Bittersweet Goodbye to Nevada

I've so many mixed emotions today as

We say goodbye to so many friends...

(These are sweet gifts from our homeschool friends!)

and yet super excited about the future...
and our new home in Texas.

It's truly bittersweet this time.

We love Nevada...

So wild and free...

so open...

the mountains...

the valleys...

the stargazing...

And the SNOW...

We had so much snow today that a snowplow was brought in to clear the parking lot!

It's been an amazing adventure that we will treasure forever.

But for now, it's goodbye Nevada

and Hello to Texas again...

Christmas in Nevada

We had a simple Christmas Eve celebration...

Just the three of us...

And yes, It was an icy cold Christmas...

It snowed most of Christmas Eve...

 So all the more reason to stay in our warm and cozy apartment
enjoying all the mail and gifts we received.
We really missed our big kids and grand kids this year,
but we have a big surprise for them...

when we get home in January!
But for now, I shipped them a bunch of goodies from Nevada!

Steve was off Christmas Eve but had to work all day long Christmas Day,
So on Christmas Eve...

 we opened gifts...

Lots of Star Wars goodies...and NERF

Steve wanted a gun, so I bought him one...

and we enjoyed a yummy little dinner together.

Courtesy of a dear Nevada friend!
I even made sure my sweet kitty cats had a good meal of Fancy Feast...

Turkey and Giblet Dinner, It's their favorite, lol.

Our Nevada White Christmas...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our family and friends in Texas!

See ya soon!

Winnemucca Snowfall

We've experienced a record amount of snowfall the month of December.

This is just the snow on my 2nd floor porch!

Each snowflake so unique...

I can almost see whoville in there, lol

I have a beautiful view...

perched up here in my lovely warm apartment.

We even had a snowplow come and dig us out last week!

There have been multiple days of  this icy cold weather...

Amazing...

We even spotted some coyote tracks...

Behind the apartment building...

Steve still works through it all though...

With a smile...

But it's getting really old and we are ready for some warmer weather...

So today I'm enjoying all the glistening whiteness...

While I'm dreaming of my hot Texas summer just a few short months away...

Winnemucca Christmas Parade

Wow, where do i even begin??
The City of Winnemucca puts on a Christmas Parade each year.
So, our homeschool group decided to participate.
What a ton of work...

This was such a labor of love for one of our committed homeschool mom, Jackie.

She invested so much time and energy into planning, designing the float,
prepping all the decorations, organizing the kids... I could go on and on...

It was pretty shaky towards the end but it all came together!

And it was fantastic!
The theme was Candyland Christmas!

The day finally arrived...

The kids made the candy decorations...

The gingerbread float assembled...

Lots of people waiting....

in cold excitement...

These parades are a big deal here...

 and the kickoff of the Christmas Season...

so many great floats...

I wish I could post them all...

Thanks to another amazing dedicated mom, we had a sweet spot to watch the parade!

Finally there they are!

There's Spencer walking with the homeschool sign!

So proud of these kids...

The younger kids rode on the float while the big kids walked it...

Did I forget to mention that it was really cold?

but everyone was bundled up...

and seemed to enjoy the evening!

I never imagined we would be in a parade in Nevada, lol

 They even made the newspaper...

Thank you Winnemucca...

What a wonderful memory this will be someday...