Christmas happenings....

We usually get our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving, but since Amanda wasn't home from college yet, I promised her we'd wait until the next weekend (when she was home). SO, on the way home from the airport we stopped to get our tree. There are lots of U-Cut Christmas Tree farms around here, but it was raining (more like pouring) and we didn't necessarily want to wade through the mud and then kneel (or lay down) on the ground to cut it down. So, yet again, we broke a tradition and went to a tree lot with already cut trees. The guys at the lot even tied it to the top of our car, which I thought was very nice of them.


Amanda's favorite ornament.

Sam's favorite ornaments.

All decorated and the customary photo taken.

Every year during the Christmas season we talk about taking a little day trip to Leavenworth, which is a Bavarian village, but we never have done it. This year, we decided to go. It's about a 3 hour drive and we have to go over a couple mountain passes to get there, so the weather has to be just right (with no major snow on the road) to go. It was totally worth the drive though. The Christmas lights are so pretty and the shops are lots of fun to look through. There's always alot of snow and there are little hills in town to sled down. Although we didn't take our sleds with us, we had fun watching the little kids go down the sled runs, laughing and giggling all the way down.

Crazy girls!

Pre-Thanksgiving snow!

We've had the craziest week! Sunday night it started to snow.....enough to cause school to be delayed 2 hours on Monday morning. It snowed all day Monday, but didn't build up much on the roads. After I got home from work, Sam and I headed for the grocery store to get some last minute food items for Thanksgiving. When we went into the store, the snow was starting to come down faster and it was starting to stick a little. When we came out (45 min later) the parking lot was completely white, the roads were snow packed and hard to get any traction going. By the next morning Western WA had anywhere from 6 - 10 inches of snow! This is the first time since 1985 that Western Washington has seen this much snow before Thanksgiving. After not getting any snow last year and hardly any the year before, this is has been so much fun! School was canceled both Tuesday and Wednesday, so this has turned out to be a very relaxing week. (Our school district boundries cover 215 square miles and has lots of backroads and hills, which makes it very difficult for the buses to get around.)

Sam had a great time sledding down the drive-way.

Sam's white snow pants and the snow covering her coat makes her almost blend in with the snow.

Halloween

Halloween was really low-key for us this year. Sadly, we didn't even carve pumpkins. I didn't think much of it, but now that Halloween is over, I feel like we were "robbed" of a holiday. Well....there's always next year.

Sam went to a Halloween Party at her friends house a week ago and had alot of fun. She decided a long time ago that she wanted to be Peter Pan, so she had it all planned out and she looked really cute.

Sam's on the loose!!!!

Sam had her best day ever last week....she took her drivers license test and passed!! She was really nervous, but she did great! Good job Sam!! I'm proud of you!

Soccer

Sam started playing soccer in 8th grade and it has quickly become her favorite sport. She played goalie part of the time in 9th grade and decided she likes that position best. She went to a soccer camp at BYU (as a goalie) over the summer and really learned a lot. Then 2 weeks before school started, soccer practice for the high school began and she tried out. She was very excited when she made the varsity team!! (This is her first year in high school.) They've had 2 games so far and Sam has done great. I love to go and watch her play. She always put everything into her game. Of course, I always have my camera and take lots of pictures.

Happy Sweet 16, Sam!!!

Today is Sam's 16th Birthday! She's been looking forward to this particular birthday for awhile now. She's looking forward to getting her driver's license and being able to date. (Although, I'm not sure that's the particular order she would put them in. If it was up to me, I'd put dating down the list....WAY down the list.) Since this past weekend was Labor Day Weekend, we had her birthday party a week ago. We had hamburgers and hot dogs, salads, fruit and, of course, cake. Sam and her friends had a great time playing games and hanging out.

Sam brings so much joy to our home. She always strives to do what's right and never hesitates to let other's know what she believes in. I am proud to call her my daughter. Happy Birthday, Sam!! I love you! Our friend, April, made a cake for Sam's birthday. She always does such a great job! Everyone absolutely loved it!

Since Sam was expecting a lot of friends, we made a cake as well. It, of course, had to be a soccer cake.

My friend, Darcey, came over to help me with the party. She did a great job cooking the hamburgers and hot dogs. It was really great of her to be willing to subject herself to the craziness of a house-full of teenagers!

