A Chistmas Story (kind of) (ok, not so much)

It was a little later than I intended when I went out to feed the horses this morning.  It was still  beautiful out, but it was getting pretty light, and the fog was already starting to lift.

We don't normally have frost here, so I noticed the frozen dew right away as the lawn crunched when I walked across it. The cold tempratures and humidity from several days of rain had coated everything in a beautiful layer of Christmas morning white.

 The gate was frozen, not solid, but just enough to keep the latch from easily lifting. And when I looked down to open it, I noticed that it wasn't just the lawn that had frosted.

I ran back in the house to grab my camera.

 I was so surpirsed at all the spider webs.

 Kristy and I tried all summer to get good pictures of spider webs.

 I often complain that there isn't anything pretty enough to take pictures of  during the winter in the desert. And then Christmas morning I get this.

Merry Christmas!

Confessions via text

Me:  I like Marshmallows

Alivia: Me to

Me: And hot Chocolate.

Alivia: And eggnog.

Me: And strawberry jam.

Alivia: And you.

Me: :)

Weekend Celebration

I cant think of anything to blog about today.

So how about if I just post some pictures from our weekend in St. George where we celebrated Chad's moms 70th birthday.

click on picture to enlarge.

Me with Urainna and Mackenzie

Shelby

Amanda

Athena

 

 We had a great time and Mom was so surprised and happy.

***I have more pictures to post, but blogger just told me I am out of space. I wasn't expecting that and am not sure how to fix it. So when I figure it out, I'll get some more up.

Missing her

I have a story to tell. One that I haven't been ready to tell yet. Until yesterday, when I wrote about the change in our back yard.  It's not the yard I want to talk about though. It's this girl:

 My sweet Alley!

We had to put her down late one night in August of 2009. Her health had been going down hill for a a long time. She was starting to have a hard time walking. Her hips were just getting too old to support her. And finally, in the end, she just couldn't walk. She was in a lot of pain and we knew what we had to do.

Alley was a giver, she wanted nothing more than to please us. And she did. She was a very kind and loyal member of our family.

 One afternoon, we found Alley outside unable to move her hind end. She just laid there looking at us with the same loving eyes that she always had. We were very scared and upset and weren't sure what to do. We put her on a blanket and carried her inside where we gave her an asprin. In no time at all, she was up and wagging her tail and following us around the house like normal. We thought maybe she had pinched a nerve or something and the asprin relieved the pain enough to heal. Then, by the following Sunday night, it happened again. This time though she was in a lot of pain. She could not move her back legs at all. She tried to get up and just couldn't do it. We couldn't watch her suffer like that so we called the vet.

 Our vet lives in Las Vegas and tried to talk us into waiting until morning. But we just couldn't do it. She was in too much pain. Finally, he agreed to come.

 We called Anthony and Kaylynn and they both met us at the vets office to say goodbye. Chad and I were holding her as she went to sleep.

 We miss our Alley so much. I heard some strange noises in the kitchen the other night. Chad told me it was Alley. I believe him.

Change

It's everywhere. We can't get away from it. Even things that stay the same...change.

I really noticed it in this picture of our back yard on Thanksgiving in 2008. There was no grass, just dirt. Also, you can't see in the picture, but our beloved Alley was back there, somewhere.

 The most noticeable change in this picture that I took today, is the grass. We finally got it to come in this summer. It still has weeds and bare spots, but it's grass. The shrubs have also grown a lot since 2008. We have 3 trees back there along the fence now. We didn't plant them, the shrubs did. We noticed them sprouting up in the spring of last year. They are kind of hard to see right now because all the leaves have fallen off for the winter. But they're there. And you wouldn't know it from this picture, but our beloved Alley is not back there...anywhere.

 By the way...Now that it's been pointed out to me. I'm going to try to change the path I walk every morning to feed the horses. I'm still sleeping that early. What can I say?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I love fog and I was hoping to wake up to a Thanksgiving morning like this one in 2008. It was so peaceful and beautiful. Something about the quietness of this foggy morning is etched in my memory. I remember the stillness of this morning like it was yesterday. There were no sounds, the chickens wern't crowing, dogs were not barking, no cars zooming down the street. Everything was still. Even the fog seemed to be content just lying quitely. 

Oh what a beautiful morning. One to be truly thankful for.

This is our turkey from 2007. Mmmmmmm...I can smell it now. Oh wait, that might be the one in the oven that I can smell.

Either way, in just a few hours, my house will look similar to this 2007 Thanksgiving day. And I'll be patiently waiting for my family to get here.

I am so grateful today, and every day, for all I have been blessed with.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sealed For Time and Eternity

November 4, 2010 - Las Vegas, NV Temple

A NOUN’S the name of any thing;
As school or garden, hoop, or swing.

