Merry Christmas!

We celebrated a very, merry Christmas this year! Here are some pics from our family Christmas Eve party.




Christmas morning was so nice this year; neither of us had to work! We opened presents...


... Griz got a present, too!


We went to church and had a wonderful, music-filled meeting. I sang in the ward choir and Brent sang with the young men. What a happy Christmas! We are so blessed!

Ugly Sweater Christmas Party!

Annie and I hosted another fabulous party over the weekend. Our guests wore tacky vests and chintzy sweaters to our ugly sweater Christmas party!

We served classy hors d'oeuvres... Vienna Sausages, Jell-o Jigglers, Cheese Whiz and crackers, a festive holiday cake, chicken salad and red and green M&M's.









Three lucky guests walked away winners in such categories as the Ugliest Sweater, Most Embellished and Granny's Pick. We played a game of celebrity and had a wonderful time!

Awkward holiday photo

Christmas Lights

I've been filling in here and there this month at KSL-TV. Last night, I reported on a story about a 15-year-old West Jordan teen who designed a musical light show in his front yard. The lights are timed perfectly with seven Christmas songs that play over the speakers on his lawn or you can sit in your warm car and listen to it on the radio! (This kid is talented!) What makes this story extra special is the reason behind his creation. He hopes to raise $5,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Utah for a program called 'Kids for Wish Kids'. He hopes to provide a Florida vacation to a boy named Carter. I admire the teen's spirit of giving and kindness. I hope we all can take something away from this story and spread the spirit of Christmas to everyone we meet.

Merry Christmas!



http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=18458904&title=teen-hopes-light-show-will-raise-money-for-good-cause

11.11.11

I’ve been hearing from everyone that 11/11/11 is a once-in-a-lifetime event. It’s a big day for numerologists, mathematicians, weirdos, etc. The LA Times called 11/11/11 a "once-in-a century palindrome day". In honor of this rare and momentous occasion, we decided to document our day and capture the exact moment of 11:11 pm on 11/11/11.

We ate at Betos... Mmmm veggie burrito!



Went to redbox and watched "Arthur"





Made gingersnaps



And here is what we were doing at 11:11 pm...



Awesome, isn't it?

There's nothing better than spending time together even if it's doing simple things. We always have fun :)

Happy Halloween!

'Twas the bewitching hour and all through the night,
not one came without a costume, and oh! what a fright!
A wolf, Lady Gaga and muscles from Jersey Shore,
All came to the party arriving at my front door!
We had a ghoulish time we didn't want to rest,
We'll just have to wait until next year's Halloween fest.


Annie and I hosted a hauntingly good Halloween party! The theme was Haunted Mansion complete with cobwebs, bats and spooky potion labels for all our ghoulish goodies! We had a fun time playing Pictionary and eating treats. Here are a few snapshots from our Halloween bash...

Frightful treats and eats







The cute "mummies" made by Cressie

The party favors

Witches' Brew

Everyone

The Devil and Bieber

Best Witches!

I simply love Halloween! The colors, the smells, the decor... I can't get enough of the spookiness!

Some friends and I attended Witches Night Out at Gardner Village dressed in our witchiest attire. We danced, laughed and took pictures with some creepy characters!





The following weekend I had another GNO with my mom, sisters, sister-in-law and mother-in-law. We had a blast! If you've never gone to Witchapalooza at Gardner Village, you are missing out! The food is excellent and the show is hilarious, cute and fun! It's become a tradition for us and each year is better and better.

Over The Hill

Brent turned 30!!! We celebrated his 30th year of life all weekend long! The festivities began Friday with a surprise... mwahaha!

I sneaked into his classroom the night before and decorated his desk with crepe paper, balloons, streamers, confetti, Starbusts and a RIP tombstone ;) He was so surprised!





Saturday we ate dinner with his parents at the Red Igunana. It's one of Brent's faves!

Sunday, we headed to Kamas for a camping trip with Griz. It was a perfect night!





We made dutch oven chicken and corn. We roasted marshmallows and made s'mores for dessert. It was so relaxing to sit around the campfire just us two.





One of the best things about camping is how good the food tastes, especially breakfast! We made French toast, bacon and hot chocolate... yum!

We celebrated his birthday dinner at Ruby River and topped it off with turtle cheesecake!

Happy birthday, B! I love you!

The Up! House

Val and I spent a Saturday at the Salt Lake Parade of Homes. We had a lot of fun! I took interior design classes in college and love seeing the latest trends in décor. I also like seeing different floor plans and the price of these decked-out homes. What really made me want to go this year is the “Up” house in Herriman. It’s darling!

