Merry Christmas from our house to Yours!

I guess you could say Santa found his way to our house!
















Some of you were even lucky enough to get a wake up text at 6:30 in the morning! This was a fun year to watch Oakley because he actually got "it"! He had so much fun playing with his toys and unwrapping his presents. It was really hard for him not to unwrap Dakota's. They just sat there and begged to be unwrapped! Lucky for us he only got to one of uncle slades and that was an easy fix! Needless to say we haven't quit partying since Christmas. We spent Christmas eve at Grandma and Grandpa Boomers. Oakley made a cute Joseph that thought it was important to lead the donkey by dragging her by her hair (in his teeth). Then Christmas morning we went back to the witbecks for traditional creamed eggs on toast! YUM!!!!!!! Then on the 26th Amber and her family came and we had the Witbeck Christmas party! Now TJ, Barbara, and Elle are here for New Years. I love when they come because (1) I don't get to see my Canadian family very much and (2) They are gourmet cooks! As if I need to eat any more food! Lucky for me I had about 95% of our holiday shopping done very early in the year ans so we have really enjoyed the holiday time and for Santa's elves that left us a treat on our doorstep......Thank you and it is very appriciated!!!!!!! Hope all of you have a great year to come!


















Oakley and his new "boom" (gun)





















Oakley and James before we went on a horse drawn sleigh ride!























Last but not least we picked Dakota up on the 28th. She has been able to put some good use to the present she got this Christmas!

Dakota's Dance Recital

This past weekend we were lucky enough to watch Dakota in her dance recital. She did an awesome job considering she literally worried her self sick over it. She was so nervous to perform infront of everybody, but as it turns out all of her worrying payed off becaue she did awesome! Grandma and Grandpa Boomer made the trek to Afton to watch as did Grandma and Grandpa Bethers. Even Asha and her friend came to cheer her on. She had lots of support and lots of people that love her! Here are the videos of her tap and ballet performances. She is the one in ther purple dress. I am sorry in advance if you get motion sickeness from the video.....I tend to get my video skills from my dad. Anyways afterwards we all went out to eat and celebrated!

Cookies Anyone?

This time of year is probably the only time of year in which I bake cookies! I HATE baking cookies, much to my hubby's dismay! Anyways on this particular night I had a lot of help! Enjoy!








Who knew baking cookies was such dirty work?




































Boys will be boys! I think he is really enjoying the product of all his hard work!

A new song for ya'll!

WARNING!!!!!!!!! Here is my latest song. If you can't handle sex, drugs, and rock and roll you should probably refrain from listening! It has had mixed reviews. I would however appreciate any imput you have. Thanks in advance for putting up with my sorry novice guitar and vocal skills! As always all rights to this song belong to me and only me! Thanks again for listening

Viva Las Vegas Baby!!!!

Wow!!! The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind for this family! We started off with Thanksgiving in Idaho. Most of the Bethers family was there, which hardly ever happens. It was strange not to have Clint there but he will be home soon! After that we ran to North Dakota and then made our way back to Vernal. Then I packed my bags and went to Vegas! While I was there I got my eye full of drunks, hookers, smoke filled casinos, rodeo queen seminars and the NFR! I am so glad to be home with my family now and able to settle down and prepare for the Christmas season!


















What's Vegas without a pic of this guy!
















Me on Freemont Street.

















You can't see it too well, but this was the Lost Trailers concert. We also saw Emmerson Drive that night.




















I don't know how this guy did it, but at the Emmerson Drive concert he fell asleep standing up. He was like that for a good 5-10 minutes. Sonja and I were laughing because the music was so loud. I am sure I have permanent ear damage for life!






















These two take their drinking seriously! That guy actually had another one of those drinks in his hand before I took the picture. They were dancing around right by us and I had to laugh because that was a whole new take on double fisting it! Funny story now!! Right after I snapped this pic, Austin Powers came over and asked my sister Sonja if she would take a picture with Micheal Jackson. She freaked out, screamed and ran for Steve as fast as she could. I wish I could have caught that on film....I have never seen her run so fast in her life.

Covered N' Cozy

My sister is now making these awesome infant car seat covers! She made one for me when I had Oakley and I loved it! I never went anywhere with out it. Anyways I thought this might make a cute Christmas idea for all of you that know somebody with a little one. She has fabric you can choose from or she will do custom orders. You can check her blog out by clicking on the link on the righthand side of my blog.

Here's to my favorite Veteran

Thanks to all of the Veterans out there that sacrifice all they have for me and my family! And for all those out there that are unappreciative....get a clue!!!!!

Also a quick shout out to my favorite Vet. He isn't with us anymore but I will always remember the stories he told me about his days fighting in WWII. What an amazing man with amazing character! He is sorely missed! I love you Grandpa!

The spooks were out!

Halloween was pretty low key this year. We went to a little trunk or treat and then to the nieghbors and we were done. Oakley loved that he got candy and has asked for his "bucket" about 100 times a day for the last two days. Hopefully he learns to pace himself as he gets older.....

















Oakley and his cute cousins!


















Oak didn't want to take off his costume...so he just played in it...I think he would have slept in it, if I wouldn't have made him change.















Some crazy lady and her cute pony.



















One hot hubby and his hansome horse!

Birthday Boy!!!

Well You guessed it! My baby boy is the big 2! I can't believe it and have been going through fits of shock for the last few days. It just seems like yesterday that he was a tiny little infant that I was doing my best to entertain. Anyways, the lucky little bugger got spoiled rotten and got two parties! We celebrated up in Idaho with James' family and then down here with mine. He was super excited to get all sorts of new things to play with!















