Best Side

We had another Christmas Party.

Apparently, everyone has figured out that they can say no to Stinky Pete and so they chose to show their best side for the photos.

So here you go....

What do you want?

What's Christmas without a family party and Santa?

Santa was fantastic - as always.

We all had a good time laughing and playing.

And I love this photo because Grandpa is laughing hard, Santa is giving The Pickle bunny ears, and Eugene is "trying" not to smile.

Just another day of crazy!

Broken...

Aaron has had a tragic couple of weeks. His truck was totaled a week ago and then this happened...

He broke his tibia right before a soccer game. Which led to him being in this cast for two days before having surgery to have a rod put in his leg.

For the next 2-3 months he will be on crutches and stuck at home. This is not going to be a fun winter.... (and yes he really does look that sad all day long)

Sparkly

Everyone should go see the lights at Temple Square.

They are magnificent!

Reasons....

Yes, I have been missing in blogger world for awhile. Sorry for that, but I do have plenty of reasons (not excuses).
First, it was Thanksgiving and my house was invaded with family. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it just consumed lots of my time.
Second, I had many crises at work. Which included talk of getting laid-off, refusal of transfers, and no talk at all. I still don't have answers on the exact status of my job and that has led to many sleepless nights. (Which should be a reason to blog, but I don't think clearly during those times).
Third, a waterfall started in my house when a pipe decided to break. This was a days worth of drama. The pipe is fixed and we have water usage again, but the hole in my parents shower is still there. So we are back to sharing a bathroom, which some days makes me not so pleasant to be around.
Fourth, the garage door broke and held my car hostage for a day.
Fifth, Aaron.... that is all I have to say on that subject at this point in time. He will get his own special blog with pictures.

Anyway, those are all my reasons. Well, and the fact that I can't blog at work because my pictures don't load correctly and that annoys me, so by the time I get home I don't want to get on the computer. (And some days it takes forever for blogger to upload my pictures and then I have to situate them correctly and, and, and.....)

Olives...

This has and always will be one of my favorite commercials...

And these two have and always will be "loved" for their
olive fingers....

Get a load of The Pickle in the background crying, hilarious!

Chaos

Since everyone is in town for the Holidays, we decided have a little impromptu hang-out session. Kelly was the gracious host mostly because he had a little medical procedure and was suppose to be on bed rest.

Stinky Pete had free reign of the camera, so this is what you get...

Let it Snow...

Last week Boogers was on the beach....

and now he is running through the snow.

(I think I would prefer the beach!)

Man, those are dang cute penguin hats!

We're coming for you

I don't think it is ever a good sign to look out your front window and see this...

Hey....

Saw this on my trip to Moab. Just had to take a picture and save it for some random day when I need blogging inspiration. I guess this is that day.

Planes, Trains, and.....

Now that Utah is all fancy and has a commuter train, I figured I should at least ride it once (besides, I have a free pass). There was definitely some hesitation as the end is Ogden (fondly referred to as the butt-crack of Utah). But I sucked it up and dragged Barbara and the kids along for the ride.

Stinky Pete and Eugene making sure not to forget their luggage...


The crew waiting for take-off (which was not quick.... warning, these are not bullet trains).

And this is the end of the line (well, not exactly, this was a block or more down the road from the desolate parking lot that was the actual end of the line).

We expected to do a little shopping and wandering around the much advertised 25th Street. The advertising was correct only in its claim of being historic, but that's it. There were several hair shops, bars, and empty buildings. Finally two blocks down we found Gandolfo's, but were quickly reminded that we were still in Ogden and the sandwiches were not up to par.

Colors

Since I do all this driving for work, I've been trying to remember to take some pictures to share with all of you. The problem is most of the time I just plain forget to take pictures, or I only remember as I'm speeding (at 103mph) down the road.

Last week I made a trip to Kanosh - who knew it was only five minutes off the freeway?! - then Cedar City - go SUU! - and on to St George - which I will always love and miss terribly (thanks Tara for providing me with much needed sanity... and some food!)

I of course didn't take one picture in any of those locations..... I blame my focus on work and need to "save those children" (but we all know it was my laziness and forgetfulness).

Anyway, on the drive back to Salt Lake the sun was setting and it was beautiful. And so I stopped and enjoyed it for a few minutes....

Eat...

My three favorite reasons to love this holiday......

Well, and the buckets of candy of course!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Dreamland

I rarely (if ever) remember my dreams. So when those rare occurrences happen I tend to think it's a sign of something (not sure what sign, since the dreams are crazy).
Anyway, a week ago I dreamt that I was in Vegas (baby!) and won $287,334 playing the slots - since that's all I dare (or know how) to play. After getting ID'd by the casino management and receiving my money I didn't do anything wild and crazy... I apparently bought a condo in some weird location because I dreamt that it would probably be hard to sell when I wanted to move (see, crazy!)
Anyway, when I told my mom about the dream she was sure I should head on down to Vegas (baby!) and win all that money.... like it was my destiny or something.

Which then leads me to the dream I had the other night. Not totally sure all the details of the dream, just that there was a lizard in it and for some reason I woke up and had a major panic attack because I thought the lizard was climbing on my alarm clock. I bolted out of bed and just stood there wondering what I should do next. Finally when reality returned to my brain (and I had checked my blankets and pillows for lizards) I laid back down and eventually went back to sleep.
What is the reason behind this dream?! Seriously?! I do not need anymore reasons to be awake at night. I am blaming Mike Rowe for this dream because I had just spent an hour watching him catch Alligator Turtles. Oh, and I blame my doctor for prescribing me drugs that I'm sure led to my crazy dreams...

(At least I didn't run into my mom's bed screaming about lizards....or possibly snakes -Chris?)

Treats (not many Tricks)

Halloween has never been my favorite holiday. I'm slowly getting into it as the years go by (I blame Tara and her obsession with it). It is definitely easier to enjoy it when the kids are a little older and actually know what is going on.

Since my mustache party was such a success last year (and it kind of evolved into somewhat of a Halloween party) I decided to do it again this year. The costumes were only on for the pictures and then we spent the night eating (food and candy) and playing games (Phase 10 champion right here!)

Here's a rundown of the costumes - grandpa was Sheriff Woody, grandma was Jesse, Chuck was a baby giraffe, Stinky Pete was Spiderella, I was a Roller Derby Chick (....Sorry you didn't get to see all the awesomeness of my costume - the roller skates were the best part...), Eugene was Buzz (no surprise there), The Pickle was a big giraffe, Bryn was a penguin, Kelly was a scary skeleton/pirate dude, and Aaron was a doctor.



More eating.....

Mediocrity

Aaron and I saw this movie last weekend and it was AWESOME! I love, love, loved it! And recommend it to everyone. There is always a need for a good kick ass girl movie, and this is it.

The Duke

While in Moab, I was able to spend some quality time with none other than John Wayne. He was such a gentleman and allowed me to get as many pictures as I wanted.

And how sexy is this picture? He definitely made women swoon....