Merry John Deere Christmas

First of all - I want to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas!! I hope everyone enjoys time with family and relaxing. It's time to look towards the New Year.

We are celebrating with a John Deere Christmas. Every couple of years I like to unveil the John Deere Christmas collection that we have. You may think it's a little corny but when you see the ornament collection alone you have a greater appreciation. A John Deere Christmas is a fun way to incorporate Grant's hobby of tractor's and farming into the greatest holiday celebration there is. I hope you enjoy these pictures. Oh, and yes there are no ornaments the bottom 2 feet of the tree ... I'm sure you can guess why!

. At the tree farm checking out tree's

. . Lucy showing off her tree

Lucy's 2009 ornament.

One of the many Thomas Kinkade ornaments

Our Thomas Kinkade JD wreath

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Snow day with the Herrins

Tuesday was another eventful day for Lucy. We visited the snow with the Herrins. Now Grant went last time earlier in the year while mom was at work so this time mom was very excited as she finally got to go, perhaps someday the whole family can go together.
I know some of you are thinking, 'Big Deal' it is only snow. Well for San Diegans it is a big deal to have snow. Thanks to mother nature we are lucky to have snow once a year in San Diego. Sure we could always drive 2 hours to the closest ski resort but this is in our backyard - 20 minute drive.
Lucy and Trinity did not know what to think of the snow. Trinity made sure she had a handful of the white stuff at all times. Funny how she got fussier as the time went on because her little fingers were getting colder and colder, but she would not let go of the snow. Lucy didn't really care about holding the stuff she was just trying to figure out what it was.
I have to say it was COLD. There was a slight breeze that brought the temperature down and we don't have the attire in our closets for this type of weather. We had a great time and the girls loved it. Perhaps the 2 storms coming in this weekend will bring more snow and we can have another snow day!!!

Welcome Cruz

Lucy wanted to dedicate the blog away from herself just once to say 'Welcome cousin Cruz'!!

Cash is now a big brother to Cruz David who was born on November 17 at 7:49 pm. The little guy weighed in at 5 lbs. 12 oz. and was 19 inches long. I have never held a baby this tiny and let me tell you he is tiny and adorable. On the 18th Cash and Lucy had a play date while mom and dad were at the hospital. As you can see, trying to take a picture of a 1 year old boy is not the easiest thing in the world. Sorry about the fuzziness. Lucy and Cash had a great time together as always and for some reason Cash loved these purple 'Hello Kitty' sunglasses.

Here I am holding Cruz at one week old. Tiny I'm telling you. He's going to have to grow quick to put up with Lucy and Cash. (We had to force Lucy to come sit by me - she could have cared less that I had a baby.)

Time to Visit the Rodgers Family

So I can finally post this blog about our wonderful trip to Texas. My Internet was down majority of the week after we returned home and I finally broke down to call for a technician. Sorry about the delay :(

We made our annual trek to Mt. Pleasant, Texas 2 weeks ago. Lucy was great!! Poor child rode in her car seat 24 hours straight for the ride there and back. I know how restless I was I can't imagine being her strapped down. On our way we stopped Saturday at Bass Pro to stretch our legs. We knew from this point it was another hour and forty-five minutes to their house. All of us enjoy walking around, looking at the animals and checking out what new items they have. Sunday morning Grant and Scott woke up early to go deer hunting and Grant came home with his first buck. Big Congrats to him!! I know he was excited even though he never shows any emotions. The remainder of Sunday was spent hanging out at the house and Grant gave lawnmower rides to Karlee, Gunner and Lucy around the yard. Monday the Rodgers had to go to work and school so we drove around town and stopped to buy items so I could make dinner. Tuesday began with breakfast and then drove to Tyler. Not knowing where we were going or what we were looking for we just drove around. There we stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch and headed back home. Wednesday, began with breakfast again and then drove to north Ft. Worth to check out the Cabela's store. Grant and I have always wanted to see a Cabela's store and it was worth the 3 hour drive. This store has something for everyone. We easily spent hours just cruising up and down the aisles and somehow I still missed the shoe department! I still don't know how I missed this but I did. Driving home was an adventure as we decided to take a different approach because we were tired of the scenery on the I-30. We made it home eventually. Thursday - Scott and Lyndee were home so did some real sight-seeing. Scott made pancakes for breakfast and then we all hurried to get dressed and out the door. Easier said then done, if you don't remember Karlee and Gunner are twins and 2 years old. Scott and Lyndee definitely have their hands full, especially when trying to get to get dressed and going somewhere.The kids are great and starting to talk so half the time they would say something you can understand and the other time's it was like listening to a conversation in Japanese. We had some good laughs over trying to interpret them. Anyways, Thursday we headed to a town called Uncertain, Texas for a river boat ride. The river is part of Caddo lake but is the closest thing I will get to a Bayou I think. The dead tree's and the moss were so beautiful. We saw a HUGE beaver dam, and actual beaver's, turtle's and some kind of rat that no one likes. Our boat was called the 'Swamp Thing' and the captain was very informative. Gunner got to steer the boat and then Lucy tried but she was not liking it. Karlee was interested but no enough to actually to sit on the captains lap and try. Grant unfortunately did make the boat ride, as the 45 minute drive there his right knee locked up and was unable to walk (an old feedlot injury). After the boat ride on our way back home we drove through a tiny town called Jefferson. Here we stopped for lunch and enjoyed Kornbread sandwiches and pie. That evening we went to Mardi Gras for dinner which has delicious seafood and lucky for us it was Karaoke night. Some east Texas finest came out in style for our entertainment. Gunner enjoyed it, as he was singing right along. Friday, Grant went to work changing the hitch on Scott's stock trailer. What Scott thought would take a couple of hours took a full 11 1/2 hours. They finished and it looks great. Later that night we packed up and headed out of town at 10:00 to return home.
We had a great week and Lucy was really starting to warm up to kiddo's. At least this year she was able to play with them. I think Gunner took a liking to Lucy as every once in a while you would catch him sitting right next to her and even putting his arm around her. I wish I'd had my camera for that. Hopefully this will be an annual trip we take as we love the Rodgers family, their beautiful property and beautiful east Texas.