Christmas time is coming...

This morning, was Christmas decorating time! The tree seems HUGE in our house this year. The boys had a blast decorating (and re-decorating) the tree. So far we've only had two ornament fatalities.... :)

The dogs aren't scary anymore!

WOW! Who would have thought that the boys and the dogs would all get along? Well - it's happened!

The boys FIRST Thanksgiving with us...

So - A week after the official transition, along comes Thanksgiving! Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, etc. It was just us (and Grandma Alouette). Will cooked all day and the boys enjoyed playing with Grandma Alouette. Of course the favorite was the whipped cream on top of the pumpkin pie!

The boys are finally here!

The boys came to our house for the first time last night! We ate spaghetti (a big hit) and played with all of their toys... We're so excited! Both boys are adjusting well and seem happy.

The boys' room...

We've been chosen!! We're soon to be the happy parents of two little boys - They're 1 1/2 and 2 1/2. SO - back to working on the room....Painting, etc. -- We're so excited!

Puppy update

After a couple days of STRESS, Alex has settled in nicely. Daisy seems to have calmed down and is enjoying her "little brother". Alex feels better after his surgery and is starting to play - he's even using the doggie door already!

Alex arrives home!

This is Alex. He's a 7 month old pound puppy. (The pound says he's a mix between a Jack Russell terrier and a Dachshund) - He looks just like Daisy when she was a puppy! Daisy thinks he's cool - she keeps trying to play, but Alex is feeling "punky" since he was neutered this morning - so he's not in any mood to play right now. Hopefully Daisy and Alex will be good friends!

Our garden actually grew something!!!

We're SO proud -- we actually grew a tomato! (Well, a few, actually!)

It's those little things in life that excite us! :-)

Most recent VEGAS trip!

Richie spent an entire week in Vegas with friends of his from college. He had a great time catching up with everyone. Towards the end of the week, Will drove out to Vegas (LONG drive!) to meet them all and spent the rest of the week with them. It was fun to meet college friends and hang out in Vegas! Rachel and Andrea are so much fun! We're hoping to make a yearly vacation together!

Last "Hoorah" at HRN

MUDD Volleyball was a HUGE hit this year! (We didn't win or anything, but we had lots of fun!)

This was pretty much my last big event at HRN (I gave notice soon after to begin my new job!)

Hannah the music STAR!!

Friday night, Hannah was invited to play with her guitar teacher's band at the Tamaya Resort lounge - the band was AWESOME! Look at Hannah - such a star!

Grandma's 88th birthday!

Pizza and wine! (What better way to celebrate a birthday?) Everyone came over our house and we celebrated with pizza and wine. (Presents too!) -- Peggy brought Dion's pizza - Will and Richie provided the wine - and Sally and Hannah came with a homemade chocolate cake! YUM!

ADOPTION update

It feels like we've been working on this for years - but in reality it's only been about 7 months - We're finally officially approved as adoptive parents for the state of New Mexico - YEAH! So now we start a whole new waiting process. We just got our new social worker, so now we enter the process of matching...We're so excited!

Alright -- I'm FINALLY updating!!

SO - A ton has happened since I last updated - we sold our house! We moved into a new house in Nob Hill (AWESOME AREA! - Only 3 minutes away from the hospital for Richie and just a 4 mile drive to work for Will) - We're saving tons of money with gas! Here's a quick picture of the new house...

VEGAS, BABY!

Right after New Year's we drove to Las Vegas! (Actually - WILL drove to Las Vegas!) We had a blast! We stayed at the Venetian (got an awesome online deal!) -- Richie was the lucky one on this trip - he won big a few times! We had fun just the two of us.

Christmas Day, 2006

Christmas day was spent with Will's family. Oysters for breakfast, then tons of presents. After presents, we had roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. YUM!

Christmas Eve, 2006

Once again this year, Christmas eve was spent with Richie's family. We started the evening by heading to Richie's Aunt Leta's house (Amy's mom) - appetizers and conversation. Then we loaded up and headed to Grandma Dorothy's house. TONS of people were there - the Wintermute side of the family and Grandma Dorothy's church friends. When we got home, Sarah and Richie and I couldn't wait, so we opened ALL of our presents. Fun times!

Christmas Party, 2006

OK - so I haven't posted for a REALLY long time! Sorry -- Here's catching up!

Christmas party this year was fun - not quite as busy as last year, but still fun. It was a nice time - good food, good drinks, etc.