One of the games they played was to pass a peanut from one spoon to the next with the spoon in their mouth. They couldn't use their hands, either.

Playing 3-legged soccer.

Sam took 2 t-shirts, soaked them in water and put them in the freezer. The first team to thaw out the t-shirt and put it on one of their team members won.

Amanda's new home

We made a fast trip to Cedar City this week to take Amanda to college. When we got to Boise, we stayed with Brenda and Andrew for a day, then Amanda and I continued on, while Sam stayed in Boise.
We had a great time playing Putt-Putt Golf.

After dinner we walked over the park in their neighborhood. Brenda, Amanda, Sam and I had a good time on the teeter-totter.

On the way through Salt Lake City, we stopped at the University Hospital to see Matti. She flies Air-Med and she took us up to the roof where the helicopter is. It was very interesting to see where she works and to see the helicopter.

Our last stop (for Amanda, that is) was in Cedar City. We spent all day Wednesday getting her set up....parking pass, mailbox, papers signed, moving her stuff into her room, etc. Four of Marie & Joe's children helped us pack her stuff in and then helped Amanda decorate her walls. She had removable stickers to put on the walls. I love the way it turned out. Once she gets the pictures hung up, it's going to look even better!

Girls Camp & College bound

The past week has been so crazy - busy. Amanda spent the week babysitting for a family while the Mom went to girls camp and the Dad was at work, while Sam and I spent the week at girls camp. This was my 4th year going to camp (2 years as head cook and now 2 years as the business specialist). I always have so much fun going. I love being where my girls are and helping out in anyway I can.

Every year the 4th year girls put up tarps and sleep outside one night. (Versus sleeping in the cabin.) This is Sam and her friends taking a break after "building" their campsite.

Having fun singing and doing the motions for camp songs.

Every cabin does a skit one night. This is before their skit. Sam was the Queen of the Britians and her friend, Ashley, was Nicoleian Dynamite. They did a really great job.

Sam and her friend having fun on one of the docks at the lake.

We got back from girls camp Friday (yesterday) and our next adventure starts tomorrow. The time has come for Amanda to "fly the coop". She spent yesterday and today packing up her clothes, shoes, etc. This is part of what she's taking....the rest is still in her room, ready to come down and be packed into the cars. She's very excited (and, I'm sure, a little scared) to be out on her own. I'm going to miss her like crazy, but I know she'll do great!

The rest of our vacation

The rest of our trip went by very quickly, but was a lot of fun. After we left Boise, we went to Salt Lake. We met up with Joanna and Shayler at Temple Square to wander around. We also toured the conference center, which is such an amazing building. It was really great to see Joanna and Shayler again.

I love the organ in the Conference Center.

The Salt Lake Temple is so beautiful!

We dropped Sam off at soccer camp at BYU and went to Alma & Matti's to stay for the week. They were so great to let us stay with them for 4 days. As usual, we had fun going to a movie, shopping and seeing the sights. One of my favorite things we did was go to the Kennecott Utah Copper Mine. Amanda helping Bella look at the mine through the telescope.

The mine is 2 1/2 miles across and 3/4 of a mile down.

This is a tire from one of the trucks that is used. The tires on the trucks cost $18,000 - $26,000 and last 9 months.

After we picked Sam up from BYU, we headed for Cedar City, UT, where we stayed with Marie and Joe. Our main goal there was for Amanda to attend Orientation at Southern Utah University.

Joe let Sam drive his truck. She was in HEAVEN!!!

We went to a swimming pool with Marie and her kids while Amanda was in Orientation. This is Sam with Brenna and Braelynn.

The kids all went to a friends house to pick raspberries. They were so yummy!

On our last day of vacation (before making the long drive home), we went to Caliente for the day. My Dad and my brother and his wife (Kevin and Ann) live in Caliente, as well as one of their sons, Cory, & his wife and kids. Family also drove there from Las Vegas & Salt Lake. Needless to say, we had quite the group....there were 28 of us all together. Kevin and Ann cooked dutch oven chicken and potatoes for us all. It was delicious!!

Two Sam's and my Dad

My sister's 3 daughters....Jill, Joanna and Jenny

Jeanette and Amanda taking the little kids for a ride on the Rhino.

Kevin took me for a ride on the Rhino. We went up on the mountain above Caliente.