The Seasonal Blogger...

Is there such a thing as a Seasonal Blogger? If there is, I'm pretty sure I qualify. In the winter, I somehow found lots of time to blog and blog. But, now that it is oh so warm and sunny outside and there is oh so much to do, time for blogging- eh not so much. I haven't been at this blogging thing long enough to know if this sort of comportment is acceptable. I'm into making up new rules.

So, how about a picture hmm...

Matching backpacks!

I was walking home from school with Roxy and two of my favorite neighborhood kiddos and had them stop and pose so I could take this picture of them with their matching backpacks. These kids have been the best of friends for the last 6+ years (they are 7, 8, and 9). I can't help but wonder, when they grow up and move away, will they keep in touch and remain friends? Will they always remember all of the fun they had together? I think they most definitely will.

The dandelions were for me, or course.

Ooh La La...

I had a BIRTHDAY people.

And it was a great birthday.

I got spoiled.

And looky, looky what I got here...

a DIGITAL camera!!!

(Just like this one but in pink!)

Can I get an Oohh?!

Can I get an Aahh?!

Ooh! Aah! Ooh La La!

I'm so excited. Now I can be like the real bloggers and post pictures on here. Up to date ones even. But first, I've got to figure out how to use it.

The camera on my "dream on" list cost two big G's and Dan was like, "How about we get you a nice 'starter' digital camera. When you master it, then we'll talk about upgrading." Yah, he was making a subtle reference to the fancy 35mm camera he bought me 10 years ago. He knows I'm all about the fancy filters, lenses, and SLR- even though I don't really know what SLR is. I do know that it makes the camera go click click click click really fast. And I like that. Dan sees lots of $$$ when I start talking the camera talk. I think he's quietly hoping I don't master this camera either... maybe just get the functions down enough to take some decent pictures. Although, he thinks cell phone cameras take good, decent quality pictures.

"Grain? What grain? These pictures are clear as can be Natée! It must be your bad eye making them look blurry."

I'm going to have to take some super awesome pictures to show him how crafty I can be with my new digital camera. So, in the near future, this blog is going to get a lot more exciting. Pictures people. Pictures.

Build a blog and they will come...

Six months ago, I started this blog as a writing experiment of sorts. I forgot to tell anyone I even had this blog for a couple of months, and then when it finally dawned on me that maybe I should, people indulged me and came to check out what I had to say. And then they came back; That part is still such a mystery to me.

When people find out I blog, they usually ask me what kind of blog I write... that's like a trick question, you know. It's not quite the family scrap-booking type blog with lots of photos of my perfect family, doing exciting and cute and perfect things, traveling around the world and having amazing and perfect vacations that are sure to give people inferiority complexes. Nope, it's not that. And it's not really a deep, thought-provoking journal blog either. I also fail to offer valuable information about fitness, or recipes, or tips on how to take great photos, or how to style your kids' hair...

At the end of the day, it just is what it is, and it is neither here nor there. (This is my friend Gene's favorite sentence as of late. It's beautiful redundancy tells you precisely nothing and it pretty much sums up what my blog is all about.)

Sometime over the last few days, when my email was down and I was not paying attention (I was probably stalking people on facebook...) my blog reached over 1,000 unique visitor hits. I'm popular! Oh so popular! I blog about -stuff- and people actually read it. I'm baffled and flattered. It reminds me of that '80's baseball movie with Kevin Costner- Field of Dreams. The tag line- "If you build it, they will come." And sure enough, they came! They read. They commented. AND they added me to their blog-stalking lists and I was welcomed into the blogging community...

My friend Joanna has the following De-motivational poster on her blog. It pretty much says it all. I snagged it (snag is my nice way of saying I totally stole it from you Jo) to share with my unique visitors... Oh, and in the case that my unique visitors love De-motivational posters as much as I do, and everyone should, check out this link for some good anti-motivation. (If you don't laugh, you're lame.) My favorite is the line... "I didn't even want to know ONE random thing about you." Every blogger and facebook junkie is guilty of this tag, myself included.


So, thank you, my unique visitors, for making me feel loved and popular. And thank you for all of your comments on my blog that make me feel even more loved and even more popular. Thank you. Thank you. No, thank you.

Feeling the love...

I've been in a very sentimental mood the last few weeks. I'm not sure what brought it all on, but it's here, and I'm just rolling with the punches.

Today, I am overwhelmed with the love I feel for my little family.

