February 16th - Judy's day

Traditionally, February 16th has been a day of great celebration for my family. Not only is it my Mom's birthday but it is my parents anniversary. This year my mom would have turned 62 and celebrated a 34th wedding anniversary. How strange and sad it will be not to have her here with us this year. To say I miss her everyday would be an understatement. In rememberance of my mom and her special day, I share these pictures with you.

Every girl wants a pony. My mom was no exception. She loved this childhood picture.

Class of 1963 from El Dorado High School. I graduated exactly 30 years later from the same school.

This is the only time I have seen my Dad without a beard. Apparently my mom was attracted to the used car saleman look. They were married in their Apple Hill home at Boa Vista Orhards on Febraury 16, 1974.

Ah...the seventies..... notice my mom's recent Dorothy Hamill do. My dad considered it a don't... My brothers Kenny and Kevin look especially dapper with their winged suits.... Get ready for take off!!

I love that my parents LOVED each other. How lucky I am to have these two as my mom and dad.

Five reasons to keep her memory alive.... Macy, Niklas, Jack, Ava,and Anya. I hope we can help them understand what a wonderful lady Grandma Judy was!!!

Excuse: Cabin Fever

Yet another snow day.. I would say we have a good 2-3 three feet piled up outside. I resorted to indoor activities.... (insert villianous laugh here...)

Macy has been plagued with a major snot nose for the past few days. Unsticking her long hair from the goo was getting old.. so yes I thought I would cut her hair, and no I have not had any formal cosmotology training. (My friend Alison could bear witness to this as I gave her an Ogilvie home perm ONCE.... I think her hair has almost rebounded from that lapse in judgment.) Well I am sure today's haircur will trainslate into many hours of therapy for my daughter down the road. The good news is it will grow back. I must say that her hair has looked worse after a home hair cut. Great Clips has nothing on me!

Pray for her as she is stuck with us for at least 16 more years. Can't wait until my husband comes home on Friday!

Smiling because she hasn't looked in the mirror yet!!!

More Snow

Another snow day..another date with the shovel. The charm is wearing off. At least Jack likes it! This makes three days we will be making up!!!

Here's what we woke up to this morning... Winter &#@*$%^ Wonderland. It's so beautiful.

A happy boy!!!!

SNOW DAY

Perhaps the best sound you can hear at 5:30 in the morning is the phone..that is when it is Pinewood School calling to tell you school is cancelled for the day. YIPPEE!! I really appreciated the 3 hours of extra sleep. And yes I do realize I will be whining about making this day up at the end of the school year. Jack and Macy wasted no time jumping into their winter wardrobes. While Macy lasted a mere 30 minutes, Jack is still going strong at the 4 hour mark. I am anticipating a hot chocolate break soon. With Bob out of town, I have developed a new love affair with the shovel. We seem to spend a lot of time together. Bob has spoiled me in that I have not had to shovel snow for many years. I found it is just like riding a bike....you never forget...it still sucks. I am sure I will be finding the Aleve bottle soon!

Macy the Marshmallow Girl enjoying the snow

Jack and our neighbor enjoying Mt. Marjorie. Living at the bottom of the court we have the pleasure of having all the snow on the entire road pushed in front of our yard. It usually takes several months to melt. The kids love it!!!

The work of the Shovel master. Please hold your applause. Note the road has yet to be plowed.

Meanwhile back in the house... Old Man Humo is enjoying some time away from the two year old.

All About Bob

I thought I'd take the opportunity to share a little bit of Bob with our viewers out there. Charismatic? Witty? Funny? Insane? You be the judge...

He is a great "Ski" partner. Here he is in all his glory with his friend Patrick during a strenuous day at Sierra-at-Tahoe. Not many people can (or want to) pull off a hat like this!

Did I tell you he snowboards too?

Catching a wave.....Cowabrrrrrunga dude!

I appreciate the fact that he can get in touch with his feminine side.

Even other men find him irresistible!

All I can say is to know him is to love him!

Sorry folks he is taken! : )

Thank you Santa and Bunka

Well, the presents have been opened and the Egg Nog is gone... another Christmas to add to the memory book. Jack is enjoying his boxes of Legos and Macy LOVES her Care Bears. I am still anxiously waiting for Bob to find that bag he hid... My dad (AKA Bunka) came in handy this year for helping put together all the toys that came with 100+ pieces and directions written in everything but English.

Butch with his assistant... for those of you who know my Dad you know this process involved a couple "God Damn It" outbursts.

BUT... it was all worth this smile!

OKAY ...WHAT DOES THIS LOOK LIKE?

A Blue Bear with purple balls...a bit confusing really.

Am I traumatizing my child?

I'm dreaming of a white day after Christmas. We get a bit excited for the first snow... even if it is 10:00 p.m. Who needs a bedtime?

Odds and Ends

I am so excited it is Christmas Eve. I finished and submitted my research project last night. It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Since my next course doesn't start for another week I feel like I can enjoy the rest of my vacation. My dad is here for a few days and for this I am truly grateful. Bob has spent the last two days on a scavenger hunt of sorts. It seems he bought my Christmas presents about a month ago and he can't remember where he hid them. Happy hunting to him. On another note, we put our train up around the tree two nights ago and Jack has been in the engineer seat ever since. He has train brain in a bad way. As for Macy... I'm beginning to wonder...

Macy has spent the last three days in her Halloween costume... She is taking this Care Bear thing too far!

Another unusual occurrence this week is we had date night.

Bob and I went to the Nutcracker with a group of friends. The only way we pulled it off was by going to Tapas before hand and drinking LOTS of beer. The husbands were good to go after this. I must say, seeing the Nutcracker with a little bit of a buzz was highly entertaining. Afterwards we went to a Tacky Christmas Sweater Party. Sorry I did not get any pictures of this. Let's just say I am glad Bob will never see any of those people again. I definitely will be having one of those parties some holiday season- great fun.

Evidently, Bob and I never dress up... George (Bob's dad) took several pictures of us before we left. You would have thought we were going to prom (alas no corsage). Another clue that we never dress up is the fact that I had to Google "How to tie a tie" in order to get Bob ready.

Still to come... Christmas morning pics of the infamous Purple Care Bear!