HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I hope that you are all having a fun or relaxing (which ever you have chosen) New Years Eve... We have decided to got the relaxing route, even though we have no children with us. We are just staying in, watching some movies, having a few drinks and ringing in the New Year watching the ball drop or something. We also spent some time at the neighbors just hanging out....anyway, have a safe night!! Love you all, and missed you all greatly this past year....Heres to hoping 2010 will be a good year for all of us!!!............and heres a thought, over the next few days we should all post what the best parts of 2009 were and what your hopes are for 2010....so TAG, you guys are it!

Viva Las Vegas

There are better pictures on J's camera cause Red used it on the other side. Here are a couple that I have. The wedding was a blast (as those of you who watched probably saw). It was the funnest wedding I've been to and the least stressful. I may have to bribe my other daughter to do that too when the time comes. They were married in back by an actual official and then Elvis performed the ceremony in the chapel. He was a little scary looking but funny. He did a pretty good impersonation. We even got the whole 'Vegas' experience and had a group of drunk, loud, obnoxious women come into the lobby wanting to get married to each other. Just a little trauma for the 16 year old but hey...it's Vegas baby!

We took Erika to see the Tournament of Kings jousting show at the Excalibur. That was fun. Erika was a little grossed out by the whole chicken they brought her for dinner (yes, I have another vegetarian on my hands) but she lived. The half naked men were for dessert. Ha!

It was good to get home. I missed my dogs and my sleep number bed! Waiting for J and Nick to get back tonight. I'll let J post more pics.

VA Christmas

Merry Christmas All.
It's a tough Holiday for us this year.

We did not put up a tree, or any decorations.  We just were not in a festivive mood.
While we have a white Christmas here in DC, we really miss our family get togethers.  While I feel very lucky that we got so many years together, it just doesn't seem like enough.

I managed a few presents for Spenser, and the presents I had already purchased for the dogs.

Spenser and I are baking in a few hours, I'll update ya then.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Merry Christmas to you all! I wish that we were all able to be together again like the old days, but sadly we cannot, so we all have to have our own new Christmases. This year, James, the kids and I had our Christmas on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas morning. I figured it would be easier that way since Guy picks them up at 10am tomorrow, and that would really rush our morning and the boys would not have time to play with all their new stuff, which would frustrate them.

So, Santa came early to our house and the boys had a great Christmas morning! They had a blast opening presents, then we went downtown to do the carriage rides and have lunch, then we had a turkey dinner with the neighbors. It was a great day, and James and I's first Christmas together!

Tomorrow the boys leave to Guy's and will be gone for 9 DAYS! The first few days will be great :) But after the first 4 or so I will miss them and want them home I'm sure. I will however get in alot of sleeping, snuggle time with James and cleaning; plus, we will be job hunting for James...who has unfortunately been laid off...so hopefully that will turn around soon!

P.S. Thank you all who sent the boys gifts, they loved them! :)

Merry Christmas!

Hanging out around the house tonight, its quiet and its peaceful and that rocks!! The presents are under the tree, the fireplace is going and we are about to watch "It's a Wonderful Life", which neither Peach or I have ever seen. *insert dramatic shocked sound here*

Just mixed up a batch of fruit dip, thank you once again Kerry for bringing this magically delicious concoction to our lives. There is an unopened batch of Almond Roca on the counter begging to be hoovered!!! Thanks for the annual batch of heaven Kerry!! Please dear God...tell me that the bag labeled "chocolate covered bacon" is someone being a smartass. I haven't found the courage to open it...

Animals are passed out around the fireplace like they have been gunned down where they stood. Izzy is close enough that I am pretty sure she is going to burst into flames at any moment. Lola was in harassing Peach while she finished wrapping a few presents. I kept hearing shouts of "Lola, get your ass off the table and leave the ribbon alone". It's not the first round of shouting, but then again...Lola isn't very smart. Now Lola is helping Mikey install the magnetic doorstop, I can tell because I hear her being reprimanded by Mikey. She's a helper, that one...

Lots of "to do lists" to be done during the time off, as well as a whole lot of sleeping. Still wishing Bob and Spenser were showing up for the holidays though!! I would give up all productivity for the entertainment they provide!!

Spending the day with Clarence and Lynn and Peachy tomorrow. We are going out for our annual Christmas Day movie!!!

Best wishes and good luck to all traveling to Vegas tomorrow, hope everything is beautiful and special for Jacqui and Nick's big day!! Congratulations!

Merry Christmas to all...have a safe and Happy Holiday season!!

Another puppy in heaven...

