Josh's Flight

For Christmas, my brother, Josh, received a certificate to take an introductory flight at a local flight school. We were all pretty excited about it, although, I think Dave was more excited than Josh!

This picture is the only one we have of him in the air. It's hard to tell but at the bottom of the picture you can see a small blog just above the building... that is Josh flying! :)

Here he is right before he took off! Big CHEESE!

Here he is right before he took off.

It was pretty dang chilly this particular day in Colorado and we were waiting forever for him to start driving ha.

Finally, they took off for the run way.

I think he looks pretty awesome as a piolet. Who knows, maybe he will become the family piolet and take me to hawaii! Here's hoping!

The Dells, Grand Canyon, Sledding and Great Friends!

We recently took a wonderful trip to Arizona to see some of our best friends, Jordan and Ryan. I stayed for a week but Dave could only stay for a few days until he had to come home and get back to work.

We went to The Dells, which are absolutly beautiful! I've been here before and wanted to make sure Dave had the opportunity to enjoy the sites while we were there. We climbed all over these rocks on our first full day in Prescott.

Pictures truly don't do this justice!

Here is Jordan and Ryan climbing up after Dave and I.

In the evenings we played Dancing games. This is way more fun when you have people around compared to playing by yourself... trust me! lol

On the second full day in Arizona, we decided to got to the Grand Canyon. I couldn't believe how huge it was!

Ryan and Jordan

We also occupied our time with a board game called Quelf! You must do as the card says and as you can see, I was a Mummy at this point in the game.

After Dave flew home, Jordan, Ryan and I went sledding in Flagstaff with a few of their friends. It was someones 5th birthday and he was so excited about sledding. We had to hunt a bit for snow but it was well worth it!

Here's Jordan and Ryan about to get some major speed down a huge hill! I'm pretty sure this was right before a big crash!

All in all, this trip was a great time. We drove all over Arizona but managed a few days of hanging out the house just visiting. One day Jordan and Ryan are going to move back to Colorado and these visits won't be so few and far between! I can't wait!

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!