Releasing my inner rocker!!!

Hanging out in Michigan means seeing Miranda and playing RockBand. Last night we made a video for her grandpa. It was so much fun. I look so serious trying to keep up with the notes on the TV. Hope you like it Whitey!! We also were chatting about me sleeping. Check out the video... pretty funny.

The whole family was here for a couple of weeks. Of course we took the opportunity to get family pictures and they turned out great. Here's the whole crew.


Front row: Mackenzie, Alexis, Grandma, Grandpa, Evie, Megan, Parker
Back row: Zach, Mom, Dad, me, Lisa, Jason, Jennie

This is my Mom & Dad.

The core family... the five of us.

This is Jason's family of 6. I can't believe how fast the kids grow up.

This is Lisa's family of 3.

The three of us siblings decided to climb a tree for a few pictures. We look pretty relaxed but we could have all fallen down at any moment!



All the cute cousins in a picture together. They all became friends so fast and were so cute together.

After 2.5 hours of picture taking, we were all pretty tired and needed some food. We decided to go out to Leatherbys and get filled up with some dinner and great ice cream. What a great day!!

Ma and Pa Trek

This summer I'll be going on a Pioneer Trek with my old home stake. Yesterday the Ma's and Pa's went on a mini-trek to see the ranch and get a better idea about what the real trek will be like. I'm not one of the Ma's but the photographer. The ranch is huge... 300 square miles. We took two handcarts with us as we walked 6 miles. It was fun but hard work. I'm a bit glad that I won't be pulling a handcart on the Trek. Some friends have been razzing me about going and being in Pioneer clothes. It's definitely not my kind of outfit... not even close! Here's a couple of the pics from yesterday.

Pioneers were tough!!!

(That's me in the dark skirt)

Trip on the Oregon Coast

Wow!! What a great week! My sister and I took off for a week long vacation to see the Oregon Coast. We had a few days off from work and a weekend to play. It was such a stark contrast to the desert oasis of Utah... tons of green and crashing waves on the beach. Before hitting the coast we drove up to McCall, Idaho for the night. We stopped to see five gorgeous waterfalls and took some pics. 

As we were finishing up I noticed that my camera battery was on its last bar and I left my charger and extra battery at home! I was ticked!! We had to make an emergency stop in Portland and found a Ritz Camera open for another hour. Got what I needed and we headed south to our first real stop. After staying the night, we went out and enjoyed the beach and got a little wet.

One of the major sightseeing goals was to see four lighthouses. They were all great but the Yaquina Head was my favorite to visit and shoot.

In the same area we got to see some seals chillaxing on a few rocks in a tide pool area. Lisa talked to them and got them to look up for some great pictures. One of the seals kept hitting another one and it would let out a big 'bark.' It was pretty funny. 

We didn't cross this bridge but thought it was cool. Boats left this area to go fishing and likely some whale watching.

This is the top of a cute squatty lighthouse in northern Oregon.

We stayed at three different places, each right on the beach. The last one was in Depoe Bay, the whale watching capital of Oregon. Unfortunately we weren't able to go out on a boat because the water was too rough. Oh well, maybe next time. This picture was from the patio of our suite. Absolutely breathtaking. When we got in, we just sat and watched the waves roar in for hours. It was so relaxing! Lisa and I had such a great time and enjoying spending some quality time together.

Busy...

I haven't posted for a while... been busy but not doing much of anything it seems like. Work is really crazy with new computers coming in for the teachers. I woke up a million times the other night thinking about the room I needed to clear out. I'm so sick of inventorying old computers and packing them on pallets. The computers should be in this week, the book fair arrives, parent/teacher conferences, two professional conferences coming up, computer based testing to prepare for, etc., etc., etc. My life right now is not exciting but it's full of stuff. 

I'm looking forward to a trip to the west coast in a month and a half. It will be nice to get away. Lighthouses, beach, whales and hopefully some great weather. 

I'm itching to get out to the golf course again. I picked up the last club for my set a few weeks ago and can't wait to try it out. 

I'll be going on a trek this summer in northern Utah. I'm looking forward to it but need to get in much better shape before then. I'll be the photographer on the trek... that will be so much fun! I'm not particularly excited about hiking in a dress for 4 days though! Everybody knows I'm a jeans gal! 

Spending some time with friends

During the Christmas break I was able to spend some time with friends. It was so good to have two whole weeks off to just kick back and relax. Jan and Holly took me out to the Olive Garden for my birthday and we were so happy to have Kendra join us. It was fun to catch up on what everyone was doing with their lives. Robin and her family came over to my house to visit on Christmas Eve... what a great gift. My friends mean so much to me and have been such a support over the years. I've definitely been blessed to have such great friends.