Merry Christmas to US!

I know, I start all my blogs out with some form of this statement, but I really am pathetic!! It's been an entire year since my last post (which I never actually finished, oops) so I apologize to anyone that gave up on me- or is about to give up on me! But I am going to try for a come back... Why? Because people complain to me about my neglect, I feel guilty about my neglect, and now... drum roll please... I can actually contribute what people like to see in blogs: PICTURES!!! How fabulous is that?! We had a camera- actually two- but I didn't like either of them (not so great picture quality) so I never used them. So, for Christmas 2009, Morgan and I bought ourselves a nice, new toy- one with excellent picture quality when we get it right!
Meet our Nikon Coolpix p90 So, we may have had this for 3 months now, but we still have a lot to learn! We are still trying to figure out which settings are the best for different lighting and locations and such! So, if anyone has any helpful tips, please pass them along, thank you!

This is a picture of our first outing with her. We went to see the lights on Temple Square and it was foggy- bum deal! However, I think the fog added a cool effect! Everything had this amazing glow!

I love this Nativity scene. I think it is just beautiful! And having it in the reflecting pool makes it so much more spectacular! And the fog, Heavenly... Merry Christmas to us!

*Does anyone know why I can't get that area to not act like a link? I started typing and that is what it looked like- I DON'T LIKE IT! And this is one more reason why I don't blog very often... Grr!

Be kind, please rewind! Part 3

*** A forewarning, this post is not quite finished. Actually, it's not even close to being finished! I'm going to come back to it to finish the blurps for the last pictures. What it boils down to is we had a very FULL vacation. What you will see below is the last third of the trip- probably the fullest part of the trip. We did a ton of stuff in just a few days! Some of it I don't even have pictures of! I think this vacation is going to turn out to be three different post. Part 1, 2, 3. And I'm going backwards, so this is part 3. Man! I think I'm making this harder than it should be! Oh well! No turning back now!! Feel free to read on or wait till it's done!***

Morgan and I went to San Francisco with Aunt Fay, Uncle Bob, Jeremy and Tanna and kids: Sydney, Keegan, Evan and Austin. The weather was great, considering it was December! We walked the Golden Gate Bridge, went to the Presidio, ate ice cream at Ghirardelli Square, and rode the Cable Cars. The next(?) day we went to Montera and the harbor. What a fun day we had! Thanks Aunt Fay and Uncle Bob for the fun and adventures!

This is where Uncle Bob's dad is buried. We took flowers for his late birthday!

I love cemeteries. They are so peaceful and I love reading the inscriptions on the headstones about their life... imagining what they went through when they were alive. Especially in this cemetery- it is dedicated to soldiers. All the heroes who have fought for the freedoms we enjoy in this country. Thank you to all who have fought to get us where we are today!
Check out this location! Isn't it a beautiful site! I just love it!!

Chowing down on an ice cream sundae at Ghirardelli Square. Yum!

After Ghirardelli Square. We were waiting in the long line for the Trolley Cars. It's a bright picture but I love it! I can't get enough of city lights! Ahhh...

RIDING THE CABLE CARS!!

The Cable Car! What a fun adventure they offer! I'm hanging off the side of the car, Sydney is on the outside bench between two sweet Asian ladies. They really liked her! The next picture is the view from the car. Morgan was taking the pictures so we didn't get any of him! Sorry! But he had fun! It was a great way to see more sights that we hadn't seen earlier in the day!

Montera Lighthouse, right outside Half Moon Bay (HMB). I beginning to share my mom's love for lighthouses. I've always liked them, but as I get older, my love for them is growing. They are so neat... A beacon in the night! This is a small one and may not be that big of a deal, but it's still cool! Of all the times I've been to HMB, I don't think I've ever visited this lighthouse- as far back as I can remember, at least!!

New Blog

I've started a new blog. I wanted to have blog relating to all my floral design work so I finally did it! You can check it out at http://beededesigns.blogspot.com/ I also need some help to get it going. So please go to the link and read about it, if you have the time or desire, or just skip to the bottom and see what's stumping me! I need all the suggestions I can get, so please help! Thanks a ton!

61 and Heavenly...

I walked out of work tonight, about 5:40pm, to warmth and sunshine and 61 degrees posted up on the bank's flashy electronic sign. Hallelujah!!! I usually wear my winter coat to work- over a light sweatshirt that I wear while I work. Today... no winter coat, just the sweatshirt!! And, here's the best part... I even turned the air conditioner on in the car!! For some reading this, it may not seem like a big deal to you. So let me help you understand a little better, it has been a very FRIGID and LOOONG winter... very brown and white, so to see the yellow sun and actually feel the warmth it normally emits, is like a miracle for us! If we saw the sun, there was no warmth attached to it and we were just blinded by it's brightness reflecting off the snow. Now, the wonderful, warm sun has melted most of the snow and allowed us to start thawing out! Yeah!! One of my other favorite things about this transition is seeing the new buds/growth on the trees... Who would have thought that little nubs on trees would be so nice?! I just love it! Spring is nearly here! Let's just hope it lasts!!! Oh! Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!
**I just discovered how fun colors can be! Enjoy!**

A Day/Weekend of Thanks!!!

