Dad's Birthday

Happy Birthday Dad!



We got him a CD, a gift card to Home Depot and some Reeses Pieces. And for dinner Mom and Aunt Jolene made him stuffed pork chops on Sunday and on his birthday we got Mattas. I think he liked his Reeses Pieces and the meals the best.

Relief Society Activity

For the past 6 weeks I have been on the Stake Relief Society Committee to plan for the Stake Relief Society Activity on February 16, 2012. The theme was "Everyday Miracles" and I was on the Decorating Committee so we were in-charge of Table Decorations, Plating and other misc. decorations.

Here is a picture of the whole Cultural Hall, I took these with my phone so they are not great but I think you can get an idea of how big it was.



This is a close-up of one table. My committee was basically responsible for everything on there except the food. I took a half-day so I could go in the morning and get the tables up and then hauled to make it back at 6:00 p.m.



We had a great turn out. More than we were expecting which was about 250 and planned for 320 so we're thinking we got about 350 maybe even 360 so last minute we had to set up about 8 more tables to accommodate everyone. We moved chairs this morning & set them up around a table so while trying to get the table out all the chairs completely collapsed. Probably the funniest thing that happened that night - it still makes me smile so I am thankful I thought to take a picture of it :)



I am so grateful for this opportunity of service, it is amazing how hard working the women and the men that came to set-up and take down do. I am not finished yet though I have to rewash the tablecloths I was assigned but after that I am good for a year!

Snowboarding

I went Snowboarding with my Dad February 1 to February 4, 2012. The first day we went to Park City to board free for the day I had a good day, my boots were hurting my feet so I rented some boots and what a difference! I was still pretty sore from my climbing adventure last weekend so I wasn't at my best.

This is in from of Snowbasin, one of my favorite ski lodges. So comfy and pretty, I LOVE it! And they have this crazy moose out front so I wanted a picture last year & forgot to get it so I was sure to get it this year. You can maybe see the little snow flakes that were blowing across. Utah is cold.




Here I am at Park City and that was a Cold day, very windy and cold. I wore my Dad's "turtle fur" thing which helped so much. And there are some nice scenic pictures from the top of the mountain.









Here I am bored while waiting for my Dad to be done with his Dental Conference at the Deer Valley Resort. That resort is cold, small & loud.



Some pictures of our hotel lobby, the picture doesn't do it justice but it was very pretty. The chandelier was so elegant and coloring was beautiful. We stayed at The Little America, very nice but they threw away my contact solution & contact lens case as well as Dad's Root Beer. We were both pretty sad.

More Wind Cave Pictures!

Kayla emailed me some of the pictures she took. Her landscape picture looks a little more vibrant than mine did.



This is Kayla & I by the wind cave just after climbing to the very top.



Me on top of the mountain!!!!!!



Now that it is a few days later I am SO sore, thankfully I can walk, but going down the stairs hurts. This week I am going snowboarding up in Utah, so hopefully I get healed up fast because I need to be in working order by Wednesday!

The Wind Cave Hike/Climb

My Friend Kayla & I went hiking Saturday morning to the wind cave at Usery Pass. This is the picture of the wind cave, or the area by the wind cave, it really was a super windy day.



When you hike with Kayla you don't just stop once you reach the wind cave, you go to the top, so this picture shows the none trail ahead which we took.



A picture of me by the sign that warns that the next "trail" isn't a trail and you proceed at your own risk. Thankfully there were these two boys that had the same idea but they found a different route than the once Kayla takes that didn't involve me scaling rocks :)



And the view . . .
It was SO beautiful up there, clear blue skies, still a steady wind but the sun was shining and it felt nice to get the top!



My friend Kayla enjoying the view too. She was great, she is very into the outdoors and has gotten me excited about rock climbing (Kayla is who I went rock climbing with before), and archery - so hopefully this spring and summer I get to try them out with her.






Me trying to get a picture of myself, it looks a little silly but I think you can see the sense of accomplishment.

Christmas 2011

Christmas Eve we had Kyle & Tara with baby McKenna come visit along with Aunt Jolene, Chris & Brooke with their kids and MaryJo & Eric with their kids. Busy house!


Everybody was very excited for the food to be ready, we had Honey Ham, Mormon Potatoes, Butterhorn Rolls, my awesome Deviled Eggs with a relish dish.



Abigail & Aunt Jolene all smiles :)



Everyone together to exchange gifts between the families. This has become a recent family tradition.



Christmas Day!
Brian woke everyone up about 7:30 a.m. for Christmas Presents. It is Sunday today so we all have church meetings so I guess it is good we started early



Brian at the end with all his goodies, he got a laptop, lots of Legos along with candy and giftcards.



Me on Christmas Day, I got a laptop too.



Plus a camera.



We had a great Christmas together. Mom got an Ipod & a Kitchen set. Dad didn't get anything specific but said he is sure he got something this year. We got to skype with Kylene and her kids in the morning before I left for church which was awesome. All our church meetings were just Sacrament so we got to come home and just chill the rest of the day.

My First In-Door Rock Climbing Trip :)

Kayla Patridge took me on my first In-Door Rock Climbing trip, emphasis on in-door. She pushed the no-dirt factor and she had a purple harness that she promised is pretty. There are only pictures of me bouldering, you cannot really take pictures when you are on the wall because the one person is climbing and the other person is belaying so no free hands between the two of us.

This is me trying the more exciting boulder trails where it does not go just straight up but curves, you can see how awkward it looked to me at first. . .



I got up, the idea is pretty simple: follow the tape on the different holds.



I smiled for the camera :)



I tried to get up higher on the climb but my holds are wrong, my bottom right foot should be higher on the marked purple tape hold.



This hold is better, at least I think it is. I pretty much fell every time I got to this point.



On the wall I was able to complete all my trails, we did four actual marked paths after we practiced on the free wall. Also, did NOT know you repel down, I kind of figured you just climb down. Thankfully it was not the repelling I remember from as a kid so it was fine. I really enjoyed belaying, it is really fun to watch people on the wall, to see their concentration, their thought process and to be there and make sure they do not fall.