my uncle kent and his family and my uncle mons and his family were all there.
enjoy!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
safford christmas 2008
my grandparents have been up here for the past week and grana joy showed me this video that she made of her christmas celebration 2008 at her home in safford, arizona.
my uncle kent and his family and my uncle mons and his family were all there.
enjoy!
my uncle kent and his family and my uncle mons and his family were all there.
enjoy!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
"everything we do is music"
check out my sister-in-law's blog for a report on a pre-school that i helped out with :)
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
what a cruel joke nature plays on me! me, who used to have a steel bladder and could hold it all day if i wanted to. me, who used to never wake up in the night to pee. why me?!!! i now have to pee every hour or two!!! is that nature's idea of a good laugh?! oh, the cruelty to women!! the inhumanity!!!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
the exquisitely resplendent tree
so i know that these pictures might look almost exactly the same, but they are not. i took about a billion pictures of this tree, taking several steps to my left after every shot, so these are different and my two favorite close-ups of this tree.
*sigh* exquisite, isn't it?
*sigh* resplendent, isn't it?
and here's a similar shot to that which now sits at the top of my blog. *sigh*
exquisitely resplendent... *sigh*
*sigh* exquisite, isn't it?
*sigh* resplendent, isn't it?
and here's a similar shot to that which now sits at the top of my blog. *sigh*
exquisitely resplendent... *sigh*
snow machining in the teton valley of idaho
after christmas shawn took me on a little snow machining ride. he'd been going out almost every day but i hadn't gone with him until this point. it was a blast! all the farm fields are covered in snow and so the sky's the limit on where you can go. we took off towards the bitch creek bridge (and yes, that really is what the name of the creek is). this used to be a railroad bridge back in the day and then just existed. shawn almost slid off of it on his motorcycle several years before he met me. i'm glad he didn't. it's a lonnngggg way down. this area has been in the works to be a national park for a while but i guess it's finally going to happen next year. awesome trails have been put in on old farm roads for hiking and biking and, in the winter, snowmachining. the bridge now has a nice railing on it, which i'm grateful for. no more almost-gone-over-the-edge accidents for shawn!
i kept waiting to get the perfect shot of the tetons as we were riding and i decided that i should've stopped sooner since they were getting so far away so i finally told shawn to stop so that i could get a picture of them. they really are irregularly shaped mountains and quite stunning.
and here's shawn taking the same picture with his camera.
while crossing some fields i saw the most exquisite tree so i hopped off the machine and told shawn to come back and get me after i got some good pictures. he took off, grateful for the chance to really ride!
and here he is riding. he told me to get my camera out and get a picture of him in the air. he was like a little boy - so cute! "watch me do this, becca!" "and this!"
i kept waiting to get the perfect shot of the tetons as we were riding and i decided that i should've stopped sooner since they were getting so far away so i finally told shawn to stop so that i could get a picture of them. they really are irregularly shaped mountains and quite stunning.
and here's shawn taking the same picture with his camera.
while crossing some fields i saw the most exquisite tree so i hopped off the machine and told shawn to come back and get me after i got some good pictures. he took off, grateful for the chance to really ride! 
and here he is riding. he told me to get my camera out and get a picture of him in the air. he was like a little boy - so cute! "watch me do this, becca!" "and this!"
family potluck
the saturday after christmas shawn's aunt arranged for everyone to meet at the church for a family potluck get-together. here is the crew! there were only a few missing from that side of the family (shawn's dad's family). it was a great time and fun to see everyone and all the expanding families! :)
i'm wearing my new coat that shawn got me for christmas. i love it!! thanks shawn!
i'm wearing my new coat that shawn got me for christmas. i love it!! thanks shawn!
ice fishing on jackson lake
while in idaho for christmas, me, shawn, and brandon (shawn's brother) went ice fishing. the day was absolutely gorgeous! there was not a cloud in the sky and the sun was shinning brightly. the temp was somewhere around 0* or so but standing in the sun warmed up my jacket so that it was actually quite pleasant. it was just so wonderful being out there, surrounded by no man-made noises and just listening to the sound of silence. perfect nature. 
