Christmas Card

Merry Christmas!

Sam has been busy working, but is enjoying the life of having paid vacation days working for the Government. He checks the ski report frequently and has already skiied 3 times in Colorado this season, and has plans for many more. He has passed on his love for skiing to Rachel and thankfully she has his skills as well, (though she has the cold tolerance of her mom).

I am still working as the editor of a small magazine but I have been enjoying making plans to go back to school to get a Masters or a Doctorate. My free time is spent researching different careers. The list varies tremendously, but it all makes sense in my head. My goal is to be able to find a job with part-time opportunities that are still paid well (unlike the what I have been able to find part-time with my bachelors). Currently in the running, physical therapy, Pharmacy, optometry. I plan to observe some of these jobs in January and hopefully that will give me some direction. (however, any info on moms you know who are able to make these careers work would be appreciated).

Rachel is enjoying 1st grade and has impressively learned how to say the Pledge of Allegiance and sing Mary had a little Lamb all in Navajo. We love making her repeat it, but she gets shy and will only do it if you give her a dollar :-) But it is worth it. She is constantly doing art projects, playing with all of her "pets" (all battery operated), and insists on wearing skirts and dresses even when it is below freezing.

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Consider this your Christmas card from us. Despite the fact that we took this photo at a wedding at the begining of November...I still didn't get them mailed. And in trying to decide if I should try sending them out late...I felt like friends and family are already up to date on our lives and have seen current pictures via our blog-(wondering if this negates the traditional Christmas Card.) I'll add this to my list of things I am going to try and improve on next year:

• Get Christmas cards ready at the beginning of November, and addressed by the first week of December
• Have everyone in the family write a Christmas list by November (or have an ongoing list throughout the year)
• Plan out the special holiday events and put them on the advent calendar for the days we will actually do them to ensure there is some follow-through (look at holiday lights, make gingerbread houses, make cookies, shop, do Christmas Angel, etc)
• Buy toy gifts before Thanksgiving weekend-to avoid stalking stores for sold out items

Back from Hawaii

We just got back from visiting Hawaii for a week. It was our first time there and we had the perfect mix of fun and relaxation. One of Sam's good friends lives there so we decided it was finally time to mooch off of them.

We took a lot of pictures...here are the highlights.

Watched a lot of Surfing -it just so happened that some of the Big Wave competitions were going on and it was amazing to watch.--Many waves were around 30 feet high, and I am sure many were even higher.

Did a little surfing of our own apparently the longer and the wider the board the easier it is to learn how to surf..so somehow I ended up with this ginormous board--but I did catch a wave and was able to stand up--so I guess it served it's purpose. My arms were very tired, and I gained an even bigger appreciation for the surfers in the big wave competition.

Watched Many Sunsets

Went on a hike through the jungle to a waterfall.

We did this right after we got off the plane (with only a brief stop for some lunch) For the record--what we thought would be a 2 hour hike turned into a 4 hour hike, which is a long way to go in flip-flips (the suggested footwear since it was muddy) and realized after the fact that mosquito repellant would have been a great idea.

Saw Dolphins

Kayaked out to a little island....then kayaked even further (which we later regretted on the return trip back to dry land).

Went to a movie For the record, this was Sam and Rachel's idea, I gave them a hard time for choosing to go at noon and wasting sunshine in Hawaii--I was not suprised that we were the only 3 people there. In their defense, going to a movie is not something we can do any day of the week--and I guess that is what a vacation is all about.

I did get to finally go see New Moon, (but for the record, Wendi and I snuck out to see it at 9:30pm :)

Christmas Decorating

I am a fan of black friday shopping...and while I had no stores to shop at (and didn't see any good deals online)-we skipped it this year and got straight into getting ready for Christmas.

We listened to Christmas music and made Christmas Crafts (here is our advent calendar made out of tins -thanks mom and Lacie!)

We cooked pies, yams, mashed potatoes and more (here is our attempt at making Penuche--a type of candy that my grandma used to make, and still I have never made a successful batch-but we have fun trying, and testing it frequently to see if it is ready)

Ate ice cream (I told Rachel she could have a few marshmellows, and when I turned my back she dumped TONS in her bowl--I wanted to get mad, but all I could do was laugh.)

Put up Christmas lights, and decorated our tree (This is our dental school tree...that I thought would be long gone by now...but I guess we will use it just one more year).

It will probably be a few weeks until my next post--but it will be worth it because it will include pictures of us in

HAWAII!!

School Show

Last week Rachel's school had a special show for Native American Appreciation month. Each class sang a different song in Navajo. Rachel leared all the words to Mary had a little Lamb-all in navajo. The kids in her class all got to wear their special clothes and jewelry and had their hair donw up in the traditional navajo bun. Rachel obviously doesn't have any tribal clothes to wear--but she asked if she could wear her hair in the navajo bun and so I tried for her (and then her teacher thankfully was happy to re-do it because it needed some help :) I didn't get a picture of it--but I found this picture on the internet to show you what it looks like. Little boys and girls with long hair wear their hair like this frequently.

I have an amazing video of Rachel singing Mary Had a Little Lamb and another one of her saying the entire pledge of Allegience in Navajo...but have had no luck uploading them...so just imagine how cool it is :-) I will keep trying....maybe someday they will upload.

You know it is a good day...

When all of your cousins happen to be in town for a wedding

and you are all hanging out at grandma and grandpa's house

And you realize they are setting up a fair just down the street

And there are TONS of bouncy things...

