Christmas

This year we travelled for Christmas break, I'm not sure we're going to do that again. Well, at least for 2 weeks anyway. The roads were great and we had no trouble getting to and from our destinations, it was just a long, long, long time to be away from home.

We made a stop in Wyoming before going to Idaho for Christmas. The girls were excited and both were in count down mode. I had been asking Jim for some time what he wanted for Christmas and the only answer I could get was he wanted a "varmint gun." Okay. Did you know that guns are super expensive??? HOLY COW!! I took dad with me to look at guns at Cal-Ranch and I couldn't afford any of the options they had there. Dad said that he hadn't bought a gun in 30 years so we went and picked up Uncle Garron and he helped me pick out a .17 HMR. I think he liked it.


The girls loved seeing their cousins and their grandparents. They both got spoiled, and yes, we managed to get everything home just fine!


We spent New Year with my Dad's side of the family because Grandma turned 100 years old! She sure doesn't look it, I'd guess in her 80's. It was nice to see so much family.




When we got home our cat was so excited to see it she didn't stop meowing for a couple of days, the dog is still depressed. She had too much fun with the neighbor's dogs.

October

Well, I can't believe the year is almost over! Jim will be leaving here in about 8 days for Europe (NOT fair!!). I'm excited for him, I know he's excited. We'll miss him though. Jaycie is thriving at school still. She doesn't realize that next year school probably won't be as enjoyable. She does occasionally beg to stay home because she "misses me". This is usually at the end of the week when she is super tired.

Saree told me yesterday that she doesn't want to grow up and I asked her why she said, "I don't want to ever leave you!" Made me feel good, but I can only imagine in about 8 years - give or take - that she will be singing a completely different tune.

I finished up at the farmer's market earlier than I had planned on, this Friday being the last one, but I was pretty burned out, and I seem to have developed tendonitis in my right wrist.

I tried something different for dinner last night and everyone seemed to like it. I made penne pasta in alfredo sauce with capers, served with chicken. YUMMY!!

That's all for now.

Fall Update (First Installment).

Well, fall is here. I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad about that. I love fall, but this year it just seemed to sneak up on me. The farmer's market has kept me very busy this year, I feel it has been succesful, and worth my time, I just don't know if I'll continue next year yet or not. It seems to take so much out of me! It's the kids fault. You know that is why they have so much energy and you don't right? They're little energy suckers!

Jaycie is LOVING kindergarten, although she is soooo tired when she gets home, it has an added bonus though, now the kids go to bed at 7, so Jim and I can enjoy 2 hours of quiet together instead of 1.

We did get a dog finally. We named her Widget. She's very cute, and a little bit hyper sometimes. We decided to get some of the energy burned of the kids and the dog by going for a walk up behind Mancos. It's so beautiful up there! Some of the pictures turned out better than others, obviously. Whether it was the photographer (learning to use the new camera) or the kids not wanting to smile pretty. Oh well, it's not life or death right?

Oh, Brother!

Things here aren't cooling down any. It's hotter then, well, you know where! I'm glad we have the window unit, we've all been living in the kitchen.

The farmer's market is going well. I'm averaging more this year than I did last. I've also added a crocheted item to my booth this year. I've started making scrubbies, I sell them for $2 each if anyone wants one.

We were planning on going to Wyoming/Idaho for a week the first part of August, unfortunately, it turns out that we won't be able to go. We are hoping that we will be able to for Christmas.

I'm sorry no photos this time, but I hope to have some fun ones next week! We are going to Albuquerque for the night and staying at a hotel with a large water park. The girls can't wait, and honestly I can't either. I don't have to worry about how hot it is, or about sunburns.

June? It feels like August!

I can't believe that it is already the middle of JUNE!!!! Wow! Time sure is going by fast. The first weekend of June saw the first Farmer's Market of the year. It was super HOT! In the 90's, and for those of you that are in colder climates I would have willingly traded that weekend. I heated the house up baking for 2 solid days and Mom and Dad, who were visiting, thought they were going to melt. I know I felt that way!

Jaycie also had her first dance recital. She was so excited! She looked so cute in her costumes too!! Anyway, she did really well all the other little girls in her class were watching her to see what they were supposed to be doing. She was so happy that Grandpa and Grandma-grandma were able to come and see her dance.

