A Holiday Recap

So I blame it on having a no good connection to the internet for not updating my blog--and though that holds true, it's also becuase I don't feel like i ever have anything to ever update everybody on! My life is pretty much same ol' all the time!

I did go to Utah for Christmas which was way fun--but not nearly long enough! I can't believe how many people I didn't get to see, but was very happy to see the ones I did. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side, and you always want to be where your not. If that makes any sense.

Before heading to Utah though, We had Christmas in Missouri. I flew there Christmas eve, and My mom, dad, Uncle Bruce, Kim's family and Emily's family were already there. It was bitterly cold but fun there. We got lots of rounds of dominos in, some present exchanges, and yummy goodies. The day after Christmas Emily and her Family left and Ryans family came for a couple of days. So I was pretty lucky and actaully got to spend the holidays with every family member at some time. Then from Missouri I drove back to Utah with my parents to ring in the new year.

Dave and I pretty much spent everynight at Nate and Kristy's playing some sort of game. I've forgotten that there is life after dark!! I'm so used to my boring night of in bed by 10:30, it's good to know I've still got it in me to play past midnight! :) We got to play lots of Mario kart--though I think between Dave, Michael and Christian there was no way to win! They were too good.

So in no order at all, here are some pictures of the holidays. I don't really know how to add the pictures in a way that they come up in the order I anticipated. It always ends up in some funky order. But hey, it's better than nothing I guess!

Christmas Morning!

Meeting Little Tyler for the first time

Alex shared his rock band with us. And we sure did rock! :)

Sisters! We should've taken one with Emily there and been all 3! Hopefully next year!

Aunt Sandy and Mom bonding :)

Erin and her little doll sporting their beanies that Aunt Sandy made everyone. They were so cute! we had lots of colors and sizes to choose from.

Here's Emma with her doll Jenny.

Visiting Grandpa's grave.

Taking a break from the car on the drive home we stopped at Mormon Island. This is actaully where I spent my very first birthday. In the car coming home from Missouri. I guess I got a punch balloon and a cupcake and was happy as can be ;)

So we stopped here again since it was my birthday eve this year.

Burrr it was cold...but nice to stretch our legs! The little boys did so well with the drive!

Getting ready for some Mario Kart!!

Saying bye to the boys on my last night there :(

I don't know how much little Esplan warmed up to me, It's so sad not being there when they grow up--He was still pretty hesitant to come to me by the time I left...but he warmed up a little and at least pretended to play Mario kart with me. I just wish all of these states could merge in to one and we could be one big happy family :) haha

Kristy picked up some yummy cheesecake from Taggarts for my birthday!

Okay so this was actaully right before I left for Christmas. We went ice skating to celebrate christmas break. This picture is a little out of order, and late to say the least--but since I don't have many pics of my Texas fam--I wanted to share that too!

look at all this snow! And I won't miss it one bit!

And last but not least, posing by the front door with Kimi and KristyI can't think of a better place for a picture besides on the ground by the little caroling people :) (By the way...Kimi is engaged now yay!)

October fest

Though I've never been a big fan of halloween always trying to scrounge up some hand-me-down costumes and putting something together generally that morning before school just to show up and see all my friends in their home made costumes--I have always liked to see how clever other people can be. I did wear orange this year in spirit of the season though. But it worked, because luckily halloween is an American holliday so no one at work showed up in a better costume than me this year ;) But I do bet Ryan probably had the greatest one at his office!!

I didn't get nearly as much candy as the kids since my only stop was their houses to say hi--but they were all very generous in sharing! I got a little glimpse of all the kids minus Alex because he was at a party. Even though they had been out trick-or-treating and were worn out by this point, they were still cute as ever!

Return to Sender

So my friend Monica and I at work decided to try an experiement one day when we reached the end of our book of stamps. We wanted to use that Giant replica of the stamp that they put on the front of the book of stamps, and we glued it to an envelope. We put my name and address as the recipient, and her's as the return address and mailed it from work to see what would happen. Then we each wrote a note to each other to put in it to see where it ended up. Well, a few days later, it arrived at Monica's address! They had ripped off the stamp and stamped their own "return for postage" in it's place. Little did they know...we fooled that mail system! They actaully mailed it for us with no postage!!


Well, it's not quite as clever as some of Jim's office ideas, but hey, it killed a couple of minutes in the day for us! ;)

Here we are before and after...

On another note, Also at work, sometimes the asians like to have what they call a tea party where they order their famous boboli tea. I'm not a big fan normaly, but since it is the season, they actaully have pumpkin spice and is very good! The little boboli's are big black pearls that taste just like tapioca. So we took ours out to the little pond on our lunch break and drank away! This is a rare but fun occasion as it also takes away from the monotany of work. Also notice those ducks. They are the most unscared ducks I have ever seen! They beg worse than dogs! Every time someone is outside trying to eat their lunch, these ducks come right up under them trying to get a little somthin! It's a little frightening sometimes! They follow us like everyday and we've never even fed them! Crazy ducks! Maybe it's cuz we tease them and throw accorns trying to get them away....

short and sweet

Okay, So I have no "good" excuse for never updating my blog--but I can say that it's a gamble to get the internet at my apartment. Borrowing neighbors wireless just isn't all that reliabe. So I can't write much for fear of my luck running out. But pictures are worth a thousand words anyway...so I'll just post some pictures of about the last 2 months events. But since I don't have that Happenin' of a life--you didn't miss out on too much during this lapse ;) And the only times I've thought of updating is when I've taken a bazzilion more pictures of Roxy as she is all I have. But I don't wanna look like the crazy dog lady who is so obsessed with her pet she forgets she has a life---so I'll spare ya on some of the many!

