Visitors... eight to be precise

This past Sunday our neighborhood got EIGHT furry visitors. I was driving home from Church meetings when I found the deer. I never thought that we would see deer in our neck of the woods because we literally live in the middle of the valley. However, I saw eight deer hanging around Tai Pan and then four or five of the eight ran right across the street while these deer hung around Tai Pan. I nearly missed the dang deer that darted across the road. They must have been coming down far into the valley to get some of the good stuff... GRASS.

Tis the season to be grateful

I love the holiday's because I feel like I am constantly surrounded by reminders of the things that matter most. Such as ... family, friends, good neighbors, Ward friends, co-workers and the Savior. When I get in the elevator at work and head up to the 22nd floor I love seeing the thoughts that are posted on the walls. Right now they are ALL centered around CHRISTMAS.

One says: "The Christmas season, with its special meaning, inevitably prompts a tear and inspires a renewed commitment to God."
President Thomas S. Monson

While another says: "Three days of light without darkness was the sign God gave to the descendants of Lehi, heralding the birth of His Son."
President Henry B. Eyring

How grateful I am for this time of year!
I am especially grateful because come January I will be going to full time employment at the LDS Church which is where I currently work. I love my job in the Audiovisual Department and will remain there when the new position begins in January. I will maintain my current duties and will be adding some new ones as well. After searching for full time employment for over a year now (b/c I was laid off last November) I can say I am so happy to be where I am now! Many times I felt discouraged about the job situation and MANY many MANY times I referred myself back to President Uchdtorf's talk "Continue in Patience." In fact that is what life is all about waiting and while doing so using patience.

Making the list

Abe and I have been discussing Christmas gifts.

(P.s. we had a great Thanksgiving real busy and real great. I'll blog about it later.)

Now for Christmas.

The tree is FINALLY up and it appears that no lights will be adorning our Home this year. It's too cold now and last year I hung the lights. That's right me ... a girl! And I don't feel up to it this year and Abe doesn't seem to want to go out in the cold and do it either.

So, onto the gifts. Last night we were talking about things we really need. This is what I want ... I would even call it a need ... I sure need to make room on my kitchen shelves if I actually get the gifts I want.

A new Crockpot ... with a timer on it. I love the one that my fabulous family gave us as a wedding gift but I need one with a timer so my food won't cook longer than it needs to while i'm away at work.

Next up a pressure cooker.

But what size to get? Six quart, eight quart, 12 quart... I need to do some more research. But I can't wait to start pressure cooking. In the meantime, I am borrowing my mother-in-law's.

I hope Santa sees my list!!

Better late than never

Two days until Thanksgiving and I have yet to post Halloween 2010 pics. SO here we go!

This year Marie and Ryan hosted the High School friend Halloween Party. We had a great time playing games and eating some good grub.
Of course it was a COSTUME party. Abe is my prisoner and I am his police officer.
I loved Katie's outfit and that we sort of kind of matched. Besides the fact she was a "male" police officer... with a baby bump?? So great!
All of us posing for the camera.Then it was off to Farmington for the annual Parker family Halloween Party. Abe loved holding Simon the python. As for me i'm not a real fan of snakes... especially the way they feel so I passed on holding the slithery guy.
We also got to see Simon eat his dinner. It sure made for a rather interesting Halloween Party. Here he is finishing the rat off.
Then we had some of Abe's friends from High School and their wives over to our place for some Halloween fun.
And yes costumes were a must!
On Halloween Eve my niece had her fifth birthday party. It was a princess party and my Mom wanted me to dress up as Belle and to see if my friend Allison (who dresses up as Cinderalla for kid's birthday parties) could come. Sadly, Allison couldn't come because of her work schedule! Maybe next year we can be a duo. I loved dressing up as Belle. It was real fun and the little girls loved it. We played games, ate yummy food, did a craft and opened presents.
I do love how my Belle costume turned out. I think Allison and I need to go into business together attending Princess Birthday parties. Belle and Cinderella make the perfect princess pair.

Trip down South

It seems I forgot to write about the trip Abe and I took with my family down to Lake Powell. As they say in the blogging world.. better late than never!!
We headed down the end of September/beginning of October. Just in time for some Fall boating before it got too cold. The water was chilly for Lake Powell but it was a fun vacation and we didn't deal with the crowds that are usually around in the Summer time. We even got to celebrate my sister Heather's 30th Birthday on the Lake. We haven't gone on a Young vacation for a while so it was a much needed family trip.

