Christmas with the SkidKid Clan

My family came from Idaho this weekend so we could celebrate Christmas. We got together at July's on Saturday afternoon to start the festivities. We went to Gateway shopping and to eat dinner. Then we came back to July's where we played games until late that night. The next morning we got up early and made a big breakfast and then opened presents. Cayman was pretty funny. She would take someone their gift and then start opening it before anyone else could. She loved opening all the presents. I think everyone was happy with their presents. I know I was happy with mine......three books! What could be a better gift. We also got an extra surprise from July and Cory, an announcement that she is having another baby!! I will get to be an aunt once again. Christmas was fun and I enjoyed being with my family!

Something Missing.......

I've had this picture on my computer since Thanksgiving and as I was looking at it today, I couldn't help but feel that something was missing.......my mom. I like to think she is standing right between me and Mel poking her head over Grandma's and making a funny face, like she always liked to do. It's been nine years since she died, and there isn't a day that goes by that I'm not reminded of her. I see her in me every day. It's funny when you're growing up how you don't want to turn into your parents, but I have to say, if I could grow up to be like my mom, I would! I love you Mom!

Annual Christmas Party

Paul and I went to our Annual Christmas Party on Friday Night with Paul's friends from his old job. We are so lucky Paul was able to find such a great group of friends from when he worked at Spillman Technologies. We get together at least twice a year (summer and winter) and go to lunch frequently. Friday night we went to Carrie and Cornell's. They just built a new condo in Saratoga Springs and we all wanted to see it. We had a lot of preparing to do because this year they were doing an Ugly Sweater Contest. Since Paul and I didn't have sweater, we decided to make our own. I think they turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. Check out that handy work.....it's exquisite! I won't explain Paul's sweater (it's slightly inappropriate), but it was a big hit at the party and he ended up winning! Then we exchanged white elephant gifts, where I got a Whoopie Cushion and Paul got a High School Musical pillow with Troy on it. Our friends, Lindsay and Shayne, brought their two little boys to the party and the last present was from us and ended up going to their 8 year old son. I was so nervous, because it was a notebook set (from Spillman, of course!) and I didn't think an 8 year old would want that, but he loved it! He loves to draw and it is a pretty cool drawing notebook. Dan got a huge 40 inch stocking complete with an Ovulation Kit and a wedding cake topper. Both things that he needed. :-) Lindsay got an enormous cucumber or zuccini, which somehow we ended up with at the end of the night! Carrie got a toothpaste holder and the big hit of the night was a set of wine glasses that were called The Shady Ladies, and they went to Cornell. Overall, the night was fun and I look forward to Christmas and seeing my family.

Celebrity Morph by MyHeritage

MyHeritage: Celebrity Morph - Dynasty - Geneology

Weekend Update

On Saturday we decided it was time to put up the outside Christmas lights. We never got around to it last year and I really wanted to have them this year. Paul searched all day Saturday for white and red lights. There were none that came packaged together so we knew we would have to switch out lights so I could have a strand of white and red lights mixed together. After he was gone most of the morning trying to find them, bringing home the wrong ones, and going back out to get the right ones, we finally found the perfect lights. We set out all the strands and switched out the lights. Then Paul hung them up outside. We turned them on and they were awesome.......for about 3 seconds when they shut off. We had blown a fuse. So now we have Christmas lights hanging that don't work. I guess we can work on that problem next weekend. :-)

That night we went to the Coldplay concert with our friends Lindsay and Shayne. It was so much fun! Coldplay is one of my favorite bands and it was great to see them in concert. Chris Martin was so funny, skipping and dancing all over the stage.

I am looking forward to Thanksgiving and being able to spend time with my family. I hope everyone has a great day and remembers that we have so much to be thankful for! We are truly blessed.

GO, FIGHT WIN!!! - This was pretty fun. Just answer questions about your High School Days. I tag everyone because I think it would be fun to read!

1. DID YOU DATE SOMEONE FROM YOUR SCHOOL?
Can you say just about everybody? Just kidding, but seriously I did date quite a few people from my school.

2. WHAT KIND OF CAR DID YOU DRIVE?
1987 Buick Regal named Gertrude that blew blue smoke out the back tailpipe and although it was an automatic, I still had to shift from D2 to Drive in order for it to work. It was awesome!

3. DID YOU PASS YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE TEST YOUR FIRST TRY? Of course! Doesn't everybody?

