Happy New Year!

Santa brought a project...

Creative at minds at work/play!

Almost the whole fam-dam-ily!

We always try to squeeze everyone in front of the Christmas tree for our annual family portraits.

This year the weather was so nice on Christmas day that we were able to pose outside on our favorite boulder in my parents' yard.

I can remember playing on it when I was a kid and it seemed to be huge.  It must have shrunk over the years!

Extended Family Party

Today we celebrated Christmas with more of my family!  It was a crazy, fun-filled day with all of these great kiddos!!

And then, since the weather was mild again, we went outside so that we could get all of the adults in the picture too...

Oceanside at Christmastime

My sister's Tennessee daughter wanted to touch the ocean, and since the weather today was unseasonably warm, we decided to humor her.  We all piled into our cars and headed for the coast!

It was a great day, relaxing and exploring the rocky shoreline at Fort Williams Park (Portland Headlight) and Spring Point in Cape Elizabeth.

Merry Christmas from our kiddos!

Personalizing It

Out with the old, in with the new(to us)!

It's going to be hard squeezing a car payment into our already tight budget, but it comes with a sweet rig!  You have to take the bad with the good, right?  I searched and searched and finally found a 2010 Chevrolet Suburban with only 57,000 miles on it.  We really liked our old Suburban and it was a good reliable car right up until the last year.  I anticipate many great adventures with this one as well.  Welcome to the family!

How to embarrass your teen-aged son...

Post this absolutely adorable picture from his childhood on Facebook. 

Wasn't he just the cutest little cowboy?

Picture Perfect Conditions

Nordic Season Opener @ Sugarloaf Outdoor Center

Me & my Boyz

Frozen

At least he admits it...

Seriously?!

There's an eighth of a tank left...that's plenty!

Tonight we said good-bye to the ol' girl.

A Beautiful Afternoon for Skiing in Our Woods

Meet the newest member of our family, Uno!

How to choose?

The girls decided to pool their money together and buy a Betta fish.  Now they have to decide which fish to bring home!

 

Movie Night

This evening at dinner we were discussing actors and the name, Bruce Willis, was mentioned.  My boys didn't know who he was!  This must be remedied as soon as possible.

This one's for me!

Goofy Girls

Moody Brook

Bringing the tree home...

Christmas tree hunters!

Memories

Mom found a picture of the old pung in use!

Mom & Nell

Mom promised to find a picture of her with Nell, the horse who wore the bridle we found this fall.  She also wants everyone to know that Nell was a sweet old girl and would never have worn that vicious bit.  Her bit was a flat snaffle.

What a great old picture of my mother who was really cute and her big, beautiful mare!

No School Today

This morning we didn't get the notice that school had been cancelled until after I had woken both boys up.  One of them grumbled and went stumbling back to bed, but his little brother said, "That's okay, Mom.  I'll make you pancakes!"

"Have they noticed yet?"

It's not quite big enough, but Amber has started making herself comfortable on one of the kiddos bean-bag chairs!

Visiting the newest member of the Yak family.

Late Afternoon Ski

Waiting for the Oxford Hills Christmas Parade...

Let the season begin!

Snowpiles + Sleds = Big Smiles

Happy Thanksgiving!

From our family to yours...

Can...not...wait!

Prizes

A cowbell is perfect for driving my kiddos crazy!

Always Best Buds

Dryland Biathlon @ Roberts Farm Preserve

This morning the girls and I ran in our first dryland biathlon.  I figured I should learn how to do the sport before I added the confusion of skiing.  And we all placed!  The girls were 1st and 2nd girls, and I was 2nd adult female.  The trails were tough, which made the shooting such a challenge because of breathing hard from running up those hills.  We had a great time.  It was such a fun way to spend the morning with family and friends!  

Stitching Time

Drake has new friends!

Sharing Secrets

Under the Mistletoe

They're destroying the target!

Home Sweet Home

One of my step-daughters made this huge, colorful diagram of our home. She and her dad worked together to make a frame for it so that she can hang it on her wall. It dominates the room and is the first thing that you see when you walk through the door.  Walking through that door and seeing this makes me smile every time.

Dad's next project?

Yup.

It snowed overnight.
Amber and the kiddos couldn't wait to play in it!

Dreary, but fun run...