Man's Best Friend

This is what happens when Shanam gets home from work. :) After saying hello to his girls (Annabelle and me), he'll open the back door to say hello to his "other" girls. They barge through the door, frantic to see him, and almost tackle him to the floor! He'll get down and wrestle with them for a good 10 minutes before they let him get up and do something else.

I can understand why they love him so much. It's because he loves them so much. He spent 3 weekends (one very snowy, 18 degree weekend) constructing this doghouse, or penthouse as I like to call it, for them. It's 3ft x4ft, insulated, air-conditioned, and has a removable roof, doggy door, and huge pillows.

I can guarantee you, no other huskies in Texas get this kind of treatment! Now they're all ready to beat the heat during the summer. It was quite the project and Shanam did a very impressive job!

Almost every night he brushes them, and if you can't tell, Sophie loves it :) Sasha gets jealous when it's not her turn and will either try to play with Sophie to distract her or play with Shanam's toes :)

This is what happens when Shanam leaves. Are you feeling the love, yet?

Our New Years Letter!

Hello Friends & Family!

Happy New Year! It’s me, Annabelle! I’m the newest addition to the McGaughy family! I am so happy to finally be here! I know I haven’t met most of you yet, but I hope to meet you soon. J I was born October 28^th at 6:09 am. My mom says I did such a great job during the birth because it only took me 3 hours to make my appearance! If you want to read more about that crazy story, check out the blog my mom is making for me! But, shhh, don’t tell her I told you! I’m not supposed to know about it yet. It’s a surprise for when I’m older! J The address is mapetiteannabelle.blogspot.com. You’ll see tons of pictures and updates on how I’m growing and how cute I’m getting. Hehe! So far, I’ve been having a great time with my family! This world is so amazing! There is so much to see and do and I just can’t wait until I’m big enough to do it all!

I must say, though, I have been able to do a lot so far! Sure, I was inside my mommy’s tummy through it all, but it still counts, right? J This past year was very eventful for my family. We were able to go on many fun trips and do really fun things. Here is a list of all the places we visited:

Baltimore, Maryland

Utah - 3 times

Jackson Hole

Grand Teton National Park

Austin, Texas

Santa Fe, New Mexico

White Sands, New Mexico

Cloudcroft, New Mexico

Ruidoso, New Mexico

Florida - 2 times

Telluride, Colorado

Alpine & Fort Davis, Texas

Why do we get to go on so many fun trips? Well, not only do we love to travel and explore new places…but have you seen where we live? Daddy works as a general manager for an oil company out here in Andrews, and while we are grateful he has such a great job, sometimes it feels like West Texas is its own far away country. If you lived here, you would make time to travel, too! J While on our many adventures, I’ve been able to go hiking, skiing, snowmobiling, camping, golfing, swimming, dancing, and I even rode a ride at Walt Disney World! Mom said it would be okay if we went on Tower of Terror since it is one of her favorite rides and I was weightless already, you know, floating around in her belly. J Feel free to read all the details of our past trips and upcoming ones on our adventure blog, bethanyandshanam.blogspot.com.

Our family is extremely excited for the new year! Want to know what we have planned? One of the most exciting adventures, is we are planning to climb to the top of 30 state highpoints while Daddy is 30. This requires a road trip to the east coast where we will reach 22 state highpoints in 10 days! Our two Siberian huskies, Sophie and Sasha, will come and climb with us, too! Anyone want to loan us an RV? J Dad also plans on getting his pilot’s license this year. He’s finally going to be able to finish what he started 3 years ago! Then he’ll be able to fly us to our favorite places to camp, Ruidoso and Cloudcroft, NM. We’ll be able to spend more time in the mountains and less time driving!

Mommy, well, she has a lot she wants to do this year! She really wants to be able to knit hats and sweaters and socks for me, but first, she’s got to learn how to knit. J So, that’s on her list of things to learn. Before I was born, she really got into fitness and running, so she’s excited to get back into shape and plans on running a half marathon before the end of the year! Go, mom! Also on her list, is to grow a big garden this summer and eat lots of fresh vegetables. I’m excited for that, too, because she says she’ll make me baby food from our garden! Yummy! She plans on keeping her personal blog updated with healthy recipes, crafts, decoration ideas, gardening tips, and fun stories, so make sure to watch for updates at bapaslittlebee.blogspot.com.

