Christmas 2008

I am back! Things have been way too busy till now to update the blog. Much has happened since Thanksgiving. Ben and Kortney and Kennady moved in with us till April. Christmas came and went. Kendra got engaged and is planning on getting married in April. Work has been a zoo till now. And I was sick for about a month. That's about it.... Now pictures to tell the story... This is Christmas. Kevin is back from Canada and is working nights on the Springfield store. He and Ben are Chowing down in this picture.

Here is Kennady in the Christmas dress I made her for her first Christmas. (I had time to sew while in Idaho in October) Kennady is a wonderful baby and totally loves her Grandpa. she likes to smile at her grandparents and is so cute that we drop everything when she smiles and talk to her!!

Uncle Dustin loves little Kennady too! We have a new pet at our house till Kendra comes to take him home.

Did I mention Kevin turned 50!!! Isn't he handsome!

Dustin and I decked the house out with lights this year. They stayed up till mid January.

Now it is almost February and things should get back to somewhat normal. We are preparing for a wedding and also getting ready for Dustin to leave on his mission. Never a dull moment!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving was great! Everyone should consider going to Texas for Thanksgiving. It was near 80 and sunny, then slight overcast. No wind- Just beautiful!!! The Ellis clan was partially in attendance and we were able to enjoy our meal outside at Grandma and Grandpas house.

There were some cousins there, and many missing as well. We missed you!

Here is the entire crowd including Great Grandchildren. (and the dogs- one is not pictured-there were 3 dogs in attendance. I should've brought a cat or two!)

Here is Dustin and Sean. Sean will be leaving on his mission in January. This is the before mission picture-


This is Matt- I told him I would post this one! I am not sure he believed me!!! Silly Boy!

This is Jeff and I!! Since he said I was the favorite Aunt and asked for a picture- then I will give him the status of Favorite Nephew for the moment until I am bribed accordingly!

Here is Tina and her two lovely Grandbabies. She really doesn't look like a Grandma!We had a wonderful time and I took a billion pictures.

Randomness

The weather is getting colder and that makes me happy! I know that is silly, but it is my favorite time of the year! with Thanksgiving and Christmas so close together, we get more days off work than usual. I need days off work!! 3 weeks away from my office ruined me. Kennady was about 6 hours off and we stayed up till after midnight and slept in till after 9 or so. Coming back to getting up at 6:30 really messes with you, and I haven't caught back up on my sleeping pattern yet. I also have no patience for new students. Here is a picture of my co-workers and me.

The guy in the green shirt is Rob- he's my boss that I got to hire. (long story) His wife had a baby a few days before Kennady was born. Carol is in the lavender- she and I work in the same room and I see her more than anyone else. We have become very good friends. The Skinny girl is the new part time help we hired and we dont actually see much of her. the guy in the white shirt is our full time Math teacher who moved here from Chicago with a wierd accent and odd personality. and Linda is the lady in pink. GED teacher and very nice!

Now about my wonderful sisters! Donna and Diana. They are the best and I am luicky to have great sisters. We have one more sister -Dacia. They are both very smart and very pretty and very nice. They both live near and we get to see each other often. Sisters make the best friends!

One time when I was about two, my baby sister Donna (14 months younger than I) was wet (back in the pre-pamper days). I decided to be a big help to my mother who was napping in her room. So I took the baby out to the garage where the washer and dryer were and put the baby in the dryer and climbed up on top of the dryer and turned it on and then went into the house to tell my mother of my good deed. When I told her that I had put the wet baby in the dryer to dry it, She screamed and jumped up and ran out to the garage and pulled a screaming baby out of the dryer. She then drug me back into the house, shoved me into my bedroom and slammed the door. I don't know why she was so upset?! Needless to say, She and I both lived to a ripe old age!

Well- not much else going on in my world yet. We head to Texas for Thanksgiving next week and I am very excited about that. Chad and Christine and Delila are moving to Colorado after Thanksgiving so Chad can attend gunsmithing school. Kortney and Ben and Kennady are moving to Missouri in December!!!! Dustin and his father wrestled last night. it was a pretty close match! scared the cats!

Update on Pictures.

Well, I somehow managed to download my pictures and decided to make a new post before the onslaught of students hit my door next week when we begin registration. SO....

