I've been slacking

Well it's been awhile since I've posted so I have some things to catch up on. Christmas was way fun! It was so nice seeing everyone, and we wish Anj, Brent and Taryn could have made it, but it sounds like they had a nice Christmas together in Tacoma. We had fun while Kim, Matt and Ellie were in town. We went to Leatherby's and took a walk down Christmas Street one night. I loved the look on Ellie's face when they served her her ice cream. She looked so excited! It was fun watching all the kids interract during the Christmas party, they are so much fun. Mylee is so cute and has been standing up and doing little dances. She is starting to get an early start with walking,...I can't believe how fast the kids grow up. I love being with the fam during Christmas.
New Year's was fun, I was able to hang out with some friends, (thank you Alicia for inviting me) and we watched some movies and went to Red Robin for dinner. It was really nice getting out, I had a lot of fun.
Winston got some fun toys for Christmas, all of which he has already eaten or severely maimed. He cracks me up. I am not sure how he selects which stuffed animals he turns against and which ones can stay in his good graces. So far the only animal that has made it unscathed is his beloved bunny. He handles it as he would a puppy, gently carries it around and sleeps with it at night. I think it's so cute.
Work has been going well. It's been a tough year so far for some co-workers, but they have been so positive and just such good examples to me. I really hope things improve and that they are blessed for their strength and courage. I am so grateful for the awesome friends I have at work, they are such positive, encouraging people.
Tomorrow Mom, Michelle and I are going up to Morgan for Bob Whittier's funeral, my great uncle. It is sad to see the relatives aging and starting to leave us. I hope his family finds the comfort they need right now. I am sure he and Grandpa will enjoy each other's company on the other side. As I was reading his obit, I realized how much he and Grandpa had in common. I never did know him very well, just from family get-togethers. It will be good to see everyone tomorrow at the funeral.
Well that's about it for now, I will try to be a more dilligent blogger.

New haircut

Here's a picture of my new haircut and color. It's not really dramatic but it's nice having a change:) It's hard to see the bangs in this picture though. I feel dumb taking pictures, so I felt better having one with me and Winston:) I tried to post a video of Winsie opening his present tonight, but it's not working, so I will attempt later!

Merry Christmas!

I thought I'd just post my card on here :)

Lessons Learned

I've wanted to make a list of all the lessons I've learned the past couple years. They weren't easy ones but I am so grateful for the guidance and direction they have given me. I know any circumstance or challenge can be turned into a personal testimony of overcoming obstacles and learning to see the positive in almost anything.



Life is too short to spend with someone who makes life seem unbearably long.

If your bad days outweigh your good days, a change has to be made.

Surround yourself with people who make you feel positive. Positive about yourself, those around you and about life in general.

We need to be honest with ourselves and recognize that as much as we can put the blame on others, there are always those things that we can improve upon ourselves.

Don't harbor anger and resentment but learn whatever lesson is to be learned from disappointing circumstances. Instead gather wisdom and appreciation for whatever valuable lesson was learned.

Don't let the past define your future; instead let it be a culmination of experiences that define what it is you have overcome and what kind of person you can be in the future as a result.

People will always speculate and gossip, but they don't have ill-feelings. Most of them
are probably just grateful to have someone else's problems to think about rather than their own.

If you think life couldn't get much worse, read a book that really puts things into perspective.

If a circumstance seems impossible, gather strength from people you know who have overcome seemingly impossible circumstances.

Cherish your time with your loved ones. Always remember that it is the little things that will someday mean the most.

Develop an attitude of understanding with the people you might understand the least. There is something really fulfilling about turning what could be a misconception into a truth.

You know you're moving in the right direction if you find that you are experiencing some kind of growth.

