Once there was a snowman

Grandma and Cameron took advantage of the heavy snow last night to bring to life this fellow.

This was the snow fall for just one day. More snow in the forcast and we are planning to drive from Washington to Colorado in this?

Our stay in CDA

We spent some time here;

the two of us and another couple.

No kids.

We had dinner here.

Stayed in a room like this...

Spent a few moments here.

 

Enjoyed breakfast here

We had a great time.

Christmas at the McMackin's

Cameron was dreaming of a Lego Christmas.

James was dreaming of a PS3 motion Christmas.

And Brianna,

was dreaming of a digital Christmas with a powerful zoom...

Ogden Union Station

No road trip with the McMackins would be complete without a stop at a railroad station...

Here is Cameron and Dad meeting the engines.

A perfect way to start the day.

FHE and Grandma Janet's Christmas Money

Grandma Janet send me $10 for each child at Christmas. She sends it early so I can go shopping for something special for each of them. This year I decided to do something different. I gave the money to them to help them purchase gifts for each other. We treked out to Walmart and had a great time looking for that perfect gift. Super fun FHE.  

We opened the gifts prior to our road trip to Spokane. Brianna got an Olivia doll from one brother and a variety of lip gloss from the other brother.

This one raked in these dueling guns and a CD of modern music.

Cameron enjoyed match box cars and Sponge Bob Square Pants dominos.

Thank you Grandma Janet

Temple Square at Christmas

 Our travel to Washington included a stop in Salt Lake.

We wanted to experience Temple Square with the kids.

A favorite was the visitors center scale model of the Temple. The boys really liked the interactive computer screens giving detailed description of the interior rooms and the purpose of them.

I always enjoy visiting this tribute to our Savior. He is the reason we look forward to Christmas. We also took time to view a film on the Nativity. Outside, a life size nativity with narration. This time of year we never tire from hearing the story of Christmas.

New additions to the family!

A few weeks after moving into our new home, we purchased hamsters for each of the kids' bedrooms.

This is Jill, Cameron's Russian dwarf hamster.

She's the... erm, fluffiest out of the three.

You know, the same kind of fluffy as Manny the woolly mammoth from Ice Age.

Maybe the negative calories from that celery will be good for her.

Mars, James's Robovorski dwarf Hamster, is named after the band 30 Seconds to Mars - it's also short for Marzipan.

She's the tiniest of the group and enjoys running on her wheel at lightning speeds.

Lastly is Shikari, Brianna's Chinese dwarf hamster.

She is very mouselike - long, lean body with a tail (unlike the others).

Her hobbies include stuffing her cheeks with food, emptying them onto her wheel, and running around on it in order to make a lot of noise when the rest of the house is sleeping.

Also, she will bite anyone who tries to hold her aside from Brianna, thus making them bleed.

We'll consider it a form of "bedside security".

But that's okay, I adore my rodent :)

-brianna.

P.S. - The graininess of the photos is disappointing, but hopefully I'll be getting a new camera soon!


Shikari is now a symbol of Christmas miracles. She escaped last night! The hamster habitats were relocated  downstairs for the ease of the pet sitter. Shikari was not in her cage in the morning and we began to search everywhere. Under the furniture, behind the fridge, in the laundry room... When the initial search did not produce results we sat together to pray. And then I began to prepare the kids for the worse. The kids however maintained hope. They maintained that they did not feel that Shikari was gone. Later we found Shikari just outside Brianna's room hiding behind the suitcases in the hall. (The cat sitting not too far away.) It was obvious that Brianna had imprinted herself on this little creature that it made its way up the stairs to be reunited with a loving caretaker. We thanked our Heavenly Father for Shikari's safety, we are grateful that God loves creatures great and small.

We're not in Kansas any more...

This was the first thing I noticed.

Rabbits everywhere. They sit casually on the lawn chewing.

 

They are the first thing you notice in the early morning.

They dart across busy streets.

Liberty Jr Hi Concert

For those of you who missed the concert...

Here to save the day. You don't have to miss out.Enjoy!

Before and After new paint

The colors of the house were dominated by strong yellow undertones. This is the color of the family room before we painted...

The green is calmer, and it looks great with the large logan (dark green) sectional. The green compliments the cherry wood tones and the burgandy throws.

Here is the yellow in the breakfast nook.

This beige warms up the wood floor.

Red undertones keep it warm without the shock of the yellow.

Here you can see the yellow in conflict with the wood floor and counter tiles.

The beige here brings harmony.

We can still use reds, greens and black to add punch without the agitation.

Sage and Linen

The color scheme of our new home is Green and Beige.

I love the green on the family room walls... Lion by Behr. The color in the kitchen in Sandpoint by Behr. aka beige. So the guest room was really hard for me, someone who doesn't like shades of yellow or orange.

The compromise came with these towels from Kohls.

They are chocolate brown and have these patchy squares in green, beige and blue. Did you notice the colors of the stripes of the layered candle?

To continue the theme...

This is our new bedspread (Kohls).

And these towels, Sonoma at Kohls.

and these Sonoma 500ct sheets.

These are the best sheets ever! Kohls and Sonoma calls the green and beige - Sage and Linen.

15 merit badges

This last fall was full of opportunity. We live in an area with many districts close by. JLM attended 3 merit badge colleges. Horsemanship, Aviation, Auto Maintenance and Space Exploration were some of the fun experiences he was able to participate in. He received 7 merit badges at the last court of honor. 15 total! 

He is one required merit badge and a service project away from Life rank.

Christmas Lights

Here is our home dressed up in lights. Middle child did much of the work stringing along the gutters. He easily manages the roof. He can do this without a ladder by going through his bedroom window. I got vertigo. The ladder wasn't much better. 

Here is a close up of the front door.

It is a challenge going from a single door entry to a double door entry. I needed to buy two wreaths. The single entry tree takes away all symmetry.

                                                                 You may notice my snowman is leaning back against the wall. That is because the porch slab has a forward slope. This will be repaired by the builder.

In the meanwhile, this fellow leans backward so he doesn't fall forward.

The swags on the railing I've had for some time. The one on the right needed to be restrung with a new string of lights this year. I am an expert now.

Here is tree number one.

Decorated in mercury glass ornaments. It is too big for my living room or family room.

So, it is here in the dining room.

Just feet away in the entry is tree number two.

I am very happy to have two trees. This one has a variety of Hallmark ornaments and similar. I've had too many ornaments for just one tree for too many years. It is nice to be able to get all of them out. In the past, we've alternated themes from year to year.

I hope you enjoyed the light show.

House Tour -- Main Floor

Here is our Kitchen.

The walls were yellow. The color here is Behr Sandpoint (from Home Depot).

Beige is usually not very exciting. It pulls the richer colors out of the tile counter tops. We are using the green from the family room for accents. The rugs, kitchen towels, etc. 

This is the Living Room.

We had a hard time fitting our furniture into this room. One leather chair is now upstairs in the Master Bedroom. The walls need to be painted. A warm color to bring out the colors in the tiles around the gas fireplace, perhaps. (The piano is around the corner on the right.)

Here is the Family Room.

Do you love the green walls? I do. The color is Lion, by Behr. It covered an tan/orange hue very nicely. As you can see, the space was just big enough for our sectional.

Here is the Breakfast Nook.

The table is new. It seats 8. It reminds me of my sister's...

The Laundry Room.

My sweet husband hung the cabinets above and installed the shelf below for boots and mittens.

The guest bath.

I am not fond of the orange walls. It is hard to decide what color would work.

In the meanwhile I just added these brown towels...

I hope you liked the tour. More to come later.