Merry Christmas!

Keeping in line with me posting pictures out of order, here Katy & Emma are way after we opened our gifts.

In front of the Elks Rehab Hospital after we picked up the food we volunteered to deliver for Meals on Wheels today.

Happy girls!

Checking to see what Santa left in their stockings.

We hope you had as enjoyable a Christmas day as we did. Grammy shared it with us and we were able to talk with nearly all of the grandparents--still trying to reach Hawaii, though. I am sure they are busy enjoying the warmth! Thank you for all of the wonderful gifts and warm wishes you sent us. We love and miss you all.

Christmas Eve . . .

We spent the afternoon in Mtn. Home visiting with my brother Ryan, his wife, Starla and Grammy. Uncle Ryan and Aunt Starla live nearly an hour-and-a-half east of Mtn. Home, so we do not see them nearly as much as the girls(or I) would like. Grammy enjoyed having us all under one roof!

Cute, but blurry, display of lights just down the street. GG would have loved, loved, loved them. They remind me of the dancing geese in "The Aristocats!"

Just a note to hook you up with a link to a fabulous over-the-top Christmas light display in Meridian, the town next to Boise. Grammy, Katy, Emma and I drove out to see the lights tonight after eating dinner with Eric at Applebee's. Such a cool sight!

Check this site out. www.cornellchristmas.webs.com

Oh, and have yourself a Merry little Christmas . . .

A few photos from the week . . .

Emma waiting for the 1st - 3rd Christmas Program to begin at Adams. She is smiling because Eric is holding her penguin, Pee Wee, up for her to see. He goes everywhere with us these days!

A week later, Katy is waiting for the Band & Orchestra Christmas Program to begin. Sitting to Katy's left is her friend, Lily(the girl not holding a flute). Lily and Katy ride and work together at the stable. Horse crazy girls they are!

Emma being recognized, in her classroom, for her winning card design with a visit from the Superintendent of the Boise School District, Dr. Don Coberly. Word is he singled her picture out as his favorite!

Piano recital last Saturday evening. Grammy and Eric were able to join us in the festivities. Together, the girls played the "French Carol" and they each had a solo. Katy played "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" and Emma turned it up a notch with "Frosty the Snowman." As usual, they amazed me.

One down, many more to go . . .

I polished off my fall semester a few days ago, Friday to be exact. I hit the submit button on my last test at 11:04 AM. It was a great feeling! The lack of sleep and coherent conversation was going to do me in. I am very thankful to Eric and the girls for keeping things running so smoothly while was in panic mode. I was having a week of second-guessing my decision to go back to school. Once I got through that, the tests just fell into place. I am waiting on one score, but it looks like I will have 5 A's and 1 B. Looking forward to a week of cookie baking and caramel corn making! I will have to buckle down after Christmas and study for the GRE, get all of my documents together to apply for the Masters program and then start the spring semester! Woo Hoo! I think I will have a break next August, if I am lucky . . .

Emma's Christmas Card . . .

Just a quick note to give you a link to the Boise School District website-- www.boiseschools.org On the main page, click on "Holiday Card Contest winner" and there is a picture of Emma's entry. I am hoping they make the presentation at her school soon. We need to get our cards mailed--maybe even on time this year!

O Christmas Tree . . .

Down the path to pick out our tree . . .

It took less than 10 minutes to find this beauty!

Happy girls in their happy hats. They made those hats-it took them 2 years, but with the help of Aunt Starla at Thanksgiving, they finally finished!

Timber . . .

Nice ride if you can get it . . .

Ready for the drive home.

Let the decorating begin . . .

The Hilburn family finally has a real Christmas tree!!!!! Our pre-lit "faky" one gave up last year. A few strands of lights went out in 3 separate sections so we tossed it out.

I have wanted to try a fresh tree for a few years. Fear of burning down the house has kept me from acting on that thought. I love a tree with a lot of lights. I also like to put the tree up pretty early. Kind of a dilemma. I figured getting one straight from the source was our best bet. (Long ago, Eric and I ruled out the whole Forest-Service-cut-your-own-tree permit system. Probably had to do with an unfortunate incident up at Grimes Creek in '97) After researching/Googling local Christmas Tree farms, I found a cute little place in Horseshoe Bend called The Pine Patch.