We stayed in Page, AZ and one of the days we went to explore Antelope Canyon.
This pic is of Nicole (my niece) and me waiting for the truck to take us to Antelope Canyon.
Aboard the truck with my parents.
The "heart" of the canyon
We spent much of the afternoon exploring Antelope Canyon. It's located on an Indian Reservation so you can only see it by taking a tour. What I learned on our tour: that many of the professional pictures taken of Lake Powell come from this very canyon.
The next two days we spent on the lake... exploring, tubing, skiing, wakeboarding and just relaxing!Eating plums off of Grandma Gough's tree.

Abe trying out the double ski for old time sake
My sisters and niece Cooling off!
While the water had cooled off a bit the air temp was still in the 90's.
Like I said we celebrated Heather turning the big 3-0 at the local Mexican Restaurant in Page. It was actually real good!
We did some exploring. Here we are heading up Sheep Canyon. It's definitely one of my favorite things to do at Lake Powell.
Laura was sure a trooper trying to get up on the double ski.
Nicole sure loves tubing. She discovered it at East Canyon and she took turns with most of us.
Abe doing a little wakeboarding.
Me slaloming.
My mom getting ready to ski.
My Mom's still got it!! She sure showed up my sisters. Maybe next year Heather and Laura will get up on either the ski or wakeboard.
And of course we made a stop to Dangling Rope for Ice Cream
Yep, while we there Abe had to surf the tire.
We had a fun Young family vacation. Hopefully it won't be too long until we get to go down to Lake Powell again. I sure do love love LOVE that place.

Breaking Ground

On Friday Abe's Grandma and Aunt made the local news.

His Grandma Helen Parker and his Aunt Erin were interviewed by KSL's Carole Mikita about LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson breaking ground for the Rome, Italy temple. This temple will be Italy's first and Europe's 12th and will be made out of granite. Abe's Grandpa served as a Mission President in the City from 1993 to 1996 with his wife Helen. Erin also served a mission in Italy before her parents did.

Gerald Parker with some of his missionaries in Rome

Watching the news story about the ground breaking brought tears to my eyes. Not only to see Abe's Grandpa (who I only had the pleasure of spending time with on a few occasions before he died) but because I thought about all the members living in that part of Europe who must be overwhelmed with JOY! When the Temple is completed, it will serve over 23,000 Church members living in Italy and in neighboring countries. Abe's Grandpa, Gerald Parker is in Heaven now but i'm sure he is thrilled!

Watch KSL's story here: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=12928720&autostart=y
Or the story from the Church's newsroom: http://beta-newsroom.lds.org/article/president-monson-breaks-ground-for-rome-italy-temple

The Truth About Pumkin Pie

Sometimes it's better not to know the process...

I got this in an email today. I sure do love pumpkin treats and seeing this just made my day!! I love the pumpkin man's face and how he is sitting on a make shift toilet. So great!

Tis the season

I love this time of the year for one specific reason... UTE FOOTBALL!!
Two days ago as I was driving home from work from downtown just trying to get to the freeway when I saw this lovely pic on the UTA bus. I am a proud UTE and loved seeing that UTA is too.
One thing I miss now that both Abe and I are graduates from the University of Utah is the MUSS section. There is nothing else like it. I love the MUSS.. loved spending time w/ my friends on the 5th row in the MUSS.. and loved going on dates w/ Abe to Ute games and sitting in the MUSS section.
I sure do miss the MUSS and unfortunately am now watching Utah Football games at home via the MTN.

I also have always been a fan of Kenny Chesney's and I am so LOVING that his latest hit to hit the airways is all about football. THE BOYS OF FALL! And Kenny's latest CD just hit store shelves TODAY!

GO UTES!

They're blogging

While I was listening to KSL radio on my way to work I heard that a Mormon apostle was blogging. I thought to myself how exciting that they are using blogging as a way to talk about the LDS church.

So, it all began last week when the blogging website Patheos.com asked the Church to write about the future of Mormonism. It appears Elder Quentin L. Cook took the challenge because his entry was posted.

