back again

Well, we're home. We had such a wonderful vacation out in Minnesota. As scary as snow can be to drive in, I sure loved playing in it. I also loved looking out the windows and seeing the ideal white Christmas.

We had so much fun playing games (kicked Nolan's trash in seven's! Mwahaha!), visiting extended family, getting together with friends, cooking, reading, sitting by the fire place, playing with our adorable niece, Kherington. It was sooooooo nice. Trav and I were discussing how quickly the time went. It honestly felt like we blinked a couple of times and BAM! It was time for us to leave. :(

Since being home we haven't done a lot. Our flights were delayed, our luggage was lost, and on our way home from the airport, the car in front of us fishtailed, spun in a few circles, and hit the barriers on one side of the bridge we were on - then spun and hit the barriers on the other side of the bridge. It was terrifying to witness. I was pretty shook up. For a few seconds we thought we were going to hit them. After we realized we were safe, we pulled over to check on the people in the SUV. I couldn't tell how bad the injuries were or how many people were in the car because the windows were tinted. Thank goodness they were okay. In shock, but okay. Needless to say, we didn't get home until 10:30 or 11:00 on New Years Eve.

We also didn't do a whole lot of celebrating because I started vomiting shortly after the clock struck 12:00 midnight. I celebrated New Years with my head in the toilet. Not joking either. I looked at the clock, 12:03, and wished Trav a happy New Years as I made a mad dash for the bathroom. It's was awful. I wasn't able to keep anything down. And I was so dizzy I was even DREAMING things were spinning. I woke up dizzy. It was bizarre.

I'm starting to feel better now, but I'm terrified to eat anything solid. That'll hurt coming back up. Gross, I know. But I have to think about these things. :s

Trav goes back to school tomorrow and I start my next semester this Wednesday, January 5th. Neither of us are quite ready to get back in the groove of things, but what can we do about it? Not much. So, we're trying to be strong. We're keeping our chins up. :)

Anyway, we hope you had a better New Years celebration than we did! We hope this year brings a lot of goodness and growth.

Christmas & Kherington

Aw, how cuuuuuute!


Trav made and gave this beautiful bowl to his parents. Isn't it cool?!










Kherington loved her doll - hugged and kissed her as soon as she was out of the box.



Kherington also really likes to talk on the phone. She knew exactly what to do when we gave her this phone.



She loved her horse too.

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Kherington turned 1 years old shortly after Christmas! Happy birthday "blue eyes".

Kherington loves balloons, so Grandma bought some specially for her.



Two brothers and the little birthday girl



What a doll. She gives the best kisses in the world! We love you Kherington!!

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I absolutely LOVE this picture! When Kherington's asked to point to her nose, this is what she does! Ha! She definitely takes afeter her daddy. hehe.

My first REAL snow fort

Freakin' huge snowbanks out here...they're as tall as I am. That hole at the end of the driveway is one of our entrances into the fort.



I was diggin' away on one end of the fort...



While Trav took over the other side



We worked on the fort for about an hour and a half - finally meeting up in the middle of the snowbank. We had to stop after because I was frozen. I honestly couldn't feel my legs or feet.





Trav and Nolan decided to get as much done on the fort as possible the next day. They opened it up and found our grassy carpet.


You can't get the full idea of how long the tunnel was (before it was made into a "fort") but this shot gives you an idea.



Aw, Brothers :) Nolan was chiseling away with a hammer while Trav used the shovel. This snow fort was awesome!


Inside the snow fort.


We were going to do more throughout the week but found out it was supposed to rain. And as we know, rain melts the snow. So we decided to stop and keep it as it was. Sure enough, the rains came down and the fort collapsed. But it was fun and TOTALLY worth it!

So...they just posted my GPA

Go figure. As soon as I publish my last post, I check (to reconfirm I passed!!) and my GPA is posted now. So, here they are:

Instructional Media (2 credit hours) A-
Curriculum, Instruct, & Assess (4 credit hours) A-
Private Oboe Lessons (1 credit hour) A
Group Vocal Class (1 credit hour) A
String Practicum (1 credit hour) B
Chamber choir (1 credit hour) A
Women's Choir (1 credit hour) A
Music History & Lit (3 credit hours) B
Small Ensembles (1 credit hour) A
Private Vocal Lessons (1 credit hour) A
Advanced Independent Study (2 credit hours) A

GPA: 3.67

I am so, so grateful.

AhHhHhHhHhHhH!!!

I passed all my classes! I took 18 credit hours (and worked part-time) this semester. I honestly didn't know if I was going to pass one or two of my classes. They were a little more demanding than I'm used to. So, yes. I was honestly, truly worried. I will post my grades as soon as I can. I'm waiting to get the word on my GPA. I'm sooooooo happy! Oh my goodness! It feels like a weight has been lifted.


Also, in a little over 24 hours Trav and I will be on our way out to Minnesota to spend Christmas with his family. This is the first year we've done this, so we're pretty excited. Travis' parents usually come out to Utah but since they're serving a local mission they're not able to this year. We thought this would be the perfect opportunity to spend Christmas in Minnesota. It's been nearly 8 or 9 years (I believe) since Trav has been home for the holidays. So, here's to hoping I don't freeze to death out there!

Merry Christmas!

Our Beloved Provo Tabernacle

Burned down this morning. As far as I've heard, it's a total loss. I'm sick about it. This building is absolutely gorgeous, inside and out. I had always dreamed of performing in it. It has been used for LDS church meetings, choir performances, and many more activities. This is so awful. Click here to read an article and see pictures.

Hopefully the church will reconstruct it. Everyone is in shock. This is so sad.














I pulled these pictures (below) from the Salt Lake Tribune webpage (the link I created at the beginning of this post). There are more pictures posted on their site.

I look at these pictures and I can't help but to cry.
























What's harder is this building has sentimental value. We took family pictures here, in November 2008, before Mercydez passed away. This building's grounds and beautiful architecture can be seen behind my family as we surrounded our precious Mercydez.

done, Done, DOne, DONe, DONE, & DoNe!

Our Christmas Tree




Yes, we're alive!!!!!! I took my last final today and I can't even begin to express the relief I'm feeling. This horrid semester is DONE!!! I made it!

Trav has been awesome the last few weeks. To say I've been stressed is a HUGE understatement. I've been up late, getting up as early as I can (sometimes sleeping longer than I should), stuck to a computer or in the piano room practicing. We haven't had a lot of time together. In fact, this entire week I've only seen him on average 5 minutes each day. He's usually up and gone before I get up each morning - and in bed fast asleep when I get home. It's sucked. Big time.

So, we hope to make up for it this coming week by doing whatever we want in the evenings. He has to work through Wednesday (as do I) so we can only take advantage of our evening hours. But I'll gladly take what I can get! We'll watch movies, do a little shopping, eat nummy food, and waste time. It sounds marvelous!

We were able to sneak in a little fun during the last week, thankfully. We had a extended family Christmas party and had a ginger house decorating competition. Here are a few pictures:


Team 1




Team 2



Team 3



The finished gingerbread village


It was a straight up tie...hard to imagine why! They're all so beautiful! Hehe.

A cute story though (if I have my information correct): apparently after we separated into teams, Grayson went into a corner of the house and prayed that his team would win. Isn't that stinkin' cute?!