Oh Christmas Tree!

So Saint George doesn't have snow. But, drive 30 or so miles up the road. SNOW! Last Saturday we drove up to Pine Valley with some friends, and so began our first "chop down your own Christmas tree experience." Needless to say, practically none of us were expecting that deep of snow, hence no snow pants or gear, so there were some cold wet feet and legs up to the calves. Leo was warm and toasty in his carrier seeing as he never came in direct contact with the snow, and was happy as can be to be outside in the 50 degree weather. It was the best of both worlds, snow and mild weather.

We had a hard time finding any thing other than Juniper, and finally settled on a little pine, mainly because the kids were whining, and some of the adults too. Ruger had a ball racing around in the deep snow, it was just like old times up north in Logan. We even stopped out a lodge-like restaurant on the way back in to town and ate some yummy food sitting right next to an old wood burning stove. Good time had by all, I think we'll even try it again next year.

The Bulldozer

Leo has become quite the destructor. Every room he enters, there are cupboards opened, bags emptied, laundry baskets tipped over and neatly folded piles are no more. This was the damage this morning when I was checking my email for a few minutes.

Just a little something.

Here are a few photos to enjoy of what we've been up to. We're super stoked for the family to come here for Thanksgiving in a couple of weeks. It is still getting into the 60's here, and the leaves are starting to change. So it should be a change from the normal chilly Thanksgiving holiday.

Halloween at our house kind of stunk this year.

(I am my mother's daughter.)


Do we have a lefty??
He makes me happy.
Leo is a really good helper. We fold the clothes, he pulls them out of the basket and chucks them behind him.
Leo doesn't know it yet, but this is Dade, his future best friend. They are 8 months apart.
Like Father, like Son. Leo was such a good kid at the REAL playoff game. It was pretty chilly and didn't even start until 8:00-his bed time.

Playing catch-up

So it turns out I am really terrible at this whole blogging thing. The concept is relatively simple, but for some reason actually sitting down and plunking out the letters on the keyboard and making this a writing outlet for myself, has kind of nose dived. I don't want to give up on the thing. It's like starting a book and slowly reading a chapter or two a night for a while, then for some reason you stop picking up the book and before you know it, you don't know if you should start the whole book over again, or just pick up where you left off and hope you make sense of it all.

I think I'll just catch up on what's been happening since there has been quite a bit going on in the past month and a half or so. First off. Henderson, Nevada sucked. (Sorry, no other word would convey my truest of feelings.) Danny hated it, I hated it, and our do

g even became depressed. The whole plan of going there kind of fell through, and I couldn't stand watching Danny leave for work everyday knowing how unhappy he was doing what he was doing. Luckily though, to make a long story short, Danny got a job in Saint George, Utah and we had two weeks to get up there and start making Henderson a distant memory.

We found out about the job offer, working for the city parks department, and left for California for Angie and Jimmy's temple cealing. 5 days after that, Nevada was history and we were Southern Utah-bound. YIPPEE! We stayed with Steph and kids for 3 weeks while we looked for a place. And find a place, we did. A great older town house in a place with only 12 units, many of which are vacant a lot of the year, thank you sunbirds. It's quiet, a half a block from a big city park, and tucked right up against gorgeous red cliffs.

So there it is. We hope to be here for quite a while, moving 3 times in a year and a half is no fun. Oh-and I also got a very part-time job for the city. I work at the city rec center child care a few evenings a week, and one morning. Works out rather perfectly, Danny watches him the 3 evenings I work, and on Friday mornings, I can take him with me. It's work that doesn't feel like work, and the shifts are so short, it goes by in a snap.

Leo update:

8 months was a big month for Leo. Two bottom teeth cut through. Officially started crawling. And says "mama-mama, dada-dada." He is also standing on his own, with the help of objects around him. I love him more and more everyday and can't believe how lucky I am to be a mom, and his mom.

The Sound of Music

What is it about music that can take you back to a time and a place? Almost as much as smell can take you somewhere else? I did a lot of listening to Enya in High School and into college years. Call me nerdy, I don't care. But I would mostly listen at night to go to sleep, do homework and every once in a while when I took drives around town to just think. For some reason I got out of the Enya thing for a while. Lately I've started turning in on when I'm laying in bed before going to sleep. It is just crazy to me how many different memories come to mind and times of my life that I remember that I haven't thought about in a long time. At the time, it seemed like just a background thing, so it is amazing to me that the songs bring back the thoughts and feelings I was having at the time.

Just one of those things I was thinking about. Has anyone else had the same reaction to music and memories as me? Is there anyone even out there? :)

Leo's First Bear Lake

Sorry, no captions. I'll just let the pictures do the talking. I think they do a pretty good job.

I heart the earth.

The other day Leo and I were at the pool. I know, rough life. A girl I had chatted with before a few weeks before, came into the pool area as well and we had a lovely conversation. (Always nice to get some adult conversation between the hours of 8am and 6 pm.) Before long the topic of the apartment complex we live in came up and how we had multiple things go wrong. Then the topic of how the city of Henderson/Las Vegas in general, is a very dirty non-earth-friendly place to be. I guess that may be obvious to some. We both could not believe the complex didn't provide a bin for recycling next to any of the trash dumpsters around the place.

She told me when she asked the office lady about it, she said that the majority of the people did not want the extra $5 or whatever it is onto their HOA fees for the recycle dumpster. Whuh?! How are there still that many people out there not willing to make small strides to help our planet that we have so selfishly taken over and ruined much of? Some things I just cannot fathom, and don't want to. She told me the closest place to take your recyclables was a few miles away. I was pumped, and was committed to taking ours down once a week when I was out an about.

I have definitely been spoiled the past 4 years or so living in Logan and Boise, where we had one big recycle can delivered, no sorting involved, just throw it in and someone picks it up every other week. This has made it be pretty easy for me to be less than impressed with Henderson.

Crazy thing is, the very next morning after having this talk with the girl by the pool, I was walking out to the car, and there was a new white dumpster I didn't recognize across the parking lot. It was as if the heavens were shining down a little more sunlight on it as well, because as I got closer I could see the words. "Mixed Recycle. Not Trash." I kid you not, dreams really do come true.