Memory Lane

This year we had Christmas dinner with Eli's sister Maria, her family, Grandma Escamilla & Uncle Dennis. It's been a while since we've seen some of Maria kids and their families, so it was a lot of fun...the boys even got to spend the night & "hang out" playing games with their cousins.

When I went to pick them up in the morning after their "sleepover" Maria and some of the kids started remembering when the boys were younger & we started reminiscing about days gone by...so when the boys and I arrived back home, I got out some old photos & sort of took a walk down Memory Lane. What fun to look back and "remember when..."

As I was looking through the old photos I got the "bright" idea to create a slideshow of the boys through the years.


It was a lot of fun putting together, but I noticed there are gaps in the photos, so I decided one of my New Year's resolutions will be to be better about taking pictures & getting the film developed that I have sitting in a drawer...no more gaps!

My first attempt at digital scrapbooking...

Tis the Season

I received a Christmas Edition of one of those "getting to know you" emails from my cousin Kerry the other day, but figured that instead of sending the answers out in an email I post them to my blog.
It was kind of fun filling in the answers.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both

2. Real tree or Artificial? Real

3. When do you put up the tree? The day after Thanksgiving

4. When do you take the tree down? The day after Christmas...a few times after everyone leaves on Christmas day!

5. Do you like eggnog? Nope

6. Favorite gift received as a child? A Chrissy doll...you could push a button to make her hair long or short

7. Hardest person to buy for? Dad

8. Easiest person to buy for? Eli & the boys

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes...I collect them

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I always buy them with good intentions, but don't always get them mailed...hopefully this year they go out tomorrow!

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? An UGLY necklace from a guy I was dating at the time!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? It's a Wonderful Life

13. When do you start shopping? It doesn't matter...I'm still shopping on Christmas eve...even when I start early!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Well.......a lot of the creams & candles I got from students when I worked at Challenger made good last minute gifts!

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? All the goodies...especially Fudge!

16. Lights on the tree? Definitely...as many as possible!

17. Favorite Christmas song? Christmas Island

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We always talk about going somewhere "next" year...but something usually happens to change our plans!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? yes...Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzn & Rudolph

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel...but not one of those ugly plastic ones with the lights under the skirt!

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Only one on Christmas eve...funny how it always turns out to be new jammies!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Icy roads & stupid drivers...I love the shopping & the crowds!!

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? My mother gave Eli & I a beautiful "Our First Christmas" ornament for our first Christmas which started our tradition of adding a special ornament each year that represents the year for us...my favorites are the Surfing Santa from our California Christmas & the firetruck from the year of the fire!

24. Favorite at Christmas dinner? Mashed potatoes & homemade rolls

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A new digital camera would be nice

So now for those of you with the time & inclination lets see your answers on your blogs...

I keep learning...

So, another birthday came & went...Mother Nature delivered a wonderful snowstorm to my door (and don't you like how I added it to my blog!), but birthdays as an adult aren't nearly as exciting as they were when I was younger. Now that I'm "almost" 50 I decided to take a little inventory & figure out what life has taught me...

1) Follow the 3 R’s:
Respect for self...Respect for others...Responsibility for ALL your actions

2) When you lose...don’t lose the lesson.

3) Not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

4) Give the benefit of the doubt.

5) When you realize you’ve made a mistake...take immediate steps to correct it.

6) In disagreements, deal only with the current situation... don’t bring up the past.

7) Live a good honorable life...that way when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.

8) Be open to change...but never give up your values.

9) Forgive quickly...you may be asking for mercy one day.

10) Think before you speak...words can never be undone.

Living in Utah...

Having lived in Utah for over 25 years now, I have worked really hard now to "pick up" Utah's accent...What's funny is people from Utah think they don't have an accent, but they do! The Utah accent is really hard to reproduce in print but it's kind of like a choppier version of a Valley Girl accent...Mountain = Mau-en, Clinton = Cli-en...and pillow, milk, crayon, and mirror = pellow, melk, cren, and meer. Every once in a while I catch myself saying something like "Oh my heck" and think "Oh no! It's happening" so I was quiet pleased when I took this survey & found that I don't have an accent!

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland   "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
Boston
North Central
The South
Philadelphia
The Northeast
The Inland North
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

I've got a question...

Why do people ask a question & then interrupt during the answer? If you already knew the answer...why did you ask the question?