Sunday, December 30, 2012

2012 Year In Review

Since this is like my personal journal of sorts, I just wanted to look back through all of my pictures a see what was the most memorable.  


January
January meant a fresh start, being swallowed by national board certification entries, and recieving a new calling to be the Young Women's president at chuch.  Talk about busy! 

This little one, my friend's little girl, came into the world Christmas eve 2011, but I was sick and couldn't make it to see her until this year.  One of the highlights for sure!  
 February
For John's birthday we went up to the 10th anniversary celebration of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.  They pulled out the mascots, had tons of Olympic athletes there for us to meet and we took Tiffany, the exchange teacher from China, with us. 
 March
March I got to turn in the big blue monster... AKA my entry for National Board Certification.  It was a TON of work, but I'm so glad I went through the process, I learned a lot about myself as a teacher.

My mom treated me to a delicious super nice dinner out at a fancy restaurant for turning in my National Board Certification entries.  Boursin (a french cheese) stuffed steak.  It was DIVINE!

 April

We went to Denver for Spring Break and visited my brother, sister in law, and niece.  LOVE them! 
We also went to San Francisco for the first time.  It was an amazing visit and we had such a great time.  We went for one of my college roommate's wedding.  So happy for them!


May
Steven Sharp Nelson
Jon Scmidt
 In May we went to our first of 3 Piano Guys Concerts for the year.  I've LOVED Jon Schmidt's piano music for over a decade.  If you haven't checked out The Piano Guys, you must!  Right now, but be sure to come back and thank me later!  They're amazing!  Too many favorites to name them all, but here is the one John likes the best!











June
June meant me taking my 6 tests for National Board Certification and John leaving for fish camp in Alaska.  All of which happened on the same day.  John treated me to a stay in a fancy Las Vegas hotel room at the Hilton Elara so I could relax before my big tests.  June also meant lots of Tuffy and me time.  A lot of which he spent like that! June also meant teaching summer school, amidst lots of drama, of course.  And my first girls camp as YW president. 
 
July 
 
  • Baby Jake was born.   I got to be there, it was amazing.  My SIL had him SO fast, ok, at least I thought it was super fast.  I headed to the hospital about 10pm and was home by 5am.
  • I also got to watch my niece Lilly for several days while her mom and dad celebrated their anniversary in Las Vegas.  That little girl is SO cute and precious!  I adore her! So does Tuffy!
  •  Then, I finally got to go to Alaska to meet up with John after 42 days apart!  We had an awesome 10 day visit with my cousins, aunt, and second cousins.  We fished, unsuccessfully, shared meals with each other, and saw lots of scenery.  Oh, and the BEARS!  FISHING IN THE RIVER!  SO much fun!  










 August
 August meant back to school and real life.  However gorgeous sunsets like these make life worth it! 
September 
Meant Jayke's baby blessing and hanging out with John's family.  Toby, the 5 year old "borrowed" my camera and its so fun to see what he sees from his point of view!

October
In October we were very 'cultured'.  We got our new iPhone 5s, which was probably the biggest event of the month!  I saw Hairspray at Tuachan in September and in October John and I saw Aladdin.  Such great shows.  We also saw The Piano Guys again.  Of course, October meant Halloween and all the stress the Elementary School Halloween Carnival brings. but still, SO Much Fun!
November
Gangsta family
November brought lots of family time.  We went on road trips to Vegas.  Grabbed ice cream from various sources and celebrated holidays together.  Love my family!

 

Annual Thanksgiving Feast at our house!  This year Dana got to come! SO much fun!
December

 

  • This month the washing machine died.
  • I tortured my poor Tuffy
  • My brother got engaged!!! 
  • We had our annual pasole and tostada Christmas Eve Dinner with John's family.
  • We celebrated Chrstmas Day with John's family and mine!! So fun to be able to celebrate with both families.
  • We hosted Christmas dinner
  • We bought a brand new washer and dryer.


 




















Tanner realizing what the gift actually is rather than what he thought it was. So FUNNY!

Monday, December 24, 2012

It's Christ'moose' time!

It is, as they say, the most wonderful time of the year!
I love moose! I think they're adorable. Plus, the seem kinda clumsy so I relate to them! So I have amassed a huge collection of moose and every thanksgiving weekend they begin to cover every surface in my house.
My mother in law is a master seamstress. A couple years ago she made me the table runner. She designed the pattern herself. Like I said, master!
Anyway, this year, back in April or May or so, she told me she was going to be doing a handmade Christmas this year. There was no hesitation in my asking for what I wanted... A matching tree skirt and stockings for the table runner.

I LOVE THEM!!!!

They turned out so cute and look fabulous!

Have a very merry Christmas and remember Christ is the reason for the season!









Sunday, November 25, 2012

Family time

Before we get our highlights and haircuts
Black Friday was a total fail in the good deals department thanks to best buy only having 16 of their super cheap tvs. But, a huge win in the family time department first my mom, sister, and I went to get highlights in our hair, and I got a cute new hair cut too! I've never colored my hair before so it was a fun new experience for me :)

Don't I look thrilled ;)
All done and SO cute!
Then we went and hung out with my cousin Todd and his family that was in town on vacation where it's warm. We met up for ice cream ;) we had a great time catching up!







Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a marvelous day with my husband the chef cooking the turkey and some of the sides. We had an abundance of pies and family time. Such a great day! It's no wonder why it's my favorite.
What makes John's turkey so delicious!

Ready for the oven!


Yummy!

Ready to Eat

Family Time!


Do we have enough Pies? (there were even two more)



My nephew LOVES Tuffy! :)

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Cool!

So I finally feel as cool as all my 12-18 yr old girls at church. Welcome to the "Mac" world! I so wish everything I owned was a Mac!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Alaska: Seward Alaska Sealife Center

So this summer, while commercial fishing John was part of the rescue of a baby beluga whale. Check this out here: Race to Save Baby Beluga Whale | Video - ABC News Anyway, I couldn't wait to go to the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward, AK where it was being kept.  However, I found out when I got to AK that shortly after the airing of the above news clip, the baby beluga died.  However, we still went to the SeaLife Center.  I learned SO much about salmon, got to feel pelts of seals, sea lions, and otters, and got to be in the same room as several puffins and other arctic birds.  


the please touch tank

love those spindly star fish! 

the young salmon

Those are eggs in the octopus tank... 




 
Jellies

the view from the porch