YEAH!

Yeah! Our blog isn't boring anymore! I finally figured out how to change it around, with a lot of trial and error. For some reason, whenever we upload a header, it changes the color, so we learned that if we upload it once, than save the header and upload the funky colored header, it will turn out the colors that we want. This is how the funk colored one looked.
So we decided that we couldn't really have a pink header in January, because, hello, we are not celebrating Valentine's Day, so we decided that we were happy that we could figure out how to change it to the blue!

Christmas was a blast! I have to admit that it was really hare taking 2 separate distinct people, coming from 2 separate distinct family, with 2 separate distinct traditions is kinda hard. It is fun to take and mesh these two together. Besides the fact that Mike bought me 3 new complete outfits, even down to the shoes and socks! Mike (and his sisters) have good taste and I got some clothes that fit me, as everything else was too big. Mike has been enjoying his Christmas present for a month already, a new TV, surround sound and an entertainment center (the new TV didn't fit into the old entertainment center.I)

Most of all, we are looking forward to spending the New Year together, what fun to be able to celebrate the start of a new year with one you love.

Tubing (Scubing) Anyone?

For any of you who have looked at our blog in the last couple of days, it was even way more boring than usual. This is because I clicked on a link "Revert to Classic Template." Do not, I repeat, do not ever do this. It took me forever to figure out how to make it go back to what we had before.

Anyway, we got to go scubing on Saturday. It was a ton of fun! You will have to view some of our pictures. It was a totally fun day, from Mike saying, "I think I may be too old for this, " to Tait sneaking to the hill before anyone knew and flying down on a saucer, almost running into poles and a cement wall, to me, learning that I can scream like a schoolgirl going down the hill! Ya'll should try some tubing some time!

Figuring things out

I love when I try to figure new things out and they don't work. I decided to try to figure out how to upload a new header that I made for the blog...looks pretty cute huh? Except all the blue is supposed to be red. The picture I uploaded is correct, just somehow during the upload, the color changes. Weird....

Anyway, everyday that passes makes it one day closer to the nice long holiday weekend! Only 1 more day of work and then 4 wonderful days off! Yes! Hopefully, the snow will hold off until Friday night, and then really come down so that Mike and I can go 'scubing' with some fun, totally cute little nephews!

Temple Square

Have you ever been cold? What about freezing cold? Brrrrrr cold? You know, just plain cold! If you haven't, or you have just been too warm this winter, than you all should take a trip to Salt Lake's Temple Square to see the Christmas lights.

Mike and I decided to go up to Temple Square on Friday night. Not only was it extremely cold, it was also extremely busy. There was a concert going on and as a result, there was no parking anywhere. We were driving around and around when Mike offered to drop me off on the west side of the Temple and pick me up on the other side to give me a chance to see the lights, but it isn't any fun by yourself! After spending 20 minutes looking for parking, Mike asked me how I felt about going home and not looking at the lights. I made him keep looking for a parking spot. I am sure that he is glad I did, as it was absolutely beautiful!

Here are some pictures that we took Friday night. There were a lot of people, it was cold, but it was fun. We even went into the Deseret Book accross the street to warm up and to use the restroom, only to discover that there are people who don't lock stall doors! Yes, I walked in on an older lady. It was a little awkward. It was even more awkward when she kept apologizing to me! I guess if she had locked the stall door, I wouldn't have walked in in her!

Here are some more pictures!Rosie commented that she missed a picture of Mike and I together, so here it is. My camera scares people and the couple that took our picture were scared to touch it after we asked them...but they did. So, as a result, Mike and I only got one picture together. We could have gotten more, but I forgot the tripod. Also, there were so many people that I would have worried about setting up a tripod to take a picture of Mike and I...somebody could have knocked it over! If you notice, Mike and I are blurry, but the Temple in the background is not! hahahahaMike and I are having a debate about the above picture. I took it blurry on purpose because I thought it looked cool. Mike says it messes with the eyes. So, create a comment to tell me what you think about the picture!

A really long time

I know, it has been FOREVER since I have updated our blog. I don't know what happened, it just got really busy in the last month of the semester. In the last week of school alone, I had, 7 papers due. Seriously way too many papers. Anyway, I have a ton to blog about, but I don't know that I will be able to fit it all in. I will start back and work forward, that will probably be the best.

First of all, I don't know if any of you notice, but my blog looks kinda boring compared to others in the family. Amanda tried to show me on Thanksgiving how to change my background, you know, spice it up, customize it, etc. Well, I thought I had it figured out, but because it was so long before I tried to change it, I guess I forgot what she showed me. I guess I will have to get her to help me at some point over the Christmas break.

