This one's for the grandparents...

Here's a couple of videos I shot of Helena recently. Warning, if you're not an immediate family member, you'll probably find them way too long and boring...so maybe just watch the first 30 seconds of so. :) I forgot that with my camera I need to edit the videos before transfering them onto the computer. And, they're crooked again...I really need to work on that for next time. I suck...sorry! :)

Here's a video of Helena & Ash playing with one of her Christmas presents. A Christmas present HER DAD couldn't wait until Christmas to open. Listen closely and you can her her funny laugh.



Here's another one of her showing off some new & improved dance moves. They are oddly reminiscent of Ash dancing after several hours of drinking. Is there anything this kid didn't inherit from her Dad?



-Emily :)

Happy Turkey Day!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving tomorrow!

We're going it alone here in Utah...but even though it kind of sucks not to be with our extended families, Ash & I are kind of excited to be 'responsible' for the entire meal.

The cooking has already begun at our house and will contintue tonight with our annual Thanksgiving-eve pie bake-off. This year I'm only making 2 pies and a cake...and yes, that's one pie for each of us, but we have all weekend folks!

Oddly enough, Ash has never been to my family's Thanksgiving due to a number of reasons (traveling to Europe, going to Michigan, etc.) so he is unfamiliar with some of the traditions I'm used to at Thanksgiving. Mainly, the "Thanksgiving Post-Meal Football Group Nap", which is a totally foreign concept on his side of the family. While my family naps throughout the entire house for at least 2 hours, his sits around and talks...jeez...it's like actually spending quality time together or something.

Everyone enjoy their holiday weekend!
-Emily :)

Forklift on Aisle Three....

I went grocery shopping for Thanksgiving today in an attempt to beat the crowds that will inevitably form this weekend and next week at the stores. Nothing puts me in a worse mood faster than a way too-crowded grocery store. A quirk I inherited from my mom, I think.

Utah grocery stores are known for their impressive stock of bulk food items. I imagine this is because of the abundance of larger families here, and the insistence of some LDS families to have a year's supply of food on hand in case the world comes to an end.

So in addition to the large sign denoting the 'Food Preparedness and Canning' section of the grocery store, I also saw many common pantry items available in bulk sizes. Need a feed bag size of all-purpose flour? If you can lift it, it's yours! And while you're at it, grab the 20 lb. bag of wheat, so during the long winter, you can just make your own flour! Crap, you'd probably save at least a couple of dollars doing it that way. What about a 5-gallon bucket of green beans? Why not! Does your family go through bread like it's going out of style? Well...buy the 2lb. loaf instead of the regular 1lb. loaf! What a great idea!

To top off my trip, I stood in line behind a woman who was buying multiple turkeys for the holiday. Anyone want to guess how many?? FIVE. FIVE FULL-SIZED TURKEYS. I'm going to tell myself she was buying for Christmas, too, because the thought of having 100 relatives at Thanksgiving makes me want to die. Crap, Ash & I don't even have 100 relatives on both sides of our families combined. We're definitely missing out.

Emily :)

The 'D' Trip Report

I keep forgetting to blog about our trip to Detroit the weekend before last. We visited to see Ashford's dad and Maggie and also to attend the wedding of Ash's best friend's little sister.

At Ash's Dad's house, Helena had a great time playing with the array of large tupperware Maggie owns. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before here, but the kid LOVES her kitchen storage units. I think she played with them every way possible...climing in them, beating on them, putting them on her head, pushing them around, yelling into them...yeah, it kept her busy for a good hour and a half.

The wedding would have been more fun had we been kidless, to be honest. Sit down dinner weddings with a 13 month old aren't something I'd recommend. Helena and I ended up leaving as soon as I finished eating because she was being completely crazy. I don't know if it was the loud noises or too many people or what, but whatever it was, we could not keep her happy to save our lives.

That evening was capped off with Ash coming back to the hotel, me going down to let him in, and then he decided to steal some food from the hotel kitchen. I was mad at him at first, but then it was funny, and then we agreed that you can't visit the 'D' without stealing SOMETHING. And, we were really hungry.

Anyway, it was good to see Ash's family and friends, most of whom had never seen Helena. I think his Detroit friends were pretty freaked out that "Andy" has a kid now. But that's OK, it still kind of freaks us out now and then too.

-Emily :)

Oh I'll show you my Diverging Diamond.

I promise my title will make sense (kind of) by the end of this. :)

I wanted to post this article from the Salt Lake Tribune about the second giant highway project Ashford and his company won here in Utah. Ashford was the head person on this design and the type of interchange he successfully designed and proposed (and they agreed to) will be one of the first of its kind in the U.S. Pretty cool even if you're not into the ins and outs of on ramps and freeway design (and who isn't, seriously!?!).

The next step for me is to see if 'we' can maybe get a comp trip to Europe to do some very important, cutting-edge highway design research. I'll let you know how that goes.

-Emily :)

So that's why they call it Zion....

Thought I'd post a couple of pictues from our side trip to Zion Canyon National Park on our way to Vegas.

The place was spectacular to say the least. I think my siblings were skeptical when I suggested we stop by this place on our drive down, but the soon realized we were in for a treat as we approached the park. I have a bit of a reputation for wanting to do 'lame' things in my family. Anyway, Ash & I will definitely be going back to do some more hiking and camping in the spring.

Oh, and because you all know my love of silly pictures-- one last pic of a building in Virgin, Utah. Makes me chuckle.

My own little billboard...

A little inspiration for the historic events that will transpire tomorrow:

(Read: I'm 72 years younger than John McCain).

Seriously, have you ever seen a better t-shirt?!?

But all politics aside, people, just go out and vote for who you believe in. And let's just all hope we know who the next president will be by Wednesday and not 2 months from now. It's not humanly possible for me to watch any more CNN than I already have been the past month or so.

-Emily :)

The scariest pink monster you've ever seen.

Helena was a jayhawk cheerleader at daycare and a monster in the evening. I didn't think about the possibility of daycare having a halloween party and her having to wear a costume all day long when I bought the monster one over a month ago. Rookie mom mistake...ha!

Hope eveyone had a great halloween!

-Emily :)