4. WHERE YOU A PARTY ANIMAL? Not at all, unfortunately!

5. WERE YOU CONSIDERED A FLIRT? Uh, no?

6. WERE YOU IN BAND, ORCHESTRA, OR CHOIR? Nope

7. WERE YOU A NERD? I don't think so, but looking back on some of the stuff I wore, I definitely should have been!

8. WERE YOU ON ANY VARSITY TEAMS? Cheerleading, does that count?

9. DID YOU EVER GET SUSPENDED/EXPELLED? Nope, little miss goodie two shoes.

10. CAN YOU STILL SING THE FIGHT SONG? No way! I never even knew it when I was in high school.

11. WHO WERE YOUR FAVORITE TEACHERS? Mr. Schultz, my junior English teacher. He rocked!

12. WHERE DID YOU SIT FOR LUNCH? Don't remember (somewhere in the cafeteria).

13. WHAT IS YOUR SCHOOL'S FULL NAME? Sugar-Salem High School

14. WHAT IS YOUR SCHOOL'S MASCOT AND COLORS? Diggers, Blue and White

15. DID YOU GO TO HOMECOMING AND WITH WHO? Junior Homecoming - Wade Klinger, Senior Homecoming - Monty Puzey

16. IF YOU COULD GO BACK AND DO IT AGAIN WOULD YOU? You bet! Those were such fun times.

17. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER MOST ABOUT GRADUATION? Crying my eyes out because everyone was leaving (even though we all ended up going to Ricks College!)

18. WHERE DID YOU GO SENIOR SKIP DAY? What! There's a Senior Skip Day! I never got invited. :-(

19. WERE YOU IN ANY CLUBS? Ski Club

20. HAVE YOU GAINED SOME WEIGHT SINCE THEN? I'm not sure if I've gained weight or my hips have just expanded! :-)

21. ARE YOU PLANNING ON GOING TO YOUR 10 YEAR REUNION? We already had it and Yes I did go.

23. DID YOU HAVE A JOB IN HIGH SCHOOL? Oh yeah, McDonald's baby! I was the queen of the drive thru. What it took 3 people to do, I could do by myself!

I tag anyone who reads this.

Kids Say the Craziest Things!

Paul and I teach the sunbeams at church. We have 11 kids (thankfully they don't all come every week!). They are so cute and they say the funniest things. We had our primary program a couple weeks ago and there was a practice on Saturday. Each of the little kids has a speaking part in the program. After one of the little girls said her part, she looked at me and said, "I have another line". I told her she had just said her line and it was perfect. She looked at me again and insisted that she had another line to say. I asked her what it was and she said, "It's My Money and I need it now!!!!". I was silent laughing so hard, I was crying. The other kids in my class kept saying, "Teacher, why are you laughing so hard?". For those of you not familiar with this famous line, I am attaching the link you can go to and see for yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX0fIi3H-es

Happy Anniversary

Paul and I celebrated 7 years of marriage on October 19. I can hardly believe so many years have gone by. I think back to our wedding day and that day was and still is the best day of my life. I remember Paul picking me up to take me to the temple and how much I loved him! Coming out of the temple doors was like being a movie star. All our friends and family were there to congratulate us and so many people were taking pictures. Even though the wedding was in October, the day was beautiful and warm. It was really the most perfect day. I can't believe how lucky I am that I married such a wonderful guy. He is so loving, caring, forgiving, understanding, and PATIENT - I can be pretty hard to live with sometimes :-). Here's to 7 wonderful years of marriage and to many wonderful countless years to come........

Tag!

I stole this from Shellee's Blog, because I liked it so much!

10 years ago I was:
1. 20 years old (Ah! I loved being in my twenties!)
2. Working as a legal secretary in Logan and getting residency so I could begin USU the next year.
3. Living with Jamie, Chanel, Amber, Mandy, and Janice (Party!).
4. Living on $750 a month ( I just did the math on that and I about passed out. I only made $9,000 a year!! How could I possibly have been living!)
5. Single and loving it!

