Tuesday, November 8, 2011

First Snow

We got our first snow the other day.  I'm not a huge fan of winter, and when you grow up in northern Utah, most of your life is winter.  We're talking 7-8 months out of the year.  Snow can start as early as the second week of October (possibly sooner) and it can snow as late as the beginning of May (or June).  I love certain things about winter.  I learned to ski when I was little and then in 9th grade I started boarding.  I love it, but it's kind of expensive so I haven't been in a couple years.  Also, I love Christmas.  I'm that obnoxious person that starts pulling out as much Christmas stuff as they can the minute they get home from trick-or-treating.  I have at least 5 books of piano Christmas music that I play, plus some sheet music.  The point is, I love Christmas, I hate winter.  I should have stayed in Texas.  I would much rather be too hot than too cold.  ANYWAYS.  First snow.  Isabel was around for last winter, but she didn't really care because she was so little.  So when I woke up the other day and saw that it had snowed, I couldn't wait to show her.  Even though I hate winter, there's a little bit of a thrill that comes with the white snow.  So we put her boots on over her pajamas and headed outside.   



She was looking out over our field and she just kept saying "Wow, Mommy, wow wow"


I lifted her up and stood her in it, and she bailed on that idea as fast as she could.

She was extra upset when she realized it stuck to her boots (which are her new favorite things).  She wanted to wipe it off, but she was afraid to touch it.

I think it's safe to say this winter will be interesting.  I think she's too small to go out and play in it, like with snow pants and the whole she-bang, but we'll figure something out I think.

Monday, November 7, 2011

4 Generations of Crazy

So I may or may not have mentioned before that about a year and a half ago, right after Isabel was born, my grandma got really sick.  She's always been a 'really tough old hag' and I say that out of complete respect.  She'd go out with my grandpa, my dad, and my uncle hunting, and she could out shoot all three of them.  She would take me fishing and spank my butt if I threw a fit about touching the worms or if I complained about being tied to a giant rock or spare tire.  (She didn't want me to drown.) 

This is my grandma, me, and my little brother, having a tailgate picnic during the deer hunt.  I think I was 3 here.

She's had several heart surgeries, the first of which when she was only 45, and other random things that just come with getting older.  Every day for as long as I remember she would get up in the morning, have something light to eat, walk up a hill, and then come home and eat a big healthy breakfast, and when I would go to stay with her, I would have to do the same thing.  "It keeps your heart pumpin'."  So it came as a big surprise to all of us when she was suddenly hospitalized in June 2010.  She had a form of the herpes virus that causes cold sores, but it had moved backwards into her brain and turned into encephalitis.  She was pretty much unconscious for almost 2 months, and we didn't think she would come out of it.  Due to the amount of time she spent in bed, her legs haven't been able to get strength back, and her mind isn't as sharp as it was before, but Grama is still crazy as ever.  She lived 3 hours away in an assisted living home near my uncle, and so when we get the chance we go see her.  We always try to make sure to take pictures when we go.  I went through a time in my life when I didn't fully appreciate her, and I always wondered what it would be like if my grandpa was still around, because he died when I was 4.  My dad likes to joke that Grama would have killed him off by now anyways, and how that might actually be what happened, because Grama didn't want an autopsy done. 


 I know she doesn't have a long time left, but I want Isabel to know about the lady that passed on her crazy to my dad, who then passed it to me, and I'm sure it's going to be an inevitable fate for Isabel.  A short temper, the inability to communicate normal human emotion, OCD, unreasonable reasoning (like voting for Bill Clinton because he has nice hair and that shows character.....), high cholesterol, and so much more.


She doesn't understand anything Cangrejo says, but she thinks he's handsome and so she approves.  I know she's losing it because she says that I'm looking thinner.  One thing that I've always based her crazy on is that she goes by her middle name 'Maurine' because she thinks the name 'Julia' sounds like a floozy.  She was raised in Dingle, Idaho.  Bet you didn't know there was a town by the name of Dingle.  They have raspberries there so there's like.....Dingleberries hahaha.  When she's gone she's going to come back and haunt us because she was born a Bear Laker and they're supposed to die Bear Laker's, but she's spending her time farther North.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Happy Halloween...one day late.

Last Friday my 2 older brothers went to their annual work Halloween party.  They brought their boys to the house and so we painted pumpkins and made s'mores with 6 boys ages 1-11 plus Isabel.  However, before my oldest brother left, we got a picture. 
That's him with the blond wig and the goatee (if you couldn't tell). He was Little Red Riding Hood and my sister-in-law was the Big Bad Wolf.  Seriously, I look forward to Halloween every year just to see what these two are going to dress up as.

Before Isabel went to bed I painted her hand to put it on her pumpkin.  She wasn't really sure what to think about it.

She didn't like me restraining her finger movement when we put it on the pumpkin, either, but by damn, we did it anyways.

Ta-daa!  Here's ME!  No one commented on my last post (thanks, guys) to help me decide which way to paint my face, but a bunch of people on Facebook did, and I ended up actually going with the least popular because I thought it was bad ass.  I didn't do it exactly the same, but whatever.  I still think it rocked, and I only scared two little kids when we went trick-or-treating.  I was worried that it would freak Isabel out, but she actually thought it was pretty funny.

And here's my brujita linda!  (Pretty little witch.)  We went to my friend's store and she found a broom to play with, which was awesome and appropriate, so I took a picture.  Plus, she just looked so damn cute.

Here we are on the front porch :)  My mom took a picture of us almost every year when we were little on the porch for Halloween, so I considered it necessary.  Hopefully next year we can take the picture on our own porch, though.

It was a pretty long night for her.  She didn't really get the whole trick-or-treating thing, but she thought it was awesome that every time someone opened the door they let her grab as much candy as her little hands could, and this girl has enough dum-dums to last until her birthday so we're set.

So, now we're on to November.  I can't believe how fast this year has gone by!  I hope that November is better than the last few months have been.  I'm already working on a bunch of Christmas projects, as of next week I'll be working full time, and hopefully I'll be starting online classes on the 15th.  I can't even tell you how freaking excited I am.  I like studying, is that weird?  For someone that almost didn't graduate and basically got kicked out of school her 2nd trimester of her senior year, I love to learn.  Now that I'm doing it because I want to, I feel really driven and excited and I can't wait to start.  I'll be working a lot because we're hoping to go to California for Christmas and New Years to be with Cangrejo's extended family (whom I've never met) and we've got to save up extra money for gas.  It's gonna be crazy the next couple of months, but I'm looking forward to it!  So, Happy November everyone, be grateful and stuff.