Bryon's Christmas Miracle...

How was that for a title? It didn't so much happen on Christmas and it really wasn't so much a miracle as it was a heart-breaking story of a boys love for his best buddy and the little pup with some big paw prints to fill. On November 3rd 2009 Bryon experienced a loss of epic proportions. His favorite hunting partner, Buddy went missing. We have only lived in our new house for about 5 months but the dogs have a great sense of direction and home that when they occasionally felt the need to make a break from the fenced in yard it wasn't long before they found their way back. Talon, my old lab is notorious for making a break for it at any opportunity given. Buddy was a follower and just wanted to run. Anytime Talon got out you knew Buddy was right behind him. On November 3rd, we were going to be out all day and completely spaced securing Talon in the back yard. When we came home neither Talon nor Buddy were anywhere to be seen. At first we didn't panic because we knew where they usually ran off to so we got in the truck and went looking. When we didn't see them we still tried not to panic because there are a lot of big open fields they play in and we hoped they were just on their way home. The next morning there was still no sign of the dogs. As I was packing up Madi in the car I saw a very weak and trembling old Talon dog making his way around the front of the house. He looked horrible! I immediately ran to the side of the house to get Buddy but he wasn't there. My heart sank! I knew that wasn't a good sign. We didn't know what happened to Talon but whatever it was didn't play out so favorably for Buddy. That afternoon Bryon ran into our horse shoer who was in the area checking on some horses that had been attacked by what they thought was a cougar. The horses just so happened to be in a pasture really close to our house. We don't want to even verbalize what one would deduce as the reason our poor dog didn't come home that day. We hold out hope that someone has him. We have posted on KSL for him and we check the shelters regularly, but still no sign of Buddy. Bryon was having a really hard time with the loss of his dog and even Madi would talk about Buddy on a daily basis. I decided that it was time for Bryon to get a new puppy to help him get over his loss. I know Sadie won't replace Buddy and that we will always be reminded of Buddy and miss him everyday, but hopefully Sadie will help heal our hearts and help us to move on. I had really hoped to surprise Bryon on Christmas but I thought it would be better if he picked his own dog out. On Thanksgiving weekend we found some puppies that we thought would be a great fit. We went and picked Sadie out and have enjoyed her ever since.
Here are a few pics of Buddy, the man, the myth, the legend.... and here are some of the pictures we have of the new addition....

Christmas Eve Jammers

On Christmas Eve we went to my parents house for the annual Christmas Eve dinner and Chime Fest. That's right, my mom has a set of chimes and she makes us all play songs. Can I just state for the record that we suck??? It gets frustrating but I think that is when it gets fun. Inevitable there is always one important chime that doesn't get handed out and it ruins the whole song. There is always some one that needs to "tune" their chime constantly. Oh for you non-family members to be a fly on the wall. I'm sure we are pure comedy gold to the outside eye. This year we didn't stay too late. We knew Santa was going to be coming and we wanted to make sure we were home and in bed in time. Most people that we know have a little tradition of giving their kids new jammies to wear on Christmas Eve. We have never done this before but thought it was a great tradition to start. When we got home we found the present marked for Christmas Eve and let Madi go to town. We were worried she was going to be mean when she opened it and found it wasn't a toy but rather new Jammers to sleep in, but we were pleasantly surprised when she opened them up and loved them immediately. Here is the magic as it unfolded.....It took her a minute to decide if she wanted to open it. Dad had to get her started.....
Ah, here we go, now she started to tear in to it! (nice socks B)Now she was back to being silly and opening a little bit at a time. Heaven forbid she put down her doll and use two hands to open it!
Not quite sure if she should be happy about jammers......
Inspection time... jury is still out on excitement level to be shown......
Ahhh, there it is. The excitement you hope to see on something as un-fun as Jammies.