if this happened to be a girls outing, instead of me and the brothers, we would all have holes near each other and just be chattering away the entire time. doing things the "male" way has been a learning experience for me. especially when i'd accompany them hunting and shawn would have to keep telling me to be quiet. haha! anyhow, this is how they fish. like i mentioned before, it was nice to be out there without any noise and just to immerse myself in my surroundings. i'm learning. :)
and, for the record, i was there! i was wrapped up in all my clothes, staying warm but you can at least see my cheeser smile in this incredible self portrait.
brandon was the first to catch a fish. so i decided to fish near his hole and maybe get lucky. not so. a little while later the pole that brandon had left in the hole starting losing line. a fish was on the other end! shawn quickly jumped over there and, with a bit of waiting for the fish to tire and wrapping two other lines with his fighter, he was able to bring the fish in.
while shawn reeled it in, brandon pulled the fish out when it got to the surface. it ended up being a 15 or 18 or 19 pound trout (depends on who you talk to) which shawn cooked up for dinner the next night. it was great!!! i went home empty handed. no fish with my name on it that day.
and here's me. so after a while of not much happening i got a little bored. at one point i took out my book and read a bit (rule #1: never travel anywhere without a good book!) and at another i decided to write my name in the snow so that any airplane that randomly ever passed overhead at that spot, before the next snow, would know that i had been there.
and here's my closing picture of the teton mountains from the wyoming side. stunning!
if this happened to be a girls outing, instead of me and the brothers, we would all have holes near each other and just be chattering away the entire time. doing things the "male" way has been a learning experience for me. especially when i'd accompany them hunting and shawn would have to keep telling me to be quiet. haha! anyhow, this is how they fish. like i mentioned before, it was nice to be out there without any noise and just to immerse myself in my surroundings. i'm learning. :)
and, for the record, i was there! i was wrapped up in all my clothes, staying warm but you can at least see my cheeser smile in this incredible self portrait.
brandon was the first to catch a fish. so i decided to fish near his hole and maybe get lucky. not so. a little while later the pole that brandon had left in the hole starting losing line. a fish was on the other end! shawn quickly jumped over there and, with a bit of waiting for the fish to tire and wrapping two other lines with his fighter, he was able to bring the fish in.
while shawn reeled it in, brandon pulled the fish out when it got to the surface. it ended up being a 15 or 18 or 19 pound trout (depends on who you talk to) which shawn cooked up for dinner the next night. it was great!!! i went home empty handed. no fish with my name on it that day.
and here's me. so after a while of not much happening i got a little bored. at one point i took out my book and read a bit (rule #1: never travel anywhere without a good book!) and at another i decided to write my name in the snow so that any airplane that randomly ever passed overhead at that spot, before the next snow, would know that i had been there.
and here's my closing picture of the teton mountains from the wyoming side. stunning!
Friday, January 8, 2010
we're pregnant!!!
we're pregnant!!! ok, so i know that many of you already know but i've just been lazy about posting it on here. here's the ultrasound that i had in early november, so i'm now in the neighborhood of 17 weeks along with a due date of june 17th.
deKay thanksgiving
this november shawn and i got to go home to alaska to spend thanksgiving with my family. there were several fairly important things that happened during that trip and so we are grateful that we got to go up. firstly, my baby brother came home from his two year mission for our church. for those that don't know, he went to uruguay and completely immersed himself in the culture and in teaching the gospel for two years. this means no phone calls home (except on mother's day and christmas) and he only gets a limited time on the internet for emailing once a week. soo with all of this separation it was wonderful to have him home and to hear about his adventures and to see all of his pictures that he took. he now is fluent in spanish and he feels pretty lucky that he lives in the united states because he can constantly practice that language, unlike my older brother (korean) or husband (polish) or other family members. spanish is a pretty good second language to have in the u.s.
secondly, my sister and her husband and baby son announced that they were going to be sealed for time and eternity in the anchorage, alaska temple. that's such a huge important step and i'm so glad that our whole family could be there for that monumental occasion.
and thirdly, a few days before we were to fly up there i found out that my parents dog, raisin, was dying. it was really hard for me to accept that she wasn't going to be there when i got home. after she grew up from the puppy stage she became my hiking companion and was always there for me. she'd warn me of bears and moose and other people on the trail. i felt so secure with her and took her with me as much as possible. as soon as she'd see me head out of the house with a backpack or dressed for hiking she'd be there jumping in my car. and she'd do the same with my parents for hiking or four wheeling or snow machining. she kind of reminds me of "nana" out of "peter pan". she really took care of us. these past couple of years her hearing has gone, her sight has really dimmed and her balance isn't there like it used to be but she didn't let that stop her. her sense of smell was as keen as ever and she relied on that. anyhow, so two days before we got home my brother decided to have her put down. he could tell that she was in such pain among other things that were going wrong with her body. so she's now gone and it really hit me hard. so here's to raisin!!
