First he got a work truck then a riding lawnmower and now an ATV!  Yes my friends we are COUNTRY. I have not started wearing an apron yet and I don't plan to but I am starting a garden, composting and I do love my chickens!

 Addyson helped Dad shovel snow this past weekend.  Luckily today the sun came out and I walked Addy in the baby jogger.  I had on a jacket but took it off and walked with only a sweatshirt on.  Thank you sunshine!

Daron took a photo of one of the mule deer on the Sanctuary property.  They are all over and our "traffic" consist of deer crossing the road or the wild turkeys.  The wild turkeys are MUCH slower at crossing and have been know to make people late for work.  Thankfully we don't have any road rage here. 

Addyson on Valentine's Day. Mommy and Daddy were heading to work and Addy was heading to Lisha's. She dressed for the day and was styling in her new tennis shoes.

Our annual family Valentine getaway was back to Lake Powell in Page, AZ. It is close to home and beautiful. My good friend Amanda and her daughter Isabella just moved from Kanab to Page so it was a bonus to hang out with them. Isabella was thrilled to hang out with Daron since her dad is currently in Mexico.
Amanda is having her baby in March. We can't wait to meet Priscilla.
Daron and Addy looking for the perfect skipping rock.
Addy and Isabella BFF's.

The resort we visited was being remodeled and it looks awesome inside. They are still redoing the pool and outdoor area.
Our third annual family Valentine's weekend away. Look at that amazing background!!!!!!

Best Friends Forever enjoying the room in Lake Powell.

Addyson likes to pretend that she is the mommy and I am "the kid" ( I never call her kid so where she got this from who knows). Anyhow, we were doing this on the drive back from St. George and she told me to ask her "Are we there yet?" I asked and asked again and again. Apparently it doesn't get on her nerves.I asked her how she knew when we were close to home and she said "We won't be home until we see the white car and the red one." I didn't think much of it until we drove down the street and there was a white car on the right side and our neighbor who is selling her red car was parked on the left side. Luckily she is observant like her mom!

This morning Addy was talking in her sleep and said "No, don't put the eggs in yet!" I had to laugh because she is obsessed with making muffins and cupcakes and we always wait to put the eggs in so we can lick the batter!

Addy not only talks in her sleep like her Dad but she also is a night owl like her Dad. So the other night when I put her to bed I told her Mom was going to sleep too. I told her I was tired. She laid in bed and I went to my bed and crawled under the covers. Ahhhh. Two minutes later I hear her sticking her head out of her bedroom door and singing. She always makes up songs. Always. She was singing "I wish I had a mommy that wasn't old like Jennifer." Then she went in the tv room with her much younger Dad! He got her singing on video and I did too. Of course it never is as seamless when she has a camera in her face but it is still pretty funny.

Addy's First Visit to the Dentist.
We wanted the first visit to be a good experience so we took Addy to a pediatric dentist in St. George. They have movies playing on the ceiling with headphones for the kids. Addy and Daddy entertained themselves on the movable chair while waiting for the dentist. Then they practiced opening their mouth for a good teeth cleaning. Needless to say we had to pin her down on our laps so the dentist could actually brush her teeth and put fluoride on them but she didn't cry!

Here's my new blog "Sage what?" about a mom and her attempt to go green!

Should have posted this over a month ago! I left it as a draft. Oops

Today I officially started going to the office for two hours and forty five minutes on Monday and Wednesday morning. I could not sleep at all last night and Addy and I were both awake at 4 a.m. and never went back to sleep. I think we were both a little anxious. I was hoping Addy would be ok and adjust and that I was going to be ok and adjust! I am such a wimp. I tried to prep her for her "play date" at Lisha's. She told me she was going to cry if I left her. She knows Lisha and her 5 kids well and Lisha is an amazing mom so I knew she was in good hands. I went in and hung out for a minute. Then I left and she cried. Amazingly I didn't cry but my stomach was in knots and when I drove back to town to pick her up I had to keep myself from speeding.

Lisha told me Addy cried for about 10 - 15 minutes and the last few minutes were the "wa wa glance over her shoulder" type. Lisha told me that Addy had great reasoning skills. There was another little boy there and they were trying to get all the plastic animals in a bucket. Addy said "I think we should carry some of them" then went on to say they should put the little ones in the bucket and carry the big ones. That's my girl. So smart. It is obvious that her parents work at an animal sanctuary because she had to make sure all of the plastic animals had a house and that they had a mommy and daddy or at least a friend.

