A Day at Zilker Park

We had a beautiful day mid-January and we took advantage of it by going to Zilker Park.  We wanted to ride on the Zilker Zephyr--the little train that goes around part of the park.  

Back at Home in January

We sure had a great time in Utah and on the way home, but it also felt really good to be home too. 

One of the things we missed was having Monday dinners and Family Home Evenings with Nicole!  We were happy to be back and have her in our home again.  We also got to have the sister missionaries over one Monday.  We have loved having them frequent our home as well.   

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Tuesday January 6th we made our way over to Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

White Sands National Monument

We arrived at Grandma and Grandpa Savage's house around 9pm Saturday January 3rd.  It was nice seeing them on our trip too.  Cheryl and Grandpa Dennis also went down there so we saw them again.  They left Sunday morning before church and we went to church with Grandma and Grandpa.  When we picked Glenn up from Primary, he said that he wanted to come back.  We were glad he had such a good time.  He said, "They said I was really smart and a good boy, so I want to come back!"  :D

We spent the rest of the day visiting, playing games and eating good food.  The next morning we headed out by about 9:30am.  We were sad our visit couldn't be longer, but we were grateful to see them!  We sure love you both!  Thank you for letting us stay with you!

Hoover Dam

January 2 we left Layton, stopped in Lehi to caravan with Gramma J--Paul went in her car and Glenn and I were in the CR-V.  We drove down to St. George and spent the night at her house there.  Audrey and Lane had also come down and were spending the night there too, so we had another fun night of family and games.  We had dinner together and played Qwirkle, Fantasy Forest and Dominoes.  It was a fun evening.

The next morning Gramma J wanted us to stay and visit longer.  We wanted to, but we had a long way to go.  And Glenn was really struggling to breath.  She has a cat and Glenn's allergies was making it really difficult for him to be comfortable.  Sorry Gramma!  We sure loved spending the time that we could with you!  We love you and are grateful you opened up both your homes to let us stay with you!

One of the fun things about driving to and from Utah from Texas has been the opportunity to see things along the way.  We took the fast way going there, but because Paul had some extra vacation days from work, we decided to make the most of it.  We took a slight detour over into Nevada to see Hoover Dam.  

Leftovers of December 2014

Before heading to Utah, we opened a gift from Grandpa Dennis and Grandma Robyn.  It was a huge Generation Map.  It's incredible the work they've done in connecting so many of their ancestors!

Tree House Children's Museum

On December 30th, we braved the very cold, very windy day to meet Lena and her kids at the Treehouse Children's Museum in Ogden.  Before leaving, Glenn and Paul helped with some snow shoveling.  Again, I watched from inside.  It was too cold for me!  The temperature was in the low teens and the wind was blowing at 24 mph with gusts up to 50 mph!  Brr!  We could see the snow blowing off the tops of the mountains when we were inside the building.

Paul's Birthday

Sunday was Paul's birthday.  After church I made grilled cheese sandwiches on Mom's new griddle.  It was a lot easier making several sandwiches at the same time!  Cheryl came up in the afternoon and spent the day with us, playing games and talking.  That evening we had a few other guests.  We also invited Clarisse and her family to come, but weren't sure if they would make it.  Clarisse was having some pregnancy pains, but they eventually came.  Before they did, our best friends, the Jardines, stopped by.  They were on their way south from Logan.  Since we hadn't heard from Clarisse at that point, we invited them to have dinner with us.  So then when Clarisse's family did arrive, we had a full house and a great dinner party!

Games and White Elephant Party

On Saturday the 27th, we had a scheduled game day at Mom and Dad's.  We didn't get started as early as we all would've liked, but that's how it goes.  We did get in a few games though and that was fun.  Paul, Kirsta and Morian played Dominion in the front room.

The Day after Christmas

The day after Christmas was a good, lazy day.  We played games, relaxed on the couch, read and lounged most of the day.  

Anyone remember the game Mall Madness?  Well we still had it in and Glenn wanted to play.  After digging out the old and rusted batteries, Dad was able to get the game working again.  We were so excited!  Hearing "Attention Mall Shoppers, there is a clearance..." brought back so many memories!  It was a lot of fun!

Christmas Day

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

Christmas Eve

After spending the morning and afternoon in Provo, we headed north to Clarisse's house to spend Christmas Eve with them and Cheryl. Glenn had fallen asleep in the car so when we brought him into the house he was still kind of sleepy.  His cousins, Evelyn and Felicity, wanted to play but he wasn't quite ready.  They climbed on him and gave him kisses and got right in his face.  He isn't used to that, but he took it well.

Dogs to Dawgs and Everything in Between

After going to Temple Square with Kirsta and her family, we headed down to Provo.  We spent the night at my other sister's apartment.  Sirie and Spencer let us hang out at their house for a couple of nights while we visited with them and with Kirsta's family more.  

Sirie and Spencer have two cute dogs--Lily and Twix.  It was a lot of fun to have them around.  We like dogs--from afar.  I don't know if we'll ever own a dog or if we'll just enjoy our friends' and neighbors' and family members' pets.  But it was certainly fun being around these two dogs for a couple of days.

Temple Square with Kirsta's family

A few days after going to Temple Square with my parents, Kirsta asked if we wanted to go there with her family.  Sure!  We made a fun date out of it and got to see different things, making it worth the second trip.

As we were driving down to Salt Lake again, we got to view a beautiful sunset.  I love the sunsets in Utah!  I don't know if it's because of the mountains or what, but they are gorgeous to me!

Snow!

December 15th we left the nice warm weather of Austin and drove to Utah, spending the night in Albuquerque on the way up.  We saw little bits of snow here and there, but really only dusting.  Glenn had been looking forward to Utah and the possibility of snow.  A couple days after getting there, Glenn woke me up, excited to show me that it had snowed!!  He and Paul went out and played in it.  I however, stayed inside and took pictures of them from the warmth of the house.

Temple Square and Anniversary Dinner

My parents' anniversary is December 17th.  We were in Utah by that time and got to spend the evening with them.  We went down to Temple Square in Salt Lake City.  My parents did sealings in the Salt Lake Temple while we walked around and looked at the lights.

December in Texas

Even though we knew we were traveling to Utah for Christmas, we still wanted to set up some decorations at our home.  Glenn wanted to help set up the tree this year.

SeaWorld's Christmas Celebration

December 6th, we headed down to San Antonio to go to SeaWorld's Christmas Celebration.  

Everything Else in November

November came and went so quickly, it seemed.  We had fun days and fun moments throughout the month.  Here's a sample of what we did!

Happy Mo-vember.  I think that's what it was called at least.  For some reason November was mustache month and several of Paul's friends were growing a mustache.  Paul had just gotten started when he had to shave it off.  Why?  He was called into the Bishopric in our ward and can't have facial hair.  So his mustache didn't last long...

And here's a snapshot of the new Bishopric of our ward.

Mark Christenson. Bishop Aldridge. Paul.

Fun with Neighbors

We really are grateful for our wonderful neighbors all around us in our apartment complex.  There really are great people everywhere!

We've recently met another neighbor and he and Glenn have become fast friends.  Caleb is an only child as well, is 6 and is similar to Glenn.  They play so well together and have such fun!  One day they were outside having adventures, collecting treasures and having a blast.  It was one of our chilly days we've had here and I had them come in and enjoy some hot chocolate.