This is going to be a very busy year for me, as well! I’ve got to learn how to roll over, sit up, crawl, chew, walk, and talk! That’s a lot! So, wish me health and patience as I learn how to use this little body of mine! J From our family to yours, we hope there is happiness and harmony in your home and plenty of love and laughter to share with those around you!

Christmas Vacation!!

Our adventure began on Tuesday, December 28 at 1700 hours. We had a 16 hour, 950 mile road trip ahead of us with a 2 month old baby and two 4 month old puppies. What laid ahead...we didn't know...but we hit the open road with a prayer in our hearts and a sincere hope that it wouldn't get too crazy :) Utah or bust!

Gratefully, the pups were awesome and Annabelle was an angel! We would have made it to American Fork in good time, but we had a slight hiccup...okay, major belch...at the top of Price Canyon, in the middle of a snow storm, no less. Our radiator hose blew and our engine overheated...not cool! But luckily we weren't too far from home! After 4 hours of being stranded in the cold, Shanam's mom came to the rescue and picked us up, AAA towed our car to a shop in Provo, and we were once again warmed by a functioning heater. Amazingly, Annabelle and the puppies slept through it all, without one single peep! Now that is a Christmas miracle!

First thing the next day, Shanam introduced the pups to the snow and took them snowshoeing with his family. Sophie and Sasha were in heaven! As soon as they hit the powder they wanted to run, run, run! It's amazing to watch their instincts kick in! And boy did they look gorgeous in the snow! They were definitely in their element...it's just like watching Shanam when he hits the slopes :) (Don't forget to click on the photo so you can see it bigger! I love the photo of Shanam and his two girls in the top right corner :)

Christmas with family was absolutely wonderful!!!!!!! They all loved meeting Annabelle and we had such a great time visiting, laughing, eating, and playing! This was Christmas dinner with Shanam's fam...yummy lobster once again! I love that holiday tradition :)

And here we are with my fam! Being home for the holidays is what it's all about!

Annabelle was blessed on the day after Christmas (isn't her dress gorgeous! It's Belgian!) and all 3 great grandmas and grandmas were there, so of course we had to take a picture! Never know when that will happen again! So, from the left on the couch is my dad's mom, GG Penny, then Shanam's mom's mom, GreatGamma, and my mom's mom, Nana. What a great and wonderful group of women I get to claim as family!

We also met up with Bre and Sydne's family. Emily was our fourth roommate from our Devonshire college days who had a baby this year but she couldn't make it. We missed her :( It was so fun to get all our babies together and of course to be with the girls again :)

One thing we had to do while in Utah was see the Temple Square Christmas lights, of course! The place was packed with people but definitely worth every shoulder bump :) The place was gorgeous! Annabelle stayed nice and cozy wrapped to my body underneath my coat jacket. She loved looking at the lights for all of two minutes then fell fast asleep :) An awesome dinner at our favorite Salt Lake City pizza place, Settabellos, came next! Some of the other vacation events included skiing, playing laser tag, enjoying sushi, feasting on an amazing dinner at La Caille (a perfect Christmas gift from my brother), and lots of family bonding time. We couldn't have asked for a better 12 days of Christmas :)

Doesn't it just look so beautiful...cold, but beautiful! :) None of us wanted to leave :( But alas, we're in Texas for a reason and we love all the great friends we've made there, so we had to go back. After a perfect road trip home, we're already looking ahead to our next adventure!

The Big 3-0!!

Here's the birthday boy enjoying his warm homemade apple-raspberry pie and cinnamon gelato!

For Thanksgiving dinner, it's our family tradition to have lobster instead of turkey. Doesn't that plate look divine?!

Well, it was!

The timing worked out great because his parents were already here visiting Annabelle, so they were able to celebrate Thanksgiving and Shanam's birthday, too!

