Christmas Tag

Well, I am long overdue for an update. Maybe down the road. I loved reading this on Alisa and Leona's pages, so I am jumping on the bandwagon.

1. Have you started your Christmas shopping?
Oh yes. I am pretty much done. Only a couple more things to get!

2. Tell me about one of your special traditions.
We have always used our own socks for our stockings instead of the fancy ones you see. When we were kids we used to use my dad's socks because we figured he had the biggest sock which means more stuff. Now that I'm an adult I realize my dad's feet are actually pretty small and that I should have used my tights instead. . . :) I remember the Christmas orange stuffed all the way to the bottom in the toe. I definitely want to continue that with my family.

3. When do you put up your tree?
Depends on the year. It was different every time, and honestly there were a couple times we did it on Christmas Eve. Yikes!

4. Are you a Black Friday shopper?
Nope! There isn't anywhere to do it in the Basin except Wal-mart, and like Alisa said, no deal is that good. I did it one time when we were in Arizona for Thanksgiving. Missed the doorbusters, but there were some good deals. I'm just really not much of a shopper. Maybe I'll try it for real sometime.

5. Do you travel at Christmas or stay home?
Both! Right now we travel to be with family. When I was growing up we stayed home sometimes, and went places others. We went to South Carolina one Christmas to be with the Fillmores. That was a blast. We spent Christmas at Bench's one time, and we took a random trip up to North Dakota around Christmas time as well. I don't believe we actually spent Christmas there, but Alisa and I did freeze our hair so it stood straight up! That North Dakota weather!

6. What is your funniest Christmas memory?
I don't know if this is the funniest, but I can't remember any others. This is when we spent Christmas with Fillmores. They had this rule that everyone (especially the parents) had to be awake before we could come down to see the Christmas tree. Kelly, Celina and I conjured this plan that whoever woke up first would wake the other two up. Then we went into the brother's room (which was right above Brian and Reida's room) and jumped and stomped as hard as we could. We were ready for Christmas to start! Fun times.

7. What is your favorite Christmas movie of all time?
Oh dear! As a kid, probably Charlie Brown's Christmas, then A Christmas Story. Now it is a tie between A Christmas Story and Elf.

8. Do you do your own Christmas baking?
Not really. I'm usually at one of the parent's house. I help cook though.

9. Fake or real tree?
Fake. I remember this one Christmas we went up on our hill next to our house to find a tree. It wasn't a pine tree, it was a juniper tree that was shaped the most like a Christmas tree. Then we went home and drank hot cider. I loved it but my mom said it smelled funny. (like cat-pee to be exact). After that it was always a fake tree that my mom scented with essential oils, or burns a candle to make it smell. I don't mind a fake tree. Ane says we used to go up in the mountains and get a REAL pine tree. I don't remember that.

10. What day does the actual panic set in to get it all done?
Hmmm. . . I remember finishing up shopping on Christmas Eve a couple times when I was growing up, but I was never paniced. Maybe when I am trying to shop for a whole family, then I might panic.

11. Are you still wrapping presents on Christmas Eve? Many times. Sometimes mine, but USUALLY everyone else's. I LOVE to wrap presents. And they know it. But I still like to be surprised, so the ideal way is that they put the present in a box with who it's to and from, then I wrap it. I've even wrapped my own at least once. I don't mind though.

12. What is your favorite family fun time at Christmas?
Opening presents I suppose. We take turns opening one present at a time. It lasts longer and we all get to see what everyone gets. Jed thinks he has to make it last even longer, so he usually brings a knife and carefully unwraps without ripping the paper so it can last even longer.

13. What Christmas craft do you like the best?
Don't really do specific crafts around Christmas time. I do like making presents though.

14. Christmas music, yes or no? And if yes, what is your favorite song?
Umm! That's a hard one. . . YES! I love O Holy Night, but my favorite Christmas CD is the Carpenter's Christmas. Good memories.

15. When do you plan to finish all of your shopping?
This weekend? Monday at the latest.

So now that you've read this, TAG you're it! Copy the questions on your blog and answer them! It's so fun seeing what everyone's traditions and favorites are!

Merry Christmas!

Call me! No Texting for now.

If you want or need to get a hold of me in the next 3 weeks or so, Call me and leave a message. No texts. Here is why . . .

