Hair no more

Oh, by the way, I chopped all my hair off. Well, not on purpose. The lady cut it about 2-3 inches more than I was asking for, so I am experimenting with new ways to do it.

Another Utah Trip

Our trip to Utah had several stops on the way. The most important stop was in Goodyear. We stayed for a couple days with Jeremy and Stephanie Swann (Randy's brother) and our adorable nephews, Tyler, Tristan and Turner. This stop was very much so planned and important. All of the boys got names and blessings. It was such an uplifting and wonderful experience. I am so grateful to be a part of the Swann family and to be able to share in such a great memory.


Jeremy, Stephanie, Turner, Tristan and Tyler (from back to front, left to right)

Turner giving one of his super cute grins

Me and Turner (I love being an Aunt!)

Sandy and Randy (the redheaded children of the Swann flock)


Randy and I then continued our drive up to Utah for the first week of January. On the way we slept in a very ugly motel in St. George (oh well, it was cheap). It started to snow a few hours after we arrived at my parents and didn't stop for 3 days. I totally got my fill of snow and I think I will be good for another 3-5 years. The next super important part of our trip was due to my brother, Russell, getting his mission call to serve in Russia. We were able to be there with him when he got his endowments in the Provo Temple. The next day, we drove to SLC and went to the Salt Lake Temple. It was a very spiritual vacation for Randy and I. I love my family so much and it was even worth the cold and long drive to see them.
Max playing in the snow
I am working on building a snow man (I was super cold so I am in my Dad's parka, if you look hard enough, I am somewhere in the blue bunch of material)
Max and I working more on the snow man
Red berries in the snow, so pretty
Randy with snow in his hair (oh and he is wearing the scarf I made for him for Christmas)
Russell the furture Russian Missionary
Chonkiri loved the snow

Dad, Mom and Russell in front of the SLC temple
Me and Russell outside of the SLC temple
Us love birds
Max at the planetarium in SLC
Russell moon walking
Future Elder Ellsworth (the third, if you count my immediate family, Dad was the first, Clint is the second)
My last look at my parents house as we drive away, I could have cried I wanted to stay so bad
We saw this sign in Vegas and had to take a picture for Russell.

The Sad Story of the Snowman

Here is my brother Max telling about what happened to our snowman we built on our last trip to Utah. Warning, it is not pretty, don't let your little ones see it.

Randy's secret addiction

Randy loves to play solitaire. A while ago he got this score and was quite impressed with himself so I copied it so he could remember it and to share it with you. If you can't see, he scored 7800 points in 98 seconds.

Donors

This is so Randy and I. I have an average of 5 minutes, occasionally Randy can can it down to 4 minutes and 45 seconds, but usually we tie. I laughed so much at this comic, because this is what we do when we donate together. I have donated about 2 gallons and Randy is somewhere close to that.

What is in a Wordle??

My instructor spent a few days last week in a technology conference learning new stuff and become more familiar with old stuff. One of the things that was presented was a wordle. You past a document into the appropriate spot and tell it to create. The program then chooses words, scrambles them and creates an image. Below is a wordle that I created using the text from a talk that was given at a funeral that Sarah and I recently attended. See what you think.


You can create your own wordles. Just Google wordle and have fun!!

Relfections of Christ

Sarah and I went to Time out for Couples several weeks ago and the photographer that took the pictures was one of the speakers. He is from Arizona and all of the pictures were taken right here in Arizona. I encourage you all to get the book "Reflections of Christ" it explains in detail the thought process behind each picture. He also put the pictures on DVD with music in the background.

This is such a wonderful time of year to reflect on the Savior and his sacrifice. May you all have a wonderful holiday.

A Christmas Song for You

Marilee sent this to me. Too good not to post.

When Sharing is not Caring

We are all sick around here. A student in the classroom that he shadows at came to school sick. She shared her germs at school and Randy got sick. He was so icky sicky that he had to leave church early and wallow in misery. So he shared his germs at home and I got sick. I am so icky sicky that I had to take a sick day and stay home and wallow in misery. I thought last night that my stuffy nose was due to crying (my cousin Susan passed away last Friday and we drove to Tempe, AZ to go to her funeral yesterday. To say the least, there was a lot of crying, but there also was a lot of smiles and laughter. She was an amazing person so it was hard not to smile at some of the beautiful stories of her life.) So I thought nothing of the stuffy nose and went to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night with a terrible cough and feeling oh so sick, so I called into work and when I talked to the charge nurse, she instantly told me to "stay home!" when she heard my voice. I had no clue that I sounded that bad. Grrrr. I hope I am better soon. I am not a fan of missing work. I like being a nurse way to much to waste time wallowing. Blaaah. Oh well. Randy is almost better, so I should be back to my chipper self in a day or two. Oh and get this. I was telling Randy that he needs to learn not to share his colds with me and he BLAMES his mom. He said "my mom taught me to share." So we had a little talk on when not to share. I think he just laughed. It's a good thing I love him. :)

Why use Pockets??

I recieved this in an email yesterday and thought that you all could use a good laugh. This had me rolling on the floor. It is such a toddler thing. please do enjoy!!