3 Very Special Guests on Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year consisted of 3 particularly special blessings: The long awaited arrival of Jantzen after many months apart, a new little one from Gabe and Kristen--baby Elli, and Aubrey fresh off the European tour with Blake and the band (their band is called Taught Me).

It reminded me that family trumps everything! They are the greatest gift and they are what makes special days so special.
We stuffed ourselves with the traditional fare, then played games and visited late into the evening. Grandma Lind made our 4th special guest...who would have known she would be with us this year after a coma and life support? The day after Thanksgiving we moved her from the assisted living back into her own home. She is my hero. Meanwhile, Kevin took the younger two girls to Logan to be with Grandma and Grandpa White's house for graham cracker (gingerbread) house making, all the mashed potatoes you could eat, and Football games galore. A bit untraditional this year to be apart, but it was perfect in it's own way for each of the kids.

To top it off, I made 3 homemade pies--Coconut Cream, Banana Cream, and Cherry. AND THEY ALL WORKED! Watch out, Paul Deen. I'm on your tail, baby.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Twilight Party

To celebrate the big opening of Twilight, we headed to American Fork for Sushi, and then on to Paiges for the big extravaganza. At 11:15 p.m. (cough, sputter) we headed to the Gateway. I didn't think I could stay up that late.

We all swooned to Edward and Jacob with the rest of the audience. It was well worth the 2:00a.m. finish time.

SNOW BADGERS #1

A RARE MOMENT WITH KEVIN AT THE GAME

BADGER PRIDE

Today was the final game of the season and the Badgers won Mesa in a blowout 65-20. Adding to that, Navarro, which is currently ranked #1, just lost their game, meaning that Snow will likely climb to #1 in the polls tomorrow.
The Top of the Mountains Bowl at the Real Salt Lake Stadium will be the National Championship game. Kevin is stoked because Badgers may win the National Championship the first and only time since he played in 1985, and during his first year as Athletic Director at Snow. Pretty cool, even for someone like me who doesn't like sports.


WE ARE WINNING--CAN WE HANG ON TO THE LEAD?

JAMAICA AND NICHOLAS AT THE GAME

AFTER THE GAME--HAPPY FOR THE WIN--


Mom, Dad, and Jamaica all went to the game and had beautiful 60 degree weather and blue skies all day. It couldn't have been more beautiful...unless I had a fly rod in one hand and a fish in the other.

On the home front, I am gradually adjusting to life in Ephraim. I still take on one work day in Utah County each week, but when I'm here, I am making an effort to get to know people, exercise, etc. The pace is sloooower. Let's just say... I get to walk alot. Makes the time go by. The kids are doing great and are very active in everything. Small towns agree with them.

11 more days before Jantzen comes for Thanksgiving! You don't think I'm excited or anything?!

HANNAH IN HER CHEER OUTFIT

KAYLA GETTING READY FOR PLAY DRESS REHEARSAL

Goodbye Alpine, Hello Ephraim

Well....Ephraim here we are! We moved in on Halloween and watched the election unfold in a new home--a memory that will stick forever. It's new beginnings all the way around. Today, we are on Day 2 of a complete water outage here. Someone hit the main water line and they have been trying to fix it since yesterday afternoon.

Here is what I've learned in 4 days at the new home:

1. It's pretty cool when you can stand in the master bedroom and see every room in the house.
2. Don't under-estimate the frustration that comes from living next door to horses when your dog has a "thing" for rolling in warm horse poop.
3. A smaller house can get stinky when you can't flush toilets, wash dishes, or shower for 2 days.
4. How is it possible that we are in a smaller town but the girls are twice as busy as they were in Alpine? Hurray for cheer, musical theater and violin.
5. Intelligent, fun people live in small towns too. I've met the nicest people!
6. When I design my own home, remind me to put the light switches for the kitchen IN the kitchen (instead of one in the living room, one in the dining room).
7. This move reminded me that when you having nothing to do, it's the time to do all the things you said you would always do when you "had some free time" (banjo, write a book, start an online flyfishing store)
8. Fancy televisions require fancy technicians to set them up. And sometimes they still don't work right so you have to use the 10 inch TV from the dorm rooms anyway.
9. Be grateful for working washer and dryers!
10. Take what you own and cut it in half, then cut it in half again and you still own too much stuff.

THE ANNIVERSARY DINNER

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We celebrated our anniverary last night. Pretty interesting when you have no restaurants in town and the water isn't working. We melted ice cubes to cook with and made dinner anyway. A down-home anniversary with Gentry as our waitress. Take a look at the funny menu the kids made (click on the picture to enlarge).