Well, the first thing to talk about is our tree. Mike has grown up with an artificial tree. I did too, but for the last couple of years, a friend from work has cut me a tree from the mountains. Well, because of cost, we decided that this year we would get a real tree on our own. We went with Rosie and Mark, Nancy and Chase and all of Chase's family, to cut down our tree. It was a VERY long drive, but it was fun. Because I had left my camera at home, Rosie was kind enough to take pictures and send to us. We spent some time trying to find the perfect tree. We finally thought we had found it, cut it down, hauled it back to where everybody was and were met with, "You cut Charlie Brown's Christmas tree!" You can judge for yourself, it doesn't look so bad. It just has a lot of character!

Anyway, we brought our tree home and decorated it. It was a ton of fun. I am quite pleased with the way it turned out. It definitely has a lot of character, which Mike says is another way of saying it is ugly. Mike isn't a big fan of the tree, but I am pretty sure that it will grow on him and he will be so excited to go cut another tree next year! Here is what our tree looks like all decorated. With all the decorations that Mike and I already had on our own, combined, we have quite the rockin house! It really looks cool from outside. We have had our neighbors comment on how cute our house is. In fact, our neigbhor accross the street told us that her daughters love looking out their front window every night to see if our lights are on. This is what they see from across the street. I am excited about Mike and I sharing our first Christmas. While it is crazy sometimes learning how to blend the different ways that we both did things, it is fun to know that we can start our own traditions together.

The best part of the Christas holidays is the fact that school is out for the semester! It is exciting to look forward to how few end of semesters that I have left! If all goes according to my plans, I only have 4 more end of semesters left! I am so excited.

So, I love traveling. For anybody that knows me, this is not a big surprise. One of the things that I love to do when I travel is to find one souvenir that represents where I have visited and bring it home. So, in the year 2000, I went to Denmark. It was actually quite a trip with a lot of countries visited, but this is a story about the souvenir that I brought home from Denmark. Well, Denmark happens to be one of the countries that Vikings were from, so they are a big thing over there. I brought home a little viking man, he kinda looked like Hagar the Horrible, if any of you have read that comic. Well, I had this little viking man sitting on a shelf of my bookshelf. He was adorable. He was wooden with a little wooden shield and club and a horned hat. He had red rabbit fur as hair and white rabbit fur as his little outfit. Well, the other day, I got out of the shower and Jake was looking like he had done something he knew he was going to get into trouble for. I couldn't figure it out. So, after I got dressed, in comes Jake with some fur stuck to his mouth. It was driving him nuts, so I took it off, and then was very curious as to where it came from. I go out into the living room and there on my rug, I see that my little viking man has been murdered! He could not fend off the greatest foe of his life, the big old dog, who is intent on eating all of his clothes and hair off! I always knew that there was the possiblity of one day, having my things destroyed, I just thought it would be by kids and not a dog who is smart enough to get things off the bookshelf that he wants to chew! But, we still love him! He does some pretty funny things like sitting on MIke when Mike is on the floor etc. We'll keep him, but only because he is so stinking cute!

Well, I will try to make a blog post sooner, so that it is not another full month before I blog again!

The most effective birth control ever

On Wednesday, we were asked by my sister Amy to babysit (overnight) Eliza and Porter while they went to a play. It would be overnight as the play would be getting out so late. On Friday morning, Mike received a call from Tait asking if we could babysit while Mommy and Daddy had their time together. Mike and I thought this was also an overnight babysitting visit. After discussing it, we decided we could take on four kids at a time and said yes. (By the way, if you want to read about Amanda and Cameron's date, catch up on their blog, The Skinner Scene.)

Because we were having so many kids, we decided the easiest thing to do was to get some Papa Murpheys pizza. By the time I got home, all the kids were here, already asking for candy and to watch movies. It was fun, but after a night of "Aunt Becky, can I...." "Aunt Becky can so and so..." or just plain crying, I was ready to put them all to bed at 8. Out came the air mattress to some excited, "It's a sleep over?" There was definitely a ton of help in getting the air mattress blown up. We get the kids (except for Porter who we lost to Granny when she got home from work) into their PJ's. This is when I noticed that the boys had no clothes for the next day, no pillows and for Blake, no nanett (his blanket). When I asked Mike about it, his response was, "He is getting to the age where he can do without his nanett." OK, he had it every other time, but maybe he would be OK without it.

So, we get them all ready for bed, listen as Tait prays and put them to bed, with the threats of no more noise. Mike and I, after only a couple of hours with 4 kids are exhausted, so we quickly join the hunt for bed. As soon as Mike's head hits the pillow, he is out, a feat that happens every night to which I am insanely jealous of...As I am dropping off, and responding to the "Aunt Becky, there is a monster in the kitchen." "Aunt Becky, there is a monster in the fireplace." etc, I hear a car door shut. At about 9:20, there is a knock on the door, there is Amanda to pick up her boys, kinda surprised that all the lights are off in the house.

After the confusion was settled, turns out Tait didn't want to go. Tait stayed for the night as Blake went off to home with mommy and daddy. I really think that I was asleep before Tait and Eliza. I could hear the whispering in the other room as I drifted off. Well, I can't really say whispering, I didn't hear Tait at all, but Eliza seemed to be yelling as she talked to Tait.

