Christmas 2008

We were very blessed this Christmas. We spent the entire day with family and it has been wonderful. We opened presents first, had brunch with Tyler, Christi and Cameron.



Then I had the best Christmas nap ever! When I woke up we had dinner with Hans, Tasha, and the kids. Now we are just winding down and getting ready to crash.



For Christmas my big gift was a beautiful new camera! It is a Canon EOS Rebel XS. Now that may mean nothing to you. I know it did to me. But Dennis did the research and from what I can tell I love it! There is so much this camera can do, I don't even know where to begin. But I am hoping to find a local photography class and see what I can learn. I am also going to read the entire owner's manual, which is something I have never done. Even with my limited knowledge, it takes beautiful pictures. I am going to love this camera. Thank you Dennis!!

Dennis' big gift was a recliner. He has wanted one for years! This was finally the year. Although he found the acutal gift anti-climactic.



I gave him a fake recliner. But if you know Dennis well, you know for an item like that he has to pick it out himself. He has a very picky butt! So, now he gets to go get one. I wished I could have had one there, but I would rather him get one he loves.

Dennis also got a few Nightmare Before Christmas items. It isn't Christmas without a few Nightmare items. It is our favorite movie after all.



We got my mom a cashmere sweater for Christmas. We hope that she likes it.



And for Dad we got Weight Training for Cyclists. They do the MS ride every year and hopefully this will help them prepare even better.



Hayley's favorite gift was her gift from Bryan. A Southwest giftcard! Thank you to Hayley for wrapping every single solitary gift! What a gal! I despise wrapping more than anything. Well, except for moving. We are so grateful for her.



The one thing we missed this Christmas was the few people missing. Russell, Jodee, Lisa and Bryan. But they were with family and I am sure they had a wonderful Christmas. But we sure did miss them!

Dennis took a few pictures with my camera. This one was a test shot and I just loved it.



He even snow plowed a bit...



And it's a little blurry because it was a timed shot and we didn't know how to focus it yet. But here is a pic of the gang.



Merry Christmas to all of our family and friends!!

'Twas the night before Christmas...

Wow! How time flies! We have not posted in a while and are hoping to get back in the swing of things. We have had a wonderful holiday season. Dennis is still fishing periodically. Yes, you heard me right...fly fishing in the Provo river in December. I have just been busy working and with the occasional winter cold. Marlene is not with us this Christmas. But she will be coming for a few days at the beginning of the year. Natasha is spending the holiday with her mother's family in New Castle. We are planning on heading to Cedar City the day after Christmas to see her. I will post again tomorrow but wanted to post a few pics from Christmas Eve.

For as long as I can remember we have always had a family dinner with my Dad's family at my Grandma's. They are getting older and decided not have it this year. So we are starting our own traditions with the immediate family. We had Hans and Tasha's family over. We had soup that Dennis made in bread bowls. Yum! Here is a picture of the whole family.



Then we read the Christmas story in the scriptures. We usually do that Christmas morning but are mixing it up this year. Last, we made cookies and the kids frosted them.



Now it is the last minute scramble of wrapping presents (THANKS HAYLEY!!)and Dennis is making his delicious breakfast casserole for the morning.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Putting up the Christmas Lights

Who knew that putting up Christmas lights would be so much work!?! We decided that around 2 pm on Saturday that we would do the lights on the house and the tree. So we pulled out the lights and they are the old school C7's. There were a lot of lights burned out and fuses fried. So we decided to go to the store and try to get replacements. It used to be easy to find bulbs. Dennis wanted to go to Shopko and I wanted to go to Target. So off we went. Target had the bulbs but the were 4 for $1.00....what a ripoff! So we decided to try Home Depot..no luck. Then tried Lowe's..less selection than Home Depot. And I also decided it is the White Trash home improvement store. Finally we went to our last resort...Wal-Mart. They did not have the replacement bulbs. But they did have lights for $6.99 per strand. That is cheaper than replacing the old bulbs. So we bought those. We finally make it back to the house and it was already getting dark. We used all of the boxes we purchased and still needed a few more. So we had to go back to Wal-Mart on a Saturday! We got what we needed and decided to stop for sustinence. So we went to Mimi's Cafe. We are sitting there waiting for a table and who walks in but Lisa and Bryan. So we decided to make it a double date. We had dinner with them and it was a lot of fun. So after dinner it was back to the lights. Dennis finished putting them up and managed to not fall off the roof. This is Dennis towards the end. You can't really see his face, but lets just say he isn't smiling. Well, technically he is, but it is totally fake.



