The Big Storm in December (12/7/09)

We got a whopper of a snow storm in December...it even snowed in Sacramento!! It was crazy...people were without power for several days; lots of people for a whole week or more. We drove down to Placerville that night and pretty much Walmart was the only business with power...all the restaurants lost power, even the stoplights were blacked out. It was kind of creepy, like a ghost town! When I went to work the next day(in Diamond Springs), it looked like a war zone...everything covered in snow, with broken branches everywhere...on the freeway, on the side streets, all over the fields. Fortunately, we never lost power at our house...I think our trees are able to withstand the weight of the snow better, since we usually get quite a bit each winter.


Outside the front door...and Georgia is freezing here, if you can't tell!


The snow accumulation on our deck in the morning, with it continuing to snow the rest of the day.


Warren after being thrown into the snow.

At the In-Laws, sledding down the driveway. You can see it is still snowing...it is covering Georgia's hat.

Getting a path made.

Warren ready to go...

Here he goes...

The icicles off the roof the next day.

And...when it finally stops snowing, I get to shovel all of these stairs so we can come and go with ease!!

Cutting Down the Christmas Tree (12/5/09)

This year, like years in the past, we went to Harris Tree Farm for our tree. It took all of 5 minutes to find the perfect tree...

This is the one!!


Peter and the kids with our freshly cut tree.


Decorating the tree....with Georgia, of course, being bossy to Warren, who really doesn't care!!

Hanging ornaments on the tree.

Georgia doing the same

Thanksgiving Weekend (11/27/09)

At the top of Strawberry Trail, overlooking Caples Lake (near Kirkwood Ski Resort)


Found a bit of snow to go sledding in. Lizzy is pulling Warren with Aspen in tow.


Peter and Georgia looking at the gorgeous view.


Time to pose for a picture...it was super cold and breezy...a big snow storm was rolling in

You can really see how windy it is by Georgia's hair...and to the left you can see the storm coming!!

Warren with his cute smile!!

Loon Lake / Rubicon Trail (11/18/09)

Peter, I and the kids spent the day up at Loon Lake. We went up with Scott from Peter's work so he could take pictures and videos of our Jeep and the company Jeep on the Rubicon Trail. It was really cold, but a super gorgeous day!!


Loon Lake


Georgia-girl


The kids eating whatever snow they could find...plus the company Jeep in the background...talk about a nice vehicle!!

Warren...Loon Lake in the back

It's A Boy

Yep, we are having a boy!! My due date is March 28th.

Halloween Time

My Wonder Woman and Little Stinker!!

All set to do some trick or treating

As was the tradition when I was younger, the kids go trick or treating to each door of my Grandparent's house.

Trying something new this year...we braved the crowds on Main Street Placerville for some more trick or treating. And, yes that is me with the pink hair.

My sister helped keep track of the kids.

After Placerville, we went to my brother's neighborhood for even more trick or treating. Georgia and Warren had quite the stash of candy!!

I wish I had taken a pic of my brother and his girlfriend...he was dressed up like a bug catcher and Sara was a butterfly...super creative and cute!!

Princess Party (Sept. 26, 2009)

Georgia went to a Princess Party for her cousin, Aspen's birthday. Of course she loved every minute, especially the dressing up part.

My Princess Fairy


All of the princesses


Table set for a princess...

Our Big Yellowstone Trip (Sept. 12 - 19, 2009)

We took a big road trip to Yellowstone!! While I have been several times, Peter and the kids have never been there. We started our trip by going to Logan, UT (a sort of halfway mark) to stay with Peter's sister, Tara and her family. Then on to Yellowstone where we tent camped for 5 nights (it was originally to be for four nights then one night in the Tetons, but there was too much to see in Yellowstone, so we stayed an extra night and skipped the Tetons) Then we drove out through the West Entrance, down to Rexburg, then back to Logan before heading home. Here are highlights of the trip...

Above Bear Lake...we stopped here after leaving Logan. We took the scenic route up through the Tetons and in the South Entrance of Yellowstone.


Our campsite in Grant Village. We camped all five days here. We discovered they had a nice laundromat after Warren threw up in the car on our first day...What fun that was!!

A pic inside our tiny tent...all we could fit inside was us and the sleeping bags. But we stayed nice and toasty warm!!


Old Faithful...we didn't get much closer...the crowds were huge.


This water was boiling...we walked around behind Old Faithful to check out all of the cool, smelly geothermal features.

Pretty blue pond...of hot, scalding water

Lucky timing...we were front row to see the Beehive Geyser go off!! It only erupts every 11-14 hours!! I must say it was much more impressive than Old Faithful...and lasted so much longer.


Then as we were walking back to the car, the Castle Geyser erupted!!


Took a short drive from Old Faithful to the Fountain Paint Pots. I must point out that Georgia had a hard time with the smell of sulfur, even gagging a couple of times. But she will probably never forget that part of Yellowstone!

Georgia in front of the Mud Volcano.

Hayden Valley, where we saw the most buffalo we have ever seen.

Buffalo crossing in front of the truck...we drove through Hayden Valley a total of 4 times, the first time was exciting and then the slow, very slow moving traffic got annoying.

At the Lower Falls

The Canyon and Falls were very impressive.

Mammoth Hot Springs

At the top of Mammoth Hot Springs

More at the top of Mammoth

Look at what the kids are pointing at...We had stopped for lunch on our way to the East Entrance and a buffalo decided to join us. On the other side of the road, thankfully!!

Just a cute pic of Georgia...we are at Fishing Bridge.

On the actual 'Fishing Bridge'

The Logan temple...on our last leg of the trip. We headed home after this...