Soggy new year to you!

Happy soggy new year to you and yours!  I hope everyone was able to get some quiet time this holiday season, amidst the ruckus and celebration.  My sister's family, with the two boys in tow, came in town for Christmas and we all had a really fun time with them.  The boys are now four months and two years old, and although neither of them understood what Christmas was about, they both loved the lights and decorations.  It was nice being able to see family and our house always feels more lively with more bodies running around in it.  Over New Year's Eve, Bryan and I were able to sneak in a get away and go skiing at Bridger Bowl in Montana.  It was my first visit to the state and our first time skiing there.  The ski slopes were in early season condition with a fairly thin base, but we had a blast.  The people were nice, the food was excellent, and the weather was perfect.  I'd love to go back and visit in the summertime.

We flew back into wet and cold conditions in Dallas - it's felt like we've been getting nonstop rain in Texas, which is good because rain in Texas is always good but couldn't this have happened in the summer when we really needed it?  Bowie got to experience his own little vacation and went bird hunting with Bryan and our neighbor's dogs.

I didn't set new year's resolutions for 2024 - I've got years of resolution lists archived on my computer and am getting tired of looking the same resolution of "drink more water." However, one of my January goals is to clean out our freezer.  We've been getting better about keeping track of what's kept in it (vacuum sealer, labeling) but there's no reason why there should be anything should be sitting in there for years (yikes).  Alongside cleaning out the freezer, one of my objectives is also to eat more vegetables.  We had so many cookies over the holiday period - I had to throw out two dozen frosted sugar cookies because they had grown stale.  Cleaning up our eating is one very adult but not very fun way of kicking off the new year.  If you have any vegetable recipes that you particularly like, please send them over!

Like the rest of the US, we're dreading the artic blast this weekend.  It's time to break out the heated buckets and extra heavy blankets again for the horses again.  Between the rain and mud that we've been having, the horses haven't been able to get turnout regularly since the end of December.  Luckily, they've been getting ridden frequently and are staying healthy.  Let's hope that we don't get any burst pipes and that the power stays on for the duration.  Stay warm y'all!