Dan and I have been married for almost 14 years, and with each year, it just keeps getting better. We're both completely crazy behind the eyeballs and make each other laugh like nobody's business. We're like scissors and glue, chips and salsa, Simon and Garfunkel, movies and popcorn... We just belong together and that's that. There were people back in the day who told Dan not to marry me, but they were so wrong. Wrong-wrong! (I don't hold hard feelings though. I was only 19-years-old, extremely naive and immature, and in my grunge-Smashing Pumpkins is the awesomeness-phase. Dan rescued me before I got to that slutty-coke-whore-hippy-phase that was sure to manifest. Whew!) He says he's never once regretted marrying me and never will. I'm grateful to have a husband who loves me so much.

(The wedding wink, June 23, 1995)

And then little Miss Roxy joined our family. Our love quadrupled over night. What an amazing kid! She's almost as crazy as her mom and dad- almost. It's like she was specially picked just for us. We have so much fun together. She rocks our world!

(The day our family was sealed together in the Manti temple, 2000)

(Vintage picture of Roxy from the scrapbook- age 2 1/2)

I feel incredibly lucky to have these two scrumptious people in my life every day. Although I still have times when I feel that a little someone, or possibly a few someones, are missing in our family, I can't dismiss what a wonderful blessing it is to have Roxy.

(Another vintage picture of Roxy from the scrapbook, age 5)

We have several friends who would make the most amazing parents, but they can't have children of their own either and haven't had the opportunity to adopt. My heart reaches out to them. I wish it was as easy for us infertile-Myrtles to make babies as it is for the love-struck teenagers who would really have appreciated if they hadn't gotten pregnant. I wish young teenage mothers didn't change their minds so much either, but I do understand. I don't know if I would have the courage to give my baby to someone else to love and raise, even if I knew it was the best thing for my baby. It is the ultimate sacrifice and I have the greatest love and respect for Roxy's biological mother.

And while I'm making wishes here, I also wish adoption wasn't so very difficult so that every child who needs to be loved and needs a family to belong to could have one. I love children and I truly believe they are gifts from God. Gifts that require a lot from the receiver, but the best kind of gifts none-the-less. And they're so worth it. Oh, and I also wish for world peace.

(Stock family photo circa December 2008)

Modern technology has helped me improve my stalking skills...

I'm Euphoric!

I'm a people person. (You'd never guess, right?) In general, I just love people. The relationships I've had with people in my life, even the small or short-term ones, mean so much to me. I rarely forget a person that I've made a connection with... even when I was only 3 or 4-years old. If you were in my life then, there's a 99.7% chance that I remember you. And what your teeth looked like.

When I was in the 5th grade, my family moved from Washington to Utah. My mom bought me a little aqua and pink-colored address book. I spent days collecting addresses and telephone numbers (and other truly vital information) from all of my school and neighborhood friends. This was my first experience being separated from people that I loved. And because I didn't yet have the foresight to realize that I would most likely never see or hear from any of them ever again, I didn't shed all that many tears. Well, somewhere in the move, that little address book got lost. And time moved on. And I was devastated.

That experience scarred me big time, because even now, as a mature, wise, and realistic adult, I have an emotional-overload whenever a friend moves away. I cry like a baby when the moving trucks pull away, and my friends usually look at me with perplexed expressions...

"It's only ten miles away, Natée."

I know, I know.

In my life, there have been a lot of amazing and special people come and go. Too many go. And they all promise to keep in touch, but I know that's easier said than done. I know that I will never forget them... or what brand of flat-iron they use, or the little phrases they say when they are nervous, or what flavor of frozen yogurt they like... I'm a major detail girl and my mind somehow preserves it all for me. I realize most people probably won't remember all that much about me, and in time, they might not remember me at all. I may never see them again... or ever hear their laughter again. When someone passes through my life, in a strange way, I feel similar to the way I feel when someone I love dies. Each person leaves their own little hole in my heart. And for a while, there were just way too many holes and my heart started to feel like a big chunk of Swiss cheese.

But then... this thing called facebook came along!

And now my heart is feeling more like cheddar! Or Romano.

I have re-connected with some of my most favorite people. And some of them actually remember me too. Yes! The nostalgia is thick and my euphoria is over the moon!

I love modern day technology!

First I fell in love with email, then instant messaging, then blogging, and now facebook. (My feelings about the telephone remain the same.) As technology improves, so do my stalking skills. There are still quite a few people on my "I'm looking for you!" list, but right now, it feels very remedial to be able to fill up some of the vacant pockets in my heart and to know, when someone heads down a different path in life, they are not out of my life forever.

