Christmas on Temple Square

What a great season! Its been wonderful to prepare for Christmas. The whole family has been busy with their gift giving and having family near has been the best part. Last Saturday the family went down to Salt Lake to meet up with old family friends and pick up Allison, who had flown in on Thursday night and spent Friday with the students in Provo. We watched the Joseph Smith movie, had lunch at the Gateway, did some Christmas shopping, enjoyed the lights on Temple Square and sang as a family. I just love being with my family. Here are some pictures of the day.


My brothers are always doing something exciting. I'm not sure that they could simply walk from point A to point B without finding some fun in the surroundings. This time they were slipping around on the snow and leap frogging over each other!

Christmas Glow

Last night I was placing some Christmas gift under the tree and I found a whole stash of Christmas lights that were just sitting there, begging to be used. Back in Vancouver the task of putting up the Christmas lights always fell to me. Partly because I was the only one who really enjoyed the task. There is just something about Christmas lights. My eyes are drawn to them and somehow the light seems to penetrate and warm my soul. In Vancouver we had thousands of lights that covered the house and yard. Here in Logan we don't have the luxury of a home right now but when I found those lights I went right to work and put them up in the living room and kitchen windows. Then I found a strand and put them up in my room. I feel asleep to the colorful glow of Christmas lights and something was finally right. I had put up the Christmas lights for another year of Christmas and today my heart is aglow with Christmas.

Communication Montage

Sunday evening was supposed to be this relaxing quiet night full of meaningful activities. But with one phone call that all changed. I was already planning on calling my best friend E and catching up with her but then my brother and his family stopped by with his four children and any hopes for quiet were gone. I didn't mind because I always love having the family over but I still wanted to talk to E so I sat down at the computer in the living room and opened up iChat. Well that got the ball rolling and soon I was caught up in several forms of communication. Not only was I chatting with E on iChat but I was also chatting with another friend on Facebook and then on Gmail and then my sister Tam wanted to do a video chat on iChat as well. I was also texting a friend on my cell phone. All this while I was quietly listening to the conversation going on behind me between brother, sister-in-law, and father! Talk about multi-tasking! The result, I got all kinds of communicating done! Now I don't want any of you to feel like I wasn't paying attention to you! I love you all. I just find it slightly humorous how many ways the rising generation has discovered to communicate without actually talking with someone face to face!

Happy Thanksgiving

Its been a great past week. Last weekend I went down to Provo and had an amazing time. Friday night was the 83rd Ward Oscars Night. It was an amazing event. Deborah's movie Deb in Real Life won three Academy Awards including Best Movie, Best Actress and Best Director. It was cool to see that event continue. Last year when Shane and I were the activity co-chairs we started that event and I think it will continue on. This year they had eight movies entered and had a program written for the voting. That made every win official and every vote really counted. Anyway, it was fun to see friends again and get all dolled up for the event.



Saturday was the Utah/BYU football game that I don't really want to talk about. It was a sad loss for BYU but we look forward to next year. Saturday night Deb and I happened on some tickets to the Coldplay concert! We went with Christine and her boyfriend Matt. I've always wanted to go to a rock concert and there couldn't possibly be a better concert to go to. I was impressed with the whole production and those men are amazing musicians! We had sweet seats and a lot of fun. 

I got home from Provo on Monday and this week has gone so fast. For Thanksgiving yesterday we went down to Grandma's and met up with three other families of relatives. All in all there were around 38 people there and it was an amazing meal! It was just fun to play with everyone. The boys and I played some football and then someone brought a Wii and Rock Band soon became the event of the afternoon. In the end we even got the adults to join in. We came back to Logan and the playing didn't stop! The dorm was empty and so Ben rode his bike down the stairs and we played Nerf gun war on all 5 levels! It was pretty intense. This morning Matt joined us and the war continued. We have mastered the art and never grow tired of another round. 

It has been so much fun to have family home. I'm so thankful for family and the simple joy of being home for the holidays. Happy Thanksgiving to all you readers! Thank you for the part you play in my wonderful life.

Jumpin' through life

The last week has flown by! Here are the highlights:

Last Tuesday American Festival Chorus had its debut concert in a Veteran's Day tribute concert. It went off amazingly and then again on Saturday AFC performed Mozart's Requiem. Both performances were great. Check out our upcoming schedule at our website. 

After the performance we went to fill up on gas and were excited to see gas under $2! With our Smith's discount we ended up paying $1.84! Pretty funny how exciting that was to us!

I had two interviews this week and both went really well. I now just have to wait to see what happens. Also got a few "regret" letters from other places I have applied to. I hope something comes soon. I'm getting restless! 

Wednesday mom and I watched The Guys. It is an very well-written movie about 9/11. Both mom and I were in tears. It is sometimes still hard to believe that actually happened to us. I am thankful for the service men who gave their lives that day and those still willing to fight today for the freedoms of us all.

Today the maintenance guys came through the dorm and replaced all the single sofas with newer ones. We took the opportunity to play on the old once left stacked outside on the grass. It was pretty fun jumping around and then just laying there. The days are still beautiful here but today it has been windy. I think the cold weather is finally coming. The weatherman boast of snow for Thanksgiving. We'll just have to see. In the mean time, still jumpin' through life. 

