Christmas Celebration (Third and Final)

Joy wearing the vest I had gotten her. The theme this Christmas at our house.....staying warm.
Joy bought me a bipod for my hunting rifle and it wasn't until after we had loaded the pictures onto the computer that we found the humor in this picture...
The way in which I had positioned the gun, it really appears as though I am waiting for Santa to come down the chimney. For any of you that didn't get what you had wanted for Christmas this year, I promise you it isn't because I held up Santa.
I had gotten a creme brulee set from Mom and Dad (during celebration #1) and we decided to try our hand at making it on Christmas day. For our first go around, I thought they looked awesome. The only downfall to the kit that I have found so far is that I have become semi-obsessed with torching every meal that Joy and I eat. If Joy wants some cheese on her potato, I'll pull out the torch and melt it for her. Personally I think that's just thoughtful.

By this time, you are probably thinking to yourself, are they serious, another Christmas celebration? To answer this question, yes this was our third celebration, but this is the third and final.

On Christmas day, Joy and I had our own Christmas and just had an awesome day of doing nothing but hanging out, cooking, more importantly eating, and watching movies. It seems that I have been doing a lot of the third (eating) over the past few weeks but with the pep talk from Peyton Manning (see the post below), no worries because I just bought myself a few bigger shirts.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and are looking forward to the new year.

Christmas Celebration (#2)

They all look really sweet and cute in this picture, but if you turn your back to any of them (especially Joy) don't be surprised to get a snowball to the back of the head.
It's hard to tell in the picture, but with some of the gifts we had given to the boys, I built this deluxe garage for Ethan's yellow ATV. I hate to toot my own horn, but there was definitely some craftsmanship to it.

After the last few weeks of storms and sporadic weather, the snowman that Joy and I had built was looking ruff. So all of us worked to give him a slight makeover. Pay special attention to the sideview posted next.
Yes, the snowman does have a mohawk and yes, it's awesome. Right now, the snowman stands about five feet from our front door, so I guess you could call him our own presonal doorman.
Now that's high living, when you have your own bouncer by the door.

This past weekend, Jim, Becky, and the boys came up for a visit and we were able to have a Christmas celebration with them. The weekend was filled with snowball fights, sledding, and everything else you can do with snow. It was an excellent few days and it was so nice to see the boys passion and excitement for the snow. By weekend's end, Ethan was trying to tell Becky that he could stay at our house and Santa could simply drop off his presents and Matthew's only concern was that Joy and I would set carrots out for Santa's reindeer.

Afternoon of Sledding

Ethan wasn't a huge fan of sledding last year, but absolutely loved it this year.
Matthew was decked out in his Spiderman gear for the afternoon.
For only being two, I feel that Ethan mastered the (little) snow angel that day.

While Jim, Becky, and the boys were up, we went out to Wing Mtn., which is an area about 10 minutes outside of Flagstaff that is solely dedicated to sledding and "snow fun." In retrospect, I'm not sure how fun the bruises on Joy's butt are, but we had a great time. Here are a few pictures from that afternoon.

Stressed About The Holiday Weight....

Here's a priceless peptalk from Peyton Manning...

Zukowski Christmas

Being that Joy is new at the hospital up here in Flagstaff, getting time off around the holidays is difficult to say the least. So, this weekend we went down to Green Valley to celebrate Christmas with the family. It was a fantastic, with the exception that Mom and Dad always go overboard with the cooking and now I feel like I don't need to eat until the new year. You can't beat holiday cooking.

I was hoping to post pictures of our "Christmas night," but to be completely honest, we were all laughing so hard in most of the pictures, some of us (I won't say any names) would probably object to their upload on the blog. Nonetheless, everyone is doing great in Green Valley and only complaining about their cold (65 degree) weather occasionally.