This is how Dakota celebrated Oakley's b-day! A trip to Idaho is never complete without a ride on her donkey Snowflake!














Grandma and Grandpa Bethers needed some pumpkins carved....so we got our hands dirty!














The kids with their finished pumpkins.














Birthday Party in Idaho


















It's your birthday....wear your sister's PJs!

















Blowing out the candles


















His Loot!!! The John Deere trackhoe he picked out and it had to go to bed with him! He also really loves his hunting set that his sister got him! Way to go Dakota!

Great Pumpkins

No Halloween is complete without a night of pumpkin carving. Since this was the last time Dakota would be home for the month, we got ours done early. Let's just hope they make it until the spooks come out!

The Mighty Hunters

Tuesday morning I woke up at the buttcrack of dawn( 7:30- 8:00 AM) to the booming sound of my husband yelling in my ear "Get up, get Oakley dressed, we have to get on the mountain!" The frost was covering everything and he knew the hunting would be prime. So I pulled out the camo and to my surprise he told me we wouldn't need it but to wear it anyway because I look HOT in camo! My every wish came true in that moment...

Anyways we headed up Taylor Mountain and James spotted a couple of big bulls right off. When we got closer to them though something scared them away. So we started to head up to Oaks Park area and right off the road in the timber was a little spike bull elk. James would not usually shoot something so small....but Oakley was there and he was so stinkin' excited he didn't dare break his heart. James hit the brakes and we slid down the road for forever thanks to the thin sheet of ice that had managed to take up residence there. Once we got it shut down he jumped out of the truck and the chase was on. Poor Oakley was so flippin' excited he was panting like a dog and pressing his nose against the window to watch the action! I swear buck fever must be genetic!!! Anyways to make a long story short, James ended up getting this sweet spike in the thick timber. It was a perfect shot, especially for where he was. We ended up having Ryan bring his horse up and between the two guys and the horse they drug it out of the trees! It made for an AWESOME day!!!!

Way to go honey!

My Yardsale Find....Giddy Up?

I admit I am not much of a yardsale'r, but Marie and I were driving past a neighbors house the other day (on our way to watch our hubbys in a ranch rodeo) and I saw this bouncy horse that I didn't think Oakley or the rest of my future spawn could live with out. Since I knew the people and we were really short on time, I told them to hold it and we would be back later in the afternoon to pick it up. The sweet lady I bought it from about fell over laughing when we pulled up with the truck and trailer to pick it up (we were on our way home from the ranch rodeo and it happened to be on the way.) She and her sister were joking about how we didn't need to bring a trailer....we could just ride it home. I guess you had to be there to appricate the humor, but anyways I was right in the assumption that my boy couldn't live without it! He LOVES it!

My baby is growing up......

My baby is growing up and his mama is in one serious state of depression over it. James has been trying for a year to get me to convert Oakley's crib to a toddler bed and last week I finally gave in. Talk about BREAK MY HEART!!! I love the fact that Oak is talking now in complete sentences for the most part, but all of the rest of the growing up stuff makes me want to cry. That sad thing, I think, is that me is now mobile.... he can get in and out on his own. If he feels like running the halls, he can do it( that is until his mama catches him) but now he doesn't need me to get him out. Anyways, it seems like just yesterday I was bringing him home and putting him to sleep in this.....

(Please.....advert your eyes towards the crib in the background....since that is what we are really talking about here.....no need to look at that fat pregnant woman that is taking up most of the space...)















And now by big boy goes to sleep in this.....









Last night he even made it through the night without falling out of bed! That was honestly a relief!

A day at the Zoo

For some strange reason we have to go to the zoo at least a couple of times a year. Our kids absolutly LOVE it! This trip we went with the Watkins family and enjoyed every minute of it. There were so many new little babies!!! I wanted to take the baby Giraffe home with me. Anyways we had a blast...just wish Dakota could have been with us!


















Baby Zuri was intoduced to the public just a couple of days before we went! Look at the size difference! This was Oakley's favorite thing to see!












Oakleys second favorite thing to see!


















Please ignore the fact that I look extremely large and hump backed.....Marie was kind enough to snap a quick family pic! This is by far my favorite thing to see....probably because I have always wanted a pair of giraffe hide chinks. Don't know why....I guess it is just the Cruella DeVil coming out in me!!!




















I heart this little guy!





















This pic looks fun and innocent...but 5 minutes before this pic.....I was in a PANIC!!! Oakley took off while I getting the tickets out of the bag. I thought James had him and James thought I had him. The search was on....good thing he didn't wander too far. We found him trying to climb over the fence to jump on the carosel ride. I have never been so scared....except for the time my little brother ran off at the state fair ( but that is astory for another day)




















After a full day of fun at the zoo....it is time to catch up on some zzzzz!

(Only my kid can get that dirty at the zoo!! Still haven't been able to get that shirt clean either!)

The Life of a Domestic Housewife!

This right here....is reason number 1 for why I have been neglecting my blog. I do love to can beans. I don't know why....because it is a lot of work, but there is just something about it that gives me satisfaction!


















This right here......is reason number 2 for neglecting my blog. Joce came over and helped me with the salsa. I haven't ever done salsa before...and boy, was it good!!! I have had horrible breath for the last 3 days....but it is so worth it!!!


I don't have a picture of reason number 3, but it has to do with freezing a butt load of carrots. For as many carrots as I peeled and sliced I didn't end up with as much as I thought I would. Next year I will be growing more carrots in my garden and a whole lot less peppers. Joce and I shared a garden this year and we have so many peppers. It is a good thing they freeze.


So... now you know what it is like to live the glamorous life of the domestic housewife!!!!