Ice Fishing

This is called an auger. You use it to dig a hole in the ice in order to put a fishing line down a frozen hole and then sleep. It is really hard to use said auger. Do not let Brian fool you into believing otherwise. After I attempted for a long time to dig my very own hole, Brian came and finished it off in a second. I did all the dirty work. Also, when a 13-yr-old digs a hole in roughly 20 seconds, look the other way and pretend you didn't see.
Did I mention that it's hard to use an auger? It takes a really long time and lots of strength.
Okay, maybe just for me, but.... I can say without a doubt that it took 100 times longer to dig the holes than Xiana spent with her fishing line in one. In fact, it's a good thing that I took a picture as soon as her line hit the water, otherwise we would not have had one.
Even more miraculous is the fact that I got a picture with both Ekco's and Xiana's lines in the water.
This is where the sleeping part comes in.
Just kidding!
Actually, maybe I wasn't... he denies it, but he really was asleep here.
This is what the kids spent the majority of the day doing: playing on the ice. They also managed to use their snow pants as sleds to slide down the banks of the lake.
Believe it or not, ice fishing was fun! Mostly I played with the kids on the ice. I think everybody around us hated us because we didn't have proper quiet fishing mode on. But, in the end it didn't matter because when the game wardens showed up we were the only ones left on the lake.
The best part was that I got a chance to catch up on some reading and Brian got to catch up with one of his old buddies. All in all it was a really great day.

Our new home

Okay not really, but when we were out in the hills in Battle Mountain we were joking about the old remains of foundations and trailers being our new home. Xiana asked, "this our home mommy?" We found a fridge and 3 beds and convinced the girls that we were all set. We had a fabulous time exploring and the weather was beautiful (even if I did request that we head back to Reno early to beat the storm).
There were two buildings too which makes us rich homeowners. I love being in the mountains and it was really nice for the girls to get to run around and check stuff out.
We were posing on the threshold of our house.

And apparently we also inherited a tractor... we are so fortunate!

Of course now we have to get homeowners insurance to compensate for our loss after the tractor ate my soon-to-be-husband.
The girls traipsed around the foundations discovering a world of treasures along the way. Ekco was even able to point out a few animal tracks and accurately ascribe them.
The old Winnebago was a bit much but.... still neat!
There were several mining shafts and it was really interesting to pick Brian's brain about what everything was, how it was used, what the mines do now (he used to work in a mine).

Brian and his girls.... I hope he gets a boy some day :)
Sack of potatoes!
There is something so dramatic about old buildings. They evoke such a feeling of what was. To think that at one time, this was a running, working mine. Who knows the kinds of experiences that happened right here. So much life for a now lifeless building.
More exploring. The hole in the wall looks like the play boy bunny (Brian pointed this out), but he's right!
Brian found some gold specks in the mountains and helped me and the girls see them.
We also found a cave and ventured inside.


And of course, because we were in the mountains, Xiana got to drive. A trip in the mountains wouldn't be complete without it. She always tells me how she and Brian drive in the mountains and mommy drives on the streets.
They really are beautiful. I tried to take several shots to do a panorama. I think I will be able to put them together after I print them. I love how the lines of snow act as both shading and outline for all the ridges. It makes the mountains breathtaking.
This is Brian's favorite mountain in Nevada... I can see why!
I had to get a picture of Xiana and I in our matching camo (Christmas gifts from Brian).
And I also insisted on our regular Sunday picture in front of the tree. Every time we have gone to church in Battle Mountain I have insisted on a pic in front of this tree. We are getting quite the stock.

Friends

Xiana, like her mother, needs friends. She is not a content-to-sit-around by herself type of a girl. And that works for us because neither am I. We have been fortunate enough to be involved with several play groups and she is the lucky recipient of a whole bunch of cousins. My cousin comes through Sparks pretty regularly and she loves to play with his kids.
This week we went to Coconut bowl and she got to run around with all of her friends in the jungle gym.
Even when she was a tiny baby, she was always more calm when we had company. It's strange that she could be hard-wired that way.
She has mastered the slide and can slow herself down at the bottom as well as climb up to the top all by herself. These slides are not to be taken lightly either... they're fast!
Xiana is a sweet girl who has embraced the terrible two's. I often wonder what on earth happened to my sweet, obedient child. Then I catch glimpses of her in the early morning and in the evening before bed and I am reminded that she is still there beneath the sassy defiance. I have to regularly reassure myself that this phase will not last forever. Still, in her defense, the world is suddenly changing around her and she is trying to make sense of it all. I have been explaining to her that Brian will be her daddy and she refers to him as such about half the time. Last week when it was only about 10% of the time, we met with a photographer and she announced, "Brian my daddy." So she definitely gets it. We spent the weekend in Battle Mountain with Brian's daughter Ekco (post coming soon) and this week our conversation went like this: Xiana: Where Ekco?
Me: Where is she?
X: At her mommy house
M: that's right
X: Where Kylee? (her new cousin)
M: Where is she?
X: At her mommy house
M: That's right.
X: Where Xiana?
M: Where is Xiana?
X: ummm, at her mommy house! And where daddy?
M: at work
X: no! daddy at Kevin house (Brian's brother who just moved in with him)
Like I said, there are a lot of changes taking place and she is trying to make sense of them all. I then tried to explain to her that she was going to live with her mommy and daddy in a few months after we get married. She definitely does not believe me yet. Still, every night when we leave Brian's she cries that she wants to stay at his house so that is certainly a step in the right direction. There are so many confusions in her life that I never dreamed of when I was a kid. Nevertheless, I am not rushing headlong to her defense because part of the attitude is just plain toddler years.
She continues to be very sharp and picks up on everything.