After everything we decided to go to Shopko to get timers for the lights since it is the closest. And what do we find....replacement bulbs for the original lights we had. This is great but we would have still had to find fuses. So I think buying new lights was the right choice in the end. But next time I should probably listen to Dennis. Sometimes he is right. And here is the final result....

TADA!!!



Thanks Dennis for your hard work!

I did it!!!

I have been trying for a few weeks to reach my 50 pound weight loss. So I weighed myself this morning and I was pretty sure that I would get my 50 pound weight loss. I was excited. But I try not to get my hopes up because you never know until you get on the scale. So I went to Weight Watchers tonight and walked up to the scale and told Tracey (my counselor)..."Let's do this." I was not in the best of moods. When I stepped on the scale I almost died! Not only did I get to my 50 pound weight loss...I exceeded my goal! As I was standing on the scale my sister Lisa walked in...she came to weigh in herself. It was a big celebration with lots of hugs. It has been a long journey but well worth it. I would like to lose an additional 10-15 pounds. But I have come so far and am proud of my accomplishment. Weight loss to date is 51.8 pounds.

Lights at Temple Square

We went the Friday after Thanksgiving with my family to see the lights at Temple Square. They were amazing as always. The funny part was going from the Spaghetti factory to Temple Square. We got our transportation messed up and ended up with 6 people in my Mom's car...squishy!



But again, the lights were amazing. If you are in Utah...check them out!

Thanksgiving

We had an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving. My dad's whole side of the family came over for Thanksgiving dinner/lunch. My mom made an amazing turkey, potatoes, and loads and loads of pies. Janny made sweet potatoes...yum. Tasha made homemade stuffing...yum. Mer brought her famous relish tray. There is something about a relish tray that I love, probably the no chopping part. You can have broccoli, cauliflower, 3 different kinds of olives, sweet and dill pickles, and my favorite pepperoncini peppers. I swear I had a dozen of them. Grandma brought her super delicious Clam Dip. And Grandpa made his homemade toffee...yum! Tammy made fruit salad and Karla made pasta salad. Lets just say we had a lot of food and a lot of people. I think we had 37. Needless to say the meal was wonderful. After dinner/lunch we had a baby shower for my sister in law Jodee. They were leaving first thing Saturday morning so this was the only time we could all get together. It was so fun to see her opening all of her presents. She has waited so long to be a mother and she will be a great one! Those are going to the luckiest twins in the world. Congrats Russell and Jodee! After the shower we had pie. Lots and lots of pie. The rest of the night we relaxed. I did some cleaning. I mopped the floor...it was very dirty with all of that foot traffic. I have so much to be thankful for and it was the perfect day. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

RIP Wendy Hortin

Today we had to put our dog Wendy down. She passed away at 4:50 PM. She was not Dennis' and my dog. She was the dog I had my whole life. Well, since I was about 14. She was an amazing dog and was always there when I needed her. She was 17 and has struggled over the last few years. The last few weeks her health had really declined. It was time to say goodbye. That being said, it was not easy. I have never had to do that before and do not look forward to the day I have to do it again. It was over so fast and it was so peaceful. I cannot wait until the day I can see my Wendy again. Lisa made this video in 2006 and this is the way I want to remember Wendy. 'Till we meet again.