Red Ginger House

So the Holidays have come and gone and they went WAY too fast if you ask me!!! We weren't sure how Madi was going to like Christmas, Santa, etc. At the beginning of December we had a family party with Bryon's side and they had a surprise visitor. I thought for sure Madi would refuse to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what she wanted. I didn't even know if she KNEW what she wanted. As soon as Santa and Mrs. Claus walked in, Madi ran up to Santa and shouted that she wanted a train set! Ok, so we all knew Madi had no chance at being a girly-girl with us as her parents, but even I was caught off-guard at her request. Oh well, they make girly trains now days. So after that party we knew Madi was going to be some-what fun for the holiday. A few days later, when we were at "the local Walmart" we saw some gingerbread house kits. We thought it would be fun to get one and let Madi go to town! Little did we know how obsessed she would get over that thing. We wanted it to be a family activity and with Bryon's crazy work schedule, there sat the box on the counter as a torturous reminder to Madi what fun she had yet to behold! Every day she would ask me if we could make the "Red Ginger House". Day after day I kept breaking her wee little heart. Until one early Saturday morning when Daddy was actually home. FINALLY!!! We all got up early (as can be seen in the photos, it was maybe too early) and we began. Daddy and I helped frost the roof and Madi went to town with the decorations. I think she might have a hint of OCD going on or something. Notice how she decorates......She was color coordinating the decorations and lining them up according to type of candy. Who is this kid????Ta da!!! All done! Madi was SO proud of her house. It is still up in our front room as we speak. I am not sure I have the heart to throw away her work of art! I keep thinking the puppy will get into it and I can blame it on her, alas, the only good thing the puppy does is stay out of food and treats on the end tables. Stinkin' dog! She's a whole nother post all together though. (be sure to tell Bryon how much you appreciated his pillow hair in the photos)!

An Evening with the Hales.....

The Hales and us have been trying to work out a dinner/bowling night for quite a while now. We hadn't been able to make it happen for various reasons but we finally accomplished our task a few weeks ago. We started off the evening at Texas Roadhouse. Delish!!!

Here is Kevin and Tenille...Bryon, Madster and I....After dinner we were off to Shepard's All-Star. Check out Madi's tiny bowling shoes. So precious!Be warned the rest of this post is incredibly picture heavy!
Madi started us off... In retrospect, it probably wasn't a good idea. She had a hard time grasping the concept of taking turns. So she pouted! After a stern talking to in the arcade room (not very effective, here's a bit of advise, if you are disciplining a child, try not to do it in a room full of games and blinking lights!) She finally settled down enough to let us all play. She managed to entertain herself. Here she is singing and dancing all in her own little world. Can ya tell I like to take pictures of my cute kiddo?

We all took our turns....I swear we ALL took turns. I just mostly took pictures of Madi's turn. It was just too cute.

we played 3 grueling games of heated bowling. You can't tell who is who really because of the "funny" bowling names. Lets just say even Madi beat me.... We took a few pics just at random. Here is Kevin and Tenille....Tenille and Madi posed, sort of. Madi may or may not be acting like a brat in the picture. I don't really remember.
Here too....As the night wound down, Madi started getting bored and wanted to color. She also found the fan on the ball return. She liked how it felt on her face. We MUST do this again! Soon!

What have we been up to, you ask?

This one is pretty self-explanatory. There is a bun in the ole oven! We will find out what it is exactly a week from today. I'll keep you posted.

Parks & Picnics

This past summer we had a family picnic with Bryon's side of the family, more particularly, it was with Bryon's Dad's family. It was a beautiful day with plenty of shade and a light breeze. Bryon's cousins brought a fun cowboy golf game. Here are Gail and the kids just getting the game set up. Mads was doing her best to help out.Of course Madi was more than helpful with Grandpa Davis when it was his turn to play. Bryon's aunt had a little dog that Madi was in love with. Seriously, if any of you out there care about me, tell my husband to let me get that little kid a small dog of her own! How cute is this?The highlight of the day however was the park! Once Madi tried the slides, there was no going back. Poor Kenzi and Kennedy were probably worn out after Madi was done with them. She made them take her over there who knows how many times! Thanks girls, Mads appreciated it! We aren't totally bad parents though. We took her over there too. Here is Bryon putting her up on the slide that we didn't realize was faster than Clark Grizwold's sled. She dang near knocked me over! We only did this slide once. We decided to go over to the smaller slides that were more suited for a child of Madi's size. She loved it!Although I only took a couple of pictures, we were there for a LONG time. Trust me! This child is one slide lovin' fool! She was actually crying when we left. Poor kid! Note to self: Take Madi to the park/playground more often! Dually noted.