. . . and a Happy New Year!

Well, we made it to the cabin in Bear Lake - barely.

Let me explain. On Saturday the 29th, much to my pleasure, Jeremy, Ellia and I went to his sister's basketball game at Utah State. I wish we could have spent more time there but it was so fun to be back. We stayed for part of the boys game and in the spectrum it is really hard not to start cheering so I got to cheer for the Aggies again, and we even got a picture of Ellia with Blue. It was amazing she didn't get scared - or maybe she is just meant to be an Aggie! (ignore her Y shirt this once!)

After the game Jeremy's sister and her husband, Mallary and Greg, came with us for traditional chili cheese fries from A&W (traditional for me) and a snowy slow drive through Logan Canyon. A slow pace kept us safe enough, but Jeremy and I were leading and then one truck passed but three others stayed behind Greg and Mallary. We were actually hoping they would pass us so we didn't have to lead, but instead they followed us all the way to Garden City. The worst/scariest part was when the wind blew so hard the snow drifts made it really hard to see anything for brief periods of time. No worries though we were plenty safe the whole time.

Once we made it to the bottom of the mountains with the cabin it was a different story. We headed up but discovered on our first little hill that the Camry's weren't going to make it to far. On one of the hills Greg got a pretty good start, but Jeremy and I didn't so we that slowed Greg down and we both had to let our tires spin a bit before summiting. Luckily our friend Jared (whose cabin we were retreating to) came to the rescue in his truck. We parked the cars, loaded the stuff and after a short and much easier drive arrived at the cabin. We were all pretty tired the first night so we just visited and went to bed - all but Ellia who was so excited to be at the cabin, or maybe she was just thinking about Blue, that Jeremy and I had to take turns with her until about 1:00.

The next morning was VERY windy but we went to the cabin to do a few things and we weren't going to let that stop us. We bundled up, put Ellia to bed and got the slickest sleds we could find to sled straight down the hill outside the cabin. Jeremy and I have sledded there before and it is honestly the best sledding EVER! The trail is really long and twisty and turny and someone meets you at the bottom on a snowmobile so you don't even have to walk back up! That's were the snowmobiling comes in. I drove one! I think it was my first time unless I tried it there last year. I was going pretty slow in the powdery stuff, but got going a normal pace once we were back on the packed stuff. While there were a few minor bruises, including a nice purple one on my knee from hitting a rock while Jeremy and I were sledding double, and some white toes, the sledding and snowmobiling were awesome!

What's better to get warm after a day out in the snow but a hot tub. The outdoor hot tub was protected from the wind and by that time it was mostly just snowing. It was so peaceful to sit in the hot tub and watch it snow on the pines and aspens. What wasn't peaceful was getting all suited up, and trying to get in the hot tub when it was WAY too hot, then jumping back out and trying to cool it off with - what else - snow.

Early the next morning Jeremy decided to take on the piles and piles of light fluffy powder and make a snowshoe trail up the hill to a great overlook of Bear Lake. He said at the top he just collapsed for a minute while he regained his stamina. Later that day Heather and I went with him and although it was still a bit difficult his trail made things way easier. On top it the wind was biting cold so after a breather, a good look at the lake, and a few pictures we retreated into the refuge of the trees. On the video below you can briefly see the cabins as Jeremy sweeps the camera over the landscape.


Over the next few days, including New Years, we played some games, watched some movies, took a tour through "M Town" Montpelier (way off on the spelling?) got a shake and brought in the New Year by getting to bed somewhat early! Jared wasn't feeling well and Ellia hadn't been sleeping well so we were all tired. All in all it was definitely a Happy New Year, so we hope you all had one too!

Fa la la la la

Ah, the holidays. What used to be time off from school has turned into a very busy time of year. Jeremy, Ellia and I have been to numerous family parties and get-togethers with friends from the past (scroll down for a slideshow).

Some of Jeremy's friends from high school that moved away were back in town so we had breakfast at IHOP on Christmas Eve. We were sure happy to get together but unfortunately the employees did not seem happy for us. I didn't know if it was because we were there at 8:30 a.m. or because it was Christmas Eve, and I wasn't about to find out. Chelsea braved the server and asked to change her order, but when Jeremy and I discovered that we were shorted a plate of pancakes we just let it fly. Reminder to this group of friends, don't forget the plans we made to Cruise Divine in 2009!

Jeremy wasn't the only one to spend some quality meal time with past friends. I got together with two of my roommates from my first year at Snow College. It's been 5 or 6 years since I have seen one of them so it was a blast! We had fun talking about what we had been up to, gossiping about who we had run into since those days, and just laughing about things all over again.

