Merry Christmas!

Brian is moving into his own apartment in Orem to go to UVU this semester, so his pile basically looked like a bridal shower.

Max guarding the guitar

We had so much fun with my family this Christmas! On Christmas morning, we opened all our gifts and then started cleaning up. Then...Surprise! Guitar Hero for the Wii! The boys were so excited and we played pretty much the whole time they were here. I had so much fun! We are headed up to Tooele this weekend, and I do plan on getting a few songs in while we're there! LOL

Reasons to Live in St. George

There are many great reasons to live in beautiful Saint George, Utah. This, however, is not one of the reasons on my list.

Practicing

So, not to take away from the beauty of the quilts. And, not that I'm becoming a crazy cat lady who posts only things about the small animals in her life....but....I was attempting to practice for our Christmas program in Sacrament Meeting next week when suddenly I had a visitor...

Christmas Quilts

This one's mine.

Daniela took so much time piecing Ryan's quilt together. It will definitely be getting good use. Ryan is wrapped up in it right now! haha

Ryan's mom came down to visit for "Christmas" this weekend. Since we're staying home for the holidays this year, she came to us! It was so much fun. We spent all day Saturday just enjoying each other's company and eating way too much! When we got back to the house after lunch, we exchanged gifts and we were so surprised! She had made us each a quilt(I didn't even know she made quilts until we visited this summer and she had some quilt tops laying out!)! How amazing are they?! She is so talented and we are so grateful(and warm!). Anyone who knows me knows that there can never be enough layers to keep me completely warm in the cold weather!

G & G Boehmer Go to Nauvoo!

I'm so excited for my grandparents! They are going to Nauvoo on a mission for 18 months. I've been a few times and it's wonderful. It is going to be so awesome to go visit them....hopefully we can do that this summer. This is their second mission, and all I can say is that they are extremely hearty people. They live in Canada(COLD!), their last mission was to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (COLD!!!) and now they're headed to another chilly winter spot! They're so awesome and brave and I look up to them so much!

Tree Time!

It takes me less and less time each year I do a tree. That either means that I'm caring a little less each time or that practice makes perfect! Ha ha. I think it turned out OK! This one I spent about 1 hour doing today(I don't count the half hour that I spent yesterday wrapping the tree in ribbon only to find out that I had about three yards too little to cover the tree!). No matter how long it takes, I always love the finished product of a pretty Christmas tree!

Giving Thanks 2008

Ryan and I had a quiet Thanksgiving at home. As you can see here, my goal this year was to use every single pan and baking dish that we own to make this one meal. Everything turned out rather yummyif I do say so myself(with the exception of the yams. If you have a good recipe, let me know. They were not so yummy, huh honey? But you ate them anyway...you're the best!). I know, I know, avoid the appearance of evil, but I do love the sparkling grape juice! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Something Wrong...

There may be something wrong in your life if:

1. Your morning routine involves anything called "Seafood Sensations" or "Chicken 'N Chops"

2. You try not to move your limbs while sleeping for fear of being chewed, clawed or licked

4. Pawprints on the windshield of your car that is always kept in the garage are no big deal

5. You call yourself "Mommy" or "Daddy" but are not parents

6. You understand varying tones of "Meow"

Yes, if any of these things exist in your life, alone or combined, there may be something wrong.

Unless, of course, you own one of these:

Smile and Have a Great Day! (photo courtesy of Kelly the Cat)

Cool Moms

Isn't that what we all want to be??? Eventually we want our kids to look at us and go, "My mom is so totally awesome!" Well, I'm far away from having any children say that to me personally, mostly because I don't think any kid really gets just how cool their mom is until they leave her! But I just want my mom to know that I think that she's a COOL MOM!!! Cool for teaching me to be good. Cool for showing all those twenty-year olds in college that she can kick their GPAs out the window while raising five children, being a great wife, preparing for weddings, missionary farewells, graduation parties and cruising in Mexico. And especially cool for always listening to me. My mom had a big test today, which, as far as I can tell, is very important in her interpreting program. She thinks she did "ok" but I know she did so much better than "ok". So everyone, tell your mom she's a COOL MOM too!

