Vacation Time Is My Favorite Time!

While most people were headed to the beach for Spring Break, Brandon and I were headed to the snowy slopes of Utah! Trendsic (the company I work for) gave us this awesome opportunity! (They paid for everything!) We flew out to Utah Thursday night and arrived in Salt Lake at 11:30pm. The rental house was an hour away in Heber City. You have no idea what it took to get out their alive! Thanks to Brandon's awesome driving skills, we made it in one piece. :) As you can see, we were super tired by the time we got in! Everyone was asleep except for Jelani (of course).

It was a sweet house. Here's the view from the back porch.

Friday morning, Jamie, Holly, Joe, and I took turns helping Kaliey and Allison build snowman. It turned out really cute! As you can see, it has Reese's eyes, a Cheeto nose, a Twizzler mouth and pig tails, of course! :)

Later that evening we went snow tubing. :) Brandon, Jelani, Jillian, Zack, Josh, and I had races and of course the girls won every time, although Brandon denies it. :) This pic is after we were done.

On Saturday, we all headed to Park City for skiing and snow boarding. Skiers included: Joel, Holly, Jared, Joe, Jamie, and Josh. The snowboarders were Brandon, Jelani, Zack, Jillian, and I.

Joel, Jared, Zack, Brandon, Jelani, and I went half way up the mountain to go down the "Home Run" slope.

Brandon in all his glory :) He did pretty awesome with it, especially because it was his 1st time and he didn't have lessons. He did have one really bad fall, but luckily he was ok. We went and got some hot chocolate.

Joel and Jared were extremely good at skiing. They didn't realize they'd have to wait on all us snowboarders every 5 mins :)

This is my brother Jared, who lives in UT. We were really glad he and his family could come hang out with us the whole trip!

It was Jelani's 1st time snowboarding and he turned out to be really good at it. Of course, he had his fair share of falls and actually went off the side of the mountain one time, but he did awesome.
We have lots of fun. Check out Keri, Holly, or Jamie's blog for more pics!

McTingle Farm Update

I figured it would be a good time to update everyone on how all our lil' critters are doing since "Winter 'O Death" is pretty much gone. :) Yay! Everything is starting to get really green and pretty again.

Sweet Pea is doing great! She is absolutely loving the nice green grass that's been growing. Pretty soon we'll be getting her a "play mate" so that she doesn't have to be alone. It's going to be a boy so we might have some babies in the future!!!
The chickens are having fun. Brandon has been letting them out lately and they are lovin' it! It's pretty cute how they stick together, and when they've had enough, they just mosey on back to their pen. :) We've had an unfortunate set of events which has left us with only 2 hens and our rooster. We've got 4 more on the way though.
All the pups are doing good too. Max is getting really big! He has really turned out to be a great dog! He's got a great temperament and listens very, very well.
Brandon's really been trying to work with Snow. He's got some "issues." His last owner didn't do such a great job raising him so we're trying to teach him a few things. He seems to be getting better... slowly, but surely.
And Coda, Lauren's dog, is doing great too! He listens really well also. He and Max get along really well!
And of course, Toola is lovin' life. He's got 2 little kitties to pick on and chase, so he's happy as can be. You can tell by the pic below that he waches their every move! However the little sucker has been getting into the trash lately... like knocks the whole thing over and digs through it... If anyone has any suggestions on how to "cure" him of this bad habit, please let me know!
The kittens are wonderful. They're growing, but not too much! :) (I wish they could stay little forever.) Anyway, they have their own cute personalities. Clyde is the "social butterfly." He loves to be loved on. But he can be a turkey sometimes. If he wants my attention or is feelin' kinda crazy, he will literally climb up my leg! And it hurts! He always catches me off guard too... Bonnie on the other hand, isn't quite as social. Every now and then she'll come love on us, but not as often as Clyde. Brandon is their favorite. Anytime he's on the couch, they'll both go take naps next to/on him. Quite precious. :)

This is a pic of Kailey and Clyde. She told me later that they were "best friends!" :)
Oh, and I almost forgot! Brandon made a new home for our quail! He built it so they could be on the ground rather that having to walk on chicken wire... and its a lot bigger too. They've been making all kinds of "happy sounds" since we moved them.

We've even gotten a few eggs!

Well, that about sums it up for the McTingle Farm. You're welcome to come visit us anytime!

Enrichment!

We made Spring wreaths at Enrichment tonight. Here's my finished product.... the lighting isn't very good.

Bonnie & Clyde

We have new baby kittens! Brandon found them out a job site in Lafayette while he was working. They stumbled upon the poor things behind a dumpster. Brandon said there were quite a few back there but all except 2 ran off. Of course, when Brandon told me about them, I couldn’t say no. The poor things would’ve died! So I told him to bring ‘em home. I know. We’re pretty much a rescue center for animals… but that’s ok. We love them all!

Bonnie

Clyde

Look how little!!!

Just call him Evel Knievel!

Is that my hunny or Evel Knievel? Yes, Brandon is ramping the burn pile! And notice, only his hands are attached to the 4-wheeler... Gotta love 'em!

Valentine's Day

We woke up at about 9am, exchanged gifts, threw on some clothes, and headed to a cute little cafe called "The Coffee Shop" located in the "Cajun Village." It is surrounded by multiple old timey shops. It's a really cute area and definitely recommend it to everyone. Anyway, here's a pic of the inside of the cafe.

Brandon and I love their beignets, so I got the beignet fingers and he got the regular ones.

There's also a little path you can walk down where they have 2 alligators named "Nubbie" and "Big Guy." As we were walking up, a 2 year old little boy immediated shushed us as he turned and pointed to a big alligator only a few feet away. It was cute. We determined that that one had to be "Nubbie" because we walked a little farther and saw an even bigger one. Fun, fun. It was pretty muddy back where we were so Brandon picked me up and carried me through it all. He's so sweet!
The rain had ruined our plans for the day (swamp tour and picnic at the LSU lakes) so after feeding all our little farm animals, we went to the movies and had lunch at Texas Roadhouse. It was all really good. I love being able to have a relaxing day of simplicity with Brandon. It's the best.

Next we headed out to a multi-stake youth dance. Yeeeaaahhh baby! :) I don't remember the dances lasting that long when I was in the youth program...but we had fun. Brandon and I made a bet that one of us (if not both) would get asked to dance because we look so young. Well guess what! I got asked to dance! Lol. I was even standing in a group with 3 other adults! Well, the guy who asked me was actually a person I knew as a little boy while I lived in Lake Charles! Of course he didn't remember me, but I remembered him. I quickly informed him that we once went to the same ward and that I was friends with his older sister. Of course the other chaperones from Gonzales (even the Bishop's wife) picked at me the rest of the night. :) My favorite part of the whole day though, was getting to dance with Brandon (several times). It's not often that we get to, so I definitely love it when we do!

Although it rained and ruined my outdoorsy plan, I had an amazing day hanging out with my best friend! I love you, sweet.......heart ;)

Beatboxing

This is incredible! Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au2yrUb6rxI