Bounce houses.....

Slides.........

a petting zoo........

And BEST of all --COTTON CANDY!!

I am a sucker for cotton candy-probably because there is a link between eating cotton candy and being somewhere super fun! (you don't get cotton candy on the run of the mill day, only at fairs, and parties, and especially at the 4th of july!)

Sam's little brother's wedding

A little delayed, I forgot I hadn't posted these pictures.

The cousins enjoyed seeing David and Mckenzie...but I think their favorite part was spinning around in their pink dresses. Rachel is totally embarrassed that I posted this picture--which I thought was funny.

and to finish it off, a pretty cute daddy daughter pic.

Halloween

4 Things that made our Halloween Unique:

#1 Rachel got to wear her Halloween Costume to school --which after talking to friends and family elsewhere--is a rare thing--everyone else I talked to said their kids weren't allowed to wear their costumes to school

Costume contest at school (no boundries to your creativity--kids were given one rule-remember there are young kids at the school, so try to to wear things that will scare them...but as you can see: blood, wedgies, masks etc were all fair game) These were the winners for each grade 1st-6th
My Favorite is Edward scissorhands--I don't know how many other kids even know who he was (Rachel sure doesn't) but he looked awesome-and it was completly home-made- which always wins extra points.

#2 We spent Halloween on the slopes.

(it is very rare that any ski area is open this early, but Wolf Creek in Southern Colorado got over 2 feet in the storm this week--so they opened and we couldn't pass it up. )

It took most of the morning for Rachel to remember how, and to get to where she left off last year. We went doen the bunny hill a few times and then headed off to a bigger lift (which in hind-sight was done a bit prematurely, and we regretted shortly after as Rachel spent much time laying in the snow, cold, and in uncomfortable positions, which caused much complaining and ended in Sam carrying her down the rest of the mountain-which I was very impressed with by the way:)

We then spent the rest of the time going down the bunny hill over, and over, and over--and Rachel remembered how much fun it is to ski when you don't fall and practically had to be dragged out of there when the time came.

*next time Rachel will go back to ski school for half-day so Sam and I can enjoy something other than the bunny hill.

#3 Went out to dinner, & Rachel got to wear her costume, and Rachel's favorite-we were served by a waitress dressed as Minnie Mouse

#4 Tick-or-Treated in a completely Random neighborhood in Durango
Let it be said that when I first told Rachel that it snowed enough to go skiing she was just as giddy as Sam was (one aspect where she is such a daddy's girl :)--and was only slightly deterred by the fact that she would miss trick-or-treating. She promptly started coming up with ways that we could make it work including

• how 'bout--we go skiing, and then drive back to Chinle to go trick-or-treating?

and after that was quickly shot down --she didn't give up until we compromised that we could find a neighborhood somewhere in Colorado to trick or treat.

Yes! it was a success!

I can't wait to see everyone else's pictures-so I will be blog lurking and anxiously awaiting their postings :-)

Winter Wonderland

Yesterday -we woke up to This ~

Yes it is a bit early for snow--I think only once did it start snowing this early in Boston. But it wasn't at all depressing. The first snow fall of the year is Magical!

As wierd as it sounds, I actually went for a jog while it was still snowing. Funny how I thought it was too cold to run when it was 50 degrees, but somehow 30 degrees and snowing sounded like fun. It reminded me of running in the rain with Nicole in High school-or my friend Christine who would always go for a walk after it would snow in Boston.

I was not the only one who was happy...Sam came home from work at lunch Psyched -ecstatic! (imagine a little kid on Christmas morning) because he had found a ski resort that is opening this weekend. He could hardly contain himself. The only problem, Saturday is Halloween--so his wheels are turning on how to convince Rachel that it would be fun to go skiing.

Then-today we woke up to this~

more snow!

Rachel is actually just as excited to go skiing, though her wheels are turning trying to figure out a compromise--a way to ski AND get to go trick-or-treating--so we will see what happens.

Today I took Rachel to the store to get a pumpkin just in case we stay here--looks like we got there just in time. Rachel of course said-"I don't want THAT pumpkin!"

uh...sorry kid--this is the only pumpkin left in the entire town...if you want a pumpkin-then we are buying this one--unless of course you want to walk around the neighborhood and steal someone else's pumpkin--which apparently is also an option :-)

Pretty quiet saturday

Holy cow! These are some HUGE pumpkins...I am happy to take a picture with them since I happened to have my camera...but I am not sure if anyone in this town will actually fork over $49.99 to take one home.

I taught the young women how to crochet last wednesday and so I had to brush up on my skills. Rachel wanted to learn and that made me happy since I was about her age when my grandma taught me. She actually got the hang of it--well, single crocheting one super long strand (which is all I could do at that age also). So she talked me into making a blanket for her quilt. I have to say I am impressed with how straight it turned out on the ends --sadly--this is probably the best thing I have ever crocheted--and that combined with the fact that yarn is one thing I can actually purchase here in town--maybe I will make it my new hobby.

Trying out the 4WD

Rachel was at a birthday party this afternoon so I decided to take Sam on a date...driving in the dirt. (we have to get creative out here) And yes--it was my idea...not his :-)

And for the record, not only is our Xterra cute--it is AMAZING off-roading in 4WD!!

(no way would I have dared drive out here in our little honda accord)

A nice view looking down on Chinle

Pretty fall leaves (on the few trees we found)

Cool Rocks--not the infamous "window rock" but similar, and only 5 miles from our house

A good hair day for the girls--a must to document