I love the month of December. It's been an interesting one too! It's been so warm up until this last week when it suddenly plunged into single digits. But up until then I was still hiking weekly and taking my kids with me... that's how warm it was! Ok well, we did have rosy cheeks by the end.
Chad came home with Duke about a month ago and that dog is so smart! Well ok, sometimes I tell him otherwise, but he is learning really fast. We've been trying hard to train him on a leash and off and he's coming along. With the help of a really cool vibrating shock collar. Sounds mean I know, but I've actually only shocked him twice on low voltage. He responds really positively to the vibration... thank goodness.
I turned 30 this month! Aiyaiyai... yaiyai! Really, it was weird. I just don't feel like that much time has passed. Especially the last 10 years! I believe the earth may be in cahoots against us and is actually revolving at a faster pace. Maybe.
We went to a Christmas party the night of my birthday and had some of the yummiest food! And then we built little candy trains with the kids... which is such a better idea than gingerbread houses! We've done those in the past and the kids just can't help as much cuz you're so focused on keeping the things standing that it turns into more of an adult activity. This was for the kids and Jaedyn was so proud of hers. Wish I'd gotten a picture of it. I've just been such a slacker at the blog that picture taking hasn't been on my mind.
We've taken Jaedyn out a few times to do some shopping for others for the holidays. She likes to hit the toy section. Each time we've been out she has to touch and hold and rock every toy in the department before she'll decide on one. We've been trying to teach her to keep others in mind with her shopping. We'll ask, "is this something you think so and so will like?" and thoughtfully she'll either discard it or pop it in the cart. So it was pretty cute when she ended up giving me a birthday present she picked out. I unwrapped it to find a little baby doll. Hope everyone enjoys their Jaedyn specials this year! They were selected with much care and love... and mostly with you in mind!
Check out this little humdinger that Chad got me! Woo hoo!
It's been so much fun! Well really, there's quite the learning curve to it and I'm definitely still learning it! Helen and I tried to take it out on a run the next morning but 6 minutes into the run we were both crying and whining. It actually was 11 degrees out with a slight breeze. We ended up on the treadmill and stationary bike... lame. And the rest of the week told the same story. So Saturday we decided we'd attempt it a little later in the day and hit the mountains with our snowshoes in the afternoon this time. (I have to insert at this point that Chad hit a garage sale in the spring and got me a pair of snow shoes for 10 bucks! Cha-ching! They work awesome!)
Here we are, happy to finally be outdoors.
Helen and Heather with their dad
Registering my first official Garmin adventure... and hoping to find some grouse :)
The trail was beautiful and serene. We were the first one's breaking trail since the snowfall. Duke had the time of his life bounding like a deer and pretending to try and scare up some birds.
And as one final Decembering... Chad was up reading late on Saturday night when he heard a loud bang. He ran to the window to see a car full of jolly folks taking a baseball bat to our mailbox! Dirty buggers. They demolished the thing. The next morning to our chagrin there it sat in the snow in 4 pieces. Harumph. So I took Jaedyn out to see it. What a great teaching opportunity. We discussed their choices and decided to say a prayer for them... you know, help them make better choices and feel the Spirit working in their lives... that kind of stuff. The interesting thing was that after this, probably not a lot changed with our little visitors... but my attitude sure did! I'm actually grateful for the teaching opportunity.
And grateful for my fix-it man! I have a freshly fixed and duct taped mailbox :)
