He's 5!

Hello Everyone!

Today is a very special day.  On this day, 5 years ago, my special puppy Kooper was born!!!!  He is the cutest, most special, lovable, and amazing dog I could have ever asked for!!!  He is my little boy, and I love him so much!  I can't believe he's 5!  He's growing up so fast. :') {Happy tears :)}

Happy Birthday, Kooper!!!

Haha!  I just HAD to put this picture up because it is just
SO FUNNY!!! (Plus, that's kinda what I feel like right
now =P)

Happy 14th Birthday, Claire!!

Happy Birthday to my very special friend Claire!  I hope that you are having a wonderful day!  You are such a great friend, and I miss you so much!  I hope to see you soon! (Please check out her YouTube Channel here.  She is super creative, and she does AMAZING videos! :)

Aaaaaaaah.  It's finally the weekend.  FINALLY!!!!!  WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, WEEKEND?????  YOU'VE BEEN HIDING FROM ME!!!!!!!  Haha.  This week has been exhausting for me.  Anybody feeling the same way????  I am just feeling totally over done.  But, it's not over yet, because I still have two (yes, two) Algebra lessons left.  Uuuuuuuuuugh.  Plus, today, we have a big shopping day.  And I'm not talking about clothes, or anything FUN; I'm talking about groceries.  Since we don't live nearby big stores like Wal-Mart, Costco, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, etc. we have to make BIG shopping days about once a month.  Let's just say I am NOT EXCITED.  Oh well... what can I say?  It's an unfortunate part of life.  But, aside from that, I SHOULD have a nice Sunday.  I pretty much plan on skiing, or just doing NOTHING.  I haven't gotten to do that for a good 5 days.  And now it's going to be 6.

Ok, I'm done ranting now. =P

I had a good week, it was just tiring.  I actually got to go skiing on Thursday, which was fun.  The only thing was that my hands got TOTALLY frozen!!!!  I don't know why, but it was very painful.  They literally had to thaw out, and it HURT.  So, when we go to Costco today, we are going to get the 100 pack of hand warmers.  Yay!!!  We got some to try out last year, never used them, and just tried them out a few weeks ago.  They work SO WELL!!!

Lindsay and I did a video on our YouTube Channel of what we got for Christmas + reviews.  Please check it out here!

The kittens are doing really well, and of course they are super adorable!!!  They are super, super sweet, and the dogs are actually hanging out with them!  They love to be around us, and they play with EVERYTHING!!!!  Kooper still isn't quite sure about them, because he is not used to having other animals be the center of attention.  He still gets a lot of love, but he now has to share the spotlight.  :D  He is being very sweet about it, though.

Our cats are actually acrobats!  We have a ladder that goes up to our loft (playroom) and they have been climbing on it!!!!  It is so funny!!!  Maggie is much more coordinated (and smarter; no offense Jack :), so she is a lot better at it.  Jack is working on it, and he is doing pretty good.  We are trying to train them to do it, and so far, the best lure is the treat bag!

Well, we have got to get to our shopping, so I've got to go.  Have a great day!

~Grace

Thanksgiving Break!

Hello!

So, I haven't posted about Thanksgiving break yet, and I thought I'd fill you in before Christmas is even CLOSER (I can't believe it's already the 8th!!!!), and there are other holiday things going on. :o)

We started out the week by going ice skating.  We didn't get any shots of us actually skating, but this is my dad and I by one of the (SUPER WARM) fires after skating.

The rink after they closed.  They were getting ready to run the Zamboni right as this photo was taken.

We had some rain, and we were blessed with several beautiful rainbows over the lake.

This year, my dad and I made an apple pie.  It is my uncle's special recipe.

The turkey: Before.

After.  It was cooked perfectly, and tasted DELICIOUS!!!!

Our feast.

Our pretty table.  We always use plants to decorate our table.  We used pine branches and mini pumpkins we bought from the store.  We also had gravy, cranberry sauce, and a relish dish.