So in no particular order--because really, I can't recall. And remember, I AM on a time frame against the wireless here, so I dont' have time to think that far back!

This first one is of Roxy's favorite place to sit when we're anywhere in the kitchen / living room area. I'm not sure if it is because it is the most cool spot, being as though it's not carpet, and I'm a little cheap and don't run my air conditioning much!! haha, but hey, I do like to be hot, so it works! She, on the other hand, probably doens't enjoy it as much and spends her time panting!




The next one is her favorite place to sleep at night....right next to my head on my extra pillows! But don't worry, if anyone comes to visit, I'll be sure to give 'em a good washing so you can have something to sleep on! And no, I'm not saying she's not already clean...but as an incentive to get some visitors. I have finally moved up off the air mattress now--6 months of that, and anything feels nice!



For Seth's bithday, we went to Gatti-town where we ate and played to out little hearts content! For some reason the kids really loved the bumper cars! hmm, maybe it's because they enjoyed me running into them so much! :)



Emily and I took Seth and Alex to see an SMU / TCU football game where Alex got to stand on the sidelines with all the other allen kids sporting there teams jersey's while the big guys warmed up. It was no BYU game...but it was fun none the less. I have forgotten how much I love watching actaully football in person!! Well, Besides the Nasty hard-as-a-rock but supposedly soft pretzel we had, and the sticky pop spillen floor, and a section full of hyper ADD Allen junior football kids banging there noise makers the entire time...it was quite enjoyable! I even managed to sneak in some redvines! And to top off the night---we got to take public transportation!! A first for me! Who woulda thought the Dart would bring in such a wide varity of people. But if you just hovered over the seat, and balanced yourself without touching the handrails, I think one can survive without getting some kind of sickness from the ride! But then again, I never think of those things until AFTER I had already touched something with my hands that was going into my mouth. OH well, we survived! And we saved money! I love getting deals--no parking payment for us!

So I've thought alot about going back to school, more for something to do than anything...but the place that enticed me most was SMU (Southern Methadist University) Maybe it's that whole "church school" thing ;) but also, because It's right in Dallas, and I could still live at home and commute. Well, that was my idea until I learned just how much private schools are!! Wow--I'll never be able to afford that! I got lucky at a BYU--I thought it was actaully cheaper to go to a church private school. Boy do I live in a bubble! But it's fun to think about being a campus kid again!
So here we are with the horse...or um, stallion, or...I forgot what they were!!

As always, we have our sunday dinners together as us 3 family's. Well, I guess you could call Roxy and me a family now. We used to have Geoffs brother and sister-in-law making actaully 3 families, but they have moved to switzerland, so we are down in numbers again. But anyway, these are from a sunday at Ryan and Shelley's where we went outside for some fresh air after and this was the result. The little boys playing football, the girls making up cheers and dances, little erin wanting to only wear panties, and Roxy trying to get Oscar to play with her.

So Erins a bit Sassy here...there was a cute one--but for modesty purposes we'll keep it a head shot. haha





But we got one with her clothed too...phew!

So I guess this post wasn't so short or sweet, but hey....it's a start!

It's a girl!

I got a new addition to my single life here in Texas--I call her Roxy! :) She is the cutest little puppy I ever did see! She's only 10 weeks old and is called a Yorktese or Morkie which is a mix between a Yorkshire Terrier and a Maltese. She will only get to be about 6 pounds at the most. Right now I don't think she even weighs two. I tried to show her size by putting her next to a stuffed lamb--but she is hard to keep still! She is so sweet though and doesn't leave my side--and is a hyper little thing! She just plays and chews on everything around. And when I took her with me to get my mail today--she just hoppedthrough the grass --since she's so small--and followed me the whole way! Since apartment life doesn't allow much yard it's a good thing she doesn't need much space and is happy just inside. Though my complex does have a little fenced in doggy area with big toys to jump through and even complimetary doggie bags....so we're set!

Golfin'

Dave and Bruce are here to visit this week. Since the girls went to the airport, and the boys went golfing--So I opted to join the boys thanks to Dave's persual. It was a nice night and was actually fun just to walk around and try to figure out what the big hype is about golf. Even with over 2 hours there though---I still can't figure it out! Though I did find it pretty entertaining when Brent went down into the watery ditch to fetch some loose balls that have been hit down there by others. They'd say we actaully made some money on that trip going away with so many free golf balls!

Goobye Grandma and Grandpa

Here was the last night of grandma and granpas visit. It was fun having them here all week, I even had an excuse to take off some work. And now it finally feels like someone lives in my apartment because my apartment now feels like a home with the touch of my moms hand. She did very good at helping me decorate. Pictures will have to come next time.