The Messiah

This is also belated, but Becca and I participated in our Stake Choir's performance of G. F. Handel's Messiah on Sunday the 14th. We practiced every Sunday for two hours for two months plus one 8am-on-a-Saturday practice. We worked really hard and I'm so glad we stuck it out because all of that practice was totally worth it in the end. The music was beautiful and the Spirit was so strong. This is a cell phone picture so it isn't the greatest quality. I look like an Amazon, but that is just because I'm am on a step above Becca.

Christmas Candy

This post is a little belated, but here are Becca and I playing Confectioners. We spent all afternoon on Saturday the 13th making all kinds of candies for Christmas.


We made Chocolate Walnut Toffee, Caramel,
Almond Joy's, Hot Chocolate Peppermint stirring spoons,

Turtles,

And Oreo Truffles! YUM!!!

Not only did the look amazing, they tasted GREAT! (Yes, we may have sampled all of them!) We had tons of fun and made a huge mess!

Christmas Decorations

I love Christmas Decorations! I decorated the tree, hung the wreath, and have set out the nativity scenes (all four of them, I asked for one last year for christmas, and now I have four! But, I love them all so I won't complain. Khyl helped me put the lights on our porch and now I just have to figure out how to get Timber to stay away from the plastic Pointsettias on my tree (she doesn't touch any of the othe decorations, but she can't leave these alone)! So it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around our house!

Happy Birthday Timber!!

December 1st was Timber's 1st birthday! We took her to PetSmart (they sent us a coupon) and helped her pick out some presents for her birthday. When we got home, I tied a birthday hat on her head which she didn't mind in light of her new toys and sang "Happy Birthday to her while she ignored us. We got her three squeaky toys, a plastic doughnut, a stuffed goose that squeeks, and a GINORMOUS rawhide bone. I have never seen her concentrate so hard as when she chews on that bone! So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIMBER!

Golden and Lorena

This is Golden and Lorena, Khyl's cousins that came up from San Jose for Thanksgiving. So, of course, while they were here we had to give them the tour of Tahoe. It was a beautiful day!

I am just putting this picture here because I am proud that I took such a great picture!

We hiked down to the water and Golden decided he needed to get out to the big rock shown above. Needless to say, this was no easy task as it would have included about a ten foot jump. So, Khyl and Golden spent the next fourty-five minutes lugging chunks of granite and heaving them into the water to make another stepping stone.

While the boys were out throwing rocks, Lorena and I found a little cave, and crawled inside for a photo op.

So Khyl and Golden finally made it to their goal, but left out one tiny detail: how to get back. I bet you can guess though, in case you can't here is a hint:

Don't forget, the sun may be shining, and the water may look nice, but don't be decieved. It is freezing!

So, Golden's clothes were soaked. And here is the result. We hung his pants out the window of the car as we drove so they would dry.

Needless to say, I made Khyl take of his shoes and wade back rather than trying to jump too.

***WARNING***

The following paragraph is SAD. Do not read if you are an extreme animal lover or have a weak stomach, just skip it and read the next one.

Later, we saw a poor deer get hit right in front of us. He was huge with big antlers and the little white Honda that hit him never had a chance. The windshield and hood were completely bashed in. The poor deer was launched into the air where he did a few 360's before hitting the side of the mountain and falling to his death. It was very tramatic. I cried and Golden and Khyl called the Forest Service to come pick up the deer. It was the saddest thing.

That night, we made homemade pizza and then went to Becca and Phil's house for a fun night of 10,000. I am so glad Golden and Lorena came to visit. We had such a great time! (except for the deer, of course)

Thanksgiving

Khyl and I had Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year, which was kind of a headache, but really a lot of fun. We had my immediate family, My Aunt, and Khyl's cousin, Golden and his wife over for a grand total of 14 people. It was my first time making a turkey, so I was pretty nervous so I actually READ the instructions (which for anyone who knows me is a very uncommon thing as I think most instructions are for sissys who can't figure things out for themselves). And it turned out great! I was so proud! Here it is:

Ok so maybe this isn't my turkey persay, but mine looked just as good! Unfortunately, I had Khyl start to carve it before I remembered to take a picture so you will have to use your imagination with this picture as a guide. By the way, it tasted as good as it looked, if I do say so myself!

I removed the couches from the living room to make room for everyone. And here are the cute decorations sans the CUTEST napkin rings Jennifer and I made. Thanks to Becca for letting us borrow the extra table (not to mention the table cloths and most of her bedding to accomodate everyone) You ROCK, Becca! Everyone helped: Rachel made some rockin' apple pie. Louis did the pumpkin. Dad made his fabulous potatoe salad. Jennifer did the stuffing. Mom did some other desserts and "purple". And Khyl did the mashed potatoes, the yams, and the rolls. We had tons of food! Yum!!

And cute little Erin did the dishes mostly by her self! Hooray for Erin! What a relief! (Here she is posing with the knife she was drying) :)

After Dinner, we played House of Fire (again, thanks to Becca) and I have a really great video of Lorena (Golden's wife) jumping around after she and Preston won. I will post it as soon as I can figure out how. We broke into the game closet and had all kinds of games going on: Backgammon, Monopoly, Guess Who, Sorry, Spoons,and a variety of other card games. *Just as a precaution to anyone who ever considers playing Slap Jack with Erin, she has killer claws with which she will stab you to get at any doubles!!!* And Dad busted out the guitar. My house was crazy loud and chaotic, but tons of fun!

School's OUT!!!!

Well, sort of. I still have a presentation next Wednesday night. But, I took my last actual "final" this morning. Now all I have left to do is chew on my nails until grades are posted. Other than that, I am SCOTT FREE until the end of January. So in honor of this very special occasion, I will let everyone in on what has been going on in our house since Halloween. And, yes, I really am a Harry Potter freak, hence the lame cartoon.