MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!! We were so lucky to get to go home for Christmas. I love home and I love Christmas and the combination of the two is pretty much the best thing ever.



We got there in time for our Christmas Eve party. We had the party at my parents house this year. We had dinner and gave white elephant gifts, played the paper bag game and read the Christmas story. Tanner got a little toilet plunger and Taren had a great time sticking it on his belly.







This is our Mary, Joseph, Jesus, Wiseman and Angels, its a little different from the normal story but it still works!

















SANTA came to our party!!!!











THIS IS THE PAPER BAG GAME!! You put a paper bag on the floor and you have to pick it up with your mouth and the only thing that can touch the ground is your feet, the last person to do it is the winner! So obviously the little kids did way better than the adults but to everyones surprise, Dillon, who is 17 and way taller than me, won! It was hillarious!















































On Saturday my entire family was home and we all went sledding together. We went up to the fourth reservoir and found some great hills. A couple of the hills had some jump off them and Colby and I went off of those. Colby made me go with him once and he landed right on top of me. We both have some pretty big bruises. My mom even went down once. Tyler and Ben crashed alot and still have a little road rash on their faces, but they loved it. Klea, Anthony and Colby had a contest to see who could go the farthest. Im not sure who won but they had a few accidents along the way and it was fun for the rest of us to watch.

Broncos Game

For our anniversary we went to Denver and spent a few days. We spent the whole first night of our trip in the Airport in Salt Lake. Jens drove with us up there and took our car back home. The weather was HORRIBLE (sorry Jens)! Our flight was delayed like ten times. We were supposed to leave at nine and we didn't leave until two in the morning. We slept for a bit in the airport but didnt get to our motel room until five. But the trip was still fun. The highlight of our trip was going to the Broncos game. It was way awesome. We sat on row 31 up from the field. We were way close! They lost, which sucks but it was fun. You wouldn't believe the amount of people that were drinking. They would go get a new beer about every ten minutes. The temperature was twelve degrees during the game and that was not including the wind chill. It was so cold that I couldn't feel my body for three hours after the game, and of course my intelligent husband wouldn't bring a coat with him so he froze. Here are some of the pictures from the game.

The BIG Hunt

For Thanksgiving we went to Blanding and spent time with both our families. The most exciting part of Thanksgiving was the lion hunt. We went lion hunting with my family and one of our friends. We went up on Elk Ridge and as we were driving along I saw a lion sitting under a tree, which is rare. If you look closely you can see it in the first picture sitting under a tree. We let the dogs out and they treed it, then it ran about 2,000 feet down Hammond canyon. Teresa finally shot it in the bottom of the canyon. These are some pretty amazing pictues. The lion was about 8 feet long, it was a big lion. It was way fun!

SCRAPBOOKING WITH MY SISTERS

In November all my sisters and my mom came up to Orem and we spent the whole weekend scrapbooking, shopping and watching movies. Sheena brought her Cricut and Tiff helped me finish my wedding pictures! Im so far behind. We did a little christmas shopping and went to Twilight the Friday after it opened, we had to sit in line for about an hour. It was a little ridiculous but we had fun!

HALLOWEEN!!!

Today was Halloween, obviously, and we all had to dress up for work. This picture is Stacy, Krista, me and Karen. We had so much fun and we didnt do any work. The kids were out of control! But I saw some pretty sweet costumes. There were a lot of Vampires, witches, princesses and goblins. I loved my dress and cape but the makeup and the wig were driving me crazy! I will be making some changes before next Halloween to make my costume so much better!

A Big Day

My dearest friend Jody got married yesterday in Manti, to a great guy named Brandon. It was a really good day! The wedding was great, the lunch was amazing (Jody is so smart and she had Calzones and they were delicious), and the reception was beautiful. Jody and Brandon are very happy and they are perfect for each other, it was a happy day for me. It was also a great day because I got to see alot of the family that I have not seen for a while (and they are like my second family, I love them all!). Her sister Cami and her mom worked so hard to make everything so beautiful, they are so talented. Check out the amazing cake, the chef is standing next to it! It was a really long day but a really happy and memorable day. I love weddings and the happiness that marriage and what it means can bring into the lives of the couple and all their loved ones! Congratulations to the Johnsons! What a day!

Our Latest Blanding Adventures!

We went to Blanding last weekend so that Colby could go hunting. Obviously, he got one. Its just a little guy, a two by one. He got it on Sunday night so we didnt get back to Orem until 2:00 am. It was a long night! But we had lots of fun in Blanding. Colby mostly hunted and played with his friends and family and I worked. I helped my dad lay cement and clean out his shop, helped my mom clean out her house, and we had a HUGE yard sale. My favorite part of the whole weekend was when me and my sisters canned applesauce and apple pie filling! It was awesome, I feel like a little homemaker! We had a lot of fun. The best part was just hanging out with my family and playing with my nephews! They are so dang cute. Every time we go home I am reminded of why I dont like big cities. Small town life is so relaxed and I miss it! The rush of the big city just gets to me sometimes. I love B Town!

PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCE!!!

Oh my heck, I am so bored! Tonight is parent/teacher conference and I have to stay at school from 8:30 in the morning until 8:00 in the evening and no parents even come to talk to me! But at least we get fed some really good food! So me and my friends have been messing around on our computers and making some really funny pictures with our Photo Booth. Check out what I ahve been doing all night long, wasting my night away!

Camping with our friends!

We had a great camping trip with Farley, Tina, Jens, Patricia and Baylor up Diamond Fork Canyon. They had some pretty good campgrounds with bathrooms and everything! There was a river pretty close and we tried to go fishing (see Farley and Tinas Blog for more details). I had no idea that there were racoons out there and we left our sunflower seeds and stuff out and they ripped huge holes in it!

Colby was trying to chop up this log into little pieces with this hammer, and he actually did a pretty good job.

This was our campfire (a lantern). We couldn't keep our fire going for anything. We tried so dang hard but it just didnt work.

This is the first huge beetle that we found, well actually Jens found this one. Then later on that night we found another big black one and two little ones. The boys put them all into a gatorade bottle and left them all night. In the morning when we let them go they had all lost a few legs.

HIKING

Jens, Patricia, Baylor, Colby and I went hiking in July. We went to a place called Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon. We had alot of fun. There is a trial that goes to the top of the falls, which is where Patricia and I stopped, but of course Jens and Colby had to keep going, even though there really isnt a trail. There was once a restaraunt way up above the falls, and the only way to get there was by a little tram thing. But its not running anymore, but the empty building is still there. So Jens and Colby attempted to get up to the restaraunt, but thank goodness they realized that they would never be able to get back down, but dont worry that they almost killed themselves in the process. Here are some of our pictures, and picutres that Jens and Colby took on their little side adventure.

4th of July camping with the Bayles clan

We went to Blanding for the 4th of July this year. After Colby played in Midnight Madness we all went to the mountain and went camping for the rest of the weekend. We had tons of fun. My whole family was there.

We went to some really old, and obviously not standing, cabins just under the Bears Ears.

This is a mine that my grandpa used to mine. They are all over up there and my dad remembers where alot of them are.

We have the cutest nieces and nephews!

My dad took us all on a hike down the canyon to Elk Springs , and we had to make our own trail!