Christmas Photos ...

Merry Christmas!

This is my niece - little Anaya

This is my Nephew - little Brian Michael

Irene and I getting ready to have some in the snow

Mike and I ready for snowshoeing

Brian Michael wearing a hood from Kaylies jacket

Anaya all ready for the snow!

She's a pink marshmallow!

Kevin and Dylan sledding

The kids put on a Christmas play - Caitlin was Mary, Dylan was Joseph, Kaylie was the angel and a Shepard, Nathan was a behind the scenes wise man and Anaya was another wise man.

Look at that smile!!

Bob and Irene bought footie jammies for all the adults - so funny!

Michael using Caitlin's new piano and mic to entertain us.

I finally got Marta to go snowshoeing - she had fun even though she was afraid I got us lost and that there were man-eating rabbits in the area.

Here are all of our feet!

The view from the cabin on our only sunny day.

It snowed 3 inches on new snow the morning we were leaving. Here's Mike's car with all the snow that we got from the day we arrived - over 20 inches!

Who wants Sticky Buns???

My mom has passed on her fabulous sticky bun recipe to me and from time to time I will get special requests for them. I love making them since you can do part of it the night before and it's so easy!
So one evening Mike really wanted me to make sticky buns for the next morning and since I had everything I needed it was no big deal.

So when making sticky buns you put everything in the pan the night before and let it sit until morning. The rolls will rise overnight and then you just have to bake them. I should have learned when we lived in Texas that everything is bigger in Texas. I used Texas sized rolls and this is what we found the next morning. Oops just a little on the big side. But with a little trim here and removal of 5 rolls there...

This is what you get when it's all been fixed! YUMMY!(Note to self; Don't use as many "buns" when using the Texas size "buns")

Merry Christmas

This year we are spending Christmas in Idah0 - this is the first time in over 6 years! We normally go to either Mexico or to Phoenix, depending on which family we are spending the holidays with. And I have to say I love the change this year. We are in a fabulous rental house in Tamarack Idaho. The house can fit all 13 of us comfortably. It's been snowing non-stop since we arrived and it's not suppose to stop any time soon!

Today, despite the advise from my doctor I went snowshoeing. I loved getting all the old ski gear on and heading out into the woods. There is something to be said about being out there with no one else around and listening to the wind blow through the trees. It was so quiet and peaceful! We hiked for several miles and I have to say it's more work then you think- especially if you blaze your own trail! There is probably at least a foot of new snow and even with snowshoes you do sink and so each step is tough. Honestly, I actually loved every step of it! I'm planning on heading out again tomorrow as long as my body is okay with it.

I'm a little nervous about how I will feel tomorrow since I have had a fever for the last 3 days and have been sick to my stomach as well. The fever is hovering now at 100.3 but I feel pretty good. I'm such a horrible patient! I don't listen to my doctors and I do exactly what they tell me not to do. Oh-well - you only live once!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! I'll post pictures of our Christmas vacation later.

... and I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night."

Philly or Bust...

In August I booked a trip to see my friend Sue in Phoenix when she competed in the Iron Man competition. But a few weeks before the competition she had to pull out of the race due to a bike injury. I was so bummed that I wouldn't be able to see her that Mike gave me the go ahead to book a new trip out to Philly for a girls weekend. So I did!

Sue and I were good friends in Up with People and got back in touch with each other last year at the reunion. So I was so excited to have some good girl time and fly out to see her. Here are a few pictures from our weekend.

The first night I got in we went and grabbed a pizza. The pizza had a sweet sauce and was soooo good! We took it back to her place to eat and we ended up staying up until 2:30 talking - which proved to be the normal bed time for us for the weekend.

This is my beautiful friend Sue.

Sue was just finishing a remodel on her kitchen and the counters were to arrive the day after I left. So here was our counter top for the weekend - it actually worked great!

The next morning we decided to go for a walk. Sue took me to a fabulous area in the woods. It reminded me of the Green Belt that we have here in Boise but this is bigger and more remote. It was very cold but beautiful!

I wanted to get a photo of the waterfall but as we got close to the water we realized there was a wind chill of ZERO coming off of the water. But I was tough and braved the cold!

Since it was so cold out we decided it would be a good day to make chocolates! This is Sue's Holiday tradition and what she gives to friends and co-workers. So off to the coolest chocolate store ever to get all we needed and a little more and then off to her sisters to have a little fun! Oh and take a guess on what people are getting this year from me? This is now a Deely family tradition I plan to do every year with the girls. (We've already made a bunch!)

