Winter Sun

In January, I decided that I needed to get out of the cold and away from work for while. So a couple of friends and I headed to Cancun for five days. We stayed in a brand new, all-inclusive hotel. It was so new that they were still painting the walls in the hall outside of our room and the front desk wasn't finished. Though the accomodations were interesting and it wasn't the warm paradise we were hoping for, it was lots of fun.

During our stay, we took two excursions away from Cancun -- my favorite part.


Each of the excursions involved very long bus rides. This is Jenny and I getting ready for a three hour ride in our comfy tour bus.




Our first excursion was to Chichen Itza. This is El Castillo, the main pyramid, which is situated in the center of a large complex of buildings and acts as a very sophisticated sun dial.


Patrice, Jenny, and I in front of the East steps of El Castillo. If you clap while standing dead center in front of the steps, the echo comes back as the sound of a quetzl bird.


Me, standing in front of the observatory.


One of my favorite places in Chichen Itza is the Plaza of a Thousand Columns. The columns represent warriors, which are arranged in rows around a small pyramid. When you go behind the pyramid, the columns just seem to stretch on forever.


We took our second excursion out to Xel-Ha, an ecological water park formed where a river joins the Carribean Sea.



Although it was a little cool, we took a bike ride, floated in an inner tube, did some snorkeling, and relaxed for a few mintues in a hammock.

Sunday morning we went to church, which was absolutely fabulous! The ward was very friendly and welcoming, and I actually understood the majority of the meeting.


We spent the rest of our vacation on the beach. We found this shady spot so that it would be peaceful.

It was very hard to come back to the cold weather and the caos at work, so I am just going to have to plan another vacation.

Sarah

Bald Eagles at the Bay

About a year ago, my friend Becky discovered that bald eagles nest at Farmington Bay in February and March. Who knew? So this year we decided to make an excursion to Farmington Bay to see the eagles. Allisun, Becky, and I loaded into Becky's truck and set out for the bay. The 3 adults in the front seat and 

the 3 kiddos in carseats in the back. 
It was a tight squeeze, but we managed. It did however make it a little difficult to eat our "picnic" lunch in the truck. 

Once we arrived at Farmington Bay, we drove our muddy washboard roads. Amazingly the babies did quite well and slept a good portion of the time. 

Seth (Becky's littlest) 

Nora (Allisun's little one)

We saw eagles almost immediately. I wish I had Matthew's scope and a better zoom on my camera, but alas, Matthew does not lend such expensive equipment to his sister. However, you can still tell the birds are eagles in most of the pictures. 

We figure we saw about 30 eagles that day. On Saturday (Valentine's Day), they were having the real Eagle Day. They do a controlled carp kill and all the eagles come for the feast. They were expecting 300 + eagles that day and a lot of people (that's why we went early). 

 

After watching the eagles and other birds, we headed back to Becky's house. Fortunately, Becky always has live entertainment at her house. Her son Luke is HILARIOUS! He decided to ride my purse like a horse. He is a funny little boy with quite the imagination! 
The babies Seth and Nora were also adorable. We had to take their picture in their cute winter hats. We sat them next to each other and they held hands all by themselves. It didn't last long, but it sure was cute! 
It was a fun day and I look forward to doing it again next year! Maybe in a bigger vehicle. Thanks girls and cute kids! 

Crystal 

Everything's Bigger in Texas!

Since I am off track again, I guess I better update our blog. Our wonderful, generous parents flew us all to Houston for Christmas this year. We were lucky enough to fly out between the storms or we would have been stuck in Salt Lake - yuck! But we all made it to Houston safely and we had a blast! Mom and Dad picked us up at the airport. On the way home, mom told us about these angels that we just had to see. She didn't say much about them, but we could tell she thought they were funny, but we definitely needed to see them for ourselves. The first two pictures illustrate that everything is bigger in Texas, including the angels! 

There was a picture of this house in the newspaper and we had to see it for ourselves. It was incredible! There were a ton of people outside just walking around and taking pictures. One night we went there was even a tour bus! The people who owned the house were serving hot chocolate in the driveway. I couldn't even imagine putting this all up and then taking it down again. The picture doesn't even do it justice. 

