Christmas!

Our Christmas tree at 5 in the morning!

Sherisa, Bri, Bo, Bella, and Vanessa-Christmas morning

Cousins Rikki and Steven

Mom, Brenton, me, Sherisa at G & G Bushnell's

Ness, me, Ree, Bri, and Bro

Yes, Christmas morning, 5 am-dead tired!

Bro, me, and mom opening presents

HOORAY! Christmas morning was just a blast! My little brother insists that we wake up at 5 o'clock in the morning still, which is actually really fun for me because if it weren't for him, I would probably sleep in. Christmas eve we spent the evening up in Cedar at my Grandpa and Grandpa Roper's house. We do the same thing every year; big dinner, grandpa reads us the story of the birth of the Savior from the scriptures, Christmas program (all of the grandkids prepare a talent to perform-my bro, sis, and me all play a song on the piano), and we open presents. We always come back home for the sleeping part because we all insist on being in our own home for Christmas. Once we get home, my parents give us all pajamas and we go to bed. That is our Christmas eve every year. On Christmas morning we wake up at 5 am (it used to be 4:30, thank heavens Brenton decided to let us sleep a half an hour longer) and wake up our parents. We ALL have to walk down together and we all go strait to the family room. We walk in with everything dark and my parents flip the light on and we all start opening presents. Around 7:30 we eat a big breakfast and then my sister and bro in-law and their kids come over around 9. After we're done opening the rest of the gifts, we all get ready and head up to Cedar again. We spend the large part of the day with the Bushnell's where we have soup and sandwiches and munchies. On our way out we stop by the Roper's of a couple hours and then head home! Christmas is so fun! I am so grateful for all of the traditions that my parents and grandparents have started for us and have continued to carry out. What a blessing it is to get together and remember the birth of our Savior and to spend some quality time with our families! The memories are just great! I am so thankful for a big family and the fun times that we have!

Snow in Dixie!

St. George Temple/Visitors center

St. George Temple

The Dixie Rock covered in snow!

Sherisa and I

Christmas tree on Main Street

Cute little Judd's store!

Looking out over St. George

My old high school...Dixie High

AMAZING!!! It snowed in St. George a couple of nights ago and Sherisa and I just couldn't help but get out and take some pictures. It was gorgeous! My little brother actually got a snow day at school. The only snow day I ever got in school was when I was in like 4th grade; I have never had a snow day since. I had to wake up and take a final at the college that morning and the roads were so slick. It is so different to drive in but actually pretty fun! Us St. George people don't really know how to react to the snow. I was hanging out with my friends Andy and Ben out in Ivins and there was about 6 or 7 inches out there. We got about 3 or 4 inches in town. As I was driving home around midnight or so, it was just chucking snow. I just couldn't help but ponder on my life and the many blessings I receive every day. I was so happy I just wanted to cry. The snow was so beautiful as it packed itself softly on the ground. I have never seen St. George look so beautiful. I was one happy girl! Almost every house had a snowman out front since this would probably be the only chance we have in a long time. I'm so grateful for my blessings and that I was able to be a part of such a beautiful experience! It just brightened up my week!

Warm Springs!!!

Ok, so I haven't posted in such a long time. This should've been posted back in November. Anyways, it's worth posting so better late than never! My family and I went to Warm Springs in November which is located in Moapa. The water is naturally about 75-80 degrees so we were able to go swimming in November! I was so amazed that we could actually swim outdoors that late in the year. We had such a blast! There was about 21 of us and it was so crazy because we got every single person (grandpa included) in the pool except for grandma. In my whole 20 years of life, I have never seen my grandpa swimming in an actual swimming pool. We had a little picnic there and so many laughs! We played basketball, marco-polo, the shark game, and just swam! It was awesome! The pool is amazing because it is so warm and the pool is just huge! My family and I were the only ones in the whole place which is unusual because normally it's packed there! Oh my gosh, it is just amazing! The water runs all around the area in a little river and the place is just beautiful. I actually got sunburned in November; now that is unusual! Anyways, you all should take a trip there sometime; it is TOTALLY worth it! Just go to google and type in warm springs-nevada/reservations and it will walk you through steps to make a reservation. It's only like 2 bucks a person!

Mountain House!!!

