I just got back from my dr.  All good.  No more coumadin.  It was a little anticlimactic.  As in…I’ve spent the last year dieing.  To now be free.  She said now go back to living!  It is hard to remember a time when I wasn’t sick.  Now it is kinda weird to not have an appointment with her every week.  I’m not sure what I am supposed to feel.  Weird.  That’s a good word.

I’m back to work…after an unexpected week off.  The girls had a week off from Thanksgiving.  I didn’t really plan to take it off…I was going to do some work…and I did a little here and there.  But I pretty much goofed off with them all week.  I liked it.  I like them!  They are back to school.  The house is strangely silent.  And I’m finding it hard to get back into a routine. ;D

We went to see Tangled on Black Friday.  No shopping.  Just fun.  Fan-tab-u-lous movie.  I highly recommend it.

The kids discovered that we got Rock Band 3 for Christmas.   Fortunately they haven’t discovered the instrument (the new keyboard…yay!) we have bought to go with it! ;D

I’ve got a new kit in my Scrapable store.  I’m so in love with this kit.  Very fun.  You can purchase it here.  Right now it is 30% off!

Here’s a layout I did with it…

Layout credits.

At the new house there is a gigantical maple tree out front (well there are several out back too) and the girls were so excited about this because they knew come fall we would have a yard full of leaves.  They have been raking and raking the last few days…making these huge piles to jump in.  Oh how I remember doing that as a kid.  And burying myself in the piles.  My girls do the same thing.  I love the smell of the leaves.  And I love it when they come inside with their hair full of leaves.

It has been unseasonably warm this weekend.  It kinda feels like summer.  Shorts and t-shirts are the wardrobe of choice.  So naturally your first thought would be…

“Mom?  Could we PLEASE sleep on the trampoline tonight?” asked Laney in the most humble voice she could muster.

“Laney.  It’s November.  You will freeze to death out there at night.  No.  You cannot sleep on the trampoline.”

“But wwwwwwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy??????”

“You can do it in the summer when it is warm…if you can ward off the mosquitoes.”

“We can cover ourselves with a big blanket!” exclaimed Ava.

They ran off to plan.

…my little Kia can 4-wheel.

But only to a certain point.  And not without major scrapeage on the side steps.   We took it on this trail…

After we decided to not drive it any further we parked and hiked.  We were looking for dinosaur tracks.  We’ve seen them before.  We found more this time (compared to 2008) because when you explore on foot you seem to find more than hanging out the car window.  Go figure.  ;D

Why is it that when you go to a destination it always seems to take f-o-r-e-v-e-r but when you are coming home it takes no time at all?  I’ve never understood that.  So when we drive to Moab…even though it is only about 6 hours…about the time we get to Idaho Springs…only 45 minutes from the house…the kids start saying, “Are we THERE yet?”  Yeah.  That gets really old really quickly.  ;D

Just a couple of favorite photos from the first day of our trip…

More to come.  ;D

Lots-o-loot.  Too much I’m sure.  That’s the great…or not so great…thing about living in the burbs.  We went barely and hour and their baskets were full.  See that basket Laney is carrying in the photo below.  Yeah.  FULL. ;D  Happy Halloween!

We didn’t have to worry about people stealing our pumpkins and smashing them…oh no.  Other “things” were afoot last night.

Corey and I are laughing and laughing.  The girls are not.   So now our jacks look really creepy for Halloween…or maybe just gross.  Laney begged me not to take a photo and both girls want us to throw them away before the trick or treaters arrive.  Muahahahahahah!

Safe and sound.  Tired and happy.  ;D

I don’t usually post while on vacation.  However.  This year we are staying in a hotel.  Just to shake things up.  And I find that staying in a hotel makes it a little more conducive to using a computer than staying at a campground does. ;D

…the traditions that we come up with as a family.  Some I try to plan.  Some just evolve.   Anderson Farms was definitely a “planned” tradition.  It took hold and we love it.  One tradition that has surprised me…Moab.  For the last…it will be 3 years now…every fall…we go to Moab for vacation.  I don’t know what it is about this place that we all love.  But we all do.  This year for Fall Break, Corey and I tried to suggest a different location to the girls.  No Way!!!!  It was MOAB the whole way, baby!

So we embark this week on another trip to Moab.  Arches National Park.  4 wheeling.  Hiking.  Wandering around the rock shop we love.  And looking at vistas like these…

I wonder how many years we are going to do this. ;D