I've been tagged

Silly, but I have no other thoughts for this day, so why not!

1. Where is your cell phone? Night Table

2. Where is your significant other? Bed

3. Your hair color? Blondish

4. Your mother? Miss Her!

5. Your father? Dedicated

6. Your favorite thing? Music

7. Your dream last night? hmmm...I usually have something good too, but nothing today!

8. Your dream/goal? Have a family

9. The room you're in? Loft

10. Your hobby? Reading

11. Your fear? Being alone

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? With my hubby

13. Where were you last night? Home

14. What you're not? Perfect!

15. One of your wish-list items? Grand Piano...sticking with Erin on that one.

16. Where you grew up? Canada

17. The last thing you did? Took a bath

18. What are you wearing? PJs

19. Your TV? Gets way too much use! (Hey, I'm working on it!)

20. Your pet? Kelly the wild cat

21. Your computer? Also gets way too much use! (I'm not working on that one)

22. Your mood? Restless...perhaps I'll take a walk.

23. Missing someone? Yes

24. Your car? Clean (washed her myself)

25. Something you're not wearing? socks

26. Favorite store? hmmmm....I do like a good go at TJ Maxx, but I have recently discovered Barnes and Noble

27. Your summer? HOT

28. Love someone? Ryan

29. Your favorite color? I hate color questions! I love anything except pastels.

30. When is the last time you laughed? Tonight (at my husband..."I'm not laughing AT you, I'm laughing WITH you!)

31. Last time you cried? Not really a crier, but there have been funerals lately...so I'll say last week.

Home

I just have to say, this is the greatest time to live in St. George! To all of you who are not here right now, I am sorry! haha. The lack of leaves here(directly in relation to lack of trees) kind of makes you forget that the fall/winter season is upon us, but the cooler weather is definitely a welcome relief from the summer that just wouldn't stop simmering! I finally feel like we're starting to settle in here (after 2 years...about time, eh?) and that's a great feeling! Home is something I've never really thought about, probably since it's always just been where ever my family is at the time. Since being in St. George (farther away from my parents and brothers than I've ever been for any extended length of time) I've really had to look closely at what "home" is to me. It's been a long road...not easy...but I think that I'm beginning to feel as though home is just where I make it! I've tried to do a lot more cooking at home lately, in an effort to monitor a little better the things that we eat, and that's (surprisingly) made a huge difference in the way I view my 'home'. I love that instead of a place to eat, it is a place to gather, cook, chat, do dishes (ugh)! I've also tried really hard to look around me and realize just how blessed I am to have what I have. I have health, I have a loving extended family and I have an awesome husband who loves me, and as an added bonus, he agrees to eat the home cooking that was previously mentioned! So, to everyone who doesn't feel at 'home' make some potato casserole, do the dishes and count your blessings! Love you all, and Happy Monday!

Election 2008

I am so glad that all the drama is finally over! What will all the TV personalities talk about now? Oh well! haha. Ryan and I stayed up late (Yes, 11 pm is late for us!) to find out who won. We had the tv on ABC4 news, which I don't usually like to watch. They never have positive things to say about any church issue, and I just prefer the other 2 Utah stations for my news-getting purposes. But, for whatever reason, we had it on that channel when the "BIG NEWS" of Obama's victory came through. We then proceeded to watch John McCain's concession speech, which was good, covered all the bases that needed to be covered and wasn't too long (sitting for any length of time is difficult for multi-taskers like me!) Then, after McCain was done speaking, the network cut back to whoever was reporting (probably Charlie Gibson, but I'm not sure) and started playing the Pirates of the Caribbean Theme Song in the background! hahaha! I love it! The way I see it, that means one of two things....

