Happy New Year's Eve!

I may have posted a similar picture before. I took this New Year's Day 2014 when Rick and I did a little snowshoeing in Glacier National Park. We're playing around with the idea of going up there again tomorrow. The park is just under an hour away from us, so we go up as often as we can. It's been cold, but tomorrow is supposed to warm up to a whopping 21 degrees. Yay!

I apologize for being so rotten with blogging. I've had some trolling issues, and it just took the fun out of it for awhile. It is something I enjoy, so I hope to get back into it. I really miss visiting everyone else's blogs as well. It seems Instagram is where I am the most, so if you want to follow me, that would be awesome. You all know me and my photo addiction!

Looking back on 2014, I realized we've done quite a few things, including two trips to California to visit my in-laws. These past few weeks have been great because Nicole has been home from college. It's rare to have the whole family together, so I've really enjoyed that. I am hoping to get a picture of all four kids together tonight sometime. I hope everyone stays safe tonight and that 2015 brings much love and happiness.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

I'm sorry to be posting a day late. I didn't get my laptop on all day yesterday. Our holiday was very nice, especially having all the kids home at the same time. Nicole's been away at college for so long, so it was great having everyone here. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well.

Montana Grizzly Encounter

We stopped at the Montana Grizzly Encounter on our way to pick up Nicole from college for Christmas vacation. One benefit was that our entry ticket was good for two days. Since we were driving back the next day, we stopped again with Nicole. Here are some photos I took on both days, including of little Bella who is the youngster of the group. I was so happy she was out the first day we stopped by. She's the last three photos. She's growing her first winter coat, so she looks a little rough right now. She's adorable. The other two bears are Jake and Maggi. I've seen them before as well, but now with Bella, I've seen all five bears that are currently living at the MGE. If you are ever in the Bozeman area, I recommend stopping here.

Thanksgiving Pumpkins

The boys made these little Thanksgiving pumpkins the other day. They're really simple and easy, which is always a good thing for my boys. You can find all sorts of links how to make them online. I had to laugh when we were putting them together because it reminded me of the RHCP logo. I've got a one-track mind, obviously. Haha! Anyway, they were fun to make, so I thought I'd share there here.

PB Fudge

Okay, so I came across another "meme recipe" on Facebook yesterday. Some of those have turned out to be really good—others—not so good. I decided to try this one for peanut butter fudge yesterday. I wasn't sure if it would even work, more or less, taste any good. It worked just fine. It's super sweet, but if you like peanut butter, it's a good one.

I some of it with a glass of unsweetened almond milk, which helped with the super sweetness of the fudge. I'd definitely make it again. Even so, you never know with those memes!

Parking Lot Photography

It's seriously hard for me to get in or out of the car without finding something to take a picture of. Rick's always looking back saying, "You're going to get hit by a car!" and things like that. Seriously, there are cool things to photograph all around us. You don't have to go on a five mile hike to find them. The berries pictured above were taken near Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

Above flower by Twisted Bliss Frozen Yogurt.

More berries from Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

Yellow flower near Walmart.

Pink flower by Target.

Yellow flower at Target.

Changing fall leaves next to Walmart.

The beauty is out there. You just need to take a moment to look at it. These were all taken with my iPhone, by the way. I rarely carry my Canon to the big chain stores. ;)

Eight years ...

As of today, it's been exactly eight years since we moved to Montana. We actually left California a few days before, but it was October 26, 2006 when we spent our first night in this house. It's hard to believe we've been here this long. However, some days it feels like we've just gotten here, and other days it feels like we've been here forever. So strange. 

I took this picture of the house not too long ago. Those double doors on the lower level towards the left lead into our classroom. It's a great place for our homeschool room, especially since we get the afternoon sunshine there. Denny loves it. That's also where he begs to be let out to eat grass, or for "recess" as we say. But still—eight years—pretty unbelievable.