A New Year

Today was an awesome day out at Ray and  Pat's house to play in the snow. Jill and the boys, and Ashley and her brood came. Mom and dad were there too. We played outside for awhile in the morning, went inside for potato and chicken noodle soup then went back outside for more fun. While we were outside, Pat was making homemade doughnuts. After everyone got cold, we went inside for doughnuts. Travis, Ray and mom went out to shoot a bit, then I went out to try out my new 22 that Travis got me for Christmas.

Pretty much the best possible way to start a new year.

The kids were eating snow off the ledge.

Marley was a very very happy dog. She was running in front of the four wheeler barking as if to say "come on, go faster!"

Even grandma Ann got in on the sledding. She was giggling like a little girl.

Ashley was doing the job of stopping the sledders at the bottom of the hill. She couldn't get mom stopped so she tackled her.

The cats hid up in the trees from Marley all day.

Ray "helping."

New Years Eve

New Years Eve started out with waking up to snow on the ground, a few inches. Travis told Amelia to go look outside. She went to the living room windows then came back into the bedroom and in an excited sort of whisper she said "Daddy, snow!"

I had to go into to work for a few hours and Travis had to work all day. This is what things looked like at the Big Well Museum, it was still snowing.

 We had TJ and Julie (and Jed and Zoe) and Allissa, Nate and Miriah over for supper and conversation to wrap up 2012. It was a nice evening with friends.

After they left, Trav & I opened a nice $5 bottle of champaign and had some cheetos. We rang in the new year together on the couch and I was falling asleep in the chair by 12:30.

Time Off

With how Christmas and New Years fell this year, I will have had a 10 day vacation from work and I only took 3 days of vacation. I have not accomplished as much as I thought I might, but I have gotten to spend more time with my kids, catch up on some housework (every stitch of laundry in the house completed for the first time ever), relax, and do nothing. Yesterday Travis didn't have to work and for the first time in a long time we were at home all day and didn't do much but play with the kids, watch movies, play at the park and hang out.

Friday Ashley and I took a "day off" and went to Wichita for the day. We ate some good food, did a little shopping and saw Les Miserables. It was another great day with my seester.