I Changed My Own Oil!

My oil life warning has been going on for over a month now. Dad had time on Saturday to help me change my oil and rotate my tires. I was so proud of myself, I got so filthy but I was able to change my oil, oil filter and rotate all of my tires. I didn't know what to expect so I went into the garage wearing a shirt, board shorts and flip-flops. You cannot tell in the pictures but my arms and legs are dirty from the tires and my hands are covered in oil, even some splashed onto my face.



Dad was so awesome and didn't make me feel too bad about how little I knew about car maintenance. He was even the one who ran to grab a camera to take a picture, I told him it was too bad he missed me rotating my tires because no one would believe that either without a picture to prove it.

Fun Photo Shoot

I had pictures taken a couple of weeks ago down at Freestone Park by Leslie Smith who took pictures last year for me at Tempe Town Lake.
I picked a few of the ones I liked the best, she gave me like 19 but these are my favorites.

The sun is in my eyes pretty bad in this one but I like the shot, a different angle or something about it I like.






This one I like a lot too, just the sun and the light kind of streak across my face.



These last 2 are my favorites. I think they turned out the best. Next year I will wear a better shirt, I loved the color but the style kind of makes me look pregnant with the looseness. Which is too bad because I think it is a super cute and comfortable shirt.

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day!

I love fun days where everyone is themed and coordinated. At church today it was a sea of pink and red and white - absolutely amazing. I had a fun day, Mom got me a basket full of treats and a balloon that was part of a fundraiser for the young women in her ward to go to camp.



This next picture depicts Brenlie on my bed (wet). I LOVE her so much.



We spent our Valentines Day watching the Olympics and I watched some silly romantic comedies most of the night. Dad and the dogs went hiking so it was pretty quiet here.

Christmas 2009

Well it is better late than never. I finally downloaded the Christmas pictures from Mom's camera, there are maybe three on there. She didn't remember to take pictures until after everything was over and I asked, "did you get any pictures?" when she gasps,grabs her camera and takes some last minute ones.

This is Behr, he refuses to use his dog door when he sees that there are people in the family room. If we are not quick enough to see him out there he barks and barks until he is let in, so Dad snapped a picture of typical Behr.



This is Brian with his two DS games, they are different, it was supposed to be the big joke of Christmas but Brian didn't play into and so Dad didn't get the reaction he was going after. Brian thought he got a snowboard (which he isn't into anymore), then the wrong DS a little bit later, and then finally the DS he wanted very last. It is all on video - which is hilarious btw, if I knew how to upload video I totally would post it because as far as our family goes it is pretty funny.



This is Dad putting together the mount for my TV, it will save so much space in my room, except that my old TV is just sitting on my floor. It is pretty awesome though, it has high-def clarity, etc. . . makes for watching my new Tinkerbell DVD's pretty exciting.



Me, obviously, and what a great day. Christmas is a fun day to be with family and I think we spent the majority of the morning fairly harmoniously (for us) and then we had to take naps.



Merry Christmas!

Decorating for Christmas

I spent the better part of my Saturday evening putting the top Christmas tree lights on and ornaments and then the following Saturday finished. Dad did all the outside lights and decided this year to put white lights on the two cactus outside but not the huge saguaro cactus. Mom's wreath turned out really nice, she opted for bows this year instead of plastic ornaments.



I don't remember how many light strands Mom had to buy but we went through a ton of lights. This tree I thought was pretty hard to get lights on, the branches were so intertwined that it was annoying to make sure every strand got lights.



Here is the completed picture, I think it turned out really well personally.



This is a picture of our family room, Dad still has the Nordic track out, but I love seeing the fireplace with boughs on top and the stocking hung up. Sorry Kylene, but your stocking is technically the dogs stocking now even though it still has your name on it. You can see Behr on the couch, that is pretty typical of him, that's where Dad sits so whenver he isn't there the dogs are there waiting.



This is just outside our front door where we keep the family Christmas cards we are given and where we keep candy for carolers.



The outside lights, you can see the front of my new car too, but it is dirty from the rain we have had lately. The cactus turned out really nice I think, it all goes together well with the wreath, the cactus, and the house lights.



Here is the dining room, on the table is the Christmas table cloth Kylene made Mom a couple of years ago. I know Kylene wanted pictures of the new dining set so here is the dining room table and the next picture is of the china hutch.





It all looks very pretty, but I just cannot help think that in a month we will be taking it all down and how much more work that will be. But it is worth it.
Merry Christmas!

Christmas Tree Chopping 2009

Today was a great day! Per tradition, the day after Thanksgiving we went to chop down our Christmas tree up past Payson, AZ in the few forests that are still giving out permits. Dad bought an awesome Polaris Ranger ATV, it helps so much, it means less hiking, and carrying logs and trees. Last year Dad rented one, and so this year he found a good deal and bought one brand new. On the way up Behr was so funny about where he would sit, the below picture is one of the places Behr choice to be. He looked so goofy I took a picture.



We had a hard time finding trees we liked this year, usually we have to make ourselves look at more because we love the first one we see. This time it took over an hour before we saw one we kind of liked. Dad bought 2 permits this year, so we have 2 trees which meant twice as much time looking, chopping it, loading it, etc. . .





It was such a fun time though, the weather was amazing - no snow this year which made me kind of sad but it was still beautiful. It even got a little chilly toward the end of the day. We didn't leave until 5:30 p.m. which got us home before 8 p.m. which was nice.

These are some pictures of us in the Ranger. The top one while up in the mountains and the bottom one is when we got home taking it for a last spin.

Halloween 2009

So the pictures turned out pretty bad, Mom's camera battery was practically dead. But basically Brian was Harry Potter again, but I was a fairy princess - I wore an old prom dress with a tiara and wings. Oh, and there was TONS of glitter or as I liked to call it, fairy dust or pixie dust.



Brian did end of going trick or treating with one of his young men leaders and his kids - then they came back and played with some toys mom got out of the attic. Dad and the dogs had gone hiking so beyond that the house was pretty quiet.



I worked that day, but Bashas was participating in a trick or treat and so the bank got to be a part of it too. We had kids coming all day, it was a ton of fun. Plus at home we had an okay turn out - mostly I spent the night watching the World Series game though.