New Year's Eve Fog

Woke up this morning to really thick fog. I couldn't even see the houses across the street until it started burning off when it got light. I hope this is not a portent for the year to come. :>

The Blind Side

I got up this morning and made apple pancakes for breakfast. Trevor only took one the first time. The boys took 3 and Ann took 2. He said that he was really picky about his pancakes. He only liked his moms and an aunt's I think. He ate his first one, came back for a second, ate that and then came back for a third. I guess he liked them!

I took all of the kids to the movie at 11:oo. We went and saw "The Blind Side". Ann had seen it, but no one else had. I had been hearing rave reviews. It was really good. When we came out Trevor said he thought that it was the best movie he had seen all year. Both of the boys liked it. I cried. It was excellent. Great story.

I left about 4pm to take Ann and Trevor back to the airport. She woke up sick, with a sore throat and runny nose. She fell asleep on his lap and we talked the whole way. I dropped them off at the curb because I forgot my quarters. It was dark when I came out, and since I had never used the curbside dropoff, I took the wrong off ramp. I didn't get lost, because I could see all the casino's. It just took me on the loop around, which was an extra hour. I stopped to eat and got home about 9:00.

I told Trevor I hoped he could come back soon. He said he would like that. I told him to come back in the spring when it is a little warmer to do things.

Temple Visit

We got back from Zions about 3ish. Andy left to go back to Salt Lake. I started dinner because we didn't have lunch and all of us were starving. I made Pork Lo Mein, another of Ann's favorites. I quadrupled the recipe and there was nothing left! After dinner we all went over to see the lights at the temple. We walked around the grounds and then went into the smaller visitor center and watched a short video on how the temple was built. FHE! We came home and everyone played on the Wii until bedtime.

I tried to get a picture of the temple, but I didn't have my tripod. I want to come back and see if I can get some better shots.

Zion's Canyon

We planned yesterday to take Ann and Trevor to Zion's. I was able to text my boss and get today and tomorrow off while they are here. Chris said that he couldn't get off because he does not have any back up at the bank. They understood, and didn't expect us to be able to get off.

I made the baked eggs for Ann for breakfast. I made two pans because the sausage one on Christmas day wasn't really enough. I always make her the ham version. We were just sitting down to breakfast and Chris walked in. He got the day off anyway. Ann was really happy. She said it just wouldn't be the same without him.

I had to laugh at Trevor. He took a helping of the eggs and ate them. I told him there was plenty more if he wanted it. He said that he wasn't really a big egg fan. He thought that they were pretty good, and took more.

We figured that there would be snow in Zion's so we all dressed really warm. I had an wear my blue coat that is too big. It was big on her to, but she is always colder than I am and I thought she would need it. Chris gave Trevor a shirt that helps keep the sweat off. I can't remember what it is called right now. He and Nathan have them for scouts. All of the guys were glad they got hats in their stockings!

We got out of the car and started walking and we hadn't gone 100 ft before Ann's teeth started chattering. She said it was just because her hands were cold. I gave her my mittens and that did seem to help. It was beautiful up there. I haven't been up there when there was snow on the ground.

We hiked the Emerald Pools trail. It is a moderate hike. This is scenery on the way up.


There was snow on the trail up, but we didn't have any problem with it. This is at the middle pool. There are 3 of them. Lower, middle and upper. We usually just go to the middle.

Right as we were getting ready to go back down Chris and the kids found a frozen section that would hold their weight. They were skating on it. Ann and Trevor were ice dancing.

This is on the way back down. Looking back at the pools from the underside you can see the waterfall that comes off of the cliff wall.
This is looking back at the cliff from another angle. The next couple of pictures are just different ice formations that we saw.

We had actually hiked up the back side of the pools and of course came down the front side. The trail had snow and a lot of ice. We were slipping and falling all over the place. Ann fell down several times, and just gave up and went down quite a ways one her rear end. We were all afraid of slipping and Nathan was trying to slide down the trail. He made me really nervous. I was afraid he was going to go off the edge. For such a mild mannered kid he has a large dare devil streak!We had Andy take a picture of all of us. I thought it turned out pretty good for having to use my phone. My camera battery died! I joked as he took the picture that I would finally be able to use my winter scrapbook stuff that I have.

Bringing Home the Boyfriend!

Andy said that he was going to go to the airport with me this morning. I got up and got in the shower and he still wasn't up. I decided that he had changed his mind. He stays up till all hours most of the time. I went without him. I had made a pit stop in Mesquite and got a call from Ann asking where I was. I told her and they had just landed. She told me the wrong time. She forgot about the time difference. I told her I would get there as soon as I could. She said that they would go eat while they waited.