It is funny how things change after a few years. When Addy was first born Daron and I would wrap her used diapers really tight and put them in a special trash can called a diaper genie. Less than a year later we got rid of the diaper genie and started throwing her diapers in the regular trash can. Poopie diapers would get taken to the trash can outside immediately. This morning as I was picking up the dirty clothes I noticed a dirty diaper on Addy's wooden floor by her bed and one tossed over the carpet onto the hall wood floor. The poopie diapers now make it into the regular trash can (never the floor - at least not yet) and when someone opens it one of us will yell from the couch "Sorry, the trash stinks." Hopefully she will be interested in potty training soon.

This was Daron's chest of drawers when he was a kid. Over the years we have used it as a buffet table, tv stand, toy chest, and changing table and it has lived in the bedroom, hallway, living room and dining room. Today it lives in the middle of the kitchen. We use the drawers for food items like pasta, chips, and granola bars. The back was painted with chalk board paint and framed out by Daron. Now Addy can use her chalk board while I am cleaning dishes and making meals. She loves to help in the kitchen so with a step stool she is able to help mix, stir, clean and pour at our "new" and improved kitchen island.


Although the photo quality sucks this shows how Addy is growing and her little face is leaning out. She is growing up so fast!
New Year, New Cooking. Since I started reading a book called Eating Animals I have increased my workload substantially. I now have to cook a meat meal for Daron and a vegetarian meal for me and noodles for Addy. Addy does eat a little of what we eat but not much. Unfortunately, she takes her food ques from Daron. So if he is not thinking he might turn up his nose at say red chard and carrots (see above). Luckily, Addy's friend Braxton loves vegetables and they ate a plate of sugar snap peas yesterday, apples and oranges and carrots! Yippee. Daron did eat vegetable and meat of wheat stir fry the other day. Granted he wasn't as excited as he is when I serve roast or King Ranch Chicken but hey he smiled and chewed and asked for more meat of wheat. Addy ate some rice and vegetables but she was not even gonna try the meat of wheat. I didn't take it personally right now she eats no meat - fake or real!

I got goodies too! Since my previous posts concentrated on Daron and Addy's toys I wanted to make sure to thank EVERYONE for the great gifts. From Snowshoes, a fancy Cuisinart (I should be on the food network soon), Pandora jewelry and of course a favorite -MONEY. Ironically, the money will be paying for Addy and I's trip to Fort Myers which is half work and half fun to see family. However, I don't think work will be kicking in any travel cost! Hey, It could be worse!

Happy New Year! It would be really cool if the blog site would do a "Year in Review" and highlight all the cool things! Unfortunately they don't but luckily you can order a book so Addy will have an ongoing journal of her life.

Speaking of Addy this morning she was playing with her stuffed animals and her stuffed penguin (who was the Mommy) told her stuffed dog (who was the baby) to "You stay here with your friends Mommy is going to the gym." Daron was laughing out loud it was so funny. She also asked for me to tell her a story one night. Daron and I were really happy when we were able to tell her stories instead of read them all the time - the main reason being we could TELL her a story in the DARK this hopefully leads to sleep :) While I was telling her a story I said that her Zebra ( a plastic toy) carried her across the river that was full of crabs (the crabs were her idea). She said "Mommy he can't do that because the zebra is a toy." Stupid Mommy. Needless to say I soon gave up on the story and Daddy took over. He apparently is a WAY better story teller and it allowed me to go to bed and read my Kindle book. Hmmm I am thinking every story I tell should have a Zebra doing non-toy things....

Green Acres!

Thanks to a WHOLE bunch of rain and Darons new riding lawnmower our backyard is looking really great. Too bad it just snowed today ;(
Addy and her buddy Grace at the Best Friends Christmas Party.

Well I am so thankful that the Nagles and Andrews had a happy and safe Christmas. Daron and I could hardly wait for Christmas morning to see Addy open gifts. We were lucky in that a few of Santas elves dropped off a few gifts here and there early. ;)

Mimi and Papa and Aunt Sasa were able to watch Addyson open their gifts via Skype. Well at least most of them. Addy loved her new cookware - mixer and sandwich maker - along with her new oven mitts, chef hat and apron. She also got a beautiful princess hat! She traded off on the hats throughout the day. I would not be surprised if she became a chef and opened her own little cupcake shop. The real entertainment came when she received a toy dog that laughs and rolls and laughs some more. Addy has been carrying him around saying "This dog is laughing up a storm." SaSa (Lisa) sent an awesome sleeping bag and headlamp that fit in this really cute backpack. Addy LOVES backpacks. She likes to use these in the new tent tunnels and clubhouse she got from Santa.



