MOAB

Steve and I got up early on Saturday to begin our trip to Moab. It was quite chilly here in Ferron. 13 DEGREES...brrrrrr. We loaded into the van and headed to I-70. As usual we had interesting conversations, but the best part was the scenery. This part of he country is absolutely beautiful.



Once we got to Moab, Steve dropped me off at a little used bookstore that had a little coffe shop attached to it. He was going to go and do a 4 mile hike and I opted to hang out in the warm bookstore browsing. After looking around for about an hour. I made a fw selections, purchased and headed for the coffee shop. I got a mug of hot cocoa and a blueberry scone and made myself comfortable for my people watching. It was fun to watch the different charactes, and they were characters, come in to the shop. Once the hot cocoa was done I walked the streets of Moab peking into the gift shops that were open. Unfortunately half of them were closed for the season.




About 3 hours after dropping me off, Steve completed his hike and we met up at Pizza place across the street from the bookstore. This was a yummy place. They had a buffet bar: salad, soup, and pizza. Steve told me about his hike. He said he could have spent much more time there than he had< just poking around Once we loaded up on yummy food and diet coke we headed to Canyonlands. Mostly to do a scenic tour of the park. Our time was limited. Steve purcahsed a National Parks year pass, that I know he is looking forward to using in 2007. I did get a little carsick on the winding roads that lead to te park itself. We stopped at a few view points. The most breathtaking for me was the Grand View. It was INCREDIBLE. Definitely this is a place we will come back to and explore a little more thoroughly.



Then we started our long trip to my parents house and home made Chimichungas...YUMMERS!!!

Santa was good to ME!!!!

WHOO HOO!!!! I GOT MY LAPTOP!!!!

I had been a little nervous that I was not going to get a laptop for Christmas. I made hints all year long about wanting one. Steve got one last Christmas and I was envious of how he could use it ANYWHERE!!!

He got up early in the morning on BLACK FRIDAY and went to Circuit City to cash in on a deal. I went out with my friends Stacey and Dayna. As we shopped I got a call from Steve telling me, "I am never going to do that again...I didn't get it...They only had 8 of them and you needed a voucher." He sounded so sad. For the next 4 weeks he very diligently looked through the Sunday ads in search for a get deal. And every Sunday he seemed disappointed. I was beginning to feel a little bad and stopped hinting about the laptop. I even told him a few weeks ago to not worry about it. I would love whatever I got.

Then Christmas morning he handed me my first gift from under the tree. It was a large box (much too big to contain a laptop). I opened the box to find a Compaq Presario box. I was ecstatic. My adorable husband had tricked me.

So I have to say I had a pretty AWESOME Christmas. Hope this entry finds you all happy and still on a high from Christmas.

Saturday was Belle's first dance recital since she made it onto the dance team. There was a recital 2 weeks ago, but she had ALPS testing that same day and had to miss it. This is always one of our least favorite things to do. We LOVE watching the girls dance, but it always seems as though the recital is on the other side of the valley and the recital last about 1 hour and you have to sit through all the other dancers to get to see your child.



We made it to Eisenhower Junior High School at 12:15 and found the dressing room for Belle to wait in. Steve and the other kids and I found some seats and got comfortable. At 12;45 the recital began and much to our surprise Belle's team was the first to perform.

YIPPEE!!!!

I was amazed at how good she was. She has improved so much since the last time she danced (1 1/2 years ago.) She doesn't look as though she is concentrating. She smiled and winked her way through the dance and her moves were pretty sharp. I was so proud of her.

CAUTION: Construction Zone!!

Monday night we had a fun time constructing Gingerbread/Graham cracker houses. For the last few years we have bought one of those kits you see in the stores and Steve has had all the children gather around and they have decorated the one house.



I bought a house at Costco, but decided I would let the children make their own houses using graham crackers. It was a little difficult to get the "structure" to stand and not collapse, but once that was accomplished I think everyone had a good time.


Katie discovered that it is more fun to lick you fingers that to actually put the frosting on the house. Her building had a few problems because of this. She had put so little frosting on the house that there was nothing to stick. She began putting her candy on and it collapsed. Lucky for her daddy was there to help make the needed repairs. Hers began to look more like the temple than a house.



Becky's construction was pretty sturdy. She was very focused on making her house. It was quite cute. She came up with inventive ways to use the candy canes. I sometimes watch Becky and see a lot of me. That is pretty neat.



Belle was also focused. We discovered that she has the same "tongue" tendency that I do. As she worked that tongue would slide out of her mouth. The more focused she was the further the tongue came out. She did have a little construction problems. We aren't sure if it was too much icing or too much candy, but the structure did collapse just as she was finishing up. She cried a little, but daddy once again was there to save the day. It did not look as pristine as it did prior to the fall, but it looked quite cute.



Zack's also had a hard time getting the structure to initially stand up, but once that was mastered he had a pretty easy time getting everything on his house without any problems.



I worked on the large Gingerbread House. Steve walked around and took pictures of us as we worked. My house turned out pretty well. It was the first time I got to do a house all on my own. PRETTY FUN!!! Once we were done and I uploaded the pictures to my computer I realized two things:

• Just how often I stick my tongue out (it was out in almost every picture)
• The best part of making Gingerbread houses is licking your fingers.

O Christmas Tree!!!

"IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!!!"

I love this time of the year. I have to admit I was one of those freakish people that was listening to KOSY 106.5 on Halloween because they were playing Christmas tunes. Throughout the month on November I encountered "Thanksgiving Devotees" that would bash the playing of Christmas songs before we have eaten the turkey and done the dishes. I would just sit quietly and hum a carol as they went on their tirade.



Well, it is official. All the turkey leftovers have been eaten and I can come out of the closet and listen to my Christmas songs without being ashamed. Last week, in Sunday School, the music leader asked the Primary children, "Do you know who loves Christmas music more than anyone else?" (referring to herself). All the primary children began saying, "you" and pointing at her. My 3 girls said loud and very proudly, "MY MOM!!!" I was quite proud.



Well, the Christmas tree is up, it actually went up the day before Thanksgiving, but we actually waited until Saturday to decorate it. This year Steve and I sat back and let the children put up the majority of the ornaments. This meant that only about 2/3 of the tree was decorated. Steve handed out the ornaments and made sure each had a hanger attached. I did my favorite job of taking pictures to scrapbook. Then Steve and I gave eachother our ornaments for the year.



It has become a tradition for the 2 of us to give eachother and ornament. I got him one that was a bear (this represented our trip to Yellowstone and the Grizzly we encountered) and I also gave him one that had 2 Teddy bears popping out of a tent and it said, "Happy Campers" (to remind us of the camping trips we had been on this year). Steve presented me with a crystal snowman that had tennis rackets on his feet (I am a lover of tennis) and then one that looks like a Christmas storybook (It was the Night Before Christmas). Mom also gave us a new family ornament. We also hung up the ornaments from past years that we had given eachother. The tree looks beautiful. I know our tree is not the mostly fashionable tree in the neighborhood. And maybe someday I will have one of those "fancy" trees, but I really love our tree. Every ornament tells a story of the 13 Christmases that Steve and I have spent together. And that to me is what makes my tree truly BEAUTIFUL!!!