Annnyway…We rung in the new year in the best possible way-Cheeses of the world. It was Riley’s first time and I was really happy about it. We did our first ever cheese fondue and it was awesome! We also tried the Genovian pear and cheese dessert. Good call Genovians, good call.

We ate and played games until we realized it was after midnight. That whole counting down thing was pretty uneventful. But the cheeses made up for it.

On the 3rd we got to celebrate Haley’s 17th birthday, whoop whoop! There was dancing, present opening and cake eating. All the birthday necessities.

“I am so attractive all the time!”

Happy birthday Haley!

For Riley’s workin party we went to a hockey game. It was a jolly good time.

We got our house all decorated. Here our some pictures of our trees

The pink tree, always a favorite of mine

I think i’m pretty awesome

Our big Christmas tree! It looks a little bare what with all the holes, it doesn’t feel that way in real life though. The Appa dog ornament and the graduation ornament were the new ones for the year.

No, I didn’t intend on taking a picture of the Appa dog in front of the tree. I was taking the above picture and he plopped himself right there so I had to. I had no choice.

Speaking of the Appa dog, one day when Riley was gone I heard Appa crying. I checked his usual spots and I couldn’t find him. Finally I look over to downstairs and there he is behind the chair moving a little forward and a little back. He was stuck! I laughed and laughed and took pictures.

He was not amused. Then I helped him get out. Silly pup.

Also one day Riley sent me this picture of Appa after their morning walk and I think it is so crazy!

Anyway back to the humans. Christmas Eve was spent with my family. Having fun and playing games, as we do. And doing things like this.

I sure wish Haley wasn’t always at work.

Christmas morning we woke up and opened presents! That box with the big red bow is from Santa! He brought us a new camera that is totally awesome.

We spend the morning playing with all our  new toys. We must have been really good kids this year because we were spoiled.

Then we went to church and after that over to Riley’s sisters’s house for more festivities/pure chaos.

American Gothic?!? Oh no, just Riley’s parents.

We had such a great Christmas! I love when we get to sneak in a little extra family time.

The day after Riley went on a hike. He has gotten this idea that hiking in the winter will be fun. I think he is crazy. I stayed home. I sewed, of course and finally finished up this skirt I have been working on forever. I also made that shirt but it was finished back in November! I like how they look together though, just how I had imagined and that is rare.

Dad rolling out his dough

Paityn and Leissa getting started

Heather and Naomi

Riley cutting out some Christmas trees

Korby got the best apron of all

Grandma and the girls

Jade opening up her candy cane pieces

Working away

The cookie artist

Paityn picking her sprinkles

I was there too, see

Cookie decorating is serious business

Ready to go in the oven!

Waiting for them to be done

Riley with his finished masterpiece!

What a grand time we had! Thanks Mom and Pop!

I don’t care who ya are, that right there is cute!

We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving feast, I made a peanut butter pie and man oh man it was good. Appa got a giant bully stick for his Thanksgiving feast. It was pretty hilarious watching him try to figure out what to do with that thing. 

We finished off the day in a wonderful way


That is whipped cream from a can. It’s kind of addicting.

The next day we went on a hike to Snow Canyon overlook. It was so lovely. This is me, Jade and Haley on the way up.

This was our view at the top. It was kinda freaking me out because it came to a very abrupt cliff and it was giving me the willies.  

Here is what it looked like if you hung your head over the edge of the cliff. Yes Riley and Dad were dangling over the edge.

Here is Dad.

Here is all of us overlooking Snow Canyon

Haley and Dad

Jade got a pedicure in the sand. It was really soft sand.

Haley pondering life.

Heading back down

We love hiking!

We had a very nice time in Saint George, a little get away was just what we needed.

Anyway, I was really happy with how all the stuff turned out so I’m going to show it to you.

This was the invitation This is the food 

These are the cute girls that were nice enough to include me

Cute thank you gifts by Brittany

Create a onesie station, and create they did!

“Flowers” I made to go around the  house and the baby powder scentsy. I love little details. 

The guest of honor that was super happy/excited aparently

The creating station 

the big flowers for the tableand a close up of the cards.

We also had orange and grey balloons on the porch and a welcome sign on the door but unfortunately due to a little incident we had to take them down before I got pictures. But trust me, it was cute.

In the end, I think the shower turned out cute and I am so happy for the new little family.

Riley and Appa at the top.

The Appa dog

Me at the top

The colorful sky

The Salt Lake Valley (I suggest you click on these panoramas and see them at a bigger size)

So pretty

I discovered I’m kinda obsessed with lights-at-night pictures. I took a ton. I can’t decide which I like more, short exposure

Or long exposure? Questions, comments, thoughts, concerns?

We did Ensign Peak on Friday, then Saturday we did Silver Lake. This is the one we started a while back with Riley’s family but never finished. Coming in at 4.5 miles, I think this can be called a real hike.

Riley and Appa by the water.  This is very close to where I slipped into the splits. It’s fine, nothing was hurt but my pride.

