She's a doll!!

My new niece, Mykayla Alexis. It's funny how you can fall in love before you even meet the little Miss! We're so excited for John and Myrica and glad everything went well today. Now I'm ready to head up to Utah! :)

New toy

Not OUR new toy, but Grandpa Castle's! We went out to the hanger last night to see it and it's really nice! We're so excited for Grandpa b/c this is a life long dream of his!!

Video

Jocelyn's first lesson. Isn't that little saddle the cutest thing?!? Jocelyn's horse is named Annabelle. You'll hear Annabelle's friend in the background neighing. Those two always have to be together and the other horse was mad b/c he was left in the front of the ranch by himself! Too funny. They went and got him and then he was happy! (Sorry about my coughing. I know it's lovely.)

Miss Personality

Isn't she too funny?!? She was not in the mood for pictures at all, so that is the face I get from her! Love it.

I have a couple things I wanted to write down. Last weekend, my Mom met me at Jocelyn's horseback riding lesson so I could go to our church "Super Saturday", which is an all day craft day, where I was asked to teach a class. Anyway, after the lesson, they went to Cracker Barrel to have breakfast. They were in the bathroom washing their hands and my Mom dropped the paper towel and asked Jocelyn to pick it up for her. Of course, Joc did and threw it away. This little old lady was standing there and saw it and said, "What a sweet little girl!" So, they go sit down at their table and a few minutes later, the same lady came up to them and said, "This is what I do for sweet little girls like you" and handed her a dollar bill! So cute. Jocelyn called me and said some lady gave her money and I was a little confused until I heard the whole story! :) She was SO excited about it and didn't want to spend it until she showed Graham and I. Of course, now we can't find it anywhere, but maybe I'll have to donate since she was soooo excited to spend it and apparently, she earned it!!!!

I asked Jocelyn what she would like for dinner tonight. She looked at me and said, "Steak!" I asked her if she has ever had steak. She said, "No, but I think it'd be good."

When I was on the phone with my Dad, Jocelyn ran into the kitchen and acted like she was spitting in the sink. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I had a hairball. It happens." I was cracking up. Whenever I cough, Graham always says, "hairball." (But I don't run in the kitchen and spit!) Thank you honey!! :)

A sPoOkY bUnCo NiGhT!!!

I hosted bunco this month! It was SO much fun, but also a lot of work! (It didn't have to be as much work as I made it, but you know me!) THANK YOU to my Mom for helping me TONS and spoiling me with fun decorations! :) We always have fun shopping for decorations and party supplies.

The outside decorations and some cute girl running around. :) My friend let me borrow her fog machine, which made it really fun!!

Ghost lights

The place settings, obviously! We found those hilarious cups and had to go with that theme.
One of my friends came over and helped me make Cinna-bun popcorn. It was SO YUMMY! I found those cute Halloween theme "take-out" boxes and put popcorn at each table setting.

To play bunco, you have three tables, with four people each.

I served chicken pot pie, a really yummy salad called Grand Parisian from Costco (you should try it!) and a fruit salad that is a family favorite. For dessert, the options were brownie bites, apple streudel and Chocolate wonderful (another family favorite). Plus the Cinna-bun popcorn that was on the table and candy corn, M&M's and bridge mix in the other cute Halloween containers. Anyway, it was a lot and we were all full! :)

The gift I put together this time. Pretty cute, huh? I want to go back and get that basket! Everyone brings a gift and then everyone goes home with something!

I'm not usually a skull loving girl, but this scrapbook paper was too funny and it went with the cups. Oh, I also went out and bought orange dice to go along with the theme.

It was a fun night!! Of course, I meant to get pictures when everyone was here, but that didn't happen! Oh well. Maybe when I host again next year!!! :)

Dreams Coming True...

Today was Jocelyn's big day! She has been looking forward to horseback riding lessons for months...which probably seem like years to a four year old! :) When we got there, Jocelyn was so happy and ready to start, she was literally bouncing. Not like bouncing off the walls, just these little bounces that she couldn't contain. It was so cute!

First, they have her brush her horse, Annabelle.

I love this picture. I don't know what Jocelyn was looking at, but apparently it got the horse's attention too!

Getting the saddle ready.

She got to lead the horse to the round pin. She was very excited about that!

Look at you, big girl!!!

I thought her teacher would lead her around the pin for awhile, but she got on and he showed her how to go, stop and turn and he just let her do it all! She did great!

I'm so happy that she is able to do something she LOVES!!! I wish I could bottle the excitement she had today and use it on the days I need a little more energy!

Santa Fe

Last weekend, we went up to Santa Fe to go camping at Hyde Park. We had a blast and the area was gorgeous! Thanks to MiMi and Grandpa Castle for inviting us! We always look forward to our family tradition of playing Elfer Raus, a German card game. I especially like it when I win...no, I'm not competitive at all!

Jocelyn LOVES to stay busy! I know most kids do, but this girl is always wanting to go on a hike, gather wood to build a fire, she even helped with the fifth wheel this time, getting it all set up!! She is a great helper and I think it's so cute that she loves to help so much. (Unless Mommy is asking her to clean up toys...then she's just TOO TIRED! hahaha) In these pictures, she is gathering dead pine needles to put in the fire pit.

This picture just makes me laugh! They were warming up their bums. :)

On Saturday, we went up to the ski area and rode the lift. I'll admit, I was nervous letting Jocelyn get on and I wasn't too thrilled about riding it myself. I guess I've become more of a chicken since I became a parent. I used to ride ski lifts all the time when I went snowboarding, but something about the lack of snow below you made me nervous. The hard ground does not look inviting! Thankfully we all made it and it was really fun! Jocelyn loved it too!

Riding with MiMi and Grandpa on the way up.

At the top!!!

Happy Birthday to you!!! Grandpa's birthday was on Saturday. We snuck a cake on the fifth wheel and he had no idea! :) Hope you had a great birthday!

Jocelyn riding with Mom and Dad on the way down. Here's a fun memory that I just had to share... On the ski lift, they stop the lift for people who need assistance getting on and off, so the lift is constantly stopping. WELL, as luck would have it (I call it Sheehan luck), we got stopped RIGHT next to a lady who apparently had altitude sickness. I think she threw up her entire body weight and of course, just as I look over. Nice. I seriously about lost it myself and had to hide my face in my shirt. FINALLY, the lift starts moving again and Jocelyn loudly exclaims "MOM! IT'S OVER!" Thank you, sweet girl. She cracks me up.

Here is proof that New Mexico is not ugly. :)