These are the larger than life angels. Imagine coming upon these in the night. They were quite frightening. If you could see their faces, you would probably even say they were creepy. But we got a good laugh about them. 
On Christmas Eve, we had the missionaries over. We had a fabulous time eating and singing. Jeni was giving mom advice on how to take a good picture. Mom is usually talking or making a face while pictures are being taken, so they were practicing. I thought this picture turned out great. 
Here's dad with his new toy. This missionaries showed up at our house with gifts from "Santa." They brought him an amp and a new guitar. Nice gift "Santa." We spent most of the evening singing songs while dad and Matthew took turns playing. 
I think Matthew was a bit jealous of new guitar and amp. He is quite the guitarist. I am always impressed by his ability because he's never had lessons and he makes playing the guitar look so dang easy. But we sure do enjoy his talent, when he is willing to share! 
This is mom and dad on Christmas morning. Notice the shorts - the weather was wonderful! It only got cold enough to wear a sweater. We lounged around all Christmas day in our pjs. We love being lazy! 
The day before we left, we took some time to help with the yard work. Who knew yard work could be so hard in December! Matthew and dad did most of the work. They were definitely the muscles behind all the work! 


Surprise! We are finally done. 21 garbage bags later - full of leaves, needles and trimmings. What a work out! 

We had a fantastic time in Houston. Dad made sure we saw all the shopping we could handle - well at least most of us could handle. I've never seen so many malls in my life - and big ones at that. We took an excursion downtown one Saturday. Apparently, downtown is closed on the weekends, so we didn't get to see the underground shopping. I might have been the only one that was disappointed about that, but next time. Other than that, we just spent a lot of quality time together. Matthew thought we were gone a little too long, but I could've stayed a whole lot longer! 

Being a stay at home person

I have been off track for 2 1/2 weeks now and loving every minute of it. I would love to be a  stay at home person. I am quite depressed that I only have a week left and I will spend that week worrying about all the things I have to do when I go back to work.

I thought I would take a few minutes and post a few pictures of what I have been up to lately. Over UEA, Jeni and I went to Cedar City. We stayed with her friends for a few days and then went to Vegas for a day. In Vegas we did the usual favorites. We went to the Bellagio garden which, as always, was beautiful. 

Jeni in the garden - it was raining inside, just over this pond and tree. There were tree people, like the one in the picture below. Their eyes and faces moved, and this tree even talked. There were leaf fairies and pumpkin patches. The garden there is like a piece of heaven. 

Of course we went to the M&M factory and the Coke factory to have Coke floats. Jeni kept me in check and discouraged me from purchasing any ridiculous items from either store. 

We shopped in Las Vegas until our feet were too tired to move another step. Then we rested at the Bellagio fountains to watch some of the water shows. This is Jeni's favorite activity, it was difficult to pry her away, even after 4 or 5 shows. 

Jeni, Sarah, and I went to Witch's Night Out at Gardner Village. The village is so fun all decked out in witches. Some people really get into it and have absolutely amazing costumes. We of course, are not those people that get really into it, but we do dress up a little. 

Jeni found these awesome glasses, now I wish she would have bought them. Sarah had the freakiest eyelashes. They made it kind of difficult for her to see - so she was not allowed to drive that night. We had a great time browsing, and believe it or not, we didn't buy a thing. Okay, I did buy a carmel apple. 
Other than that not much is going on around here. Jeni is crazy busy with work. Sarah is also busy at work and still hates her job. Jessica is chugging along with school with her fractured elbow and all. 

Crystal 

More PEI and stuff....

Yes, I am finally adding my input to some our summer's activities and give an update on my life. I won't be able to add any wonderful quotes from L.M. Montgomery or Anne Shirley as did Sarah and Jeni. So, I am going to be like Crystal and include pictures of my some of my favorite moments of us together--hopefully, ones that haven't already been posted.

Yes, we went out in public like this! On one of our lazy mornings, we went on a walk on the beach we could see from our cottage. This is only one of the several "posed" pictures we took--believe me they are all just as good. :-) Hopefully, nobody kills me for putting this on the blog.

