Here comes 2009!

As 2009 is coming near! I wanted to say goodbye 2008 and hello 2009. We hope that 2009 treats us a little better than 2008. Here is a re-cap of our bad luck this year.

1. Bow shatters his leg due to his mom throwing him from the four wheeler 25 weeks of pins and physical therapy.

2. Ben backs into a pole while in a rental car (Ouch there goes our insurance)

3. Ben gets ticket for not yielding for three seconds before turning right (stupid photo cop)

4. Ben gets speeding ticket on the way home from hunting.

5. Ben gets into another accident thank goodness it was not his fault.

Looking back on all these things, I can see that they weren't too bad (except for Bow's leg). We made a lot of memories in 2008 and we look forward to 2009 and what this year will hold for us 

I thought this picture was funny of Ben so I had to post it. 

Loves

Christmas Cheer!

We had a wonderful time in Utah I loved that it snowed and we had a white Christmas. We were so busy while we were their, but loved every minute of it. Ben and I started the week out by going to look at lights at Thanksgiving point, it was a blast being with Ben's family and listening to Lucy come up with funny things to say. 

After Mass on Christmas Eve we headed up to my Aunt and Uncles house for our annual ValDez Christmas party. We had such a wonderful time laughing, drinking and catching up with all of our family (I miss them so much). 

We split up Christmas this year, the morning was spent with Ben's mom who made a wonderful breakfast. We were glad that Grandma Syphus decided to join us it was really nice spending time with her. Thanks Mary for the wonderful time at your house. Then we headed to Megan's to meet up with Ben's dad and Wife for the afternoon. The evening was spent with my family eating dinner and opening up presents. 

We decided that we should leave early because of bad weather and good thing we did we got stuck in Ontario Oregon and had to spend the night until they re-opened the highway. Had we left when we were going to we still wouldn't be home, They shut down highway 84 right after we went through on Sunday. We made great memories driving to and from Utah and both Ben and I decided that next year we will fly. 

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Utah here we come!

Bags packed, presents wrapped, Bow packed all we need is for the weather to get nice. We planned on leaving for Utah today, but the weather here has been so bad. The news said last night that it hasn’t snowed this much in Seattle in almost 18 years. Wow! I woke up yesterday thinking I was already in Utah

Last night the weather got really bad, the roads were like a huge ice skating ring and then it started to dump and disaster hit Seattle. I had dropped Ben off at work that morning because I needed to take the truck in to get some work done. Around 5:00 he called and said to come get him, I jumped in the truck thinking this thing can get anywhere. Next thing I know I am sliding down this big hill by our house and into a ditch I go.  Every time I tried to go anywhere I would fall farther down. I called Ben and the minute I heard his voice I started to cry. I didn’t know what to do and he had no way of getting to me. Our nice neighbor (that I had never meet) saw what had happened, so he ran over said don’t move I will get help. His wife and a few others came to my rescue and got me out. The only bad thing is I couldn’t turn the truck around so I had to reverse all the way back down to my house. Once at the house I checked the truck no damage (thank goodness). I went inside and what do I do? Call my dad he always makes things better. Ben ended up finding a ride, but the road into our neighborhood was closed so he had to walk in about two miles in a suit and dress shoes. What a trooper, by the time he got home he looked like a snowman because he was covered in snow. I am so thankful nothing serious happened and we both made it home safe. Now we are just waiting for ice to melt so we can get out of out neighborhood.

After Ben warmed up he was like a kid begging to go outside and play in the snow. He wanted to take the Ranger out and spin donuts. He was so cute out there laughing so hard. I took a video but it is really dark. He ended up helping three other people out last night they slid into the same ditch as me. Thank goodness for the ranger.

For a City that never get snow, our house sure got snow

Weekend!

Ben's cousin Andy and his family drove up to Washington to visit us this past weekend. (I of course didn't take any pictures) We had such a blast with there cute boys Gavin and Max. They were so much fun to hang out with and kick off the Christmas season. Emily and I were able to sneak away on Friday and do some much needed shopping. It was so nice to have someone up here who likes to shop as much as I do. 

On Friday night we went down to Bellevue Square to watch the parade of little drummer boys. I love going down to the square. You sing songs, have fake snow everywhere and people are so friendly. They were giving out peppermint lollipops which we all feel in love with. We even made Andy go to the store that night to get more for us. This weekend past by way to fast,but it was sure fun to hang out and spend some time with family. 

