What We Came Home To

We went with my family to St. George/Southern Cal for Thanksgiving (pictures of that coming later) and missed the Utah/byu game {sigh}
Here's what welcomed us when we returned home:
But THIS was waiting for us inside:

I LOVE my friends!!

Fall Fun

I know winter officially starts on December 21 (or 22 or whenever...) but, in my mind, it starts when it's too cold or snowy to consider much else than making soup and turning on the fire - so that would be today - November 15. In my house it is now officially winter... and probably will be until sometime in April...
We are knee deep in basement construction (will be painting probably this week :) and so this could be the only post for a couple weeks at least - I'm sorry to both of you reading...
Here's to Fall, 2009.
To #27:

First year in the new stadium, 'The house that Jeter Built' :)

To Camping Trips:

Goblin Valley

Capitol Reef
To Pumpkin Carving:

To Witches:

To Kids and Costumes and All Things Halloween:

And to Whittney - (for putting on a fabulously fun witches tea while in the process of moving out of her house - you're amazing girlfriend...):

WHAT did he say??

Maybe I shouldn't post this (I know my grandma would be truly disgusted to know I published anything with this particular word) but it still makes me laugh...

So, the other night, D-man says,

"Mom is there blood?"

I was thinking 'hmmmm maybe I shouldn't have let him watch Star Wars III' but really had no clue what he was talking about.

So, he says it again.

"Anushka says there is blood!"

"Well, when you get cut there is blood," I respond.

"No, Anushka says there is blood and BOOBS mom! Blood and boobs!!"

At this point I still have no idea what he's talking about but I'm trying to disguise my laughter in a fit of coughing. Then my daughter walks in and hears our conversation and corrects him.

"Not boobs Diggity - brains!"

So he already confuses boobs with brains (I never talk about them btw) and I have no idea what ghastly thing my daughter watched to make her talk about blood and brains...

'Mother of the Year' here I come!

Rainy Day Ponderings

Do you ever think back to a time when...

...You stood at the bottom of the Twin Towers in NYC and looked straight up?

...You had never heard the name Paris Hilton?
-I miss that time.

...You saw or met someone for the first time and had no idea how this person would affect your life?

- Brad was walking up an aisle across from me in a chapel

- Debbyee was sitting in a room at a church with her youngest daughter

- Chris was sitting at a triage table at ARUP

- Whittney was sweeping the kitchen floor at Wendy's

- Dixie was running on a treadmill... So was Janae...

- Tam was conducting a meeting

- Dawn was sitting with Paige next to us at church.

- I don't even remember the first time I met Daph, Kelly, Nic or Sina...

Seriously, I don't know what the point of this post is except that today I was thinking about the first time I met Chad (the friend who died last week) and it would have never occurred to me that in six short years, I'd be mourning the loss of him. I have been so lucky in my life to have people who I absolutely adore, who I admire in so many ways and who make me a better person just because I know them.

So, if you're a friend of mine, thank you for making my life richer, happier (and sometimes sadder), funnier, and just so much more worth living.

Makes me wonder who I'll meet next?

One Great Guy

This is the guy that replaced me at work when I had my daughter. I hand-picked him from hundreds of applicants. We worked side-by-side for the last month of my employment getting him trained and ready.
Lucky for me, we remained friends...
His name is Chad. Three years ago, he found out he had cancer. Yesterday, after 3 years of brave, good-humored, faithful fighting, he passed away.
He will be MISSED

Family Reunion and First Weeks of School

Most people around here are dying for the weather to change, cool off. Not me. Since it snowed into June, I'd be fine with another month in the 90s - especially if they left the pools open. Unfortunately, this is Utah and it ain't gonna happen. The last few weeks of summer have been jam-packed with school, reunions, and play. We're year-round, so Anushka has already been back in school for more than a month. D-man started pre-school a couple weeks into August.

I love the fund raiser they do at Anushka's school. A fun run. That's it. The kids run 2.2 miles and get people to pledge. The goal is for each child to raise at least $20.00. All the money goes to the school, we don't have to sell stuff, and the kids get exercise.

The end of August brought some good times in the forms of Lagoon Day, High School Reunion and FAMILY Reunion with BB's fam. I am lucky enough to have some of the greatest in-laws on the planet - so family reunions...even with HIS family... are super fun events, not times to endure. This year we hung out in Logan Canyon...






Then, yesterday, we hit the local Sniagrab - so now we're set for the inevitably long Utah winter...

Happy 40 Years

Then:
Now:
I don't think my parents ever read my blog - even though I tried making it their home page; but I wanted to shout out to John and Karin for 40 very happy years of marriage. They have been a great example to me of how spouses ought to treat each other. My only frustration is that I wish two such attractive people could have passed some of their genes to me (and not just my brother and sister:) Way to go mom and dad...