Christmas

Christmas this year was a little different than normal. Usually we have lots of kids running around and tons of noise! It's what makes Christmas so much fun. Not to say that this Christmas wasn't fun... it was just different than normal.

It started Christmas Eve at my Mom's house where we ate A LOT of food and played games.
See, LOTS of food!

More eatting!

We then had Christmas breakfast at my Mom's house and presents.

You see this tree? Well, it was planted when I was born and it had grown so much over the years that this summer, it had to be cut down. I assumed that was the end of it until Christmas morning when I opened this picture of my tree and... (see next picture)

This beautiful desk that my wonderful Uncle Jim made for me out of the wood from my tree. It really is much more beautiful in person. It meant so much to me and now it's in our living rooms on display!

Dave got all of this stuff. A BBQ set. One of his favorite card games. This awesome buck knife for hunting. A couple running water bottles and, thanks to me (hehe) an awesome running watch! He got pretty spoiled this year!

That was a very quick view of our Christmas weekend but it really was a wonderful time. We went to my Dad's Christmas afternoon and ate lots more yummy food opened a gift or two. We had a great time visiting with everyone but I have to admit, I sure missed all those kids this year!

I think these pictures speak for themselves!

I don't know why this one cut off but you get the point. This was one of our FHE Tuesday Nights.

What comes next…

I'm not sure exactly what to call it but we've been racing towards Dave's career goals since we've known each other. He started volunteering at our local fire station for the past 5 years and it had always been his dream to become a paid firefighter. It was a bumpy road but we have finally made it. There have been several positions open up in those 5 years but there were missed opportunities and moments of frustration when he didn't get the news that he was picked for the position. We've had moments of frustration when he didn't get the news that he was picked for the position. We've had moments of wanting to give up and inspired moments when we realized that he had a wonderful job and if he was a volunteer fireman; then he was still happy. Ultimately, the goal was to be happy in whatever he was doing and make enough money to pay the bills. He was happy in his paid job and in his volunteer position. We were content. Then, a couple weeks ago, we received the news that a position was opening up and Dave was going to be offered the job! We both had mixed feelings due to the way the position opened up. Ultimately, we decided that Dave would have more regret not taking the position. He officially starts on November 1st and he is so excited! It's amazing how long it takes to work towards something you've wanted for years and when it finally comes, it feels unreal. The question now is what comes next?

Rolling in Mud

This is our Shih Tzu, Molly. She LOVES the mud! I mean, she could spend all day rolling in it! When the rain (or melted snow) comes, we can count on having to give her a bath everytime!

So here is before....

And here is after....
It's hard to tell but the entire shower was covered in mud by the end. She is a white, with grey patches. However, seeing her on a daily basis; you might think she was a slightly brown dog. She is one of our smallest dogs, yet she is by far our dirtiest!

No name Post

There really isn't a name for this post other than random photos.

Look at my Stud! He got his new uniform for the first station! I got the last stud alive people so hands off!

Dave, my brother (Josh), and my Dad all went on a hunting trip recently. Dave and Josh decided that they need practice ahead of time and I was drug along!

They even made me shoot (with a lot of help from Josh) and I was oh so close! hehe... hey, for a 60lbs bow, I think I did pretty awesome if I do say so myself!

Florida-Work Trip

This summer has been a summer of travel. I first went to Maine. I was home for about 36 hours and I drove to Iowa with my sister. I flew home and had about 24 hours until I left for a business trip to Orlando, Florida. This we my last and final trip and I was 100% ready to be home. Florida was a blast though and I have pictures to prove it!

These next few pictures are all made out of legos! I thought they were pretty awesome!

I went to this trip with a few gals from work names Diana and Mandi. It was fun to have some girl time, even if it was a work trip!

We hit the Ripleys Believe it or Not Museum and it was the highlight of my trip. (We also saw Cuirqe De Soule which was a close second).

I think we all ate way too much on vacation!

In my last post, I was also sitting in one of the worlds largest, and in Florence, CO, you will find one of the worlds largest chairs, so I had to sit in this huge chair to prove that I have seen them all! (hehe, not really. I have no clue how many there truly are).

This is the worlds largest tire apparently! Pretty awesome!

Overall, it was a great trip and I truly enjoyed the "work" part of it. We were in training but I forgot how much I enjoy being in a learning atmosphere.

Iowa

I always forget that I should download my pictures in the reverse order. So you now get my Iowa trip in reverse.

Becky and her family came to Colorado in August and it worked out that I was going to be on vacation at the very time she needed someone to drive the 15 hours back to Iowa, with her and the kids. I was lucky enough to endure the long, hot drive! hehe I actually didn't mind it as much as Becky I think but it was a hot day in a no A/C car. We were sure glad to find Becky's house nice and cool!

This is Fabio... he was in this outhouse just hanging out. We had to get a picture of him. BUT there was a huge black widow in there so I was standing as far away as possible.

We had a lot of fun at this place. We visited a German colony near Cedar Rapids and I really enjoyed the old museums. It rained on us most of the day though, which turned out to be fun but I can't say we were looking our best! :)

One of the days I was in Iowa, we went to this awesome place(I wish we had this when I was a kid) called The Play Station. They encourage the adults to join in the fun and play/crawl around with all the kiddos.

Hehe-Sorry Becky!

While everyone was in town, we had a mini birthday party at my house for Logan. He got a few presents but the real fun were Dave's old toys. Logan and Annie played forever with them and didn't want to put them away to eat.