So, I work outside all day. The other day I dropped my phone while working. (It's these darn girl pants. The pockets aren't deep at all and my phone got splooched out when I bent down). Well, upon discovering that it was missing, we retraced where we had been and couldn't find it. My coworker, Lauren, kept calling it as we went to each stop as we looked. At one point it stopped ringing and went straight to voicemail. We had been working near a school where there is a lot of foot traffic, so I figured it must have been stolen because somebody had to turn it off. I sadly admitted that I would have to buy a new phone and get my sim card deactivated to avoid anyone racking up bills on my phone. I called my mom to let her know and . . . aha!! Someone had turned it in to the T-mobile store. So, good new is that I have my phone for anyone contacting me. Bad news is, THE SCREEN IS BROKEN! I can't tell if I have any missed calls, texts, etc. I can only call those people whose phone number's I have memorized (or that Michael has in his phone). So if any of ya'll want/need to get a hold of me. . . call me and leave a message. :) I have a new screen on its way (from Hong Kong so it will take a while). Meanwhile I reminisce about the days when I memorized the numbers of my friends and family vs. entering them into my phone. Remember those little black books to keep telephone numbers in? Sure wish I had a back up of one of those. :)

I Love the Mountains, I love the rolling hills, I love the fountains. . . . . .

Once again I think of things to blog about, but just don't get around to doing it. Michael recently got called to serve with the Young Men. His first duty was to go on "High Adventure". Man I wish I could have gone. They hiked to King's Peak. I guess it was a pretty grueling hike. It was 28 miles total, but they did 20 miles of it in one day! They hiked 8 miles the first day to the base camp. Then the next day they hiked 6 miles to the summit and then turned around and hiked the total 14 miles out! Killer! Michael's knee started hurting, but as he put it, "Couldn't do anything about it," so he continued to hike. He said he just took some Ibuprofen and the swelling went down overnight. They ended the trip spending a day of swimming, cliff-jumping, and mountain-biking at Flaming Gorge. I was very jealous of that part. I have actually been to the spot they were cliff-jumping at. It has some fond memories for me. Ones of De and Toby decorating themselves with moss to create green belly-button, armpit and facial hair. Good Times. I was glad to have Michael back. He has to leave me all the time for Guard, but i usually can talk to him. Not this time. Here are some pictures he took. What a beautiful view.

Michael says they were doing a "Caber Toss"

Lost? . . .

Oh yeah, my hero! :)

The following Monday, we decided we would go on another hike. Cache Valley is so wonderful and I feel like I have wasted a lot of my time here focused on school (go figure!). So I am trying to take advantage of these last few months. We decided we would hike to the "Jardine Juniper". It is said to be Utah's oldest tree. It is said to be 3200 years old. We looked online and found out the trail is 5.2 miles long. Easy hike right? Well it really wasn't all that bad. We just didn't know where it ended, so we kept thinking we were almost there. When you think the trail ends just around the bend, and it ends over two more mountains, it makes the hike feel a little longer. Michael's knee and ankle started acting up again from the previous trip, so it was no surprise when he got a little frustrated. "Where is this stupid tree!" "I am going to burn down this stupid tree." Don't worry . . . he was joking. . . it is still there for anyone else to hike to. The hike down felt a lot faster of course because we knew how far we were going, but it wasn't completely pleasant for either of us per we were both sporting injuries. Looking back on the hike, it was fun. I ended up with some wicked sore calf muscles. Ouch! I haven't been that sore since endless calf-raises at volleyball camp.

Not the Jardine Juniper but a Narly Juniper just the same!

I have no idea what kind of snake this was. We saw it on the way up. It was so smooth that I thought it was some kind of liquid at first.

Finally! The notorious Jardine Juniper! Supposed to be alive when the Eqyptians were building pyramids.

After a lunch of smushed tuna sandwiches, we hiked down. We saw these berries. They look like rasberries, but I wasn't about to eat them because the leaves looked all wrong.

Look how big those leaves are! These berries were all over! I smashed one in my fingers and it had s raspberry-ish smell to is, but it also smelled different. Maybe if we were starving and desperate, but I kept thinking of some saying someone told me about the colors of berries. . . "White, take flight. Red, your dead."

(I was told that at a very young age, and I am sure it isn't true.)Michael is just about healed up now. He doesn't say anything but I notice he walks different sometimes and some movements are checked. I am sure he would have been back to 100 % capacity a few days ago if I hadn't suggested the hike. Oh well, right? Gotta take advantage of Cache valley while we are here. Injuries aside. The scenery, sweat, and conversation made it all worth it.

July the 4th and some other RANDOMNESS

I suppose I should start with the Randomness. These are pictures I had planned on posting, but didn't. Now I have a bazillion (an actual number) so the time has come.
First: Once upon a time, Michael and I went on a hike. We started up a trail, then saw a cave in the distance and decided we would try to get to it. We never did. It was much steeper than we thought. We ended up just above the cave when I decided I was much too nervous to go any farther. It was one of those mountains made of loose rock that shifts with every step. I kept envisioning what I would do if I fell. So we called it close enough and headed down the mountain. These are a couple pictures from the hike. Granted, they are from my phone, but you can still see how beautiful Cache Valley is.