Eric finally had a weekend day off so we left Boise at 9:50 AM on Sunday. The roads were clear and we made it to the farm by 10:30. What a lovely little operation. Family run since 1975. While it was not a large farm, they had plenty to choose from. The owners were hanging out by one of the fire pits, roasting chestnuts and drinking coffee. There were also marshmallows just waiting to be tucked into the flames and a sledding hill for the kids. The cute little boys who lived there offered up their sleds to Katy & Emma. It was great--so sweet.

It really only took us ten minutes to find the perfect tree. Once we picked it out, a family member came by, cut it down and then hauled it up to be measured, shook and bagged. They tossed it in the pickup and we then headed back to our house. We were home and the tree was in the stand by noon! When Eric cut open the plastic, the tree kind of "sprang" open. It was then we realized our eyes were bigger than our living room! To accommodate the girth of the pine, we had to move some furniture. Katy helped me string the new LED lights and then we waited to see if the tree would "draw" up the water. I did not want to decorate and then find out the tree had sealed its cut. Luckily, the tree has been drinking over a gallon of water a day, so I think we are in good shape. The girls decorated it last night. It looks lovely and only required a minor amount of ornament adjustment on my part. And the smell, it is quite, well, "piney!"

Not sure what we will do next year, but if I put it to a vote today, I am certain the Pine Patch would win out.

Snow day . . .

You can't really tell, but the top of the snow is between 7" and 8"

Making a path for Lucy. She so too short to navigate the snow.

Snuggles seems to like the wet stuff.

December is starting off with a bang! It is a snow day for the for the entire Treasure Valley today. BSU canceled morning classes and even the Air Force Base told their staff to come in late. The local weathermen predicted a large amount of snow for us, with possibly 5 inches falling in Boise alone. When I woke up at 6 this morning, there was "Idaho's Chief Meteorologist" telling me that the storm "had exceeded our expectations!" No kidding--We had received 7 inches by then and it is still coming down as I type this at 10 AM. I have seen 4 cross-country skiers glide by our house already! I have a few tests to take today, so I imagine the girls will be frolicking in the snow some more, reading, watching a movie or playing on the Wii. They already shoveled the walks and have made an attempt to build a fort. Eric had to work, as Applebee's does not shut down for much of anything--it's all about making money there. I am certain he will have a very, very slow day.

Well, to those of you in the warmer climates, we wish you were here! It is really beautiful outside our window . . .

Winter has arrived . . .

Outside our favorite nursery, Edwards Greenhouse. Today was their annual Holiday Open House. In years past, our main goal was to see Santa. As the girls have grown, they go for the treats and I go for the most brilliant display of poinsettias you have ever seen. Unless you are lucky enough to live on a tropical island, say Hawaii, you have probably never seen such a variety. They have some that are taller than Emma. ( I failed to take a picture of one of those, so I may have to drag myself back for another visit!)

Hanging out after seeing the head jolly old elf. I am so thankful Katy plays along with the idea of sitting on Santa's lap. Emma is still a believer and we have to keep up appearances!

One of my many favorite displays. Check out the amazing pink poinsettias. The cabbage/kale matched perfectly.

Pretty in Pink

Before I forget, the real reason we left the house today . . . Santa making a few adjustments before the professional started snapping photos.

And the winner is . . .

Here it is . . . the winning picture for the Boise School District Christmas card contest! Emma's was chosen out of a field of 1,400 submissions.

Emma holding onto her "muse," Pee Wee. He was the inspiration for the design on the card.

Pee Wee looks pretty happy to have achieved celebrity status---so does that cute little red-head! Way to go, baby girl!

In case you didn't notice, Emma is a pretty happy young lady right now. We were notified last week that her design had made it into the top 100. That news got her a free ticket to the Festival of Trees, the sponsor of the contest. After the call yesterday informing us of her "top winner" status, we found out Emma had won a family pass into the Festival, 50-100 copies of the card and a presentation by the Superintendent of the school district in her classroom next week. That is a great deal of attention for such a sweet little girl and she is enjoying every minute of it!

Birthday Boy . . .

Alaska Christmas 1962

Etta, Troup and 1 month old Eric!

