Snowed In!!!

We are on the third day of our winter whiteout. We had school cancelled on Friday due to last years mess where it started snowing in the middle of the day and it took people many hours to get home in the gridlock that was Boston. This year everyone was prepared but we are still in the third day of house arrest. The streets are terrible for driving but its definitely fun. Meli is a huge fan of snow so she thinks this is HEAVEN! I had my "little sister" over yesterday for holiday cookie baking and some fun in the snow and she and Meli had a great time romping around. 

So here are some pictures (and a video) of our winter wonderland- Meli out on our deck finding treasures and how the cats spend days like this. Enjoy

meli's treasure hunt video

Make a Smilebox slideshow

All Things Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
It has been a busy couple of weeks! It felt like we had barely eaten all of the turkey and it was time to get the tree up. I am not a big fan of passing over the Thanksgiving holiday to get to Christmas, but with everything being so late this year it all just seems like a blur. We went out with Mike's parents to cut down the tree for their house ( it is Mikes turn to spend Christmas with his family.) The dogs had a great time picking out the tree and for once it wasn't snowing!! We decorate the tree together every year, and every year I get to make fun of all of the decorations from Mike's childhood that he thinks are soooo precious. Now before you judge me too harshly on this one, there is actually an ornament made out of leftover fast food foil.... so yeah- not exactly the sentiment you think of when you imagine childhood memories. haha

We set up our tree shortly after... short being the key word. We still have to have the tree up off the ground to prevent all of the furry children from making a snack and or toy out of the decorations. The house looks really cute and we had our good friends Marty, Jamie and Brady over for a dinner party. We don't see them nearly enough and it was a nice night of my fabulous cooking ;o) and a chance to try my hand at table setting...

Happy Holidays to everyone- hope you are all feeling the spirit of the season and know that we are thinking of you and hope to see all of you that live near the Phoenix area very soon. 

Holiday Hugs!!

Gobble 'til you Wobble

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

As is tradition, we spent the day of thanks with Mike's extended family here in Massachusetts. The day started long before sunrise though as the annual Crusaders Cross Country Alumni race was moved to a painful time of 7:45 am. There was a great turn out and Mike ran very well, coming in second. Then it was time to head out to the Britners' house for food, family, wii and LOTS of dogs. As a family of large dog lovers we couldn't complain when everyone wanted to bring their "little" one along but 2 goldens, a lab and two large shepherds later, the kitchen became a little crowded. We had a nice time visiting family and stuffing ourselves silly. Always nice to have an excuse to eat and relax.

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was as wonderful, relaxing and full of family as ours was. We are so thankful for the friends and family in our lives. Happy Holidays

Obsessed (apparently I am still 13)

Ok so since I haven't been doing much other than this for the past two weeks, I guess I should let everyone know that I am still alive!! I have just been bitten by the "Twilight" bug and have yet to come up for air. I had heard little bits here and there that it was a good book and had planned on picking it up at some point but apparently I was unaware of the 13 year old frenzy going on. I read the first book last weekend and literally did NOTHING else. It was so much better than I expected it to be and who wouldn't be totally in love with Edward? So I am about  half way through the second book and we bought tickets to the movie for tonight. Two hours with Edward?  Sounds like a great Sat. night :o) ok ok so I guess I am a part of the hype after all- but I sincerely loved the book(s).... so I don't really care. Thats about all- I will update you all on my movie critique soooon

.                              mmmm hot

Gus on crack

ok so maybe not really crack... maybe just catnip and a new scratching post but he was definitely a little drunk haha! This is my post for a pretty lifeless week haha- yes we are THIS awesome!

Old friends, fast legs and a runaway

This past weekend was a fun but busy one full of old friends, exciting new things, races and the outdoors. 

We were surprised but happy to get a call that my friend from childhood through college was in town and hoping to move to the Boston area. We were able to meet up for dinner with Rori and her boyfriend Denver. It was a great time with lots of memories and funny stories!! 

We had a fun day Saturday going to Becky's husband's rugby match (game?) not sure what the termage is there :o) But I was so happy to find out that one of Becky's students that I teach Science was there with his parents. I had brought Meli along for the outing and it was so fun introducing one of my favorite little guys to her. He is Deaf and Autistic and was very nervous at first but ended up loving her. She was on her best behavior which was a relief :o)

On Sunday Mike had a memorial 5k race in honor of a brother of one his friends who passed away. The majority of his running team (RTK) turned up for the event and dominated 4 out of the top 5 places. Mike took 5th running a 16:30

.

Then it was off to do some hiking in the nearby state park. Meli doesn't get much time off leash (or outdoors for that matter) so this particular event was very exciting for her. She just kept running back and forth like- I'm not going to get into trouble for this???? :o) haha very cute and a fun/cold hike.

We did have a small scare when Simba decided that he needed to take off chasing some unknown creature. We could hear his bark getting fainter and fainter and didn't know what to do. It was a torturous 10 minutes or so before he made his way back, tumbling through the bushes. Needless to say the dogs were on leash the rest of the way. Wheew...

So all in all, a crazy fun weekend with lots of outdoor fun- I know Meli is still recovering... Gotta love this time of year.