Paul Bunyon

 We started chopping down the tree that fell today.

Inside of the tree had a fluffy nest!

Taking time to sniff the trees

Cookie time

Grace and I decided to make some new xmas cookies this year.  We hunted around and decided on Gingersnaps and Peppermint Patties.  Unfortunately both looked like turds before they were cooked!  But fortunately they are yummy!

We also made Butterhorns which are mine and Jim's favorites.

Drew likes gingerbread but I don't, so I never make them.  But I have to say that these are pretty good.

I do have a complaint about my assistance, Grace.  The only thing she did is drizzle the chocolate over the Peppermint Patties!  She took a giant nap instead of helping!  Chach!

Finished Peppermint Patties

Dodge Ridge

The kids and I took a trip to Dodge today for the first ski trip of the season.  The snow was not good!  Icy in the morning and dirt showing in the afternoon.  But they still got in a bunch of runs and we headed home by 2.

The dogs and I hiked around while they skied.  Daisy loves the snow....Ahi....not so much!

Mini BFFs

I had lunch with my friend Jenn last week and parked next to her new Mini.  Look how cute they look next to each other!

New stools

We finally got some new stools for the cabin.  The ones that were here came with the cabin and were circa 1972!  But they worked and they matched the counter top.  One finally ripped a little so I gave myself permission to replace them.  I hate getting rid of stuff that works because I think it is a shame that our landfills are filled up with useful things that people throw away. 

I love these new ones.  The shape is perfect to slide right under the counter.  It even makes the room look bigger and they are comfy.   Next up...new counter top and kitchen sink!

Tree down!

We found a tree down behind the cabin when we arrived on this trip.  It must have happened in one of the recent storms.  I found 3 more on my hike behind the cabin.  Jim will bring up the chainsaw and we will chop it up and use it for firewood.  Too bad it is down hill from the cabin so we will have to haul it up hill....Marty - hurry up and get up here - we need the manpower!

TNDC Videos

Renee, the official TNDC videographer, has put together an overview of TNDC 2014 and the 2014 kickball game:

 

 

Friends in Low Places: http://youtu.be/3GM6GG109JY

Kickball: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYF4Ov1_PIs

TNDC White Elephant 2014

Another classic TNDC white elephant party.  Murray showed up in his jammies,Will was sporting the U of A gear and Big Dan was sporting is new leopard fur jacket...pimp style!

The classic gifts included:

• A bra that Cindy had received from one of her 6th grade students last year
• An old man on a toilet that farts and grunts and then sings hallelujah
• A box of bottle caps - one of which may or may not have been in Mr Screwtop's butt crack
• A container full of socks and a bag of balloons
• A stuffed animal e coli bacteria
• Choco the clown who is a repeat from a previous party and who has been living in a mens bathroom at an undisclosed Silicon Valley high tech company.

We ended the nite with a rousing game of "unwrap the boxes to find the prizes".  This year Doug made the grand prize a $50 bill in a candy bar.  Renee was the big winner!  I am happy to report that there were no serious injuries although Big Dan did fling little Ashley across the room like a rag doll!  Thanks to Doug who does this for us every year!!!

Waiting for the gift exchange to start

Olaf fans

Looking good

E coli

Kayla got a new Cherry Lake hat

Straight out of the 90's

34 B or 34 D

Unwrap the gift game

Renee was the big winner!

College Update

Drew finished his first semester of college and passed all his classes!  Woohoo!

It was touch and go this week though as he woke up on Saturday morning with a severe case of food poisoning!  I was delighted (not) to be getting moment by moment texts about the intestinal distress.

Luckily his final was not until Weds afternoon and by then he was better.

He also spent his 19th birthday (Tuesday) sick in bed and recovering.   So sad for him!  But not to worry, Jim, me, Tina and Marty went out to dinner to celebrate Drew's birthday without him. 

So - Congrats to Drew for a semester well done and for surviving a bout of food poisoning in the dorms without his mama close!  So much to learn in college!

It's Raining Squirrels

We have been getting a lot of rain lately.  A LOT! 

During a break in the rain, I took the dogs out for a quick walk before work.  They were especially wound up because they have been in so much.

So we are walking along.... on the sidewalk,....right close to our house.... and a squirrel falls from about 15 feet up out of a tree right onto the sidewalk 8 feet in front of us!

All three of us were stunned....as was the squirrel that landed with a thwud!  Seriously....say the word thwud out loud and that is what is sounded like!

The squirrel jumped up and ran up the tree trunk.

The dogs ran over to the tree and sniffed like mad.  Ahi even stood up on her hind legs and yipped a little.

It was like xmas had come early and Santa was dropping squirrels out of the sky for them!

A*N*G*R*Y!

The kids like to wind up the weener so that she growls and shows her teeth.  It's a big game.  Today I caught it on film.

Grace is laying on her making kissing noises and Ahi is angry about it!  The funny thing is that as soon as Grace stops they are best friends again!

Underbite - time for some ortho work!

Elf on the Shelf

At Thanksgiving while here in SJ Mimi got an Elf of the Shelf named Penelope.  She went back to EDH and has been pulling all kinds shenanigans!

Pismo - G's 15th birthday trip

Sitting on the patio watching the people

Grace and I are in Pismo for her 2014 birthday weekend (a couple months late....but that's what you get when you play too much soccer).

I picked her up from school at 2:30 and we headed down.  We hit rain just about the whole way and sometimes it was HEAVY!  Grace slept about an hour and the dogs slept the whole way. 

When we got here we went for a walk on the boardwalk and pier and they were doing a xmas production.  Santa was there and they lit up a tree at the end of the pier (see pic).   They also had a choir singing xmas music.  They were really good but Grace and I were totally distracted by a guy who looked just like Dwight from "The Office".  He was playing violin wearing a trench coat.  Then we moved on to giggling about a guys mustache....it looked like something from a comedy sketch.  We tried to get pics but they walked away before we could!

The dogs were a little unsettled for an hour or so and then they settled right in.  Ahi was in her bed and Daisy was laying by my feet.

We ate some cheese, crackers and salami for dinner, watched the OR vs AZ football game and played some backgammon before crashing for the nite.

I took the dogs for a long walk on the beach in the morning.  Ahi, who hates sand, loved it because it had been raining the day before so the sand was really firm and not flying in her face.  She ran around like crazy and kept running back to be as if to say, "can you believe this?  it's so fun!"

Ahi in her bed

At the end of the pier

Watching the people go by

5:30 am

A nice place to have a cup of tea....or five!

First surf of the weekend

Thanksgiving Tree

This is our "Thanksgiving Tree 2014".  Everyone wrote what they were thankful for on a leaf and put it on the tree.  A common theme was friends, family and health!  Most notable was "barley and hops" - put on the tree by the TNDC boys.

Daisy and Jonah

Last nite Grace was working on a school project about Jonah and the whale.  She had videos of her and her classmates signing the story and she had to add voice overs and some props.  She was sitting in front of the fireplace working and Daisy was right there having a little snooze.  So Daisy became the ocean in the story.  If you look close you can see Jonah on her shoulder - he is a little Lego man.  The seas got a little rough when the ocean woke up and had a big stretch!

Ugly Xmas Sweater

Grace made this ugly xmas sweater for school.  Grandma Kathy picked up the red sweater at the Thrift Box and Grace used felt and xmas balls to "spruce" it up.