ADJECTIVES tell the kind of noun;
As great, small, pretty, white, or brown.

Three small words we often see
Are ARTICLES - a, an, and the.

In place of nouns the PRONOUNS stand;
John’s head, his face, my arm, your hand.

VERBS tell of something being done;
As read, write, spell, sing, jump, or run.

How things are done the ADVERBS tell;
As slowly, quickly, ill, or well.

They also tell us where and when;
As here, and there, and now, and then.

A PREPOSITION stands before
A NOUN; as in or through a door.

CONJUNCTIONS sentences unite;
As kittens scratch and puppies bite.

The INTERJECTION cries out “Hark!
I need an exclamation mark!”

–Author unknown

If you've seen one...

Kaylynn sent me another picture of a tarantula yesterday.

And I'm not putting it on my blog.

I can't.

Because when you've seen one tarantula, you've seen them all. And I'm tired of bugs.


 well, except...for this one.

 I love and miss this one.VERY MUCH!

This is Baily Bug.

 And she likes Popsicles.

Orange and red ones.

.

And by the looks of things...they like her too!

Trunk or Treat

Have you ever wondered what Zombies do when they are not out looking for brains?

They watch TV. Just like normal people.

We went to the church tonight for "Trunk or Treat"

We decorated our trunk...and then gave treats. haha.

It was fun. On the way home, Chad asked me if I remembered that Halloween twenty some odd years ago when his Mom and Dad dressed up and went around to the front of our house to scare the kids. He said he was thinking about that today as he was getting ready, about how he thought his parents were weird and that they should grow up.
"And here we are." I said.
"Yep" he said, "here we are!"

Happy Halloween!!

The Story (sorry, It's a long one)

We lived in the Nevada desert for over 15 years before we ever saw a  tarantula. The first one was this spring when we were planting oleanders. The story of it is here. We spent most of the summer digging up holes in the yard hoping/not hoping to find another.  Until late one night, a few months ago, CJ went outside and found one on the porch. ON OUR PORCH.
The next day, he loaded up the kids and the tarantula for a drive to the desert so they could release him back into the wild. Kristy wrote about that day here,  on her blog.

A few weeks ago, Kaylynn's kids told me that they found a  tarantula up at the race track. It was squished! Someone had run it over (by accident I'm sure).

Chad's picture of tarantula

But he wasn't the only one,  Chad told me where I could find yet another one. This one was alive though,  He found it in one of the concession stands up front and took outside so the tarantula could find more suitable lodging for the winter.







So all of this brings me to today, when I got this picture text message from Kaylynn:

Text from Kaylynn

 Me: haha...where did that come from:
 Kaylynn: On the road by Home Depot
 Me: You stopped to picture him? (Preston's saying)
 Kaylynn: Ya, I made Marvin turn around. He was more daring to get closer than me.
 Me: LOL. He could have got a little closer. I want to see the details of his legs. LOL.

 And then I took my phone into the Business office to show Debbie. She thought it was so cute and told me he should have caught him to give to her.  I called her crazy and went back to my office. And then I got this text.

 Kaylynn: He said he will (go) back and get it and bring it to you if want.
 Me: Okay. Then I can take pictures with my good camera. :) Haha.

 And I think he is just teasing me, then she says:

Kaylynn: OK. See you in a bit.
Me: (uh) lol. I don't have my camera. It's at home.
Kaylynn: We will put it in a coffee can.
Kaylynn: With a lid on it.
Me: You don't have to bring it.
Kaylynn: We are on our way.

CRAP!  Now what do I do?  Debbie!


 Debbie was way more happy than I was when I told her Kaylynn was bringing her the spider. I wanted pictures, but not bad enough to have it in my office. Even if it was in a coffee can.

Matt from work took this picture

Anthony got close enough to take this one.

 

 Debbie is not afraid,. She was in love. And this is where the ruckus in the office started. Debbie posed, while we screamed and took pictures.  Just another day at the office!


edited to say: Debbie took the spider with her to lunch and then left it with her husband. He wanted to let it go. She said he wasn't to thrilled. haha.

Causing a stir

Picture sent to me today from Marvin

this "little" thing is causing quite the ruckus in my office today.

I'll give you the story when I get home from work tonight.

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Constants

Zachary will always hide his face from me when I try to take his picture.
 (that's road rash on his forehead)

The Nevada sky will always be beautiful... sometimes more beautiful than words can describe.

Dandelions will always fascinate me... even if they are just weeds.

My blog will always be a place for me to go...even if I lack inspiration.

Christophers Turn

Christopher had the camera yesterday at the track.

 He was especially proud of the pictures of my jeep.  He made it climb a hill, then kicked it into 4wheel drive to bring it back down...according to him.

Oh, and the one in the center. Of course.