Hanging With Family

Well after working 41-1/2 hours in 3 days, I finally got a little break! Brent, Ashley, and Brad came to Colorado, so I was able to hang with them. I met up with Ashley, Annie, and Mikayla and go shopping Thursday morning. I spent a lot of money, but I got a really cute outfit and a way cool new phone (that I am still learning how to use!) After that Ashley and I enjoyed a nice lunch before meeting up with Katie so we could head to Jared’s school. I love art schools, the people there are all so friendly. It was fun to have a little tour and see some cool art. That night Ashley and I watched “Enchanted” while Jared and Katie took a little nap (don’t worry guys, I’m used to watching movies by myself :^) I spent the night at the Showell’s so we could leave early in the morning for the Springs.

Jared's Campus

Friday morning there were no b-ball games (the reason Brent and Brad came to CO) so Brent, Brad, Ashley, and I headed down to Colorado Springs to see the sights there. It was a sunny, windy, cold, beautiful day! We went to Garden of the Gods and Cave of the Winds. That was a first for Garden of the Gods for me, so it was neat. That evening we went to see the traveling Rembrandt art exhibit which was at my church. That art is so old, yet it looks brand new… it was really cool. People are so talented, it seriously blows me away! After the art exhibit we had dinner at Jared and Katie’s and hung with them the rest of the evening.

Saturday I got to dye Easter eggs at Annie’s- good times! We all went to Jim N’ Nicks BBQ for lunch before the guys headed off to their b-ball games. So, Ashley and I got to hang the rest of the day. We drove down to the temple and went to Deseret Book before coming back to my place and playing the Wii! Jared, Katie, and Cayden joined us for a bit as well. Brent and Ash took off super early Sunday morning. I’m glad they came to visit me in Colorado. It was nice to see them and fun hanging with them.

Easter Sunday was a wonderful day. It was absolutely gorgeous weather here- got to love CO! After enjoying a peaceful morning and a great three-hour block of meetings, I headed out to Annie and Steve’s for an Easter feast. Annie is such a good cook and they are always so nice to invite me. I had a good time visiting with everyone. We also had an Easter Egg hunt and the Easter Bunny brought me a new purse… thanks Easter Bunny!

Cave of the Winds

Well, that was my weekend…. It was a very welcomed and needed break. Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Holiday! Love to you all!

Surprise!

Yes, I know, it is probably a surprise that I finally updated my blog! It has been way to long… so let me catch you up on some happenings this past month. Well, I ran away from Single Awareness Day (February 14) and flew to Utah. My brother-in-law, Sean, picked me up from the airport and I got to tend my cute nieces and nephew while Jess and Sean went out to dinner. We had a good time playing pretend feast… Tayler is quite the chef! I spent the night at Jess and Sean’s house. Thanks guys for picking me up and letting me tend your kids and crash at your house!

Happy, Cute Cousins!

Jared and Katie flew in the next morning, so Jess and I and the kids loaded into the Yukon and off we went to pick up J & K. Jared and Katie did not know I was going to Utah, so it was a surprise to them when I was sitting in the front seat of the car. We headed out to Mom’s house and enjoyed a lazy afternoon just chillin’ while waiting for Mom to get home from work.

Mom and Son Just Chillin'

The biggest surprise came when Mom got home. I had told Mom the previous Sunday that there was no way I could come home. Work was too crazy (which it is), I worked on Saturday (which I did), and we are not allowed to take leave right now (which is true), so there was absolutely no way I could make it home for the weekend. I didn’t lie… too much! So, when Mom came home and she was distracted by the kids and with everyone being there, I snuck up behind her and put my arm around her and after a few seconds (her attention was still elsewhere) I said, “Hi Momisita!” Her reaction was priceless! She was so excited that I came home… it made me feel good!

Jared is such a good Uncle!

I was the odd one out since I didn't have a kid on my lap... so I took the picture of everyone else just hangin'!

So Cute!!!

So, the weekend was spent just hanging out- it was great! I love hanging with my family and playing with my cute nieces and nephews. We played games, watched movies, ate yummy cinnamon rolls, and had a great weekend. It is always nice to go home.