The home is decorated to a T just like the house in the Disney-Pixar movie. The front room has chairs just like Carl and Ellie’s and the kitchen has the cutest retro-5o’s appliances!



I’m still trying to convince my in-laws to buy it :)

Trapped

One day before heading into work I decided to take a quick jaunt downtown. Big mistake. Huge!

Here’s why…

I had a super quick audition. Basically, I just needed to turn in my headshot and resume and slate for the camera. I was in and out in minutes. I was feeling good. The audition was downtown on the 2nd floor of the Felt Building located on Main Street. I pressed the “down” button for the elevator, anxious to zip on over to work.

I stepped inside and the doors closed. I started digging for my phone to check the time and make a call to my hubby. After a bit of rummaging, I finally found my cell and took it out. It was then I noticed that I could still hear voices. Weird. I hadn’t moved. Even weirder.



I pressed the button for the first floor again, tried to open the doors, 3rd floor, 1st floor. Nothing.

I looked for a service button and debated if I should press it. I didn’t want to be a damsel in distress so I tried the buttons again with no luck and decided to press the call button. Nada. Zilch.
I called out through the doors, “hello?”
“Can you guys press the elevator button?”
“Can anyone hear me?”
”Hello?”
I was trapped inside an elevator.

I banged on the doors some more, pressed buttons, then dialed 9-1-1.
“9-1-1, what is your emergency?”
“I’m trapped inside an elevator.”
“One moment please, I’ll transfer you to the fire department.”
I told the dispatcher where I was, what happened, and all about my attempts to get the elevator moving.
He said to stay calm (Did I not sound calm on the phone?) and a unit is on their way. He adds, “if anything gets worse, call us back.”

Worse? That makes me a bit nervous. I hadn’t thought of it getting worse. I called Brent and say, “Don’t worry, the fire dept. is on their way, and I’m stuck in an elevator.” I keep him on the phone for the next 12 minutes or so. He kept me calm and I had a cake pop in my purse so that kept me occupied.

I eventually sat down and heard banging, “Ma’am, the fire dept. is here and we’re working to get you out. Are you OK?”
I respond and wait. I hear some laughing and talking, so I figure, if they’re not worried, I shouldn’t be.

About 5-6 minutes go by and I hear, “We’re having trouble with the door. We’ve called a service tech but we’re hoping to get it open before he shows up.”
And before I knew it, the doors opened! There was clapping and cheering. A firefighter held the door as I stepped out. I told them thank-you several times followed by, “where are the stairs?”

My elevator ordeal lasted 24 minutes and I was completely unharmed, all thanks to the Salt Lake City Fire Dept.

July Fun!

I love the 4th of July… and nothing is more fun than celebrating it with my family at the ballpark. The game was great. We ate pizza, peanuts and ice cream :) The Bees beat Las Vegas 10-9 and after the game… fireworks! Stef had to work the game and it’s always fun to watch perform her Honeybee duties. We had a great 4th!

Little bro and Dad


Enjoying ice cream!

The Salt Lake Bees hosted the 2011 Triple-A All-star game on July 13th. Leading up to the game was all sorts of festivities, like the Home Run Derby and the Chris Isaak/Blues Traveler Concert. We went to the concert and had so much fun dancing and singing! Honestly, who doesn't love “Wicked Game"?





The following Monday was the Home Run Derby. I won two tickets from 107.9fm! Brent and I went and had a great time! Stef was also working that night, yay! We had Brent snap this picture. The Honeybee legacy lives on :)

Happy 7

Brent and I celebrated 7 years of marriage this month! Seven! It sounds like a long time… and well, it kind of is. At the same time, I feel like we were just at Snow College going on a date to the bowling alley and the malt shop. We’ve had our ups and downs, rough spots, and moments of sheer bliss. Through it all, there is no one I would rather be with than Brent. He is my best friend, my husband, my soul mate. I love him so much. I am truly blessed to have him as my partner in this life and the next.

Ok, now that I’ve shared the mushy-love-stuff, here is how we celebrated our anniversary!

Dinner at Ruth’s Diner…


I love eating outside! It was the perfect summer night and the food is fantastic!



Picnic with Griz at Copperton Park…



We packed our picnic basket and went out to explore the west side of the valley.






...And a trip to Hawaii!
Pictures will be posted when we return!

"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, and always with the same person." - Mignon McLaughlin