We did lots of driving, a trait we inherited from our dad. Most of our scenery pictures were taken from the car window as we drove along. Occasionally, we stopped on the side of the road to take a picture of a church from the car window. You can't see it here, but we discovered a great thing called satelite radio and did lots and lots of singing in the car. It took us about 10 songs with no commercails to realize something was different. The other great things is we knew every song. Then we discovered that besides the hits from the 70's and 80's we could also choose an oldies country station or new country station. We tried a couple others, but these were our favorites.

Although Sarah was the driver on the rental agreement, Crystal was the designated driver and Sarah was the navigator. This arrangement worked fine with the rest of us. It is much easier for Jeni, Mom, and I to sit in the back seat with no responsiblity, although, Jeni became the official picture taker. Jeni and mom fought over who was to sit in the middle. The goal was not mom, but sometimes she was faster.

We did lots of walking, a trait we inherited from our mother. You cant see it, but underneath all the long green grass is water. This path leads to a beautiful sandy beach.

We walked on the beach, we walked on the sand, we walked through woods, and we walked on land. We walked on the street and occiasionally shopped. We were even chased by mosquiotos with our bugs spray in the car over a mile away.

We ate lots and lots--food never tasted so good. From the fish that sent mom straigth into Eurphoria to the ice cream at Cow's that we couldn't get enough of. We often played cards at the end of each day. Mom, Jeni, and Crystal took turns being the winner and Sarah and I just played.

We relaxed and we laughed in the great hotel robes in our posh Charlotte hotel room. I'd post the cute picture, but I think my 3 sisters might kill me. We were content with 2 supposed queen beds and the small cot mom slept on, until we caught a glimpse of the sweet next door suit with it's lavish furniture and three seperate rooms.

The Anne of Green Gables musical was enjoyed by all and the last planned activity of our trip. Little did we know we had yet to pent the night in the La Quardia airport. I didn't know I could sleep so well on a wooden bench, until I tried to sleep on the cold hard ground or play cards the whole night before. I'd post a picture, but the program will no longer let me move the pictures around any more and they get stuck at the top. I think we played cards for hours and hours just trying to pass the time while the second hand ticked slower. Sarah managed to sleep for a couple of hours on 2 of our suitcases set up in an L-shape.

Once we returned to home with some sleep, mom and I went to work preparing for me to move in less than a week. I should say mom prepared for me to move, and I tried unsuccessfuly to study and pass an online statiscs course before August First. My dad is my hero and packed up my moving truck (with some help from some other great men) and off we he went to Utah. Mom and I followed about 3 hours later we had some cleaning and errand to run before we were able to make our exit. We met up for the night in Ontario and only had a minor delay when the Uhaul blew out a tire. We made it to Jerome and waited and waited for a man and his truck to comee and fix it. In no time at all we were back on the road. We made it to Provo where Matthew and the girls (sisters and roommates) helped unload the truck. No, not your typical sabbath activity! It was over 90 degrees so we sweated and sweated.

In the next three weeks I finally passed the online statistics course, unpacked and organized my room, slept in a lot and read for fun when I could. The three weeks flew by as I prepared for school, attended our family reunion and figured out where to put all my stuff. I have finally grown use to the idea that my laundry basket just has to go be between the foot of my bed and the closet. The problem is that so do my gym bag and two--yes two--backpacks.

I made it through orientation and the practise interviews. On the first day of oreintation they told us "you will have more to do than is possible to complete." Oh, Boy, they weren't kidding! I found out the first week. They split us into three class sections and then into 10 study groups. I am in a group of 5. The other woman in my group is from China and a brand new mom. Her baby is now 5 months old. I don't know how she is surving. I guess we do what we have to do.

Although school is challenging and stressful, I love it. I've gotten over the fact that I just can't do everything, there is literally not enough time in a day or a week. I haven't opened my fiance book in over a week and now try to rely on the lectures and the fact that I've learned most of this stuff before. So far that plan is working okay and I'm hoping for B's. I go to bed early (around 10:30) because I was reminded the first week that I need more than 4 to 5 hours of sleep.

I've had three interviews for internships (yes, already!) with a couple more scheduled. But, I am seriously considering teaching college now instead of pursing another corporate career and teaching later.

