my bad

so i kinda dropped the ball on the photo a day gig. i guess i just don't get out much. and when i do i forget the camera. or if i have the camera i don't take the time to pull over and snap a picture. because kids are ticking time bombs without an accurate count-down. one second you're browsing the frozen food aisle and the next it's WWIII. you abort mission and drive directly home (not stopping to take photos) screaming, "i'm taking back all your Christmas presents!"
i owe you a couple of pictures so i plan on surprising you at my convenience.
who's turn is it now?

Holy Family

we got to hang out in a barn with a donkey while people stared and took pictures of us. it was cool. more about this on our family blog.

cheating

sorry for the lack of picture yesterday. i forgot to take the camera with me when i went out. today is so dreary. everything is grey. so i'm going to post pictures of things around here that we like. like maple canyon (easy climbing):

this was a year ago. i was skinny. now i'm 80% fat and lazy. so...how does a fitness goal sound? anyone want to help motivate me by getting in shape together? we could each sign up for a triathlon/marathon/5k/whatever in our home towns or we could meet and do the same race together. any takers?

Looking for the right Christmas gift?

no, you can't have my boys... i just figured out the picture thing, but i'm not sure about the layout, so they're staying here where they are, i don't want to push my luck.

so, i'm on a roll. two posts in less than two days. awesome. angie, this is dedicated to you particularly. these auctions have ended, which i'm sure you'll be sorely disappointed about. but scroll down so that you can read the original description. anyone that served a mission to latin speaking countries (or have ever made friends with a mexican) will particularly enjoy the first selection
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280174052632&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.dll%3Ffrom%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm37%26satitle%3D280174052632%26category0%3D%26fvi%3D1
or
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280174046998&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.dll%3Ffrom%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm37%26satitle%3D280174046998%26category0%3D%26fvi%3D1
or even
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280174040130&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.dll%3Ffrom%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm37%26satitle%3D280174040130%26category0%3D%26fvi%3D1

and i figured out how to post pics, so even though it has nothing to do with the blog topic, here is my lincoln and sam. lincoln wanted to be curious george for halloween, but then he decided it was a gorilla, which you see pictured here. if you look hard enough you can see remnants of my double chin i attempted to crop out.

holy crap i finally got into the blog

and ye-ha. so, for months i have been reading all about your lives and feeling 1. like my friends are super cool and 2. a little snakey-predatorish secretly reading your blog without you really knowing it. you may be thinking, 'i thought sarah worked at ibm for 5 years' and to that i say you're right. but it still took me a year to figure out how to blog. so anyhooters, i'm attaching a pic of my boys and just wanted to say love you all and i'm excited to be a bonafied member of your club.
-- actually i can't attach a pic (shocker). maybe next time. just saying hello.

front yard views

we love where we live. not slc. not provo. but easy access to both. american fork canyon is just up the road. there is close climbing. we get ski passes every year. and i love that our neighborhood/ward (same thing) is very defined. it makes it easier to get to know people.

when we first moved here 4 years ago (our house is about 9 years old) there were 40 kids in nursery. stella is in nursery now. i think there are 3 different classes. i love that there are so many kids. every day of summer and on snow days there are kids everywhere.

but we are thinking of selling because we are out-growing our house and now is a good time to sell. i always liked change but now i'm lazy. i like our neighbors--i even know most of their names. i just have to tell myself that utah is probably filled with neighborhoods of good people like ours. there are lots of pretty places we would love to live--like idaho, montana, colorado--but we don't want to live far away from both our families. flying with kids is a pain and very expensive. so we have to be in driving distance to at least one side.

I'm confused

I realized I don't know everybody on this blog. I know Katie, Angie, Heather, Danika.
Who else is there? Everyone is disguised.