Grammy and Grandpa sent boxes of gifts from Texas. Each one was accompanied by an iguana or turtle puppet. They are awesome and with Daron's amazing puppetry skills it has made for hours of entertainment. A real treat came when Grammy and Grandpa created an elaborate 25 minute video of Grammy talking to Addy and showing her every step that went into creating an awesome snuggle quilt. To make it even more entertaining there was a mischievous little elf that kept turning the Christmas tree lights on and off, messing up the quilting squares and yes even poking himself with the quilting pins. Needless to say the little elf hid in the tissue paper that covered the quilt as it was packed in the box! So now when anything and I mean ANYTHING is amok at our house we can blame it on the elf ;)



Addy and her best friend Isabella spend hours playing with all of the toys!


Uncle Dan and Robert hit the slopes in Colorado this holiday season! Hopefully in the future we can all join them for a few days on the slopes. Addy, Kim and I are flying to Fort Myers for a Humane Education conference and will be able to spend a few days with them in a warmer climate! Mimi and Papa will drive over from Boynton to watch Addy while I am at the conference. Yippeee!

This is Addys first Christmas where she knows that Santa is coming! Fun! Daron and I woke up first and had coffee anxiously awaiting for Addy to wake up! Between Santa, Daddy, Grammy and Grandpa, Mimi and Papa and Aunt Sasa Addy opened gifts for two hours +. It was SO fun.

Lisa came to visit! Lisa came to visit!~ Everyone loves it when Aunt SaSa comes to visit. Addy is really drawn to her and is wide eyed when Aunt SaSa is around. She gave her the biggest hug in the airport~ Daron has someone to watch football with and chop wood and I just love hanging out with her~
Addy talked Aunt SaSa into making cupcakes with her. She usually tries to talk every visitor into making cupcakes! Consider yourself warned!
I was happy that one of our Best Friends photographer could do a quick photo shoot with us so that we had some really nice photos of her visit.




Aunt SaSa and the neighbors horse. Hiking & posing near Angels Canyon.

Burnet Texas/Austin Texas trip - Wonderful time - photos to come!!!!!!!!!!!

Daron picked out this awesome sweater to go with my new boots and bought this photograph from Sandy Byland - artist. It is not altered in photoshop at all. She literally saw this horse in the clouds! It is amazing. The sweater Addy has on in from our friend Jaime who bought it in Peru last month. Thank you Jaime!!!

Heading to Austin, Texas!

We are preparing to visit Grandma and Grandpa Texas, Petra and Jason, Hayden and Haley, Chip and Sarah and Madison, Kristy and Ashley!!! We cannot wait. I had a great Birthday and I added a few photos from the big day. 41 - youch!

I am thankful I made it through yesterday. Or maybe I should say that Addy made it through yesterday. The day started off simple enough until I gave Addyson her 1/2 tsp of allergy medicine. She was crying when I gave it to her and I thought she was crying until her lips turned purple and I realized somehow she was choking on the liquid medicine. Luckily right at that point she started to cough and cry and aside from coughing the rest of the morning she was ok. Big Sigh.... Lots of hugs and I am sorry. Needless to say that this morning I put it in gatorade which thankfully she drank.

I was changing Addy's sheets and realized how cold her bed was by the window. So I decided to rearrange her whole room. I pulled the tv over to the middle of the room which left a small shelf with a lava lamp on it. I had no idea that Addy would try to pull herself up (her four year old friend Braxton is really into spiderman) next thing I know I hear crash, waaaaaa. My heart dropped because I pictured her big tv falling on her. I kept her out of the room as I quickly made it Addy proof again. Then I heard CRASH. OMG what now? I ran to my room to find the bedside table and lamp on the floor. Luckily Addy was behind the table (trying to pet the cat). I took her and her friend Isabella to the library for story time and I checked and double checked the seat belts and drove REALLY carefully to the library. The rest of the day was much less traumatic thank goodness.

Today it is beautiful out and Addy and I raked leaves. I asked her and Braxton to relocate some of the worms I turned up. They did and later Addy said " I have two worms in my pocket." OMG she is SO my child. Later the two worms were relocated to the yard because I explained to her that worms couldn't live in her pocket.

Since I haven't blogged in awhile I decided to add her Halloween photos now!