This year for Christmas I decided rather than buy Grant and Evelyn a toy that would eventually end up in the landfill, I would give them a small trip instead. We spent last night at the Great Wolf Lodge. Mammie went with us too. Great fun was had by all. Grant asked me, "Could this Christmas get any better?" He was loving life. We went out to eat at Famous Dave's Bar B Q, IHOP and the T Rex restaurant. The kids even let Mammie and I do a little shopping at the Legends before we went back home
We all did really enjoy the snow. I felt like I was living in Alaska for a while. I don't remember it snowing for 3 days in a row like that for quite some time. Someone told me this is the first white Christmas in KC in over 40 years. The bummer was not all our family could make it for Christmas. We really missed them. It just wasn't the same without them. Maybe we will do Christmas in July to make up for it. I love the Christmas season. I enjoy getting ready for it and going to Church on Christmas Eve, such a holy time. I'm always a little bummed when it's all over.
While Evelyn and Chris were at the KU game. Grant and I were outside enjoying the beautiful weather as you can see by his barefeet. Grant's pink shirt came from a fundraiser for breast cancer by his soccer team. He told me, "real tough men wear pink." He is striking his tough man pose.
Chris and Evelyn had a daughter and daddy date to the KU / Mu game. Here they are all decked out to show their support for their team. They got to watch the game in the
Howdy partner, My name is Farmer Carrie.
And this is Velma from Scooby Doo and Zombie Man Grant.
We went to my cousin, Arron's wedding. Here is a picture of the beautiful couple.
This is Cindy the mother of the groom, Evelyn, Grant and Me in front of the cake. Interesting side note, Cindy is wearing her mother's vintage 1967 dress and jewelry. It was darling on her.
This is my great-aunt, Zelma and great-uncle, Bob, the grandparents of the groom. 
Evelyn and her daddy dancing the night away. They like to party! Evelyn cried when we left because the bride hadn't thrown her bouquet yet and darn it, Evelyn was bound and determined to catch that bouquet. Maybe next time, Evelyn. 
Evelyn and I went with her girl scout troop to the Omaha zoo for an overnight in the zoo's aquarium. Our troop had the whole aquarium to ourselves for the night with sharks, penquins and all sorts of other fish. All 27 girls and their moms got an after hours private tour of the zoo from one of the zoo educators. I learned lots of interesting facts. Evelyn in in a pink shirt in the picture above. 
Here is Evelyn posing in front of the animal nursery. The zookeeper is feeding a baby anteater. We also saw a baby gorilla. So cute.
Evelyn and Marth are camped out in the shark tunnel for the night. As you can see. they got a lot of sleep. I'm in the green air mattress bed next to Evelyn.
Here is a view from my bed that night. I rested in bed and took this photo, such a friendly fellow.
Another view from my bed. Amazingly, I slept quite peacefully. The sharks didn't bother me at all. It was all the noisy girls. At midnight the troop leader brought her can of whoop ass and everyone was quiet. 
Ticket to the circus 20 dollars, box of popcorn 7 dollars, horse cup with snowcone 12 dollars, Grandma smiling and having fun at the circus, priceless. 
Grant and Chris loving every minute of it. Chris is thinking I can't believe I'm not home in my man cave watching football.
All sugared up and ready for the circus. 
Have you ever wanted to train for the Olympics in your bathtub? Evelyn did tonight and watched the water go down the drain while under water with her goggles.
I'm so PROUD of Grant. He made his own Easy Mac!!! I came home from a run to find him finishing up fixing his own dinner. As he said when he was 2, "I do it myself." 
Evelyn participating in the read to dogs booth at the Dog Festival. Hanna loved Evelyn reading to her. The sheep dog, Buckleigh is really cute. He is a senior citzen at 12 years old, very patient with those just learning to read. 
Grant and Evelyn with Scooby Doo and Clifford at the Dog festival. Roy went too. He was a very well behaved dog except for stealing my hot dog. It was a beautiful day. We all got ice cream including Roy. 
Garrett and Scott are our next door neighbors and friends. We see them just about everyday unless one of us is on vacation. I vividly remember playing with three year old, Grant on the back porch, on a summer day shortly after moving into our house . Four year old, Garrett came out in his backyard yelling for Grant to play. Grant so proudly told me, "That's Garrett. My Friend." He ran off to play with his new playmate. I watched as he took a little baby step toward independence of making friends on his own and a little less relying on me. It will always be etched in my mind as a sweet moment.
Chris and I are in the upper right hand of this photo. This is probably not the safest thing we ever did. After hiking back to the car, we noticed a sign stating the river can rise within seconds, 3 to 5 feet. But this is the coolest picture I've ever been in. We went to Maine for a week long adventure. I've always wanted to visit Maine. It did not disappoint me. Loved the wilderness, the moose, the people, the shore and the picture postcard villages. Its easier to get there from Kansas City than I thought. We flew to Boston and drove a couple hours to reach Maine, not a bad drive at all. Southwest Airlines is now flying to Boston for about $200 round trip. Our brother-in-law, Darcy was the brillant photographer. Photo journalism major, Chris Roesner made him stand on a railing to take our picture. It doesn't matter if you get hurt or fall down a 90 foot waterfall as long as you get the picture, baby!
This is my new favorite salad. We spent the Labor Day weekend at the Stottle's lake house at Tan-Tara. Jenny fixed us this salad the first night. I fixed it again when I got home. Chris and I both love it. Healthy and delicious, baby!