Thanksgiving

Winsie relishing turkey skin

The kids in their jammies

Ellie hiding from the camera with hippo

It was just me, Mom and Dad this year for Thanksgiving dinner so it was pretty quiet, but nice and relaxing. We got dinner ready without having a specific time in mind so it wasn't very stressful. We tried a few new recipes, a brussell sprouts one and a different sweet potato one. The sweet potatoes were pretty good, they had cranberries and maple syrup. I would make that recipe again but with brown sugar added to make it a little sweeter. We got it all ready and then we were done eating so fast! I think having less people we didn't talk quite as much as we would have, so we scarfed it down pretty fast, and then we cleaned up! It was a quiet, but nice Thanksgiving.
Friday Kim, Matt and Ellie came to stay the night and Michelle and the kids came by. It was so nice seeing them all, it feels like I haven't seen them in so long! It's always fun watching the kids interract. Ellie is so much fun to watch, she is the cutest little talker. I got a kick out of her saying "Lee Lee, come on! Come on! Lee Lee, come on!" when she wanted to go downstairs. hehe. She's so fun! I was excited to have Charley, Luke and Rhett over cause I feel like since I've been sick I've hardly seen them.
Today we went to church and then started putting Christmas stuff up. I always love when we get the Christmas stuff up and I dread taking it down. Winston had fun following us all around and sniffing (and trying to take off with) the decorations. He loves the Santa's mom has been accumulating and placing around the house. I will have to keep an eye on Winsie. ;)

Coldplay!

I went to the greatly anticipated Coldplay concert last night with Ryan and Melissa! We bought tickets so long ago that I thought the excitement was starting to wear off, just about until we got to the venue, then it started kicking in again. It was at Energy Solutions, which I was a little disappointed with because the acoustics there are pretty bad and it's such a large venue. But I was just happy they were coming to Salt Lake! It has been a really long time since I've been to a concert in such a big venue. I wish they weren't so popular!


Anyway, the opening bands were ok! The first one was called Sleepercar I think , I can't remember the name. They were a band from Texas and were actually pretty good. The next to open was this really interesting DJ, DJ John Hopkins or something like that. The most interesting part of his was this graphics show going on behind him. At first I really liked it, there were some really obscure graphics and they went along with his beats, but the longer he went on, the weirder the graphics got and they almost turned creepy. As did the music. It was kind of strange! But somehow the whole thing was really hypnotic and I felt like I was in some sort of daze watching it.


Then out came Coldplay! They had a really cool set this tour, they had the stage set up so it kind of forked and they were able to go out about halfway into the floored seating. I remember reading an article where Chris Martin said they were going to do all they could to make their venues feel smaller and I can see how they accomplished that with the stage set up the way they did. And then in another interview about their tour set, all he said was "We have some incredible balls". I thought he was just trying to make an off color joke, but they had these giant orbs hung from the ceiling and they had different things, like videos and graphics projected on to them.

I'm trying to remember what song they started out with and I think it was Life In Technicolor. It was a really good song to start with. They had the "Liberty Leading the People" by Delacroix as their backdrop and they were all decked out in their weird revolutionary looking uniforms. I can't really remember all the songs they played and in what order they played them because they played for two hours. They played a little bit from all their previous albums, like The Scientist, Clocks, Politik, Yellow, Fix You, The Hardest Part, Speed of Sound....all of which were excellent. I always tend to like their older music the very best, although there really isn't a song of theirs I don't love. I loved hearing Politik though because it reminded me of the concert me and Anj went to a few years ago and that song was so good live! Wasn't it Anj! I think it might have been the first song they played at that show. For some reason it sounds so much better live than on the album. I was hoping they'd play Daylight and Warning Sign too but that's ok.

