Baby, it's cold outside...

Christmas Eve

Austin's well wrapped gift

Jared's favorite part of the evening...

Martinellis

Christmas Day

Kadenbug and his bow

Melissa's house this morning..

Dear Santa,

Everytime Jared and I go to Walmart (I'm sure you know how many possilbe trips you can take in one week!) Jared leads us to the electronic section and down the isle with TV's that all have the same thing on the screen...

He looks for the LCD's the and the 1080P's and then we leave the isle and go on our way shopping for the items we came for.

I'm pretty sure, Santa, that this is what he wants for Christmas..

Please please PLEASE let it snow!

Some pictures from a great weekend:

It finally has snowed. A little.

Before it did, Whitney, Curtis and I went up to the mountains
to play in the little snow that Utah had. Greatest snow on Earth. Psh.

(Mmm. I love them.) &the snow.

THIS is my favortie picture of Whitney. Of all time.

Even more than this..

(Yes, This is Roger Rabbit's door)

Or this...

Or this...

Or this...

Or this...

Or this...

Or even this...

Which tells you how much I love the picture way above.

Any...way..

We also went to see

Temple Lights with friends :)

With this to follow...

Dear Boltman...

My already non-private work space has been invaded. And today is just the first day of the construction site.

The ceiling was removed, plastic laid, and if you thought the tape was loud.. just wait for the tools to get started and the walls to go up! My co-workers even became traitors and shut their doors. Why would I call them that, you ask?

I have no door.

And yet, I still shouldn't complain because today, we ate delicious homemade "Oh Henries", listened to Brian Regan (funny) and even popped the plastic laid on the floor (we did that by... dancing)

....Pret-ty cool.

P.S. Plus.. When I got to work this morning, there was an email from someone who signed their name... "The Boltman" and so, I responded,

"Dear Boltman (POW!)"

Pow, like the superhero comic books, you know..

I did. Except for.. the "POW!" I wanted to though..

Oh, Arnold...

Things I'm Grateful For..

Just a few

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ... and all of the sweetness that comes with it. It brings the happiness into my life.

The Savior - "Jesus is my friend. He is my exemplar. He is my teacher. He is my healer. He is my leader. He is my Savior and my Redeemer. He is my God and my King." -President Gordon B. Hinckley

Jared - For his kindness, his love, his patience, his testimony, his encouragement, the hard work, the support, the humor, the fun times and the hugs during the hard. I'm a lucky girl.

My Family - My sweet and hilarious Mom.. The countless things she does for me everyday. I couldn't ask for a better friend. My Dad and his wonderful example of charity and selflessness... & his awesome sense of humor. Aushi and Jerm. They have my heart.

My funloving, eccentric, and now forgetful aunt, Deanne. I wish I could play and laugh with her everyday. haha.Kent, Jodi, and Nicole. A sweet and incredibly optimistic grandmother and my inspiring, wise, artistic Aunt Joleen.

My Friends - Oh, how they've blessed my life. I would be nothing without them. No, really..it's true.

The mountains - They inspire me everyday. I wish I could visit them with my camera daily.

I love Thanksgiving turkey. It's the only time in Los Angeles that you see natural breasts. ~Arnold Schwarzenegger

Group hugs in Abundance..

ShayLee and Kristie visited home a couple weeks ago and we had a delicious reunion. The sort of good time that leaves your soul feeling refreshed and at peace... just plain happy.

Almost on empty, I drove up Little Cottenwood Canyon. I drove and drove but, hadn't found an acceptable trail. Finally, I pulled off. (Thinking that I better stop soon before we can't drive for much longer.) It was a gorgeous day for mid-November.

We started up the trial and after hiking, eventually came to a waterfall coming off of a steep, smooth rock. It was beautiful. We decided to climb up higher and higher until we were as high as we could go. On a small ledge, we leaned against the rock wall of the mountain. We talked, laughed and cried about life and how sweet it really is. Over looking the miles of the beautiful mountains that belong to our hearts, we had one of those "I'll remember this moment forever"-kind of moments. Beautiful.

Didn't know I was so cheesy, did you?

We made it back to our car just in time, before the sun was too low and the cold too much to bear. "Let's spoil ourselves with a nice dinner," I suggest. We got into the Spaghetti Factory without a wait at all (there's a first time for everything..) You just can't beat that delicious Spumoni ice cream that I've loved my entire life. As we made our way home, ShayLee "tuned" the ipod to "This Kiss" by Faith Hill. We sang all the way.

Save the Date

The Scarecrow

On the highway from Knappa to Astoria,

there's a turn off to go to an Eagle Sanctuary.

On this road is a neighborhood where my aunt walks a few times weekly.

Last Halloween, she saw a scarecrow. She told me how amazing he was and how she wished I could see for myself. When I went to Oregon a few weeks ago, at the being of October, we drove by this particular house a few times in hopes to see the scarecrow. Even on the way to the airport, we hoped to get a peek but, no luck.

One day, the scarecrow was put up and she was

there with her camera so that I could at least see this scarecrow on film.

As she approached, she noticed a full yard of spooky decorations.

As she began to snap some shots, a man then approached her.

The man asked if she'd like a tour. Camera ready, she gladly accepted the offer.

She was able to get these amazing shots.

Next year, I will be in Oregon for Halloween.