The next day started very early, at 7 AM. There should be some kinda law that kids sleep in on Saturday, but seems this won't happen anytime soon. Mike and I had a whole list of things that we wanted to accomplish on Saturday, so we decided to try to tackle this with 2 kids in tow. They included cleaning the inside of the cars, which needed it sorely, raking leaves off the driveway, cleaning out the laundry room (which included taking everything out, organizing, cleaning etc) and finally setting up the tent from the deer hunt to dry out. Oh yeah, and going to the dump to empty the green beast. As we started out, Tait and Eliza thought it would be fun to start cleaning also and started to rake the leaves. Tait asked me, "Aunt Becky, can I have a dollar for helping you?" I told him that I was sure that I could find a dollar because he was helping me to which Eliza responded, "Don't forget me!" "Don't worry, I can find dollars for both of you."

About the time that they finished their job, both of their parents showed up. As Amy left again to do my dad a favor, Amanda and Cameron were waiting for Tait to finish up. They were surprised that 1) He was doing work cheerfully and 2) He actually asked for more work to do. After they finished, Tait came up to me and said, "OK Aunt Becky, I am finished, can I have my $10 now?" $10? When did the price jump up? Tait has some smooth negotiating skills, but unfortunately, still only got his $1.

So, as much fun as the kids were, I have definitely decided that anytime you get baby hungry, you should take 4 kids for a couple of hours, even if it just ends up being 2 for the rest of time. I am happy that I had the opportunity though to watch the kids and am glad that they had fun, or seemed to. Blake even told his mom how Aunt Becky said that you went to the moon to eat cheese (this is from Wallace and Grommit if none of you have watched this movie.)

Free, fun date ideas

Mike and I have discovered a new wonderful thing to do, best of all, it is free! All it requires is the gas it takes you to get to Wal-mart.

Tuesday night, Mike and I went to Wal-Mart. Mike had heard that they had their Christmas section up, so of course, we had to stop by. As we were walking up all the isles, Mike found something that he liked. I didn't like it and let him know, so of course, Mike gets all set on getting it. Into the cart it goes and we continue our meandering ways around Wal-Mart. The entire time, I am trying to think up either excuses why we couldn't make our purchase, or trying to convince myself that I could be a good wife and let Mike get it and put it where he wanted. If you want to see what this was, take a look.

You can imagine why Mike likes it, it has to do with the outdoors and hunting. So, we are finally standing in the checkout line, waiting to make our purchases. I decide to make one final attempt to get Mike to give up the wonderful antler wreath...I point out some very large icicle ornaments that Mike had picked up and said, "You can get one or the other, but not both." "Nope, I am going to get both, because I want both." Hmmm...this was going to be more difficult than I thought. So I decided to take the straight approach. "Mike, I just really don't like that wreath." "Well, too bad, I do. You married me so I am going to buy it." One last chance. "OK Mike, you can get the wreath if I can get my star for the top of the Christmas tree." (Mike has this idea that the only thing that can go on top of a tree is an angel, I have never put an angel on top of my tree...) Mike takes the wreath and puts it off to the side of the checkout line, he is that against a star!

As I am laughing at how badly Mike doesn't want a star, the guy in the line behind us pipes up..."That is a nice wreath you know...it lets you know a man lives here..." At this point, Mike is laughing and responded, "What, the two trucks in the driveway don't say that enough?" As they continue talking up the merits of the wreath, the guy in the line behind us then gets the guys behind him in on talking up the benefits of the wreath, all trying to convince me that we should get it. I see behind all these guys who are outnumbering me two women. In desperation, I took the wreath to them and asked them, "Excuse me, we are having a debate and I was wondering if you could tell me if you would buy this wreath to put in your home?" The older of the women looks at the wreath and very hesitantly says, "Yes, it is a very nice wreath," at which point Mike is ecstatic that a woman is joining in on the merits of the debate on his side. After pointing out to him that the answer was given very hesitantly, the woman responds, "I am from Washington state so that means I have no taste anyway."

At this point, we have the entire checkout line debating back and forth about the merits of this wreath. When it is our turn to checkout, the cashier commented that we were having too much fun in Wal-Mart at that time of night. She then proceeded to say that as a hunter, she would buy the wreath and use it. At this point, I have finally accepted that I am definitely outnumbered on the opinion of the wreath, but we are still not getting it as Mike doesn't want a star. We finish our checkout and as we are leaving we notice a young man and an older woman standing at the front of the store. The young man comes up to us and says, "I just wanted you to know that I have a freezer full of venison and I would not buy that wreath!" Finally! I had somebody who agreed with me! With that, Mike and I left Wal-Mart thinking that we had just spent ond of the most fun hours of the week.

So, the idea for the free, fun date is go to Wal-Mart, pick up something that is hideously ugly and debate the merits back and forth. See if you can get the people around you in line to join in. It was totally fun.