Man, he is cuh-ute!

This picture has been my wallpaper on my phone for a while now. I told Leona I would put it on the blog, so here it is. To explain, Reid and Lliam have "gangsta" faces they do. One day I was at their house wearing this hoodie when Reid came up to me and told me to put my hood on and put my hands in my pockets (like him) and make this face. It was

No explanation needed. Superman sometimes helps my mom do dishes. (More truthfully. . . he just plays in the dishwasher).This is when Paige is the happiest! As you can see! She LOVES it!

Done with the randomness and on to the 4th of July! Michael and I packed light for the weekend and made the trip out to the Basin on our motorcycle. It was SOOO much fun, but required a few extra stops than usual (butt breaks). I wanted to get a picture of both of us on the bike, but it is hard to do when we are the only ones around. I felt really hard core (even though we are FAR from it). Michael has a black leather jacket and a black helmet. I have a Red-ish leather jacket, and a red-ish helmet. I am sure we looked pretty cool. (Ha!) One of our butt breaks was taken by Devil's Slide.

We spent the weekend in with Michael's family. One of the festivities was a children's rodeo. We watched hours (literally) of children chasing bunnies, kittens, puppies, chickens, and goats. It was entertaining at times, but far too drawn out. My favorite event was the Mutton bustin'. Little kids volunteer to ride sheep to see how far they get. Our 4-year-old nephew participated and was in the top 4! I had a hard time getting a picture, but here is my best one. You may have to click on it to see a larger version.
This little girl was sitting in front of us. I have no idea who she is, but I loved her 4th of July outfit, and her uber-cute high-pitched voice. Michael said she sounded like a munchkin. I loved it. I am sure he will think it is cute when we have our own squeaky munchkin. After the 4th of July parade, we did some target shooting and took a walk in the fields. I found this SWEET mushroom that was almost the size of a volleyball. The plantlife is loving all this rain we are having. In Michael's words, "Fungus likes rain too, Alta."

Leif. . . Want a bite?
And a close-up brought to you by macro photography.

If you have ever been out on my parents farm, you may have experienced the mushrooms we call "smoke-bombs" or "puff-balls", etc. They are usually smaller than a ping-pong ball. We found some the size of baseballs. I tried to get an action shot.

Before:
Action!

The plant life was just booming (or should I say blooming) because of the rain we have been getting. I love it. Michael went out with the camera and got some pretty awesome shots to share with ya'll. Enjoy!

Click on this one. The larger view makes the clouds seam much more ominous.

There was a fire by the parent's house a few years ago. That explains the skeletons of trees you see. Click on it for a better view.

I loved seeing everyone at the reunion and only wish it could have lasted longer. You can thank Michael for this post, because he has started nudging me and saying "Hey, you can blog about this." Thanks Babe!

Paintball Madness!!

If you were at our wedding, you know that we like paintballing. Last weekend we went down to Utah valley for a halo style (team slayer type) tri-state paintball game. I decided not to join in the fun thinking there would be crazy people there. Now I seriously regret it. I am sure I would have enjoyed it and really need to get my gun fixed so I can do it next time. Michael went with some friends. They were ooober excited the night before. Here are some pictures of the slayers. Man I wish I had gone!! (BTW this is what I call the classic Michael pose. He even got a couple of those in when we got married.)


They actually had a "tank" at this game. (Do you see why I thought it was going to be a little too intense?)



A picture of the damage done by the tank to one of Michael's friends. Not too pretty. The tank was obviously shooting a little hot.

Happy Birthday To ME!

Michael gave me my present on Friday night after work. He had wanted to give it to me earlier this week, but I wanted to wait until my birthday. Then on Friday after work, he had this funny look on his face and I knew he couldn't wait. So funny. He wanted to record it so I would finally have something to post about on my blog. So here is the video.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

So now I have something to play with while they are doing their Halo things. I love it because there are some really dorky games that I love. Mario is one. Always liked the old Mario. You know, the 2D one. (Seen below).It also has the Mario game that Sam and I used to play at my Uncle David's house. (The one where you have to jump up under the turtles to make them flip over, then you have to kick them off the screen.) And now this Nintendo DS has some fun games too. I am getting a brain teazer game so I don't feel quite as lame about playing a Nintendo. I know, I am a dork. But I married a dork, so we live a very happy . . .dorky. . . existence.