Happy Birthday Jesus!

Happy Birthday Jesus!!

We thank you, God, for your Son!!!

More Holiday Baking Fun!

*Sheyenne with melted cherry chips all over her face.

*Noah, Colten and Shey pressing together the popcorn balls (with a few bites here and there).

:+)

Oh Those Holiday Goodies!!

It's the time of year when so many people are following traditions and baking those goodies that they love the most. These are a few of our favorites! Fudge, Cherry Popcorn Balls, Coffee & Spice Cookies, and Butterscotch Bars. This afternoon we hope to make Chocolate Chip cookies as well. Normally the older girls all come over to our house and we have a big baking day together. Well this year with the cold, ice and snow, that didn't work out. So Sapphire made the Chocolate Chip/Oatmeal cookies with chocolate drizzled over the tops, and Niki made more fudge at their house too. I don't know? Can anyone ever have too many goodies during the Holidays?!?!

Dutchess & Duke

This is Dutchess (on the left) and Duke (on the right - both on Doug's lap). Aren't they cute?!?!
After having to put our Saint Bernard down last week, we all missed having a big dog around and it seemed so sad without Bo here. That is when we heard of a litter of pups that had been found by a farmer, suffocating in a plastic bag, thrown on to the edge of the river to drown. Isn't that awful?! At any rate, the farmer took these 8 pups, who didn't even have their eyes open, to a rescue nearby. The rescue family, called RUFF http://ruff.weebly.com/, took them to the vet, began bottle feeding them and caring for them. 2 of them died and were too far gone, but 6 survived! When we saw this, we emailed the rescue center and asked about them. After discussing it with all our kids, we all decided we wanted to get one. That is when Doug surprised us last night and came home with 2 of them!!!! Everyone is sooooooo thrilled! They are part Saint Bernard and part Mastiff (with possibly a bit of Shepard in them from what their vet can tell.) So, Doug just couldn't decided which of these two he wanted, so he got both! The kids are so ecstatic!! So am I! They are wonderful puppies!! I cannot imagine how anyone could try to kill them that way!

Parakeet Playground

Our daughter, Ashley, decided to build her parakeets a "playground." She actually hollowed out a log, sanded and cut dowels, routered the edges of all the wooden pieces, etc. It turned out wonderfully!!! It even fit in her bird cage! They seem to enjoy it. She is hoping to build a couple of them and try to sell them at the Exotic Animal Swap meet in June, if all goes well.