Here's my plan: To accomplish ono event, from the holiday months, a night. You think I can make it before the rush of Valentine's comes (that gives me a week)? I don't know either! But I can tell you this, I sure as heck am going to try! If I can accomplish this and the stress of Valentine's- along with the joys of everyday life, then WOW, what a boost that would give me! The race is on...

So, Morgan and I spent Thanksgiving in Vernal this year. We had a great time! It is always fun spending time with the Beede family! On our way to there, we stopped and picked up Morgan's oldest brothers (Kenneth) kids- Trevor and Austin. I had never met them yet so that was fun for me! We had the most relaxed Thanksgiving I had ever experienced! It was great! We had a turkey, stuffing, corn, rolls left over from a funeral the day before, an easy jello salad, and some yummy home-made pies. Talk about easy, low stress and very enjoyable! It was just Morgan's parents, Kenneth, Trevor and Austin and us at the table. We had a bigger family gathering on Sunday. We didn't get any pictures of Thanksgiving day, sorry! But keep going, there are other pictures!


I don't remember if I've included any pictures of Morgan's parents on here yet so here's one. It was taken in Salt Lake and it was the first time I had ever met them


The day after? Thanksgiving, a whole bunch of us got together and went shooting! Brian, Morgan's friend from high school brought his collection of guns for all of us to play with! And play we did!!! He had an old school revolver- cowboy style, his "cop" style handgun and his 12 gauge shotgun! Here are a few pictures showing off our fun!

1st pic: Trevor using shotgun; Middle: Austin using cowboy gun and Last is me using shotgun! I even hit a few clay pigeons!

On Sunday we celebrated the blessing of our new nephew: Drew (can't remember his middle name, oops!) Timothy. Son of Danielle (Morg's sister) and Clark Timothy. It was a wonderful day! Especially since their house was full of sick kids in the days prior to the blessing and they managed to be free from illness long enough to make it through all the festivities! What a blessing! Drew is one adorable little guy! You'll know what I mean when you look at the pictures below!!

Sweet little baby faces... Ooo! Ahhh!

Some of the family enjoying little Drew...

The proud Aunt and Uncle (and of course the coolest!) with Drew (Morgan sure will make a cute daddy!!! What a stud!!)

Grandma Beede (Morgan's mom) with baby Drew and proud big brother Chucky (aka Devin); Kenneth (striking a pose!) and his wife, Tracy, with Drew.

We all had a good time hanging out with the fam. before we ate dinner. In taking a closer look at some of these pictures, I am realizing that some were actually taken at Mom and Dad Beede's house and David (Morg's brother) and Jamie's house. But they were all taken the same weekend so I decided to keep them in the mix!

D.J.- I wonder what he wants to be when he grows up...; Brooklyn trying to hand off Jackson

Austin just chillin'; Jackson trying to walk- and if i remember correctly, he likes to walk on his tippy-toes!

Danielle, the proud mama of Drew; l-r on couch: Jaime with Drew, Trevor, Jonathan

Carston, too cool for the camera!; Jenna and Jonathan (about to get hit by a nerf football- the red blur in front of the plant)

Katelyn and Kayla resting on the bar counter (Kayla was starting to get the flu); Chucky with his funny face- he didn't want to give us a serious smile!; and me with baby Drew and Chucky!

I tried to get the best pictures I could but some of them weren't great! Sorry! And I realized I am missing a few people in the family... Sorry Grandpa Beede, David and Clark! I guess we were never in the right spots at the right times! Next time for sure! And when we were taking the pictures they were just at random. We wouldn't have forgotten you if we had an agenda!

Well, That's Thanksgiving weekend in a big, coconut sized, nut shell! Thanks to the Beede clan for a fun weekend! Hopefully we'll be able to head out there soon. We miss you and love you!

As for the rest of the holidays... baby steps!!! I like the whole "one event a night" plan! Keeps me motivated and less stressed about all the catch up I have in store! So stay tuned, there's more to come! Wish me luck!!!

**DiStRaCtIoNs**

To all my friends and family out there with better blogs than mine (which is everyone!), this one's for you! I tried to update my blog tonight but all your blogs got in the way! As soon as I get on here, I want to check everybody's before I get started on mine. There's where the problem lies! I get distracted with reading all your blogs that I run out of time to do my own! And I don't get on the computer very often so there's a lot of back-tracking to do and it takes even longer to go through them all! I am beginning to wonder if I will ever win on this thing!!! If everyone would be more like me we wouldn't have this problem! After thoroughly enjoying everyone's great blogs, I've become sleepy and am off to bed! Maybe I'll blog tomorrow... Hmmm... We'll see! Goodnight!

Friends...

So I've just gone on Facebook and added a bunch of friends blog addresses. So I hope nobody minds. If you do, I'll remove it! I still feel new to the blogging world so I'm not really sure what the blogging etiquette is for adding people... especially when they don't know... hmmm... Anyway, I'll do a better update later... you know, the holidays and such... Adios!