Snow, Snow, Snow & More Snow

Yeah, we've got snow.  LOTS of it.  And we seem to get more and more of it, about every other day.  The evening news predicted another 6 inches by tomorrow morning, followed by another storm Sunday and then another one next Wednesday.  Yeah, I'm a little jealous of Laurel's flowers on her porch and the balmy 50 degrees.  But...I would miss how amazingly beautiful all this snow is.  Yeah, I know - I'm nuts!  But check out these recent pictures...isn't it beautiful?

I love how it looks when the sun is rising or setting and everything is pure and beautiful in the snow.  I wish I would have had my camera this morning on the way to work.  The mountains looked spectacular!  

So, the snow is messy and hard to drive in on occasion and every morning I pray as I drive up the steep driveway that I will actually make it to the top.  I repeat the same prayer as I drive up 1st South to the University...I would absolutely hate to start sliding back down...that is my fear.   So far, though...as bad as this winter has been, driving has been OK.  So, yeah - as nice as warmer weather would be, I'm going to appreciate what we have....the snow!  

Abby Loves Her Dad

Couldn't wait to post the following picture that Abby drew yesterday....

Isn't that the cutest thing EVER?  Yes, he does have arms, they are just light blue and you can just barely see them.  Blair, you need to know that Abby and I are your biggest fans!  We love you!

Gordon B. Hinckley 1910-2008

I guess I always knew that he was getting older...although until recently you really couldn't tell.  He certainly didn't act like most 97-year-olds, although I really haven't known very many!  He was amazing in about ten million ways.  I think one of the reasons I really admired him was his love for EVERYONE.  It didn't matter who you were, you just knew he loved you.  I was always anxious to hear him speak at General Conference every six months and have absolutely, truly loved hearing him speak.  I've been lucky enough to see him in person a few times at meetings in the Tabernacle and Conference Center and very well remember everyone rising to their feet and the absolute silence that would occur as he walked into the room.  It didn't feel real until this afternoon when I was driving home (early, because of the storm) and listening to the radio.  They were discussing how a public viewing would probably be held and I remembered walking past President Benson's casket in the Church Administration Building and suddenly thought - NO, not President Hinckley!  While I am certain that a joyous reunion has taken place there will be many that will miss him.  I am one.  

My sister sent me the following link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC0W0ZVI9ak but be prepared - you might need some Kleenex's.  I'm just grateful for the past 13 years to have been inspired and taught by such a great leader.  We'll miss you, President Hinckley!  

Bono, The Edge & Snow

The past few days have been quite exciting around our neck of the woods!  Monday (Human Rights Day) was spent at home as the entire city was hit with a GIGANTIC snowstorm!  I was SO glad I didn't have to go to work that day!  Here is a shot I took out our back door...

It doesn't really look that deep, but we got about 8 inches (on top of the other snow already there!)  They said on the news Monday night that we will get five more storms in the next fourteen days.  Kinda cool!  (In a January, snowy kinda way!)

Having a whole day in the house (along with the rest of the weekend, which was pretty much spent indoors because of Abby's pinkeye and cough) I managed to put together our little home office.  Check it out...

Blair put up the shelves and then I put everything else together...isn't it cool?  It looks even BETTER than the Elfa shelves that were $1,000 online!  I can now do about everything I do in my office at work from home.  That definitely comes in handy when a small one comes down with pinkeye and other such fun things!

Then, last night Abby and I saw the new U2 3D movie at the IMAX theater at Jordan Commons.  Blair won tickets on the radio (how cool is that?) and I just have one word....WOW!  For all those U2 fans out there...don't miss it!  And, if you like Bono as much as I do, you might possibly quit breathing at certain moments during the movie.  The 3D effects were amazing and he was literally just inches away...so yeah, I quit breathing for a minute or two!  It was AWESOME, although kinda weird because you're watching a concert, yet you feel like you should behave as if you were watching a movie, because you are.  Still, lots of people were singing along - kinda couldn't help it.  Especially during the song "Pride."  It might have been because Monday was Human Rights Day, but it made me cry.  At every U2 concert, that is always my favorite, but this was absolutely amazing.  Even Abby loved it - she said that "the guy with the sunglasses that sings" was her favorite.  YEAH!  And, my favorite part...she grabbed me at the beginning and whispered in my ear, "Mom, that guy playing the guitar (The Edge) is my friend Emily's dad!"  If this is true, we definitely need to have Emily over for a play-date.  With her dad.  :)

Well, gotta go - "Dinner Impossible" on the Food Network is on and it's quickly becoming my favorite!  Good night, all!  