Snow in Southern Arizona

Our nephews were pretty disappointed that they weren't able to come up to Flagstaff and play in our first snow last weekend. The whole concept of a five hour drive doesn't factor into their side of thinking, as they occasionally make threats that they will walk up to our house. To save their little feet from all that walking, we packed the truck up with snow (or atleast topped it off from the storm last weekend) and brought the snow to them. They were alittle surprised to say the least and we all had a good time throwing snow balls in 65 degrees of warmth that Joy and I haven't had for a couple of months.

Wild Nephews

I thought this picture of our nephews was hilarious.

Joy's Birthday

This past Tuesday, Joy turned 24 and for her birthday, I gave her the gift of snow and lots of it. I'm kidding...I gave her a snowboard to go along with the one she got me for my birthday last year. It worked out to be perfect timing as the ski resort (which is only 15-20 minutes away) opens today and we are both itching to get out there. Even if we aren't very good, we'll look good and more importantly, we'll look like we know what we're doing and that's half the battle.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow (Alot)

The bed of my truck is located somewhere under all of that snow The candy canes that we lined along our walkway almost disappeared

It has been some time since Joy and I can remember seeing snow like this. Over the past weekend, we got around 2 feet (yes, that's 24 inches) of snow at our place. Along with the snow, we have had some nice and cool temperatures, but the snow is so beautiful that it makes it all worth it. I personally had several firsts in my life....I bought my first snow shovel, I shoveled my first driveway and then did it four more time just over the weekend, and finished my first semester of grad school. I debated about which event I was most happy about and I have it narrowed between finishing school for the semester and my snow shovel purchase. It's still a toss up...

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas

Although we are not pulling our snowboards out quite yet, we got plenty of white stuff today. It is suppose to continue through the weekend, but as of right now we have about three inches at the house. While it is on the cold side, we are loving the snow and had a snowball fight this afternoon. Looking forward to a white Christmas for the first time in a long while.

Pizza Night

In case this whole physical therapy gig doesn't pan out, I thought I should explore the option of pizza making. Sunny, Jacob, Joy, and I thought we should give it a whirl (no pun intended). We may look like amateurs, but I think we might have found a new calling.

A Scene From Buddy the Elf

I thought with Christmas being only a few weeks away, I would post a short movie clip (which served as the inspiration of our Halloween costumes) to spread some Christmas cheer. For those of you that are technologically challenged, just click on the picture.

First Snow in Flagstaff

Well we are one day into December and we have gotten our first snow, put up our Christmas tree, and have all the presents wrapped. Knowing how good I have been this year I am sure there will be a few more under the tree with my name on them, but I will wait and see.

Joy and Ethan

Preparing for Next Season's Elk Hunt

Counting down the days until elk season, we all went out shooting and while we were out there we decided to make a trade. Joseph for Matthew. Yeah, Matthew is only four years old and is shooting a squirt gun, but all in all we think he has a better chance of getting a big one.

Birthday Celebration

Living five hours north of all family, we had an early birthday celebration for Joy when we were down for Thanksgiving.

No the picture isn't fuzzy, 24 candles put off a decent amount of smoke.

What a view...

Yes, Joy is gorgeous even after three hours of hiking Humphrey's Peak this past Saturday, but I was talking about the view. We went on an incredible hike with friends (see the other pic below) and the view was breath taking.

Taking a Break

I don't care who you are, elevation will get the best of you sooner or later!

This past saturday, Joy and I along with our good friends Jacob and Sunny hiked Humphrey's Peak, which is the highest peak in AZ. Jacob and I are in grad school together (in other words, we are both free loading off of our sugar mamas) and Sunny works with Joy in Radiology Dept. at the hospital. You couldn't have asked for a better day. The weather was perfect and we had an awesome time.

Who carved which pumpkin?

Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkin carving was quite a contest between the two of us. Joy went with the classic funny face on her's and although I debated whether I should do a classic carving portrait of Rex Grossman, I decided to go with the traditional C. I could have gone slightly more elaborate, but I didn't want to show off.

Joy says, with the way the Bears are playing this year, the pumpkin face sums it all up.