5 things on today’s to do list:
1. Update Blog (done)
2. Work
3. Visiting Teaching
4. Watch some TV (isn't that sad that is on my to do list)
5. Set out my workout clothes so I can be ready for the morning (I might actually start my workout regimin)

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Chips and Salsa
2. Candy (any kind: Kit Kats, Laffy Taffy, Nerds, Peanut Butter Cups, Milk Duds, Junior Mints, etc.)
3. Ice Cream
4. Cookies (any kind but especially white chocolate chip macadamia nut and pumpkin chocolate chip)
5. Dorito's (I am really liking Blazin Buffalo lately)

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Buy either a Range Rover or a BMW 5 Series for me and a brand new Toyota Tundra for Paul
2. Pay off my mortgage
3. Travel to London, Italy, Greece, Hawaii, and anywhere else I could go
4. Buy tons of designer clothes
5. Invest for my future

5 places I have lived:
1. Sugar City, Idaho
2. Rexburg, Idaho
3. Logan, Utah
4. Idaho Falls, Idaho (Does this count since I never actually lived there for more than weekends?)
5. Syracuse, Utah

5 jobs I have had:
1. Stocker & Cashier at Horkley's Convenience Store
2. McDonald's (And I think all kids should have to experience working fast food)
3. Legal Secretary
4. Accountant at Wasatch Property Management
5. Controller at JK Ventures

I tag Jamie

Catching Up!

I've been getting some slack from people because I haven't posted for so long. So I thought I better give a quick update. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures for everyone to look at.

On September 27th, Paul and I went to a company bbq at my boss, Kathy's home in Draper. I just want to say how thankful I am for my job and for the company I work for. I have been with JK Ventures for just over a year now as their Controller and I enjoy every minute of it! It is such a difference from the old company I worked for (which shall remain nameless :-)). The work is challenging and fulfilling and it is nice to be rewarded for working my butt off! Paul recently joined our team as the new Asset Manager and he is loving being back in property management. If RVA Properties in Logan hadn't gone out of business after the owner died, I'm pretty sure we would still be living there and Paul would be still be working for them. It was pretty much his dream job and now he has the chance to fulfill that dream with JK Ventures! The bbq was a fun opportunity to be together with the people I work with after hours. We were actually able to talk about stuff other than work. I am so lucky to work with so many wonderful people!!

Last Saturday Paul invited some of his friends to our house for an end of year bbq. Unfortunately, it decided to snow! But that didn't deter Paul. He just put on his winter coat and cooked up some delicious hamburgers. We hadn't seen his friends Josh and Melissa in quite awhile and it was fun to see them. Nate and Mindee were the other couple that came. We actually just saw them a few weeks ago when we went to the Melting Pot with them. Which brings me to another subject........the Melting Pot is sooooo yummy! Their bread and cheese and their desserts are absolutely delicious!

So anyway, that is pretty much all I have to say for now. My family is coming down this weekend so I will probably have something to post next week.

Girls Night!!

My old roommates and I (Tristin, Chanel & Jamie) try to get together at least once a month for dinner and to catch up on all the good gossip. Tonight we went to PF Changs (yum, yum!). We haven't all been able to get together for a couple of months, so it was exciting that we were finally able to meet up. I have to say that these girls are the most awesome group of friends. They have been there for me through all the high and low points of my life and they have seen me at my worst and still love me (at least I think they do!.......they keep inviting me to monthly dinners so I guess I'm not out yet :) Thanks girls for the being the best friends a girl can have!

SEATTLE!

To kick off the end of summer, Paul and I decided we needed to get away. So we went to Seattle to see my little brother, Ryan, and to have a great time! We flew into Seattle last Friday night. Ryan met us at our hotel and it was so great to see him!!! I haven't seen him in about 4 months and I've missed him! We went to dinner to catch up and then planned to meet the next day.

We started early the next morning (by early I mean 10:30) and headed to downtown Seattle to the Science Fiction Museum. I think Ryan, Paul and Nick (Ryan's friend) all enjoyed it, but I was kind of bored. Paul's favorite part was looking at the different ships from science fiction movies. He loved hearing in detail about the ships from Star Wars and Futurama. Then we headed to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame was kind of lame, but they had this section where you could go into different studio's and play drums, guitars, and sing. That was awesome!!! You got to put on headphones and sing into a microphone. Then you could go into another room and learn to play the drums. I've always wanted to play the drums and it was a lot of fun to play. Then we walked to Zeek's Pizza where I had the yummiest pepporoni pizza. It was interesting to sit and people watch as we were eating. There are some interesting people that live in Seattle. :-) After that we wanted to go to Pike Street, but there were hundreds of people and we couldn't find a parking spot, so we decided to try the mall instead. We walked into the mall and OH MY GOSH! There were thousands of people there too. There was an H&M, which I was so excited to shop in, but because there were so many people, I left empty handed. Sad, sad day. Of course, Ryan, Nick, and Paul all left with plenty of bags of clothes. Does anyone see a problem with this? The fact that I'm the only one that left empty handed? After shopping, we went to Giggles, a comedy club. It was really funny, even though some of the comics were a little freaky. We went back to the hotel after that exhausted from a fun day in Seattle.

