Ramblings

I love Christmas cards - sending and receiving them. Okay, mostly just receiving them! We decided we wanted to do a card with 3 pictures on it this year, but we didn't have one of just the kids. So last Tuesday, our night with Jyson, we called McKelle and Jake and they came over. Jyson was not in a happy mood and did not want to change his shirt. We had one shot for the photo and it turned out great. Thanks to McKelle and Jake for being patient older siblings and Jyson for putting up with me. Love them!

Last weekend Johnny and I had dinner with our friends, Debbie and Brandon and their cute daughters Liv and Ava. Debbie and I were roommates at BYU about 15 years ago. Whoa, that makes me sound old. We laughed about how she used to be up laughing and talking late into the night and I'd come out and growl at her because she had woken me up. It was not funny at the time, but perspective can change that. We had a yummy dinner and played Yahtzee and laughed a lot. I am so grateful for good friends throughout my life!

Finally, Young Women. I was called as the YW president two months ago. The girls are GREAT and I love the leaders. Last night we went up to Temple Square. We watched the Joseph Smith movie and walked around to appreciate the lights. We rode up in a 15 passenger van - party in a car. On the way up, as we're flying along in the carpool lane, the lane next to us was at a complete stop. Suddenly a car starts to pull out, crossing the double white lines. Mandy (my 2nd counselor) had to totally swerve around him - SCARY. Poor girl about had a heart attack. After maneuvering around the contruction in Salt Lake, we entered the parking garage below the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It didn't look like we were going to clear the entrance. Mandy was totally ducking her head and screaming. I was laughing so hard. Then she had to park the boat. It was quite the adventure. Loved the movie. Loved the lights. It was a fun night.

Happy Turkey Day

I love this time of year - family, food, and fun. We were happy to have all our kids with us for the weekend. Thanksgiving was a great start to the holiday season. We ate with John's family this year at Julie's house. Poor Johnny woke up sick with the flu and didn't eat a thing all day. He had to wait two days to have a little turkey dinner. Here are a few photos from the day:

Poor sick Johnny. He gave me the flu two days later. Yuck.

2-year-in-our-house anniversary

This month marks two years that we've been in our house. We love it. John has accomplished a lot in two years. I'll give him the credit since it's all his hard work. I've been supportive and fed him, etc. but he's really done it all (with a little help from his family).
Let's start with the outside. When we moved in, we had lovely green grass everywhere. This is a view from the back porch looking left and right.

We've made a few changes. We planted 20 arbor vitae trees across the back fence to give us some privacy. The left side of our yard now has a green house that houses our hot tub. John covered it with lattice for privacy. The right side of our yard now has a 10'x20' shed. We did have someone else build the shed, but John insulated and wired it, and hung wood siding inside. He'll build shelves on one side and leave the other side open for a workshop. He's a happy camper. The place where the grass is cut out is where our patio will be extended next spring. We'll also be extending the driveway on the side of the house.

Now for the inside of the house. When we moved in, our basement was completely unfinished. When finished, we'll have a family room, storage room (completed and in use), bathroom, billiard room, John's office, my craft room, and a bedroom. John has spent many hours downstairs. He hopes to have it finished this winter. He has done every single step. First came the framing, wiring, and plumbing.
Next step: insulating. Thanks for your help Jake.
Next step: hanging sheetrock and taping.
Next came texturing and finish work. John is doing some cool crown molding, chair rail, base board, and boxes. Each room will be unique. He has started painting the first two rooms: his office and my craft room. Then we'll add carpet and furniture. I can't wait.
This will be John's office (above) and my craft room (below). I'll have lots of shelves and a few cupboards plus a large table top to scrapbook, sew, whatever I want to do. Very excited about that!
I'm so grateful for Johnny's talents and skills. His forethought has been incredible - it's way out of my realm of thinking. We love our home and look forward to enjoying it together for the rest of our lives.

Lunch with friends

Yesterday I went to lunch with my friends (l to r): Barbara, Carrie, and Christie. We all taught together at Manila 11 years ago and it was always a party. Three of us have birthdays in July so we usually get together then, but we missed it this year. We definitely need to get together more often. Friends and food, a fabulous combination.

Baby Anne

Last Saturday I spent a few hours at my sister Tanya's house. This is her baby Anne. Isn't she a doll!

Facebook

A few weeks ago, at the suggestion of my sister Jill, I created a Facebook account. After all the bad rap about My Space, I have to say I was very wary. And now, I'm a Facebook junkie. Well, probably not a junkie, but I'm always curious to see who I can find or who has found me. I've reconnected with people from years and years ago. I find it very interesting. I'm not sure how I can keep up with a blog, Facebook, e-mail, voicemail, and U.S. postal mail. Maybe one will have to go. Hmm.

Cruisin' in the Caribbean

We didn't really tell many people we were going; we just went. It all began last April when I attended a national principals' conference in Nashville. John had a ticket to come with me, but because of work couldn't come. We had an airline credit we had to use by October 24 so of course we had to plan a trip. Yes, we had to spend money to save money. We didn't decide where we were going until a few weeks before we left.

We flew out Wednesday night, October 8, at midnight, to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. We boarded Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas ship about noon on Thursday. We were tired from little or no sleep on the plane the night before so Johnny had a nap on the pool deck while we waited for the ship to sail.

We set sail about 5 p.m. By the time we went to bed at 11 p.m. that night, we were exhausted! The ship docked in Key West, Florida the next morning about 7 a.m. We opened our eyes at 10 a.m. As most of you know, I have major sleeping issues so 11 hours of sleep was a miracle to me. I haven't slept that much since high school.

We got off the ship and went to an Art Gallery. They had an incredible 25 feet 3D replica of American Gothic. The main art display inside was 3D icons. Very cool.
Our next stop was the Mel Fisher Museum. Mel Fisher was a diver who discovered the wreckage of several ships from the 1600s & 1700s. He discovered quite a bit of gold, silver, and other treasures. Very interesting. Here's Johnny with the silver bars:

That night was the formal night for dinner. I never went to prom, so this is my formal dance photo. You gotta love a man in a tux!

The next day we docked in Cozumel, Mexico. We had signed up for an ATV jungle ride. It was cloudy when we started, but soon it was pouring down rain. We were riding through deep puddles, soaked and muddy. We saw a Mayan water hole, and some other stuff. I just remember how fun it was to blast through the puddles. Here's my dry, before shot:

Ride, Johnny, ride.

Here's the post, mud-soaked photo. We threw our shirts away when we got back to the ship - there was no hope for them to ever be clean again.

After the ATV ride, they took us to a private beach. John soaked in some sun and tried to dry out while I went snorkeling. I saw some super cool fish, a very small blue shark, and great corral. The next day we spent "at sea." We laid out in the sun and relaxed for some much-needed down time.

They assign you a table for dinner so we sat with the same couple every night. They were from Long Island, New York and were both educators. We got along well. Our head waiter (standing next to me) was Sayit from Turkey and our assistant waiter (next to Johnny) was Eddie from India. Very nice guys.

Each night when we went back to our room, our "stateroom attendant" had a different animal made from towels on our bed. The last night it was wearing John's sunglasses. Very cute.
The ship got back to Ft. Lauderdale Monday morning. We got home about 9:30 that night to find our house at 59 degrees. Apparently we had missed a snow storm while we were gone. Brrr. As always, it's good to go, good to be home.