Maybe that last title was wrong...

Has it really been a month (almost) since my last post? And that was a meager post at that! Title should have read, 'Down and Out, be back in a couple of months'. I'm going to take a shot at updating... someday. Maybe tonight? Maybe not. Turbo Tax and I are going for round 2 to finish up those taxes. Happy Valentine's Day (and maybe St Patrick's Day, too at this piont)!

Down but not out...

Sorry for the lack of posts to those regular blog-checkers! We've been to Arizona and back and are still in recovery mode. Hopefully I'll get to more posting by the time the weekend is over!


Jack, Anna, Luke, Leah and Valerie (friend... we didn't add another!) on a cool day in Arizona.

Snow Day at Lake Arrowhead

Some of the bridges along the side of the mountain.

Snow piles.

This was fun but got their clothes all wet!

Even Luke took on the slopes.

Derek had off this week and we did a lot of things just around the house and ended the week with everyone sick. I have never had everyone get sick within a few hours of eachother before! On Tuesday we went up to Lake Arrowhead and found some snow piles to play in. It was a lot of fun but the kids were pretty wet/cold and not so happy by the time we were done. Once they got into their dry clothes they changed their tune back to 'when can we come again?!?'. I forgot how much I liked the Lake Arrowhead area. The drive is amazing up the side of the mountain and it is so different there, just an hour away.

In Recognition of the Improbable Accomplishment

The Arizona Cardinals won a play-off game. Derek took these shots of Leah to celebrate what might well be a once-in-a-lifetime accomplishment! For those of you who don't know Derek very well, he latches on to any local sports team and, since the Lions are even worse than the Cardinals, he is still a Cardinals fan after just two short years of living in AZ.

California Branch Schut Christmas Party

All four Schut girls wearing black at the Christmas Party.

A long time ago when Matt and Julie and I lived in the same apartment building on Kester in Van Nuys 12 years ago, Julie started what has become a Christmas 'eve' tradition for us here in California. Instead of Chili and Oyster stew of the Wisconsin days, she had appetizers and finger foods. Most Christmases since then we've gotten together to celebrate Christmas Eve in the same way. It isn't always on Christmas Eve because of schedules and we've grown over the years from the the two original transplants to CA and now include three of the four Schut girls, their spouses, 10 children and a dog. We've celebrated at The Empress, in the blue Condo in Canyon Country, at the Waymeyers in Vista, and now at our new place back in California.

This year we celebrated on the 26th. Everyone enjoyed the afternoon together and the evening of food, performances, presents and family fun. There are a bunch of pictures below from the day. I think we have almost 300 pictures and I had a hard time narrowing down what to post. I hope you enjoy the selections.

For those of you wondering why there are only three girls in the picture and Julie is holding a phone... that's Laura. She was smiling for her picture as I'm sure you can tell. Notice Jake between Julie and Kathy? Luke was lingering on the other side of me trying to get in on the action, too. I really think he was just trying to get picked up so he could actually reach the whole plate of Christmas cookies.

And the Dog...

We can't leave Addie out of the pictures. She was a the object of love (and some fear) and added some fun to our time.

The Girls

We are an ever-increasing minority (is that possible) with the addition of all the baby boys in years of late. But they hold their own in the cute-ness factor.