Snowcoach in Yellowstone National Park

On December 23rd, Jason and I went on a snowcoach tour in Yellowstone National Park with Jason's parents, his sister, Laura, and Laura's boyfriend, Ben. It was just us six and the guide in the big van so that was really nice. We saw lots of bison on the road and some elk in the river. We saw some swans and a cute little muscrat swimming in the river. The weather couldn't have been better. Yellowstone is beautiful in the winter! I recommend the tour to anyone.

Trees.....my thing!

View of Old Faithful out the windows of the new visitors' center at Old Faithful.....

At the mudpots/geysers.....

Firehole Falls.....

We encountered lots of bison in the road along with the snowmobile tours.....

Bald Eagles' nest.....

Caught Jason smiling with teeth showing.....it is rare!

Our van.....

My Birthday!

My birthday this year was a good day....even though I did get another year older (ugh!) My sweet adorable husband had a big present and 2 dozen long stem red roses waiting for me when I got home from work. It was a good surprise. The big present was a Swedish massage mat that you put in a chair....you know the one that heats up and gives a great massage. I have wanted one of those for a LONG time now. It is awesome. Then he took me to a planned dinner at Outback with Katie and his parents. It was nice....Outback is one of my favorite places to eat. I got lots of cards and calls from everyone...thank you!!!!! It was a great birthday to help me turn 29! :)

Christmas Card Pictures

Here are a few of the pictures that were taken but did not make the cut for our 2010 Christmas cards. I thought they were still cute so wanted to share.

We tried to have the dogs wear antlers and a hat....that didn't work out so well. The dogs were harder than little kids to get them to look at the camera for a picture! :)



Theo HATED his Santa hat.....





My hubby being funny......

Thanksgiving 2010

For Thanksgiving this year we went to Idaho and Wyoming to see both sides of the family. First stop was Rexburg, Idaho to see the Jones side. My mom and dad have little Maltese puppies that Katie fell in love with. As you can see....they are really cute.

I also got to meet my new little neice, Shelby. She is cute too! It was nice to see my sister and her family even though it was only for a day.

Then on to Wyoming. This is what Palisades looked like when we drove by the lake. It was really beautiful scenery. The roads were icy but it was still a nice drive to Afton, Wyoming to have dinner with the Grafel side of the family.

Katie actually likes the roadtrips because she gets to watch her movies on her portable DVD player the whole time.....Greatest thing we ever bought! :) My dogs snuggle up with her in the backseat!

I thought this turkey decoration was really cute....

It was cold outside but warm inside with all the cooking going on so the windows steamed up. I decided to decorate the sliding glass door and others pitched in as well...

Katie played with her cousins, Erik and Emma, non-stop from the minute we arrived until we left. The kids loved going out in the snow to play.

Snow angels......

The kids LOVED my dogs.....

The dogs were very interested in the cooking.....

This is what I get from my hubby now when I try to take self-portraits.....

But he does smile for other photos.....

We had 23 people for dinner at Jason's Grandpa Brown's house.

The kids (and Andrew) made gum-drop trees......

Pile-up on Jason....

Day after Thanksgiving we all went Christmas tree hunting. There was a TON of snow. It came up to my hips. Needless to say....it was a tough hike but worth it once we got to the top. My dogs came and had a tough time in the deep snow but loved it. Jason went first and made a trail for the rest of us. A couple of times I fell and couldn't get up without help. But....we got a really cute Christmas tree.....

Jason's dad trying to walk in the deep snow to help us cut down our tree.

Katie had fun in the snow. She was a trooper.

Jason with the tree we chose. We weren't as picky as last year because it was hard to get around in the snow.

After the tree hunt we took some pics....

Jason's parents....

When we got back to the house we roasted hotdogs on the firepit in the backyard.

A pretty shot of the sunset of the backporch of Grandpa Brown's house.....

Next on the schedule.....Gingerbread houses!!! This was some of the candy we had to work with to decorate the houses. It is hardcore with Jason's family. :)

Jason and Katie's finished product.....

Nicole's house.....

All of us with our houses.....

Tayloe, Erik and Emma with their house.....

The Grafels and our houses.....

We went back to Rexburg for a night. We took the kids sledding at Smith Park.

Heather and Katie just hanging out.

Cute pic of Katie in the new hat we got her.

We had a great time seeing both families!

We love you all!!!!