mtn. dew

christian and charlie serenading me on a friday night brought back memories of when christian and i were dating. "bluegrass sunday" was part of our weekly routine.

hi diddly di, me pot o' gold

growing up, my mom used to always make corned beef and cabbage for st. patrick's day. i always loved that tradition. since i am not as together as my mother. and, since i didn't have the forethought to get all the fixins for such a delectable irish feast, we didn't have corned beef and cabbage today. instead, we went big this year and started our own tradition - shamrock shakes from mcdonald's! this ice cream treat had nothing to do with taste, and everything to do with tradition. after all, with a name like erin, a st. patty's day tradition should probably be mandatory.

brightening up a gloomy month

"i bowled!"

- jack petersen

let's face it, february can be kind of a gloomy month...especially in utah.

there is an inversion, it is cold, it get's dark early in the evening.

in order to cheer us up in february, my dad and both my in-laws were

born in february. it is nice to have something to celebrate!

we weren't able to celebrate with mel and sandy this year,

so we celebrated in our hearts for them.

we went bowling to celebrate my dad's birthday!

on his last frame, he did his behind-the-back-between-the-legs bowl.

it was as fun to watch as a 31 year old, as it was as a 6 year old.

and, it definitely brightened up my february!

valentine's bowling ball arrangement - chance or destiny?

handsome devil

aren't they an attractive couple?

happy new year!

new year's eve 2011

enjoying a little sparkling cider.

barely staying awake until midnight.

looks like another good year ahead.

keeping the christmas spirit alive

vroom, vroom!

lance helped all my dad and christian's wildest christmas dreams come true.

christmas morning

christmas night

and, on to new years!

pillow pets

i recognize that i should have posted my christmas chronicles eons ago. i'm running late on this one. which is generally the story of my life. just a little late.

this was just so entertaining, i figured posting it late was better than not posting it at all.

witnessing my nephews open their christmas presents from nana and papa was a delight. the best part, when spencer opened his grand finale gift - a dinosaur pillow pet. i had heard that pillow pets were all the rage these days, but i had no idea.

he pulled the pillow pet out of the box, looked at it and exclaimed "it's the thing i wanted in the whole wide world!" then, he ran over to his brother and excitedly announced,

"jack, it's my lucky day!"

then, he hugged his new found friend.

a boy and his dinosaur brought a new level of joy to our hearts.

'twas the night before christmas

home for the holidays.

christmas eve consisted of:

dinner

peanut butter balls and egg nog

watching the nativity video and spending time with loved ones.

and, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.