Happy Last Day of the Year!

Well here it is, the final day of 2008. For me time has flown so fast and I can not believe that it is time to say goodbye to another year.

Christmas was great at our house. We had quite a small present accumulation and that worked out pretty well for all. Angel loved getting Artist Sketch pads, large ones. I think that is the present that she showed the most surprise and appreciation for. Pilot loved the Expeditor Truck, he picked it out so he knew he was getting it. The only thing he said was that even though it is exactly what he wanted, he was disappointed in it not being a surprise. I know what he means.

Hubby loved getting four pair of jeans, as his old ones were pretty well goners. He also got a new wallet, that we hope will wear well and last at least a month or two. Hubby is very hard on wallets, he likes to carry the kitchen sink in them and boy does that put a lot of wear and tear on them. I loved the Husky Puppy Build-A-Bear the family got me. She is dressed like an angel and is so adorable! Thanks to our parents for the money's they gave us. This has helped us tremendously in more ways than you can imagine.

Hubby is back to work after a knee injury he had in July. He finally went back December first. I miss having him here, but they need him at work and we need the income. His knee has been really sore as of late again, and so he is going to the doctor on Monday to have it checked. I am hoping all is well and it is still healing.

Everyone else is doing fine in the health department. We have our issues but nothing exciting.

So with Hubby on call for tonight, we don't know if he will be with us for our family New Year's Eve Party. We will be sad if he is called into work, but that is the way it goes. Other wise we will be eating, watching dvd's and playing games.

I think we have done quite well weight wise during the holidays. No one has complained about gaining extra pounds, even me! This is wonderful for all of us.

We still have a ton of snow and I wonder if our neighborhood streets will ever be cleared. By the time the plows came in here, the snow was packed and frozen on the roads. There are a few spots where you can see the asphalt. It has been so cold that the snow and ice have not been able to melt and if it does melt it just stays put and refreezes. Our driveway basically has the same problem. As it melts it fills in the pad and causes slipping problems for us older folks.

We will survive, it is only winter. In just over a month, Phil (the groundhog) will come out on my birthday and announce to world that is it spring! At least that's what I hope he will say.

See ya later!

Photos Of Our Latest Snow Storm

This is the snow in American Fork. Piled good and high.
They did not get as much as we did.




Here is some piled up in Lehi.



Here is a wind blown Church Welfare farming field
in Saratoga Springs.



Here is the entrance into our subdivision.



Snow around our mail box.



Here is looking across the 'park' towards our house.



Most of the snow blew off our homes. But the yard is
full of the white stuff.



Pilot is clearing more of the snow. It really was a big load.



A look towards the west from our driveway.



Snow around our walkway to the front of the house.



Pilot still working at it.

Merry Christmas Eve - some more treats!

Thanks to the Sanchez family for this wonderful Banana Bread.


Thanks to the Goodrich's for these Oreo Truffle Balls.


Thanks to the Skarstedts for this banana bread.

Snow!

Yes we have snow, just like the rest of the country. We definitely will have a beautiful white Christmas this year, with lots of snow piled high around the house. I will have to get photos when I decide to venture out. So far I have remained inside for this last storm. I don't want to get wet and cold.

The kids went out and had a blast making snow angels and had snowball fights. They went out twice. Sure glad I am over that excitement.




This photo was taken last year in January at the Manti Temple.  My nephew and his wife will be celebrating their first anniversary in just less than two weeks.  Happy Anniversary!!!  I remember what a beautiful day this was, the sun and snow.... it was awesome! and it was not that cold.  It was truly a blessed day.

Another Christmas Treat! (That made it to the Blog!)

Thanks to the Norths for these tasty Gingerbread people!

 

 Thursday morning at 6:30 Pilot and I watched this moon set.  It was so beautiful!  Hubby watched it also as he was driving home from work.  The photo's don't due justice to the beauty we marveled at.

  

 

  

 Pilot, Angel and I opened one of the coconuts that we gathered while we 

were down on the Keys.   This is what we found.

  

A tiny coconut.  Pilot did almost all of the work.  And believe me, it was tough.

We definitely do not have the correct tools for opening the husk on the coconut.

I knew that, but Pilot had to learn it himself.

  

  

  

This is such a cute face!

