Hockey Night

We finally made it out to the new hockey rink for a little recreational skating, but you can tell by the pictures that it got a little competitive. Josh didn't just fall by accident, he got a piece of #44. We had a great time. Laura was moving slowly at first but picked it up. Mindy beat me in our first annual iceathon.(She cheated) Aunt Suzi came equiped with a helmet. We're still not sure if it was for the safety or if she wears it all day. Adam was like Cahz Michael Michaels off of Blades of Glory. Adam, I don't have your freakin hockey stick! Kimmy and Suzi took a hard fall, but not as many as I did trying to figure out how to stop. If you guys haven't gone skating in St. George yet, it's pretty fun. The rink is over by the library.

Santa Came to Town!

Well Christmas for us was wonderful!! We got done working the 23rd and from then on we were enjoying the holidays to the fullest. Started out with the white elephant party which was good fun,somebody lucked out and received a autographed softball picture of Ryan(which he took of himself)it was the#1 gift of the night=)(what a goofball how does he think of stuff like that)Then we were off to the HUGHES house. It was so great..We are so blessed to have such loving families. After we opened all the wonderful gifts(Thank You THank You Thank You),finshed giggling at Kenz and Collin cruisin in the barbie jeep,and Ryan ran out of marshmallows to spit at Amber we were on our way to the happiest place on earth DISNEYLAND!!It was so fun. We got to go to Disney and Sea world. It was so awesome being with the fam and everyone else in the world..hehe so busy, but it didnt matter we had a blast. It was such a memorable Christmas here are a few pics to remember it by..we look forward to 2010 and what it has in store. Sure do love everyone Thanks for making 2009 so special!!

Christmas Tree 2009

We have made cutting down our own Christmas tree one of our first family traditions. This year we went up Cedar Mountain to get our tree. I would like to direct everyone's attention to the picture of me with the chainsaw first. Remember that kids magazine that had a picture on back and it had a lot of things wrong with the picture and you were supposed to figure out what was wrong? Let's play that game with this picture. First of all why isn't the chain on the chainsaw? That's because the chainsaw was working perfectly until we got ready to cut our tree down, and it took me about a half hour (until dark) to fix it. Second, isn't there about 2 feet of snow? Yes. So why is Ryan wearing shorts? Good question! If the picture showed my lower legs, you would see how brite red they were from walking through 2 feet of snow for about an hour looking for the perfect tree. Nice call on the shorts knuckle head. As you can see in the pictures Rod, Katie, and their cute girls came with us. The girls loved it. They were tromping through the snow and getting trompled by Duke having a blast. It took us until after dark to have the trees loaded and heading home. We both found great trees and had a great trip.

Well we had a wonderful Thanksgiving over at "D's" house. Nat made a delicious Turkey and the decor was so fun.(Your awesome noodle Thank You)!Everyone helped and brought different dishes.We even invented some(that banana pie)yum!! It was a blast Rod, Ryan, Aunt Kathy and Ky had some serious football going and Grandma Cindy even had a diving catch!! We also decorated Gingerbread cookies and lil Kams had a coloring contest. Good Times all around. We sure missed the Panguitch Party hopefully see everyone at Christmas Time. Just wanted to say Thanks to everyone, and Im grateful for all the Fam. Sure do love ya' all!!

Dad's Elk Hunt

This year my dad drew an elk tag in area 22 in Nevada. This is one of the best areas in the state for hunting elk. My dad spent a few weekends over the past few months out scouting and preparing for his hunt. I was able to go with him the first time he went out to scout. We were able to call in some big bulls as the rut had just recently started. It was a cool experience. The hunt started this past Friday so we drove up Wednesday afternoon and started scouting. We saw some good bulls every time we went out and felt like we had a good plan for opening morning. When Friday morning came around we woke up at 3:30 AM and got out to the spot we had been seeing some good bulls. When we got out to the trail head there were a couple other hunters headed towards the same general area and one of them was with a guiding service. We were a little worried that they would mess up our hunt, but we stuck to our plan. We started our hike up the mountain and eventually got ahead of the other hunters. At first light we spotted some elk up the mountain a lot higher than we had planned on going. We decided to pursue these elk. We saw a few decent bulls as we headed up the mountain, but not the one we wanted. We kept climbing and climbing. My dad was wearing down but he kept pushing. We ended up hiking over 3 miles all up hill. When we got on the bulls we had spotted early in the morning we saw that there was a great bull and a couple smaller bulls. We made our way towards the bulls and found a great spot about 280 yards out. We watched the bulls feed out of some thick brush and into the open. My dad got set and drilled the big one on his first shot and dropped him. We were stoked! After he shot elk started coming out all over the mountain. I had taken my video camera and got it all on film. It was awesome! Now the work began. Thankfully John Zarate was with us, he is a taxidermist and made skinning and quartering the bull look easy. We packed the quarters into the bottom and hung them on a tree. Then we strapped the head and cape to my back and I got to pack it over 3 miles back to the razor. I am still recovering. We found out that night that Humberto Baeza from Mesquite was camped just above us and he had his horses with him. We went and talked to Humberto and he was happy to take his horses up the mountain to pack the meat out. Thank You Humberto!!! Those horses saved us a lot of work. This was one of the best hunts we have been able to go on. The only thing we would have done different is have Cody there for the whole thing. He wasn't able to come up until Friday night, so he missed the kill, but was able to come help get the meat out. My dad did a great job. I wasn't sure he was going to make it up that mountain, but he kept pushing and was able to take a great bull. We had the full hunting experience!

Halloween 2009

Well Mindy and I went back and forth on what we were going to be for Halloween. Mindy wanted me to be Adam Lambert from American Idol. Babe, I'm not a homo. Then she wanted to be Rob and Big from MTV. I liked the idea, but trying to be a large Black man when you're a skinny white girl doesn't work to well:) I was dead set on dressing up as the two biggest players, Jeff and Bucky. The Big Players Club is something our softball guys argue over evry time we get together. Basically we pick someone out and say why he is the biggest player. For instance, Bucky has his own 1500 sq ft bachelors pad, a brand new Ford F-150, a new girl every week, only has to work 20 hours a week, and benches 300 lbs, he is a huge player:) You get the picture. Since Bucky and Jeff are always instigating the big player arguments, Mindy and I dressed up as them. We wore fanny packs that had items that fit Jeff and Bucky. Jeff eats about 5 doughnuts a day and gets migraines all the time. I'm sure they go hand in hand. So I filled my fanny pack with doughnuts and exedrin. Mindy had a nintendo paddle since Bucky plays Halo about 40 hours a week, and protein bars since Bucky is big into hitting the gym. When we got to the party about half of the people there were dressed as Jeff. It was a good time.

Please Pray for Mike and his family

Just over a week ago our softball team played in the Halloween sofbtall tournament in St. George. During the game our pitcher Mike Johnson was hit by a line drive right between the eyes. Mike suffered shattered eye sockets, a broken nose, a split eyebrow, a bad blood clot on his forehead, and blood on his brain. Mike was life flighted to Salt Lake City and was in ICU for the next 2 days. Today Mike underwent reconstructive surgery on his eye sockets, his nose, and had titanium plates placed on his skull. Mike is one of the greatest guys I have ever played ball with. He loves the game, and he is an awesome teammate. He does not deserve to go through what he is going through. I am asking for everyone to pray for Mike and his family, and if you would like to make a small donation to help Mike cover his medical bills I know their family would really appreciate it.