alright, alright, enough with the sob story, i know. so here's a few pictures from our vacation. my camera died in the middle of our trip so my other pictures are on my parents cameras.
some of the kids (nieces and nephews) had asked me to come outside and play so when i finally made it out there cayden was outside off by himself making "sugar and cinnamon" (i think that's what he was calling the snow). i've been reading this fantastic book called "the female brain" by louann brizendine which tells how hormones have made the physical structure and behavior of the brain in males and females so drastically different. anyhow, now i look at this picture and the next and i think "how so typically male!" when i finish the book i'll write a little more on the things i've learned.
now, "how so typically female!" the girls were all together on the deflated cataraft playing house. the invited me to play but i convinced them and cayden that we should go on a little winter hike. so we did! nothing like a wonderful nature walk in winter to appreciate the world we live in. :)
here's the view from my parents house that i never tire of looking at. sometime i do start to take it for granted and then i have to kick myself and remind myself of the raw beauty in front of me. every time i come back to my parents house after being gone for a while i am floored by the view all over again.
here's a picture of me and shawn in the airport, waiting for jonathon's flight to show up. my mom and dad went down to uruguay for a week to spend some time with him and meet the people that he's spent the last two years with. on their way home they took a side trip to go to manchu pichu -sooo jealous!
and here's jonathon!!!!
the night before thanksgiving my sister sarah (who was also staying at my parents house, as her and her family live in colorado) proposed that we offer to babysit all the grandkids and give their parents a bit of a break. so we decided to have a giant sleepover with 10 kids. it was a blast! i had the kids help make turkey place markers, which you can see on the table. then sarah took the kids, a few at a time, into the kitchen to make their personal homemade pizza. we then went to the basement and made a huge, gigantic fort for the kids to sleep in. then got read for bed, watched a charlie brown thanksgiving movie, jello for dessert, brushed teeth, then bed. so the evening went smoothly but they had a hard time sleeping during the night. i know, i know, sleepovers were times that it was exciting to stay up all night long telling stories and such when i was a kid. but now being an adult with kids that won't go to sleep, let's just say it made a long night. then in the morning we had jungle breakfast. it's a wonderful thing that my mom used to do for all of our sleepovers when we were kids. we had to go outside (we did it inside because of the cold weather this time) and find all of our food. ...little cereal boxes, bananas, milk and capri suns were strung in bushes and trees... good memories!!! so we had a fun night and got to give their parents a date night off. :)
and here's the mast chef (and i really do mean that she's a master chef - i wish i could cook like her! the most delicious food ever comes from her!) getting the turkey ready early on thanksgiving morning.
here's dallin, sarah and chris' little boy. my dad does this thing with all little kids and it just scared dallin to death. sooo funny! he pushes their noses three times and on each time says "beep" "honk" "ka-dooga". every time dad did it dallin's eyes would get big and round and his lips would start quivering and then he'd start crying. i think that's a first time that has ever scared anyone. haha!
and here's another, better picture of jonathon, home at last! and here he's holding thomas, the current second-to-youngest grandkid (although not for long - four on the way with the earliest hopefully coming today!)
shawn is a very active person and it's hard for him to sit still or to stay at home. he likes to get out and do things. so here he is with my dad and two brothers getting ready to hike up mt baldy.
anyhow, that's the pics i have from our thanksgiving vacation. i just have to say that i love my family!!! :)
secondly, my sister and her husband and baby son announced that they were going to be sealed for time and eternity in the anchorage, alaska temple. that's such a huge important step and i'm so glad that our whole family could be there for that monumental occasion.