No one can get away from me completely. I will find you... One way or another, I will find you.

Angela's 5 Things Tag

(See Angela, I did get around to it.)

5 things you were doing 5 years ago:
1. I spent two weeks in Peru. I got to hang out with five really special orphaned-siblings that I wanted so badly to bring back home with me.
2. Roxy was the fabulous 4 -very similar to the terrible two's, only sassier- I was doing preschool with my child plus four other fabulous 4-year-old kiddos in the neighborhood.
3. I served as a counselor in another YW organization, my church ward got split, and then I was called as Primary President. And that lasted for a couple decades or so.
4. I had surgery on my right eye, because I was going blind. That was some seriously scary business. The surgery was called a Vitrectomy- not to be confused with a Vasectomy. People tend to get the two mixed up somehow... even though I'm clearly female. Nothing to snip-snip here.
5. This is hard! 5 years was a long time ago!!

5 things on my to do list today:
1. Study for my math midterm and submit my English paper. My professor likes to give out D+ grades for "Fantastic" papers. He confuses me.
2. Clean out my fridge. How does it get so gross?! I swear I just cleaned it last year.
3. Help Roxy make her "sharing poster" for school- She wants as much orange on it as possible. Bring out the glue sticks and glitter!
4. Pester the plumber to come out and finish what he started. It's been on hold for two weeks and I'm getting a little tired of my ghetto house. Need a place to sit? Hold tight while I stack up a few food storage boxes for you to sit on.
5. Do some sort of physical activity. I think folding the laundry should count towards this.

5 things I would do with 1 million dollars:
1. Make all my dreams come true while avoiding the inevitable moochers. They come out of the wood-work. I've seen it happen in the movies.
2. Buy my in-laws a new house
3. Put some in savings, maybe set up some trust funds for random people
4. Pay off debt (So very original!)
5. Adopt half a dozen kids and go on lots of fun family vacations!

If there was any money leftover after paying taxes, I'd investigate different charities and maybe I'd donate, maybe not.

5 places I have lived:
1. Puyallup, Washington
2. Bonney Lake, Washington
3. Manti, Utah
4. Provo, Utah
5. West Valley City, Salt Lake City, Parowan, Spanish Fork, and Eagle Mountain. That about covers it.

5 jobs that I have held:
1. Maid
2. Cutter at Burrell's- seriously, that was my job title. I was a cutter!
3. Cashier and/or Sales Associate at something close to 497 gazillion different stores.
4. First American Title- I honestly can't remember my job title there and it was a super good one.
5. Transamerca Tax Services

I've had so many jobs. I think I may have mentioned before that I'm a little bit of a quitter. I get bored easily. So, I've also been a librarian, worked at a day care, was a substitute teacher, and I've worked loads of customer service jobs. I'm a Jack -or is it Jill- of all trades!

5 things I want to be doing in 5 years:
1. I want to be able to tell my twin sisters apart.
2. I want to have completed my undergraduate degree and have an awesome editing job.
3. I want to be able to swim... like really swim; not this doggy-paddle and treading water business. Maybe I'll be in the Olympics... There's got to be some adult swimming/Olympic training lessons offered somewhere.
4. I want to be able to play some actual, recognizable songs on my guitar... perhaps a Cat Stevens number or two. Or some Lenny Kravitz.
5. I want to have hiked all the trails in American Fork Canyon.

And hopefully I'll have run another marathon or two.

5 people I tag:
1-5: YOU, you, you, you, and you! You know I'm talking about you. Get to it.

The big day of LOVE is coming up... how much do you love me???

I just took this quiz on The Five Languages of Love. I really can't say that I was at all surprised with the results. I know my needs. I need some physical touch and a whole heck of a lot of verbal affirmation. And I mean A LOT of verbal affirmation.

I love hearing how wonderful I am. I love love love compliments. Sincere ones... or even if they're not sincere, but you can convince me that they are, I'll take that too. I feed off them. If I was dying in the desert, and happened upon a magic desert person, and he gave me the choice between water or compliments, I'd probably choose the latter. That's how much I love the verbal affirmations. And magic desert people.

I have no shame in fishing for compliments either. When I am given a customary/obligatory/courteous compliment like, “You look nice today.”, I have to hold back on the urge to press for more... How nice? What is particularly nice about the way I look? Is it my hair? How I coordinated my jacket with my boots? My new lip gloss perhaps? Please, tell me more.

