Liberty, UT

We drove about 5 hours yesterday and arrived at "our" cabin at about 4 pm. It's beautiful! It started snowing as we arrived, and just stopped...(about 24 hours later). We went this morning for a sleigh ride to pick out a tree. Ivy got to drive the sleigh, play with the golden retrievers on the farm, and hold one of the barn kitties. Logan came down with a stomach flu :( We made a snowman and went sledding when we got back. We also decorated the aforementioned tree! Very retro...

To ski or not to ski...

Mom and Dad arrived last Tuesday, right after the first "real" snow (see Sarah demonstrating snow diving technique). We have since had a couple of storms. Mom, Dad, and I made a snowman while Andy went to pull someone out of the ditch. (illustration here)

Tonight Kate, Mike, Logan, and Ivy arrived. The kids wore Sarah out (much like her friend, Gracie- see picture). We will all pack and depart on Sunday for Powder Mountain, in Eden/Liberty, UT. If the weather's decent, we may venture out of doors up there, skiing, sledding, snowshoeing... If not, I hear there is a Wii packed in a car.

I will post pics when we return, but here's wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas! Sarah will be spending the week with her "Aunt" Diane and the "Pack" - Mojo, Sadie, and Gracie...occasionally Bailey escapes his house and comes to play. We cannot thank Diane enough for looking after our girl...

Twilight Fever...

Yes, I have been sucked into the black hole of Twilight. I read the first 3 last spring break...and bought Breaking Dawn when it came out. I have read them 3 times through. I know I sound crazy, but comparatively (to the females in UT) I am sane. There IS some bias because the author is LDS...I am fairly confident that although the writing is awesome and the movie did a pretty good job of relaying the story and feeling, around here it is HUGE because of Stephanie Meyer. I am a bit conflicted in the fact that they are overlooking things they might make a big deal out of in a different author's material, but seriously, the books are great. I have seen the movie 2 times...and can't wait til it comes out on DVD. It's an illness.

Catching up

Andy and I have been contemplating the end of the year and presents and cards... so much to do this time of the year! Here are a couple of pics from Thanksgiving. The little girl on my shoulders is Madison (2 yrs) and Megan is on the trike. That's the cooking crew, Terry, Tammy, and Justin in the middle. We had a lot of fun with MB last weekend, just hanging out and eating tamales and FLAN (thanks Mary!). Didn't take any pictures, tho'. Sarah had a blast hanging out with her four-legged "cousins".

Where does the time go?

I can't believe that it's been almost a month since I posted...sorry! We went to Denver for Thankgiving and to Apple Valley, CA, this past weekend for the "birthdays". I will post pictures later (I'm at school right now.) I'm debating about whether to start some other pages for family or for personal thoughts...

Catch ya later!

One last bit of news...

This weekend was dedicated to work. We got the fireplace stovepipe together and tried it out - works great! We also got a vehicle in the garage - a first since Surprise. We think we can get 2 in there with a little more selling, tossing, and organizing. Sunday there was rain and we went to Zion to get pictures and see waterfalls.

Halloween? Go Goblins!

Andy and I officially boycotted Halloween...we went to investigate Capitol Reef National Park. We found a lovely motel that is pet-friendly, tried to cross the surface of the moon (just kidding, but isn't that valley eerie-looking?), and discovered Goblin Valley... don't say it... you have a dirty mind! We just love traveling through this beautiful state...every time we go somewhere we find something else to wonder at.

LEONA TURNS 100 !!!

The weekend of 10/18, we flew to Minnesota for a centennial celebration...no, not a state, a person. Leona Forman Reckow turned 100 on Monday, Oct. 20. She was surrounded by friends and family...and family...and family. Here are some pictures of the many generations gathered together. While we were there, the Meisel-White-Brethour bunch made the 2nd annual trip to the Nelson Farm for pumpkin-related festivities.

Lots of catching up to do...

Since we updated last, we've had a couple of "fun" weekends, a family celebration weekend, and a WORK weekend. But LOTS has happened. Here are some pictures from the weekend of 10/25-26 when we went off-roading locally. We have been playing with our camera... the pictures are a little hazy occasionally because there were fires up north. A friendly game of chase, a steep hill, and some rock climbing... Do you believe we're lucky enough to live here?

The BESTEST Vacuum ever...

and the reason for it!!! See the dirt and hair in that canister??? And that was the second time I'd emptied it. Yes, until yesterday, we never knew what clean was. Am I a walking Dyson commercial? YOU BET I AM! Anyway, for those of you who didn't believe me the other day, here's a picture of snow.

Also, since anytime the camera is out is a Bella-photo moment, here's the star...

Typical October Weather

Well, the last couple of days have been beautiful and warm. And today it's 45 degrees with rain/hail mix I am officially calling the "first snow". ( If you click on the picture and stare really hard, you can see white.) We haven't decided if it's clean today, play tomorrow or the other way around. Sarah loves it tho'. She is totally growing again, looking awkward and gangly with real puppy face most of the time.

Tomorrow is Ivy's birthday...I am acknowledging and will call, but I am taking her presents with us to Minnesota next weekend.

We hung the sun outside the living room porch door - for those of you who have nothing better to do than to agonize over my decorating decisions. HA! I bought a couple of more frames for some pictures that we'll hang this weekend and hopefully the David West's for the bedrooms will be ready soon. Check out the link to his site on the right...

News of the day...

I'm a "shifter"...not yet a drifter. I managed to get from home to work and back with no damage to me or the car. (See that poor little car Dad exiled to the dirt roads?) Anyway...here's my next project - the Garage Sale.

House Updates

Here are some pictures of the house as it is now... We still have some rooms to "hang", the bedrooms and office, the upstairs. The big Mexican sun that was in the kitchen in Flagstaff will hang outside, just not sure which wall on the patio - suggestions, Mom? We are going to Springdale for my driving lesson and to let Sarah swim in the river. We will try to meet up with Dean Russell (Flag Qwest) who's there with his dad on a trip. L8r!

More Bear pictures

I did promise more bear pictures...

Sorry for Interruption

Hi. I apologize for being "out" for so long. I finally have pictures on the walls, the filing cabinet in the office, and most of our belongings "settled". School is also relatively under control. So I thought before I went to bed that I would finally update for you Saturday morning computer checkers... Here are some pics from Labor Day (MB and pals) and our CERT trainings. I still have not had the garage sale, but I will...(even if it bombs). I will take more pictures tomorrow and post some time Sunday...unless I forget. My plan is to learn how to drive the Corolla Sunday...now that gas prices are going back down.

Starting fresh...

It's that time of year...school is starting. We have finished the house, taken our first vacation not associated with a family event in 10 years, and Andy is considering another change of career. It's time to start over, at least on my calendar. So I'm attempting to simplify somewhat...combining Sarah's blog and the house blog, and including other information about the humans that care for Tempest and Sarah.

Here are some pictures from our vacation...as soon as we hang some wall art, I'll take more pictures and post them. You'll notice the bear in the middle picture. This poor guy was just trying to decide where to go when he crossed the footpath. Everyone kept their cool (even Sarah) and he went on his way. We had something in the order of 600 pictures on our trip (don't you love digital photography)...I may keep using them for a while. Sarah had a blast, but now that we're home, she's adjusting to being on her own. Apparently, while I thought she was doing fabulously on her own , she's been spending time with the neighbor...getting walks and playtime with her puppies.