Bring on February

    Here comes February and another great calendar photo! 

 

     And at Charlie's latest game she had the cutest fans in the stands!

Charlie’s biggest fans.

    Our cute neighbor returned from her mission in Mexico and they had a fun setup to celebrate her homecoming.

Greg and Charlie are ready to party.

    And here's photo evidence of Charlie playing basketball this season.

#32

 

    There you have it! Good-bye January, it's been interesting.

Final birthday fun

     Brock is all done celebrating his birthday and to begin his adventures as an adult he got his first speeding ticket this week. Welcome to adulthood, it's going to be fun!

Ice cream cake per his request.

    And Sunday afternoon we enjoyed a very unseasonably warm visit on the 'Sun-Porch' with our great neighbors. It was so warm it felt like a day at the beach so Sombreros were needed.

 

    We also had Charlie's first basketball game on Saturday that I have no photo evidence of. Her team is tall and did great for their first game together. I'll try to get photos at her next game. 

    Only a few days left in January and still no snow in the forecast, what is happening!? Anyway, next week I'll be dropping the 'calendar-photo' for February and you won't want to miss it!

Brock's official!

    First, a new set of gel nails! A perfect match to my water bottle and my way to manifest snow, we need a lot more snow.

 

    And it's official, Brock is legally an adult! How is that possible!? Brock requested to start his birthday opening his birthday gifts.
 

 

New footwear and his first firearm. Lets Go! 

    There is more birthday fun to come but this is all I've got today. In his future is a sushi lunch with Greg and cookies and cream ice cream cake with his whole family. Stay tuned!

2026 starting slow

     The first full week of 2026 has been pretty slow and simple. My only photo evidence from the whole week involves the cute Wendel girls. 

Marshmallow out of reach.

    I had a couple hours with these two cuties while mom got her hair cut. My only trick to keep them still and occupied is to convince them to let me do their hair. They were cooperative but Harley did not approve of my choice for her hair. Oh well, it'll have to do.

They're fun, silly and busy! 

    We did have a little winter weather that sent Greg out in the plow truck, but nothing too overwhelming. We also got back into the school schedule and my quiet hours alone at home are back! Now on to Brock's big birthday week.

Welcome 2026!

      I don’t know if there’s a better way to start 2026 than to start with this most spectacular calendar photo. 

You’re welcome!

    Dinner with the best neighbors in honor of Andy's final year in his 40's.

There's no better place to celebrate a birthday than Chubby’s.

    And another night with neighbors to reign in the New Year.

A good old fashion burn barrel is always a win. And not photographed were some great fireworks, courtesy of Andy, mostly.

   

    So long 2025, it's been fun. We gained a fantastic daughter-in-law, had a great time in Oregon celebrating Elle and Chakri's engagement and had so many great Sunday nights with neigbors eating home-made ice cream or drinking hot chocolate. There's so much more that was great in 2025, not least of which was finishing up our time/imprisonment at the elementary school but I'll keep this short. 

   

     We're excited to see what this year will bring. Mainly we're looking forward to Brock graduating in May and grand-baby #5 joining us in June. Anything else will be bonus! Bring it on 2026!

Christmas 2025 was a success

    We had a great Christmas and, as a precursor to the great Christmas, we had a fun visit with cute Reese. She's just the cutest! 

We love a Reese visit!

An early Christmas gift for me from my best “show-watching” buddy, Kason.

    Now on to the Christmas fun and photos, starting with Christmas Eve, which was small and simple.

Christmas Eve gift time.

Christmas morning lineup! It’s definitely getting smaller.

Starting with stockings. Plenty of candy, trinkets and socks.

Charlie had little to no surprises when it came to her Christmas gifts, but she was happy to be back with all her great purchases.

McClane is feeling pretty pleased with his Christmas haul.

Meet Brock, "The Welder". (This should be fun.)

And meet Carter, "The Drummer". (This should be even 'more' fun.)

A new coat and a little heavier weighted vest for me.

The hat Greg said he, 'NEEDED!" And a cool Sousvide tool/appliance/device.

The newlyweds opening their gift, an 'apple-play' device for their 'new' car.

Mark and Rio opening a few gifts from us, mostly small, but fun things. Not photographed, but my favorite gift, a t-shirt for Mark that says "I trip over my Wiener" with a cute picture of a wiener dog that looks just like their cute dog, Lou.

And Kayli happily opening a box of chocolates that led to an envelop of cash.

    And then the fun of watching these cute girls opening their gifts.

You’ve got to love Tanner filling in for Elliot who was done posing for photos.

The cutest drum players.

    Time for the sibling gift exchange. There were some psych-outs, missing gifts and silliness but overall everyone was happy. 

 A couple kids are going to have to wait for their gift, hence the middle finger display.

Let the 'FUN' begin!

    

    Now on to the New Year, 2025 is nearly a wrap!

Christmas boost

     From new nails to the cutest Christmas program, we're definitely getting in the Christmas spirit around here.

 

   This year it's Harley's turn to perform in the preschool Christmas program and perform she did. She was the star performer! She knew every song and dance move, and even made several of the announcements at the microphone & nailed it. She's the cutest!

The star of the show!

    And now on to Christmas, in 6 sleeps! (And I think we're ready.)