I think they played pretty much every song on their new album, and my favorite from that was definitely Viva La Vida and Lovers in Japan. When they started the intro to Viva La Vida the crowd just went crazy. Myself included, hehe. They just put on such a good show, you can't help but get really into it. They sound so good live and it's not only how great they sound but their overall performance, like the lasers they had going. You can just really feel the music when they play. And they all look so passionate about what they're doing. If you watch each band member individually for awhile they are so into what they're doing. Will is so much fun to watch on the drums, and last night he even sang a solo, he has an awesome voice. I think Chris needs to give him some more mic time;) Johnny is so fun to watch on the guitar, he's just so good. Guy is always so fun to watch, Anj would agree with me on that:) He really doesn't move around much but the way he plays the bass is mesmerizing. hehe. Chris Martin is so entertaining to watch. Sometimes when he's flailing around the stage or looking like he's having convulsions whilst playing piano, I wonder if he's completely drunk. But he's a denouncer of alcohol, so I'm then left in awe and wonder at how he manages to act so silly without any help. Maybe it's caffeine? Either way, it's really entertaining and he knows how to get the crowd going.

At one point in the show we were pleasantly surprised to find they had set up a little mini platform in the nosebleeds not far from us! They came up and said they wanted to reach the back of the audience, so they sang a couple songs up there. I thought that was so cool. Too bad I was too busy fumbling with my phone's camera to really take it all in. I was trying to figure out how to zoom in with my camera, and never could figure it out. It was nice not having to squint or rely on the big screens to see them!

During Lovers in Japan they had a really cool video playing in back of them of footage of Osaka, and some other random things. It was really neat, and then during the middle of the song they started releasing confetti, but I realized after awhile the confetti's were all in the shape of butterflies. It was so cool. You can actually see that on the first picture I posted. By the way, none of these pictures are mine. hehe. They are from previous concerts and I figure they're a lot better than anything I could have taken with my phone anyway:)

Lost was another great one. It was really fun watching Chris during that. I'm trying to think of what song they ended with. I think it was Death and All His Friends. That was pretty amazing too. I loved the end of it. That was a great live song. And when they left the stage I felt so bummed! But they came back and sang an encore of Yellow. I was kind of disappointed they chose to end with Yellow of all songs! But that's ok.:) I think I gain a whole new appreciation for all their songs when I see them live, they're just so good! Like I said about their last concert, it was like a spiritual experience for me. hehe. What an awesome show. Coldplay never disappoints. The only thing that would have made it better would be if Anj could have come with us!

A Trip to Morgan and Echo

We stopped to let Winsie greet the horses on our way to Morgan Great Grandma and Grandpa Roger's old house in Morgan Today we drove up to Grandpa's grave in Morgan. We put some fall flowers and mini scarecrows on his plot. It was such a beautiful day. I know Grandpa would have loved to go for a drive up to Morgan on a day like this. Maybe he was with us. I'm so glad we got to go up there to the cemetery. I have been thinking so much about Grandpa and about how much I miss him. It's really been hitting me more lately.I still can't believe he's gone, sometimes it just feels like he's supposed to still be here. I miss Grandpa's sweet presence so much. Whenever I spoke with him or got an email he completely brightened my day. I miss hearing Grandpa's prayers. They were always so heartlfelt and sincere. I miss hearing his stories, he always had such awesome stories and experiences. Grandpa had such a way of making us feel special. I miss hearing him call me "LeeLee you sweet girl". I was trying to remember the other day what the last thing was that Grandpa said to me and it was that. I will never forget that. I am so grateful that I know I will see him again, that we will all be together again as a family. When we were with Grandpa before he passed away I had a strong confirmation that death really is not the end and that we would be reunited again someday. When I was saying goodbye to him I really knew more than ever that it would just be for a short while. I also witnessed how strong the human spirit is. When we arrived at the hospital that night,the doctors said that Grandpa was not coherent or responsive to them. But I knew Grandpa was aware we were there with him that night, and that he heard every word we said to him. I won't forget how his eyes changed from a glazed over state, to looking right at me when I went to his side to say goodbye. I know he heard what I said and what he would've said to each of us if he could have spoken. I think that was one of the hardest things I've ever witnessed yet the most powerful. I miss him so much, but I really believe he is with us and watching over our family.
The view from Grandpa's grave. It's such a pretty view.

We drove to Echo on our way home. This is the cafe Grandpa's family ran. I've always wanted to see it. It's for sale now, I wish I could buy it:)