Merry Christmas!

I can't think of anything to say that is better than this picture. :) Thanks, Cousin, for sharing them!

Meowy Christmas

I said it's MY cat mat!

Thank you Grammy!

How to Entertain Oneself, By Gracie and Riley

Gracie? Who did this? The dog.

Riley? Who did this? Did what?

Last night I went to see my cousin's baby. Oh, and my cousin. And her husband. And my grandma. And parents. But really? To see Maverick. Isn't he just the cutest boy?Just focus on the baby - so cute! Ignore the many chins on the woman behind him.

And this one...let's pretend my eyes are open. That's the baby's mama - my cousin - on the left, my grandma, and me. Really - it amazes me that the wedding pictures turn out. With the exception of that day, I cannot seem to take a decent picture. It was a great evening! I love that baby - and his cheeks!

Christmas Vacation Party 2009

Time for the annual Christmas Vacation party! You'll notice my absence from the photo - I didn't get around to getting a costume together. And David's absence as well, as he ended up having to work. :( Despite these setbacks, a good time was had by all. As always, I parked myself beside the food and didn't move until I couldn't hold another bacon wrapped water chestnut or tiny corn dog.We had a few new characters this year - extremely well done! And a few popular returning characters.
And Krista's kitty even dressed up! Bella kept this on long enough for several pictures to be taken, which is much longer than Gracie can ever seem to keep the witchy kitty costume on.

Very Punny!

We had a door decorating contest at my school last week. We borrowed this idea from Maranatha Bible College's website.Get it?! It helps if you sing a bit of the 12 Days of Christmas.

Holly the Christms Kitty

There's another new addition at the Downing Home for Wayward Animals. Remember the kitty who showed up one day when I was playing outside with Riley? She came back. She was Outside Kitty while it was warm outside. Riley looked for her every time he went out. One very cold night, Outside Kitty stood looking in the back door at all the warm happy animals inside. I couldn't stand it. I called David and convinced him to let me let her in for the night (it didn't really require any convincing). She started sleeping inside at night, but went back out during the day. Now she's been spayed, caught up on her shots, and is quite happy being Inside Kitty. And she has a name - Holly.She's available for adoption, but in the meantime, she's settling in nicely. Does she look a little familiar? Maybe like this cat?
That's Henrietta on the bottom, Holly on the top. From any distance, it's hard to tell them apart. Except that Holly might be found playing with the dog while Henny can be found putting a silent curse on him. :)

I'm getting caught up on the pictures on my camera, so check back this week for more posts!

Repurposed

I can ignore a tiny hole in the armpit of a favorite t-shirt. I can ignore the fraying wrists. Especially when the shirt was purchased at Margaritaville almost 10 years ago.
But when the teeny hole becomes big enough to fit your hold hand through? It's time to retire.
But I didn't just throw it away, no I didn't. I now have a very cute Jimmy Buffett dust rag.

Simplify

I've always liked cute wooden signs that say Simplify, but the irony of purchasing something that says Simplify always prevented me from buying one. Today I took the first step in simplifying a teeny part of my life. I deactivated my Facebook account. Facebook, you were sucking up too much time. It was nice for a little while to catch up with old friends, but I don't really need to know about the little details of their days. Nor do they need to know about mine. Step one.

Two Years!

Where were you two years ago today? Some of you were sitting right here, packed into a little church in Billings.

Where was I two years ago? I was getting married to my best friend.

Happy anniversary David!