Thank you Sue for showing me the ropes!

Sue and her nephew Caleb.

Later that night a friend of ours from Up with People joined us. Becky drove in and stayed all night at Sue's - again a night that didn't end until at least 2:30am. The next morning we went into Philly and did a city tour via trolley. I have been to Philly two other times but it's such a great city full of history so I loved seeing the sights!

Becky and myself

Thank you Becky for coming out - it was so great to see you!

After we said good-bye to Becky, we went and picked up my brother at the train station who came in to visit from New York.

When in Philly you have to go the Art Museum and run up the "Rocky" stairs!

When Sue and I traveled in Up With People our cast performed in the Philly Thanksgiving Day Parade and we performed on these steps! So it brought back some fun memories!

What are we doing Nick?

And of course you have to pose with Rocky!

After the Art Museum we went and walked down Boat House Row and then explored the Water works while we waited for our table at the Waterworks Restaurant which is behind us in this picture. It was an AMAZING place. We had a wonderful dinner - Thanks Nick!!

It snowed while we were at dinner - I was so excited!

After dinner we went to a bar for a couple of drinks with Nick and again had a great time!

Sue has a game room in her house - pool, pinball, ping pong, darts, etc... So we went back and played pool and pinball and I lost horribly at both! UGH! Not sure what Nick and Sue are doing here???

Here's Sue beating both Nick and I

I couldn't leave Philly without having a Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich. So the next day off to Pugs we go. It was very good! I got a traditional but Nick piled it high!

Our final picture

Thank you soooo much Sue for such a great weekend! Now I have to get you out to Idaho!

She has a what????

So, about 2 months ago I was working out and when I went to do a new exercise it literally sent me to the floor in pain. The pain was on my right side just below my rib cage. I already had an appointment with my doctor that day for other reasons so when I went in I mentioned the pain. She pushed around on my stomach and felt a walnut size lump and thought I probably had a hernia. Long story short and 2 doctors later - I'm going in for laproscopic surgery. I had a test done that made them believe I had a problem with my gall bladder and my surgeon felt that was probably the only problem, I still felt it was a hernia but the location of it was odd.

On Tuesday afternoon I got put under and in they went. It turned out that I had a Lumbar Hernia and the gall bladder was nice and healthy. Lumbar Hernia is very rare and my very experienced doctor had never seen it before. He and other doctors around the hospital were excited to see one since they had only read about it. Oh Boy- I am so special! He said that I had had this for a long time - either since birth or possibly from one of the two c-sections. I believe that it happened from one of the c-sections. I grew up playing soccer, basketball, gymnastics etc... and never had the pain before.

The surgeon told Mike afterwards that he hates that I was right. I self diagnosed the problem and I was right. Of course I had no idea that what I had was so rare but it made the most sense to me with all of my symptoms.

So, I am laying in bed right now. I am already trying to wing myself off of the medication since all of it wipes me out and makes me feel dizzy. I don't like not having control over my body and these drugs make me feel totally out of it. I've been trying to walk around more today but the dizziness makes me worried to do too much - falling down would not be good! Even as I try to re-read this post I'm starting to wonder if it makes any sense at all. I apologize if it doesn't.

I want to send a special Thank you to Emily - she has now become my official surgery friend. She has been with me through several of them and has helped take care of me afterwards. Mike is getting ready for finals and couldn't miss class this week so Emily came to be with me at the hospital while Mike was gone. Thanks Em - you're the greatest!

I'm anxious to share my Philly trip with y'all. I am waiting for some pictures from my brother to complete the story - so let's go Nick send them on!

Horseback Riding Lessons...

While I was on my little vacation, Mike had the girls to himself for the weekend. I had arranged for Caitlin to start her horseback riding lesson's that Saturday so the girls had something to look forward to. (They were both very sad that I was leaving) Mikayla is too young to start lessons but she loves to go and look at the them and pet them.

Caitlin had a wonderful time and LOVED learning how to handle a horse! The pictures didn't turn out really well - for some reason the flash wasn't working so I had to lighten them and now they're a little grainy but there are a few good ones.

Caitlin meeting Brandy for the first time

Caitlin had to put the horse away which meant remove the saddle, brush her down and clean her hooves.

Here she is cleaning her hooves - a little nerve racking for dad!

Here is the saddle that is as big as Caitlin

The girls had a great time with Mike. He took them to see Bolt- a new dog movie - on Friday night, Horseback riding lessons and play time outside on Saturday and then bowling on Sunday.

Good job honey on entertaining the kids so well! You're an awesome dad!