Fishun!!!

I caught the fishing bug this summer and I am totally addicted! I try to go every chance I get. I have the best wife in the world. She lets me go almost as much as I want. I usually go up Provo Canyon just past the Sundance turnoff. Heres a picture of the fall colors there.

The brown trout are in full spawn and you can see them in their spawning beds which are called Redds. I had never been fly fishing until this year. I am really just a hack. Here is a couple of pics of the last couple noteworthy fish.

This was the first one I caught subsurface. Up until that I had just been using dry flies floating on the surface. The fly is a egg-sucking leech. He was 18".

This one was 17" and I caught him with Rianbow Warrior nymph that my fishun buddie( and second best friend, behind my wife) Roger tied himself. Here is a link to his website. http://rogerhop.com/

He just started a new job and this is first foray into webpage building.

Anywhoo, if you want to find me when the sun is still up I will be down in the river fishun!!!

Dennis' Birthday

Last Sunday was Dennis' 38th birthday. We had a fun day celebrating. We really wish my parents could have been there. But they did call from DC and they all sang Happy Birthday to Dennis. We went to church in the afternoon. Dennis had to teach Sunday School and although he says he was horrible I am sure he was wonderful. I unfortunately could not be there because it was my week to teach in Primary. We came home and Hayley was cooking away. She made Ham, Funeral potatoes, and rolls. Hans, Tasha, Ashley, Tanner, and Macy came to celebrate with us. They brought a wonderful salad and Dennis even commented how it was just how he liked it. Karen and Constance came over and we were so glad they did! They will be going back to Korea soon and we will miss them! Lisa and Bryan also came to celebrate. Lisa made an amazing cake for Dennis. Which you will see later on in the post.

He opened a few gifts. He got some great shirts!





Karen and Constance got Dennis Glenn Beck's new book. He was so excited!





If you know us well you know that we are huge Nightmare Before Christmas fans. So in honor of that Lisa made this cake. And I will have you know she made this with no coaching just with Dennis in mind.



I tried to take a picture of Dennis blowing out the candles but the picture I got was not appropriate for the blog so this is the staged photo.



And what is a blog post without a few pictures of Dennis and I.




Thank you Hayley, Lisa, Bryan, Karen, Constance, Hans, Tasha, Ashley, Tanner and Macy for helping us celebrated Dennis' birth.

Love you babe!

The New Job

A few posts ago I mentioned that I was leaving my job. I have a new job at Mountainland Supply Co. in Orem, UT. Mountainland is the largest plumbing wholesaler in the state of Utah. It is a great job and I am loving it so far. I am a receptionist and the stress level is nothing like my old job. They appreciate me and I love working with my new co-workers. Everyone is so welcoming and helpful. My hours are fantastic. I get to come home and have lunch with my husband most days...what is better than that ?!? So this is my new chapter in life.

Happy Birthday Dennis!

Today is Dennis' birthday. He is 38 today and just as handsome as the day I met him, actually more handsome. The family is coming over for dinner and Lisa made an awesome cake. I will post pictures at a later date. We are excited to see everyone but someone is missing. My Mom and Dad. They are in Washington D.C. and we really wish they could be here. So in honor of Dennis I am going to list 10 things he loves and 10 things I love about him.

He loves (In no particular order) ...

Fishing
Nascar
BYU
Skiing
Camping
Working with the scouts
The Lord
His kids
Fixing things
and Me...I hope :)

Things I love about him (again in no particular order) ...

That he loves Nascar and is not afraid to admit it
That he knows the answer to every question and if he doesn't he will make something up
Since going back to church he has taken it on full force
He is a very hard worker
He is honest and is not afraid to tell you what he thinks
He is an amazing cook
He loves to cuddle
He is happy with the simple things is life
He puts up with the cats, pretends to hate them, but actually loves them
He is the most amazing husband any there is no one else like him

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!!!