Jim also started working out at the Ute Farm raking hay again. This means that he is now part vampire. He goes to bed around 5 pm and gets up around 2 am. This also means that at least half of the week I have to to shuffle little girls out of my bed if I want to sleep in it.

Hovenweep

Today we enjoyed the free National Park entrance week. We invited the Owens family to go with us to Hovenweep and we all had a good time hiking around and looking at the ruins.



The most excitement came with the siting of a large and colorful lizard.



Of course there were a few falls and scrapes. Both girls had a great time, Jaycie made a new friend in Hannah and Jim and I enjoyed getting to know Jessica and John better.

Sheep

Toward the end of January Trena took us out to see some new lambs. They were so cute!! The girls loved them, Saree hardly left Trena's side - Mom who? We couldn't keep Jaycie from picking them up either. Then we were supposed to go see some baby goats the next night, but we couldn't find them, I did get some awesome images of the mountains at sunset though!

Ice Fishing

I went ice fishing this morning, with no luck. I had one bite in 4 hours. After running a few errands, I took the girls up to another lake. Of course, when I take them fishing, they always get at least a few bites. We were there probably 2 and a half hours. They had several bites and they each caught a fish. Jaycie had fun sliding down a hill on her back. Saree stuck close to dad and had fun watching her sister slide down the hill.

The girls were afraid the fish that they caught were going to get cold flopping around in the snow. But they were excited about the idea of having fish for dinner. Sorry, but no pictures of our outing. The girls had fun, till it started getting cold and the snow started to fall.

Arches

Over Christmas break we went up to Moab. Off course the two days that we were there, it snowed. But it was still nice to go. We had fun up in the park, even though it wasn't the best of times do go.

While there in Moab, we took the girls bowlinng. Even though we were using bumpers, the girls both did really good. I think Jaycie bowled a 150 something, while Saree did well, and even wanted to do it by herself.

We hope everyone had a good Holiday season.

Christmas 2009

Christmas is here and we're all tired and cranky. Some of us more so than others. However, we enjoyed a wonderful meal on Christmas eve with Brother and Sister Honaker at their house, where we also were read the story of Christmas from the book of Luke. We got home and the girls went to bed as Santa was being tracked over New York City. This was about 9:30 or 10:00 last night. Jim and I made it into bed at about 1 this morning. The battery to our drill has died and so we can't get all the screws in on Jaycie's Santa gift (humongous doll house!) I knew it was big, but this is unreal. I'm not sure that we will be able to get it into the toy room. The girls woke us up at 6 this morning, hence all the cranky people in the house. I think the favorites so far are the baby doll and care set, the doll house, and the scooters from Papa and Grandma. Jaycie knows just how she's going to spend her Christmas money from Grandpa and Grandma-grandma (doll house furniture).

I was happy with the way the scrapbook turned out, for the most part. I hope everyone else likes it. Lisa gave us a Pizza stone with handles and I LOVE IT!!! Very excited. Jim and I decided not to really buy much for each other this year and wait until after the new year to buy a wii and wii fit plus for Christmas. I think that we're both excited for that. Especially since our insurance will pay for it.

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Jerry on Christmas Eve. I'm glad that he is at peace now and no longer in pain, but he will be missed by family and friends. Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this time.

Thanksgiving so far. . . .

Yesterday Jaycie's class had a Thanksgiving Program. Jaycie enjoyed this very much, she's never been shy about being the center of attention. They sang Albequerque was a Turkey (she's been practicing this at home and I have, consequently, been singing it myself. It's been stuck in my head for over a week now!) They also danced the Turkey Trot (Hokey Pokey but with Turkey parts). Then they fed us sandwiches, Jello jigglers, chips, and chocolate chip cookies.





In other news. . . We received a package for the girls' birthdays today from Mom and Dad - Thank you! I took the box in Jim and I's room to open and got the wrapped presents out, luckily I hid the the unwrapped one, because. . . .

Halloween 2009

This year both girls were butterflies. Luckily Jaycie doesn't seem to mind that whatever she wants to do/be so does Saree. They were both so cute, but I've since decided that I'm not going to put makeup on them for a while, they both acted like I was torturing them with the oil free Mary Kay eye makeup remover I was using. Give me a break!

Time Flies. . .

