Joy to everyone

If you have five minutes, go to joytoeveryone.com to watch this sweet video. I tried to upload it but it was taking forever.
Apt 16's cute, crooked little Christmas tree. I am SO enjoying my vacation at Andra's (read: I'm being a lazy bum). Pictures are forthcoming. Happy birthday to Wendy and Dad and happy anniversary to R&S, F&A, and K&T. :) I wish I could be with all of you for Christmas.

December-y things

I'll just do another big hodgepodge post now since I'm here and the pictures are here and I don't want to do it at Andra's. Here ya go.
Two Saturdays ago Nichelle and I went to the Family History Library in SLC. It was fun. This awesome accordion trio came in and started playing Christmas songs.
Monday we had a substitute in chemistry. At first I was bored to tears since the stuff he was talking about had nothing to do with anything or we had already done it. But by the end, I was a fan of him. He lit this fire wand and had us sing "Give, said the little zinc" to the tune of "Give, said the little stream," conducting us all the while.
For our last FHE all the groups decorated a gingerbread house for a ward contest.
Ours was by far the simplest but it was fun to make. I didn't see the others in person but Natalie took pictures and they looked pretty intense. One was a model of the JFSB, which the bishop liked, because he's a linguistics professor. :)
This has nothing to do with anything--just thought it was funny that this spoon still had the tag on it. The guys whose apartment we were in obviously had no kitchen utensils and had just bought it before FHE along with the cocoa we drank.
Wednesday was Nichelle's birthday. We couldn't celebrate hard core because we all had class all day and a ward activity that night, but we do what we can. :)

And I made her these chocolate berry muffins. Of course, not nearly as pretty as the picture, but still yummy.
The activity was a catered dinner and Christmas program in Aspen Grove. It was fun.
Saturday Kristin and I went to a bridal shower for our good friend Candice's little sister. It was so good to see Steph and Candice.
I liked their Audrey Hepburn picture.
Sunday I went to see Grandma--love her-- and Nichelle made this yummy ice cream cake for Natalie's birthday. They had a little party of their own while I was at the...
White Christmas party! Aunt Jean and Uncle Gil's house looked beautiful, and as always, the program was nice and the nativity was adorable.
We even had a little cow and Tommy and Doris were a couple of adorable sheep.
Grandma and the great-grandkids. Yes, that's the best picture I got. It was good to see everyone. I am SO happy to be done with finals and have two weeks to chill at Andra's and read my library books--something other than textbooks. (Which I just sold back for $146! The only big ticket book they wouldn't take was my fat, used chemistry book. Anyone want it?) And enjoy the last week before Christmas (a week before Christmas? When did that happen?) I'm going to milk it.

Thanksgiving & Dad's birthday (sort of)

These are kind of random, but I was itching to get back in the blogosphere. Too lazy to add commentary, though. You were all there. :)

National Park Weekend; or, Cease Flushing and Run For the Hills

Last weekend Tommy, Doris and I hit two national parks and a national monument in one day--definitely a record for me.
First was White Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico. We got there at 7am when it opened and it was chilly. And Doris was wearing holey shoes. :) That sand is ridiculously fine. And there's loads of it.
After an interesting sacrament meeting in Alamogordo, we said goodbye to the very-eager-to-meet-us missionaries and booked it to Carlsbad Caverns (not pictured--check T&D's blog). We made it just in time, before the natural entrance closed. It was amazing. Ginormous. Surprisingly not creepy. Breathtaking panoramic views of the Texas plains (from the outside). And I can now say I've gone to the bathroom 75 stories below ground. Thank goodness there's an elevator, electric lighting, and handrails nowadays. The Big Room was pretty dang big, big enough to fit a 747 inside. If I had a room that big, I'd use it as a Pirate's Booty warehouse.
This is White's City, New Mexico, aka Ghetto USA, which consists of a few buildings outside Carlsbad. What kind of a grocery store has no food? This one.
TEXAS!
Next stop: Guadalupe Mountains National Park. We got there with just enough time to put up the tent before it got dark. Or rather, T&D put up the tent and I mostly watched. Then we ate our rations of Triscuits, granola bars and Powerade, Doris and I watched Sherlock Holmes, and we went to sleep early.
The campsite had real toilets! Woohoo! Yes, Doris, I took a picture of the notice inside the ladies' bathroom. It's too funny.
The next morning, after a long, warm, and very rocky sleep, we drove a few miles to McKittrick Canyon where we hiked to Pratt's cabin. It wasn't really a hike, but it was nice.
This is the view from the visitor center where the trail began. It got prettier.

Not too bad for Texas, huh?
This cabin was built by Wallace Pratt back in the '30s. When his friend brought him out from Pecos to show him this place, he fell in love. He said it was the prettiest place he'd ever seen (he was from Pecos after all), built the cabin, and stayed. Years later he donated a big chunk of land to the park service. It's surprisingly large and sturdy (the cabin, not the land).
Thanks for bringing me along, T&D. It was fun!