I'm Back {even though I wasn't really gone}

Ahhhh.  Feels good to be back to deal-finding.  Thanks for your patience... and Happy New Year!

So where and why have I been missing, you ask?

Mr. Good Deal Gal had almost TWO weeks off of work (unheard of) so I knew we had to make the most of this family time!  Considering he will be traveling for about two weeks in January, we made sure to really get a lot done.

We started the Holiday by doing daily devotions from our Jesse Tree Advent book and making ornaments to go with each day's Bible devotion/story.  This was a treasured activity that was really meaningful -- it will definitely be a yearly tradition!

Although I didn't get our Christmas cards done in time (slacker, I know), I was able to get some really neat New Year's cards from Shutterfly for free!

We celebrated Christmas Eve at church then over at my in-laws for a wonderful dinner and family time.  My Dad stayed the night for a couple of nights, even though he lives 20 min. away, and we LOVED having him here!  On Christmas morning, we had a yummy breakfast casserole and a traditional German Stollen bread (purchased at World Market) and a great morning opening gifts, singing praises and talking to Oma & Opa on Skype.  My mom & step-dad came over mid-day to celebrate some more, and we wrapped up the evening with a great dinner and birthday cake for Jesus.

We cleaned out the playroom to accommodate the HUGE dollhouse Pa & Nana got for Miss E. {She loves it!} Made donation bags and played with all the other fun stuff, including my new WaterPik and food processor.  {My wish list is always very practical... and, by the way, can you believe that I've never owned a food processor until now??}

We attended end-of-the-year appointments *boring*, watched some friends' cute-as-can-be-but-chews-everything-doggie, cleaned out my stockpile, got our Go-Bags ready (in case of an emergency), got the oil changed (4,000 miles past due *whoops*) and van tuned-up, and  hung out with some fabulous friends! 

Just before the New Year we took a field trip with our dear friends down to Benson, AZ to see the Kartchner Caverns!  A-MAZ-ING!  Words simply cannot describe how breathtaking and awe-inspiring it is to be inside of this LIVE cave, a beautiful creation for sure!  My 5 year-old said, "We're INSIDE a mountain.  We're IN the Earth.... cool."  Absolutely.

And, just so God could prove He can do anything --we had snow here in Cave Creek!  In Arizona.... about 5 minutes of snow, but it was worth hearing the excited squeals from my little munchkin. :)  It's definitely time for a snow trip up north!

We rung in the New Year by devoting New Year's Eve day to my daughter doing fun things and the evening was spent (off-the-roads) watching movies, playing games and having great food with my Dad.  It was perfect!

And, here we are.... a whole new year later.

P.S.  Look for new deals on Monday!