My Small Pink Eyed One

So, Abby and I are home today as a result of some lovely PINK EYE!  We have some antibiotics drops to help, but Abby needs them for 24 hours before she can go back to school....so I am working at home and Abby is busy coloring, playing on the computer and watching movies.  We put our old PC in Abby's room for her to use and she is REALLY enjoying it.  The printer needed some ink, so I went to look at what cartridge number I needed and found this:

Yes, this would be Yogi, curled up in Abby's art bag next to the printer!  I thought it was one of her stuffed animals and it was a rude shock to discover a LIVE animal in there!  Kinda funny, though - thought I would share.  

Blogger is Being Weird

So, after I just tried to post the "Haka" message, it obviously posted it twice.  I'm just lucky that Blogger actually let me upload the video at all, right?  Anyway...just the explanation for the twin posts tonight.  Now I am really done for the night.  Really!  Good night!  

The Promised Haka

OK, as promised, here is the haka from last night.  I am still just amazed at all that happened - all the connections, all the great stories, etc.  So cool!  Today I started looking at flights to New Zealand and what I needed to do to obtain a passport.  We have to go!  And, like I mentioned last night - the haka happens to be one of my all-time favorite things ever!  ENJOY!

And, before I go....a quick "amazement" about my Mac.  As many of you know, I've produced quite a few slideshows for various people over the past couple of years.  Weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.  This usually meant hours of work (after coming HOME from work) even more if there were pictures to scan.  Even a "small" slideshow of 150 pictures already on CD would take 2-3 hours per night for a week.  I had to use TWO software programs and one more to burn the label onto the DVD.  I loved doing it because it was creative, it was just time-consuming and frustrating at times.  So, Sunday night I decided to try out i-Movie.  I had a lesson on it Saturday morning and was itching to see what it was really like.  Needless to say, I created a 91 picture slideshow of cute pictures of Abby from 2007, complete with two songs in half an hour.  Yes, you read that correctly...HALF AN HOUR!  I was flabbergasted!  Then tonight, I figured out how to burn it to DVD and completed that in 7 minutes.  Yep, you read that right again - 7 MINUTES!  I am amazed, grateful and now brimming with ideas for new DVD's!  So, if you stop by and my house looks like a disaster, that's because all I want to do is create cool new things with my Mac.  I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!

The Promised Haka

OK, as promised, here is the haka from last night.  I am still just amazed at all that happened - all the connections, all the great stories, etc.  So cool!  Today I started looking at flights to New Zealand and what I needed to do to obtain a passport.  We have to go!  And, like I mentioned last night - the haka happens to be one of my all-time favorite things ever!  ENJOY!

And, before I go....a quick "amazement" about my Mac.  As many of you know, I've produced quite a few slideshows for various people over the past couple of years.  Weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.  This usually meant hours of work (after coming HOME from work) even more if there were pictures to scan.  Even a "small" slideshow of 150 pictures already on CD would take 2-3 hours per night for a week.  I had to use TWO software programs and one more to burn the label onto the DVD.  I loved doing it because it was creative, it was just time-consuming and frustrating at times.  So, Sunday night I decided to try out i-Movie.  I had a lesson on it Saturday morning and was itching to see what it was really like.  Needless to say, I created a 91 picture slideshow of cute pictures of Abby from 2007, complete with two songs in half an hour.  Yes, you read that correctly...HALF AN HOUR!  I was flabbergasted!  Then tonight, I figured out how to burn it to DVD and completed that in 7 minutes.  Yep, you read that right again - 7 MINUTES!  I am amazed, grateful and now brimming with ideas for new DVD's!  So, if you stop by and my house looks like a disaster, that's because all I want to do is create cool new things with my Mac.  I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!

