2005 YEAR IN REVIEW
OCT, NOV, DEC

We had an early fall snow that was very wet and heavy. You can see how all of the tree branches are bent over from the weight. Tim couldn’t work so the kids bundled up and went out for a sled ride being pulled behind the 4-wheeler. They even built some “jumps” over in the long part of the field so they could have a little extra excitement. Nathan didn’t like riding on the sled. He was happy to stay put on the 4-wheeler.


Nathan is one of those little ones who can just fall asleep anywhere. Here he has brought down 2 of Emily’s bright orange pillows and fell asleep between the dining room and kitchen while we were making dinner (LOL).
Josh is enjoying having Nathan old enough to play with him now! Not sure Nathan is excited about this (LOL).TRAIN WRECK: Our little town had some excitement when a train wrecked early in the morning. Here are a few pictures of our trucks hauling in gravel.


Nathan is trying to learn how to tie. His shoes don’t have laces so he’s trying out daddy’s boots! He said “made it”, mom. I LOVE pictures of the boys wearing daddy’s boots. They’re SO CUTE… .make that handsome.

Tim & I celebrated our 20th anniversary in October. Amanda planned a very nice party with the help of my mom. They had all kinds of appetizers and desserts and tons of our friends! It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years already. And, I didn’t even get a single picture that night. I’m not keeping up too well in the taking pictures department these days.40TH BIRTHDAY!I had my 40th birthday the week before Christmas. Tim & the kids had a very nice surprise party for me!
CHRISTMAS 2005We celebrated Christmas with Tim’s folks the day before Christmas Eve. With Tim & I playing at 4 services on Christmas Eve there just wasn’t any possible way for us to schedule our normal time with them Christmas Eve morning. Here are some pictures from the day before Christmas Eve.We had our normal meal of our favorite soups and bread followed by presents and card games. They all watched a movie while I had my “normal” nap (LOL).CHRISTMAS EVEAbove the kids (especially the boys) were anxiously waiting for “Santa” (my dad) to arrive! They all know it’s grandpa!

My folks and Troy came over for our normal Christmas Eve festivities including Santa’s arrival, Bruno’s pizza, and presents until midnight. Amanda took the kids home after the 1:00 Christmas Eve service and had everything ready for us when we got home!
Christmas Morning:It took some coaxing to get Nathan to come down the stairs. I think he’s still tired from the night before.Nathan was so good to sit patiently and wait his turn to open presents. We go around the room and each one of us takes a turn opening. The concept of waiting is very HARD for a 2 year old.We found a light up toothbrush for Nathan which is really cool. It has a light that blinks on the end for as long as he’s supposed to brush his teeth. He also wanted some of his OWN toothpaste which he also got in his stocking and he was pretty proud of it.Josh wanted some new WORK GLOVES like daddy’s. He got some in his stocking and he LOVES them.All Emily wanted was earrings. She got LOTS of them. It was her main present so we bought her all sorts of different ones. She has had her ears pierced for MONTHS without having any others to wear so she’s pretty excited. It’s too bad I didn’t get a picture of her EAR in this picture so it would tie in with this note (LOL)Amanda was SO EXCITED to get STOMP tickets as her main present. She wanted to see them when we were in NYC, but there just wasn’t time to fit it into our schedule then. I was THRILLED when I found out that they were coming to Billings otherwise you know me and I would have found a way to make it work for NYC. This made my life much easier and she’s excited because we bought her an extra ticket so she can take a friend with her.Sometimes it’s even hard for a 16 year old to wait… especially when the boys get something they want put together *NOW*.I had NO IDEA what to get Tim this year until the Monday before Christmas when I decided to get him an i-Pod then that lead to several ideas… books on CD being one. I think by the looks of the picture he was QUITE surprised. I also got him a book on geocaching which we’ve been wanting to take up for several years now.
After the hectic pace on Christmas Eve we were happy to stay home and have a nice quiet day to ourselves. Tim’s folks went to Melstone and my folks went to Roy to visit a relative who isn’t expected to live much longer. My brother didn’t even come out for dinner since he had left late the night before. This is the FIRST Christmas that we’ve not had anyone over for dinner. We went in to a movie in the afternoon and then came home to play with our toys. It was a very nice relaxing day.