Since they were waiting for me I just picked them up at the curbside. Saved me the quarters for the parking meters. We just talked and visited on the way home. Ann has been dating him for over a year so he has been at several family events. We have talked a little, but there is always something going on. We are looking forward to getting to know him a little better, one on one. Trevor had never flown before and had been kind of nervous. He said it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be :)

We got to the house about noon. Chris and the boys had stayed home from church. Chris had made Ann cranberry cookies. One of the other things that she had requested. Trevor liked them too.

Andy took Ann and Trevor over to Dixie rock to hike a little. Unfortunately, I had to go to work. I made the lasagna Ann wanted for dinner and they put it in the oven. They both said it was great.

Preparation

Today we spent getting ready for Ann and Trevor to come. I had gotten paid early because of Christmas, and desperately needed to go shopping. I had no food in the house. I texted Ann and asked her if she had any requests. She wanted lasagna and baked eggs. Chris and I went shopping, and then we came home and worked on the house. I had been so busy getting ready for Christmas that it was a disaster. My friend Carole even came over and helped for a couple of hours. What would I do without good friends. Thanks!

The boys got gift cards for Barnes and Noble from their grandparents so we also took them over there to get books. Love bookstores. I could spend all week in one if I didn't have to go anywhere else, and be perfectly happy. I am so glad that all of my children are readers.

Christmas Day

Today was a really relaxing day. I loved it. The only one that got dressed was Chris. Here he is helping me get the breakfast casserole in the oven. This year I made sausage since the guys like it better, and Ann wasn't here. We put it in the oven before presents, and when we are done, it usually is too!
The stockings ended up on the couch this morning. Chris built a large fire and was afraid that he would catch them on fire. We didn't do presents this year. We decided as a family that we wanted to get a Wii. The only "presents" were in our stockings.
Here is our Wii fit and the Biggest Looser for Wii. We are really excited.

Here are the boys with the gifts from grandparents and their stockings.

I was really sad that Ann wasn't here. This is her first Christmas away from home. Christmas is all about family. On the tree was an envelope for me. She said her present was that she and Trevor were coming up. I had to pick them up at the Airport Sunday morning. Yahoo!! It isn't exactly Christmas, but close enough. I can't wait.

We finally had breakfast and headed down to the family room to try out the Wii. That is where we spent most of the day. We all weighed in and got our Mii's made. Here is Chris on the balance board.

And all tuckered out from the excitment and play.

Christmas Eve

Chris and I both had to work today, but we got off early. Chris came and got me about 2:00. Came home and hung out with the boys and Andy. I couldn't decide what to do for dinner. We have never settled on a tradition for it. I had a free dinner on my card for our favorite Chinese resturant, so that is where we went. It was fun. I love Chinese food! The boys and Chris are getting so they like it more than they used to. Maybe we will make this our new tradtion.After dinner, we drove around to see the lights in town. This year we went out to Bloomington. We haven't been out there in a couple of years. We saw a Santa sleigh and reindeer on a roof from the distance, and went to check it out. It got our vote for the best decorations hands down. They had tons of lights as you can see from the picture. Chris wanted the sleigh on the roof, I want and am coveting their nativity. I LOVED IT. It was probably expensive, but I really want one. I had to take pictures of it. What do you think??? Great huh? The pieces were probably a good 2 ft tall, but not huge. They have tons of detail.

Snow

We woke up to a bit of snow on the ground this morning. It is the strangest thing. It always seems to snow two weeks before Christmas. It is usually on Saturday too. It is nice to have since it helps with the Christmas spirit, but I would really like a white Christmas one of these years.

CJ's Christmas Concert

Tonight was CJ's Christmas concert. He is in chior this semester. He really doesn't like to sing, but it was either that or band. I actually got a picture of him up there. The rest of them he is hiding as usual from the camera. The concert was good, but only about half an hour long.

They were all supposed to wear red or have Santa hats. He had his hat with him right before we left, but he forgot it. Oh Well!

When we came out of the concert it was snowing. I doubt that it will stick, but it was a nice touch.

Decorating for Christmas

This morning before work I decided to get our main nativity out since we were decorating the house tonight. I made this nativity when we first came to St. George and Ann was about 3. We have loved it. We keep it in a big plastic bucket in shredded paper. It has been through about 10 moves and we have never had a problem with it. I opened it this morning and for some reason there are four pieces broken. I looked at it and wanted to cry. Thankfully none of them are my main pieces. All four of them are animals. The standing camel had his head broken off, and a chip out of the base. The other camel and the two sheep are in about 4 or 5 pieces each. I called my mom and she said that she would help me paint them again. Now I just have to find them. Hopefully, I can get replacements. I know it is just a possession, but I love it. This is the part of decorating that Chris has a love/hate relationship with. He loves the lights up on the house, but he hates having to go through them to see what is working and what is not. Every year we need new strands. Next year we may start investing in the LED ones. They are supposed to last a lot longer. I think that they also have the bonus, of when one light goes out it doesn't make the whole strand go out. Wahoo for that!
We always decorate the tree and the house on the first Family Home Evening of December. The kids have always decorated the tree while Chris pulls the ornaments out of the box. My job is all the other decorations and the picture taking. I evidently need to take a photography class. Sometimes I think my picture taking skills are getting worse instead of better.
Dad topping the tree.

