All because two people are still in love

We had such a good time visiting family over the holidays that we forgot to send out Christmas cards. Every year I promise myself that I'll do a better job of being more prepared for Christmas. Next year I'll get it right.
We had so much fun celebrating Thanksgiving with my family in California that we left our camera there. I'm thinking it might be a good thing because it could be an excuse to get a new one;)
We spent Christmas with Dan's family and really enjoyed it. We were also able to see Garreth and Jessi which is wonderful because we miss them so. Jessi received a fancy camera from Santa (Garreth) and took these amazing pics. I think she's going to be our family photographer from now on.

SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2010
The most important event of this year was the birth of our only son...Kyle Combs. We all adore the little guy and dote on his every smile. He has such a delightful personality and we're so grateful for him.
Our little Sharon is so lovely...she reminds us every day that she may be little but dynamite comes in small packages. She makes us laugh all the time. She started preschool this year and loves it. She is slightly accident prone and in the summer she broke her left arm. She was so brave throughout the whole ordeal. Her favorite things to do are play with barbies and do dress-up with her sister.
Katie is seriously an angel (most of the time). She had some important firsts this year! She started 1st grade which is a big deal because it's almost 7 hours long. She also lost her first tooth and 3 after that. She loves listening to music, playing the wii, playing dress-up with her sister and gymnastics. She is a fantastic reader too!
Dan and I are happy! A big life change happened for us this year when he received a promotion to Missoula Montana. It's kind of funny how life works out. In the summer of this year he applied for a management position in the Missoula Social Security Office. Before the application we hadn't even heard of the place. Anyway we both prayed about it and felt really good. He got the job and here we are. Montana is cold (sooo cold) but we like it. The people are so warm and friendly. Moving has definitely brought it's challenges but we feel so blessed to be here. We have already made good friends and spend more time together as a couple.

We would like all of you to know how grateful we are for your love and friendship. May your 2011 be blessed with happiness and success.

Love the Combs.

So most moms would say it's a nightmare trying to get all the kids (including your hubby) ready for a photo shoot. Then you get there and the kids are already grouchy and you wonder how you're going to get any good photos in the next hour.
But then you come home with these and it makes it ALL so worth it!
My favorite people!

So I've come to realize it's pretty gloomy around Missoula this time of year.
I was walking around Cosco the other day and found an odd looking lamp called a HAPPY LIGHT. It replicates the sun's light. At the time I thought what a strange idea however after a week of solid cloud cover I'm starting to think I need a HAPPY LIGHT.
Actually I have plenty of sources of happiness around me so I should be okay...right...what do you think?!?
Short disclaimer: We know Kyle is a boy but he does have two older sisters that love to play dress-up with him.

Some Halloween Highlights:
CANDY CANDY CANDY!
Hiking the "M" (almost as good as hiking the good 'ol "Y")
Katie winning the most beautiful costume award at the ward Halloween party. It was so cute, she felt so special;)

Don't tell anyone but honestly I think we might love it here in MISSOULA MONTANA (maybe;).

So I have a "blond moment" at least once a day and this was a bad one! The girls were so excited to carve pumpkins last night so we had family home evening and then got stuck in. I even decided to help-out. Me and Dan had fun carving out the patterns that they chose. Sharon chose a spider with a difficulty level of 4/4. I decided to take it on and it turned out perfect. Sharon said "mommy you did so good on my spider!" The sweetness made it all worth it.
Then Katie chose a pirate that had a 2/4 difficulty level! Dan took it on and was doing a near perfect job until I decided to "help him." It seemed like he was struggling to get a part out so I pushed it for him and it turned out it was one of the skeleton's eyes. Dan never gets angry (really) he is my perfect match when it comes to calming me down. Well he was pretty bummed (I can't say I blame him).
Katie turned to us and said "it's okay guys that's how I wanted it to look anyway!"

PS "pictures of the lit-up one-eyed skeleton and spider pumpkins are soon to come."

Anyone who knows me knows I'm not much of a material girl BUT let me just say that I could get used to this. We're fortunate to be renting this beautiful home for six months.
It's stunning! Every part of it is an upgrade but my favorite part is the huge windows throughout the house. The view is breathtaking and we have deer that roam the garden until the girls see them and frighten them away.
We're still adjusting to the big change of being in a totally new place but at least we have this haven to come home to everyday.
Funny story:
We went to Costco today and the cashier was friendly to the girls and said "how are you doing today princesses." Katie said "we're great we're living in a mansion!"
So we all laughed. I told him that it's not really a mansion but to us it feels like it. I also said I wish we owned the home but we're just renting. He laughed and said "well princesses like these need a castle to live in anyways."