Buildin' a house made of candy

For family night tonight, we decided to make a gingerbread house that has sat in our cupboards since last Christmas. We'll needless to say, it sat too long and the icing mix left something to be desired. After a 1/2 hour of trying to make the icing work, Dave decided to improvise and put the walls together by unbending paperclips and drilling them into the sides.

After this task was accomplished, I had to squeeze frosting onto the sides and roof to cover up the paperclips but the icing was still too runny and I needed to add powdered sugar to it. This was another mess. I then had to spread the clumpy mess that I call icing onto the house for Jake to decorate.

I couldn't believe that the house actually turned out kinda cute. It made for a good story and Jake was just happy to decorate the house.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was hard this year. It was the first holiday without my mother and I started getting emotional the day before. The night was filled with dreams of her only to be interrupted by my alarm going off at 5:00am to start the turkey.

After a feverish day of prepping and cooking, Britta, Doug, Michaela and Hannah arrived (an hour late). It was a good thanksgiving but something was just missing. There was no fighting, no screaming, no disagreeing......it just didn't seem like Thanksgiving. Ha! Ha!

Let's Go Into.....

It's finally here and yes we were crazy enough to brave the Eastern Idaho winds and stand in line with our tickets to be one of the first people to see Twilight in Idaho Falls. But it was all worth the wait. All the actors did a great job of portraying what had been built up in my mind.

I couldn't imagine going to see this movie with anyone else but Teresa. We originally couldn't get tickets until Saturday at 4:00pm. We were both bummed and couldn't believe that after months of talking about going to the midnight showing, we were going to miss it.

To my surprise, Teresa called and said, "I got us tickets to the 12:30 and your going." I was going to argue!! What a great night. The wait wasn't that bad and the movie totally rocked. Kristen Stewart as Bella was dead on and on word as Robert Pattinson as Edward, Yummy. I wouldn't kick him out of my room!!! You must go and see this movie.

Puppies, Puppies, Puppies!!!

Our pomeranian recently gave birth on election night to her first litter of puppies. Two little girls and one little boy. Because I am such a Twilight Geek, we named the puppies, Alice (brown), Jasper (small black one on the left) and Esme (Ms. Fatty in the Middle). Bella is good mom and we are relieved to have finally found a good breeding dog.

Alice was small from the start and we just thought that she would be the runt of the litter. After three days of losing weight, I had to start feeding her by inserting a tube down her throat to her stomache. So, every three hours I woke up and fed her. I toted her to Monatana for school and even came home from work in between clients for feedings. It was working too!! Alice was getting bigger and thriving. However, tradegy struck when last saturday, I woke to to feed her and she had died. She developed some breathing problems two days previous and it proved to be to much for this little pup that already fought so hard. We will miss her, she was a sweet little pup.

Esme, we now call Fatty, Fatty as she eats all the time. When she is not eating, she is whinning to eat. She is moving around alot and makes the cutest little chirping sound when she has wondered away from her brother or wants her mama.

Jasper is our sweet little boy, who cuddles into you when you hold him. Jasper has also begun to move around quite a bit and I woke up this morning to him yelping loudly because he had gotten out of the cage and couldn't find his way back. He is Jake's favorite.

Our proud momma, Bella is doing good but getting sick of her puppies rather fast. When she is not feeding them, she wants out of the cage for her own cuddle time.

Susan A. Pierce 5/5/55-10/21/08

I lost my mother one week ago. I can not describe that amount of heartache I am feeling. Although my mother and I had our struggles, we loved each other unconditionally and she was my biggest supporter in terms of my education, career and family. I miss her more than I can describe and can not seem to imagine a moment that she will not be there for.

My mother was only 53 years old and had a lot of living left to do. She adored her grandchildren and they adored her in return. I know that each of my nieces, nephews and even my own son, will greatly miss her.

For her Memorial services, my usually composed, steadfast husband broke down and sobbed. To all of our surprise when he gave his talk, he wrote her a special poem.

In the course of time

We have come to know

The known and sometimes unknown

The expected and unexpected

We have grown to love

We have grown to cry

We have stood the test

and sometimes wonder why

With the true intent

And desire to express

We have come together

To show our love and desire

And with open arms

May the Good Lord take you

May you be at rest

In the place prepared for you

And now we proclaim

With all one accord

As Jacob of old

Hath also once said

We say to Susan

O one that we love

Adieu, farewell and forever

May God be with You

-David Schwartz-

I love you mom, and as you would always say, "I am not going to say Good-bye but rather we'll see you soon".

First Snowfall

Three weeks ago we had our first snowfall and decided to make the most of it. Jacob came running and asked his daddy to help him make a snowman, so Dave grabbed his jacket and I grabbed my camera.
Dave started rolling, and rolling, and rolling. It wasn't long before two huge snowballs were made. Dave then asked me to get my winter gear on and come assist in putting picking up the massive ball of snow in order to form the body of the snowman. I unwittingly complied.
Soon after Dave was putting the third and finally layer on and the snowman was almost complete. With some help from daddy, Jacob quickly made two eye, a mouth and buttons out of rocks. A carrot for the nose and black scarf for those cold winter days. How proud were Daddy and son when the biggest snowman in the neighborhood was done.