russ’s birthday

apirl 2, 2011 was russ’s birthday and i want to recap the day….first off all of us(the whole family) didnt tell russ what was planned for the day… we all wanted to go to the bullriding that happened to fall on his day…russ wasnt interested in going…sooo…because he probably wouldnt want to do anything on his birthday(stating we cant afford anything)Pffft…we decided not to tell him and just take him with us to where/what ever we all decide….so we decided to the portland zoo!…it was a great idea!…we all loved the idea!….so a bunch of planning and organizing to make sure it was all good for everyone was done ahead of time….the one thing that made it very skeptic was the weather…the day before was a beautiful sunny almost 70 degree day! but the next day(2 apr) was not to be so good…but chances it was to turn bad later in the afternoon….below is some of the captions of the day….

starting the day

next pic with rusty(blurry…my fault)

family with rusty

weather was overcast but very do-able zoo trip

man made log

the twins went down through the log and a quick stop for a picture

turtles

what was great was the lil buggars could go right up to the windows and see the water creatures!…i had never been to the zoo so i was just as thrilled!

otters

that little otter was attracted to gracies pink gloves!

ducks

fun to see ducks swim on top…but to see how their feet paddle underwater

wolves

walking up to the wolf site area …you could hear them howling…(which i thought maybe someone already at the station was maybe pushing a button to hear the sounds wolves make for it was really alot of howling) but no….most all the wolves were making the noise!..it was sorta fascinating!

little park next to picnic tables

it was about noon time so we decided to have out picnic lunch…”the men” walked back to the car to get the cooler and food…by this time…we had been rained on sorta heavy and had been able to see a bunch of animals inside exibits…of course the lil buggars loved walking through puddles and their gloves were soaking wet!…..but we did start off at the picnic area with nice warm sun to help dry out…..JUST A LITTLE BIT….grrrrrr

lunchlunch

lunch

i had planned this nice little picnic lunch…cut up a bunch of condiments and forgot the damn meat!…so was a veggie meal! grrrr(what an idiot!)…and it started to pour rain and the wind approached! it can down in sheets and blowing like a son of a gun! COLD! ohmygoodness!…of course the twins werent exactly dry from the moring excursions and hands and feet were very cold!! whiney (of course….we all were) and shivery….this was not late afternoon!!…we had only seen half the zoo and the big animals were next to see!

it's soo cold!

gracie zipped inside ethans coat!

the elephant

because…the elephant was right next to the picnic area…we all ran inside this station and was very happy to get out of the storm and watch this great big creature stand and move his feet and trunk back and forth…the lil buggars were facinated….we stayed untill we were bored and went back to the picnic area and decided to pack up and head home….grrrrrrrrr….we didnt want to be further away from the parking lot when the next big rain storm would approach …we were disappointed that we missed all the african animals that were next (giraffes,hippos,zebras etc)…we decided we liked enough of what we already saw and would definately come back another time and start siteseeing with africa area….all in all it was a fun day and was home but 3:30pm

bootie nut cups

i lost my book on how to make these so ill try to give directions and pictures and hope you can get the drift on how to do it….ive make these for baby showers and they are a “hit”!

items needed:

cotton balls

kleenex

ribbon

2″ nut cups

items needed

lay your kleenex on table

set nut cup and 3 cotton balls on kleenex (i lay kleenex on the corner to corner)

take corners of kleenex and bring them up and around cotton balls and nut cup

tuck all corners and edges into cup…if it doesnt look like a nice shape for a bootie…just undo and try again…but seriously dont get anal about it….its just a “NUT CUP”! haha

next set another nut cup inside so it holds the kleenex and balls in place

finishes product!

make your ribbon bow and glue on top and add your pink/blue candies..or nuts!….if your crafty enough you really can do anything to make the booties cuter and more colorful…..also…i sorta place them in pairs because they look more like booties together….when you see just one by itself….you say “what the shit is this?” hahaha good luck!

christmas 2010

it seemed like it took christmas a long time in getting here this year…then once it was here it was over!…i felt good about christmas…i suppose because i was ready… for a change!…i had all my shopping done about a week before and just about all the gifts wrapped!…i didnt do much baking or any special desserts and because of it..i really dont feel like i put on any weight!…woo woo!…it was a fun day here….belle, rusty, russ and i opened our gifts to each other in the morning and had a bunch left for amy, ethan and the twins…they arrived about 1:30ish and brought with them their friend mike….as soon as they finished opening gifts dinner was ready…very simple ham, mashed potatoes, broccoli with cheese, deviled egg, and garlic bread…i made no pie but did have some special nutmeg cookies that were my favorite.. ma use to bake them when i was a kid…i have to say.. have never gone wrong buying a “honey baked ham”…it cost a bit but it is delish!…below are some of the pictures of the day

night before christmas

L - R ethan, mike, rusty

belle (showing her IQ), amy, and aiden

xmas dinner

all was good….looking forward to the new year!

funny story

see the little red/orange button on radio?

 one day last week, while he was on duty, russ stopped in at amy and ethans house just to say hello….the twins had not gone down for their nap yet…of course aiden says “papa” and points to his radio clipped to his uniform…papa proceeds to inform him its a radio and that he cannot touch that little red/orange button…thats a “no no”….so russ talks for just a bit to amy then aiden proceeds to ask papa “up up”…so russ picks aiden up and the first thing aiden did was push the red/orange button…holy crap!! russ sets aiden down and tries to shut the radio off!….disbatch immediately calls and ask russ if he needs help or back up??!!..russ stammers and says no i bumped the button by accident and i dont know how to turn it off….dispatch told him he may have to take out the batteries and put them back in….sure enough he did and that worked!…but what our whole family thinks the funniest damn thing was that russ told aiden before aiden was curious  that the button was not to be touched…..while russ was distracted talking to amy he just picked aiden up without remembering he told aiden about the red/orange button….aiden did what naturally a 2 year old would do!….in the 20 something years russ has worked for the sheriff’s office hes NEVER had to use that distress button!!!….russ took full blame for he couldnt say his grandkid pushed the button for he was on duty! hahhahaha

christmas picture!

