January 31~Cat Nap

Ella in her favorite spot...alseep on the couch.

She woke up for her picture.

January 30~ V-Fusion

The girls don't eat enough fruits and veggies so I outsmarted them. 

I gave it to them in something I knew they would love
~juice.

January 29~View

The views this morning after the snow storm yesterday were so breath taking. 

 It was hard to pick just one.  

You will have to go to the family blog  to see more of the 

beauty around the neighborhood. 

January 28~Snow

It started snowing this morning long before the sun came up 

and continued snowing after the sun had gone down.

January 27~Cake

Raychel wanted to make her favorite rainbow cake for the dessert after Family Home Evening.  

She did a great job making it all by herself. 

January 26~Hunting

Jolene wanted to pick the picture of the day from her hunting trip with Ward, 

she couldn't pick just one so she made one collage. 

Ward and Jolene have had a lot of fun water fowl hunting together this season.  

Raychel missed out due to her knee surgery. 

They have gone just the two of then along with friends and cousins.   

They ended the season with a couple of friends and their dog Yogi.

January 25~No School Friday

We love no school on Fridays.  Today we had friends over.  

The girls painted finger and toenails, made cookies, 

watched movies, played wii, and laughed a lot. 

January 24~Stuffed

Today Jolene and I baked Chocolate Chip Cookies after school.  They were so yummy.

We thought it was funny how full the cookie jar was.  Jolene said they Bear was right, the

cookie jar is STUFFED!

January 23~Spotless

Why do I put it off so long when the end results are so worth it!?

It looked too clean to cook in, so we ate out. 

January 22~Feeling Blue

Jolene was feeling blue this morning, blue hair that is.  Yep, another fun hair color that washes out. 

 We have red, blue, pink and purple.

January 21~Snuggles

Ella got all snuggled up under Raychel's legs while Raychel snuggled up with a heating pad and a blanket.  Neither one was very excited to move at bedtime. 

January 20~Geese

After church we went for a walk by the river and saw so many ducks and geese on the ice floating in the river.  Then two geese took off in flight and joined up with two more passing by.  They looked so amazing as they flew past.

January 19~Elk

What a beautiful sight.  Ward and I went on a date with Jolene while Raychel was with friends. As we were driving along we saw all these Elk and so many more off the side of the road.

January 18~Coloring

There is nothing better for Jolene and I then new crayons and coloring books.  She colored off and on most of the day.  What do you think of the purple highlights?  She loves them, I love them because they wash out.

January 17~Awards Assembly

Second quarter ended with Raychel making the A-B honor roll.  She has some great friends who also make honor roll.  Jazzy and Hannah.

January 16~Guitar Concert

Jolene made tickets for us to watch her private guitar concert, she talked Raychel into playing along. She not only played but sang as well.  She did an amazing job.  She is really enjoying playing an instrument.

January 15~ Hair Fun

The girls got washable hair chalk in a rainbow of colors for Christmas.  Today we had pink, green and blue in Raychel's hair. She loved her fun hair and so did many others.

January 14~Drake

Drake, he has become such a great dog. 

He loves to hunt, be with the family, and howl along with a goose call. 

January 13~Cooking Time

Most Sundays Ward makes dinner, usually with a little helper.
 I love this tradition.  He is a wonderful cook.  

January 12~Bookworm

A typical way to find Raychel no matter what day of the week, she has a love for reading.

January 11~Cleaning Helper

 Jolene loves to vacuum, I love how she puts the cord over her shoulder.  With no school on Fridays we try to clean the house in the morning so we can play in the afternoon and not worry about it during the weekend.  

January 10~Guinea Pigs

Captain and Pepper.  

They are a year old now.  They squeak whenever anyone talks to them especially if you were the last one to feed them.  Some days I feel nice, like today, and let the girls bring them in the house as long as they stay in a box.  They can be pretty entertaining.

January 9~Sleepy head

I love waking the girls up in the morning.  They love to snuggle as they wake, have me rub their backs, go over the day and just be there as they see the day.  This morning as I pulled the covers down off Jolene I was greeted with extra friends.  New dog, Cupid, Pop Pop Bear, Grandma Bear, and don't forget Max getting extra snuggles, if you look close you can see his ear.

January 8~Zebra

Jolene has had a love for Zebras for the past several months.  Raychel drew her a Zebra picture for her room, along with a few flowers.  Jolene was so happy to receive a Raychel original.

January 7~Relaxing

I love how I found the girls today.  Ella the crazy silly cat is often found with the girls, especially when there's a blanket involved, and we can't forget Max.

January 6~Church Style

Raychel bought herself a new dress with the money she is earning from babysitting.  She looked so beautiful today at church.

January 5~Guitar

Jolene has wanted to learn to play the guitar for months.  We got her a guitar, lessons and away she goes.  Her teacher says she is a natural.  She loves her lessons and all she is learning.

January 4~Artist

Raychel has always been interested in art and drawing, for Christmas she got a really nice art set and has been drawing ever since.  She made a green head duck and framed it for Ward to take to work.  He knew about the picture so he was acting for us.

January 3~Happy 10th Birthday

Our little Jolene turned 10!  

I can't believe how fast the past 10 years have gone. She turned 10 on New Year's Eve, but today she figured out what she wanted to wear and where she wanted her picture taken.  She is growing into a wonderful young lady.  She has so much love to give.  She was so excited to finally be in the 

double digits!

January 2~Giggles

I wanted to get one last picture of the girls in their Christmas dresses in front of the tree before I took it down this week.  It was one of the sillies photo sessions with them.  Jolene had the giggles and couldn't stop.  The harder she tried to stop the harder she giggled, which of course set Raychel into giggles as well. 

January 1~Ice Caves

What a beautiful way to start the New Year.  

Ward was home and we went out to explore the ice caves and spend the afternoon together as a family.  We have lived here for so long and have always wanted to go to the ice caves but never managed to fit it in. This year we did, and it was so worth it.