My journal is lost (packed in a box downstairs, but cannot for the life of me figure out where) which is why this entry is lengthier than planned. So I'll conclude with one last story. A few weeks ago, a counselor in the bishopric asked me to enter a conversation about my schedule and consider being a den leader with my friend, Latrica. Yes, you read right a den leader! Latricia later said she'd been hit from the side, I said I had been hit from behind! I laughed and I grimaced and who knows what else. He said "Tell me about your reaction?" I responded, "I don't know anything about cub scouts. I don't know anything about little boys!" To myself I thought I don't have time, how am I going to do this! We ended the conversation with me thinking it over and wondering how on earth I was possibly going to add this to my plate.

I thought to myself, "What about us said den leader?" I promise you nothing about us says den leader. We told our roommate, Latricia's sister, Margaret and she said, "what?" I told my sisters they laughed and laughed. I told me my mom and she laughed. I told my dad and he laughed. Both of my parents said I don't think you should do it. I pondered and prayed and wondered what to do. I went to school the next day and knew I couldn't do it. No matter how much I wanted to serve the Lord, I knew I wouldn't be able to manage. I was barely surviving this new realm of school and knew I would not be an asset to Latricia if she accepted the calling--which she did. In my ideal world this story would be better if I'd accepted the calling and was able to serve better. But, through the peace in my heart I know I made the right decision. I've already recieved another phone call and know anohter calling is on its way this week, hopefully one that I can fill better. I only share this story, because who would have ever thought of me as a den leader!?!

Jessica

"Lookin' for a good time"...Utah State Fair!!!

The Utah State Fair!!! The event Crystal waits all year for.  We even went out and bought cowboy boots to help us feel a little bit more country.  
             

We went two nights, once for the rodeo and once for the Lady Antebellum concert. Jessica unfortunately decided to be responsible and stay home and do homework on the night of the rodeo. But we were all got to rock out together for the Lady A concert.  Which by the way was totally awesome!!!!

The rodeo was pretty exciting, although it's been so long I don't really remember what happened, except we had fun.These are our boots of course.  Now if we only had wranglers I'm sure we would have been mistaken for real cowgirls.

This is Mr. Yummy, as named by the ladies behind us, but better know as the Charlie Jenkins band. And if it wasn't for his CTR and wedding ring we might seriously have become his stalker. He was great.

Then, the concert we'd been getting ready for, yes, we'd memorized all of the words to their songs, and Sarah was even practicing her dance moves in the car.  We had so much fun dancing and singing to the music. The were so good!  The hot man with the beard even acknowledged our excitement.
Yes we even met them after, I know a little creepy, but seriously he's really attractive, you can't just pass that up.

The three models exiting the grand stand.  We of course also did all of the other fair activities such as eat greasy food, look at the junk/craft collection, see all of the art displays, but much to Crystal's dismay me and Jessica were really tired, and our feet hurt (most likely from the cowboy boots) so we went home without seeing the livestock or getting a carmel apple, and whatever else her fair traditions might include.  Sorry Crystal, but we did have a lot of fun. After all, we're just "lookin' for a good time"! -Lady A

Unheroic Salty Adventure

A few weeks ago some friends convinced me that I should go floating in the Great Salt Lake. The instigator is not originally from Utah, so I wasn’t sure that he realized exactly how gross this was going to be. But, dredging deep for my adventurous spirit, I agreed to go. In actuality it was more disgusting than I imagined. Those of us who live in a 20 mile radius of the lake can imagine what the undiluted smell of actually being in the lake would be like. But, I was not prepared for the brine shrimp carcasses, the sludge of larvae beds, and the little flies that literally covered the water.

When we arrived and walked out on the beach, I wasn’t sure that I would actually be able to make myself enter the water. I wish I could report that I went staunchly and without complaint.-- I didn’t. --I went, but I think I screamed the whole way through the black muck and then I murmured about the flies the whole time I was in the water. Really, if the flies weren’t there it wouldn’t be so vile. But, instead of being able to relax and enjoy the sensation of effortlessly floating on the water, I was too concerned about keeping the flies away from my face and mouth and keeping my chin above the water to really enjoy the experience.

But, as you can see from the picture, I lived through the experience and there was a beautiful sunset.

Sarah