Saying goodbye to one friend, and hello to another!

I'll give the sad news first!

About a hundred years ago,

well, maybe less than 40 and more than 30,

my mom did an activity at the women's Homemaking

Meeting in our church. She traced pictures for everyone

family from a Peanuts coloring book, and then

they were sent off to be put onto plates!
Here is mine!

For those of you who know me now,

my hair has not always been curly- it was straight as a stick!

Hence the joke!

But yesterday brought the end of an era...It was

dropped on the floor and split! I was sad because I

have had it for so long - actually I guess my mom kept it for so long,

and then gave it back to me several years ago- I still have my dad's plate too!

Who knows how many meals I've had on that plate?

So long, farewell, good friend!

And to my new friend!

Well, not exactly a new friend, but an

old friend/boyfriend from college

(I'm not sure if he considered himself that, but I did!)

My friends convinced me to finally start a facebook page,

and I've been able to reconnect with him -

I think I blogged about him once !

( I'll have to see what I wrote about him before I give him my blog address..)

Anyway, I am SOOOO glad I got on Facebook to connect

with him, he was a major part of my life, and has been absent

from it for 18-19 years! So

Yeay for Facebook!

Chocolate, almonds, caramel, repeat...

Yum.. these are my favorites, in almost any combinations!

Someone sent in chocolate covered almonds to work, and I just
happened to see them.. I think I ate more than I should have... ugh.

Then, Mark bought me Almond M & M's (well, I convinced him to buy them)
for my stocking, and I have definitely made a dent in the bag. Good thing I
am going to work today, away from the M&M's . (the almonds at work are GONE!)

We got a box of See's chocolate - variety - from his mom , but the kids aren't too
happy that any caramels in the box.. are MINE!

Thankfully, checking the scale this morning, all these almonds have not
been too detrimental to the weight loss...

What are your favorite Christmas candies or cookies? I know mine are available most of the
time...

I didn't even make my favorite cookies this year - only made gingersnaps (soft ones!)

We are having a game night with neighbors on Friday, so maybe I'll make them for that.
My family hasn't complained much that there weren't any cookies this year - I made banana
bread and chocolate zucchini bread this year for neighbors.

Apparently the zucc bread was a hit! And you can eat it with butter if you like, Sassy!

Happy New Year Everyone!

So says my son...

"Mom, have you ever heard of the group Journey?"

Oh, please - yes, I was a 70's 80's child... I've heard it all.

Just cracked me up.

He is getting interested in some of that older music,
"Another One Bites the Dust" is one of his favorites.
I think HE is having more fun searching for music
on my Zune marketplace than I am!

If I don't get back here soon,

Merry Christmas everyone!

Four Wheelin' !!!

VACATION!!

Although it is difficult to tell, that is ME in the

driver's seat! This is the first time that I have

ever driven a go-cart or anything similar!

I didn't drive one of the quads, but I had a BLAST!

My BIL owns some property that's a bit hilly, so the day

before Thanksgiving, we met up with them,

as well as the BIL we were staying with,

and drove quads & go-carts all over, had a cookout

- roasted marshmallows, hot dogs & had hot chocolate!

The temperature was in the 40's that day - for a high!

It was chilly driving up and down and around!

We didn't get to have any snow, but we did have lots of fun!

We left for UT the Friday before Thanksgiving,

stayed overnight in Kanab, then drove the rest of the way

on Saturday to Bluffdale, to Marcy's house.

We visited with her and played with the kids,

John & Annie, who are growing up fast!

Sunday night I droveMark to the airport,

so he could be back for work on Monday for meetings.

Monday morning the kids and I headed to WYOMING!!

I went to High School in Evanston,

and my best friend, Tami, lives in Lyman, about 30 miles away.

I get to see her only once a year - when we head north.

She fixed us lunch and we had a nice visit!

I wish I had some pics of us from HS -

we were trying to remember when we became friends!

We knew each other in band,and we shared

a locker my senior year (she is a year younger!)

She is an awesome friend - always sending me

cute cards and letters when I was away from home,

on my mission and at school! Thanks Tami!!

(my dad called her mom "the mother of my other daughter.- it was awesome to have her as a friend!)

After leaving Tami's we headed back to Ogden,

to pick up some HoneyBaked Ham,

and then up to Hyrum!

We arrived at Fon & Sally's early evening,

and the kids commenced playing with their cousins -

on the Wii, and the Guitar Hero.

At one point on Tuesday,I had to prohibit Brennan

from playing Guitar Hero - he had bloodshot eyes!!

(they play on a big projection TV in the basement!

Miss Kris was my 2nd grade teacher - My class was the first one that she ever taught - she doesn't teach anymore, but is involved in education and training with the State of Utah. I suppose that she is my oldest friend, not in age, but in length of time I have known her! She live only about 5 miles from Fon & Sally, so we try to visit her whenever we go to UT.

We had a great Thanksgiving dinner,

and I think we got tired of dinner rolls,

after teaching Josh how to make them! (I think he'll be a pro!)

We made Mark's yummy creamy mushroom gravy

to go with the Turkey (leaving the plain stuff for the kids!)

On Friday, Annika and her hubby Bret came over

(fun for me, Bret lived in Vernal,

as I did for some of my growing up years -

got to talk about some of the old places!)

and also her brother Casey came

and we played games, and ate, of course!

Our trip home was pretty anti-climactic -

driving, driving, driving.

We were sad that the Three Bears Creamery

was not open in Kanab -

we were looking forward to getting Ice Cream Cones there!

We were happy to get home to our dog, Milo,

and were VERY thankful to the Estrada's for keeping

the Rent-A-Dog while we were gone!

(Really, really thankful!)

So, that was our vacation for the year -

it was nice to get out of town, even though

we didn't get to go play in the lake, or in the snow!
Many thanks to Fon and Sally

for putting up with us each time we visit!

They are awesome!