Sometimes at night, when I am lying in bed, I will fish for compliments with Dan. For the first 10 or so years of this, he would indulge me and would go on and on and tell me how fabulous I am. How funny I am. How beautiful I am. How he is so lucky to have me for a wife. Those are the best nights EVER! But then Dan got kind of tired of the "feed Natée's ego" game. These days, he might pretend he is asleep. What gives? Or he'll tell me to remember all the things he told me last time and call it good. When I tell him I NEED to hear it all again, he asks, “Can I tell you what I don't love about you instead? Because one thing in particular is standing out RIGHT NOW.” And then I have to stop asking, because I don't want to hear THAT.

A while back, Dan asked me if I would like him to burn me a CD made up entirely of him praising and complimenting me. I could put it on repeat and listen to it all day long.

BEST! GIFT! IDEA! EVER!!!

I'm still waiting for it, Love.

I dish out lots of compliments too, because I figure everyone likes to be told how wonderful they are. I am always sincere and honest about it. It's how I show people I love them. You can never give/get too many compliments, right? Dan has told me this is not necessarily true. I don't think I believe him. It doesn't seem possible.

Now, if your language of love is giving gifts, I need to have a heart-to-heart with you. First off, I want you to know that I love receiving gifts. I will always find a way to subtly remind people that my birthday is coming up, with much anticipation of being showered with gifts (April 15th- mark your calendars people). However, as much as I enjoy apprehending these gifts, they do not make me feel loved. So if this is your language of love, I'm not feeling it, and I probably think you hate me.

I might also add to this post that COMMENTS are just like COMPLIMENTS, only without the little "PLI" in the middle... although, in my case, there is a silent "PLEE". Yes, I have no shame. Take the quiz I linked at the top of this post, and then leave me a comment on which one is your language of love. I want to know how I can show you how much I love you. When you leave a comment, it's a win-win situation for everyone!

High School Tag

My cousin Tamber had this on her blog. Even though high school was an excruciatingly painful experience for me, there were some good times too. And who doesn't like to take a trip down memory lane every once in a while? It's good for the soul.

Did you date someone in high school? I was never in a serious -only the two of us- kind of relationship in high school. Every so often I did get asked on actual date-dates. Mostly I just hung out with friends and occasionally made out with them.

What kind of car did you drive? I drove a blue Dodge Aries that had a broken muffler and no heater. When my older sisters went on LDS missions, I upgraded to the "silver bullet". Fancy. Mostly I just carpooled with all of my cousins. My cousin Eleve had this HUGE gold Chrysler. We'd always sing the B-52's song while driving to school... "I got me a car, it's as big as a whale and we're headin' on down to the love shack baby! I got me a Chrysler, it seats about 20..." Good times right there.

Did you pass your driver's license test the first time? Yes. I had never driven a car before I started taking driver's ed, which was pretty scary for Mr. Reece. He refused to take me driving in the student car until I got more experience, and my parents refused to let me drive until I had trained more with Mr. Reece. Catch 22! Eventually, I did get my license.

Were you a party animal? Oh sure. If you consider never breaking curfew and never breaking any of the rules wild and crazy, I was out of control!

Were you considered a flirt? I don't know how others perceived me. I loved to flirt. Only I would never flirt with a guy if I really liked him. That would just be too obvious. No, if I really liked a guy, I'd totally pretend I didn't and I'd never talk to him. Ever. It was all so complicated back then.

Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? I was in band my Freshman year. I played the clarinet. And then I got it into my head that band was for geeks and nerds and I wanted nothing more to do with it. I miraculously made it into show choir my Junior year. I rotated back and forth between the soprano and alto sections for each song because nobody had the heart to tell me I couldn't sing. I just thought I had a broad vocal range.

Were you a nerd? I told you- I dropped out of band my Freshman year! Isn't that proof enough of how UN-nerdy I was? And if nerd = really smart, I was definitely NOT a nerd. Ahh, who am I kidding? I was the biggest nerd to ever walk the halls of MHS!!! I'm still a huge nerd!

Were you on any varsity teams? Varsity what? I don't understand the question.

Did you ever get suspended or expelled? No

Who were your favorite teachers? I can't think of any of my teacher's names right now. They must have really left deep and everlasting impressions on me... Oh, wait. Mr. G- Freshman year Drama and English. Everyone made fun of him for his B.O. issues, but I quite liked him. He let us slough ALL the time.

