Thanksgiving In Washington DC

For Thanksgiving I went to visit my siblings in Washington DC. The flight out there was an adventure...lucky I had a flight at all. Julie and I were supposed to fly the red eye on Tuesday night but somehow ended up with tickets on Monday nights red eye. Luckily I have mad phone skills and was able to get Delta to change the ticket at no cost to me! The Wednesday before Thanksgiving we went to the National Zoo in DC and saw the panda's as well as the other animals. We had great Falafel for lunch and then great Mexican for dinner. For dessert we went to the Dairy Godmother and had yummy Pumpkin frozen custard! (www.thedairygodmother.com) Today we went to McCormick & Schmicks for Thanksgiving lunch and are going to a friend of Joe's for dessert. Friday and Saturday we are going to go on tours of The Capitol, The White House (West Wing, super secret tour) and the Pentagon with other site seeing...I can't wait. Here is a photo of us at lunch. I hope you all have a very happy thanksgiving!

Halloween!!!

I started looking for a Halloween costume in September (also when I started decorating my home for Halloween) and before I knew it Halloween was here. I did not really have any costume ideas and decided to just go as myself! I want to thank Amanda and her family for another great Halloween party! I hope you all had a great Halloween!

Love-n-Out

Flaming Gorge

I love it there...here is a picture of my recent trip to Flaming Gorge, UT. I had a great time, and it was a great time-trip to say goodbye to Summer.

Fall

I was so very excited for Winter to be over...the thought of Spring, the warmer weather, the pretty flowers, and of course no more snow. I think Spring lasted 4 days this year and Summer started with hot, hot weather. I am now ready for Summer to end and Fall to begin. Fall is my favorite season! I love the cooler weather, the warm (odd huh) Fall colors, the warmer clothes. I love Halloween, and Thanksgiving. I am even excited for some of our Fall sports like Football. Why does my favorite season have to usher in my least favorite...I hope we have a longer Fall season this year...the worst thing that could happen is if we go from temperatures in the 90's one day to temperatures in the 30's the next. I would love Fall to last months, and months.

P.I.G.W.A.B. 08-08-08

Good Times once again! It was the annual pigwab celebration in Layton. I had such a great time...I have no pictures yet but let me tell you! It was tons of fun! Oh and Melissa and I won a prize for our Cake Castle! Dang it...I did not get a picture of it...I hope I can find one...

J

Hampton

Little Hampton is not so little anymore. He is a huge 11lbs. He is now 5 months old and still as cute as he when I first brought him home. Just thought I would share some pictures I took today.

London

Things I love about the UK!

I have to say that the 3 days that we spent in York with Christy were my favorite part of the trip! I love Cornish Pasties…I love how much everyone in her ward on Sunday talked about the Osmond's (they were there in concert Saturday night…too bad we did not know that) I loved driving on the Motor-Way (with Christy's friend) all the way from Bath back up to York. I loved the little attic room Julie and I stayed in. I loved grabbing our food from the take-away stores (which we did every day in London too) I loved going to Castle Howard. I loved York, the wall, the Minster, how nice all the people are there. I loved Bath. Sad because we did not have time to go to the Jane Austin stuff (just more for me to do next time) we did go through the main Roman Bath which was crazy that it all still works.

London was fun too…I loved riding the underground, I loved our flat right on the water, I loved Wagamamma's (we ate there twice), I loved climbing all the stairs to the top of St. Paul's Cathedral, I think so far I have lost 4lbs that I am giving Joe credit for. Every day in London we walked for 6+ hours, up and down stairs and all around the town. I loved having a chocolate croissant every morning for breakfast. I loved seeing the crown jewels, and all the Tower of London stuff. I loved the little church that burnt down that they turned into a park. I would eat lunch there all the time if I worked in the city. The museums were fun (the museum shops were even more fun) I bought the grandkids new Katie books. I love 'Katie and the Bathers'…so I got them 'Katie goes to London'.

I loved the history of it all. The humidity was kinda a shock. I know it rains there, but I did not think it would just be so humid there every day. I had to forgo doing the hair and had to braid it every day because it just got so fro-e. I also did not realize that they go off of military time (what do they call it…just time right) so that was weird. Luckily Joe was fast at doing the conversion. I love the UK money…and of course I got used to all the coins the last day we were there. I loved all the shopping…I liked the Diet Coke (it tasted a little different) but was still sooo yummy!

I loved comparing the UK to Disneyland (at first just to upset Joe) then he kinda agreed. At first it was just the accents and the clothing…but then there were the lines to get into places, and how after every place we went to at the end you ended up in a gift shop (or 2) but I know, I know….Europe is way cooler than Disneyland! Joe kept saying that Disneyland and Las Vegas are the poor mans Europe…so I guess that makes us more something than the poor man. But gosh you have to love Disneyland and Vegas…

So there are a few things I loved about my trip. I am excited for future trips to London and other European countries.

Little Hampton

Here is a picture of Hampton sleeping on his new dog bed. He, so far is a very good dog.

Pine Valley

So I know, I know the picture is not very good...but the family and I went to Pine Valley Utah today on a little Saturday drive/picnic. It was fun...most of the recreational stuff was closed (too early in the season) but we walked up to the lake-frozen lake. It was fun! A little to cold to eat our lunch outside so we ate it as we drove around. We also went through Snow Canyon...a short drive, but it was very beautiful!

St. George & Little Planes

Happy Easter weekend! I hope you all have great spring weather...I am in St. George with my parents and my brother. The weather should be perfect. Not quite sure what the plans are for the day and a half that I am here...but that is okay because I need a restful weekend. I will try to add some photos tomorrow...

J~

No Title Needed...

Puppies...they are so cute! You just want to pick them up and hug them and love them. My friends miniature schnauzer just had 5 boy puppies on March 4th (I think) and one of them is mine! I am going to name him Hampton. He is 99% black and will never really get bigger than 12-15 lbs. Schnauzers don't shed and are very obedient. He will be all grown up and ready to move to Utah (the puppies are in California) towards the end of April. Just a little birthday present for myself. Here is a picture of the 5 puppies all cuddled together.

Now I know there are fellow family members who do not like dogs...and because we never had a dog growing up this is all new for me. I have nannied for families with dogs and have had roommates with dogs and I am excited for this chance to have my own. Comments can be sent via email, phone, or written letter.

Spring is starting to spring...

Here are some pictures of my backyard March 2008. Some of the bulbs I planted in the fall have started to grow.

Lets start with Winter...it seamed like it would go on forever!

I think the snow is done for good (though the weather man thinks it could snow today and tomorrow) and so I have started working in my yard. I bought some more top/planting soil and a cute little garden fence so my new puppy (see other post) won't get into my flowers and the dirt.

Cute right? I like it...can't really see the flowers from here yet. I have 3 lavender plants that I hope will come back to life from last year and then the numerous bulbs I planted.

Most native Utahn's will tell you that they love the 4 seasons here in Utah. I myself like the 2 seasons in California-Spring & Summer- here in Utah there are only 2 seasons that I have lived through-Summer & Winter-one day it will be 85' (fall) and the next day will be 30' or colder (winter) which lasts for 7 months then one day it will be 55' (spring) and the next day will be 90' or hotter (summer) which lasts for 5 months. I have yet to live in an area that has the full 4 seasons.

Here is one last picture of a Hyacinth plant coming up out of the dirt!

Growing is hard work...trust me! Have a great weekend! Remember: You deserve it! Go by yourself a present, new outfit, new car...you get the idea!