Two big dates on the calendar since I blogged last are the 25th and 26th of February. The 25th was Brent’s B-day… Happy Birthday Brent! I actually did remember to call so he didn’t have to call me this year! I don’t think Jared and I will ever live that down, but it is quite funny! The 26th marked five years that Dad has been gone. I wish I could have been home to give Mom a big hug, laugh together, cry together and reminisce about all the good times we had with Dad. Time is a funny thing… how it goes by so fast, yet I don’t miss him any less as the years pass.

Thinking- "Man I look good for being so old!"

The other event, blog worthy, is my cha, cha, cha, chia!!!! Yeah, that’s right… I’m a nerd, but I love my chia!

Day 1

Day 6

Day 9

Remembering

On Saturday I watched the funeral for President Hinckley. It was a nice tribute to a great Prophet. As I sat there watching I couldn't help but feel sad that we will not hear cute little President Hinckley's voice at the next General Conference. At the same time I couldn't help but think how lucky we are that even with the death of a leader, this Church will go on and not miss a beat. Today the new first presidency was announced. President Monson serves as the 16th Prophet of the church with President Eyring as First Counselor and President Uchtdorf as Second Counselor.

Today, we are also remembering Marcela's Birthday! Have a great day Marcela! I think this is a first that I've actually remembered your birthday on your actual birthday... there is hope for me!

WEEKEND FUN

Wii + Friends = Fun

Friday night I had a wii party at my new place. It was a lot of fun…there were about 10 of us altogether. That is a good size, small enough that you get to actually play and large enough to have a good time. A friend of mine also brought the old school Nintendo so we had that going at the same time as the wii games. I also must thank Jenny for her great dip idea… it was a hit Jen! So, there were good people, good food, and fun games- what more could you ask for?

Intense Game of Super Mario Brothers

Wii Olympics- Good Times!

Snow + Snowshoes + Friends + Mountains = Fun

Saturday morning I met up with some friends to go snowshoeing. I just bought myself a pair of snowshoes, so I was excited to try them out. I also just bought a new pair of boots, too. I must say that my hands and my toes stayed rather warm… I think that is a first! It was a beautiful day to go hiking… it was cold, but sunny and beautiful. Once you got hiking it wasn’t so cold anymore anyway. We only got to be on the mountain for about an hour, but it was a lot of fun. I’m sure there will be more snowshoeing adventures to come.

Can You See the Unicorn?

Tired?

Snowshoeing Crowd

Rodeo + Friends = Fun

The stock show is in Denver, so a group of us went on Saturday night. We got there early so we could walk around and look at all the booths that were set up. We also got to see a lot of animals up close and personal! I enjoy the bull riding (of course) and the steer wrestling the best. It was a fun evening.

Just Havin' a Good Time at the Rodeo

Huggin' a Lama

Look at those Bison (that ones for you Ashley) and 1 Armed Man

Talk + No Ideas = Stress

My Bishop asked me to speak in the Sacrament meeting way back on December 9th. My topic was Fast Offerings and the blessings that come when we obey that commandment. I had to speak in church today, so you can see that I had quite a long time to prepare this talk. I thought and thought about it, but I was simply getting no ideas. Throughout the month I would jot down a thought or two if it came to me, but overall I had no idea what I wanted to say or what direction to take this talk…. Until about 6:00am this morning! Lets just say that I was pleasantly surprised with how well the talk turned out. I guess that is what happens when you turn it over the Lord and say the things He wants you to say. I had people tell me it was an awesome, inspired talk, so that made me happy.


Tag = I’m It

Questy tagged me to come up with six things that you may not now about me, so I am accepting the challenge. Here you go:

1- I’ve only had one “C” grade in my entire life. The class was Corporate Finance my Sophomore or Junior year of College. That was probably the hardest class I’ve ever taken in my life. I don’t think I’ve ever had to work so hard for a grade before… I definitely earned that C!
2- I have such poor circulation that my hands are constantly splitting on my fingertips and at my knuckles. I used to lotion up and wear cotton gloves at night to give my hands a fighting chance at being soft. I should start doing that again!
3- I hate the look of my hands. I purposely do not wear rings so I do not draw attention to them. My two crooked fingers (since I broke them and they did not heal properly) and my nasty purple, cracked, split skin doesn’t help. On the flip side, I love my stomach- its nice having a six pack! Kind of ironic that the part of me I love the most is never seen and the part I am most self-conscience about is constantly showing!
4- I do not like driving on the freeway and avoid it if I can. I much prefer driving the surface streets, even if it takes a few minutes longer.
5- I do not like to run. I love to be in shape, and I love to play sports, but I do not like to simply run for the fun of it (unless I am in the mood to go run, which happens on a very rare occasion).
6- I used to get such bad nose bleeds when I was young that I got my nose cauterized. I still get quite a few random nose bleeds, but it has been a long while since I’ve had an hour long one! In fact, the only times I have been to the emergency room in my life is when I had a super bad nose bleed (going on two hours from what I am told) and the time I got my head split open while playing racquetball.

