Every year the first weekend in December my family heads to Salt Lake to see the lights at Temple square. This year there was a lot of things happening on the first weekend for most of my family so it was just a small group of us that made it to the lights. My mom and I got to take my sweet nephews Myles and Wesly (Brock and Amy's boys) and we met up with Bre and her family. We got to eat lunch in Layton with Brandt and his Family Saturday afternoon but then they had to head home. It was a CRAZY weekend in Salt lake with a basketball game, a MoTab concert and lots of other things I'm sure. The worst part was finding parking of course but once we got on Temple Sqaure it was so peaceful and beautiful it really put me in the Christmas Spirit. My favorite part was the Reflection pond. This year Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus were sitting in the middle of it with floating lights all around and with the relfection of the Temple in the background it was just Beautiful and really brough the true meaning of Christmas to life for me. I'm so grateful for the blessing of the gospel and though the season gets a little crazy and commercialized I'm glad that I have the true meaning to focus on and to cherish the greatest gift ever given. The gift of our Savior and elder brother Jesus Christ. I love this time of year and the relfecting I get to do and the happiness I have because I have the gospel in my life. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas.

I saw this on my Friend's blog (thanks Lonna) and thought it was fun so I figured I'd copy and play along. You can too, Just copy and paste and highlight what you have done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Ran a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run--every time I play the Wii
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person--I don't remember it but I have seen it.
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

UEA Weekend

For UEA weekend my cousin had his mission farewell so Bre, Steve,the boys, mom and I decided to take a road trip and head to mesquite NV for the farewell. It was so fun. We left Friday afternoon and took quite the road trip. Lets be honest I was a little nervous to travel with Bre's kids and it was actually a really good trip, the boys were great. We got to Mesquite quite late so we went straight to the hotel. Saturday we headed to my cousin's house and met up with the whole family. My cousin's husband Joe builds sand buggies and so we headed to the sand dunes with the whole family and spent the day out there. It was so much fun, I'm not sure who had more fun the boys or the adults. It was a blast. After we road the buggies tons and tons we decided to head to the dunes and just play in the sand, that was a ton of fun the sand was so soft and the boys loved getting dirty. It was a ton of fun to see all my cousins (especially the girls) which unfortunately we don't get to see very much and when we do, we don't really get to for very long. Anyway it was a really fun weekend and it was really great to get out of the valley and just have a fun relaxing weekend. Thanks Joe and Tosha and Aunt MaryAnn and Uncle Kelly for tons of fun.

Canyon Adventure!!

Okay so yesterday I took my cute little nephew McKade up the canyon on a nature walk for an assignment I had to do at school. It was so much fun. We stopped at McDonald's on our way and got a kids meal and then we headed up to third dam and had a picnic. We then went and explored the many trails that intrigued him picking up many colored leaves on the way. We were gone about an hour and a half and decided to head home to make a picture out of our leaves and to finish my assignment. When we got back to my car it had a FLAT tire. I was so bugged and Mckade was quite worried we would have to sleep there. But thanks to my wonderful older brothers that taught me how to change a tire I told him he had nothing to fear. Well, I was somewhat wrong. I had just taken my car in to get it inspected and they tightened all of the lug nutts on the tire and well tightened one of them way to tight. We were quite the sight jumping on the tire iron and all. Well I finally had to admit defeat and go and ask for help. We found a very nice gentleman camping who gladly came to our rescue. It took him a good fifteen minutes to get the lug nut loose but he finally did and changed our tire for us. McKade was so excited that we didn't have to sleep there and that he could take his new caterpillar Fuzzy home and put him in a jar. Well it was a very adventursome and fun day. McKade and I wrote a book about our trip and let me tell you it is the cutest book ever.
I just love my family so much and love having them all so close. I have the cutest neices and nephews in the world and I'm so lucky to have them all here in the valley and to have such wonderful siblings that allow me to kidnap there kids and play with them and have one-on-one time with them. They truly are my best friends and its always fun to spend time with them.

Well I just got Tagged my sister Bre, this is a new thing for me so here it goes.

