Bob, his finest moment

So, you wanted to see a picture of Bob! Here he is in his finest moment. He was not very happy!

Christmas Day

Christmas day was awesome! We woke up late, probably because we were up until one o'clock in the morning on Christmas eve. We made our traditional, homemade Irish creme and of course, we had to drink some. This year I taught Jennifer how to make it. I have always made it but this year I thought it was time for her to learn how. As you can see, she was tasting more than stirring!

I made scrambled eggs and pancakes for breakfast and then we opened our presents. This year was very lean so I had to be very creative. I think I did pretty good, everybody got lots of cool stuff even though most of it was already here in the house. I didn't even spend $100 and I had to take care of 7 people. I got some great gifts, Jenn gave me a one hour massage and herbal wrap gift certificate at the Yampah spa, I can't wait to use that one. Craig gave me a new pair of sheepskin slippers, my old ones were so full of holes my foot would fall through the side. They didn't really keep my feet very warm, the new ones are great! Dan gave me an ov glove, I've wanted one of those since I saw them on tv and he also gave a beautiful, hand painted ornament. It has butterflies and hummingbirds on it, I love it. Michael gave me this really cool pair of socks, they are so soft! They have aloe vera and vitamin e in them, don't ask me how or where it is, they're called spa socks. I have them on right now and I love them. My best gift of all was all my kids being here with me to share this most wonderful time of year. After the presents were opened, Jenn and Dan went to spend the day with Ron up at his place in Glenwood. I put the turkey in the oven at about 1, our dinner wasn't until 7 so I took a nap. I was really tired! Too much excitement or was it too much Irish Creme?!

I woke up at 4 and scurried around for the next 3 hours getting dinner done. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, broccoli and cheese sauce, gravy, cranberry sauce and black olives. Almost like Thanksgiving but minus the pumpkin pie. I didn't have time to bake a pie because I took a nap. We had fudge for dessert and of course, more Irish Creme. I definitly had too much Irish Creme last night. I looked at the gallon container this morning and it's half gone. I hope it wasnt' just the two of us that drank that much. No, I know that there were others drinking it too. We had six people around our table, it was crowded but fun. Isn't it amazing that it takes 6 hours to make dinner and 20 minutes to eat it all. We didn't have any leftovers except the turkey! I cleaned up the best I could while Jenn and Dan went and sat in the hot tub next door at the neighbors house. She's gone until the 24th of January so we are house sitting. Kat and Mike had to drive back to Glenwood right after dinner because they both had to work today, bummer dude.

Today I am trying to clean up some of the mess that is created when so many people are visiting, I'm doing pretty good. Watching it snow somemore, we already have about 3 feet from this last week and it is snowing again. I did get to see the sun, briefly for about 15 minutes, this afternoon but it's gone again because it is snowing again. Guess I'll go and do some laundry now. Jenn and Dan have gone to Glenwood again so I have time to get some stuff done before they get back.

I almost forgot the animals! Cali and Bob also shared in the festivities! I wrapped up some prime rib that Dan and Jenn brought home the night before and put it under the tree. Cali also wore her antlers, she wasn't impressed. Bob wore his little red hat and the velvet bell collar, he was also not impressed.

Nostalgia

My uncle Bob passed away a few months ago, he was my favorite uncle. I got a box of pictures in the mail from my cousins, Mary and Carolee, about a week or so ago. Carolee and Mary had just spent the day going through pictures at their dad's house and thought I would like to have the old pictures to share with my sisters. I remember when my dad passed away, my sister and I sat at mom and dad's house and did the same thing. That was in 2001, mom had already passed in 1996 so there was just Barb and I going through our entire life in that house that was packed with memories and stuff but it felt empty. The two people who had made this a home were gone and all we were left with was the stuff. After mom passed, I grieved for a long time. Mom was my best friend, we talked about everything. Anytime I had a question about anything, mom was there. She hardly ever gave me advice, she wanted me to figure it out but if I had a question about kids or cooking or baking, she was a wealth of knowledge. I grew closer to my dad, calling him every Sunday and going to see him every holiday and as often as I could get there. I was at work when I got the news that he was gone, I left work and never went back. It took me a couple of years to function as a normal person again. I honestly don't remember those couple of years. Actually, there are parts that I do remember, thank goodness for pictures. I thought I was doing pretty good for the past few years but evidentally I was wrong. My life is not what I thought it would be at the age of 51. I've had my real estate license since 1993, times are tough right now, I haven't had a sale in over a year. I will have to let my license go inactive for the first time in 15 years. It's okay, I guess, there are other things I can do.
Anyway, back to the pictures. I opened the box this morning and started to look through them. They were the pictures that grandma had and my Aunt Dorris had taken them to save. My life flashed before my eyes again, it reminded me of when Barb and I sat at mom and dad's house looking through the boxes of old photos. I saw myself as a tiny baby in the arms of my great grandpa Fjelstul. I saw me as a baby with my grandma and with my mom and with my dad and with my grandpa. I saw pictures of mom and dad as young people with their mom and dad andwith their brothers and sisters. There were lots of pictures of me and Barb with grandpa and grandma in Ridgeway at their house. There were pictures of dad as a baby and a young boy on their farm in North Dakota. I was us as a family, we had a good life. Each time I found a picture of my sister, Barb, as a little girl, I said outloud "Dork". Each school picture of her, her headband was down or she would just look dorky. I laughed out loud. It took me about 30 minutes to go through all of them, remembering times with each picture that I was in. Those were such happy times, I loved going to grandma and grandpa's house. When I got done going through all the photos I put them back in the box and set it in my lap. I was sitting in the recliner chair, I sat back, closed my eyes and started to cry. I miss my mom and dad so much. As I was sitting there crying, I said outloud to myself, "I miss you mom and dad, it's not fair, why did you have to go so soon"? I want my mommy and daddy back!