Walking in a Winter Wonderland

We woke up to a blanket of snow nearly 2 feet deep with no end in sight.  There is heavy snow in the forecast for the next 5 days in a row!  Here's the view around our place.  Perhaps later today, when the roads are plowed, I'll make it down to the cow's pasture where I'm praying that things aren't as nearly as bad. 

It appears as though the storm, which has knocked the power out 5 times already, has surged and fried my home computer. Not fun. The good news... my WiFi is still up and running so I'm typing this on my laptop until the official damage diagnosis is made. Boo Hoo.

The Catch-Up Post

Ah, It feels so nice to sit down and click the computer keys.  The snow is falling heavily outside my window, but inside, the house is toasty, clean, and all decorated for Christmas.  The kitchen smells of Peppermint Crunch Cookies, and the living room is a Christmas melody of aromas from the tree and holiday scented oils. Candles and twinkle lights flicker throughout the house, and beautiful Christmas music plays softly in the background. It feels so nice to take a break from the hustle and bustle outside. It's a great time to get caught up on my holiday blogging.

Thanksgiving was a blur as my dad and I prepared a feast for the whole family.  I baked Apple, Pecan, and Coconut Cream pies, and a few other goodies the day before. I also made Mom's traditional Amish Date Pudding recipe that comes from her side of the family. I started by baking a date cake, and then I pulled it apart in chunks and mixed it with whipped cream and bananas.  It may sound weird, but it's DELICIOUS, and there are rarely any left-overs.  On Thanksgiving day, we had turkey, smoked pork loin, ribs, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, Cranberry Celebration, deviled eggs, various other dishes, and for my dad's side of the family.... Hawaiian stuffing and white rice. Yum! I was on my feet for two days solid in preparation for this meal and it made me realize just how much my mother did to make the holidays special for everyone. Have I mentioned how terribly I miss that woman?

In fact, we used to hit the Black Friday sales together after Thanksgiving, but this year, I was so tired from taking over many of the Thanksgiving duties that I could barely keep my eyes open. My husband was a brave man and volunteered to shop with me since I've lost my Black Friday partner in crime. He went with me to Kohl's at midnight, but after that, I just couldn't go on any longer. We went back home to my dad's house to get a good sleep. We went to a few places in the afternoon at our leisure, but all in all, it was a light day of shopping.  It's alright, though. Let's face it... most of the things on my family's shopping list can be purchased at Western Drug or the Feed Store.  My family just isn't into gifts that can be found at the mall.

I also celebrated another year of life this week, although it seems like I've been celebrating all month long. (Not that I'm complaining, though.)  On Sunday night we had dinner and dessert at my in-law's place.  I know they love me because they fed me a pumpkin cake roll with pumpkin ice cream for dessert even though there were many pumpkin haters sitting at the dinner table. It was a real sacrifice. LOL!! On Monday, the kids made me a fireside breakfast, and my husband took us out for Mexican food that night.  He bought me a new 50mm lens for my camera. I also got an inexpensive remote control so that I don't have to run to the camera to set the timer,  and then run back to my spot and act like I'm not completely out of breath when the camera goes off for a family portrait.  Now we can just snap a picture with the click of a little remote button.

When it comes to birthdays, I used to get all wrapped up about my age and the numbers.  Not anymore. Now I savor each birthday and look forward to them. I've got a new attitude. The way I see it, I should be thankful for every day God gives me on this earth because there are no guarantees about tomorrow.

What a wonderful week it's been! I look forward to the up-coming holiday season, and a little break from the rigors of homeschooling.

Feeling too blessed to be stressed,

Nell

Tree Hunt 2011

This year's hunt for the perfect Christmas tree was short and sweet.  It took about a half an hour to find the tree aglow with radiant beams shining from heaven.  We heard the angels singing  the Hallelujah Chorus, and we knew we had found "the one".

Ready for a walk in the snow.

What I like to call the frozen Tundra.  Along the edge of the tree line on the north face of the mountain....that's where the real beauties are!

Do you see  the radiant beams from heaven?

The kids are saying, "Yep, that's the one!"

This year's tree is a Blue Spruce.

 We take the ceremonial hike back to the truck while dragging our trophy tree. I use the term "we" very loosely, here. My husband does all of the hard work while we supervise.