Well, things here are about to go back to normal? Whatever that is. I had surgery on my right hand for carpel tunnel release about 2 weeks ago and there is a huge difference in my hand! I can't believe how much better it feels. I had to take 2 weeks off from baby sitting and so I'll get my little guys back on Monday.

Jaycie and Saree are excited for Halloween to be butterflies. Jaycie will be purple and Saree will be pink. Jim is excited for hunting season, he hasn't had any luck yet, but hopes to have better luck tonight before his hunt closes.

We took the girls to the pipe people again, we were able to actually go in and walk around the "people". There were even some goats in there to eat the weeds and grass. The girls were fine with the goats until they started following us and then Saree had a little freak out.

We also were gifted an old Kimball piano. It's in rough shape, but it works! The girls have been busy "playing" on it and singing.

I've also been busy rescrapping some of Grandma Peterson's recipes. I wanted to download some photos, but the computer is being slow and I'm too impatient. More photos and such to follow.

New School Year

September has brought changes to the Hillstead household. Jaycie has started dance class (tap and ballet) and pre-school. She loves both. I'm now watching 2 little boys. Easton on MWF for 4 hours and Shawn M-Th for 4 hours. They are both good babies and Saree just loves and kisses on them till they are sick of her. Jim is now serving in the Young Mens - again. He loves it.

I've spent most of this month canning and freezing. I still have about 50 pounds of both apples and pears to take care of and I finnished freezing about 12 qts of corn, and canning about 7 qts of beans. Last night I finnished up the tomatoes and now have 13 qts of spaghetti sauce and 10 pints of salsa.

We are currently getting ready to go to Denver next week for a conference and I'm looking forward to getting together with Kris and her family.

Pre-school

Well, my baby is all registered for pre-school. She starts on August 30th. I can't believe she's almost 5!! Anyway, she's VERY excited for school to start and I get asked daily if tomorrow she goes to school. I think part of it is that I haven't let her wear any of her new clothes yet and she's really wanting to wear them. Saree still thinks that she is going too, I'm not looking forward to the day that she finally realizes that we will be leaving Jaycie at school and we will be going home, or somewhere.

Jim is back to school, this week is teacher prep week and the kids start on Monday. This year they are on the AB block system and only attend 4 days of the week, we'll see how it goes.



I've been saying that I would put this pic on the blog/facebook for a while now, so here is the redneck plumbing that was set up under the kitchen sink.

At the Beach

While visiting in Wyoming we drove over to Bear Lake where the kids had all kinds of fun. Jaycie definitely has no fear and just plunged in and started playing. It didn't take Saree very long to run in either.

Almost the end of the Summer

It's the dog days of Summer. Jim is still working out to the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation Farm and Ranch Enterprise for Peaks to Plain Haying company. He'll finish up with full-time employment for them around the 16th of August. School Starts for him the 17th of August.

We made it to Idaho and Wyoming for family reunions on both sides. All of Regan's family was in for a few days together. The girls got to see all their aunt's and Uncles and cousins on both sides. Jim's sisters were both in Star Valley. Cathy was able to make it for a few days.

8 Years

I can't believe that it has been 8 years since Jim and I got married! The time seems to have gone by so fast. I also can't believe that Jaycie is starting pre-school this fall.

Things here are still the same old same old. Jim is working for Peaks to Plains - they custom cut and bale hay here and in a couple of other states. Jim has been putting in alot of hours since he started his summer job. He has finally had some time off though, we figure he will probably have about a week and a half off or so before the craziness begins again. He has been working on the raking crew and works from about 2 am until about 10 am. This means he gets home, we have lunch and then instead of snack in the afternoon have dinner (for the girls) and then Jim goes to bed at about 5-5:30 and gets up at about 12:30. This is such a drastic change from our regular schedule it has taken a little adjustment and getting used to.

I'm really excited to go visit mom and dad in July. I can't wait to see Lisa and David and kids.

Memorial Day Weekend

Well, Mom is going to kill me, but we wore her out!! Here is a picture to prove it.
We went to Mesa Verde on Saturday May 25, and introduced Mom and Dad to the ruins at Spruce Tree House. Later we went for a drive toward Telluride, GORGEOUS!!

New Car

We bought a new car!! We got a screaming good deal on a 2007 Ford Explorer with the 3 rows of seats. The guy said that we couldn't have asked for another dime. In fact we're paying about the same for this as what we did for the Intrepid, so we can't complain.