Christmas Day-2012

We had a nice little Christmas at home yesterday in our new cozy little home.  Just the five of us.  After opening a few gifts,  I made Jesus a Birthday cake, had a nice dinner and read the Christmas story by the fire place.  We topped off the evening watching "War Horse" all snuggled on the couch. I absolutely Love this time of year.  It's always a little bittersweet because I have such fond memories of Christmas' past.  With my family and with all my cousins coming to Grandma's house.. singing Christmas Carols and playing games till the middle of the night. The next day we usually drove snowmobiles all over pulling an inter tube and freezing our buns off! Maybe we'll make it back up to the winter wonderland next year. Here's to making new memories, now and throughout the year to come! *cheers from my coffee cup to yours*

(click to browse large pictures)

Add caption the boys hate taking pictures.. can you tell Carley's loves them :)

oh I take that back.. they were actually happy to show off their new 49er caps!  And Stetson insisted on wearing his backwards!

Christmas part 1

 On December 23rd we had a small party at our new home.  My granmda Bev and her husband Bob drove down from Wickenburg.  Sean's aunt Denise and Daughter Tracy and Uncle Panos came from Surprise.  They also brought two of the cousins, Chase and Payton, for our kids to play with.  We had a nice visit and enjoyed eating and stuffing our faces with all the goodies I had made during the last several days! Sean made a nice fire that we all enjoyed while the guys watched football. 

Getting ready...... while the guys gold pan in the front yard. 

Carley topped the tree the night before

 Krispies with peanut butter and marshmallows

Homemade pumpkin pie of course :)

Stetson spent his money from Papa Eric on toy cap guns

we made peanut brittle, chocolate crack, almond bark suckers, krispies and gingerbread cookies! :)

Blueberry torte was another recipe from my grandma Marlyc Vig.

Denise and Panos handed out gifts to everyone. Was such a nice surprise!

one of the gifts was a bug collection kit.  One for each of them so they can all hunt together!

Christmas Movies from Chase

Carley and cousin Payton

The boys played Battleship for a couple of hours, the game he picked out with his money from papa Eric

all the kiddos :)

Building a fence- a family afair!

We decided to put up a nice fence for the horses and Emily the cow.  

Sean couldn't find the supplies around here so we ended up ordering the wire and then driving to Blythe, CA to get the posts.  A couple days before Christmas Sean started setting some posts while I finished up my Christmas baking.  I took a break to snap a few pictures of the beginning stages with the help of three mischievous kids! This all took place right before Sean's digging bar fell and cracked Carley's head open :(  

These are the kind's of pictures that I love- they tell the story of family togetherness in the quiet beauty of the country life.  

Just a happy girl, enthusiastic about helping her Daddy!

Me, helping to make it straight!

digging in the desert sand box... boy fun!

on the job conversations can be quite serious!

Trying to dig a hole....

The handsome boss man!

working together... or under foot? Maybe both!

Colton dug a huge hole and was very proud of it. Not letting anyone knock dirt back into it.

Just a somber pose for the camera lady

I love how my manly man is always building to perfection. Can't wait for the finished product!

Settling in....

Just a quick update on us Kings!  We have been back in the new house for about 10 days now. Definitely not quite ready for Christmas but we are settling in well and enjoying all the space of country life. Our two mares Kareemaa and Amber are settled in nicely at the neighbors house until we get our fence built. Our fencing supplies are due to come in today! The kids are super excited! Uncle Panos and Sean will be working on the corrals by the end of this week, while Denise (Sean's Aunt) and I make Christmas cookies and Lefse'! 

Today I met up with a local home school group in Tartesso... which is a nice community about 15 minutes from our house and about half way to Buckeye. They have their own school and church. I met the Pastor's wife today and she invited us to service on Sunday.  They also invited us to their home Bible study tomorrow where they do a devotional and pray for specific Missionary families.   They seem like a really nice group of families and they already look forward to coming out to our house for one of the many BIG bon fires that Sean likes to host! Colton already has a new friend Names "Si" :)

Here are a just a couple pics of the children enjoying their new home and horses!
Make sure you email me if you'd like our new address and home phone number and also let us know if you are traveling Interstate 10!  We only live a few miles from it and would love to have company!