Christmas, Guns, and Food

We are officially in 2010 and so much has been going on that I really have had no desire to blog. I would go into great detail about our chaotic lives the last month or so, but I will spare you the boredom (knowing full well most of you just skim at the AWESOME pictures I always post!!).

Three words sum up my month sufficiently: Christmas, guns, and food!

So, hold on...I am going to try and give you the best "Reader's Digest" view of our lives from our pictures!

Christmas was crazy, but good. I have some things in mind I would like to do next year to make it more enjoyable. I was so frazzled and beat down with work, presents, parties, school (Ben), and all the drama of just LIFE...that I never had a single moment to sit down and ponder the wonder of Christ and His birth. That will not be the case next year.

We went to Evanston the weekend before Christmas and spent it with my family. We gave my parents a dvd that had my fathers mission slides, the parents honeymoon (which was so fun to see), and my mom's childhood slides. They were extremely neat....way to go JES for setting it all up!

Oh what would life be like without Pa. He is a really neat dad. So many things about him I admire. I think I inherited his "tough" acting exterior, but am a softy just as he is...just don't tell the kids at Evanston High School.

We spent actual Christmas at the Tippetts' Home. This was our second at their home, and it is always interesting to see how others celebrate Christmas. I was pleasantly surprised and had a wonderful time.

Does my kid every have clothes on? I swear!

Our camera was still cold when I tried to take pictures of Charly and her cousins acting out the birth.

The camera was really struggling, so I apologize! I love how my dad is starting to really enjoy Charly now. I am a lot like him. Newborns really aren't my scene. I do the best I can, but I am really liking this age....finally!

My mom has this special little way with Charly. It is like her and that dog, Butch. Charly follows my mom around the house like a dog. They are both suckers for each other!

This last weekend we went home to Evanston to spend time with my family and some cousins that I haven't seen in years. This pictures are not in order, so deal with my pathetic computer skills!

This was my favorite activity we did while home. I love being outdoors. If you were to ask my husband what I would rather do, cook or work outside on something, which I would choose, he would say work outside...even if it is cold. We went shooting outside of Evanston. I haven't been in years. I forgot how much I enjoy it.

This is Ben shooting an AR-10. It is a flippin awesome gun.

This is me. I must admit it was weird shooting it because I was expecting it to kick like grandpa's ole 300....but it didn't. What a pleasant surprise!

This is Bronson shooting his baby. He really enjoys this gun...alot. Can ya blame him?

Here is David shooting his AR-15. This gun was way fun to shoot as well.

This is Ben shooting the AR-15. He is a good shot. No kiddin.

Once that Wyoming Sun went down, it got cold! I have to give some props to my sis. The more I get to know her, the cooler she is. She can shoot really well...I mean really, really well. She is great with the shotgun and the AR-15. I would gladly have her watch my back if she had one of those guns in hand!

I really liked shooting this gun. I can't really say that it was my favorite, because in truth, they were all so fun to shoot.

This is Bronson modeling his "baby." He could tell you a gazillion reasons why he loves this gun. I could tell you two: it was easy to shoot and didn't kick the crap out of me!

Can ya tell I liked shooting the AR-15. I have a bunch of shots of me....rare of me to want so many pictures of myself.

This is our "bedside" gun. It is a 357 revolver. It is a mean lil thing. I only shoot it to get practice so if there is ever a day I have to use it on the fly...I got it covered. Ben makes me practice. I am not a bad shot.

This is Chaz, Brandon, and David. I used to hang out with my cousins all of the time. If any of you ever wonder why I turned out to be such a tom boy, well...I was surrounded my boys my whole life. I didn't have very much "womanly" influence, even though ma tried.

This is Ben shooting our 357 revolver. He shoots it like it is nothing. I kid you not guys, this gun is mean. It has a short barrel so it is loud and you have to hold on to it good. As I said though, Ben makes it look like child's play.

I was not shooting anything in this picture, I was just posing because I was done shooting. This was my first time to shoot a .45 (I think this is what it was...I am sure one of you out there will correct if I am off!). It was fun. I really liked the semi feature in this one. I rarely shoot semi-automatics and I am quite fond of them!

These were the targets the boys set up for us. Ben hit every one of them with such ease I was ticked. So I got up there and shot like a complete mad women and ruined one of them....I really apologize Bronson!
I had such a good time and if David or Bronson are reading this, I hope they know it! It was great to be outdoors with family.

We first started out shooting our shot guns. The shot gun Ben bought me for my birthday was such a beaute! It was light and easy for me to handle. Ben and I want to go out more now and practice shooting it because it is fairly inexpensive...and since there is no snow and dirt biking is out for a couple more months...why not?

We also just want to slow down for a while. We traveled so much the last couple of months that we need some "alone" time. We have things we want to work on and do as our own family.

I hope January finds you all well. For me, personally, these next couple of months are long and drawn out...especially now there is no snow to ski on.