The best family picture we have ever taken. Appa is the coolest dog in town. Seriously.

A full view from our destination

Me, with my sweet new backpack, and the Appa dog on the way back down.

The colors were great! and it smelled like fall! I really love the smell of fall!

This picture was taken October 22nd. Now lets take a walk down memory lane…

To the picture we took on the same trail on September 10th. That sure is a color difference!

I feel like this picture needs and inspirational quote or scripture on it like “Ye walk not alone” or something. (That’s not scripture, I just made it up)

So….that’s what we have been up to. Yup.

Our hiking adventures all began with a hike to Battle Creek Falls. We did it one Saturday along with Mom, Dad and Willie

This is the waterfall

You hike down to it and can hang out in this little bowl. Usually you can play in the water but there was far more water coming down then I have ever seen before

That’s a lot a water!

Crazy ol Willie, she was making me nervous with her dare devilness

Mom and Dad watching the pups play

Appa loves to chase running water

Riley and Appa coming back down

On the way down we stopped for a little foot dip. The water was very cold. And there is my yellow shirt in action just like I said!

Next we hiked to Scout Falls. Me and Appa on the trail

Me and Appa and a nice view

Riley and Appa and a nice view

Me and Riley and a nice view

Me and Riley at the waterfall

Ohhh pretty

There was one sticky little spot but Appa took it like a champ, so did Riley

Next was an attempt to Silver Lake with Riley’s family. We Like hiking to water ok? It was only an attempt because a half mile in it started to rain so we turned around and came back. Luckily the hike started at a lake (more like a larger pond) so we played around in there for a while. 

Appa was so covered in mud it was ridiculous

Next hike was another attempt, this time to Butterfield peaks. Riley found it online but nothing said how far it was other then “a little bit”. We headed up one day after work and hiked for a while and watched the sunset which was kinda awesome. When the sun was basically set we decided we better head back. When we got home Riley punched our info in to google earth and it is a good thing we turned back. We were not even close! I’m glad we did it anyway, the sunset was fun and the leaves were colorful!

We went back 5 days later to try Butterfield Peaks again and we made it! It was crazy how much more the leaves had changed, we couldn’t get over it. It was a pretty hard hike but we all made it to the top and it was well worth it! The blue line is the trail we took.

Same mountains as the attempt pictures-way more color!

Me and Riley about half way

It was pretty hot up there when we weren’t in the trees so we had to make sure and stay hydrated!

Appa was real happy about the situation 

Cute boys

Seriously part of the hike looked like this, it was a great leg workout

We got to the top of the mountain and this is what we saw

It was very beautiful

Obviously, we have been having a lot of fun!

Here is an entire outfit I made. I took the t-shirt class at Yellow Bird Fabrics in the SLC. If you are looking for apparel fabrics this place will not disappoint.  The class was great! I learned a lot about working with stretch fabrics and made this basic t-shirt.  This skirt I just went for because I wanted a casual skirt. I should have made a pattern so I could make something similar again because I like it. I didn’t make that necklace. I just try outfits on my body form before I wear them sometimes. You know just to see how it looks.

Next I did a little shirt refashion. Here is before

and here is after. Pretty basic, pretty simple, pretty fun to wear. You will see it in action in a post here soon.

Then I made a t-shirt! I really like this shirt! I used my knowledge from the class I took and made this myself, pattern and all. Actually I didn’t use a pattern. I wish I would have because I really like the way it fits.

Here is the back. ooohh ahhh

I love how I did the sleeves! Originally I had two of the skinny stripes but I though to myself hey, what if I did one with the thick? I’m real glad I did because it is my favorite part of the shirt.

I was also really careful on the sides to line up the stripes from the front and the back. I kinda impressed myself with out well it ended up matching.

These aren’t sewing. But I still made them and they are fabric and buttons so it works. Earrings!

Here is a picture of them in an ear. I think they are the perfect size. The pink ones matched my new striped shirt perfectly!

(P.S I totally took this picture myself in the mirror. Now I am totally a profesh photog/blogger/designer.)

Amee was the mastermind behind the surprise party. It all played out very well. Mom knew Amee and her family came down but, they were staying with Leissa and it all worked out somehow but I am not totally sure how. What I do know is that we all met there on Saturday round about 4 p.m. I got to make the cake! It was probably my favorite cake yet. I worked on it for a very long time. The cake was also delicious. Oh my, you must try it. It was strawberry lemonade cake from this place. Super easy and super great. Anyway we all met up and headed over to the park to get set up. Poor Mom, she thought we were all ignoring her all day. I do feel a bit bad about that.

Sadly both Haley and Dad had to work so it was up to Jade to trick mom into getting to the park. Here they come!

Mom was surprised. Real surprised. A lovely assortment of friends and family came to wish her a happy birthday. There were tears of joy.

Ryan cooked us up some wonderful hotdogs and hamburgers and we had a great BBQ.

Me and Taigey are cool, nuf said.

