I Spy Week 16

After seeing Natasha participate in this for a few weeks I decided to give it a try! I think the prompts are really fun, or maybe it's just that Natasha has a unique perspective on each one?? Either way, I'm giving it a go! Join in here with Lysha's prompts.

{Kitchen Sink}

Unfortunately the 'before' is how our sink looks more often than I want!

But the 'after' sure is nice, isn't it?

{Flower}

This is one of my favorite flowers in our yard.

I can't ever remember its name - something with garlic in it.

It's deer resistant which is why we planted it.

Deer run rampant in our neighborhood and eat EVERYTHING.

We thought they died in the freeze {and they stunk SO bad}, 

but I was so happy to see them bloom a few weeks ago!

{Up}

Bubble fun with Paige!

This is before she spilled half the bottle on the patio. Sigh.

{Mixed}

Which color do you think we picked for our new doors?

And you can see how our pocket door is crooked because it came off the track!

{Your Choice}

We left sackie at church and had 1 very sad little girl until we got her back.

Did We Actually Book A Vacation?

The last time I announced a vacation on my blog, 4 days later the world shut down. So I'm a little nervous to talk about what we have planned for later this year. But I realized when I posted a picture of my new puffer jacket, I realized I never shared that we actually have booked a trip!

The idea for this trip started with our snow weekend in January. We got 4-6" of snow and had a blast! 

Our neighbor/friend, Karin, had the idea that it would be fun to have a real snow vacation and go with the kids. Given we didn't know the status of the world, we decided to find somewhere we could drive and began looking at properties in New Mexico and Colorado.

Our usual couples were all interested and we found a house in Ruidoso that could accommodate 10 adults and 11 kids ranging in age of 18 months to 14 years and booked it!

2008

Allena/Brent* ~ Karin/Kelby ~ Dez/Derek ~ Rhonda/Ryan

[Susie and Riley weren't dating yet]

*baby Trent snuck on this trip

12 years later and still traveling together - our local 2020 staycation

Ryan/Rhonda, Riley/Allena, Brent/Susie, Derek/Dez

[Kelby and Karin were in new baby land]

THEN our February Snow-vid experience happened and we all started questioning whether we really wanted another week of snow, ha! But we figured the house we rented is prepared for lots of snow and at a minimum wouldn't lose electricity for hours and hours when it's 3 degrees outside! {grin}

Views from the house!

One thing I've been trying to do is buy what I can while things are on sale at the end of winter. We have almost nothing that is appropriate for real winters, so I'm looking at winter coats, hats, gloves, long johns, ski pants, socks, boots...the whole 9 yards! Unfortunately I'm not looking at too much for the kids since it's hard to guess their sizes in 8 months, but I might try at the end of summer.

So far for myself I have bought the puffer jacket I shared Tuesday and a pair of snow boots. One of my friends has some ski things I can borrow, so I don't think I'm too far off for myself being prepared.

My new boots! I got them 50% off!

So there you have it - all the details for an officially booked trip in 2021! For you 'real winter' people, what are the must haves we need to stay warm and what can I buy now??? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!