im not sure when ill get my “kodak moment”…but it aint this year either! haha…we decided to go to gateway mall to see santa and have picture taken….we got there a little early but not first in line…(usually at night there is no line)…anyway…of course the little buggars were not in the best of moods….way before all this we all had introduced the idea of santa and that he says ” ho ho ho mery christmas”….weve showed them pictures of him and of course hes been advertised on tv….i always sorta kidded with them about santa asking them if they have been a good little boy or girl…gracie automatically says “NO!”….i kept trying to tell them to say yes cause they could get presents/toys!…but of course they dont quite get that drift of toys of presents….so…when its time for them to go sit on sants lap…ethan holding gracie…amy holding aiden..both kids grab onto their parents with the death grip and DONT want to sit with santa!…hahaha so of course the woman taking the picture says way dont you parents sit in the picture holding your kids!…well…they werent exactly ready mentally or physically for that but they did!…(amy wouldnt remove her hat…her hair looked like hell!)…..aiden finally settled down but…below is the 2010 christmas photo tasken for prosperity!…ha ha …

christmas 2o10

halloween 2010

happy halloween!..here are the 2 year old gnomes!..this is just a few pictures now …when A&E post their pictures ill get some more!

gracie gnome

aiden gnome

 

cousins alex and maddie with gracie and aiden just before heading out to “trick or treat”

aiden and cousins maddie and alex and sister gracie getting ready to head outdoors….hopefully more pictures later

photographers aiden and gracie

i let the twins have my digital camera for a few moments….these are pictures taken by aiden

nice pant leg eh?

sippy cup

somewhere on the floor

look at gramma !

i was trying to get him to not put his fingers on the lens! haha

almost got me!

lil bastid!

he couldnt get my head shot but sure as shootin he could get a good shot of my a$$!!

nice feet eh?

now gracies turn with the camera!

the shelves

new birthday blocks

nice rockin horse legs

the house plant

balloon above her

guess who

gramma soaking up a spill

aiden spilt water and gracie watching me clean up and just snaping the camera!…im glad they got my best body parts! haha they love anything digital to play with and when the time is up to hand them over they make quite the “fuss” not to give them up!

twins 2nd birthday

A & E had a cake and ice cream birthday celebration for the twins on sunday the 10th…the twins actual birhtday is the 11th…its amazing how fast they grow and the funny little things they say and do…the whole family certainly enjoys their entertainment…below is a few pictures of the day

gracie on her birthday

aiden on his birthday

this bouncing gym is what A & E gave them for their birthday….this will give them a lot of fun during the rainy months to come!

a happy aiden!

 

getting ready to blow!

both families(the hiblers and the cottrells) were at the party to celebrate the twins birthday…the pictures in this series is of them being sung happy birthday to and then blowing out the candles and eating their cakes!…amy took off their birhtday clothes so they wouldnt stain them from the colored frosting from the cake!…(GREAT IDEA!)….they both headed for the tub after cake eating so they could continue to be “social” haha

2 times to blow out candles! haha

opening gifts

rocking horse from aunty B

aiden doing pony acts

sit and spins

they had a good time and got a lot of nice stuff to wear and play with that will keep them busy till christmas! haha

kodak “go ducks” moment

geesum!….here it goes again…i just want one simple “nice” lookin’ picture with the grand kids wearing oregon duck gear…do you think that could happen…for just one picture…you be the judge!!

starting off great!

gracie! look this way!

aiden..fussy britches!

good grief grandma!(fake happy face!)

grandma exaggerated happy face!

gracie!

aiden!

gracie cheering head flip!

waaaaaaaaaaaaa (whiny brat!)

oh well!!..you get the drift right!….today the ducks play tennessee ! go ducks!

cont. day trip to sisters, oregon

before we left the lava beds i made another rest room stop….(relief, bloating, cramps)….we continued on route 242 easier and more downhill till we came right into sister, oregon!…this very cute town made to look very cowboy western with lots of very cute shops and eateries…did i remember to take a picture?!!..no…but i did buy a postcard and scanned it ….this picture is of a time when the town places a quilt nearly everywhere in display!…id say all quilts were/are top quality and worth lots of money!…folks work hard and take sometimes a couple of years to start and finish!

post card sisters, oregon

one of the first stores we visit is the leather store!..and all items under 20 bucks!…russ found a leather jacket that he liked and bought it!…he looks great in it!

russ in new leather jacket

this is a good picture of russ but too dang bad..there i am in the reflection of the mirror!…(what a dubba!)…anyway….we did the town…walked up one side down the other side of the street!…after my stomach finally settled down we had some of the best chicken strips and a soda….we did not drive back the way we came we drove route 126 to home….as you can see from the map above…we just made a nice circle!…the biggest difference was on our way home there was tons of traffic!!!…..and as you can figure riding with a man like my husband it wasnt the most enjoyable ride home!…i was wearing out the brakes on my side of the van and decided i needed a nap!…i woke to the van  horn blowing  and a mutter from russ!…..tailgating and passing cars! what a joy ride! (hes not going to read this blog)…..we got home in record time and russ jetted off to get a hair cut and i finished off the rest of a bottle of wine!!!….oh happy day!