And the party continues! New Year's Eve fifth annual 24-hour bash in Huntsville, Utah!

Jeff "listening" to the BYU game.













Laura and her mama (Vauna).













The New Year's Eve "hot babes": Carol, Leisha, Laura, Vauna, Ashlyn











Laura, Jared, and Leisha (in one of her RARE shots away from Jon!)












Mike (Lynda's husband) working on a tough puzzle



















Carol and Laura

















Kids living in basement room that Jeff put in this last year. They lived down here for at least seven days, only coming upstairs to get food every so often.














Madi (Jon's sister) engrossed in another book.
















Jon and Leisha playing xbox (Leisha is wearing her "duck" face)










Lynda (Jon's mom). Notice how she still looks great even with no sleep and no makeup!

Christmas Fun! Be sure to check out my mom's funny puppet video at the end.

Jared trying to open a present on Christmas morning.











Leisha and Jeff at Carol's on Christmas day.




























Matt's oldest son, Spencer, on Christmas day.













Laura on Christmas morning in Huntsville.




















Jon's sister Madi with Ashlyn's cat Sherbet. Jon's mom Lynda in background.









Jared with one of the giant icicles on our deck.
















Leisha and Jon at Carol's.












Jeff, my mom, and Ashlyn at Carol's.















Leisha and Jon at Carol's.




















Carol's son Taylor at our house (he didn't take the green hat off for 7 days).









Jared with Matt's darling daughter Ellie at Carol's.









Ashlyn (Carol's daughter) with Matt's two cuties: Sophie (left) and Ellie (right).














Ashlyn with the beloved Sherbet creature.









We got about 10 inches of snow on Christmas Eve and morning.












Jeff and Laura Christmas morning in Huntsville.












Jared trying to look tough in his dreadlocks.








Leisha cross-country skiing on our property the week after Christmas.










Laura and Leisha at Carol's.















Jared and Laura Christmas morning in Huntsville.






My mom performed a Christmas puppet show with her magical dancing wooden man that she got in Nauvoo, Illinois. The person guffawing in the background is my brother, Matt.

The Grinch....

This picture really cracked me up, because it looks a lot like Rontu (our Bengal Leopard cat). This cat looks so totally disgusted with his predicament, and that's how Rontu's been acting lately--he is perturbed that we won't let him live on the kitchen counter, offended that he's not allowed to sit at the dinner table, and puzzled as to why he's not considered human.

Homemaker Extraordinaire, or... Mormon Muffins!!!

Yum--Yum!!! These muffins are so delicious! I got the recipe from a local restaurant that is known for their muffins. They are loaded with bran, and buttermilk gives them a nice, rich flavor.

EVIL SUB....

So this week I had to be gone for three days from school because of a workshop I had to attend. My kids (HS students) HATE to have a sub! They always claim that any of their bad behavior is directly caused by that particular sub's evil nature. When I got back today, they were practically kissing my feet! They were so relieved to have me back. I felt pretty happy that they like me!

Odds 'n ends

Me trying to be "cool" in Jared's sunglasses. He told me I didn't quite achieve my goal. He thinks I look "mom-ish."

A couple of random pix I wanted to add. This is from Jared's summer Air Force encampment at Camp Williams. He's second from the right, back row. He seems to be taking the Air Force thing pretty seriously. It freaks me out to see him in military gear: reminds me of Jeff in his younger days.

Jon, Leisha, and Jared doing a group back rub at Lake Powell. I liked this picture.

Lake Powell Lifestyle

Earlier in the summer Leisha and Jared's cousin Taylor Morley came to Lake Powell to hang out with us for awhile. He, Jared, and I climbed all over the place.














The great Risk game: Leisha and Jon pwned Jeff and Jared big time! Laura provided moral support by making popcorn for both teams.










Leisha and Jon on one of their hikes. Jon won the "mountain goat" award for effortlessly running (floating) up steep hills with no apparent effort in about 1/10th the time of the rest of us!
















The kids and I on top of the world....














Poor babies were tired after a windy/rainy night that sent everybody fleeing off the top of the houseboat into the interior in the middle of the night.
























We were at Lake Powell with Leisha, Jon, and Jared at the end of August. The weather was comfortable, even though we got hit with a couple of big rainstorms and windstorms.
We all hiked on the surrounding red sandstone cliffs. It was stunningly beautiful and serene!