Where did you sit at lunch? I sat in the cafeteria my Freshman and Sophomore years. At the cool tables, I assure you. And then my fear of eating in front of people returned. So, I would sit in the halls at lunch and socialize or do home-work and wait to binge at night when no one was watching.

School mascot: The Templar. It wasn't until years later that I learned about the Knights Templars guarding Soloman's temple and the Holy Grail. I'm surprised no one has made the school change their mascot by now.

School colors: Red and white forever, Hurrah! Hurrah!

Did you go to homecoming and who with? I got asked my Senior year by Brad Lindsey. He was such a nice, shy boy. He hardly talked to me on our date. Thank goodness I could talk for hours about nothing.

If you could go back and do it again, would you? I think once was enough for me, thank you. I had to deal with a lot of painful stuff growing up. Although it nearly killed me, surviving those years changed my outlook on life and made me a stronger, more confident and optimistic person. I can handle pretty much anything life throws at me these days. That cheesy saying- "whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger" is so true.

What do you remember most about graduation? Thank the heavens this is over! I thought it would never end! And why the heck are all these people crying?

Where did you go on Senior Skip Day? I went to Emily Olsen's family cabin up in the mountains with about 20 other Seniors. It was fun.

Were you in any clubs? I joined any and every club that would let me in... FHA, FBLA, Drama Club, MOO, Student Government... National Honor Society didn't let me in. Evidently, I wasn't smart enough for that one, but I tried anyway.

Have you gained weight since then? Wow- that's a very intrusive question! Who wrote up the questions for this tag? Former fat chick? I was at my heaviest weight ever my Senior year of high school... around 130 pounds. I remember thinking I was the fattest girl in the whole world. Pfff. I've lost weight since then.

Who was your prom date? Louis. I'm pretty sure I was on "the list" of Junior girls who didn't have dates to the prom. The faculty would intervene and anonymously find dates for the girls on "the list". (Very sad and pathetic. I wonder if they still do it.) When Louis asked me, bless his heart, I didn't really know him and I didn't want to be anyone's charity date. I had enough self-esteem issues as it was. So, after a good deal of crying and feeling sorry for myself, I planned out how I would kindly tell him no, but thank you for asking. And then my mom pulled out one of her amazing guilt trips and asked me what Jesus would want me to do. Huh? I went to the prom with Louis. I did. But I truly believe Jesus would have wanted me NOT to lead Louis on by saying yes. Especially if Jesus knew that Louis would obsessively ask me questions for months about my Beatles posters that he saw on my walls while peering through my bedroom window. Hmm...

(I so need to find my prom pictures and post them because they are classic! I had a long and frilly pink 80's style prom dress and my date wore a white tux... only it wasn't the "Footloose" era. It was 1993!)

Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? It already happened and I didn't go. I bet everyone missed me tremendously.

Did you have a job while in high school? Of course. I was always working. The first two years of high school I worked as a maid at Temple View Lodge and I also cleaned houses and did a lot of babysitting. My Junior and Senior years, I worked at Simmon's Hardware store with a brief stint at Western Watts.

Worst class? All of them... except Art. I loved my Art classes. And my College English classes were fun too. And I liked Choir for obvious reasons. Oh, and Speech and Drama, sometimes. And I really liked peer-tutoring.

Favorite class? I guess I jumped the gun on this one. See above.

If you want to do this tag, go right ahead. But be sure and let me know so I can read your answers too!

This is how I really feel...

Oooh lookie here- I have a blog. A seriously neglected blog at that. My life needs some major excitement to happen. Right now. I've had nothing worth blogging about. I still don't. You've been warned.

Last night, Roxy, our professional fort builder, built yet another incredibly awesome fort. So of course, we had to sleep in it. It was as fun as you are imagining it being. But then, as my blood sugar raced back and forth between 42 and 311 all freakin' night long, it got a little less fun. And the ground was a little on the hard side and then the ceiling of the awesome fort caved in and the shoe that was holding it up landed on my head...

And then there was the dog...

Oh, for the love of all that is holy, the dog!!! She kept walking over me, back and forth, back and forth, in a pacing sort of fashion. And then she would curl up right next to me and start licking herself clean and smacking her chops... making sounds that got the full attention of my gag reflex.

Star-Me-Kitten-Baby-Goo-Orton!