and thirdly, a few days before we were to fly up there i found out that my parents dog, raisin, was dying. it was really hard for me to accept that she wasn't going to be there when i got home. after she grew up from the puppy stage she became my hiking companion and was always there for me. she'd warn me of bears and moose and other people on the trail. i felt so secure with her and took her with me as much as possible. as soon as she'd see me head out of the house with a backpack or dressed for hiking she'd be there jumping in my car. and she'd do the same with my parents for hiking or four wheeling or snow machining. she kind of reminds me of "nana" out of "peter pan". she really took care of us. these past couple of years her hearing has gone, her sight has really dimmed and her balance isn't there like it used to be but she didn't let that stop her. her sense of smell was as keen as ever and she relied on that. anyhow, so two days before we got home my brother decided to have her put down. he could tell that she was in such pain among other things that were going wrong with her body. so she's now gone and it really hit me hard. so here's to raisin!!
alright, alright, enough with the sob story, i know. so here's a few pictures from our vacation. my camera died in the middle of our trip so my other pictures are on my parents cameras.
some of the kids (nieces and nephews) had asked me to come outside and play so when i finally made it out there cayden was outside off by himself making "sugar and cinnamon" (i think that's what he was calling the snow). i've been reading this fantastic book called "the female brain" by louann brizendine which tells how hormones have made the physical structure and behavior of the brain in males and females so drastically different. anyhow, now i look at this picture and the next and i think "how so typically male!" when i finish the book i'll write a little more on the things i've learned.
now, "how so typically female!" the girls were all together on the deflated cataraft playing house. the invited me to play but i convinced them and cayden that we should go on a little winter hike. so we did! nothing like a wonderful nature walk in winter to appreciate the world we live in. :)
here's the view from my parents house that i never tire of looking at. sometime i do start to take it for granted and then i have to kick myself and remind myself of the raw beauty in front of me. every time i come back to my parents house after being gone for a while i am floored by the view all over again.
here's a picture of me and shawn in the airport, waiting for jonathon's flight to show up. my mom and dad went down to uruguay for a week to spend some time with him and meet the people that he's spent the last two years with. on their way home they took a side trip to go to manchu pichu -sooo jealous!
and here's jonathon!!!!
the night before thanksgiving my sister sarah (who was also staying at my parents house, as her and her family live in colorado) proposed that we offer to babysit all the grandkids and give their parents a bit of a break. so we decided to have a giant sleepover with 10 kids. it was a blast! i had the kids help make turkey place markers, which you can see on the table. then sarah took the kids, a few at a time, into the kitchen to make their personal homemade pizza. we then went to the basement and made a huge, gigantic fort for the kids to sleep in. then got read for bed, watched a charlie brown thanksgiving movie, jello for dessert, brushed teeth, then bed. so the evening went smoothly but they had a hard time sleeping during the night. i know, i know, sleepovers were times that it was exciting to stay up all night long telling stories and such when i was a kid. but now being an adult with kids that won't go to sleep, let's just say it made a long night. then in the morning we had jungle breakfast. it's a wonderful thing that my mom used to do for all of our sleepovers when we were kids. we had to go outside (we did it inside because of the cold weather this time) and find all of our food. ...little cereal boxes, bananas, milk and capri suns were strung in bushes and trees... good memories!!! so we had a fun night and got to give their parents a date night off. :)
and here's the mast chef (and i really do mean that she's a master chef - i wish i could cook like her! the most delicious food ever comes from her!) getting the turkey ready early on thanksgiving morning.
here's dallin, sarah and chris' little boy. my dad does this thing with all little kids and it just scared dallin to death. sooo funny! he pushes their noses three times and on each time says "beep" "honk" "ka-dooga". every time dad did it dallin's eyes would get big and round and his lips would start quivering and then he'd start crying. i think that's a first time that has ever scared anyone. haha!
and here's another, better picture of jonathon, home at last! and here he's holding thomas, the current second-to-youngest grandkid (although not for long - four on the way with the earliest hopefully coming today!)
shawn is a very active person and it's hard for him to sit still or to stay at home. he likes to get out and do things. so here he is with my dad and two brothers getting ready to hike up mt baldy.
anyhow, that's the pics i have from our thanksgiving vacation. i just have to say that i love my family!!! :)
Thursday, January 7, 2010
nothing like a new background to make me feel like i actually updated my blog... sigh... okay, so i suppose that's cheating but a new look does makes it feel refreshed! :)
i actually can't see the newness of it all because the library thinks that i'm looking up something bad on my blog. with all the technology we have, it still can make mistakes...
i actually can't see the newness of it all because the library thinks that i'm looking up something bad on my blog. with all the technology we have, it still can make mistakes...
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