Sunday Nap

I had to take these pictures of Nathan today. This was his after church nap. Everytime I looked at him the was in a different position. I don't think that loveseat is the most comfortable to sleep in! He kind of remined me of a bear trying to get comfortable.

Leaves and Lights

When Nathan and I got home from the ward Christmas party Chris had just come down from the roof. He had to sweep all the leaves off of it. He had also gone and found an inexpensive leaf blower. I understand. With 5 trees it is a huge job. Of course, you know how it goes. With the blower the boys thought it was fun to do the leaves. Nathan did the front and CJ part of the back. (Men and Boys and their toys!)

Chris was starving when I got home. I told him he should have gone to the party. He said "That quiche stuff doesn't fill me." I proceeded to tell him what we had and then he was upset. That is why he didn't go. He said if he had known what they were having he would have gone. Oh Well!

Ward Christmas Party

This morning was the ward Christmas party. Last year they tried something new and had a breakfast instead of a dinner. It was such a success that they did it again this year. Chris said he had too much yard work to do, and CJ just didn't want to come. Nathan and I decided that we were going to go anyway. LeAnn was in charge this year. She knows how to throw a party.

They had men outside on grills doing pancakes, hashbrowns, scrambled eggs and ham. They had orange juice and "steamers". I had never seen them before. They were hot milk with flavoring in them. Topped with whip cream and carmel and a small candy cane on the side. I wasn't sure if I would like them, because I don't like warm milk. Nathan and I both went back for seconds. They were really good. I did mine with sugar free syrup and no toppings, but it was still really good. I will have to try it at home.

The Primary got up and sang. They were really cute. There is something about kids singing Christmas songs that always gets me.

Boutique

I did my first boutique today. SkyWest does one every year for the employees. They can bring their stuff and sell it. It is a pre-Christmas event. Part of the proceeds got to Coins for Kids. I have never done this and have always wanted to try it. I brought Santa hat pins, 2 sizes of knitted Mary Jane booties, and hot pad and dishcloth sets. I had fun. I sold almost half of my stuff and so I felt it went pretty well. Not bad for a first try.

Falling Leaves

This morning I tried to take a picture of the falling leaves. The weather has just gotten real cold all of a sudden and the leaves are falling off of the trees so fast that it almost looks like it is raining leaves. If you look hard you can see them.

This is what we came home to. Almost everything was covered. Today I got a really good idea why they call it FALL! I wish I had thought to make this a video and not just pictures. It was really cool.

Coming Home

We had to be up to go to the airport at 4am. Yuck!

We had a bit of an issue with security in Norfolk. I don't know why they didn't catch it on the way there. We were going through and they stopped CJ and started going through his backpack. There was the end of an antenae in the bottom of his pack. He had picked it up one day and forgotten it was there. They took it out and put the pack through X-ray again. She started going through it again. He had forgotten that his boy scout knife was in there. He was so upset. He didn't realize it was in there. I didn't think to tell the boys to check. She asked us what we wanted to do. There was a big process to reclaim it since it couldn't go through. We told her to just throw it away. It was his first knife, which was a shame. She was not nice about it at all. I think that she could have shown a little more compassion. CJ was almost in tears by this time because he didn't realize they were in there and she was so mean. I would understand if it had been an adult, but come on. He is 12 years old.

We didn't have time to eat breakfast, and the plane was too expensive. We didn't have time to eat inbetween. By the time we got to Vegas we were starving. We stopped at Macaroni Grill and had to wait for about 20 mintues for them to open. Chris and the boys had been to one before, but I hadn't. It was really good. We got home about 1:00. Enough time to do laundry and get ready for a new week!

Breakfast and the Beach

This morning we got up and Dad and Mom took us all to breakfast at the diner. It was fun. The guys all had pancakes of various sorts. It was interesting to see what everyone chose. I am trying to watch my carbs, Chris is watching his fat and mom and dad are vegetarians! We all found something delicious.

In the afternoon mom, Kristen and Dennis took us to the beach. We have got to come back in the summertime so that we can play in the water. Neither one of the boys were brave enough to put their feet in this time. There is just something that is peaceful about water. I love watching the ocean, and taking pictures.

On our way back to the car we actually saw shops open this time. I had to have some salt water taffy. I love the stuff. I got a small bag with all kinds of flavors I hand picked. I gave some to the boys, but no one else wanted any. Unfortunately, I ate almost all of it. It was sure good though. When we were here in January all of the shops were closed, so we couldn't buy shirts. We went into one and Chris, CJ and I got Virginia Beach sweatshirts and Nathan got a tee-shirt. Now we are real tourists!