"Ta Da!"
 The perfect cowboy Christmas tree for our family!

Aunt Nell

Last Sunday at 6am, my cellphone rang. I finally got the call that I've been waiting for a decade to get...my sister in law was in labor, and I was about to be an aunt!!!! I have two precious nephews and a niece on my husbands's side of the family, but this was the first time that I was going to an aunt by my own brother! God has such perfect timing! Normally I would be at home, 3 1/2 hours away from Phoenix. But because I was at a condo in Scottsdale for my surprise birthday trip, I was staying a mere 5 minutes away from the hospital!!!! It was so convenient. God always has a perfect plan.

My dad and I sweated it out in the hospital waiting room all morning. We ate donuts, told jokes, talked politics, and made phone calls to pass the time. Then my brother came out with a proud papa grin and took us back to meet the newest love of his life.

Here I am with my beautiful niece, just an hour after she was born.

She was absolutely precious from the moment she arrived!

Here are the proud new parents, still amazed at the miracle of birth.  My sister in law did a wonderful job and had a smooth delivery. Baby G is healthy and sweet as could be.  The whole family got to hold her over the Thanksgiving holiday, and we all took turns sniffing her precious little baby head and admiring her kissable lips and button nose.  

Here she is at 5 days old.  GORGEOUS!  I'm so glad that I got to be a part of that special day, and share in the joy that new life brings with it.  It was the icing on the cake of a perfect weekend.

Congratulations to my brother and his beautiful wife. Now the hard work begins!


Basking in my new role,

Aunt Nellie

Girls' Road Trip!

When my friends showed up at my front door to kidnap me for a surprise birthday road trip...I had no idea where we were headed!  For a while, they had me believing we were headed for Mexico! I was so confused.

Here I am with a few of my friends before we hit the road.  Our final destination ended up being a lovely condo in Scottsdale. They had me faked out really good, and the surprises were still coming.  When we walked into the dark condo, they flipped the lights on and everything was decorated with balloons, and streamers.  Just then, out of nowhere, I caught a glimpse of our good friend Gina who lives in Texas!!!!  My friend Dawn found a way to fly Gina all the way out to Arizona for our special girls' weekend!  I was giddy with excitement!

Next, they told me to change my clothes for a night out on the town! Here we all are before the celebrating began.

The girls took me to a restaurant called "Cadillac Ranch" for dinner.  I had never been there before, and my friends had HUGE smiles on their faces when we arrived. I couldn't figure out what was so funny, but it didn't take long to see why they were laughing.

When we arrived at our table, we had a front row seat to THIS!!! A mechanical bull.  We cracked up as we watched people try to ride it throughout the evening....

And then....it was our turn!  That's right.  We threw caution to the wind, swallowed our pride, and every single one of us rode the bull! It was so funny that I nearly peed my pants! A bunch of mamas in our 30's and 40's conquered this mechanical beast for an 8 second ride! I almost died laughing!!! Not only did we ride the bull, but we also lived to tell about it.  The wipe outs were as funny as the bull rides! We've got it all archived on video so we can show it to future generations.

Here we are standing a little taller after crossing bull riding off of the bucket list. It was EPIC!! In fact, our bull ride was legendary.  Every time we tell the story it gets better and better! I still can't believe we did it. LOL!!!


After stopping for ice cream, we went back to the condo for a night of reliving our adventure and catching up with each other.  The next morning,  we geared up for a full day of bargain shopping. I can't ever remember having such a fun day spent with friends!  By dinner time we were totally drained.  We took our loot back to the condo, changed into our comfy clothes and spent the whole evening eating and chatting.  We had delicious Taco Soup for dinner, and my friend Missy made a heavenly Peppermint Cheesecake for dessert.  It was out of this world!

We stayed up until 3 am talking and laughing like school girls at a giant slumber party! It was such a sweet time of fellowship.

I am so blessed to call these ladies my friends.  They have been there to support me through some of my happiest moments and darkest days, and I can't imagine my life without them.  They spent months secretly organizing this very special weekend for me, and it was absolutely perfect! Every detail was lovingly thought of, and each of my friends made sacrifices to make this trip extra- special. Not only did these girls do a ton of  planning, but each of our husbands stayed back at home and took care of our kids. (All 23 of them!) They held down the home front so that we could have a fabulous weekend away. 3 cheers for the husbands!