Eric in Willow, Alaska 1963. Kind of looks like Emma, doesn't he!

On the docks in Juneau, 1970. Love those striped pants!

Eric's brother Greg, Eric and Paul at the airport in Kona. No date on the photo, maybe early 80's. Check out those legs!

Leavenworth, Washington 1978. Looks to be in his John Lennon phase.

Today is my husband's birthday. 48 candles this year! We celebrated a bit this morning with breakfast and gifts. The girls gave him a new "old guy" game controller for the Wii. He said it will be easier for him to use--I guess his hand-eye coordination "just ain't what it used to be!" I gave him a Lynyrd Skynyrd CD. Eric was googling them the other day. He played some of their You-tube clips and was reminiscing. He was so shocked to find out that I had never purposely listened to that group. That kind of music was not allowed in our house. Really. I listened to Olivia Newton-John, the Osmonds and country music. Heck, the first album I bought with my own money was Barry Manilow! It just goes to show that opposites do attract. I, for one, am sure glad they do!

Hope you have a wonderful day!

We love you!

PS. He looked good rocking out this morning with Skynyrd blasting out of the Mac. I caught Katy doing a little toe-tapping of her own! Heaven help us . . .

I think we are going to be late for school this morning . . .

Eric, Katy, Emma and I just returned from watching Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, Part 1.  We were able to catch the midnight show!  It sold out yesterday--all nine screens at the theater were showing Harry!  So many people there.  Mostly high-school and college-age kids.  A great atmosphere--everyone was excited and there were several people dressed as characters from the series.  Katy and Emma even reprised their "roles" from Halloween.  Too much fun.  The movie was great.  Really looking forward to July . . .

Blurry shot, but I kind of like what it did to the girl behind Emma.  Maybe she was disapparating . . . 

Fabulous Fall Fun . . .

The fun you can have with leaf bags from the Home Depot!

Emma, Katy and her friend Lily goofing off in the big ol' pile of leaves.

It was a beautiful day in this neighborhood today.  I believe it reached 70 degrees--pretty nice raking weather for sure!  I was cleaning up my flower beds when I dropped a bag (paper, not plastic!) over Emma's head.  That lead to her "walking" around the front yard, purposely trying to bump into things.  Katy and Lily were inside working on a fundraising project for the school library(more on that when it actually comes to fruition.)  They looked out the window and giggled for a few minutes before deciding to join in the silliness.  A short round of tag while wearing the bags was followed by "bury" each other under the leaves and it concluded with several rounds of jumping into the huge pile.  It took about an hour before they wore themselves out.  

A quick recap of our week:

          *Only 3 days of school.  Parent/Teacher conferences took place Wednesday night and all day Thursday.  We went early Thursday to receive the great news--straight A's for both Katy & Emma.  This is Emma's first year to get letter grades.  Pretty exciting.  

          *Katy & Eric won $75 for the pumpkin they decorated for the orthodontist office.  I tried to talk Katy into applying that to our monthly bill for her braces, but she just wasn't going for that idea.  Instead, she bought a super cute metal lunchbox for $12 and stashed the rest.  

          *The girls and I went to the animal shelter to check in on some Dachshunds that were rescued.  Check out the story here.  The dogs were not available for us to walk as they were being nursed back to health and undergoing various medical procedures.  We were able to locate a really sweet male Dachshund in the kennels, his situation unrelated to the rescued dogs.  We took him out and he walked the yard a bit.  After I sat down, he jumped up and tried to take a nap on my lap.  He was so cute.  Katy really wanted to keep him.  I told her she could check on his fees at the desk.  Well, he is a purebred and that will set you back $300.  We did not come home with a new pet, suffice it to say.  Katy did donate $10 of her winnings to the shelter.  It was hard for her to leave.  On our way out, we did stop in and check out the cats.  Emma really enjoyed watching a pair of kittens playfully knock each other around.  She thought they might be a fun addition to the house until she saw their little claws.  "Too dangerous!" she declared.  Yeah, and the fact I am no cat lover pretty much sealed that deal.   

I am sure other things happened this week, but I can't come up with anything else.  Enjoy your weekend!  I'll try to write again soon. 

Happy Halloween!