The next day we went back to Downtown Seattle and we went to the Aquarium. We saw an Octopus, and got to touch star fish and other underwater sea creatures. Ryan put on Scuba Gear and he looked hilarious (see picture). After the Aquarium we went and ate at the Crab Pot. Paul and Nick enjoyed the lobster, while Ryan and I just had chicken. I did get the Strawberry Rhubarb Cake for dessert and it was delicious! Then we went on a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island. I got the cutest coat there at this little boutique called Kennedy and Kate. The ferry ride was fun and it was cool to see the Seattle Skyline from the water. That night we went to Ryan's apartment and he made us steaks (yum, yum)! We played Curses! which is a fun game. It was exciting to see where Ryan has lived for the past 5 months.

The next day, Paul and I drove to Issaquah to see my friend Shellee and her husband Kaleo. I loved their quaint little town. It was like driving right into Stars Hollow (that's the town on Gilmore Girls, my all time favorite show). We walked from their apartment to lunch, and stopped by the hatchery on the way to check out the salmon. Then Shellee took us to the Candy store and let me tell you! Holy cow, that place is amazing. We got these pumpkin cheesecake carmels and orange vanilla squares that were delicious. Then we went to the bakery and got some pie. That town is so cute. I haven't seen Shellee in years, and it was so good to be able to catch up and hang out with an old friend. That night Paul and I went to the top of the Space Needle for a romantic dinner. I loved being able to see all angles of the city. Paul enjoyed his salmon (which he thought was the best he's ever eaten) and my steak was good too.

Our last day there, we went to Auburn to try some more shopping (where I finally found some cute clothes!) and to see Ryan one last time before we left. It was sad to say good-bye to him. He made our trip to Seattle fun and memorable. Thanks Ry, for the great time!!! We had a great time vacationing and it was nice to be able to get away for a long vacation.

Weekend in Idaho

Paul and I went up to Idaho this weekend to spend some time with my family. We got up there late Friday night. The next morning, we tried to go to the early morning session at the new Rexburg Temple, but after getting up and driving to the temple, we discovered it was closed for maintenance!! We were a little disappointed, but we will try again the next time we are up there. It is my dad's birthday next week so us kids went and found him a patio swing for his new house. He met us out at his new house and was pretty excited to see his new present. His house is almost finished and it looks awesome!! We can't wait for Dad and Carma to be able to move in. We left for Jackson, Wyoming around 4:00 so we could go see the Bar J Wranglers. We of course had to stop at the Spud Drive-In because it has such great picture taking opportunities (I think the one of Paul driving the truck is pretty funny!) Then we continued on our way. After waiting from 5:00 to 7:00, the show finally began. We ate the yummiest food: BBQ ribs, beef, chicken, bbq beans, baked potatoes, biscuit's and spice cake. Then the program started. It was pretty good and the Wranglers were pretty funny. Thanks Dad for inviting us to go! On Sunday we visited Grandma Betty and took her to lunch at Sizzler. Grandma and I have this little joke going.....whenever I call and she's not there, I leave a message asking if she's out partying. I called her this morning to see what time we could come visit her and she wasn't there. When she called me back, she told me she had just gotten home from partying the night before. She is a pretty funny lady. It was a great weekend and it was fun to spend time with the family.

Mowing the Lawn!!!

So Paul is out of town and we are going up to Idaho this weekend, so I offered to mow the lawn so he didn't have to worry about it. Paul took me outside on Sunday and told me exactly what to do and what pattern I should follow. He showed me how to empty the bag and take the garbage bag out of the trash can. I was ready to do some damage! So I go out to start mowing the lawn. I'm thinking to myself, "this isn't too bad". Then about 5 minutes later, I am EXHAUSTED. I am seeing spots and keep thinking I'm going to pass out. But I keep pressing on. Finally, I finish the front yard. I drag myself inside to get a drink and call Paul to give him a progress report. I honestly feel like I just ran a 5K and won. I can't breathe and Paul keeps asking me if I've passed out. I keep asking him if I'm a wussy and why is it so difficult for me to do and then he asks me the million dollar question........"Are you using the self propel lever?" I say, Of course I am, but as I go outside to finish up the side of the front yard, I realize there is a little black lever I haven't noticed before. I mowed the whole frickin front yard without using the self propel lever!!!!!! It was like I was back in 1993 mowing my grandma's lawn in Ririe. That mower was self-propelled. I must like to punish myself. But I must say, the lawn doesn't look too bad. If you don't look too close, you won't see all the patches that I missed. Paul, please don't ever go out of town again, so I don't have to mow the lawn! :-)