As if all of this wasn't amazing enough,  God had one very special surprise left for me.  On Sunday morning, after only three hours of sleep, my cell phone rang....

To Be Continued!!!!

Surprise!!

My family got home from Phoenix really late Thursday night at nearly midnight, and my husband woke us up while it was still dark outside so that we could take care of some cattle business that morning.  I dragged my pokey rear-end out of bed and headed for the shower. My husband stopped me.  His famous last words were, "Don't bother with showering, the cows don't care. Let's just get out of here on time." (Remember these words.)

We drove over the mountain to take a look at some weaned calves. Then we drove out to state lease land to check on some bred cows, and take a look at a bull.  At the base of the tree-line, the forest opens up to this rugged, high plains landscape as far as the eye can see.  (I took all these pics with my iPhone because I was rushed out the door and forgot my camera.)

As luck would have it, the specific cows that we needed to check were not up loafing around the stock tanks with the rest of the herd.  They were down in this little rugged canyon... far, far away from me.  Do you see them above? They look like little black dots between the rocks.

Here's that picture blown WAY up below. Do you see two?

After gathering the little group out of the rocks, we looked at the rest of the herd, found the bull, and drove home.  We were wind whipped and cold, and it was lunch time.  I  prepared food for the family, and then settled into my chair by the wood stove to devour the pages of the newest Western Horseman Magazine that arrived in the mail before starting my afternoon chores. With a full belly and a warm fire, I quickly dozed off in the rocking chair.   

I  was jolted awake by the sounds of my husband saying the words, "They're here!!!!"

I looked at him with a puzzled expression and asked, "Who's here???"

We weren't expecting anyone.

"I think you'd better go answer the door!" he said.

I rubbed my sleepy eyes, still dazed from my cat nap.

When I opened the door, a bunch of my dearest friends stood there with party hats and said, "SURPRISE!!!!!"

I was flabbergasted."What in the world are you all doing here?"

They told me that they were kidnapping me for my surprise birthday road-trip! My instructions were to hurry and throw some clothes in a bag and prepare for warm days and cool nights.

I had NO idea where we were headed!

I said, "Wait! I haven't even had a shower today and I've been working cows all morning!"

"Too bad! We've got a schedule to keep and you'll have to get cleaned up later!" was the reply.

I gave the stink eye to my husband. "You mean you knew all of this was going to take place and you didn't let me take a shower? You didn't tell me to get dressed up? You didn't let me straighten the house up for visitors?"

He just laughed and said that he didn't want me to think there was anything awry or I'd get suspicious. Evidently, the whole thing was planned for months!


They threw a party hat on my head, snapped a picture, and loaded my bag.


I kissed my babies and husband in absolute shock about what was happening to me, and I was whisked away.

What I didn't know was that this was just the beginning of one WILD and  CRAZY adventure.....

To be Continued!

1st Annual Dessert for Dinner Night

The last five days have been a blur of activity!!! I'm going to have to blog about it over the next few days because there is just soooo much to share!

Last week we drove down to Phoenix to celebrate my mom's birthday.  As many of you know, my precious mother passed away this year, and the days and months to follow have been some of the most difficult of my life. I was determined not to sit around and feel sorrowful when her birthday came around, so I decided to start a new tradition with my family to honor her.  My mother was a passionate dessert lover with an insatiable sweet-tooth.  I decided that every year, on her birthday, we would go out and eat dessert for dinner!  Mom did this from time to time, herself. She would always say, "Why eat dinner and waste the calories when what I really crave is dessert?"

My kids LOVED the idea, and so we joined the rest of the family and went to The Cheesecake Factory for our first annual "Dessert for Dinner" celebration in Mom's honor.

I had a slice of this:

Pumpkin Cheesecake!

I even ordered a Dr. Pepper to go with it! Mom loved her Dr. Pepper.

The whole family spent the evening laughing, and talking around the table, and then we cruised around the mall to work off some of the calories. Mom would have loved this, and I hope to continue our annual "Dessert for Dinner" night for years to come!