I loved what Elder cook said, "as the church moves forward, it would work with other like-minded faiths to follow the gospel of Jesus Christ in reaching out to fellow citizens." I think that that is what the LDS Church is all about serving and reaching out to others all over the world!

Read the blog and what the Mormon Times had to say about Elder Cook's entry by clicking on the link:
http://www.mormontimes.com/article/16533/Apostles-blog-may-be-a-first

In case you needed to know...

Baking soda is supposed to help bee stings!

Yeah, wish I had none that Thursday morning.

See I was deadheading some plants and decided to sit on my porch when all of a sudden I felt something on my finger. I then raised my arm and it instantly stung.. i then looked down and there was a bit of blood on my middle finger. Well, a bee got me and two of my fingers started swelling up. I haven't been stung since elementary days so I couldn't remember what to put on the wound. I was texting with a friend at the time of the incident and asked her what I should do and she said mud or ice should help. So a few hours later I iced my finger and it helped a bit. But when I got to work later my co-worker said baking soda is what you are supposed to put on stings. So, in case you get stung like me.. now you know.. baking soda is what the internet and my co-worker says will help.

A Hail storm, body bag and a geyser

Yes, this years cabin trip was very eventful.

The Johnson family (minus Thomas, Melissa and Mae ... who we missed immensely) headed up to Star Valley Wyoming to the family cabin for a little vacation.
Before heading up we made a stop in Ogden to see Abe's grandpa who isn't doing too well.
We visited him in the hospital, then headed to the temple with Grandma Johnson and made a final stop at her favorite eating spot, Chuck-A-Rama.
Look at my bro-in-law indulging himself in some oreo goodness.
As we drove to the cabin was saw the most intense sunset over Henry Lake. So Gorgeous! Love mother nature .. on our trip we saw F I V E rainbows and a handful of gorgeous sunsets.
At the cabin we each had a night to make din din. I was giving Johnny a hand with his reuben sandwich's. He used to work at Gandolfo's and I should say he really learned how to cook up a good sandwich. So good! I have totally been converted to the reuben... rye bread, swiss cheese, sauerkraut, corned beef.. mmm!!
Once we hit the Palisade Reservoir that's when we saw a body bag.
We launched the boat and were waiting for Abe's Dad to get aboard when I asked search and rescue if that was a dead body. They said yep! We read in the paper the next day that the man had died trying to rescue his son who had fallen in the Snake River near Lunch Counter in Jackson Hole. His son survived but he did not. So sad and a bit creepy. We could see the impressions of the guys arms, legs and even nose through the bag!
Now onto a good note.. The palisades reservoir has some of the best water around.. nothing but glass. A little YMCA action near the cabin.
Even though most of the time the water is pure glass we were caught in several rain storms.
Twice on the lake we were attacked by strong waves, wind and one of the days when we pulled the boat off the lake and put the covers back on we got drenched and pounded by hail. It was quite the adventure!! As the cashier at the local market said, "Welcome to the Rocky Mountains."
On our vaca we also traveled nearly an hour from the cabin to Jackson Lake, boated around and stayed the night in a tent cabin in Colter Bay ... then it was off to Yellowstone for a day too!
Abe has always wanted to boat at the bottom of the GRAND TETON'S and he was loving life. Those are some intense mountains!!We all took a turn taking a ride ... we looked everywhere for great water and found it near this island so we made probably a hundred spins around it.
Abe riding
Ooding skiing

Like I said we stayed the night in a tent cabin at Jackson Lake. Well, since we were in bear country we had to put all the food and cosmetics in the bear box.
Since Abe's brothers had never gone to Jellystone we went for the day. I was amazed at how much we saw in such a short length of time. Yellowstone is one of my favorite places to visit for sure. Since i've only gone there in the Summer and Spring I really want to go in the winter and go snowmobiling. I also want to stay in the Old Faithful Lodge at least once in my life.. love that lodge.
Touring around the hot pots

We watched Old Faithful blow!

Yep, she still is as faithful as EVER! And if you want to see her right now then click on the link ... it's a geyser webcam love it! http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/oldfaithfulcam.htm

i SURE do love my in-laws! I have so much fun with them (even if bickering occurs during acquire games). And since I grew up with all sisters they sure are breaking me into being around BOYS!
Next trip for us ... Abe gets to go on his first Young Family Vacation and the ratio there is mostly girls!