Me, Danny, Tycee, Lance

Me and Tyce

Oh, so fun! This past weekend my really good friend Lance came down from Arizona to take his midterms at Dixie. Him, Danny, and Tyce decided that they wanted to go to the mountain house and just have a good weekend! I was still at work so Lance stopped by and talked to me about it and we decided to go up asap! I got off work around 4 and we were hustlin to get everything packed so that we didn't have to drive in the dark a whole lot. Lance borrowed his uncle's truck and we were set. Actually, not quite yet. My dad made us go make spare keys to the mountain house gate because "he didn't want me taking his keys." DUMB! Anyways, we left at about 5 and then went to the grocery store in Cedar and headed up the canyon. Sadly, my grandparents had already winterized the cabin so we had no running water. So we bought like 4 gallons of water and hoped we were good! We had no sink and no potty. We got up there around 8 that evening and just got settled in. It was absolutely beautiful weather up there considering the time of year. We made a camp fire outside and made smores and just chatted. It was so fun to get together with all of us again! Except this time was a little different since Tycee and Danny are married now. There were SO MANY stars. Honestly, I was just amazed. I've been to the mountain house many many times and I don't know if i EVER remember there being that many stars all at one time. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Anyways, we played games and Lance stoked us up a fire in the fireplace because it was pretty dang cold. Lance is probably one of the most handy guys I've ever met. No joke, he can fix or figure out just about anything. I was very thankful to have him there! I was shivering and starting to get way cold until he made that fire for us. The night was cold but we all stayed warm. Again, Lance was just a gem and he kept waking up in the middle of the night to check on the fire and restock it. The next morning, Lance and Danny set out at about 7:30 to go hunt! Me and Tyce finally decided to get out of bed and start making breakfast so that we could eat when the boys came back. We had a YUMMY breakfast(probably one of my favorite things about going to the mountain house)! We cooked eggs, hashbrowns, sausage, and blueberry pancakes! The boys ended up not catching anything but they still had a good time. Later we went to Mini and Vini's grave to show Danny since he was the only one who hasn't been up to the mountain house to see it yet. We also went to the swing which started out awesome until Tycee went on it and the rope broke. It was so weird because we had all ridden it like at least 3 times each and finally it just broke. Luckily she only fell like 2 feet but it bruised her up pretty good because of the impact of the fall. We're very lucky she was ok. Around 2:30 we decided to pack up and get going. As we were driving out I told Danny that he had to have to opportunity to see the pipe at least once. Him and Lance decided to jump in which was crazy because the water is off the charts FREEZING! Their reaction showed that pretty well too. They were freaking out once they hit the water. Sorry guys! Other than those couple mishaps, the weekend turned out to be so fun! I'm very glad they all decided to go do that! It will probably be my last time up for the year which makes me sad. At least I got to go one more time though!

Hair Day at the Bushnell's!!!

Kimber and I with my foils

Me laying on the counter while Kimber washed my hair

Mom with her foils

Ok, first of all, Kimber is the BEST! Honestly, she came over to my house and did mine and my moms hair. We both got cuts and two colors. Kimber has done my hair now for the past year or so probably. She just graduated from Evans hair school in September (Congrats Kimb!) and she is now looking for work. As of right now, she isn't actually working in a salon and I LOVE how she does my hair so I made her come do it at my house...rude, I know. It was pretty comical because we had to lay on the counter for Kimber to wash our hair out and it felt a LITTLE awkward! She is always such a gem though! My mom always pays like 95 bucks to get her hair done which I think is ridiculous so I told her that maybe Kimber would do hers as well. I asked Kimber and she was fine with it so we made a hair day at the Bushnell's! Thank heavens for Kimber because I love getting my hair done and I get it done probably like every month and a half to two months so she's just a gem to have around! Our hair both turned out lovely and it was a super fun day! THANK YOU KIMBER!!!

SNOW!!!

Oh my gosh! This weekend was just incredible! My family and I took a drive up to Cedar to go up the canyon and look at the leaves that had changed color for the start of the Fall season. About 8 miles outside of Cedar we saw little flakes of snow coming down. As the day moved on a little bit, the snow increased and the flakes became bigger and even more beautiful! Now, if you are from somewhere like St. George where it NEVER snows, this is a pretty exciting event! I love the snow SO much! I also LOVE Christmas music (Manheim Steamroller in particular). I brought a few Christmas cd's along and we listened to them all day. It brought warm memories and much excitement! The months of October through December are my all time favorites! The many wonderful memories is what makes that such a wonderful time of year for me! We all drove up Cedar canyon together and it was BEAUTIFUL. The leaves were shades of red, yellow, orange, and lime green. Now, seeing the leaves when the sun is shinning is one thing, but seeing them while it is snowing is just incredible! I was on a high! This definitely made my Top 10 List of one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. It made me think of how wonderful my life is and for the many blessings that my Father in Heaven has given me. It amazes me that I can drive 1 hour and go to a place so beautiful. My life is one that is truely blessed...not to mention that I am very grateful to live in the United States of America where I can find beauty and warm memories so easily!

Halloween Party!

So I went to a Halloween party last Friday and we had a blast! You'll see in one of the pictures I posted that I got caught on camera laughing my head off! My good friend Kimber invited me to come join the party and we always have such a good time together. They did this little guessing game and it was just gross! There was like 10 different paper bags and inside the bags was a ziploc bag that had something in it. We had to stick our hand in the bag and guess what it was. There was like salsa, refried beans, cottage cheese, etc. YUCK! It was grossin me out! Anyways, I met a couple fun people there and it was fun to just get out and have a good time. We were all supposed to wear costumes but I didn't have a lot of time so I just dressed up in a lot of spandex stuff and went to the party! It's nice to have good friends! Kimber is such a gem and I love hanging out with her!

