Happy New Year everyone! We wish you all the best in 2013!!
We had a GREAT trip back home to Iowa! We spent a lot of time with family and friends....although we did miss seeing some of you--10 days just isn't enough time!!! We were in Des Moines, Ottumwa, and Traer. We got to celebrate Christmas with both the Kuceras and Harris' .......played with our growing nieces and nephew. Unbelievable that the youngest- Kane is 4 (Emma will be 4 in April) and the oldest-Sydney is 13!!! They are all growing up to be beautiful and kind young ladies! Kane is quite the little man and so much fun! Here is a summary of what we did and out of 200+ photos!
We spent a lot of time outdoors.... this was a creek walk with Deanna, Mom and the kiddos!
The girls in their new Alaska jammies... butt flaps! They had moose caboose or bear bottoms. Kane was running around somewhere with is booty hanging out... literally! So cute and fun!
Uncle Adam helping Emma bowl at Bass Pro in Des Moines
Adam playing one of the tasks in the game "Minute to Win It" that Jeanette put together for New Years!
Of course.... Adam won! This was his trophy!
Adam saw steer wrestling on the NFR when we were in Vegas and asked Brandon and Deanna to do it while we were home and watching them calf rope....well it worked out! He learned how to wrastle steers on his 28th birthday! This was the smaller one that they put fake horns on.
And the true test- the big steer with REAL horns!!
Brandon- the bestest calf-roper EVER!
The group of deer hanging out on my mom and dad's land!
best buddies taking a rest! Adam and my parent's lab.
They are so curious of the camera! Loves of my life = horses!
Jumped on Derby for a quick bare-back, bridle-less ride! Hung on to her mane and squeezed my legs while the other girls tried to get her spunked up! She's a great horse and took it easy on me, despite them!
The deer at my parent's bird feeder! All of the kids were peaking out the windows at them. Smart deer....nice and safe on my parent's land that sits JUST on the edge of town!...cuz..................
Brandon had a muzzleloader tag! He only saw does
Adam went out with him one morning in hopes of a buck.... per the landowner's request.
sledding at hickory hills with the Kucera kids!
Sledding in the back yard of a neighbor w/ Emma!
the hills were boring... so tried behind a horse! Brandon/Deanna's horse- Coal did really well!
Well then the horse got tired, so Grandpa had to bring out the truck! We had SO MUCH FUN! If you weren't on a sled, you were in the back of the truck throwing snowballs at the sledders! Danae got to join us for this morning of fun!
This gnarly bruise was from a sledding accident.............keep in mind I bruise if a fly lands on me and this looks much worse than it was! Just had to show-off the pretty colors and appear tough!
We were very thankful to be back in Iowa with family and friends--- we had sooooooo much fun and it was hard to leave, as always! We love you all!
We are back in Alaska and as we speak, Adam and I both had an ice-day off from work. The weather this winter has been HORRID!.... as in NO SNOW! In September we had an early snow which made us excited for winter playing. Then it got terribly cold, negative 10-20s for a few weeks. Before we left for Iowa we got a foot of beautiful snow and Adam got out for a quick snowboard run. While we were in Iowa, Anchorage temps soared into the 40s! YES..the 40s! So we got back to patches of snow. Now it has been windy, rainy, and icy. I haven't had my skiis, snowboard, or snowshoes out AT ALL this winter and have had to buy ice cleats to go out and "play"! We went from 10 feet last winter to this and are very disappointed! Well... Alaska has 3 more months of winter, so we'll see what happens! :)
Again- HAPPY NEW YEAR!
