Christmas with the Walds on Dec. 19

before all the mayhem.... all peaceful and quiet...

How fun, grandma got us electric toothbrushes!

What a gift Isaac! Now you can shuffle as you mop! Hee, hee!

Uncle Matt is the cleanup crew.

picture of the grandkids

What a fun night we had. We went to church together, then went over to Carol and Leon's for bbq's and then we opened presents. It was a very festive night. I truly enjoyed it and celebrating early made Christmas even more enjoyable.

Christmas Cookies

Mommy's little helpers!

Zeb licking his chops

Ta Da!

We love to make Christmas cookies. It is my family's tradition to make lots of cookies and give them away to friends and family. We made carmels, fudge, spritz, peanut butter balls, sugar cookies, christmas wreaths, candy canes and peanut butter blossoms. Nummy!

Doggie Duties

Picking up dog doo

Brushing


The kids love Mandie, our dog. We have had her for a month now and she has shown some more spirit than when we first received her. I was laughing so hard when Zeb first picked up dog poo. He was smiling the whole time! (too bad he doesn't still enjoy it) He picked it up with his shovel and then placed it on the kid picnic table. (ewww!) We told him to put it in the dump truck. Then he ran it over to the back by the field and scooped it out with his mittens (ewww! I washed them too!) It was hilarious. Bubba loves to brush Mandie, notice he is brushing on the wrong side of the brush. Good job Bubba!

Mandie seems to enjoy Hannelora and Cozi the most. Probably because they play with her the most. She tolerates the rest of the kiddos. Nathan loves Mandie. I am baffled, he is very fond of her and plays with her. In fact, the other day he put her on his lap while he was sitting in his leather chair. She doesn't seem to have a whole lot of retriever in her. We throw the ball and she goes and gets it but then she goes and lays down with it and chews on it. We are very happy with her.

Mandie- an early Christmas present

We have been talking about getting a dog in the spring. Then we heard about two 6-month old goldendoodles. 2 things came to mind, already potty-trained and less shedding. I know, I know, like I need another thing on my plate. Hannelora a couple weeks backed researched dogs and printed a whole bunch of stuff and placed it in my bedroom. There are so many pluses to having a dog that we decided to go ahead and get her. Thankfully the owner suggested the the calmer of the two and wow, she is amazing. She is so quiet that I don't even know that she is around. We decided to name her Mandie.

Getting Ready for the Holidays

The girls made a Turkey..

All dressed up for Thanksgiving

"Look Up If You Please..." The girls didn't want anyone to miss their Turkey. We had Thanksgiving with the Sunderlands this year. It was quiet and peaceful and I got to play games!

Hunting our Christmas Tree-The Vetsch/Wald tradition

Someone always has it way too easy... (check out Nathan's camo!)

My sister

Our Tree

Getting ready to cut 'er down with Bubba on the back

I can't believe Christmas is only a few weeks away. I say this every year, but this year I have no idea where it went. This is my favorite time of the year even with all the stress that comes along. I for once have all my shopping done. Yeah!

Papa's Treasure Hunt

My dad has the best ideas. He made up a treasure hunt for my kids. He lives up on Rehberg Ranch Estates and designed a map (even burning the edges) and had the kids go on a hunt. On the X, he buried a chest with chocolate coins and a few treasures. My kids had a blast. I wish I had pictures of them on the hunt. At least they will have wonderful memories. We are very blessed with wonderful grandparents.

My little cowboy

aren't the boots adorable?