Duke!

We love our "Dukester", "Dukey", The Duke!

My girls are constantly telling him how adorable he is and are always taking pictures of him.  So I thought I would post some recent ones of him.  He is a stinker at times and is very annoying when it comes to his ball, but we love having him around.

He is getting so grey in his face and actually all over, but it is most noticeable near his eyes.  He will turn 8 in March.....finally will be the alpha male in the household...heehee.  But it is hard to believe that we have had him so long.  He was so little when we got him from the shelter at 7 months old.

I do not know what we will do when he is no longer around.  The kids have grown up with him and these days we have a great time "talking" for him in our own Duke voice....it really is hilarious.  Have you seen those YouTube videos that show the German Shepard and someone is talking for him and it looks like the dog is really talking?  Ok, so our dog doesn't move his mouth, but we do that talk for him.  It makes me smile just thinking about it.  One of these days we will need to make a video of it.  Anyway, he really is part of the family and we love that big ole lug!

This Year!!!!

So I can officially say.....this guy comes home from his mission THIS YEAR!  (the handsome one in the blue lava lava)

You do not understand how wonderful that is to be able to finally say that.  Don't get me wrong....I love him being on a mission and out serving the people of California.  He has grown leaps and bounds and is not the same young man that left in August 2012.  He is learning so many great things and being blessed so much along the way.  We are are feeling those blessings here at home too.  I love getting an email from him every Monday.  I live for those emails to see how he is doing and hearing all about his experiences that are shaping him into a fabulous man.  I love getting to talk to him every Mother's Day and Christmas Day.....Skype is heaven sent for sure.  I love seeing his smile and hearing his laugh on those 4 glorious, wonderful days in those 2 years.  I love that he chose to go on a mission and that his life will forever be changed by doing so.....he will never regret his decision to go and will cherish those memories when he is home.  The sacrifice for everyone in the family is great, but worth it in every way possible.

But 2 years is a long time and I long to hug my son and to know that I can do that THIS YEAR, just makes my heart swell.  Wouldn't change a thing, but will be happy to be able to text/call/email/visit with him as often as I want after August 2014.......just sayin!

Cold Sunday

Yesterday was the first Sunday of the new year.  We changed from 1:00pm church to going at 9:00AM.  That time is fine even though we think 11:00 is the best time ever.  But, we are OK with the earlier time.  However, it had snowed all day on Saturday and was very cold.....very!  We were in the single digits with the wind chill, so we all bundled up to go to church. 

When we got home, I noticed that we had all worn our black boots to church.  First amazing thing about that is I actually have black boots....ME!  I have never been able to find tall black dressy boots that actually fit me, so obviously I finally did.  And Kayla got new ones for Christmas cuz she had outgrown her other ones.  And 2nd, we all worn them on the same day.  We were all dressed in grey or black too....and we didn't even coordinate on purpose!

Just thought it was interesting that we matched this day!

So Karl had on black shoes too, but he opted out of the picture since they were not boots :)

Perfect Day for the Zoo

Kayla decided that she wanted to go to the zoo before school started up again, so Friday was the perfect weather day to go. (good thing since it snowed that night and was so cold the next couple of days).  It was sunny and clear and in the high 50's...sweater weather! 

Megan had to babysit, so I had Jenna and Kayla each pick a friend to go with them.  Fancy that...they are sisters.  So I asked my friend, who is their mother, and she brought her other daughter and her friend.  So we each had a friend to hang with for the day and it was so fun!

For once, the animals were very active and out running around.  Usually they are sleeping or can't be seen and hiding.  But today was super nice to see them doing something.  I think we pretty much saw every animal in the zoo. The meercats....

The cougars (my favorite).....

The rhino who had a visitor in his pen and didn't like that deer being there and tried to chase it out....

The new baby lynx.....

The bears, of course....

We ended the day with lunch out together....it was a nice way to end our Christmas vacation.  OK, so it isn't over yet, but it was nice to get to the zoo since it has been awhile since we have gone. Thanks friends for coming with us!

New Year's Day 2014

So we spent a nice evening with each other closing out the Christmas season.  We went to dinner and then headed over to the Broadmoor Hotel.

We started a tradition of going over there during the Christmas season to see the lights and their gingerbread house they make every year.  However, we were so busy that we never made it over until now.  And the gingerbread house was already taken down...bummer.  But we had a good time anyway.......

It was super windy out so it was pretty frigid.  But that didn't stop us from walking around the lake to see more lights, geese, and the snow that began to fall ever so slightly. 

It was a nice, cold evening so we stopped on the way home for.......ice cream!  Yea, that is how we roll.  Then home to watch a movie together.  It was a great way to start the new year off!

New Year's Resolution

2014

It's a new year which means I need to make a new year's resolution. 

As you can tell from my blog posts.....in 2013, my blog suffered greatly from lack of posts.  I lacked motivation to keep it current despite the zillion pictures I took last year.  A friend of mine decided to start up a blog, so that has given me a new desire to blog again....Hurray!  

I am excited to be a blogger again and vow to make posts whenever I have some great pictures to document...rather than just having them on my computer in files.  So stay tuned for a great year of our happenings with some minor changes to the way that I will post.

Yea for a new year......Yea for a friend that is motivating me.....Yea for journal keeping up to date....Yea for memories!

AND I even have pictures to post.....Good for me!!!!