Happy New Year!!

The calendar is all ready - I spent yesterday afternoon filling in all the birthdays and special events - for me to flip the page at midnight!

Cat Nip

Our pets are members of the family and we don't forget them at Christmas. The doggies got treats and the kitties got cat nip! The boys & I spent a couple of afternoons stitching little fabric mice, which we stuffed with nip. Aly thought this was a wonderful idea and got right in the middle of everything! She rolled in the catnip and spread it all over the house. It was really funny! I heard from my sister-in-law Christmas morning. Sometime during the night her kitties had discovered their presents under the tree, tore the wrapping paper off and had a cat nip party!

Daisy's New Friend

Daisy made a new friend this weekend! My niece and her family were amongst our overnight guests, but they didn't want to leave their yellow lab, Zoe, at home alone. We have plenty of space for the dogs to run, so we said that Zoe was more than welcome to join the party! (My brother's family also brought their dog, so that made 4 canine guests!) Daisy thought Zoe was just wonderful and they played and played for hours!! Here you can see Daisy's favorite trick. Maybe you've noticed that my dogs never wear their collars & tags? This is why! We ended up taking off Zoe's collar too because we didn't want Daisy to bury it in the deep snow. The thing that amazes me about these 2 dogs is that they are both Labrador Retrievers, but with such different bloodlines that they look completely opposite. Daisy is compact, short & round; Zoe is tall, long and lean. The disposition is the same though, happy-go-lucky and super-friendly. They are both great dogs!!

Hay Fort

This morning, (And I swear it was a coincidence!) our delivery of 300 hay bales arrived. Our guests were all happy to pitch in and get it stacked into our barn. We really appreciated the help and it made the job soooo much more fun!! About halfway through, my brother-in-law decided to rearrange the bales and build a fort for the kiddos, complete with a maze. They were thrilled! And, some of the adults couldn't resist and climbed in as well. That's my sister climbing back out, while a line of kids patiently waits for their turn inside...

A trip down memory lane...

So sorry that I didn't get a chance to post yesterday! We had our big family gathering here - 29 guests, 22 of whom stayed overnight (10 children & 12 adults) - and it was a wicked rowdy good time! On Christmas Day, I posted a photo of our boys in front of our Christmas Tree. This is a tradition that my parents started when I was born. Each year, my siblings and I pose in front of the tree for a group photo. This first one, dated December 25, 1977, was taken the year my sister was born. (There are 4 from my earlier years, but this is the first photo with all 3 of us together.)

And here is the one taken December 25, 2008...
(That is my parents' dog, Duke, in my lap.)

Hairloom Treasures

This gift was the hardest to keep secret! I was so excited about it that I was just dying to tell everyone. But, I didn't, and it was worth the wait. Remember this post from last summer when we had to have my old horse put down? Well, before that fateful day, I had cut some of her tail hair for a keepsake. I contacted Giselle Rec of Hairloom Treasures and she made some wonderful bracelets, key chains and zipper pulls from Moonie's tail hair. I kept a bracelet, but gave the other pieces to my family members. They were thrilled and very surprised because they had no idea that I had stashed away some of her hair!! We will treasure these forever, as our last tangible contact with Moonie. I photographed them on an enlargement of a picture that I took way back in 1987...

Merry Christmas!

We hope that you all had as great a day as we did!!