Lehi 1

the view from my back window. looking west. utah lake is to the left, point of the mountain is north.

last one from St. Looey - Logan University

Since Logan is the whole reason we're in St. Louis, I decided to post a pic. The campus is huge, and really pretty (except at this time of year) with acres and acres of trees and lakes. The school part is pretty small though, with fewer buildings than Dixie and only about 2,000 students (20% are LDS, I've heard). I'm on campus a couple times a week either going to the fitness center or to the clinic, but since there are so few students, it seems like I know everyone. Tye and I are SOOOOOO super excited that we only have 9 more months here--we can't wait to move on to the next chapter in our lives (in which we hope to actually get a paycheck!)

side note

All of a sudden a couple days ago, all of the cable channels started coming in on our TV, I think because a neighbor got cable and the cable guy turned us on by mistake. Anyway I was so excited (yes, this qualifies as excitement in my life). It's only taken me about 3 days to become a total addict. I LOOOOVE Run's House and I'm fascinated by Project Runway and I'm totally looking forward to Tin Man on SciFi channel (weird, i know).

Side note to a side note: for my birthday my mom gave me her her very expensive and awesome sewing machine which I have no idea how to use. it arrived yesterday and now I'm watching project runway trying to figure out what else i need in order to become a world famous fashion designer. anyone know where i can buy some creativity and a sense of style?

confused drivers

Oops, i missed yesterday. too busy partying and celebrating my exciting birthday, I guess. Thanks for all the birthday wishes. 32 kicks ass. So much cooler than 31.
I'm sure I've complained on this blog in the past about St. Louis drivers but seriously-they're unbelievable. They can't be trusted. They're SO SLOOOWWWW, can NOT merge to save their lives, are clueless about what solid and double solid lines mean, and don't even THINK about asking them to use their blinker. Blinkers are for people who are actually thinking about where they want to end up--St. Louisans are just making it up as they go along.
For the rest of my life, where ever I go, I'll always rate drivers on a scale of how they compare St. Louis. If for instance Missouri drivers are a 1 and Danika Patrick is a 10, then I'm a 9.5 (just kidding--but I'm at least an 8).
So anyway, i've had frequent conversations about why it is that everyone is such a terrible driver and--SHOCKER!!--drivers ed is not required here. as long as you can pass the driving test, the license is yours.

a church on every corner

I used to think that Utah had a church on every corner, but St. Louis puts Utah to shame with the number of churches around here. I took all of these pic this morning (except the Hanley & Davis one, which i took on my cell phone a few months ago).

Balloon Glow

Balloon Glow

In the fall, St. Louis hosts a Hot Air Ballon Race. They send the Energizer Bunny balloon off as the "hare" and then 15 minutes later the "hound" balloons--about 70 of them--take off after it. Winner is the first balloon to catches the 'hare.' The night before the race they put on an event called the Balloon Glow. They light up all the balloons with their burners so you can see them up close. Aerial pics are from the website.

I'm trying out this slide.com thing so we'll see if it works...

Starting with the Obvious

Probably the first thing most people think of when they hear St. Louis is the Arch. So here it is--in all it's stainless steel glory.


For those who hear St. Louis and immediately think "BEER!" this one's for you:

These are the (enormous) Mash Tanks at the Anheuser Busch brewery. You can go on a tour and get free beer, in case you're interested (people frequently suggest this as a "tourist attractions"). You can also see the Clydesdales which are very cool. St. Louisans are very enthusiastic about beer and there are many local breweries with their own unique beers.

Happy Thanksgiving!

on this Thanksgiving Day, let's all remember the real reason for this holiday--a day that remembers a pivotal moment in American history. Namely that different cultures can get along and live together, as long as one side has guns. High five!

Where am I?

This is going to be my last one because we are leaving for Thanksgiving.

Where am I? At least one of you should know.

Don't worry....I'm not a stalker, this is where I live!

Where am I?

This one might be to easy especially if you look real close through the hole.

winter

it's been so nice here....until today. b-u-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r!

how would i look in this?

Where am I?

I love this old little structure.