Jeremy's family and mine both jumped on the bandwagon for the most popular gift of Christmas 2007 - Nintendo Wii. It was fun to hear the stories of how they each came about getting their hands on the coveted game system. Including a lucky drawing for the chance to buy a Wii that worked much like a lottery and had security like an airport, and also being 24th in line at a store with 18 Wii's very early in the morning and then chancing another store with luck- besides falling down trying to get out of the car and run to the line!

The Wii did provide hours of fun for both families. The day after playing I even woke up with sore arms. As if that wasn't pathetic enough it was from a Hannah Montana game (think dance dance revolution) which by the way I would recommend. The games brought my family together in a great way and now Jeremy and I have decided that we want one for ourselves in the future.

This weekend we are headed up to Logan (Wahoo!) for a basketball game and then a few nights in a Bear Lake cabin with even more friends - yes I know, we are popular ;). This will be a memorable time for Jeremy and I since it was at this same cabin that we met over five years ago.

I guess I could also mention something about some of the amazing gifts that were exchanged this year. I'm quite proud of Jeremy and I for several of the gifts we gave. For the Gillespie's Jeremy and I went through all the missionary letters his family had written him and organized them into two albums to resemble family journals. For my parents I went through hundreds of pictures of them and chose a ton of them together which I then scanned into the computer and made into a DVD with some of their favorite songs. It was a tear jerker! Finally, we had a picture of a family pet blown up and printed on a pillowcase for Jeremy's brother who is on a mission. This dog is more than a best friend and caused somewhat of a mental distraction for the Elder on the day he received it. Jeremy added a nice touch to the pillowcase - the words, "I'm still waiting for you," and when we got to talk to his brother on Christmas he mentioned that it was the greatest gift in the history of the world - I think that means we did a pretty good job.

I can't take all the credit though, as usual we were spoiled on the receiving end. We got a family vacation to Disney Land, a DVD recorder for a TV, some awesome mall gift cards, and a bundle of cash to play with, just to name a few. It was also fun for us to start Christmas traditions with Ellia (too bad she won't start remembering them for a few years) and to get ourselves some housewarming gifts, including a big wall mirror and some tree trimming shears for the palm tree that is overpowering our future front yard.

Ok, just one last thing. Buying the shears. There were two kinds, and its not like I know much about tree trimming let alone PALM tree trimming, so I had to ask for some assistance. Workers: "What will you be using them for?" Me: "A palm tree." Workers: Pause and funny look. "How do you want to trim it?" Me: "I don't know I have never owned a palm tree." Needless to say, I think California will bring us a lot of new experiences!

So much to say...

The last weekend in November Jeremy and I spent house/kid sitting for Jeremy's aunt here in Provo. It was quite a treat to stay in such a nice house (all set up for us) and enjoy watching the kids interact with Ellia.


Some memorable things that happened -

1. A wet bed at 1:00 a.m. (and it wasn't Ellia, Jeremy or I)
2. A white shirt custom ti-died with hot chocolate
3. A power outage
4. A major snowstorm
5. And some inscriptions added to an expensive wooden dining table



While the older kids went to school I stayed in the house with Ellia and the youngest boy. He is three and a half. At first when I would use my special nursing blanket while feeding Ellia he didn't pay attention, then he got curious. "Where's her head?" "Oh she lays on your stomach and eats." Even later if I just mentioned that I needed to feed her he would run to get the special blanket. When Ellia would take a long time to eat he would say, "can you take that off now?"

The other quotable moment was when I suggested that Jeremy and I call my mom for a food related question, the little boy stopped what he was doing, looked up at me and in a very surprised, almost confused voice said, "I didn't know you had a mom."

Now for the first few weeks of December

Jeremy and I have been contacting agents, and lenders in California via phone, and we were planning on taking a trip to Bakersfield (future home of the Gillespie's) mid-December. Well we starting seeing a lot of listings we were interested in so we moved our trip up...to the current week. Two days after deciding to change our trip, Jeremy Ellia and I packed up the car and headed to Bakersfield.

The drive was actually very easy and Ellia was a gem. Our first day out I saw the first two houses and didn't think I would be able to get excited about a house. Then we started seeing some better layouts and by the end of the day had about three that we were pretty interested in.

The next day it was much easier to dismiss houses, but we were excited to go see a house that we had both been particularly interested in from the listings even though there was only one picture. We walked in and knew it was our favorite. I was not even really interested in seeing any more, but wanted to help Jeremy become as sure as I was. The only thing we were both a little hesitant about was the fact that the backyard has a pool. We know nothing of owning a house- let alone a pool. But it was our favorite so we made an offer.

We returned to Utah after stopping at the National Finals Rodeo Cowboy Christmas Craft show in Vegas, and continued conducting our business over the phone and fax.



Yesterday, December 12, we learned that our final offer has been accepted!!! If everything goes well with the inspections we will be the new owners of a house with a pool! Now you all have an incentive to come stay with us! (and an invitation too)

A Present from Uncle Trav

A Dance by Jer, Stef and Lia (click here)