Our beautiful Copper went to join Colby, Crete and Ripley on Thursday. We knew when we chose not to do the surgery for her spleen removal over the summer that our time with her was limited. We assumed maybe 6-12 months and that she would slow down a lot over that period of time. However, the end came much quicker than we assumed. While we got an additional 6 months, we didn't see the end coming when it happened. She went from feeling fine to being gone in a matter of hours. She had a long life for a dog her age, but she will be very missed. We have her ashes coming back to us next week and she will be put with Freddie, as she should be. We haven't decided what to do with their ashes, but we knew we wanted them to be together. It's been a tough year for the Snell family and our beloved pets...my heart goes out for all of our losses.

Snow ... so far.

DC is in a blizzard warning. Seems this is quite a bit of snow for here.

We have about 11 inches so far.  The most amount of accumulation is to occur between now and 6pm. So far I still have power.  This is the walkway 30 minutes after I shoveled it.

The news guys are going crazy -- I guess 2 inches/hour is a BIG DEAL.

A Once In A LIFETIME Snowfall

This is what the weather guy on the news just said.
The East is bracing for a large snowstorm.  My first since I've been here.  We've been told that we need to plan that by noon tomorrow - is where we will be for a couple of days, and we need to plan for a couple days without  power.  It's also really quite cold, and it will stay below 0 for a few days.

Spenser is at a 12 million dollar house with a full generator ... Ollie and I will ride it out.  We have plenty of food - I've filled the bathtub with water. (Remember ... I'm on a well.)

Two days ago we were told 5 inches, this morning we were told 5-11, now they are saying it WILL be the most snow that DC has had in December, and it could easily be the most DC has seen in 100 years.

I have a fireplace, and gas cooktop and a small generator - so provided I don't have any pipes freeze ... We'll be okay.

Main Photo Nov 16 - Dec 15

Christmas Events so Far...

Cam is having lots of fun dont you think?

Well, I have been trying to do some fun stuff with the boys...indoors, because it is FREEZING here, I am talking highs of 10 for the day...bbbrrrr....so here are some pics so far, we plan on doing Ginger Bread houses tonight and going to Coeur d'Alene tomorrow for their awesome lights.

Decorating the tree

Cam's "spot"...he liked putting his ornaments all right here

Decorating Christmas cookies on Halloween plates :) lol

Christmas movie night with popcorn and Riley

Mushu n Santa

Yes, I am one of those people who loves their dog so much that the dog went to see Santa. I think his Christmas wish to Santa was to get the hell off Santa's lap but...we had fun seeing all the other dogs. Zhot had to write down his Christmas wish becaus when he looks at the car, he pukes. LOL

Main Photo Nov 1 - Nov 15

Angie's space

I have nothing else to post ... so I thought I'd post the pictures I took of my office space at HGS.
I took these for Roger a few weeks back ... I was trying to prove to him that he was on my office wall. The green building you see is the other side of HGS. We have three wings. Yes the building is "wavy"

It looks like an antibody from the sky.

Not all that exciting ... just sharing.

Show us what it looks like where you reside.

Where's The Gloating?

O.k., we all know that I have no interest in baseball. I know nothing about baseball. Nor do I want to. I still cannot tell you what a 'Can of Corn' is but I do know what a 'Beach Ball' is not. LOL

But, I heard a rumor that the Yankees won the World Series and I logged onto the blog this morning thinking that Mikey would do a little gloating. But I saw nothing!

Have the rest of you finally come around and realized that baseball is only good for napping or reading! LOL

Kings Dominion

Roger took some great pictures of us on rides, however the SD card died, and we were lucky to salvage these.

Here are some of the rides we rode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyYJ078evhs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVKw6JaeW2s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0LvTz9M9Ds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w7DwCdegC0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IV9OkLv9bg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR2cVFnT3bo

The one we didn't get to go on

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOX_9UY9yVs

Main Photo Oct 10 - Oct 31

Washington DC

The best way to put it is - it was great! We had a great time hanging out with Roger, Angie and Spenser. Clarence, Lynn, Frankie and I took days visiting the sites like the memorials, the Washington monument, and the White House.

All of us except Lynn and Frankie spent Sunday at Kings Dominion, an amusement park in Virginia. We rode every rollercoaster in the park except one. That one we stood in line for over an hour then it went down. The older coasters are wooden so those were more jarring than others. It was a great day.

This is Union Station, the main train station in DC. It has over 70 restaurants and shops.
Clarence and Lynn on the National Mall with the Capitol behind them.

Frankie and I on the National Mall.

Clarence took this shot from the top of the Washington Monument.


I took this with my phone as we ended our tour of the White House.

Fall Fun

Playing in the leaves before the rain came in, cutting out and decorating Halloween cookies and carving pumpkins!