Our little Trooper

Bow is finally better! Bow officially had the last of his pins removed last Wednesday. I can’t tell you how excited we are that he is all better and we can now focus on getting his muscle back so he can one day run again. He is such a trooper, 24 weeks of pins sticking out of his let. Thanks to The Animal Emergency Clinic of Tacoma for fixing and taking such great care of Bow. 

Christmas

Can I just say I am so excited for Christmas! I can't wait to head back to Utah to see snow and spend some time with family and friends. Christmas time is all about being with the people you love, sharing memories and remembering what life is all about.

I am so thankful for the life I have, and what a great life it is....

I Just Wanted to Say...

GO UTAH

I LOVE FOOTBALL

Saturday I flew into Denver to meet up with my Dad, Annie and Casey to go to the Broncos game. Since the game was not until Sunday we thought it would be fun to go to the Coors plant and see how beer is made. Once we heard we would be getting free samples we were all pumped to go. The tour was really interesting and it was cool to see how the beer is made. I have to say Beer does taste better fresh.

On Sunday we headed to Invesco field early to see if there was any tailgating, much to our surprise they had lots going on. Annie and I decided we would show our love for the Broncos and get our faces painted. I was only a Broncos fan for one night, I still love my GREEN BAY. We had such a blast even though the Broncos lost maybe next game we go to the home team will win. Go Broncos or not.  

Standing outside the Coors plant

One of our free samples, our other samples were much bigger

This picture is so funny, it is a beer holder

Annie's huge Margarita! 

We are so cute

 Thanks guys I had a great weekend and can't wait till next year. 

Halloween!

For the Halloween holiday Ben and I decided to celebrate in style, well not really but we had a great night staying in and handing out big size candy bars. I decided to make homemade chili, cornbread, and sugar cookies that looked like pumpkins with all the works. I have to say the chili was yummy. Earlier in the day Ben and I carved pumpkins, we had such a blast. Ben decided this year he would carve something different so he choose a squash. Ben was so excited to have the kids come for candy, but for some reason we didn't have very many and Ben bought 60 big size candy bars. We have two boxes left, good thing I am not a huge chocolate fan or I would be in trouble. Ben is worried he is going to eat them all. 

I hope all had a great Halloween. 

This is Bow's pumpkin, we felt he needed his pumpkin carved.

Who would of thought I am this amazing 

Ben's squash, he has such a good imagination.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween.

Hello!

Hello my fellow bloggers! Sorry it has been so long since I have posted anything, we have been really busy with everything and I have been lazy. Ben has been traveling quite a bit and I have been busy with school.
Here are a couple of things we have been up to. The girls in our family had our first annual girl’s weekend. Annie, Brooklyn, Paige, Brandy and my Mom traveled up to Washington to visit me. We had such a blast, we laughed went on many adventures and even traveled to the good city of Forks. It was amazing how the town has embraced all the Twilight fans. Ben and I went hunting this last weekend and although we didn’t get a deer we still had such a great time, we really miss hunting in Utah and hope to be back soon. Ben and I are so excited Bow goes into the vet tomorrow to get his last three pins out. We could not be happier and I am sure Bow is even more excited. It has been a rough 17 weeks and we are looking forward to working his leg so he can run again.
Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.

Ben chopping away

We had a Deer walk right through camp, while cooking breakfast

My cute sister's

The girls minus Brooklyn she was our photographer

Vacation

For the past couple of weeks we have been on vacation. Our vacation started out in Colorado, Ben had a conference at Keystone ski resort so we decided we would go up early and play before the conference. This place is very beautiful we had tons of fun kayaking, mountain biking, swimming and playing Frisbee golf. While Ben was working during the week I pampered myself and had a massage, relaxed by the pool shopped. Here are some pictures.

Don't you love the lifejacket?

The view from our room.

Hiking in Keystone.

Great shot!

After five wonderful days we headed back to Seattle for two days to take Bow to the vet and pack for our next trip. We flew into Utah and drove down to Lake Powell, it was such a blast. The weather was perfect the water was perfect and the company was great. Ben’s mom, sister and her family along with a couple of friends all came down. We did a lot of fishing, swimming, and wake boarding and just about anything else you would do at Lake Powell. What a great time I can’t wait for next year.

She is so cute!