Happy Thanksgiving!

We are off to spend Thanksgiving with Mom and Dad and the Schoeffel Family. Dad had knee surgery last week and Mom needs a bit of extra help to get everything ready, which we are more than happy to provide! Even Puppy Abby has been invited for the holiday (so she doesn't have to stay home with Jessica!)

Here are a few pics of Anna and her friends, Julian and Carissa, at the Thanksgiving Feast in Kindergarten last week... sooooooo.... darn.... cute!!!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone! I sure know what I am thankful for!!!

2009 Rusty Pickle Retreat!!

For the third year in a row, I have been fortunate to join my fellow Rusty Pickle designers and staff for a resort retreat in the mountains above Park City, Utah.  5 days of bonding, laughing, scrapping, eating, crying (part of the bonding), sharing, creating... it is a wonderful, beautiful, inspiring trip each year! 

This year, I think I am going to let the pictures do the talking...

The family of deer... the hula hoops... snow angels... baby Andy and Aiden... lots of classes... frozen soda exploding on the porch and Heidi going pee before saving us with the kitchen knife... Slim Jim story (will live forever)... BEAUTIFUL views... snow and freezing temps... who is sleeping with Tricia?...Chicken Picatta and Laura's Chicken Salad (YUM!)... award night... sliding into the ditch... hot coffee... long talks... who needs boots and a jacket?... a wonderful trip! 

Christmas Card Picture...

So... Mom and Dad have been bugging me for a "family" photo to send out in their Christmas cards for about 2 weeks.  I finally had a chance (with all 3 kids at home) last night at 9PM to do a quick photo shoot.  It is a different look for a Christmas card photo, but I think it turned out pretty cute.  Jess... 19.5, Chris 17, Anna 5.5, Abby 6 months...  And, yes, Jess... it is nice to have all 3 of you here at home to be able to take this photo... (((hugs)))  Now... back to the retreat photos...

I'm Back...

Let's see... Halloween... a week in Park City with the family... then 5 days in the mountains above Heber, Utah (yes, just 30 minutes away from our family vacation... how's that for timing!) for the Rusty Pickle retreat... it has been a CRAZY month!!!  I am busy catching up around the house, decorating for Christmas so the Carlson's can come visit Thanksgiving weekend, and loading pictures from the retreat.  In the meantime, here are two layouts that I completed up at the retreat.  "I Love U Daddy" was during a hike to Ensign Peak... to the most BEAUTIFUL view of downtown Salt Lake City!  The "Beautiful" layout was one of our recent trips to Disneyland using both the Island Summer and Panama Jack lines of RP paper.  Hope you enjoy them and next... photos from the retreat!

HALLOWEEN... Yes, I know it is Nov. 9th, but...

... we hosted a Halloween party for around 20 on October 31st, and then got up at 4AM on November 1st to leave for a week in Utah.  I PROMISED my parents (Hi, Mom and Dad) that I would post pics of Anna, the party and the decorations... SOOOOOOO... although it is November 9th... and I am in the middle of posts about our Utah trip... and I am 24 hours away from flying BACK to Utah for the ANNUAL RUSTY PICKLE RETREAT (WOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!)... I am posting pics of Halloween (just because I love you so much, Mom and Dad!)

Anna had friends Kami (the pirate) and Julian (the other pirate) come over to play and trick or treat.  Thanks to Dan Kirksey for the photos of Anna swinging, the kids at twilight, and the black and white photos!  For the house decorations, I cut branches from the trees out back, sprayed them with black spray paint, and used them as accents all over the house.  I also took out some great old black and white photos of the family and put them up around the house.  Add in some silver trays and cups (that I picked up for $11.00 at AmVets), candles, coffee stained fabrics and webs and there are some fun decorations.  I also made window coverings and drapes for the opening between the family/dinning rooms... but somehow didn't get pictures of those things.

Thanks for looking!  We had a Hauntingly Good Time!

Park City - Olympic Center!

WOW, what a day!!!  We spent 4 hours today touring (and hiking) around the site of the 2002 Winter Olympics... the long jump, freestyle, louge, bobsled... what an AMAZING facility... and better yet... the US Team was practicing while we were there! We were standing about 2 feet away from the athletes as they FLEW by at over 80 miles per hour... THAT TOTALLY ROCKED!!!  Again, I don't have photo editing, but I wanted to share these pics I was able to get of Anna and Jeff watching a run at Curve 6... there was some SERIOUS SPEED!

On Vacation...

Ahhhhhh... Jeff, Anna Banana and I are on vacation in Park City this week... enjoying the most wonderful and relaxing vacation... no plans... each day a new adventure... AND LOVING IT!  Our 2,100 square foot condo is INCREDIBLE...the weather is UNBELIEVABLE... and we are enjoying our first vacation with just little Anna.  The teens are back at home... they were busy with work and school and thanks to our FANTASTIC neighbors and friends (Hi, Tom and Sandy), Jess and Chris could stay at home and take care of business.  I am using Jeff's laptop at the moment and he doesn't have photo editing software on this thing, so I will post pics when we get home... here is one that I just had to post... it is so simple, but comfy bathrobes hanging in your vacation closet... ahhhh... heaven!!!

OGHS Varisty Team Dinner!!!

WOOOOO HOOOOO!!!  We have been planning for this team dinner for the past several months!  Ladies, you know that we have to set a "deadline" when we start a home construction project, right!? :-)  Months ago we started preparing our backyard for stage 1 of reconstruction... and our "deadline" was to be ready to host about 50 for the Varsity Football Dinner!  35 pounds of homemade chili served in bread bowls, cornbread and homemade butter and honey, chicken caeser salad and the MOST AWESOME DESSERT... apple slices drenched in carmel with whipped cream and crushed walnuts on top!!!  YUM!

Yes, Eric... I noticed that you made it into EVERY PICTURE... :-)

It was a GREAT night and the boys are always wonderful guests!  Hope you enjoy these photos as much as we enjoyed the whole evening!!!  We play Oceanside tonight... GO PATRIOTS!

"This is MY Daddy!"

While we are stuck at home dealing with the Swine Flu... Chris and I have been through it and Anna has it right now... I had some time to create this layout of Anna and Jeff at Disneyland.  I used Tim Holtz Distress PAINT (guess what color... YEP, Vintage Photo PAINT!  LOVE IT!) on the edges of the layout, the flower and the chipboard, then added a bit of sparkle.  (I'm not sure that like the paint on the flower, but I wanted to try it.)  I have also been wanting to try a ribbon border, and I do like the way the border turned out.  Add a punch of color with the teal flowers and, WOOO HOOO!  A simple layout done and in the book! :-)  Make it a GREAT day!!!

This One's For You, Dad!

Alright, Dad!  Since you may not be able to come down for Halloween since we are all sick, I thought I better post updated photos of our construction for you to see! :-)  You will see Jeff (literally) pulling down the arbor... the start of the patio pour... proof that the new drainage works... proof that NOBODY can keep Puppy Abby away from wet concrete...more work by the crew and the final pad.  The concrete is still curing, so there is still some variation in the color.  We also (obviously) have a lot of clean up and planting to do... the storage shed has been put back together, the side fence still needs to come down and be replaced, and the new  12 x 12 raised wooden deck needs to be installed where the palms trees are still standing... but we are getting there!  At least we now have a place to feed the football team, this Thursday!!!  Enjoy the pics!  I love you!  Be sure to share this post with Mom, too!!! :-)