We wished it was a Merry Christmas

Dear Faithful blog followers,
I have not written about our Christmas on my blog yet, because it was a little less than picture perfect. In fact, you really don't want to see any pictures from that day. We all had the flu. Actually, I should clarify a little. Our friend Criag (our adopt a college student program) came down with the flu on Tuesday before Christmas. Jonathan was then blessed with it on Christmas eve thus we were not able to attend midnight mass or our friends Christmas eve dinner. Then, Jonathan being ever so generous and despite 2 cans of Lysol, the flue was my Christmas gift. Needless to say, it was not exactly fun at our house, but we made the best of it. Jonathan got a set of Looney Tunes DVDs which he watched most of the day while I lay sick in bed watching a gift from Matthew MeConaughey. (He sends me something every year!) Santa brought Jonathan a train set which Lady wasn't sure she wanted in her house at first, but then took to watching it go around the track all day while Jonathan I were too sick to play with her. While I had planned a nice Christmas dinner complete with a Birthday cake for Jesus, we changed plans and had chicken noodle soup which, while a little less exciting, was exactly what we needed. We have since had fun with our new Christmas gifts and it is starting to feel a little more like the holidays, but it still seems like Christmas never happened! I hope that you had a very merry Christmas!

I don't like snow!

So, I could go on and on about how I ran my car off the road last week, hit a fence and then got a ticket for driving on unplowed roads, but I think that would not help me in my healing process. The winter season wouldn't be so bad if they would just PLOW THE ROADS! I like building a snowman as much as the next guy (okay maybe just snowballs) but driving in this snow is a nightmare! I grew up with lots of snow... never ran off the road or got stuck, but ever since I have been driving in Idaho, my love for snow has more than dissipated! I guess marring a Florida boy didn't help that situation either! I do have to give a shout out to my friend Craig. He has been staying with us for his Christmas break (part of our "adopt a college student program") and he has shoveled the driveway many times since this "manna from heaven" (as the Idahoans call it...JoJo and I call it manna from somewhere else) has started falling. Thanks Craig! We are the only house in the neighborhood that you can actually see the driveway! There are a few blessings from all of this snow. For one thing, it covers up all the ugly brown around (and the weeds that I never pulled) and there was so much snow this morning, that Jonathan couldn't get to work! I'm trying to think positive! Well anyone who sees this blog, is sitting in 60 degree weather and would like to experience a VERY white Christmas, is more than welcome to come on over! How about we trade???

What I did in Vegas..

No gambling! Instead, I helped my sister-in-law create a sweet playhut for her boys! What was suppost to be a tent, turned into a jungle theme playroom complete with a Swiss famliy Robinson play fort. In true Donna and Rebecca for, we went a little crazy! As you can see by the pictures, we went a bit overboard! We had tons of fun planning it...and some fun making it. I really don't enjoy sanding, but I am a Randall now, so I guess I have to get used to it! I had a blast painted the animals on the wall though. I think my favorite part was watching the boys do laps from the ladder, down the slide and back up the ladder again!

I'm not dead

So, I'm not dead...I just haven't been able to blog in a while. My computer, which has a mind of it's own, hates me. Really! The night before Thanksgiving, I was going to go online and order a new laptop and knowing that it was going to be replaced, the computer decided to freeze all of our programs. After trying everything we could possibly think of (including control-alt-delete which is suppost to fix everything right?) we gave up. We ordered a new laptop which just arrived this week. So, I am back to the blogging world! I have lots to blog about!

Annual photo shoot

I hate getting my picture taken! We have started trying to get our picture taken once a year, so here are some pictures we had taken for this year. One of them will be in our Christmas card!

1319 Cornerstone Dr

Our first home. What a lot of work! When we lived in an apartment, all we kept thinking about was how much fun it would to have a home! Little did we know what we were getting into! The great thing is that we both really do love doing yard work. Jonathan has a lovely rose garden (sorry no pictures) and I enjoy working on the other flower beds around the yard. We are constantly learning what grows in Idaho..actually more like what doesn't grow here! We have several fruit trees as well as a raspberry patch, strawberry patch and a 200 sq foot garden all along the back fence. The picture is not a current picture because right now...our yard...well is covered in leaves! Here's a shout out to Aunt Pattie...thanks for the suggestion! Extra credit for the idea!

Jonthan's Birthday Party

So, after a few requests, I thought I would post some pictures of the surprise party I threw Jonathan this past summer. The party actually took place in June, so I guess I am a little late getting these pictures out. In order to fully appreciate the party, you have to know that Jonathan, who grew up in Florida, HATES flamingos. Well, I should clarify; not the animal as much as the plastic imitation of the animal that people put in their front yards. Knowing that, I took it upon myself to collect every tacky flamingo thing I could find and throw him a surprise party with that theme! It was great because he didn't even have a clue! The best part, in my opinion, is that I bought a great deal of the stuff when we were home in NY, and he carried it all the way home to Idaho in his carry on suitcase and didn't even know it!