Thanksgiving 2009

Our family tradition for Thanksgiving is to go to Wyoming to Kyle's parents' house.  From where we live in Utah it is an 11 hour drive.  We load up the minivan with our luggage, travel snacks, toys & games and movies for the drive.

We leave bright and early Wednesday morning so that we can arrive around dinner time.  Thanksgiving day is full of cooking, cleaning and preparing for the big dinner.  My job is to set the table and to make the relish tray.  Each relative has their own food dish that they are in charge of making ranging from salads and sides to pies.  We had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls, veggies, fruit salad, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, cherry pie, peach pie and muffins.

The kids got along well, they played pretty hard this weekend.  There were lots of babies for me to play with and get my baby 'fix'.  Then before everyone left for the evening we took some family pictures.

We got everyone in there including one of the dogs.  We have Kyle, Zac, Jim, Mary, Kellen, Trista, Krystina, Candy, Cayson, Cruz, Mercedes, Anna, Mike, Naomi, Chloe, Cooper, DeeDee, Kassie, Daxton, Larry, Zane and Yoti the dog.  Jeremy took the picture.

Lost Dog

As I walked home from choir practice yesterday this dog was following me.  I figured after I got inside my house she would go away.  Nope.  She hung around.  Cooper and Chloe went outside to play in the snow and the dog was still there.  She followed the kids around.  They played fetch with her.  We found a tennis ball to throw to her.  We gave her some water.  Chloe tried to feed the dog some cat food.

Kyle called the police animal control department.  The guy doesn't work on Sunday so we'll have to call back on Monday.  Our choices were to leave the dog out and maybe she'll find her way home, or keep her contained over night until someone could pick her up in the morning.  We left her outside until we were ready to go to bed.  She was still out there.  So I put her in the garage with a blanket and some water.

This morning I let her out hoping she would just go home.  Nope.  She has been hanging around.  So after the kids left for school I called the police department for animal control.  She said that she would send the guy over.

Here are some pictures of the dog.  I think she's a boxer mix.

Look at those big brown eyes.  How could I turn her over to the doggie police?
I have three cats, a broken fence and no dog supplies, nor any money to buy such things.

BYU Campus, a nature preserve?

Friday I had some work to do on campus and Chloe came with me.  As we were walking up the hill, we saw two deer on the trail.  They seemed lost.  First they crossed the trail ducking under the railing.  Then they went up the hill a ways.  Then they back tracked down, ducked under the railing, and continued down the hill.

 After I did what work I could, we took a different path down the hill to the parking lot.  We stopped by the pond to see the duck.  There were lots of them.  Some of the ducks were fighting over an acorn that they found.  We stood by the pond, all the ducks in the pond started heading our way and all the ones on the ground started coming toward us too.  We just stood there, they just stood there looking at us expectantly.  I think they were expecting us to throw them some food.  Too bad we didn't have any bread.  When they realized we didn't have anything, they moved away.

After we watched a few splash-landings Chloe decided to chase a few ducks.  She got all the ducks in the pond.  What a good little herder.

Next time we go to look at the ducks I'll be sure to bring some bread.

Personal Space

For my Instructional Psychology and Technology class we had to make a self-modeling video.  We picked a social skill that we could emulate inappropriately and appropriately.  My group chose to model respecting the personal space of others and not being a "space invader".  Here you will see Autumn, Katie and Cami going up to random and unsuspecting people on BYU campus displaying the inappropriate ways to interact with others.  Then, I make an appearance (and Chloe) in displaying appropriate personal space distance.

Space Invaders

I hope you watched the end credits.  After watching our video you have to take a look at our inspiration for this social skill.  Here is Aaron 'the close talker', played by Judge Reinhold on Seinfeld.

Seinfeld clip

To everyone out there, be aware of your space bubble.

Halloween 2009

Here's what we dressed up as for Halloween this year:

Chloe was a Spider Witch

Cooper was Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat

I was a Bar Wench or a Gypsy.  I needed either a bierstein or more jangly jewelry to make it complete.

Kyle was my 80's rocker boyfriend.  He was basically Joe Dirt's dark-haired cousin.

Zane and his friend Shay dressed up as band member from Guns N Roses.  Zane was Izzy Stradlin and Shay was Slash.