Saturday, January 31, 2009

IT IS A MIRACLE!!!


It has happened. Finally after two and a half years of living in the Steel City, I have fallen........ fallen for the STEELERS! Really, I never thought this would happen. When we first moved to Pittsburgh, I thought everyone and I mean EVERYONE was ridiculous. I have never seen a place so obsessed with their NFL team. Everywhere we went, it was "Stillers". You name it and we have it in black and gold- unbelievable amounts of clothing.....I think everyone owns a Steelers jersey, car accessories, enormous blow up lawn figures and my favorite, black and gold tortilla chips sold in EVERY grocery store around. The news is OCD when it comes to covering the team. It seems like even in the off season they are talking about something Stillers. I thought it was Ludicrous.

But now, a transformation......... All I can say is GO STILLERS!!! I don't know how it happened, but I have found myself this year embracing the loonacy and have actually enjoyed partaking in the euphoria that blankets this city. It bleeds black and gold. I truly hope they win tomorrow. We will be watching and cheering as our team attempts another Super Bowl win. We love it. GO STILLERS!!!!

Winter Fun









We are freezing........literally. Pittsburgh this year has been so much colder and snowier than any other year that we have been here. It has been crazy how much snow has accumulated on the ground when in past years, nothing has really stuck. It has been fun though. My thought has always been, if it is going to be cold, we may as well have snow. At least we can play in it and it somewhat covers up the gray and dismal landscape. The only downfall is the "freezing rain" where you go out to car in a hurry to get somewhere and realize that there is and inch thick sheet of ice covering your entire car......let's just say you have to chip your way in and start the car, then take 30 minutes trying to get the rest off. NOT PLEASANT. Driving is impossible but I have to admit it is nice every once in awhile to get that call on a cold Sunday morning saying that church has been canceled. Is it ok to like that?

We also have to be pretty creative indoors as well. With all the time we spend hanging out in our little two bedroom apartment, we end up having severe cabin fever unless we come up with other things to do. Hudson is getting quite good at this lately with his "Batman" flying, tent making and sheer running as fast as "Lico Queen" (Lightning McQueen) down the hallway. He makes me laugh everyday which I am thankful for. I have a great time with my boys and cannot believe how old they are getting. I love and hate it.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Christmas Card 2008


Here is our Christmas card- I was ridiculously late this year with getting them out and then it got to be so late that I didn't know if I should send them. So there sits a stack in my closet. Sorry to all- I don't know what my problem was. For some reason I was not thinking about Christmas and then all of a sudden we were leaving for Utah......there is always repentance, right????

Family Pics 2008









So we finally did our family pictures. Thank you to Lindsey who came and snapped on a VERY cold afternoon in downtown Pittsburgh. And I finally got pictures of ME with my boys. I swear I am always the one behind the camera and never get anything with me and the kids, so I was glad to finally get something.

Christmas in UTAH!!









In December, we traveled to Utah to spend the holidays with family. We loved every minute of it and after 3 weeks, we STILL were not ready to come home. There is just something about being with family that is so wonderful and relaxing. Both Tim and I definitely needed the break. We split time between both Holden and Springville with a million family parties and get togethers........we loved it all. Hudson definitely went through withdrawls when he could not see his "friends" Ty Ty, Katie and Addie. He loved being with all his cousins as well as the four wheeler sledding and snow fort making in Holden. Most of these pictures are from the Mosher family party....talk about a full house. I think we just hit the 20th grandchild today!! Jen had their little boy this morning. Anyway, it was fun to have the annual Nativity festivities. Tate was Jesus due to him being the newest addition at that point and of course we were glad the Lightening McQueen made it as well. Will my child ever get over him???

Tim and I loved having help with the kids ALL the time and my sisters and sisters in law finally got to see Tate. It was great. Here are a few of the pics from our vacation. We wished we could have seen all of you, but for some reason, it does not matter how long we go, we just run out of time. I hate it. But, We love you all!!

Tate's Blessing Day






Wow- it really has been a long time since I have posted. A lot has happened since and I have a TON to catch up on.

First- Tate's Blessing Day.

It was absolutely wonderful. We had such a great time with both Tim and my parents. I realized that I really took for granted the opportunity we had to have all the parents and siblings we could have wanted with Hudson's blessing. We missed everyone so much that day, but we were so thankful to have both of Tate's grandpas in the circle. Tim did a wonderful job and it was such a sweet day. Al and Marie came out about 4 days before and then my parents stayed for about 10 days after. We had a blast just relaxing and playing. Hudson was in complete heaven. After Tate's blessing we headed for Connecticut to visit Tyler and Erica at their new home. We had a great time there as well and loved their cute little house in the woods. Redding is the typical quaint northeastern town. We loved it and Tim and I had a chance to see the Big Apple. Tim has never been to New York, so it was an experience. We rode the train in and spent the day seeing mostly the tourist spots. It was really fun.