Holiday Season

We have fallen behind on our blog postings...so these are some pictures of the last few holidays.

Maddie made pumpkin shaped sugar cookies to give to the neighbors to introduce ourselves.


In our effort to become primary teachers, which failed miserably, we participated in the Trunk or Treat. Mark sat in the bed of the truck while the kids "fished" for their treat. It was a huge hit.


We didn't get any pictures of our Thanksgiving in Idaho, so here is a picture of the food in Colorado.


We went to Colorado for Christmas and had so much fun. It was the first time in two years that we had all been together. This time their were quite a few additions...

Carter Isaac Olson...He couldn't fit his thumbs in the mittens so he was giving constant thumbs up.


Abraham Joseph Snell...His hair would look very red in the light and then blonde. Hope he is a redhead.


Mark Allen Fitch...Ok, so he is not very "new" but this was his first Christmas actually part of the family.


Miss Olivia Terry...She was the angel in the nativity and was actually pointing towards baby Jesus, Carter.


Here are some of the nativity actors:

Two shepherds and a sheep


Baby Jesus and Joseph


Another shepherd and sheep...with Mark's beard he was definitely the most realistic looking of everyone.


Christmas morning, lining up on the stairs


Olivia does the cutest things with her hands. Can you say Dr. Evil?


The boys went skiing one day and had such a great time.



We have started a new tradition. Every year for Christmas we will get a new puzzle that the entire family can put together. This year we bought our farm, so the puzzle obviously corresponds...There weren't any wedding puzzles.

Exciting News!

Mark and I are excited to announce a new addition to the Fitch Family...

Jack Black . . . or Black Jack

(It changes everyday)

He is a heeler like our other dog, Buddy, whom we love. It was a crazy weekend to get a new puppy. Sam came up for the weekend, I just got done with midterms, and I had to teach the Relief Society lesson, but we couldn't pass up this little face.

Last Saturday morning, Mark saw an ad on Craigslist for heeler puppies. So I dialed the number and asked for the address. The ad ended up being posted by someone we knew, in fact they lived two houses down from us and are in our ward. I told Mark that we should just go look, but I knew in my mind that I was getting a puppy.

Daddy scratching their bellies.

He is so little, but he is meaty.

Mark and Sam raked up all the leaves in the front yard and we played!

He chews on everything and we are working on potty training,

but he is so much fun.

After running through the leaves awhile, we were tired . . .

He put himself into this weird frog position and slept for quite awhile.

Mommy and baby relaxing.

Daddy and Jack taking a little nap (in the same position).

Too bad it wasn't the frog position.

Aren't they so cute. Jack looks like a miniature version of Buddy. . .

but black.

We are now the proud parents of two!

Our First House!

Sorry this has taken so long, but we just got internet today! So here are just a few pictures of our new home.

Holding the actual keys!

The door is open and we are moving in our stuff.

The truck and trailer with all of our stuff.

The rest of these pictures were taken when we first started looking at the house.

Mark is standing in our mud room/laundry room.

This is our half bath which consists of a shower.

Buddy currently sleeps in this shower.

This is the second bedroom that is housing all of our boxes.

I have to come in this room in order to get dressed in the mornings.

Our lovely kitchen.

The vanity. To the left is the handicapped shower.

To the right is the normal shower and toilet.

If you are counting, that is three showers, one toilet, and no doors.

The "master" bedroom. It is quite small.

We are very happy in our cute little house. We started our renovations and will be sure to put up pictures of our progress.

The Last Muddy Trip

For the last Muddy trip the little boys came up. We had so much fun.

They were so excited to ride on the back-hoe.

Mark and I took Ben and Ruby for a nice ride.  

He had to carve the year into the "Mark Dange" tree, but

we forgot our pocket knife and had to use an emergency saw.

Mark also carved this into the tree.

He was especially fascinated with the horses...

and Buddy. He followed Buddy around and would talk to him 

like a baby while slapping his legs to get Buddy's attention. It was adorable.

Watering the grass.

Telling Mel what to do with the fire.

(There was also another picture of him carrying the fire starter,

and he is grinning from ear to ear. A man after Mel's own heart.)

Of course, he wanted to have his turn starting a fire with Mark.

The most exciting part of the weekend was this turkey. 

Buddy was chasing it and actually treed it. We are such proud parents.

Mark made a bow for Joshua that was pretty cool.

The Muddy wouldn't be the same without trips in the Mule.