Me hanging out with my sweetie!

Kooper has a new bed!  Ever since he pulled a muscle on a hike last month, he's been sleeping on the bean bags.  We brought them out for him, because he couldn't jump up on the couch or our beds.  He now loves it, and we plan to make a cover for it so it matches with our decor better. :P  He is actually using the blue one with his special blanket on top now (he doesn't like the vinyl - he's so funny!), because it is more manly! :P

My mom's birthday was during Thanksgiving break, and we made her a special breakfast of Eggs Benedict.  We had a really nice, relaxing day.

 I made this cake for her.  It is lemon cake with lemon frosting.  It was very yummy!

I hope that you and your family had a very nice Thanksgiving break also, and that you are enjoying preparing for Christmas.  We just got our tree up tonight (it is artificial), and we are going to decorate it tomorrow along with our house.  Have a great weekend!

~Grace

Happy Birthday To Moi and New Clothes!

Hello!

I celebrated my 13th birthday last week, and I had a fantastical day!

In the morning, I opened my gifts, and had a beautiful breakfast of cinnamon rolls, chocolate crepes (made special by a close friend especially for me), scrambled eggs, bacon, and fruit.  It was delicious!  

After breakfast, we went on a bike ride with our friend.  It was a very nice bike ride, and we were blessed with beautiful warm, sunny weather.  After our bike ride we went to sushi.  The food was AMAZING, and I had a lot of fun!  They even brought me a special birthday dessert with Mochi (a Japanese ice cream dessert) and a fried banana!  It was super tasty!  My favorite kinds of sushi is salmon and tuna nigiri.  Nigiri is a slice of fish on rice.  Do you like sushi?  What is your favorite kind?

After sushi, we went to Taylor Creek to watch the Kokanee Salmon spawn.  It was so amazing to watch them.  We went home, and watched "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs."  It is a really cute movie, and I love to watch it - my sister checked it out for me at the library.  I had a delightful desert of cheesecake, and it was SO yummy!  There were 4 different flavors: Belgian chocolate, caramel, turtle, and red velvet.  My favorites were turtle and Belgian chocolate.  I had a great day!

These are the gifts I received for my birthday from my parents, sister, and grandma:

1. Camelbak All Clear UV Microbiological Water Purification System

2. Weekend Fun Outfit for Dolls + Charm

3. Casual Chic Outfit + Charm

4. Pretty Pink Coat Set + Charm
5. Snowy Earmuffs for Dolls

I also received the "Star Hoodie Outfit for Dolls" (one of the AG meet outfits from a previous year) from my very special friend Claire.  Thank you so much Claire!  You are so sweet!  Please check out her blog here, and her YouTube channel here.

{Reviews of the AG items to follow later.}

Yesterday, my mom and I had a shopping day together.  I really needed some pants, because I didn't have a single pair that fit anymore and it is definitely beginning to get cooler.  For the last year or two, I have had issues finding clothes.  I haven't fit in the junior's section, but I don't really care for the stuff in the kid's department.  Has this happened to any of you?  It has been frustrating.  I was very successful at Target a few weeks ago, and I found a lot of great shirts.  I didn't find any pants, though; and it's getting cold!  After going to Target, plus many other mall stores, we finally went to Abercrombie Kids.  Honestly, my mom was hoping we'd find something somewhere else first, which is why we went there last.  But... Abercrombie Kids was the only place I actually found anything that fit (and I liked - and I wasn't being overly picky).   I only needed jeans and sweatpants, and I was successful!  I got 2 pairs of sweatpants; 1 pink and 1 black.  I got 1 pair of yoga pants with a green band on the top, and 2 pairs of bootcut jeans.  I like all of the pants a lot, and the jeans a super comfy!

So, you're probably wondering about the giveaway I promised.  Details coming TOMORROW!!!  Sorry about the delay!  Have a great night!

~Grace