Thanksgiving in Dixie

For Turkey Day, we headed down south to see Brent and Lori's new pad and get a feel of St. George. It had been pretty cold up north so we were looking forward to some warm golfing weather!

Brent and Lori's new home is beautiful. nice location and great neighbors hood with parks and recreation galore! Mr. C is there is someone needs help with their leaves!

Of course, Grandpa's Puzzle

We took a bike ride to see the land.

 

Mike had found a deal on KSL for Coral Canyon so we did 18 holes there one morning. It was a very nice course and the scenery was awesome. Red rock cliffs against the mountains!

warming up at the driving range for a bit

 

A little home improvement all in the name of privacy

 

Only St. George, (in Utah) would  there still be a water park running. I couldn't believe jess would get down to her diaper and play for a LONG time. It wasn't that warm!  Must have some polar bear running through her.

 

Next day we took the 4 wheeler to the Sand Hollow Sand Dunes. We had never ridden through dunes before and it was awesome. Katelyn and I were pretty apprehensive at first knowing what Brent had done to his teeth and all. After you got a feel for how the 4 wheeler did in the sand it was fun!

Gwen loved the wheelers!

 

Tyler got a chance to drive. We felt like we could go forever, but I was scared we would get lost with the trails and tracks constantly changing.

 

Some pretty cool sand rock formations

 

We had split up into two groups, so our group went to the reservoir next to do a little kayaking.

 

with all the day's adventure Jessie through a fit and fell asleep in the door track of the van.

 

Mike and Amy did lots of Black Friday shopping and then we took the bikes and four wheelers out again. I can't remember the name of where we went, but out through Santa Clara towards Mike's old stomping grounds when he used to work for Hyrum Smith laying pipes and fences.

This picture was taken of our group on wheelers right before we rode through a marijuana farm camp!

 

Another nap with the soothing purr of the 4 wheelers

 

this is where the Taliban hideout

It was pretty cold to begin with and then we were driving fast and it became frigid conditions. These guys were all piled in the truck to warm up and wait for the bike riders to get back.

 

 

Thanks to Brent and Lori for hosting our crazy crew. The kids had a blast and every so often Jessie inquires whether we will be going to St. George that day. Ha!

"Play Like A Champion Today"

Mike and I took a little weekend trip to Indiana the weekend before Thanksgiving. We had been to Notre dame about 10 years ago when looking at law schools and had always wanted to go back for a longer visit. BYU was playing Notre Dame so it was a gimme! AMAZING!!

First night there, we went and drove around campus and went to a basketball game

 

Mike got a picture with their mascot- the Leprechaun!

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Amazing Bookstore- we ran into a lot of BYU fans

This is their main building. = to BYU's ASB.  Absolutely beautiful! Huge painted murals of early American scenes line the walls. The dome was beautiful This is where we gathered to hear the Irish Guard (bag pipes)play and then the trumpets play.





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'The Basilica of the Sacred Heart is a magnificent, Gothic-inspired, cross-shaped place of worship and welcome, nurturing Notre Dame’s Catholic identity. Many members of the campus community gather here amid its artistic splendor for daily and weekly Masses that are celebrated both in the main body of the church and in its basement Crypt chapel."

the grotto
Mike was the only one lighting a candle for BYU!

In the Hesburgh Library, we attended a lecture hosted by Notre Dame and including UVU's President Holland addressing "If Mitt Romney's religion was the cause of his elections loss?" There we saw the real Rudy! He was on the front row listening to the lecture.

"Touchdown Jesus" is visible from inside Notre Dame Stadium
The stadium is known for its view of "Touchdown Jesus", a nickname given to the large mural entitled The Word of Life by Millard Sheets of the resurrected Jesus. Installed in 1964 on the Hesburgh library, the mosaic wall looms over the stadium, mirroring the raised arms of a referee signifying a touchdown."



On this lawn, while we were waiting for the Player's March to begin, the men's Chorus gave a concert. Amazing- they sang a medley of fight songs of all their opponents they had played so far this year- even BYU's!!

We followed the band and cheerleaders from the main building all the way to the stadium. Talk about school spirit!! So many athletic and school traditions!

We sat a few rows up from the BYU sideline. so close that Mike could yell "Come on Kyle!" and Kyle Van Noy would turn and look up at the stands. However, our enthusiasm was not enough to fire the Cougars up and they had a pretty pathetic loss to the Fighting Irish. dang it.

 

Freezing cold! We had 3 layers of clothing on and with the wind chill I think it was near 10 degrees! We loved Notre Dame. the campus was awesome and inviting. we had several people welcome us and ask where we were visiting from. the guys next to us at the game asked if we had had a nice visit and "Win or lose ( it was obvious by this time) we hope you enjoyed your time in South Bend".

And we did!

Mike found this quaint little Scottish Bed & Breakfast on the internet. the owners were very friendly and helpful and we stayed in a portion of their garage that they had finished.

 

 

Lots of Amish country and corn fields!!

 

Katelyn the Photographer

I have many a' folders full of Katelyn's photos on the computer. She loves to take the camera out and capture nature and all sorts of other things. There was a PTA contest at school that she entered one of her photographs into... Reflections 2014: Believe, Dream, Inspire





Like this mother duck, teachers believe in each and every one of their students. Even with many students, teachers are able to take time to reach each individual and help each student create their own dreams. Through learning and their examples my teachers have inspired me to be the best I can."- Katelyn black

She won honorable mention for the 7th grade from her Jr High PTA!

Wrestling Mania

In October, the boys brought home this wrestling flyer from school. They said they wanted to try it out so we signed them up. I knew nothing about wrestling. I didn't even know my own husband had wrestled. The boys LOVED it. Way impressed with Bountiful High and their wrestling program and coaches. They went to the school a couple of times a week to practice and then participated in a tournament at Viewmont High.
Brigham loved it and Tyler did a great job, but decided it wasn't for his tender heart.

 Briggs at his first tournament at Viewmont.

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Both boys won 2nd place in their weight division!

 

 

Humble Beginnings

Seeing B and L's beautiful new home brought back some memories...

Had a new baby, moved to an unfamiliar city far away from friends and family, in school, husband living out of a van during the school week, bought new house, Christmas time...

I had stood in line at Target on Black Friday to get this "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree for $30. We decorated it with lights and  toilet paper because that is all we had.


And we were happy! Look at those darling smiles!