Pumpkin Carving

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I am not sure why. I don't do exotic costumes, I don't eat much candy, I don't have children to take trick or treating, etc. But for some reason I love it! A few years ago when we were living in Salt Lake City we went to a friend's house to carve pumpkins. It was so fun! Dennis and I are not artistic and we do not do the fancy pumpkins that you see around. But we have started doing it every year. And as far as I am concerned that is 30 more minutes I get to spend with the love of my life. Here are some pictures from Pumpkin Carving 2008.

I got one of Dennis while he was mid-carve.



Then I made him turn and smile.



And here we are on the porch with our pumpkins. Dennis carved hearts into the white one...at my request.

My Last Day

Monday was my last day at the Radisson Salt Lake City Downtown. I was able to have lunch with my favorite people at the hotel. We went to Thaifoon and it was fantastic. I am going to miss them so much. But they are not far away and I am sure we will be getting together again soon. I will miss you TJ, Deep, Kirsten, Kim, Kristen, and Jackie.

Cameron's 2nd Birthday!

Cameron is my nephew. He is the son of Tyler and Christi. He is absolutely adorable. His birthday is actually October 11th, but we celebrated it on Saturday the 25th. Christi's family all flew in from Texas to be here. It was so fun to see all of them. They had the party at Little Gym. Cameron goes to Little Gym regularly. That is where he learned his amazing sommersault. So Christi decided that is where they would have his birthday party. The kids loved it! They got to jump, play, do tricks, etc. Here is a picture of the kids on this blow up track. They got to jump on it and even have races from one end to the other.



They blew bubbles and the kids got to pop them. This picture does not show the bubbles very well.



Last the adults got to help do the parachute. I am sure you all remember this from your elementary school days.



We tried to get a picture with the Birthday boy but he was having too much fun. This was the best we could do.



And what is a party without a picture of Dennis and I.

The Electric Car

On Friday evening my mom and I were in bed watching TV. My adorable sister, Lisa, came running upstairs. She wanted to take us for a ride in the electric car. A guy from our ward was over and he said we could take it for a spin. So Bryan, Lisa, Tootz, and myself piled in and went for a ride. Eric warned us that it tops out at about 25 mph. So we drove it around the block. We purposely went down a hill to see how fast we could go. Downhill we reached a whopping 27 miles per hour. Up the hill we only got to 17 miles per hour. I have to say that it was actually a fun time! Below are two pictures. One of all of us in front of the car. Please pretend like I am wearing something much more stylish than a Grateful Dead shirt and green pants. I was already in my PJs. oops! The second picture is a picture of my sister Lisa. She is showing you how small the car actually is. It was small!

Movin' On

As some of you may know. I have decided to leave my job in Downtown Salt Lake City at the Radisson. I have made so many good friends here. But there comes a point in your life where you need to decide what is most important. That is my family and my sanity. I have been commuting 3 hours a day 5 days a week and it sucks! I don't know how people do it for years and years. My last day is today. On Friday I went with Kim and Deep to have a going away lunch of sorts. We went to Red Rock and had a great time. Here is a picture of us. I will miss these guys, but I told them they are not rid of me. I will be keeping in touch.

Sundance

First I wanted to let everyone know that if you have not noticed Dennis has earned his right to have admin privileges to our blog. I know I look forward to seeing what he has to say. In other news a few weeks ago we went to Sundance to ride the ski lift. Let me just say that this is the most amazing thing! The leaves were fantastic. But my favorite part was that I had my husband's undivided attention for over an hour! They say that it is 45 minutes, but with all of the stops it makes I would definitely say it is more than an hour. We even saw a few family and friends along the way. I highly recommend this for anyone who needs an extra hour alone with their husband / wife. And again...the leaves were amazing. Here are a few pictures from our adventures.





This was taken through Dennis' legs. That is Dennis' knee on the left.



And this is us on the lift. Dennis has perfected his self photography skills. I thought he did a darn good job.



'Till next fall!