Somebody raised this boy right...

Christmas presents

So...I suck at surprises.

I don't like them. Plus, until just recently we were a single vehicle family and when we are shopping it just happens to always be with each other. So, to keep us excited for Christmas we each had a present that we couldn't use until Christmas.

Curt's was Guitar Hero III for our Wii...


And mine was a fantastic new camera that is RED and doesn't take blurry pictures unless I do something wrong.


I also got a cute little 2 gallon shop vac with which I can suck up all of my sawdust from my projects without killing my regular vacuum. Yay.

Idaho

The day after Christmas we made an excursion up to Idaho to see my uncle Kieth and his family. Most of his kids were there, including Sharee who was visiting from Texas with her new baby girl.

Shannon, Alisha, Grandma, and Mom

Curt and Brian (you can't see it in this picture because it was snowing, but these windows have the most gorgeous view of the valley)

Sharee's adorable new baby girl, Kyla

Kieth is a very cute grandpa

Grandma with her newest great-granddaughter

Sharee and I

Uncle Kieth and Shaners out in the snow

Sharee's aunt came over and gave her a drastic change in haircut

Christmas in pictures

Me


Melynda


Curt


Mom, Grandpa, and Grandma


Grandma, Dad, and Jann


Shane with the first 3 Harry Potter books of his very own.

Shane with his globe (what a cool present!!)


Tony and Dad


Mom and some new salt and pepper shakers ( clear so she can see when they're empty :) )


Shaners with his tinker toys (yes, my Grandma is the coolest ever and found a huge new canister of real tinker toys) I love playing with them too.


Talking to missionaries (in this case it was Lane)...


...and talking (Lane again)...


...and talking (David now).

Fun day. We got mom some lamps for Christmas, but they are in the re-done room that Lane doesn't want to see until he comes home. So, we'll try some subterfuge...click here if you would like to see them.

Sunday Dinner

So...I love the holidays. My grandparents showed up at my Mom's today. So we had an impromptu family dinner which Melynda, Tony, Curt and I showed up to.

Grandma and Grandpa

Melynda and Me

Tony

Here's a picture of the section of the willow tree that broke off in the last huge snow storm.

Other Big News

We bought a car for Curt yesterday.

After more than a year of being a one vehicle family we have had to get another one (the Ann Arbor area apparently doesn't have the fantastic public transportation system we have in the Salt Lake Valley). We bought an '05 Toyota Carolla S that is the most awesome blue color. It's got an automatic transmission, tinted windows, and a sunroof. I'm so glad that he finally chose a 4-door (he tends to like coupe sports cars, but I think this is much more practical for now). Here are some pictures of it.

Big News

No, I am not pregnant (holy cow, a ton of my friends are having babies, one day I'll join that club).

But....Curt got the job in Ann Arbor, Michigan so we'll be moving there pretty quick. Curt starts there January 7th, and he will be living in a hotel until I can join him at the end of the month.

So, does anybody want to buy a house that I've put A LOT of work into over the past year? Seriously though, if any of you know anybody who is looking, here is a link to our post on zillow.com.

Family pictures of the past

Tis the season where in my family Christmas cards get sent out with pictures depicting scenes from the past year. Many times there seems to be an "Oh crap..." moment that my mom realizes that she has, yet again, failed to take any pictures the whole year. Thus the hurried December after church picture (such as the following example) which is developed and mailed out the following day.

Melynda, David, Mom, Lane, and Me

Me, Lane, Dad, Melynda, David

Dad's a little more apt to take pictures throughout the year, but he has his own quirks (such as posing two things he loves very much, his kids and big machinery).

On another note, some fantastic news. Grassy Lake, a camping spot we went to every year for like 15 years, was sadly drained and the surrounding pines infested with bark beatles, making it inhospitable for the past several years (that's not the good news, wait for it...). But my dad has made a visit there and reports that it has made a full recovery and should be able to host this next year's family reunion! Yay!

So, in it's honor I have posted just a few pictures from the area in the past.

Me, Melynda, Lane, and David; looking fabulous in the flannel era
(notice also that Melynda, my little sister, has at this point surpassed me in height by quite a bit)

Melynda, David, Lane, and Me

Melynda, Me, David, Dad, Lane

Tonight...

We stopped by Mom's house so Curt could play some piano music. Mom was headed off to a Stake Christmas devotional and Shaners was at his grandma's.
In other weekend news, it again dropped a foot of snow on us, this week in between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning (good, wet stuff that is heavy to shovel). Curt and I went to my work Christmas party, which was lovely as always. We got a digital picture frame from it, very cool.

Mom's Christmas Tree

Curt playing the piano

Mom on the phone. Again, forgive the fuzzy pictures the camera takes, I think a replacement is in the works as a "surprise" Christmas gift.

Mom in one of her beautiful new dresses from our shopping excursion last weekend.

Guess who is in town...

My friend Staci and her adorable little boy, Corbin. It's been a while (almost a year) since I've seen her and it will probably be another long while till I see her again, so it was a treat to be able to have lunch with her yesterday.

A few more temple pictures...

Lights at Temple Square

We (Me, Curt, Shane, and Mom) went to see the lights at Temple Square last night. They were very beautiful with the fresh snow, and it was a surprisingly mild evening.