Other stuff....

Saturday December 5th.....a quiet unassuming day....I was in the basement wrapping presents. Amie was napping. Chris was working. Tim was in his area playing his x-box. Darwin was sitting in the living room. The front window curtains were open.
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Darwin looks up & sees "Buddy" running around the grass across the street! Remember Buddy has gotten out of our yard a few times - the most recent resulted in him getting hit by a car & having a broken pelvis!!
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So he goes running to the front door yelling, "Buddy!! Buddy!!" The little beagle looked up and ran straight across the street (luckily not getting hit) to our house & up to Darwin........but it wasn't Buddy!!

Here's the little beagle! She's a cute spunky little thing & had a collar and leash still attached!
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Darwin, Kylee and Amie walked through several blocks knocking on doors -- but no one knew who's dog it was. I called the radio station & the pound. No one had reported a missing dog. We finally decided to take her to the pound. We left our name and number and said we'd call back on Monday.
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On Monday we found out that the owners had found her on Sunday! Tim and Amie were disappointed -- but I'm thinking three dogs is a bit much!!
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Sunday night we got our first measurable snow - so of course Monday morning - Amie absolutely had to have some fun in the snow!!

She loves her "Snovey" She has to kiss and hug him every time she goes out of the house!

Amie loves making snow angels! I can remember being little and loving doing that as well!

I tried to get some pictures of the dogs last night - Tiger's picture is very interesting isn't it - not sure what to call that picture.....

Poor Buddy - he's wearing his little dress up outfit!! He still had the collar on this morning, so I took it off......for now! I'll put it back on him another day!!

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving 2009.....Mmmmmm look at some of the goodies!

Three kids eating the goodies!!
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Kylee in the forefront, then Dustin & Richard (two of Betty's foster kids). That digital photo frame will not stay straight on the wall because the plug in pulls it down......I know it's distracting in the picture!

Janet holding the newest little one - Mason (Tab's youngest)

A picture of our Thanksgiving night tradition.......checking out the Black Friday ads!

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But look closely.......I think I'm getting "the look" from Janet! :)

Kylee and Amie having some quiet time before calling it a full day!

On lots of these holiday get togethers - I don't get a ton of pictures taken......guess I'm too busy hanging out visiting with everyone.

Amie's first Thanksgiving treat

Thanksgiving 2009 -- Amie made blue jello!!
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While we were shopping for Thanksgiving groceries - I asked if she wanted to make some jello & she immediately said she wanted to make blue jello!!

She was a good jello maker! She spent more time stirring then I typically do....she did a great job!

Christmas Tree 2009

Cutting down our Christmas tree is a favorite family tradition the weekend after Thanksgiving. This year, it was warmer then usual. We went to the local tree farm near Knoxville & were faced with a TON of mucky mud!
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We made our way to one section of the farm........but with two minor mishaps......
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First, as we were walking up the path to the main building......Tim upchucked. Now for those of you that know Tim well.. he has always been an easy to upchuck guy! I asked him why, he said he didn't know. Typically, it occurs when he see something gross or thinks something is gross. We didn't see anything & he wasn't sure.
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So, we headed down the path that wasn't horribly muddy.
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We got out amongst the trees & guess who decided she had to go potty!!
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So, I found a group of trees & took her behind them & held her to go potty! And you guessed it.....Tim upchucked again!
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Funny now.....not then! Later, I asked why he threw up then, he said because Amie was going potty outside! Oh well....
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So we walked around & I got a couple of pictures with Tim & Amie....but we didn't find any trees we liked.

So we gave up & decided to give it a try this weekend!

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Today - we headed over to a different tree farm & we really like this one better then the Knoxville one!
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But guess what.......we got out there & someone had to go potty again!

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Lucky for us - Tim decided not to go with this time!

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They had a lot of nice trees & Amie definitely enjoyed herself!
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Here comes Amie running down a hill towards me!

"That one Dad!"

I think she's thinking to herself - "It's the best tree in the world!"

Time to get to work

A moment of quiet contemplation!

Amie definitely wanted to get right in there and do everything Daddy was doing!

It's just about time to yell "Timber"!!

"I get!"

I absolutely love this picture of Amie looking up at Darwin! She so completely loves to do all the Tom-boy stuff with her Dad!!

My Leaves!

Amie was helping Dad rake up leaves a few weekends ago.....and she didn't like that when they were done raking them up - they then sucked them up into the bagger!! As you can see.....she was protecting the pile that she raked up!

I hope she remembers when she gets older how much fun she thinks raking leaves is right now!!