On my way!

I'm in the Salt Lake City Airport...soon I'll be on the red-eye to NYC.  And then, finally into Santo Domingo.  From there Yimmy and I will make our way to Miches to get to see Wil!!!

I'm so excited to see him!

Movie Madness

I have been pretty much off the blog radar for the last couple of weeks. I wasn't just sitting around eating bonbons (though an ice cream bonbon sounds really good right now), I was watching movies--movies--and more movies!!

I'm taking two courses for my library media endorsement program, but they did not commence until this week. The movies are for one of the courses that I'm taking at Salish Kootenai College, Native American Images in Film.  It has been an interesting course.  I won't have access to the movies in the D.R., so I have watched all 16 movies since January 7.  When I put it that way, it probably doesn't sounds as intense as it has been some days.  Anyway, these are some of the movies I've watched.  Basically, most of the movies were "historical" dramas about Indian and U.S. military wars.  Yeah, not really my thing.  There are four movies that I would recommend:  Smoke Signals, Powwow Highway, Once Were Warriors, and The Fast Runner (Atanarjuat).

hollywoodmoviememories.com

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 associatedcontent.com

 amazon.com

 jdmfilmreviews.com

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 sunrisetradingco.com

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 runningmovies.com

Some Last Christmas Delights!

I really don't like the end of the holiday season. So, I'm letting it last a little longer in my room. I have been enjoying late nights (early mornings really) in the glowing lights reading "The Girl Who..." series (I finished the other night).

The sweet little tree.

I love the lights and the ornaments!

A special holiday dragonfly...

A close-up of a glittery wonder.

This ornament is nice in person, but I think it looks great in a photo. It may become a holiday card in the future...

I Love the Night Lights (or the lights at night, anyway)!

With all the snow, the lights at night have been particularly lovely.  I enjoy the colors in the snow.

The lights created holes in the snow on the shrubs.

The lights glowed through the deep snow.

This one made me think of a UFO or a Disney parade float.

The front of the house with twinkling lights.

Multicolored beauty.

Our Christmas tree through the front window.  We thought we had a 'Charlie Brown' tree this year, but it actually ended up to be quite pretty.  Ahhh, the end of another holiday season--wah, wah...

A Grand 'Grand Opening'

We have a new coffee shop in Ronan, Stella's.  Char, Dana, Allison and I stopped in last week for a coffee and some sweets.  We found some delicious treats and a reasonably priced cup of coffee with free refills ($1.25).

The official grand opening was on January 8.  Dana, Allison and I returned and were called 'regulars' by the owner.  Too funny!  Again, we had a great experience.  Delicious!!

I took a picture of their cute apron curtains, but I forgot to get any pictures of the pastries.  I guess we will have to go back!

Happy Birthday to Dana!

Dana had a birthday last week and we wanted to celebrate!  Mom prepared a great meal of barbequed ribs with all of the fixins (as they say).  And, Allison decorated the cake.

 Allison went all out on the cake.  Dana loves The Wizard of Oz and it was represented well.

Dana poses before making his birthday wish!

Back in The D-D-D.R.!!!!

I booked my ticket to return to the D.R.  I'm leaving Montana on January 28th and returning on April 3.  I'm excited to get back to Wil!  And, it's all thanks to my parents for their generous Christmas present and to Dana for donating many frequent flyer miles (if you ever have any extra miles, I'd love to take them off your hands!).

Allison went to make a note of my departure on the calendar and this is what I found when I went to look at it:

 

I'm sure it was written in jest (mostly!).  It was particularly funny since when Scarlett and Caroline were here at Christmas, Scarlett kept teasing Caroline with similar comments.  

I'm Obsessed With a Girl...

Those are words that I doubt anyone, including myself, ever thought I would utter.  It's not just any girl, however.  It's Lisbeth Salander, the main character in the books by Stieg Larsson:  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,  The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.  I started reading the first book a couple days before Christmas.  Then I read book two between Christmas and New Year's.  I am taking the last one slowly.  One reason, I've been busier this week, the other, I don't really want it to end...

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scottfreeman.info

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On the 12th Day of Christmas...

Well, I didn't get this post done before the 12th Day of Christmas (January 6), but here goes my holiday wrap-up.

We had a fantastic holiday with family and friends.  While the Kammers were here, Mom found this cool confectionary treat that she had forgotten in the fridge on Christmas.  Allison and I love petit fours.  For many years, Mom has given us a box at Christmas, but this year she went personalized!  How cool is that!  It would be great for many purposes (showers, birthday parties, etc.).  It was funny because people were scared to break into the treats for fear of losing the message.  I finally took some to get them going.

If you couldn't tell from a previous post, 4Bs is a family tradition.  We had to introduce Bella and Abby to the fun that is 4Bs.  Bella studied the menu.

Bella must have been distracted by Daddy.

Grandpa Clancy (Char's Dad) and Char watch Bella do some tricks, I think they involved ice.

Sister Char and Brother Dana are always ready to mug for the camera.

The food was taking a while, so Bella decided to entertain herself by getting in Abby's carseat.

Peek...

a BOO!!!!

Some of us saved room for dessert -- Mud Pie! It is coffee ice cream, fudge sauce, and whipped cream on an Oreo cookie crust.  How could it be anything but wonderful?

Abby even had her first bite--just kidding.

Dana had some fun playing with Abby (her crazy hair is not her fault, it's static people).

When we got back to the house, Char helped Bella get into some costumes.  Here she plays a dog...

Here she plays the part of a mouse!

Mama and her little Bella mouse! Squeak! Squeak!

Abby is even adorable when she sleeps!

Too precious!

Uncle Allison got to play with Abby, too.

So happy together...

Making each other smile!

We had to say goodbye on Tuesday morn. 

Bella on the way to the car with Uncle Alli and Mom in tow!  What a wonderful way to end our holiday season.  Abby and Bella are truly amazing little girls!