One Amazing Night

There are a lot of things I love about my husband.  One of those things is his ability to bring people together.  At first meeting you might think he is shy...but he's really not.  He's a "people person" of the highest caliber.  Tonight I witnessed that to a degree that I really hadn't before.  Blair served his mission in Australia and he keeps in touch with those mission buddies pretty regularly.  One of the people he served with, Arama Chase is from New Zealand and told Blair he would come to the States if Blair ever got married...so he was a treasured guest at our wedding!  Unfortunately, he couldn't bring his wife and children then, so he went home and made a goal to return with them as soon as possible.  Well, that is now!  They have been in the "States" for about a week now - spending time at Disneyland, Vegas, and now Utah before heading off to Hawaii next week.  So, Blair threw them a huge party tonight at the Cultural Celebration Center where he works.  Here's where the "bringing people together" comes in.  The Utah Maori Association practices dancing there every Thursday night, so Blair knows all of them and after meeting them tonight, they all love him.  So, of course - they were invited!  My connection to all of this is my grandparents, who taught at the Church College in New Zealand when I was little.  In fact, they were there when I was born and didn't meet me until I was three and they came home.  Their home was filled with treasures from New Zealand and truly every time I have ever heard Maori's perform, I have felt connected to them because of my grandparents.  My Aunt Penny was also there for two years, so she and my Uncle Garry came tonight as well.  Our neighbors, Steve & Athalie Yeiter also came as Athalie grew up in New Zealand and knew my aunt and everyone that Blair knew!  Confused yet?  Arama also knew all these people because of the Church College.  So not only was it a grand reunion of old friends, but we were treated to dancing and singing, the haka and stories about my grandparents that I had never heard before tonight.  I even met Marge, one of the sisters that typed up the patriarchal blessings that my grandpa gave and Dave Atkinson who was in the English class that my grandpa taught.  How cool is that?  Yeah, it was pretty awesome.  It was one of those nights that you don't want to end - I really didn't want to leave!  But, Abby had to get to bed so here we are - Abby is sound asleep and I am blogging about my awesome husband and the amazing night he provided for LOTS of people tonight.  

I only had my little digital camera, so I hope y'all can appreciate the video I took - this is Arama and his beautiful wife, Naomi with their three children singing and I had taken one of the Haka, but for some reason Blogger won't let me upload it.  I guess I'll have to try again tomorrow!  I promise - because the haka is my ALL TIME favorite thing ever.  Well, besides Blair and Abby of course.

So, that was our amazing night.  Isn't my husband awesome?  I am blessed and lucky to even hang out with him, much less BELONG to him!  So, that's my gratitude tonight - thanks, Blair for an amazing night.  You are truly good and did SUCH good things tonight.  I love you!

I Love My Mac!

Just a quick post to say how much I love my Mac! 

Here is what it looked like on Christmas, when I unpacked it....

 I had my second "Mac lesson" today at the Apple store and was brave enough to come home, move everything to the external hard drive and then unhook my PC and hook up my Mac!  Can I just say how much EASIER it is than the PC?  It instantly recognized my Kodak EasyShare docking station WITHOUT any software...how cool is that?  While I still don't know a ton, I am trying to learn fast and it's AWESOME!  Let's just say that I have about 10 projects in mind right now and probably need a sabbatical from work to get them all done! (Just kidding, I am more than swamped right now at work, but that's another story!)  Now I just need to get busy and put everything on the shelves that Blair put up and get this "home office" really running.  Wish me luck!  

Abby Can Read!

As most of you know, I am one of those annoyingly proud parents that LOVE to tell everyone how totally smart my child is...and I guess it would be more annoying if it wasn't TRUE! But she is - she is SO smart! I guess it's just amazing to me that a child that I had some effort in producing is so smart...it must all be from her dad! Tonight Abby's homework was a little book they made at kindergarten today called "Cat Sat." Her assignment was to color in the pictures and then read me the book. When I volunteered at Abby's school a few weeks ago, we worked on similar projects. I would read a worksheet with little words on it to each student and they would read them back. Some of them were really struggling and I had to help them. I was impressed then that Abby really seemed to be "getting it" but no one NEAR as impressed as tonight...when she sat me down and read ME a bedtime story instead of the other way around. Here is the book...

Complete with my signature, so she can turn it in tomorrow. I guess I knew she was learning a lot of words, but WOW - I can't even describe how AWESOME it feels to have your five-year-old sit you down and read you a book! She can't now imagine how many worlds this will open up to her...I have always LOVED to read and have found it a cure for most everything....sadness, boredom, anger, indifference, curiosity, etc. etc. etc. I can't imagine how different my life would have been without books and words. I was so inspired that I took my entire "Chronicles of Narnia" collection out of Abby's room to start re-reading! Guess I better get started...good night, all!

Cole & the Giant Snowstorm!

So, yesterday was Cole's blessing day. The day he was born was a beautiful sunny fall day in stark contrast to yesterday - which was a giant snowstorm! Everyone arrived in Logan and back home again just fine. Cole, we just want you to know (as well as Mandy & Tony) that NO snowstorm could ever keep us from something as awesome as yesterday! Thanks for sharing your day with us!




Cole, with my mom....


Sort of smiling...


Checking out all the people who came to see him!

Isn't he the most darling baby EVER?!?!? Yes, I think so, too. We love you, Cole!

