Trip to Needles

Today we went to Needles to get the house ready to move back in to. Dave needs to get back to work so we will be staying out there during the week. Dave's foot is trying to learn how to work again so it will be much easier for him if we stay out there. This photo of the Needles was taken at sunset.

Lindsey, Lexus, Kelly, and Hubert came with us to help move a bed in our room. They were acting so goofy, we couldn't stop laughing at them. Hubert's awesome hat is a trash can and Kelly is wearing my shawl. Kelly was making goofy faces at us and being very silly.

Kelly and Hubert played cards while the girls........

Played basketball. They were being very silly as well. We are looking forward to being back out at Needles again. I'm excited for the blog thing since now we can share what we do out there much easier than before.

More about Max

Everyone has been asking where Max came from. The story is very touching so grab a box of Kleenex and here it goes. One beautiful morning I woke up to a phone call from Jolyn. Her voice was pleading and soft, you know the kind of tone that you know you are about to get asked to do something you might not want to do. "Do you want a cute little puppy?" was the question.

"NO! Not a puppy, no way,"

"But he's so cute. Mom found him behind my truck."

"I really don't need a dog,"

"Just let me bring him over so you can see him."

"Well, Okay but just to look."

I was ready to say no, sorry, we can't have a dog.

But there he was in Jolyn's arms as she came in the door. He was so adorable, I could feel my heart soften as he looked at me with his big adorable eyes, and darling face. I was beginning to feel that awful temptation that I feel when I see baby animals. But in the back of my head I kept saying to myself, no, we can't afford another mouth to feed. We took Max into where Lindsey was sleeping and put him next to her. I'm laughing thinking yea, he's adorable but we can't keep him. Then that moment came when Lindsey opened her eyes. The joy, the excitement, and the first thing that came out of her mouth was an excited, "Is he mine?" Jo said yes, and with an even more excited voice Lindsey said "Really! He's mine?" As I looked at Lindsey's shining eyes of happiness, and Max cuddled into her, yes, my heart melted and there was just no way I could say that word, "NO!" I'm bad! But he has been a very good puppy, he was trained in two days and he minds me very well. He's been a blessing to our home and to Lindsey too. There's an old saying that the Scott's have that says that if a home doesn't have a dog, children, and a cat or two, there is no joy.

Max and Lindsey

Meet Max. Max is Lindsey's baby. He follows her around like she is his mommy. He is a very funny dog and has adopted us all. But Lindsey is his favorite as you can see.

The Polar Express

This past week I asked Kelly and Lindsey if they would rather have gifts from Santa or go to the North Pole, and see him there. They are getting older and I thought they might like to actually see him at his home at the North Pole. They decided that going to the North Pole would be a good experience. So we loaded up and headed to Durango to get on the Polor Express. Along with us, Jenny and her family, Julia, Jolyn, and their kids, along with Grandma Bills, all dared the winter roads with the help of the Polor Express Angel, to keep us safe, as we enjoyed a wonderful andventure. It was majical - with excitement in the air - and snow coming down all around us. Dave made it too - so I tip my hat to him for making it through the ticket line and surviving the rush - as we all headed out the door to bourd the train. It was fun! It was awesome! Everyone should go at least once in their life. We got hot chocolate, sang carols, laughed, and were blessed to see Santa and two elves. Santa gave the kids a bell, and one of the elf's, you can't see him in the picture, slipped one to me and Dave too. :) By the way, if you ever make it, don't forget to wear you pj's.

Polar Express Hot Chocolate Recipe:

What You Will Need
The recipe below makes one cup of hot chocolate!
1 teaspoon of Hershey's Cocoa

2 teaspoons of sugar

Approximately 12 ounces of milk

A dash of saltA dash of vanilla

Assorted mini chocolate bars

Candy canes or peppermint flavoring (optional)
How To Make It -
Mix Cocoa, sugar, milk, salt, and vanilla
Put the mixture in a microwavable mug, microwave for 1 and a half minutes or until warm
Drop a mini chocolate bar into the hot cocoa, stir as the chocolate melts
Add a touch of peppermint flavoring or put a candy cane in the hot cocoa for stirring
Top hot chocolate with whip cream and chocolate shavings, or with festive marshmallows
Enjoy!

Only In Blanding

We went for a ride tonight looking at christmas lights, and as we passed by the theather it was hard to overlook that three cars were parked the wrong way. I wasn't able to get all three in the photo but you can see the one car that is parked the right direction. After living out of state for so long and seeing this I could not stop laughing. Right after I took this photo a cop drove by. Then Dave and I started laughing even harder saying, "ONLY IN BLANDING!"

There that's better

Lindsey and I decided to put a Christmas stocking on Dave's foot, for the magic of Christmas on his cast adds a little Christmas cheer. Now we just need some good old fashioned wassail to help calm him down and keep him down. :)

Christmas Surgery

We drove to Cortez early yesterday morning for Dave's surgery. It took 45 minutes longer than expected - he will be down for 8 -10 weeks instead of the 6-8 weeks. Things didn't go quite as good as the dr. had expected, but all is well now that we have him home. I've been keeping him busy stringing popcorn and cranberries for our charlie brown tree. Dave's toes were cold, so I made a Christmas hat to cover his poor red toes up, since socks don't go over the cast. He liked it - hopefully it lifted his spirits. All of you who know Dave know that for him to be down a day is going to so hard on him. So, please keep him in your prayers and if you think of any other creative things he can do - sitting in this chair - we are open to suggestions.

Our Italian Ceppo

As I mentioned before I had read the Italian Christmas story called Old Bethana. Because it was an Italian Christmas story, and since Lindsey's Grandma was Italian, we decided to celebrate an Italian Christmas this year. Dave built it for us, more then likely the last thing he will build until he recuperates from his surgery this Friday. Here it is all decorated. There is a nativity on the bottom shelf which is what the Italians do, then they come together everyday in prayer near the Nativity.

On Christmas day they don't receive gifts,

instead they go to the Vatican and receive blessings

from the Pope. Then on Jan. 6, they do receive their

gifts from Old Bethana, and Faeries. However,

We have been celebrating it that Jesus gives us our

gifts for many years now.