Back in Utah.

Matt and I at Temple Square Lights

Alisha at Subway

Lish is good with the iPhone camera!

Ezra one month old. First open eyed pic taken by me!

Oliver taking my picture with toy camera: "Cheese!"

Ezra is sleepy. It was a long day!

It has been nice to be back in Utah, even if it is FREEZING. I guess winter has finally arrived here.

I went with my friend, Matt, to Temple Square on Thursday night. You can pick on me all you want about Matt. He lives in Boston, so we are friends, blah, blah, blah. That is how I feel about it now.

Friday I just hung in Sandy with the family. I rang in the new year on my couch asleep. I know thrilling, right?

Saturday, my friend, Alisha, stopped on her way through from St. George to Logan and we had lunch. It was nice.

Sarah then came and stayed with me that night. We ate Red Robin and then watched Dear John. It was fun to have a sleep over just like we did all the time in high school.

Today, both Ezra(Morgan and Derek's new baby) and Levi(Erin and Isaac's new baby) were blessed.(so it was a big family event up in Sandy with my other family) Basically, that means(in the Mormon world) they are given their name and then given a special blessing. It was great to be there even though I may have been distracted by small children. Maybe it is a good thing I go to a Singles' Ward so I get something out of church each week!

Tonight, I am encompassed by extreme sadness as I think about going back to work tomorrow morning. I am not looking forward to it, although I am sure it will be normal after the first few minutes. It seems that winter has finally arrived and my bad attitude is starting to show. Better get my good attitude ready. I also better get some sleep too. Have a great day. Mondays are fun! :) See, I can fake it 'til I make it!

Sledding, Snowmen and the last of the trip!

Was it just me or did the Christmas season go extremely fast this year? I feel like I took one breath and my time at home was over. Weird. I did make it back to Salt Lake. The weather is very Wisconsin. I really didn't need for it to remind me of home, but maybe that is what Mother Nature had in mind. Driving to Provo and back to Salt Lake yesterday really challenged me.

Monday, my sister, mom, niece and I went to Crandon on an adventure. It was fun. I really love the little gift shops of the Northwoods. That night I was invited to a friend from church's house for birthday cake and a planetarium adventure. A man in Monico, Wisconsin built his own planetarium. It is an old school version and he hand painted every star that you can see in the sky in Monico. It was an awesome experience. I like that a man had a dream and he went after it, instead of listening to the critics, who often crush dreams, he went forth and went after his life dream. I was inspired by his story. You can read about The Kovac Planetarium by clicking here. You can also watch the clip he had on The CBS Evening News here.

This year my friend, Jenette, and I participated in the annual Alice Goes Sledding Expedition. We only did about five runs because we were certain that we would hit a kid on a sled and then feel bad about killing them. I actually got some random cuts on my arms and chin because of my contact with some branches of bushes. What an adventure. It was so nice to spend some extra time with Jenette. We then headed to Sam's Pizza for dinner with a few of the girls from our softball team and Marla(the world's best fan!) It was yummy and a great way to catch up with good friends. I stayed with Marla at Hotel Marla, which is always a treat. There is even a new mattress in "my room." We stayed up late eating cutout cookies(which is the main reason I gained about seven pounds this last week! Dang delicious cutouts!). I always feel bad that I keep Marla up and then she has to work the next morning. Good thing she works from home and can go to work in her PJs!

On the way back to Rhinelander, I took the secret slow way to meet my sister, niece and mom at a very large snowman. It was cool. I was there a few minutes before them and took a picture for a couple who had come just to see it. They actually told me about another snowman, which was just up the road and actually on the way back home, so I stopped and took a picture of that one as well. There really are some creative people in the world.

The last night in Rhinelander was spent eating tacos at Pat's Tavern and then just getting ready to come back. We met up with Bob and Josh and their little guy, Nathaniel. He is such a cutie and I really do love that I have friends who I can just hang out with and it is like I never even left!

The break was real good to me. It is nice to know that I still have a weekend before I go back to my responsibilities!

