Shanandy

Christmas Party December 17, 2007

This weekend we were able to go to a “real” Christmas party. When Andy finished up with the Forest Service he started working for Jeremy running his car wash. We have heard about Jeremy’s Christmas parties in the past but know we were actually going. We were not disappointed. We had a great dinner and then the drawings started. The gifts were nothing like my school parties were we have drawings for boxes of chocolates. His pile of gifts included multiples of 37” flat screen TV’s, Bose stereos, home entertainment systems, Rebel cameras, laptops, Xbox 360, Play station 3 (and the Rockband), GPS systems, and I POD touches. There may have been other gifts but these are the ones that stick in my head and give you an idea of what was being handed out.

Andy was so excited he had been looking at the Playstation 3 that morning saying how much he would like one. I didn’t pay to much attention knowing that I wouldn’t be buying him one. Andy ended up winning an Xbox 360 at the party and then traded Jason Peterson for the Play station 3. Thanks Jason you made his night. I was very excited about the trade because this meant I really didn’t have to worry about Andy going and buying one.

After the party we came home and set it up. I couldn’t believe how much fun we had. Shayla, Bob, Ryan, and Danna came over and we stayed up until 3:00 playing and making bands. The later it got the crazier we got.

What a wedding! December 14, 2007

So, Shan and I were lucky enough today to attend one of my favorite cousin’s wedding. Tom Picklesimer and his new blushing bride Julie.

For those of you who don’t know I have a special affinity for Tomp as I call him. Back in the day all my friends used to come over and play computer games at my house (I’m still a nerd), and Tomp kind of tagged along. He was young then, around 13 and we were all somewhat older 17+ and more advanced.

Tomp was great, he was a like a puppy who was shy at first, not knowing his place and once he realized he was accepted he bloomed. He was funny, sarcastic and could joke with the rest of us. I’ll always remember the time Tomp was forced to go on a date by his mom before he could come back over to my house and keep gaming. Ahh the good ol days.

Well Tom, congratulations, and welcome to the marriage club.

For those interested Tomp’s blog can be found here, word to the wise though, it’s gushy with wedding feelings.

Kirtland December 12, 2007

For Thanksgiving we were able to fly out to Kirtland, Ohio and visit my parents. However we had a rocky start. We were suppose to take Jeremy’s place but on Tues. Sharla called me and said that the radar had broke while coming back from Salt Lake. The trip was called off due to the bad weather in Ohio and no radar. I was disappointed but figured that we would still be able to go to the mountain. Sharla called me on Wed. and informed me that she had purchased us all commercial airline tickets. The trip was back on. We quickly got into our cars and drove down to Vegas. As we checked in Jeremy bumped all of our tickets up to 1^st class. What a way to travel. It was great seeing my parents. My mom was thrilled to be around the grandchildren and my dad wanted us to see everything. My dad had the whole time planned out for us. He took us to see Lake Erie. It was extremely cold. We were there just long enough to get out of the cars and walk down to the shore and then we pretty much went back to the cars to get warm. I was surprised at just how big the lake was. My niece Allie was excited that we had seen the ocean. She was prepared to swim all the way to Canada. Dad also took us all around Kirtland. We visited the temple, which is now owned by the Community of Christ Church. We then went back to the Kirtland historic district where dad took us around to the other historic homes stores, and saw mill. It was great having him do the tour. We saw a lot more then most people get to see and he told us more stories about what had happened at the particular places. Before leaving we visited an Amish community. It was neat to see the buggies on the roads next to you. They were even furnished with turn signals. All of the local stores had buggy parking and car parking. Our time there went by to quick and sadly we had to get on the plane Sat. night. The ride home was nowhere as good as the ride going out, as we had to return back to reality and ride in coach. It seemed like a much longer ride going home.