I didn't name her. Obviously. The kitten -or rather cat- part of her name is right on. After she got fixed, she became a full-fledged cat. Now she just lies around the house all day, eating and licking herself and getting fat. People are always asking us if she is pregnant. No, she's not pregnant. She's fat. When I take her with me to run, I have to drag her on the leash behind me. She makes me look fast. She's lazier than lazy. Sure, she'll bark when someone knocks on the door or when she feels like she is missing out on some major exciting action going on outside. But aside from that, she's a total cat. And I'm not really a cat person.

Star-Me-Kitten is dog #3 for us. The third one is supposed to be the charm, the keeper, the one you want to keep forever...

Dog #1 was Minnie. Oh sweet little Minnie. Our first family pet. When you died two months after we adopted you, I cried like I had lost my own baby child. We had a little funeral for you and buried you up in the mountains with your little stuffed bunny. Sad, sad day. And then, whenever I'd think of how much we paid for you and that outrageous vet bill, I'd start crying all over again. We got so screwed with you.


Dog #2 was Maybelline. You were such an incredibly nasty b****! Literally. When we picked you up from the shelter, we had such high hopes for you. But you bit our neighbor between the legs and he feared he may never father children again. And then you went right ahead and bit nearly every kid in the neighborhood. We only pretended to be sad when we took you back to the shelter.


Dog #3 is Star-Me-Kitten. Our little, mixed-breed lap dog. I didn't really want you. Not really. I let myself get talked into keeping you. Some days, I sincerely regret that decision. But on your good days, I think you might be worth keeping. We have this "I-love-you-but-some-days-I-wish-you-would-run-away-and-not-come-back" kind of relationship. I've talked to you about it. You pee lifting your leg like a boy dog. You have gender confusion issues. You don't understand "personal space". At all. You have bad breath. You shed little black eyelashes all over the house. You don't do any cool tricks. You're not even all that endearing either. I'm just saying...

This is how I really feel.

(And in case you didn't catch the sarcasm, don't go all PETA on me. I do love animals. Most of the time.)

The whole school thing...

Apparently, people do give a crap. How flattering! Thanks for all the emails.

I’m going back to school to study English. I’m an aspiring editor. Never mind my blog writing skills. I like to pick out the mistakes other people make when they write. One of the highlights from my elementary school days was when my teachers let me help correct papers. Good times. Good times.

This going back to school thing is quite the challenge for me because I’m kind of a quitter. When things aren’t fun anymore, I like to quit. I frequently quit stuff like jobs, projects, hobbies, school… but never books. No matter how awful, I can never quit on a book once I’ve started it.

I’m also very impulsive. I’m an impulsive quitter. Although Dan loves my spontaneity, he has pointed out to me that by impetuously starting things and then abruptly quitting them I have put quite the drain on our resources. So I took a time-out of sorts for the last few years (since the real estate thing I quit) to figure out what it is I really want to do with my life/career. It was hard because I still want to do everything. I hate having to limit myself. But this -thinking things through with an end plan- kind of makes sense. I’ve committed myself to finishing my undergraduate degree so, no matter what, I can’t quit. And when I’m done, I will finally be able to put all my detail anal-ness (not a word- don’t care) to good use.

Wish me luck. Not quitting is something new to me.

A little update...

I'm still here. Sorry for the lack of posts. I'm going back to school (my brief 13 year hiatus has come to an end) and my classes have been consuming a good chunk of my time. All of my time, actually. It's exciting. For me. But it's kind of boring to write about. Because WHOTHECRAPCARESABOUTIT other than me?!

And so this little blog has been put on the back burner.

I will post again soon... something worth reading.

FYI- 16 degrees below zero is very, very cold...

Happy New Year!!!

(This is coming a little late. We've been out.)

We left the Saturday after Christmas to Minnesota to attend my sister-in-law's funeral. And I know an over-the-road trip across the continent to attend a funeral is not generally considered an up-beat and exciting vacation. But we had SO! MUCH! FUN! Hold tight, I know you want to hear all about it right? Yah, so I'm going to tell you all about it.

Dan insisted on driving his Jeep because he felt it would be better on the ice than the Pathfinder... which it definitely was but Jeepy is small and only has a soft top so there were some "issues". Like 80 mph winds in below zero temperatures. I kept looking out the windows for tornadoes... It was insane! So, now there's a rip in the soft top but all in all Jeepy survived and we survived too. Don't even ask us why we didn't fly. That's just stupid.

The funeral went well. Much different than the kind of funerals I'm used to, but well. I never got a chance to meet Tammy in person but I wish that I had. Erick and Tammy's family are close and they have been through so much this year. It's incredible how strong they have been through it all.