Christmas with the Fam.

Some pics of the Christmas Extravaganza. Christmas with the nephew and nice. Divot killing the duck I bought him last year. Andi working on the puzzle. Me taking Divot on two walks while home(do I love this dog? yes!. We saw some really cool ice fishing shanties on the Wisconsin River while out, oh and a snow covered Hodag! I tired him out and he cried all the way through town when he left. I like to think it is because he loves me so much. We drove to Crandon for an adventure on Monday. That is the pic from when we came back. Flying early tomorrow. Will update when I am landed. Weather looks like it may make my plans different. I guess we will have to see what happens! :) Just going witht the flow because it is out of my control!

Christmas Eve in Green Bay

Enjoy some pictures of Christmas Eve. We were in Green Bay with my aunt and uncle. They are always so good to us and let us stay with them. I was glad to see my grandma as well, but a little sad that I didn't take one picture of her. Oh wait, I did when we were eating at Kroll's. Yipee.

That hat was a hit everywhere on Chirstmas. Do you see how excited I was for the season?

I love the tradition of Jesus' birthday cake that Gabby, my cousin Shannon's daughter, came up with a few years back. It was tasty too! Shannon is taking a picture of me taking a picture of her in the pic. You can also see Gabby, Thomas and Uncle Tom.

When I drove my grandma back to her house, we took a side adventure to this amazing house that took decorating with lights to the extreme. I loved it!

Hope you had some fun during the holidays!

Oh The Pilgrimage Home is Always Good!

It is nice to be home. I feel very lucky to have made it to Rhinelander last night. My flight out of Salt Lake City was actually delayed by an hour and a half and I was cutting it real close to get my connection in Minneapolis. I ran across the airport and luckily had just enough time to hit the bathroom before catching the flight. Isn't that a pretty picture that I took from thousands of feet above the ground? The skies were pretty friendly yesterday! Oh and I didn't have to be groped by security or go through the body scanner...I found that to be a good thing!

I set up my parents manger this morning because I reminded my parents that we can't have Christmas without Christ. Please remember the true meaning for the season. I think we often get too caught up in the giving and receiving of presents that we forget the biggest gift we have all been given. The little babe that was born in Bethlehem is the best gift of all. I am very grateful to know that my Savior was born to make it possible for me to return to my Heavenly Father. Knowing that I do not have to be perfect and that Jesus not only died for me but was born to live a life full of love and great example is truly the most comforting thing that I know to be true. My life is blessed everyday because of Jesus' sacrifice. Please take time to reflect on that sometime during your celebrations in the next few days! May the Peace of Christmas be with each of you!

I also bought some clothes today. I think it was very clever to have decided to pack light and not pay luggage fees. You can but a lot of clothes with 100 dollars. Not that I bought 100 dollars worth of clothes but I could for what I would pay to have a full bag go both ways on Delta. Stupid luggage fees!

Today we drove to Green Bay. My dad thought it was silly that I was taking a picture of the road while he was driving. He said: "What are you taking a picture of now?" I told him I was taking a picture of Wisconsin. Isn't the winter wonderland here pretty? I think so.

I like the new shirt I bought today. I may have stared at it in the mirror for a few minutes. I often check myself out in the mirror these days. It is fun. I looked good today! :) (and no I don't think Carley Simon was singing about me, either!)

I drove past Lambeau Field on the way to eat at Kroll's. I had a yummy butter cheese burger with bacon. It was fabulous. Just as fabulous as my eggnog shake from McDonald's I had on the way here. What an evil and yummy bunch of food I partook of today. My mom actually said to me today: "You really do like food, don't you?," after I said something about the Port Wine Cheese Spread that I put on a few of the crackers I ate at lunch. I really do have a love affair with food!

It was fun to have dinner with my cousin, Shannon, my Grandma, my Aunt Jeanie, and my mom. It was nice to have conversation with them. I have a great family. It will be fun to be here in Green Bay the next few days and catch up with everybody. Life is good and I love mine.

Cheers!