hello, little blog of mine

i hope to spend a little more time with you this year.
it's been almost four years since i have jotted down thoughts and shared photos - too long.

more soon.

snow days

the last few days we have been enjoying all the snow!

our front porch gets a lot of traffic...

if you don't have a sled or a hill just make one...

end of the day...

 

stay warm!

xoxo

i want to be a farmer

i did not watch the super bowl tonight,
but thanks to twitter i had a pretty good idea what was happening -
especially when it came to commercials.

so if for some crazy reason you haven't seen this...

and you should also watch this...

i have spent most of my life in small kansas towns,
and i wouldn't have it any other way.
good night. 

looking back (just for a second)

yep, we are still here.
i just haven't felt like being part of the blog world for a few months.
blah - pretty much sums-up my feelings lately.

but tonight, i caved.
i scrolled through all the blogs i used to read on a regular basis.
and then i grabbed the camera bag and put the little card in the laptop.
i couldn't resist scrolling through all the pictures (all the way from november!).

so as much as i hope to look to the future with a more optimistic and brighter attitude,
i have to post a few of my favorite photos i came across this evening.
and then i hope to continue to post with a fresh outlook.
cheers! 

julia's first birthday

a morning at home with julia...

Christmas Eve...

Christmas morning...

first bike ride...

snow day...

candy and costumes

we had a pretty good halloween around here,
but even with trying to simplify (we only went to one "treat event") the candy meter here is off the charts!

here's how they looked last night -
the robot (great costume - made by dad!) and the pink bunny.

thanks to all of our family that sent wonderful treats in the mail to the kids as well.
it was a fun holiday!
well, at least for kids...

wes the dog

jake and i have always talked about having a dog (or even two),
but the timing never seemed to work.
just renting, no yard, not enough time for training, new baby, etc.
the list could go on forever.
but earlier this fall we happened to find out about a litter of pups that would be born in september,
and we started thinking...
maybe we should get one.
well to make this long story short -
meet our new puppy wes.

we love him!!!

and in so many ways, we already know how great the timing was.
ben's only concern at bedtime was "where's wes?" -
pretty sure they bonded instantly.
and little julia even seems delighted to watch wes run around and to "gently" pat him.
i'm sure there will be many more posts to come involving a certain dog.