{Jingle Bell Pop}

Happy holidays, all! I hope you're having a season filled with festivity, tradition, family,

and memory makers. I wanted to take a minute to thank all the people in our lives

for their friendship and love in the last year. You make our world a better place by being

in it! All of us over here at Link Adventure wish you a very Merry Christmas ...

It's been a weird holiday season for us this year. The cherry on top came yesterday when I

finally had to concede and admit I am really sick. I was in bed all day yesterday, getting up

only occasionally for fluids, medicine or snacks. I managed to have some face time with my

brother (thanks to Apple) and drag my sick soul into the shower and get ready by 11AM

today. Not breaking any records!

But in keeping with the holiday streak I'm on this year of blogging myself in or with silly

seasonal accessories -- I snapped a photo with my $1 reindeer headband today. :)

Merry Christmas!

I'm determined to get well, and I have a stock pile of medicine to help me do it.

And, of course, the best medicine of all -- puppy love!

So, please have a safe and happy holiday! Enjoy each other and the season in good health

and boundless joy. Cheers!

{Happy Holidays}

We just wanted to take a minute to wish everyone a very merry Christmas. We hope

wherever you are, you are able to take time to enjoy the people that are important to

you -- celebrating with traditions and fun that will make your holiday memorable. Good

health and cheer to all!

Samara and David Link

Killian, Norah and Oliver, too!

{Family Pictures}

Family photos!

I was excited to get Team Link together for a picture for our holiday cards. We got a few nice shots thanks to Barb and Jason. The dogs were crazy excited and were sure we were there to

go for a hike ...

I still feel badly that we didn't include Oliver. There was just no way to bring him with us.

It would have been torture for him.

Anyway, I was proud of these. It felt like we were taking a minute to celebrate us by documenting our little family in a photo at the end of an entire decade together.

I hope you all had a happy holiday season. Wishes to an awesome 2010!

{It's Official}

She rocks.

I already mentioned Sandy came here to stay with the babies

while we were on vacay. Well, she was so amazing and beyond!

Everyday, she took the dogs for a morning walk and swim.

There was evening playtime, too. She bought them toys,

snuggled with them and generally spoiled them. They were

so happy!

Then, she proceeded to spoil us. She picked up, did some

laundry, got some groceries, cooked, baked. We didn't want

her to leave!!

We only had a little time with her -- a day and a half before

and a day after, basically. But we made the most of it. When

D and I got back, I spent that Tuesday with her. We walked,

swam, and then went to see Julie & Julia. Good times.

Afterward, we squeezed in a little stitching time...

And then as if she hadn't already done enough for us, she made

a lovely dinner on her last night in town. You see, she had made

meatballs for David while we were gone, and then she put them

in the freezer. So, she cooked those up with pasta and sauce,

and she made a wonderful salad to go with it. Then, she had

everything to make a vegetarian dish for me, but I saved that

for later and ate the pasta without meatballs. I just thought

that was really nice of her to think of. :)

Finally, Sandy wanted a couple pictures of us to take with her

on her camera. Worked for me! We don't have very many.

So, I was glad to get these copies.

Thanks for everything, mom!

Having you here was so nice, and having you take care of

the babies was amazing. We didn't worry about them one

time when we were gone because we knew they were in

very good and totally loving hands.

Until next time...

{Today}

(David, Killian, Me, and Norah -- a few weeks ago.)

Today I'm thinking about --

my plan for the day

priorities

managing my time

positive energy

living in the moment

taking good care of myself

loving the people I love

working toward my goals

having fun

smiling

breathing

thinking before I talk

making today count

I'm Back!

There's been a lot on the docket lately,
and I've been a bad blogger.
Way behind.
It's almost too much to catch up on appropriately.
So, I've made the executive decision
to dole out a few highlights
and move on to the present day.
Afterall, old news makes you snooze! :)

Here's a super-quick, in-snippets-recap. . .

-- Finished up the semester -- pretty pleased with my grades.
(Another one down! One full year to go.)

-- Dog sat Tate for two weeks. Didn't want her to go home!
(Norah L-O-V-E-S Miss Tater.)

Here she is, in all of her dachshund cuteness.

-- Finished getting ready for Christmas.
(Shopping for D, wrapping, grocery shopping, cooking, etc.)

-- Did the holiday thing at home - just us.
(Seemed very quiet this year.)

Snuggling with Tate and Kills on Christmas Eve night.
They wanted to go to sleep early so Santa would come!


How cute is this? Snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug!
Seeing them together, especially when they're standing up
is a sight -- They're close to the same color, but Killian literally
weighs 90, yes ninety, pounds more than Tate. Hilarious.


Here's Norah in her Christmas morning outfit!
Anne Hector (Jen Truman's mom) made Killian
awholebuncha these last year. K takes them right off,
but Norah will hang around in them. So cute!


And just a cute one of my boy. He's a little out of focus,
but I liked the perspective. Having our babies (and Tate)
made the Christmas weekend.

-- My 30th - Kind of a strange birthday this year.
(All the calls from my favorite people absolutely made the day!)
Didn't do much. Shopped a bit (Banana Republic sale!)
and had lunch and dinner with David.
For me this year, it was less about celebration
and more about taking some time to reflect.
Perhaps a bit cliche sounding for a milestone birthday,
but that's just where I was. I've learned
I'm way better off when I embrace the feeling.
It keeps me honest.
Sometimes you just have to slow down
and let yourself feel it.
I've been doing a lot of thinking lately.

-- And then we all jumped into 2008!
NYE Day, I went to lunch with Lindsay and Jenn.
Then Jenn and I caught a movie (The Golden Compass).
The Morenos came over for NYE.
D made dinner, and we all played the Wii that
Linds and Michael brought over. SO FUN.
BTW, I kick total ass at boxing on the Wii.
Real live boxing, on TV with sweaty boys -- not for me.
But Boxing on the Wii -- AWESOME!!
Playing that game was the most fun I'd had in weeks.
Totally needed the hysterical laughing it provided!
I now see what all the buzz is about.


David, swing batter!


Michael and me, watching the show.


Me, the boxing champion! : )


I guess I had some aggression to take out --
My opponent didn't stand a CHANCE!


I AM VIC-TOR-I-OUS!!!

Alright, enough horsin' around.
It's time for the countdown . . .

The Morenos with less than four minutes to go 'til midnight!


The Links in the final seconds of 2007.


CHEERS EVERYONE!
We hope you have a wonderful 2008!

-- I kicked off the new year by going to the Titanic Exhibit at
the Phoenix Science Center. (One of my goals this year is
to make an effort to go to more shows, performances, exhibits,
and galleries.) It was pretty impressive. (Unfortunately, no
pictures allowed.) If you ever have a chance to go, jump on it!

That's it for now.
I hope all is well with all of you!