There you have it, did you learn anything new about me? So, since this is a game of tag I now tag Katie to come up with 6 interesting things we may not know about you!

Cayden’s Blessing Weekend

Man of the Hour

Cute Little Family

It was nice to only go a few days from when I said goodbye to Mom and Jess before seeing them again! Mom, Jess and little Jayson flew to Colorado Friday evening. I picked them up at the airport around 7:30pm and we went to Jared and Katie’s where we enjoyed a nice meal of ravioli soup (thanks Ro for the recipe!). That evening we found ourselves being entertained by the very slap happy Jayson. Babies are such time wasters!
Mom stayed with Jared and Katie while Jessica and Jayson stayed at my apartment.

Dinner Time

Jess and Jayson

Saturday morning Jared, Katie, Cayden, and Mom came over for breakfast. Then we just enjoyed a really lazy morning playing the Nintendo Wii. We got Jess hooked on bowling- good times! We went to Southlands that afternoon before heading back to my apartment to get dinner together. We had pork chops and stuffing with apples, rolls, and salad. That is three meals in a row that I have cooked- I should have company more often! That night we busted out the s’mores maker and played games.

Golf Anyone?

Sunday morning was the reason Mom and Jess came to Colorado. It was Cayden’s blessing today and Jared did a fabulous job. The meeting was wonderful with Jared, Katie, and Katie’s Dad all sharing their testimonies. Thanks all for making it special. After the meeting everyone headed over to Jared and Katie’s apartment for sandwiches. There was quite the full house with Katie’s family (everyone minus Beth and her husband), the Showell clan (minus Justin and Troy), Jess, Jayson, Mom, Grandma, and I! So, total there were 24 people there- good times. People stayed for quite a while before heading out. Mom and Jess didn’t fly out until 7:45pm, so we left at 5:45 to take them to the airport. It was a long night for them since their plane didn’t even leave until 8:40pm.

Party Time!

Great Grandma and Cayden

Showell Clan

Look How Cute We Are Mom!

Look at all these people who love you Cayden!

It really was a great weekend. I so love hanging with my family. Thanks Jess, Mom and Jayson for spending the weekend with us in Colorado! You are welcome any time!

Christmas Fun

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas this year. Here is my Christmas update….sorry it is super long.

I flew home to Utah on Christmas Eve. Big thanks to Uncle Steve who came and picked me up from the airport! We made it to Mom’s house around 9:30pm, so I pretty much missed all the Christmas Eve festivities, but I did get to visit with Annie, Steve, and the gang for a little while before they took off.

Christmas morning was rather quiet… it was only Mom, Grandma, and I. So, we all enjoyed a lazy morning sleeping in before building a fire and getting breakfast on the table. We did have our traditional breakfast of scrambled eggs, cinnamon rolls, and hot chocolate! I love Christmas breakfast!!

Christmas Day Visitors

Christmas Day we enjoyed a visit from Rochelle and Travis. We found out that they are expecting their first… a little girl, so congrats to them! Annie, Brandon, and Makayla (I just realized I have no idea how she spells her name, so if I am wrong I am sorry!) also stopped by for a bit. Jess, Sean and the kids came around 4:00pm and we enjoyed hanging with them. They spent the night so that was fun. That night we enjoyed a wonderful dinner of potato soup and Mom’s amazing rolls… so good!! We also opened presents once they arrived. It was a good Christmas and nice to be with part of my family!

Grandma w/ Some of the Grandkids!

Yeah for Christmas Dishes!!!

On Boxing Day Jess and I took Tayler and Rylee sledding on the famous sledding hill in Stansbury. Such good memories sledding on that hill as a kid! We had a great time and we even walked away with no injuries! Good times! Jess and I made a Wal-Mart run to Tooele before Jess, Sean and the kids headed home that evening.