Bear Lake

We went to Bear Lake on Saturday jet skiing. Paul wanted to do something with his family since we haven't done anything with them all summer. However, Rick and Lisa already had plans to go down to SLC school clothes shopping, so they were unable to come. Then on Thursday, Kari got really sick and so her and Clark couldn't come either. Although we missed them, we still tried to have fun without them. Dave, Lyn, me and Paul drove up to Bear Lake Saturday morning. Nick and Dani were already up there. We loaded the jet ski's into the water around 9:30 and set out for a fun day. Since we have had numerous unsuccesful trips to Bear Lake (getting trapped out on the lake in a terrible rain storm, getting Paul's truck stuck in the lake and having a tow truck tow it out, and Paul going to the hospital after passing out from dehydration and heat stroke), we were anticipating that something wrong would happen. Thankfully we were able to have a fun day at the lake with no incidents........other than a few sore muscles and getting slightly sunburned. We headed home late in the afternoon, showered and went to dinner at Firehouse Pizzeria. All in all it was fun to spend time with Paul's family and create some fun memories. Kari, Clark, Charlotte, Rick, Lisa and the boys were all missed. :-(

Yummiest Dessert Ever!!!

Ok - I just had to share this dessert with you. My BFF Lindsay shared it with me and it is probably the most delicious thing I have ever tasted. I have quite the sweet tooth and this is by far the yummiest one ever!!! So here is the recipe and I hope you all enjoy it.

ICE CREAM KRISPIE DESSERT:
1/2 cup butter melted
2 cups rice krispies
3/4 cups chopped cashews
1/4 cup almond pieces
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup coconut
Mix butter and sugar, pour over rice, coconut, nuts and press 2/3 mixture into a 9X13 pan; slice ice cream into 1 1/2" slabs spread over bottom and cover with remaining mixture and freeze.

For toppings you can do strawberries and strawberry glaze, or chocolate and carmel sauce. I am not kidding. This will be a dessert that you will have to hide or you will eat the whole pan.

A big thanks to Lindz for introducing me to it!

Enjoy!!!

Busy Week!

Wow, this last week was pretty busy. On July 23, Paul and I met up with July, Cory and Cayman to go to the Bountiful 24th of July Parade. It was at 6:00 p.m. and holy crap was it hot!!! The parade wasn't too fun, but watching Cayman dance to all the marching bands was. She is such a little cutie and I love to make her laugh.

On July 25th, we went to Clark and Kari's to celebrate our other niece's 2 year birthday. It was good to see the whole Watson Clan. Charlotte is so smart and she loved the book and dollhouse we got her. It was hard to pull her away from the new books to get her to play with the dollhouse. She loves reading!! Kari was able to put her hair in ponytails and she sure looked cute!

Then on Sunday, Paul and I had to talk in church. That is so scary! Paul did an amazing job. He has such a knack for talking.....no nerves at all. He was interesting and informative and the congregation loved it. I was so nervous and my legs and hands were shaking so bad I thought I was going to fall over. But I made it through and it seemed to go ok. Thank goodness that is over with and now maybe we won't have to talk for another 5 years!

Paul and I have discovered that golfing on Sunday afternoons is a great activity. We get to spend time together enjoying the outdoors and not just sit on the couch watching TV. We went last week and this week and I think we will probably go next week too. It is nice to be able to go and get some use out of my new clubs we bought in May. I have to say, my game is improving. I think we may even be able to join some couples tournaments next year. (hee hee, we'll see). Paul is an awesome golfer. I don't know if its his skill or his expensive clubs, maybe a little of both, but he does a really good job.

4th of July Weekend

Our wonderful 4 day weekend has come and gone. We left on Thursday night with our friends, Lindsay and Shayne Howell, and drove down to St. George. We stayed in this awesome brand new home. We went and saw Les Mis at the Tuacahn Ampitheater, and it was amazing! We also drove into Vegas for a day and saw the Bodies Exhibit. It was crazy! They take a dead person and pump it full of silicon so you can see all the muscles and organs. It was pretty cool. We spent a lot of time indoors since it was 107 degrees outside. We did go golfing on Monday morning at 7:30 a.m. and by the time we were done at 10:00, I had a pretty good tan going on. It was fun to get away and spend some time with good friends, and very disappointing to be back at work. :-(