Long Lost Cousins!!!

A couple weeks ago, I had the RARE, but very special experience of having my cousins Matt and Adam come to St. George and visit! This is the first time in almost 9 years that I have been together with both of them, in St. George at the same time. Wonderful blessing! Adam was able to come for just over a week and Matt and his wife Steph and their son were here for about 4 days. We were able to go on a 3.5 mile hike with a lot of the family and it was absolutely beautiful! After the hiking adventure, we went back to my grandpa and grandma Bushnell's house and had a BBQ. Then, the next day (this is my favorite part!) we went up to the mountain house. This was some experience for me! In our childhood years, we spent weekend after weekend up at the good ol ranch! However, it has been many many years since we were all up there together. Matt and Adam probably have no idea what a blessing that was for me. It was just like old times! Laughter, family time, and adventure! I thank Heavenly Father continually for the family I have been blessed with! They mean more than anything in the world to me. I am very grateful for the opportunity that I had to be united with them once again. What a blessing! Love you Matt and Adam!

Tycee's Wedding!

Mom, Me, and Ree

Kolby, Me, Tycee, Danny

Some of the Bridesmaids
Haylee, Me, and Jessica!

Deke, Me, Lance, and Brett

Lance and I

Tycee! She looks BEAUTIFUL!

Tyce and I

Tycee and Danny

Ok, so Tycee got married about a month ago, but hey...better late than never huh? So my best friend Tycee got married on August 9th to Danny Radford. They were married here in the St. George temple and had their reception at the Marriott. The day was a wonderful success! Tyce looked SO beautiful and her husband Danny is such a gem! I was a bridesmaid along with Jessica, Haylee(Tycee's sister), Elisha, and Casey. The day started off at the temple for pictures! It was incredibly hot, however, we all looked darling and our outfits were great! Props to Tyce on the dresses and tuxes! Once we were done there, we went over to the wedding luncheon at the Ames residence and the food was DELICIOUS! Much thanks to Lance's aunt and uncle for that! The luncheon was fun because it was a lot less formal and everyone was able to just sit and chat! Lance was able to come down from Arizona which is always a treat! Also, I was able to meet Lance and Danny's life-long friend Deke (I hope that's how you spell it). Deke was hilarious! Good times! We had a break for about an hour and then we went over to the Marriott for pictures and for the ring ceremony. After that, the reception began! It was BEAUTIFUL! The Marriott did a fantastic job with the food and decorations! The wedding got over at about 9:30 and then we all went home. It was an awesome day! It was so fun to see Tyce get married! She's been my best friend for about 13 years now. Congrats Tyce and Danny! I sure love ya!

Kolob and Kolby

Last Saturday Kolby and I took a drive to Kolob. Since I had never been there, he thought that it was an important item on the list of "things to do." We had a great time! Kolby's family used to own a cabin up there so he knows his way around well! It was beautiful! The day turned out to be overcast and a little rainy, but it was green and lucious and a very peaceful place to be! The Travellers sold their cabin and soon after that, it was struck by lightening and burned to the ground...everything except the chimney. Hopefully I'm not telling the story wrong, if so...sorry Kolbs! We drove all around for most of the time and just looked at the scenary! We went to the Kolob Reservor and ate lunch there! That night we had planned to cook a meal that Kolby ate on his mission. I don't even know how to spell it but it's called chipotti. Haha, that was probably totally wrong! We cooked for all of my fam and it turned out to be really fun! We made the BIGGEST mess! Haha, well, Kolby did! Just kiddin! It's not an easy thing to make without making a mess. At first I thought Kolby was full of crap. It didn't look very good while we were making it, but looks were deceiving! It was REALLY yummy! We had such a good time! Thanks Kolbs!

A day at the lake!

Last Saturday my mom, dad, and brother went up to the Christensen family reunion. Me and Sherisa had to stay home because we both had to work Friday evening. My aunt Mary and Uncle Al invited us to come to the lake (Sand Hollow) and go boating with them! They are always so sweet to invite us! We LOVE going with the Moo-Al's! So we got to the lake around 9:30 in the morning to beat all of the traffic and started our day at the lake! We went tubing and ate lunch on the beach part of the lake. We weren't getting thrown around quite as much as usual but once we got me, Sherisa, and Christopher Lloyd on the tube together we had a BLAST! Uncle Al would get us goin so fast around the corners that we would be parallel with the boat. It was hilarious! David and Sarah were so cute too. They kept puttin their thumbs up to go faster and we were gettin a kick out of them! I enjoyed going to the lake so much! I appreciate Aunt Mary and Uncle Al for always inviting us to go with them...we sure love them and we have such a ball!