For his gift, they bought Shanam a much needed, incredible new slant board to help straighten his back. The puppies love attacking him while he uses it :)

And as for my present, I've arranged a way for us to hike 30 state highpoints while he's 30. This poster will help us track and document when we do them. Stay tuned for more info about the highpoints! That's one of our new adventures coming up this year :)

But I'm pretty sure this little lady was his favorite gift this year :)

Sweet Annabelle

Annabelle has arrived! Go to our baby blog at www.mapetiteannabelle.blogspot.com to read the birth story and see more pictures :)

The Year of the Triplets

We didn't think having a baby was going to change our lives drastically enough, so we've added some more fun to the mix :) Heheh! Meet our new 7 week old Huskies!!

Sophie

and Sasha!

We got them on Monday this week, after getting back from our trip to Utah. One of our friends knew a family who was selling husky puppies and it was just too good to pass up! Shanam has always been in love with huskies and has wanted one since before we got married. It's the perfect mountain dog...says the mountain man himself :) And of course I think they are adorable, too! Not just adorable puppies, but they'll grow into gorgeous dogs. They are great with children and Annabelle will have immediate best friends when she gets here :) She'll be able to grow up with them and call them her own. After discussing it, we thought two sisters would be best and we were right! It's so fun to watch them together! And they really are just like babies...

They eat...

they play...

they chew...

they sleep...

and of course they like to have a little fun and get into mischief :)

Shanam hates leaving for work in the mornings and will come home at lunch to see them. They run to greet him at the door and his face just beams :) He's already a great dad, lol!

While we were still in Utah, a couple of days after we had decided to add to our family, we figured that our little beemer wasn't going to cut it for all the new adventures our growing family was going to have. So, last Friday night, we searched on KSL for a Toyota 4 Runner, found a couple we wanted to look at, made appointments the next day to see them, and had a '97 4 Runner within 24 hours. Everything just fell into place and worked out! So, we have our highway car and now our mountain vehicle to take our mountain family to the mountains...3 hours away.

We've gotta get out of Texas!

They'll be coming with us to Utah for Christmas and Shanam just can't wait to introduce them to the snow! We're already planning on a family snowshoe outing and Shanam wants to bring them skiing with him in the back country. Should be fun!

Big Bend Balloon Bash and Balmorhea!!

Well, it was time to get away from Andrews again for some more adventure! This time we chose to explore down south a little into the Fort Davis Mountain area about 3 hours away. We loaded up our camping gear, grabbed a camera, and took off after church on Sunday for a lovely road trip :)

Our first event was the Big Bend Balloon Bash! Every Labor Day weekend, hot air ballooners from around Texas gather in the small town of Alpine, Texas. They take flight every morning and come back in the evening to perform what they call a Fire Concert. Boy, was that a fun experience! They all line up their baskets and wait til the sun goes down. Then the extravaganza begins! The pilots play their "fire" to rock and roll music! Check out the video!

We had almost front row seats, and I tell ya! When every flame went off at the same time, you felt the heat!!! So cool! After the concert, we drove about 10 miles out of town to check out what is called the Marfa Lights. These are lights that mysteriously appear off in the horizon next to the little town of Marfa. They don't always appear, but we were lucky enough to choose a good night, cuz they were good and bright...and very mysterious! Dodododododo :)

The next morning, after a beautiful night of camping under the stars, we went to go see the balloons take off. Unfortunately, it was too windy :( So, that just meant we got an early start on mountain biking and hiking! We drove up to Fort Davis State Park, after a little breakfast, and hit the trails. Shanam biked while I hiked and I actually ended up hiking the entire 4.2 miles up and over into the Fort Davis National Historic Site. The view was neat at the top of the mountain and the climb down through huge molten rock boulders was definitely a fun experience!

We decided to cool off a bit afterward by hitting up "The Caboose" for an ice cream treat :)

Then, our last stop as we made our way back up to Andrews was Balmorhea State Park. A gorgeous natural spring that has been made into a 2 acre swimming pool! It's the oasis of West Texas! The water was a cold 75 degrees and little fish swam around you the entire time. In some spots, it goes down 30 feet and people come to scuba dive and see the much cooler fish that live down there. About 1 million gallons of water is naturally fed in and out of the pool every hour! It's a pretty neat place and we will definitely be coming back with snorkeling gear!

We had such a nice weekend! We just love being able to get out and explore! And we look forward to the very near future when Annabelle can come on our adventures, too!