Ok these two are cooler. 

Yes I did shove 50 candles into the cake well, with the help of Naomi, Paityn, Taige and Riley.

She got them all! I hope she wished for something good.

The momma and the children.

The momma and her brother. He and my grandma came down from Wyoming just for the party. When Mom saw him she was like “Oh, you’re taking a nap?!” She had talked to him earlier and he had a great story of working in his garden and taking a nap. Tricking people is fun!

The momma and the grandchildren. I love this picture.
Happy Birthday to My Momma! You da best. Good planing Amee. And Haley and Dad we missed you (if i was into emoticons I would do this here, but I feel silly using them so I wont)

According to Google Maps it takes 5 hours and 11 minutes to get there. We didn’t time ourselves so we will say it was about 5 hours. We got there in the late afternoon, Riley sat for a minute then our adventures began.

Our first stop was Moose Creek. Jade wanted to teach Willie to swim. This was not such a successful trip for that but we had fun.

Jade gave me the stink eye.

And found some pepper. I feel like there are always things like this around the cabin. They look super old and they are all rusted and its containers of things like pepper. 

This pretty much sums up Willie for the trip. She was really good to stay close so she got to spend the week off her leash! Appa was not so good. So he got to stay on leash. I think he was a little jealous but Willie was in doggie heaven. She ran and ran and ran. She even got some pretty good cuts to prove she was a true wilderness dog. You can kinda see one in this picture.

A wilderness man and his wilderness dog. I pretty much think this should be a Cabela’s add or something.

And then we saw a moose at Moose Creek! How quaint! Riley’s must have brought his beginners luck. (who cares if he has been round these parts before)

Our next stop was the Big Springs. I tried so hard to get a good picture of everyone right here. Sadly this is the best I got. At least you can see Jade’s eyes.

I just think this is cute.

Then we went on to the Small Springs and old rail road stuff. See Riley and railroad stuff.

It was hard to convince Appa to get in the car by this point.

That night we played Phase 10 until late in the night, when we all started to giggle like little school girls. We couldn’t finish, I was just too tired.

The next day we took the pups to a body of water to swim. Maybe it was a lake, maybe it was a reservoir. Who knows? Turns out one can be both things. I don’t like it. Anyway this was when Jade was successful getting lil’ Willie to swim! She carried her out to the water and she swam back in.

Appa wasn’t a big fan and we were ok with that since we didn’t want to have to blow dry him. We took him out on the boat and he seemed to like that. I love this picture, Appa just looks so cool.

Willie a swimmin.

These dogs are like BFFs but just look at Appa’s face. Cracks me up.

Riley, Mom and Appa hanging out.

When we got back we just hung out and the dogs played.

and played.

and played.

Took a small break for water then played some more.

They can go for hours. We couldn’t have them in the cabin together unless they were both held and forced to calm down or else it sounded like the place was coming down. Even outside we tried to get them to just relax. And Dad cuddled with Willie, I think he likes her.

Then Riley when for a motorcycle ride. Can you believe I only went on one four-wheeler ride this year?! ONE! I can hardly believe it myself. Riley even when on two well, once on the motorcycle and once on the four-wheeler. And on my one ride of the year I ran over a snake! Ewwww.

Getting suited up.

Back it out.

And off he goes!

That evening Korby, Heather and Naomi arrived.

Naomi has some pretty sick-tight cheese drawing skills.

Mom played a game on Naomi’s ipad for seriously at least an hour.

Jade just watched.

Friday we floated the river but not a single one of us brought our camera. That was sad. Willie stayed home but Appa got to come. He seemed to like it. He just sat there in the boat, much like the picture above, getting every ones attention. Such an attention hog.

Saturday we headed into Yellowstone. We saw geysers beyond your wildest dreams, a couple sets of elk even a baby, a bald eagle and a bison.

And of course we saw Old Faithful, and faithful she was.

We talked about how crazy it would have been to be the first person to come upon this stuff. Bubbling mud, water shooting out of the ground we think they were probably thinking “What the…?!”

I think it would be so hilarious to find out that it is all fake. Look at the colors! They don’t look real. Can you imagine finding out it was all a set up and we were all so fooled!?

That evening we went to a play in West Yellowstone. If you have never seen a play at the Playmill I highly recommend it. We always go to one and this year did not disappoint. The production of High School Musical was just lovely. After we all danced our way down the street to get pizza. May I also recommend the Gusher if you want a pretty good pizza. It is in the ghetto, but that’s fine.  I am already looking forward to next year’s play.

Shortly after we returned to the cabin the Richard family showed up. His girls and Naomi had a great time together. They did normal stuff like, you know locking each other in dog creates, pretending to be dead unicorns, stuff like that.

Sunday morning we went to church then just hung out until we left.

Comparing injuries.

We sure didn’t want to leave. There were talks of quitting jobs, finders keepers, commandeering and the likes. Unfortunately none of them worked out and we all came home anyway. Even Appa was sad.