One: No matter how big the race, it always comes down to who is the bigger Pirate :-)

(I don't really think that...I do have 'hope')

or

Two: No matter how grown up the issue, everything can always be explained with a

Disney Song!

I'm sticking with the latter!

Tyler's Band Competition

Tyler and Brian after Tooele has marched

Tooele High Marching Band 2008

Tyler is somewhere in there!

The Tooele High School Marching Band travelled to St. George this weekend so we got to hang out with Tyler, my younger brother, who is a junior this year and plays the melophone during marching band season(he plays the French Horn and any other instrument that he wants to during the rest of the year). Brian also came along for the ride with my dad since Dad was chaperoning the band and had to drive down separately to haul all the equipment. Ryan and I had so much fun! Besides getting to see family, it was perfect weather and the band did great! Tooele placed 3rd overall in the 3A competition. We stayed late to watch the 4A and 5A bands as well, which includes the famous American Fork High School Band. They marched at the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade last year in New York City...and now I know why! I never played in the band, but I know just how dedicated they are to their "sport" (it really is a sport...they practice at 6am in the freezing weather and getting those formations just right...whew!). It's just amazing to watch and I'm so jealous of the talent that all those students have! What a great weekend!

Brian Comes Home

It was so much fun to see Brian again after two long years in the Philippines. We had a good weekend with him when he got home. After he got that 'missionary-in-the-headlights' look out of his eyes, we had a good time listening to his stories and looking at his pictures. This pictures is of my dad and all of my brothers in the chapel after sacrament meeting the Sunday after Brian's return. Apparently you aren't supposed to take pictures in the chapel...who knew! Oh well! It's such a cool picture with their white shirts lined up in a row, so I couldn't resist.

General Conference

I always love conference weekends. I worked all day yesterday, and I haven't quite gotten to watching the recordings of those 2 sessions yet, but I watched all day today! Now, normally, I'm ashamed to admit, I fall asleep during Sunday afternoon session, but I made it through this time! It was extremely helpful for me to take good notes. That really helped me focus. One of my favorite parts of the conference issue of the Ensign in November and May is seeing what the titles of my favorite talks end up being. I'm sure that you can find those titles if you look online or something, but I think it is much more fun to try and figure it out myself what the titles will be!!! Some, I think, should be pretty obvious, but there were a couple that were a little more obscure! I will have to see how many I actually get right. It did not feel like Sunday at all...probably because of the lack of stress that normally accompanies my Sundays...I loved it!

No News...

Just for an update...I promise to have some new posts with pics next week after Brian gets home, but for now, nothing much going on here! Love you all!

The Cat's Out of the Bag

I was cleaning out my closet last week, getting some clothes ready to take to DI, and, well, the pics speak for themselves...

Labor Day Weekend in Emery, Utah....wait...Where's that?

We went hiking on Monday. The boys enjoyed all the giant boulders to climb on.
Alex, Chris, Tyler and Solomon(in the hole)
The rock drawings are really neat.
Caroline, Seth, Chris, Sophia, Tyler and Solomon

The hightlight, by far, of Saturday, was watching Uncle Dave

learn the art form that is volleyball.

Sophia, (with just a 'touch' of Caroline in the background)

Sophia's favorite pastime at the Emery house is jumping on the tramp!

(Yes, she is that adorable in person)

Vegas, Baby!

So, I know, we only live about, oh, two hours from Las Vegas. But it's still Vegas, and I went 'crazy tourist' with the camera! We just went down for the day, and spent a few hours just walking around. It was HOT, but still enjoyable! Hope you enjoy the pics!

There's an "M" in all of us!
The "Eiffel Tower"
The big motorcycle coming out of the Harley Davidson Cafe roof.

'Big' would definitely be the theme in Vegas.

We made our server at Cheesecake Factory in Caesar's take this dorky pic of us!



Here is more big stuff! The piano is a lot harder to play with just your feet!
Try playing chopsticks like this!


The big, plush, Harry Potter inspired Spider!
Ryan, the caveman, with his friends.