First- Owen Lee! he left on his mission to Romania. He is Dustin's buddy that he hunts skunks with (and other activities that I may not be aware of) We will miss him and we are proud of him!

Now on to Idaho trip and my Grandpuppy Indie. Kendra and Nathan have a lovely puppy named Indie. Nathan also has a lovely red truck!

Now on to Kennady! more pictures!!My Girls!!! (aren't they wonderful!!)

My Boys!! (nothing like a good hairy leg contest!)

Catching Up!

I hate posting without new pictures, but It's been too long. I have been on quite an adventure for the past month and now it is time to get back to the real world. (Bummer!) Three weeks in Idaho were lovely and the new Grand baby is delightful. Little Kennady is a very good baby and her Grandma misses her terribly. I have started the countdown till they arrive in Missouri in December. I took probably well over 300 pictures while there. (and video). I will post more later, and that leads me to the next part of this dialog.

Back at work... we are currently under construction and I have been dislocated temporarily out of my office with MY computer. This computer is not cooperative and I am unable to download new pictures. Next week I get move move back into my nice and newly remodeled office! (maybe pictures!) I have not got caught up on sleep yet, nor gotten my house back in the condition that I prefer. My cats have been happy that I have come back home again and they can go off that terrible diet that Dustin put them on (forgetting to feed them diet!) Dustin seems very happy to get his Mommy back as well., or should I say MAID? He misses his buddy Owen who left for a mission last week. no more skunk catching I guess.

The leaves are all almost off the trees and the yard is a mess. The one picture is what the trees have looked like till this past weekend. Kevin will be home for awhile, so poor guy will have quite the "Honey do" list this time around. That is about it for now- tune in next week for the next episode!

Kennady!

Sorry for the break in my posting- I have been keeping really busy being a new grandma! Go to Kortneys blog for more pictures. I will post some good stuff when I get back to Missouri in November. Kennady is a very wonderful baby and of course the cutest thing ever! I have been totally enjoying the whole experience of it all. I love the cool Idaho weather- wish it would snow. I will have a hard time adjusting back to work and home later! I do miss Dustin and Kevin tho!

My 8 Quirks...

So Jeff tagged me on this one- here goes..

1. I too have sleep quirks. After I go to sleep I wake up usually very sudden about an hour after I fall asleep- wide awake. If I try to just lay there, I cannot go back to sleep, but I have found that if I get out of bed and turn around in a circle twice and get back into bed, I can instantly fall back asleep!(I think I learned that from my cats!)

2. I have wonderful long and interesting, out loud 2 way conversations with myself all the time. If I am trying to make a decision about a two sided issue, we (that's me and myself) have a nice chat, and one side usually is right.

3. I have to sit and park in the same places every time. At Church, at work and even at the grocery store. It makes me crazy if someone parks in "my spot" and if some one is sitting at my desk, or in "my spot" at church, I can hardly stand it. This quirk is a major one!

4. I love to sit somewhere very high and watch people walking below, not knowing that i am above watching them! When I was young, my favorite perch was the tops of trees. I would climb as high in a tree as I could and quietly sit up there for hours just watching people come and go and sometimes even looking for me.

One of my very favorite high spots is at the City Museum in St. Louis! http://www.citymuseum.org/

5. Cat conversations! My cats and I talk to each other all the time. They are very intelligent (well, two of them are) and they always entertain me with their ideas. The language is called Meowineese. They don't usually talk with other people, but occasionally do.

This one is Snoopers. He is old and not very smart. He gets his haircut twice a year.This one is Stupidcat. Don't let his name fool you! He is actually very smart!

And this is Anonymous! She carries on the most conversation and is my dear friend.

Ok, now you can tell that Quirk #5 is tied very closely to #6.

6. I am a cat lover! nuf said.

7.I love SNOW!!! It makes me giddy and happy and cheerful! I love to sled in the snow. Yup! even at MY age! I will Never outgrow that one. Skiing too! and making snow angels and building snow forts and good snowball fights! I really like driving in snow storms and catching big snowflakes on my tongue. I am the first one outside if it snows. I eat off of snowman plates year round and wear my snowman earrings year round. You can never get too much snow I say! ( I realize that Kortney may not agree with me on that one!)

8. Water! I love to swim- anytime anywhere!Sometimes I combine #7 and #8! and get a neat sweatshirt for the effort!

Now I tag Kortney!!