Christmas, New Year's, Etc. Etc. Etc.!!!

Yes, I realize that it is already January 5th and I haven't blogged since before Christmas! Yikes! This is because we have been BUSY! Christmas (and the weekend before) were incredibly fun. I came home on the Friday before Christmas to an early present from Leland & Scott...a new fireplace! It is soooooo awesome and Blair had even set up Christmas stockings! We are sooooo blessed and lucky to have friends that are so good to us!

You can't really see how cool it is, I need to take some more pictures.

Then, Saturday we went to "Breakfast with Santa" at the zoo with Todd, Karrie, Reagan & Bridger. This is becoming a yearly tradition that we really look forward to! We all get a hot, yummy breakfast, the kids get to create a craft and then all the kids get a picture with Santa. We also took the opportunity to walk around the zoo and meet the new baby giraffe! A great time was had by all...here are the photos!

Here is Abby, talking to Santa (she had a lot to tell him!)

Here are Reagan, Bridger & Abby...cute cousins!

The BEST time to see the tigers (and other cats at the zoo) is in the winter. They are active and SO cool to watch. I took a video of the kids "chasing" the leopard but for some reasons Blogger won't let me upload it. I guess I'll try again later!

Sunday we went to Todd & Karrie's for a fun Christmas dinner and games (which are ALWAYS hilarious!) and had a great time. Abby always has fun with her cousins! Here they are, looking a little goofy! (Well, Abby looks a little goofy!)

Monday night was the annual Richard's family Christmas Eve party in North Ogden. (This is Blair's mom's side of the family) and it's always fun. Abby always looks forward to the Christmas play and this year she was an angel (isn't she always?!?!) I'm not quite sure if she's flexing her "angel muscles" or what!

Then, the big event...CHRISTMAS! Abby was so darling this year - she was thrilled with everything Santa brought her. She was MORE thrilled with what our friends lovingly bestowed upon her! She loved her talking parrot & chef outfit from Leland & Scott and the laptop with games from Earl! In fact, those were her favorite presents - who needs Santa when you have Leland, Scott & Earl?!?! She also loved her "Littlest Pet Shop" toys and promptly spend the $$$ she recived from Grandma Boothe to buy more of them at Toys-R-Us the day after Christmas. I am starting to realize that this might become a habit for her! Santa (Blair) was INCREDIBLY kind to me (even though I didn't deserve it) and I GOT A MAC!!!!!!!!!! Wahoo!!!!!!!!! I was literally stunned when I opened the box and couldn't speak properly for at least 10 minutes. It came with a "One-to-One" membership which means that I get "Mac training" every week at the Apple store for a year. Isn't that SO COOL?!?!? I had my first class this morning and I CAN'T WAIT to set everything up. I still need to migrate all my documents, pictures, etc. over to my external hard drive, load them on the Mac, then set it all up. It's so cool that it makes me giggle even thinking about it! Yeah, I know - techno-nerd....but PROUD OF IT!!!

The next week I took some time off work (no students right now!) and spent the whole time with Abby and Blair (when he wasn't at work). Can I just say how truly lovely that was? We went to movies, lunch, played with her presents, and just hung out. I just LOVE being with both of them! We spent New Year's Eve with Kati & the kids, eating LOTS of yummy food and playing "Dance Dance Revolution" which is AWESOME! I was threatened with my life if I put pictures up...so no pictures. It was fun, though! We made it home before midnight, called Blair who was working and then Abby went to bed and I listened to the fireworks downtown when it was midnight. We spent New Year's Day in North Ogden having fondue with Randall's and participating in the annual broom hockey game! Here are a few shots...

Fighting over the "puck" (small soccer ball!)

Dallas & Todd, fighting it out...it gets pretty intense!

This week Blair has been busy...he put up new shelves in our bedroom so we can have our own little home office! We had a computer desk up and everything, but now things are really going to be organized and AWESOME! I am working hard to go through all the stuff on my PC so I can migrate it over to my Mac. Tonight we are going to "Frost Fest" that University Health Care puts on at the Salt Palace. They even offered some discounts to local hotels, so Abby gets to spend the night with Reagan & Bridger (she keeps asking if it's time to go yet!) and Blair and I get a little vacation! Should be fun! Tomorrow we are traveling to Logan for Cole's blessing. I couldn't end a blog without a cute picture of him....

Isn't he SO cute?!?! He really looks like he loves his present! I can't wait to see him tomorrow!

I will try to post more regularly, now that the new year has started...maybe that can be one of my resolutions! Happy New Year!