Not only is today Halloween, it is my nephew's birthday.  Christian turned 5 today!  He lives in Vegas, so we were unable to attend the festivities. I did see a few photos and it looked like he had a good time.  We hope he had a great day! 

As for our holiday, it was great.  I am too tired to be clever tonight so I will just post a few photos and hit the hay.  The girls were fabulous trick-or-treaters!  I am just glad it only happens once a year . . .

Hogwarts students getting their "disco" moves on.  Katy is Luna Lovegood and Emma is Ginny Weasley!

Casting a spell on Indiana Jones.

The display in front of Dr. Krueger's house.  He is the dad of Katy's riding instructor, Gabrielle, and he lives next door to her on Warm Springs Avenue.  He decorates this old carriage for most holidays.   A skeleton was in the "drivers" seat and it had it's "hands" on the reins of the horse.  It was great.  

I still cannot figure out how to put these pics in order.  This was how the girls looked for the school
Harvest Festival on Thursday.  Katy was the equestrian and Emma was her trusty horse.  Katy's jacket, hat and shirt were borrowed from her riding instructor.  I made Emma a costume out of a boys brown hoodie, left-over felt and a lot of yarn for the mane.  Katy and Emma helped me out by making the mane and ears.  It was quick and cute.  Oh, I almost forgot-- Emma added the 1st place ribbon.  

Pretend this was the second picture . . . The wizards practicing their disarming charms so they can steal my candy.   I made the robes.  We purchased the "house" patches for said robes and a pair of Spectrespecs for Katy.  We streaked Katy's hair white and Emma was a natural "ginger" for Ginny.  Luna wears radish earrings in the book and movie so Katy made some out of clay.  (I'll have to get a shot of those one day.)  Otherwise, we just gathered private-school looking clothing items to complete the look.  Oh, I found the ties at a thrift store and had to paint gold stripes on Emma's.  It looks horrible up close so it was a good thing you could not see it under the robe.  I branched out this year for my costume.  Instead of "plain" mom, I wore the Minnie Mouse ears I bought at Disneyland a few years back.  Sorry, no pictures of me for you . . .  

For your viewing pleasure . . .

I just completed another test, my 4th this week!  I have a few moments to post a few photos before I start studying for the two tests I have to take before Sunday night.  With any luck, I will also complete Katy's costume by then.  It's days like these I wonder what possessed me to tackle school.  It must have been the thought of watching my anatomy and physiology lab in the comfort of my own home and then showing it to the kids.  The doctor handling the various body parts (just the head and lungs so far) is so nonchalant about it.  I have grossed Katy and Emma out more than once this semester.  They were most disturbed by the video of vocal cords at work and it was a "live" sample.  It is amazing how our body makes things like phonation happen!

Enjoy the pictures.

Pumpkins we entered in the contest at the orthodontist's office.  The one on the left has braces and head gear.

Scary  . . .

That is Pepper, the Guinea pig, sporting part of the bee costume belonging to Lucy! 

Display at our favorite greenhouse!  

I am supposed to be reading . . .

I was falling asleep at the book again so I decided I would pry myself off the couch and post a picture or two.  It is fall here in the City of Trees.  While I do not have a nice photo of our pretty little maple showing off its fall colors, I do have a shot of a few pretty girls showing off our fall porch decor!  We grew a few of the pumpkins you see.  The white ones are our favorites.  We had tried to grow this variety before, without much luck. While we only harvested the two, the girls enjoy oohing and ahhing over how cute they are . . .
Since we have well documented trouble with the neighborhood squirrel population, we only had the pumpkins on the doorstep for the picture.  The soon-to-be-carved beauties are currently taking up floor space in the kitchen.  We need to make them last until the big night.  No gourd guts on the porch this year!!!

The "showiest" flower in my garden!  "Gaura lindheimeri" or as I refer to it--"that big butterfly looking thing."  You can't really tell how pink and lovely it is, so you are going to have to trust me or visit me to see for yourself.  Eric used to think it was just too wild and kept trying to kill it off with Roundup.  Crazy man!  It self-seeds and scatters everywhere, like a good perennial should.  This is the original and we have at least 10 others growing throughout the garden.  It can get pretty big!  We cut it down to the ground in the spring and it looks like this in October.   Absolutely fabulous!  

Speaking of fabulous . . .