Christmas Evening Activities

When I woke up mid-afternoon today, it was snowing AGAIN! It was slushy stuff that didn't stick to anything other than shoes and car mats, BUT it was snow nonetheless. I don't remember ever having snow for Christmas, so I bounced happily on the couch until I woke Kyle up from his nap to show him the snow. When he wasn't as happy as I expected, I showed the bunnies by throwing them outside in it. They weren't too thrilled either.
Later that evening, we went over to my family's house to have a Christmas Eve dinner of ham, salmon, red potatoes, pasta, and a chocolate fondue for dessert. YUM! We watched a couple of movies and some Christmas cartoons, played a game of Clue, and then opened the Christmas PJ's.

A Blizzardy Week

Now that I'm done with school I can catch up on posting! (thus the multiple entries for today) I'm also on the way to Salt Lake with Kyle and my two brothers, Trent and Kalin, so I have a bit of time to waste.

The last few days have brought LOTS of snow to Southern Utah. Just about every day we have taken a drive up SR18 to Pine Valley to play in the snow. The first day me and Kyle went up alone to see the pretty snow coming down. It was gorgeous, but a short trip, as I had to be back to train some new dispatchers at the fire station. Pics from that day:





The next day, Tia was able to get Brianna's mom to let her out of school for a day (Brianna is our 13 year old cousin) to go sledding with us and Tyler. We slid down the back side of the reservoir dam, and then after we had suffered enough whiplash, we pulled each other up and down the road behind the truck. The temperatures were really low that day, and even hot chocolate couldn't keep us warm! A few pics from that day. Ok maybe more than a few :)

Killer icicles!

Snow fight!

Mrs. Snowface ended up getting the worst of it.

Tia and Bri take on the road!

You got the camera ready? Watch this!

Biffing it bad.

Biffing it again.

Ok, I'm good. Thats enough.

No really, I can't get up.

Tia's turn to catch some air...

Tia takes a break to construct a reclining snowman. Or is that Tyler under a layer of snow?

Ride to Mesquite with the crew...

Last year we bought a nice Yamaha V-star for really cheap from a co-worker of ours. At the time, Kyle had never ridden a motorcycle, and it was quite a funny sight seeing him try to get it home (he tipped it over trying to go through a roundabout). He decided to take the Motor school offered by the PD both to get his Motor Certification for riding the police Harleys, and to learn how to drive the motorcycle we bought a little better. After passing the class and getting his endorsement, he began riding our motorcycle. After that, it was pretty impossible to get him to drive anything else. We took it on dates, to Sunday dinners at the fams house, and even to get groceries (imagine me on the backseat holding gallons of milk and bags of food, haha!). It was especially nice to save money on gas too! Kyle also got a leather jacket and a full-face helmet so he could go on daytrips with other officers/co-workers who also had motorcycles. Last month, before it got too cold to ride, they took one last trip down to Mesquite to have breakfast. They hung out for a bit and then took the scenic Old91 route home. Now the bike is parked in the garage waiting for warm weather again! These are pictures from the Mesquite ride. In the picture: SGPD Cpt Farnsworth, SGPD Chief Stratton, Deputy Chief Peck, WCPD Chief Keith, Hatz, Bob Flowers, and SGPD Cpt Graham.

Whitehead Family Pictures

A couple of Sundays ago Kyle and I went down to Stonecliff with the rest of the Whitehead family to take family pictures. It was a nice warm fall day and the colors were perfect for a photo shoot! Having Talin, Teegan, and Hagen to watch squirm around made it a lot more fun too (well fun for us without squirmers anyway). I think the photos turned out really nice - we plan on getting at least one enlarged for our living room. Which do you like better - the colored ones or the black and white ones?

Bah Humbug...

I feel like such a Scrooge this year!
When I said to Kyle a few weeks ago "Lets not get a Christmas tree this year," he looked at me intently for a few moments and then asked "Is everything ok?"
Usually by the day after Thanksgiving, the house is decked in red and green, the lights are up outside, and we're headed northbound to hunt for a tree. But this year everything seems like such a hassle. The second week of December is flying by and the decorations are all still in boxes. I keep going out in the garage and opening a lid and then thinking, "Nah. I'm too tired. Maybe tomorrow." And then when I thought about putting a tree in, and fighting with lights and pine needles and... yeah. No. Lets skip it this year.

One of the reasons is that I've been on graveyard shift, which isn't so great for the energy level. I've also been going to school during the day, which causes me to have to split my sleep day into short 2-4 hour increments. The last few weeks have also brought on the end-of-semester pressure, when all the 10 page research papers, in class presentations, and other junk is due. Lately, I'm either at home on the computer, on campus on a computer, or at work on a computer. I haven't gone to the gym, I haven't played guitar, and I haven't done any of the other things that keep me sane. Along with school, the Mom-and-Dad-Divore-Drama (aka MADDD) has also been taking it's toll. And I also suppose I'm a little sad that at there is no little one to buy presents for this year.

Kyle, love him for it, has seen my stress and has taken over housework completely (he normally does his fair share of it anyway). He's also been running errends for me and has been making sure that I'm eating. I'd be a lot more stressed if it wasn't for him.

Thankfully, the last of the school projects were due today so much of the pressure is off. Also the end of the semester is next week, so I've got final tests and I'm done! Yessss! I'm also changing to swing shift (4pm-midnight) at the end of December, and that will help me get back to a normal lifestyle.

Kyle's birthday is on the 20th, and we're going to get out of town and head up to Clinton to stay with Kyle's mom and Lloyd. That will be a nice break too. Trenton will be going with us to do a lot of his mission shopping, and I'll get a chance to do some Christmas shopping! We want to visit temple square while we're there and see the lights too. Maybe... possibly... that will get me into the Christmas spirit. I mean, how could it not? :)

The Orange Kiss

While Mom was preparing for Thanksgiving dinner, Tia and Trent grabbed some orange peels and had fun making faces at each other. Someone thankfully got a shot of the rare occasion of these two smiling together! I'm sure going to miss having them around next year. They bring a lot of fun to family gatherings.

A happy Tia and a hungry Kalin