Another Snow Day

I slept HORRIBLY last night because I kept waking up to big loud crashing noises.  I looked outside to see what was going on and saw that tree branches were starting to brake and fall off the trees!  The ice added a lot of weight to all the tree branches and then we got more snow on top of all the ice.  The tree limbs just couldn't handle all the added weight.  And for those of you who live out here know how many trees there are everywhere.  So, this morning we went out to investigate all the damage.  Here are some pictures of what we found...

Both of the trees above were ones that I heard brake and fall last night.  They are both right outside our bedroom window.  

This tree  was a few feet down from those other two pictures.  It is a huge tree and a big portion of it broke off.  

And this is what is under that huge tree that fell.  It's one of our neighbors SUV.  You can barely see it hidden under there!  Crazy

I just thought this little tree looked pretty.  It has little frozen berries on it!

Someone made this little snowman.  It was only like 2 feet tall.  Don't you just love the little frozen branches used for the arms...

Snow Day

Today we were lucky enough to enjoy a SNOW DAY!  Last night we got a few inches of snow, but we also got freezing rain.  Classes got cancelled and they even closed the Dental Clinic which hardly ever happens.  It literally has rained ALL day today and it is still coming down (it's like 10 pm right now).  It's cold so the rain turns to ice pretty quickly.  I know ice storms can be very dangerous when you are out driving and can cause things like power outages and stuff, but they make things look so beautiful!  Everything is coated with ice; sidewalks, cars, snow, and all the bushes and tree branches.  Here are some pictures that I took today...

Our frozen sidewalk!  Our poor neighbor totally ATE IT while walking on it today.  Now when you see him walking to his car he goes straight through the snow!

Some frozen branches.  Look how thick the ice is!

Some more frozen branches

Brad went out to clean off the car.  It had a thick layer of ice on top of the snow and you could break it off in big chunks.  

Family Pictures

Before my little brother left on his mission to Brazil we had some family pictures taken.  My mom gave them to me for Christmas so I decided to post them.  It was just kind of spare of the moment so it's totally casual and we don't have a color scheme or anything, but I thought they turned out so cute!  I don't have any pictures of my whole family so I was very excited to get these!

This is me with my sisters, brother, and Mom and Dad.

This is the whole clan!  

Even though it is the middle of January, I decided that it would still be ok if I posted some pictures from our Christmas vacation.  We were able to go back to Utah to visit our families!  I was so sad when I realized that I had left without packing my camera, so I relied on others taking pictures for me and then waited until they were e-mailed to me.  I was so excited to get to Utah and see family and friends.  We had a fabulous time staying up late and playing games and then sleeping in until 10 in the morning.   It was awesome!  Here are some of the pics that I have so far...

On Dec. 18, Brad and I had our 4 year anniversary!  He knew how much I love the show "Good Things Utah" and miss being able to watch it since we don't live in Utah anymore, so he took me to it and we were guests in the audience.  It's LIVE and they have fun segments like cooking and crafting and things like that.  Brad was a little self-conscious since it is a "girl show" but he was a great sport and we had a ton of fun.  Here I am with the hosts of the show: (L to R) Necia, Marti, and Reagan (yes we are on a first name basis)!

 

This is me, my sister Kim, and my niece Aubrey.  We had the fam over to Kim's house and made Chinese food and devoured it!  Kim makes the most delicious orange chicken.  The chinese food dinner is something that I look forward to when I come to visit!

Alison, Lauren and Ella hanging out on Lauren's bed.  What cute cousins!

Ella with her "happy" face during dinner.  Notice the big blob of ketchup on her plate.  That girl sure loves her ketchup.  She will eat anything if she can dip it in ketchup....is that weird?

Ella and her terrifying encounter with Santa Clause (notice I'm not the one taking her up to see him--people in costume just freak me out!)  When we told her that Santa would give her a present she wanted to go up and see him, but as she got closer the more nervous she got and burst into tears when it was her turn to see him.  When he said he had a present for her she immediately stopped crying and very carefully took it from him and then wanted nothing else to do with him.  It was pretty cute.

Ella showing off her new PJ's and her cute boots that she got from Grandma Sharon.  She loves those boots!

Brad, Ella, and I at the Joseph Smith Memorial building.  The tree behind us was beautiful.  We also looked at the lights at Temple Square.  It was so cold and there were sooo many people, but the lights were gorgeous and you can't help but have a wonderful feeling when you are near the Temple!