Ringing in the New Year

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a good New Year's. I don't know why people need a new year to start changing things in their lives, but for some reason we are creatures of habit and that is how it goes. So once again as the new year has approached I have tried really hard to look at my life and make goals that I can hopefully live up to. I tend to bite off to much at once, but this year I am hopeing to focus on a little at a time and break it up by month. I will focus on one or two things each month and hopefully by months end I will have made progress. One of my goals is to do better at journal keeping. I have made good progress with my blog, (for some reason it is easier on to do on the computer) but sometimes I don't feel I give enough detail. So for those of you that read my blog please bare with me. The reason I want more detail is because I will eventually compile the blog into a book. I already put last years into a book and it will make such a wonderful keepsake. I will try not to bore you though.

Now to recap the past week. New Year's Eve was a pretty eventful day for us. I ended up getting Avery's hair cut. This time I really cut it though, I didn't just trim it. It took Dave a while to warm up to it though, but I just love it. She looks so cute. Dave says she looks older. We have gotten quite a few comments from people saying how cute she looks. I haven't gotten a good picture yet, but you can hopefully see it from these pictures. I will try to take a better picture soon.

Here is a good back view.

Also we spent the day getting ready for Dave's parents to arrive. This meant cleaning house and going grocery shopping. Dave's parents were suppose to arrive early evening, but unfortunately they had some delays due to snow and didn't get here until around 8:00. Avery was so excited for them to come. We were suppose to go to dinner with them, but since they weren't going to be here until late Dave and I jumped on the opportunity and went out on a date. My Mom and Dad were passing through town on their way back home from the valley to spend New Year's with us so they were going to watch the kids. Unfortunately my Grandpa called saying my Grandma wasn't doing so well so Mom and Dad went home to help with her. My brother Clint was nice enough to watch Avery, so Dave, Emmabelle, and I could go to dinner. I had planned on staying up to ring in the new year, but I guess I am getting old. 10:00 hit and I was done for. Dave and his mom ended up staying up talking, but I just couldn't make it.

New Year's day was spent just enjoying the company of Clay and Mary. We had a leisure morning. We were able to open presents from Clay and Mary.

Emmabelle working on her present.

Avery showing off her new purse and dolly.

This is probably the best front view of Avery's hair.

Emmabelle looking at her new book and clothes.

We also went and drove around town looking at land. Jan. 1 is also Mary's birthday so we decided that we would go to Chalos for lunch, unfortunately they are closed on New Year's. That evening the boys went shooting and the girls just hung out. When Dave and Clay got home we had a nice steak dinner for Mary's birthday with some good cake and ice cream to go with it. Clay and Mary had to continue on their way on Friday, but we really enjoyed getting to spend time with them. Avery just loves her grandparents to death and can't wait until she gets to see them again. She loves talking to them on the phone, and without fail asks them to come to her house. Emmabelle even did surprisingly well and let both Clay and Mary hold her without too much fuss.

Emmabelle cuddling with her Papa Clay. I thought it was so cute.

Saturday Dave was able to spend a good deal of time working on his garden. He is so excited to be able to grow a garden. He got all of his rail road ties in place and it looks really good. We are going to have a huge garden. We are planning on eating what we can and then canning the rest to help with our year supply. I was able to start working on my sister-in-laws baby shower that I am throwing for her, and I also worked on the house a little.

Sunday started bright and early. We have now moved to the 9:00 time slot so we no longer get to sleep in. We were on time though which was an accomplishment. This year I am going to try to start singing in the choir. We will have to see. They practice right after church, but Dave has meetings, and it is right in the middle of lunchtime and naps. We'll see how it goes.