Memory...what was that?

I've been meaning to blog all week long but quite honestly, I can't think of anything super fun to tell you about. There was something I remember thinking I must blog about but now the thought is lost to me and I can't remember what it was. I must be getting old. It has been an average week with not much excitement. I just thought you might enjoy some of the pictures I have been taking of beautiful Cache Valley.

I had this amazing idea to get a shot of the full moon over Aggie's "Old Main" building but the moon was too slow in rising and Joseph and I got frozen out! Here's the best shot we got!

"Piping hot"

I love to bake. My mother is always accusing me of being the person at fault when it comes to dentist bills because of the sugar I introduce to the family in all forms and fashions. :) It all started with this cookbook back when I was probably 8 or 9 years old. My mother's copy was covered in duck tape and had been well used. I learned fractions and to bake bread and cookies with this Canadian Purity Cookbook of choice. Then while on my mission my mom threw it away! When I came home to find it gone forever I was quite "put out." 

However, two weeks ago mom came home from a visit to Grandma's all excited about a book she had brought back for me. It wasn't until a few minutes later when I casually started flipping through the cookbook on the counter that I instantly recognized its pages! I had never seen the cover before since to me it had always been the silver of duck tape but I'd recognize those recipes anywhere! So, I've had a nostalgic two weeks revisiting the old recipes of my youth. Having since had a bit more experience with cookbooks and recipes I can really appreciate a well-written book like this especially when the Canadian instructions include phrases like "piping hot!"

Fast and Fun Weekend

So I'm playing a little catch up. Last Friday a group of friends from my ward went to haunt a corn maze in Paradise, UT. It was super fun. We went out to pizza first and then got down there and got to know the maze a little bit before it got dark. It was fun to know the maze in stead of always being lost in it! We got a few really good scares and then there were the groups that were lame and weren't scarred at all. I was the joker face and would sneak up behind a group and join them without them knowing. Then I would get really close to the back two people until they would sense something there and turn around to find me! It was super fun. The maze was really cool and they had a graveyard and all kinds of really fun stuff. We had a lot of fun together and it beats having to pay to go through a maze! 

I drove down to Provo after the maze and Saturday was a game day! I have to admit, football games at BYU are so much fun! The energy is in the air and you can't help but be excited! Cosmo is doing his tricks and of course a football game isn't the same without cousins! I think we have sat together for three years now and it is a tradition. I love my cousins! We won the game even though our defense was rather frustrating. Something is up with the team these last few weeks and I just hope they fix it soon. 

Sunday it was great to see old friends. I felt right back at home in my old ward with old friends. But I'm okay that I'm not down

there right now. I know Logan is the place to be right now and I am loving making new friends. Us sisters went to our cousin Daniel Ostler's farewell talk in the morning and then in the afternoon we went over to the Ostler's to visit. Again, it was great to be with family. Derek and Daniel were both over in 

Jerusalem in the Winter semester so it was fun to remember things from the Holy Land. Derek pulled out some clothes he got in Egypt and we started playing dress up! He is going to use this outfit for Halloween. Well, he's not going to use it but he is going to have a female friend use it and he will dress up in the traditional male garb for Egypt. The clothes there really are beautiful. I wish I would have thought to get myself an outfit like this. I still haven't decided what to be for Halloween.

The drive back to Logan went fast and after ward prayer I went over to a friend's to play games. It was fun to continue to get to know more people in my ward. So there's my fast and fun weekend!

More exploring and Bear Lake

Wednesday of last week mom and I took off in the Expedition to find Millville Canyon. Not knowing the area very well, the directions I received proved of little help and although we did find a canyon, it was not Millville Canyon. However, our trip was still lots of fun. We ended up in Providence Canyon and got to play with the Expedition's 4-wheel drive. I think mom is not used to having a car that can handle a mountain road. We got pretty far up the canyon when we hit a gravel slide and decided we didn't want to get stuck and turned around. At this point I think mom started to really enjoy the beautiful scenery. Both of us were taking pictures trying to capture the last of the fall colors. So many of the trees are already bare. I did get another fun shot of the temple on our way back into Logan though.

Friday night I headed up Logan Canyon to Bear Lake for my first time. A friend of mine has a family cabin up there and it was just what I needed. When we got up there it was already dark so I couldn't really see anything. We talked and ate and tried to take pictures of the moon and watched a movie. The 

moon light was beautiful over the lake but in the morning I got to see just why so many people boast of this place. The warm rays of the sunrise were inviting to say the least. I think it is so interesting how a vista like this can feed the soul. Going through my pictures I realized I took way to many pictures of the same thing but I couldn't stop! Every image was breathtaking and something I wanted to preserve. Sometimes I think I take too many pictures. I miss out on enjoying the real moment when I'm focused on preserving it in a digital picture. A thought I want to remember for the future. There are some things that will never be captured properly in a picture. But if we take the time, our eyes are able to view God's creations in a fulfilling and grateful way. That is probably how God intended it in the first place. Don't worry, I'm not going to stop taking pictures! I just think I'm will do it a little slower now.