ABC's "getting to know you"

TAG ABC's of you. Each player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then go to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

A- Attached or single: Single
B- Best Friend: My sister and Mom, and Renee Carman
C-Cake or Pie: Pie of Course
D-Day: Any day that I get to spend with my family
E- Essential Item: Water
F- Favorite Color: Yellow
G-Gummi Bears or Worms: Gummi Bears
H-Home town: Logan
I- Indulgences: Dulce De Luche Ice Cream
J- January or July?: July, I love summer time.
K-Kids: NONE
L-Life is incomplete without: Family
M- Marriage Date: NOT Married
N- Number of Siblings: 5 brothers and 1 sister
O- Oranges or Apples: Apples
P- Phobias or Fears: Spiders, and Snakes
Q- Quote: " Imagination is more important than Knowledge"
R- Reason To Smile: My family, and little children
S- Season: I love Summer
T- Tag Three: Lonna, Desiree, Heidi
U- Unknown fact about me: I don't think its really unknown but its all I can think of, I'm a cowgirl at heart
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: I would have to say vegetarian but not fully
W- Worst Habit: I'm a procrastinator
X-Rays or Ultrasounds: I love sun rays
Y-Your favorite food: Usually its chocolate but lately I haven't had much of a sweet tooth
Z: Zodiac Sign: Taurus.

It has been a long time since I have updated my Blog and I'm sorry. I just came back from a killer vacation in New Hampshire, Maine and Boston. I went to visit the Carman family which is my adopted family. I had the wonderful privilege of being there nanny about 6 years ago and it was the most wonderful experience ever. They are such a wonderful family and I'm so grateful they have invited me into their family. I am so lucky to be able to go and invade their home at least once and year and more if my schedule permits. I just came back a couple of weeks ago and I'm already missing them terribly. I had a really good friend (Kydee) come with me and we had a blast. We did so many fun things but I think my favorite thing to do there is to hang out with the family. It was so great because everybody was home, even Rick and it was just so nice to have us all there. I love that they let me feel a part of their family and I thank them for that all the time. We got to go to Maine to the beach and do some shopping, we went to a water park and swam in the pool alot. We also got to spend 6 hours at the JFK airport in New York do to sleeping through our layover so next time I travel I think I'm going to drink some redbull and take some nodoze so it doesn't happen again. But it was adventure and well you know me that is what I'm all about. ADvENTURE.

A tribute to Grandmas house!

Grandma's house has SO many memories to last a lifetime, just a few, the pumpkin patch, the clothes line, the Schwann Ice cream truck, the barn in the back, the four wheeler rides with grandpa up to the cemetery, the sleepovers, the Thanksgiving dinners, the lovely front room how you could never step foot in there, the treat basket, the toys under the stairs, and SO much more. We will miss you forever grandma and the beautiful memories at you house!

Moms bedroom as she grew up. And the place that we slept when we came to grandma's house to sleepover many many times! We could smell breakfast every morning that we stayed there coming all the way up the stairs. We used make up so many stories in this room about the "blue boy". SO many memories.
And her the the steep stairs themselves with Macy & Boston coming down. We ALL used to slide down them just like this. We probably would have done it with our sleeping bags if grandma would have let us. (I think we did when she was not around) but you would crash into the wall as it was RIGHT at the bottom of the stairs. They were pretty steep as it was.
Grandma always had this fireplace going in the winter. We could never roast marshmallows or anything in it. The older I got she ended up replacing it with the "fake" wood. But in this room is where we would all gather together to watch T.V., play games, talk, laugh, this is where we would come and watch T.V. when grandma would pick us up from school if we were sick, she would pull the couch bed out and take such good care of us. Grandma would sit on the edge of her couch always knitting some kind of beautiful blanket, or in the kitchen making something delicious. But no matter what she was doing she seemed to always be in the conversation somehow. I loved everything about her.
Here is Bre & Corban sitting in these deep windows they had in all the bedrooms. They were fun growing up.
This is my tree that I gave to grandma when I was in 3rd grade. it was just a tiny little tree and look how big it got. Grandma was always so good to support us in everything and even take our trees we got from school and were SO excited about but had no place to plant them at home. She gladly took them. Her yard was always just beautiful!!! She truly was a second mom to us.
More of the fun stairs to all of us. And now here are the grandkids on the same stairs we all had fun on. Mckenley, Berkley, Macy, Daxton, and Boston.
The porch on the front of her house. She used to have a bench to sit on and beautiful potted flowers. This porch would "try" and collect box elder bugs but grandma would never let us happen. She was always working so hard to make everything just look SO beautiful ALL the time! And she was great at it.