ellie, hope you enjoy this one! :-) And it looks like we may be able to build our own Frosty over the weekend- storm's rolling in- should have some snow by Sunday- "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas"! :-)

For Ellie :-)

Another one of my all time Christmas favorites...

One of my holiday favorites...

This has been on of my favorite Christmas movies since I can remember. :-)

Fun with Images

This MEME was on Sally's blog- I though it might be fun! :-)
The name of the game is to type the answer to the following questions into Google search images. Then pick one to represent from the first page that comes up.

Age at next birthday...

Place I'd like to travel:
New York

Favorite place I've been:
Vegas Baby!!!

Favorite Objects:
Bible

Books

PocketDish

Favorite foods:
Mexican

Pasta

Favorite Animal:
Pit Bull

Christmas???

I am just not feeling the "Christmas Spirit" this year. I don't know if it's because we are having 60 & 70 degree weather and no snow in December, or if it's the fact we decided not to decorate our house for Christmas because we are hoping to go to Kansas for Christmas, or what it is- but I am just feeling lousy! We have changed our first decision about decorating our house because we are having an Arbonne open house at our house this weekend, so we are going to put up a little bit of stuff- but nothing like I remember from my childhood. My mom would take off work the first or second week in December, and deck our house to the limits! And then she would start baking- she would bake something everyday for a week to ten days, depending on how ambitious she was that year. I just always remember how good it smelled in our house, and it always seemed to linger til Christmas day. I am gonna have to find something to get my spirits up- I don't like feeling blue, anytime- but especially at Christmas...

A BETTER RESURRECTION

HAVE no wit, no words, no tears;
My heart within me like a stone
Is numb'd too much for hopes or fears;
Look right, look left, I dwell alone;
I lift mine eyes, but dimm'd with grief
No everlasting hills I see;
My life is in the falling leaf:
O Jesus, quicken me.

My life is like a faded leaf,
My harvest dwindled to a husk:
Truly my life is void and brief
And tedious in the barren dusk;
My life is like a frozen thing,
No bud nor greenness can I see:
Yet rise it shall--the sap of Spring;
O Jesus, rise in me.

My life is like a broken bowl,
A broken bowl that cannot hold
One drop of water for my soul
Or cordial in the searching cold;
Cast in the fire the perish'd thing;
Melt and remould it, till it be
A royal cup for Him, my King:
O Jesus, drink of me.

-Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)

Officially Open for Business!!!

Today I launched my Arbonne business I am excited! I am praying that the Lord will bless our venture, and that hopefully it will eventually allow me to be able to stay at home, and not have a 9-5 job. That would be my greatest wish come true, so that if/when we have a family I can stay home with the kids!!! Check out our website!

Turkey Stuffin Meatloaf

Since we've been married, G and I have tried to try at least one new recipe a week. Sometimes we manage two or three new ones, sometimes none at all. But it's fun to find new favorites. I made this one in October, but had enough left over to freeze, so we had it again last night. It's different, but good!

Turkey-Stuffin’ Meatloaf (from the Rachael Ray Show)
Ingredients
• 7 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1 large onion, cut into small dice
• 5 to 6 pieces celery heart, cut into small dice
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tablespoons poultry seasoning
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 bag Pepperidge Farm traditional flavor stuffing cubes
• 2 quarts chicken stock, divided
• 3 to 3 1/2 pounds ground turkey
• 2 eggs
Yeilds: 2 loaves & enough gravy for both

Preparation
Preheat oven to 375ºF.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 3 tablespoons of butter. When the butter is melted, add the onions, celery and bay leaf to the skillet, season with poultry seasoning, salt and freshly ground black pepper and cook until the veggies are tender.
Add the stuffing cubes to the skillet and mix in about 2 to 3 cups of chicken stock to moisten. Take the bay leaf out of the skillet, remove the skillet from the heat and let the mixture cool, about 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, mix the ground turkey, eggs and cooled stuffing mixture. Form the meat mix into 2 long loaves on a baking sheet. Drizzle them with EVOO and cook in the oven for about an hour, until brown and cooked through (165ºF internal temperature).
Add the remaining four tablespoons butter to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the butter is melted, add the flour and cook for about a minute. Whisk the remaining 6 cups of chicken stock into the skillet with the butter and flour mixture, and cook until thickened and bubbling, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

A time to give thanks

We spent Thanksgiving with my family in Pueblo. My parents, my brother and his family, and my uncle (my mom's brother who just had multiple bypass surgery 7 weeks ago. He is doing so wonderfully! He has been at home for two weeks now, has lost weight & is getting stronger everyday. That's the biggest thing we are all thankful for this year!)
Here is my brother, his wife and the three "bugs".

Add me & G- and that's all the kids. (We left the "grand-puppies", as my parents call them, outside, but we did have them there with us, and the girls we so excited to get to play with them we had a hard time getting them to eat their lunch!)

Doodlebug wasn't in the mood for posing.

But Bugaboo & Taterbug were!

Jonah decided he wanted to play, and brought the frisbee to Bugaboo to play tug-o-war! (My parents' dog, Snickers, wanted to get in on the fun too!)

Show Bugaboo your tricks Jonah! Shake hands...

"Bang" You're dead!

Taterbug wants to give the puppies "coooookies" too!


Hugs all around. It was a good day!

We had a good time and stayed at my parents house Thursday & Friday night. G and my mom and I got up at 2:15am on Black Friday to hit the sales. I will NEVER EVER get up that early to go shopping again! There is no sale that great to be camped out in the low teen temps at midnight or earlier like others had done. And if you don't get in line that early you have no shot at the sale stuff anyway (we thought we would have a great shot being there before three since the store didn't open until 5a- NOT!!! There were hundreds already lined up!) But all in all it was a great time, although we are glad to be back home now.
Christmas is looming just around the corner. We were hoping to get to spend Christmas in Kansas with G's family, but aren't sure if we will be able to now. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks we can get logistics figured out...

Oreo's First Snow!

Wednesday morning, we woke up to our first snow of the season. It wasn't a whole lot, but it was fun to watch Oreo discovering it for the first time! :-)


She went around smelling it and had white powder all over her nose. She wasn't too sure of it, and went to "dad" to get some reassurance. :-)


It got very cold Wednesday night, so we fixed up a spot for our puppies to sleep in the house, so they wouldn't be frozen puppies Thursday morning. We were very proud of them they behaved so well, we almost forgot they were even in the house at all!