Dan's family in Minnesota was over-the-top good to us. They rolled out the red carpet and pampered us 5 stars. We got taken out to eat more times than I can count. We played outdoors a lot. Roxy got to go with her cousins to see Bedtime Stories at the theater. Jeff and Lisa took us snowmobiling and 4-wheeling on their massive property. There was lots and lots of visiting and catching up... It had been five years since Roxy and I had been out there and over ten years for Dan!

Uncle David and Aunt Carole live on Green Lake so Dan ventured out there on foot and then we took the Jeep out on it. We didn't stay on the lake too long due to Roxy's screaming every time she heard the ice cracking... wimp. (The lakes get so busy during the winter that on some of them, they actually put up traffic lights and bridges. It's like an ice city that only exists a couple of months out of the year. Very cool!) I loved all of the colorful fish houses.

(Roxy and I on the lake behind Uncle David and Aunt Carole's home.)

We got to catch up with Dan's brother, Erick. (That was the high-light of the trip!) We visited with him and our niece Sammy at the cancer hospital and then we secretly escaped with them for a couple of hours and went out to eat some real food. Erick knew all the under-ground tunnels and secret passage ways in and out of the hospital. It was a fun adventure.

(Sammy and Roxy at Applebees.)

Next we ventured over to the Kimball's house and partied with them on New Year's eve. I resisted the temptation to kidnap their new baby Atticus. I'm proud of myself. Roxy is still talking about swimming in the pool with London and Scarlett. (Raina- you guys are awesome! Thanks for letting us party with you and then crash at your place. We had a ton of fun!)

(London, Roxy, and Scarlett hanging out in the pool.)

We spent our last night visiting with the Sawyers until 3:30 in the morning and then headed back towards home. We stopped at Mount Rushmore and Sylvan Lake before drudging through the scenery-less southern part of Wyoming. It was cold. COLD cold. We hit a couple of storms on the way back so we were off on our estimated time of arrival by about 4000 hours. But we are home now and it feels good. 16 degrees above zero is feeling toasty!

(Dan and I below this Mt. Rushmore place... maybe you've heard of it.)

Christmas is almost here...

Only three more days! And now that we have over a foot of the good white stuff outside, I'm feeling it even more. The snow came down today and kept coming and coming and coming some more. Since we had nowhere we absolutely had to go, we just stayed inside (Dan and I did at least) and enjoyed the view from inside our toasty warm home. Roxy on the other hand couldn't get her snow gear on fast enough. She was out the door first thing this morning gathering friends and playing for hours and hours. She'd come in and thaw out for a half hour or so and then head right back out there. Kids can't be bothered that snot is frozen on their faces and that their fingers and toes are totally numb. When there's fun to be had, they'll make those sacrifices.

Since I could not run any errands today (and I didn't mind procrastinating them another day or so since I already waited this long...) I had extra time to browse around on the internet and catch up on all my online blog reading. It's been fun reading about everyone's different Christmas traditions and I wanted to share ours too.

• We put up our Christmas tree and decorations on the first Monday in December for Family Home Evening. Roxy gets to set up the Nativity Scene. We set the mood by lighting Christmas scented candles and putting on Christmas music and simmering hot apple cider or hot cocoa and treat all of our five senses. It really gets us in the Christmas mood.
  

• Roxy gets a new ornament of her very own every Christmas. She gets it the evening we put up the tree. We try to give her an ornament that represents something she did or accomplished that year. When she is older and moves on (sniff) she will get to take them all with her to put on her own tree and share the memories with her children.

• Family pictures. We try to get a new family picture taken at the end of every year. If I’m on the ball, we usually mail them out with our Christmas cards.

• We sing Christmas songs together as a family every night. We also read a Christmas story/thought/scripture every night. (Or every other night. We‘re working on collecting more Christmas story books.)

• Every December we have at least one in-door family camp-out under (beside) the Christmas tree. We watch Christmas movies, read Christmas stories, and sing Christmas songs… all by the light of the Christmas tree. It’s very magical. If Roxy had her way, we would do this every night.

• Caroling. Caroling. Caroling. Have I mentioned I LOVE singing?

• We make treats/small gifts together and take them around to our neighbor and friends.