  

 

The coconut water was horrible!  I have never tasted a coconut like this one.  It was putrid.  I love coconut and have had plenty of fresh coconut while I was living in Hawaii, but this was terrible.  I don't know if it was a different variety or what, but it nearly made me sick!  It looked right, smelled bad and I already told you about the taste.  The meat was textured correctly and looks great, but it as well tasted awful.  

Despite the outcome of fruit being non-edible, the process was fun as we unwrapped the natural coating and discovered the gem that was encased.  We had a fun evening Wednesday night, it was too bad that Hubby was at work and could not enjoy it with us.

Getting Ready For The Holidays

We are getting ready for the holidays. It has been fun. We have decorated the tree.

The boys put lights on the house and the tree out front. It looks festive.

We've eaten chocolate candies like Nestle Crunch Bells, Reese's Bells, Dove and Hershey squares, to save the colorful foil wrappers and cover some old mixed nuts in the shells.
This looks so pretty!

Here is our first goodie plate from one of our wonderful neighbors. ALL Tasty! Thanks!!


None of us have gained any weight and that is a good thing!

My mom and dad's tree is up so we took a photo in front of it. Also here is a photo of their Nativity Set that I remember having when I was little.

Yes I Am Back!

It has been a long time since I have been here.  Getting back on a schedule was very hard after our jaunt across the states.  However, we did not go back to our old schedule and have seemed to have created a  new master plan for our days.  I won't go into detail right now, maybe later.

I just wanted you all to know that we were alive and functioning.  So see ya later.

Love,

Sharinskishe

Wednesday, the 15th of October

Today we headed out of Albuquerque hoping to make it home. We have about 680 miles to go. Well, we made it to Moab, Utah and had to call it a night. After being on the road for almost 10 hours and making a few stops we needed to rest.

We stopped at the Four Corners Marker and had fun being in four states at the same time. The kids enjoyed being able to visit all four states at the same time. For anyone who does not know, Four Corners is the spot where Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico's borders all meet.

In Monticello, Utah we stopped to look at one of the LDS small Temples. It is certainly not as big as the ones I am used to seeing, but it was beautiful just the same.


Look at God's great architecture- I loved the country of South Eastern Utah. It was sooooo beautiful.

Hey- catch that shadow!! Don't let it get away!!!

The famous Hole in the Rock. What it is famous for, I can't remember. But I will find out!
Click here for the website and see the photos.

Finally Moab comes into sight. Or at least the rock of the off road trails for 4x4's. Soon we will be in beds able to stretch out and get one rest before we finish out journey and arrive home.

In Moab we are staying in a Days Inn and they had the carpets cleaned this morning and so the rugs are a bit damp. But it is nice to know that they are clean.

Tuesday, October 14th

Breakfast included Texas Waffles.  It was fun to have the waffle in the shape of Texas.  So we had to photograph it.








We looked to the South as we drove through El Paso and we were able to see Mexico and their flag flying in their country.  We did not go into Mexico,but we did see it. You can see the flag right in the middle of the photo to the left.





 We finally came to the border of Texas and New Mexico.  It was good to be done with the long drive through Texas.  Now we just need to drive up to Albuquerque.

We hit a little bit of rain.  But mostly we missed the rain and just had lovely storm clouds all around us.  

 

We finally reached our hotel in Albuquerque and I fell in love with the towel holder.  Of course if I made one, I would paint it white to blend into the walls of my bathroom.

Monday, October 13th

Happy Birthday to my Daddy! I love you!!!



Today we left Middle Brother's and began the long journey across Texas.

This is a photo of Fort Alamo or the Fort at the Alamo. It was closed by the time we got there. We were running very late and only took the time the drive around the Fort.

Another view of the Fort. A monument with the names of all who perished in the battle.

We saw a lot of Hurricane devastation from Ike. It was very humbling. I can't find any photos from our leaving Beaumont and going through Houston. I will have to look again. I looked and can't find anything. I guess I was too much in awe to take photos.

We traveled on I-10 and there were many places that the highway was under water after the hurricane. They are in the process of cleaning the median and roadsides up, but there is still a lot to be done. It looked as though they had pulled the big things out like furniture, boats, cars and the like.

We did see an odd refrigerator here and there, mattresses, packages wrapped in plastic the size of insulation bales. There is tons of grass or hay piled on the road sides, at least ten feet tall in many places. I imagine that many a bale of hay was destroyed and ended up floating away and making a huge mess.

We made it to Fort Stockton and are now going to sleep.