Fun in the Snow

"Yummmm...tasty snow."

Is that not the cutest snow angel you've ever seen?!

Don't eat the yellow snow!!

I Wish I Had A Good Excuse

I really do wish I had a good excuse for not blogging in awhile, but I don't. Other than the fact that I have been enjoying every minute of having Mike out of school. I swear that Jack and I will have withdrawals once he goes back. Thankfully we still have another full week.

Anyhoo, that is why I've been missing in action the last little bit. We've had a fabulous Christmas. It was white and everything! Jack loves the snow and Mike and I wonder if he would actually ever let on to the fact that he's cold, or if he'd just stay out there until he died of hypothermia and frostbite. Mike...my sweet Mike...taught Jack that you can eat the snow. Now every time we go outside Jack has to stick his hand in the snow and lick it off.

I've been trying now for 3 days to post some pictures with this post, but my computer will NOT cooperate. So, I'll get them up ASAP.

Christmas Party

Mike and I decided to attend the Gold's Gym Christmas party for my Birthday. Okay, I decided that we should attend the party. I know, that doesn't sound like the ultimate Birthday date, but I was convinced by some of the other instructors that we MUST attend. I'm actually quite glad that we did. Not only is the entire event catered by an amazing cook, but they provided free babysitting right there on-site (the event was held at the Gold's Gym tennis club so they made the tennis courts all fancy and held the party there). You can't beat that.

I must admit, however, that the real draw was the talk of all of the gifts given away. They weren't kidding. Let's see, they gave away Kitchen Aid's, iPod's, Laptops, 35, 40, and 50 inch LCD TV's, new beds, memory foam pads, a pool table, Rolex watches, and various other gifts. You ask, did we win anything? Unfortunately, no. However, I have only worked for Gold's gym since the beginning of October so I'm not too heartbroken about it. There's always next year, right?

All-in-all, it was a fun night out with great food, great company, some scary (but entertaining) wardrobe selections, and babysitting...all for FREE. Have I ever told you how cheap Mike and I are? This is a such a treat for cheap skates like us.

P.S. Jack was way too distracted by the balloons to look at the camera.

Great Picture

For a great picture you have to go visit Reed & Megan's Blog (link is on the left). It's classic. Sorry, I haven't figured out how to add a link in!

A Chocolate Tradition

I have vivid memories of my Mother's annual chocolate dipping extravaganza. No, she didn't call it an "extravaganza" but she should have because it was! Every year at Christmas my Mother and her friends would get together for a night of serious chocolate dipping. They would make everything: caramels, cream candy, almond roca, chocolate dipped cherries, orange sticks...the list goes on and on.

As I grew up I was allowed to help more and more with the event. This afforded me the opportunity to learn how to make many of these delightful treats. As an adult, the few years that I have been fortunate enough to live close to my mother at Christmas time, we have gathered all of the "Bell Girls" to recreate the 'extravaganza.' I don't think we've ever done all of the treats that were done back in the day, but it was still always so much fun to get together and dip our little hearts out.

Obviously, this year is not one of those fortunate years that I, nor any of my blood sisters, live close to our mother. So, I got together with my good friends Erin Allen and Melissa Miller to have our own 1st Annual Chocolate Dipping Extravaganza. We had such a great time, even though our first batch of toffee ended up in the garbage (we burned it), and quite a few of the caramels were eaten by Melissa's dog while they were outside cooling. But, what's a night without a little excitement, right?

We've already decided that we'll be getting together next Christmas to do it all again. I can hardly wait. So Mom, I just wanted you to know that the tradition lives on! And it's all thanks to you that we were able to do any of it because if you hadn't taught me how to do this stuff I'd simply be remembering those crazy nights of chocolate dipping madness that you and your friends had years ago.

York Peppermint Patties

A wide variety of treats we made. I forgot to take pictures of the chocolates in progress so this is the finished array.

My Friend Carol

Carol and I met just over a year ago when both of us were living in Oregon. She was living there temporarily while her husband was doing some training at Intel, and we just so happened to be in the same ward. Have you ever met someone that you became fast friends with? Almost as if you'd known them forever? Okay, that sounds so "Saturday's Warrior-ish," but seriously, Carol and I were instant friends.

Well, she went back to Arizona and I moved to Utah. We were hopeful to see each other again, but weren't sure when, or if, that would happen. Come to find out there is a guy in Carol's ward who owns his own plane and flies up to Utah every other week or so. Carol jokingly mentioned one day, "Hey, if you ever need a flying buddy I've got a friend in Utah I'd love to see." Joel asked Carol when she wanted to come up. How cool is that?!

So, Carol and I spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week enjoying some of our favorite past times. Eating, Working out and shopping! The time went by way too fast, but I was so grateful to even get to see Carol again. Thanks for coming and playing with me Carol, I can't wait to do it again!


Carol and I shopping at the Outlet Malls in Park City. Carol used her mad skeels to con some poor bloke into taking our picture.

Carol and I on the streets of Park City. Do you see that huge rice krispie treat in my hand? It was a krispy treat drizzled with chocolate, white chocolate and caramel. Don't you worry, we finished the entire thing by the time we got home. Boy was that good!