• If we spend Christmas Eve with the Mickelsons, we always reenact the Christmas story from the scriptures at Grandma Nora’s house. She has the script and choreography all typed out. She’s been doing it forever…

• If we spend Christmas Eve with the Ortons, we sing (I hum) German Christmas songs together. Then we send all the kids upstairs (threaten them with their lives if they even think about coming down) and the Christkind Angel comes. She (I think the angel is supposed to be a HE but Grandma Moni wanted him to be a girl…) leaves plates for each of the kids filled with German candies and small gifts like hats, socks, and gloves.

• On Christmas morning, we always look through our stockings first all the while keeping our eyes glued on the big presents under the tree. My parents always had us do this when I was little. The suspension just builds and builds... plus we always have fun presents in our stockings too!
  

That's all I can think of at this moment... There are so many fun things to do this time of year and doing them with our families and close friends make them all that much more exciting and special.

We wish all of our dear friends and families a Very Merry Christmas.

One of my most favoritist people...

My Grandma Nora

I love this woman to no end. She is so full of life and spunk and never ceases to amaze me!

I remember when my family first moved to Utah. I was in the 5th grade. I came from a hippy-lovin' school in Washington state that was all about the arts and music and very little about math and history. I was quite far behind in those subjects in my new school. Every day after school I would go down to my Grandma Nora's house and she would help me with my fractions on her little green chalk board. She was never too busy to help me. I knew she loved me because of all the time she spent just with me... and she has a gazillion grandchildren.

In high school I wanted braces so badly. My parents told me I'd have to pay for them myself. It was hard saving up when I only made $1 an hour babysitting and $3 an hour working at the local hardware store. (Slave wages!) Grandma Nora helped me make the initial payment. I don't think I was ever supposed to tell that to anyone. It was our little secret. It's out now.

When I was a teenager I decided I wanted to learn to play the piano but my family didn't have one so my Grandma Nora let me come over to her house every day to practice on her piano. She and Grandpa said they loved listening to me practice although I'm pretty sure that must have been darn painful to listen to.

She taught me how to make popcorn over the stove and how to bake bread in a wood burning oven. She is a true pioneer woman. She is so practical and resourceful and as down to earth as you can get. I'd like to think that I inherited some of that from her. She loves telling stories and writing poetry and giving speeches. She has given me advice on anything and everything. And still does! She is amazing and inspiring in every single way.

Earlier this year she made a special trip out here to speak at Roxy's baptism. She told her story of how she got baptized in an irrigation pond. She went into the freezing-cold pond in the middle of the winter in a clean white gown and came out all muddy and brown but she felt clean inside. She made that day extra special for Roxy.


This month she was honored as a Candlelight Award Recipient at the middle school I attended back in the day. (Unfortunately, I wasn't there but the story was relayed to me in great detail.) They warned the students to be careful with this one... "She's 97 years old and very fragile." When she was asked to come up, she was so quick and sprite- she was several feet ahead of the students and they had to catch up. She was all embarrassed because it was a complete and total surprise and she didn't have her hair done and she was wearing her old cowgirl shirt... The other recipients looked all dolled up in their fancy clothes and their coiffed hair-dos she told me. She surmised that the secret hadn't been kept from them. She was so witty in her impromptu speech and had everyone laughing. The newspaper quoted her saying:

"I didn't know that being 97 would be so much fun. In fact, I am so surprised by all of this that I hope I live through the night."

Grandma Nora- You are the greatest. I love you!

Mickelson Family Christmas Party...

FELIZ NAVIDAD!

(Spanish is the preferred language at the Mickelson home. Too bad the majority of us don't speak it. My dad and little sister Kori think they are Hispanic. My two new little sisters Noemi and Natalia actually are.)

Noemi, Kori, and Natalia

Dan and I...

Roxy opening her loot from Grandma K...

So, Emily and Jake and boys seemed to have thought Idaho would be more exciting than Utah... (We'll see you next week though.)

And Michelle and Jared and their kids thought Disney World would be more fun... (Yah, well, we got snow! So there!)

But all the rest of the family was there. Here's what you missed out on:

We ate. You know exactly what we ate. Tradition.
And everyone sang Christmas carols. Yay!!! Thank you all!
We released red balloons to Jesus. Killick's balloon got there first.
We skipped out on the pinata this year. Not sure why. Grandma K?
We opened presents. And more presents. My mom sure knows how to go all out! Giving presents is her game and we all scored!
Roxy scored more than she dreamed she would... she has no more wants. Grandma K took care of them all. Except the sister one...
Then we played games.
Ate some more.
And played in the snow.

Roxy and Grandpa tubing... and Star the dog looking on...

And then we went home! The end!