It's Been Soooo Long...WAY TOO LONG

I can't believe it's been 10 months since my last blog post! I know I've had lots going on in my life, I just haven't taken the time to blog about it. I've had some realities come to the surface this week and it's really made me think about what is important and what types of activities I spend my valuable time on. Time that is so precious! My sweet, young, neighbor is in a battle for her life and earlier this week she learned that her battle will most likely be ending soon. I tried to make my mind go to the place that she is in... What would I do? What would I want to say? What would I do in my short remainder of time? She has a 12 year old daughter, her only child... I have 2 daughters as well as 2 sons. How could I prepare them for my untimely departure? What would I want them to know and what would I want to spend my time doing? I almost can't bear to think about it because it is too sad and painful, but this is her reality. She doesn't have a choice! I do!!!

There is a Tim McGraw song called "Live Like You Were Dying", I've heard it 1000 times, but it hits very close to home now. I take so many things for granted in my day to day life... My health, the health of my kids, a loving husband, a family that lives close by, wonderful friends, the Gospel in my life, and so many other things. I am and have always been so very blessed! During this holiday season, especially this Thanksgiving holiday, take a few minutes and truly count your blessings, and then say a special prayer for those who need just a few more blessings in their lives!

Happy 1st Birthday!

Well, it's been a rough and expensive year with this puppy, but he made it! Besides all the illnesses, umbilical hernia, allergies, skin rashes, valley fever, numerous trips to the vet and animal hospital and the endless shedding....he really is a good dog! I love him lots! I went a bit overboard for his birthday and gave him some canned dog food on his dry food, gave him a big ham bone that I bought and a few dog treats, he loved it all...and then he puked! Now he has diarrhea! I guess you can have too much of a good thing. Lesson learned, next birthday he'll just get an extra long walk and maybe a trip to the dog park!

Stuck in my Christmas Bubble

I love all the anticipation and excitement that the Christmas season brings. Shopping for just the right gifts, wrapping, decorating the house, and non stop Christmas music. I love Christmas Eve traditions and being woken up early by anxious kids on Christmas morning. I love cooking and baking and family and friends. I love, love, love Christmas movies, the classics, the remakes, the Hallmark movies and the Lifetime Christmas movies too. So when it's over so quick, I can't help but feel a little sad. I like to spend the week after Christmas easing out of my Christmas bubble. Sort of a Christmas detox if you will. I can't just go cold turkey! I know there are some who as soon as Christmas is over, the tree comes down and decorations get boxed up. I just can't do it! I like the clutter of new gifts and toys strown all over the house for a few days. I still turn the Christmas lights on and keep the tree up until at least New Years. I'm still eating on the Christmas goodies that kind friends and neighbors dropped off. And...I'm still watching Christmas movies, some that I recorded on the dvr. Is it wrong to want to spread out my love of Christmas for a few more days? I think I enjoy my after Christmas bubble so much because all the stress is gone. The kids are playing with their new toys and gadgets, travel is over and we are home safe and I get to just sit and enjoy the lights and decor and movies and yes, even the mess! So...I'm going to stay in my Christmas bubble and I'll worry about the clean up next year! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Thanksgiving and Gingerbread

I hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving! Bailey made these cute little place markers for the table. The little turkey looked so much better than this, but I forgot to take even a single picture of our beautiful thanksgiving table. This is what the little turkey looks like 2 days later and after being handled lots.



Weren't we just sitting down to eat our big turkey dinner??? It's hard to believe that it was a week ago. I swear, the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas really does just fly by. Anywho.... my parents came to town for Thanksgiving. They got here on Wed. and left Saturday afternoon. We cooked way too much food, but we ate it for days afterwards. My mom and I went to Michael's at 5:00 pm on Thanksgiving to take advantage of their 25% deal. After purchasing our supplies, we were armed and ready to craft!

Over the next 2 days, we ate, we built gingerbread houses, we ate, we shopped, my mom made me a beautiful Christmas wreath for my front door while I ate, we watched movies, we ate, we went to the movies (we saw The Blindside, it was a great movie)and of course had popcorn there to eat... Can you say New Years Resolution?










As the weekend came to a close, I realized how much I had to be thankful for and I feel truly blessed to have all that I do!!!

Chile Day in New Mexico

Every other year my family gets together to make red enchilada sauce. The big CHILE DAY was last weekend. It's a day that everyone in the family looks forward to. We had about 30 families come this year. They came from all over NM, AZ, some from Dallas, and we even had some cousins that came all the way from Minnesota. This event, CHILE DAY, has been happening as long as I can remember. It began with my grandparents, their children, and all us kids. We gathered at the farm, under Dabaw's carport, with 1 big pot, blenders, colanders, and an old Colman camp stove. It has evolved through the years, the family has grown exponentially, we've moved the whole process to the onion shed, we've incorporated high speed drills and grinders and now use more modern, heavy duty, camp stoves. CHILE DAY is great, we get to visit and laugh all day long while we work. The younger kids are in kid heaven, they run thru the orchards, play in the dry ditches, build clubhouses and forts and have a blast all day long! It's a ton of work but well worth the effort. This year we ended up with a total of 210 gallons of red enchilada sauce!






Oh yeah...did I mention that we eat a fabulous lunch of red enchiladas with fresh red sauce, and every one brings side dishes and desserts and snacks! That's reason enough to go!

And once we get home we have enough enchilada sauce to last us 2 more years! This year, our family brought 6 gallons home. This is what it looks like now...