• The other day I was in the mirror and she came to me and asked, "you picking zits mom?"

• At a sporting goods store in town there is a statue of Abraham Lincoln. A long time ago I told her that grandpa really liked him. Last time we went she asked, "who that guy mommy?" "that is Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the country" "oh, and grandpa like him!"

• I regularly say, "shut your mouth" as in, "no way!" and on her phone I overheard her say, "shut you mouth Alicia!" I need to be more careful.

• She also, mimicking Brian said, "you don't tell me."

• Yesterday when we were driving to Brian's house she said, "sun in my eyes mommy, move it" I told her that I couldn't move the sun silly and then she ducked her head down exclaiming, "I did it! I move the sun!"

• On our way back from Battle Mountain I broke the DVD player and I was super annoyed. She reassured me, "mommy let me fix it" after I told her it could not be fixed.

Sledding take 2

We went sledding at our original spot, but this time it was treacherous. The day started with us sledding down the first hill to get to the slope. Last time it was a nice little ride (we were the first ones there) that helped alleviate some of the carrying and walking. This time, it was a little intimidating as it had been packed down and some people were opting to just sled there instead of walking to the slope. I tried to determine which side would be safest and after watching Brian lose Ella, barely holding her by her ankles while her head dragged on the ground, I opted to follow Kevin's path on the other side. Unfortunately, I couldn't see that there were giant wooden posts sticking out of the ground on the other side. So, I put Xiana on my lap and we slid down the hill. Just as we were going over the second hump I looked up in time to hear someone yell, "watch out" and see Brian running at top speed towards us. Honestly, it happened so fast I didn't even have the foresight to try to stop us. Just before slamming into the posts, Brian threw his whole body weight in front of us and stopped us like a tank *thud* That was the first of several painful experiences for Brian. A lady passing by exclaimed, "oh my gosh he saved you," and several people cheered. He really did save us. We would have been in a world of hurt had he not stopped us... instead he was in a world of hurt.
The kids would have been content to just sit in the truck and eat snow all day.
We got to the actual sledding runs and life didn't get much better. Because of the multitude of peeps sledding down the slopes, it was icy and frightening. Some lame snow boarders decided that the sledding hill would be a great spot to build a giant jump... not a good idea. When we got to the top we all looked down in dismay, nobody venturing to go first. Until... of course Brian hopped on for a trial run. He said he would be the Guinea pig... after all, he has insurance (I think this is somewhat faulty logic, but whatever). He went down and hit the first jump *boom* flew into the air but managed to hold on to his tube for a few seconds until *wham* he nailed the second and more significant jump. All I could see was body parts, glasses, hat, and tube flying up in the air in a discombobulated heap. It took a moment to identify limbs from rope and I thought he would certainly step on his glasses buried in the snow behind him. He must have flown 10 feet in the air. He said he could hear everybody groaning and laughing except me... he could hear me screaming. I told him that just shows who loves him most :) Without passing go or collecting 200 dollars he immediately began kicking down the jump. Somebody was seriously going to get killed on that thing. Meanwhile, I took Xiana down to the other side and sledded down a very tame hill. It wasn't nearly as much fun as the big slope; however, we did make it out alive and injury-free. After Brian broke down the jump, I went down by myself several times and it was thrilling. Still, with Xiana on my lap I never ventured to the very top, instead opting to walk part way down and then start at a manageable spot. We did have a good time, but it was precarious at best. Mark took his kids down several runs and mastered the ability to hold them tight. He and Brian raced each other a few times resulting in duo-wipe outs.
My friend Deborah flew in from Vegas that day. It was great to talk on the way up and drink hot chocolate on the way down.
While being dragged back to the car, Xiana fell asleep... just like this. I guess you can't argue with nap time.