Just Hangin'

The 27th was a good day. It started bright and early… I had to get up a 5:30am! Seriously, who gets up that early while on vacation??? Its funny how I get up around 5:00am on workdays and it is no big deal, but when I’m on vacation 5:30am was super early. It was nice to do a session in the Bountiful Temple and then attend the sealing of Kim and Byrian’s daughter. The sealer did a great job and it is always nice to be in the temple, so it was worth it to get up early.

After the temple Mom and I headed up to Jess and Sean’s where we spent the rest of the day with them. We went to lunch at Chili’s and then we went shopping! I was on a quest to find good boots that I could wear snowshoeing. With Mom and Jessica’s approval, I purchased a cute pair of Columbia boots! The shopping outing was successful!
We stayed and played with the girls for a while longer before making the trek back home.

Brent and Ashley came out Friday morning, 28 December. It was fun just to hang with them. I went shooting that morning with Uncle Steve and crew. It has been 2 years since I’ve last shot trap… so I didn’t do so well. My best score of the day was 14 out of 25… I’ve definitely done much better! The rest of the afternoon was spent helping Mom catalog all of Grandpa’s books. We must have gone through 18+ boxes of books… it took a while! We got a lot done, which helped Mom out a ton, so that was nice. That evening we watched the movie, Star Dust. It was a really good movie- if you haven’t seen it I highly recommend it!

Brent being Brent!

Saturday was spent cleaning out Grandpa and Grandma’s house. We are trying to get it ready for sale, but we can’t do that until all the stuff is out of it first! Steve, Annie, Mom, Carl, and I got to sort, pack, and throw a lot of stuff away! Over a lifetime people tend to accumulate a lot of stuff… I’m totally selling my house and moving into an apartment when I’m sixty just to cut down on all the stuff and not leave it for my kids to deal with. Surprisingly, it was kind of fun to sort through stuff and see what treasures we would come across. After two trips to D.I (with a full trailer) and filling a huge dumpster, we finally called it a day. We did a lot, but there is still a lot of stuff that still needs to be sorted through.

Cleaning Fun

Brent and Ashley joined us for church on Sunday and spent the rest of the day with us. We tied a quilt that afternoon and then we played games… good times playing Family Feud and Mexican Train! It was fun to enjoy a relaxing day and enjoy the good company!

Monday was New Year’s Eve and the last full day I had before heading back to Colorado. Jess and the kids came out that day. Brent and Ashley also spent the day with us. It was great fun to play with the kids and, once again, enjoy a relaxing day. I wish I could hang with my family like that more often. I love just to be with my family. I wish it could be my entire family, but it was nice to be with at least half of my family! Jess and the kids took off around 6:30pm so they could ring in the New Year with Sean. Mom, Brent, Ashley, and I played games until midnight, watched the ball drop, shouted ‘Happy New Year’ and then it was time for me to pack! I did quite the amazing packing job with all the stuff that I accumulated while I was in Utah that short time.

Tuesday morning Brent and Ashley kicked me out at the curb of SLC airport at 8:30am. Since I am typically to my gate in about 15 mins when I fly out of SLC, I was not too concerned that I only had an hour and ten minutes until my flight was to leave. I wasn’t concerned until I walked in and saw the hundreds of swarming people in the airport! There are never that many people in the airport! I seriously thought I was going to miss my flight, but luckily I was able to make it through security just in time to board my plane! That was cutting in close! Oh, and speaking of close, my bag weighed 51 lbs… I was able to take one thing out and through it in my laptop bag and that made my bag 50lbs even so I avoided a $50 heavy bag fee! Nice! Well, as soon as I went through the security check point I ran into Uncle Kent… it is always a pleasant surprise to run into someone you know at the airport!

Well, that is my Christmas adventure. I was able to make it back to Colorado and start the unpacking/organizing my new apartment since I left it as a bunch of boxes when I flew home on the 24th. That evening I enjoyed a nice dinner and played games with the Crabbs! Thanks for letting me join the party!

Well, here’s too lots of fun adventures for the year 2008! Happy New Year!

Very Fancy

So, Saturday night was my work Christmas Party. It was a very enjoyable evening... I even enjoyed getting all dressed up! Well, I'm getting all my stuff packed up since I am moving on Friday.... and then I'm heading to Utah for Christmas, so I don't know when I will have time to blog again. So, here is wishing you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS!