International Trip...to Canada

Preston and I had a fantastic time in the land of Canada this past week. We will share some of the highlights.


We went to Waterton, had a delicioso picnic, and played around the beach of this here lake (Waterton Lake).


Then we hiked to Bertha Falls. There were fantastic views (of the scenery) the entire hike. See?



We had an all-day 60th anniversary celebration for Preston's wonderful grandparents. We all look pretty happy after a tasty roast beef dinner eh?



Joy of all joys! I visited the largest Walmart in Canada. It looks small in the picture, but I need you to trust me on this one. It's huge!


We had a total blast at the Canada Day Parade in Raymond. I LOVE this parade, and look forward to it every year we're able to go.



Bear was out of his mind with gladness, because he had a massive backyard to play around in all week. He got pretty spoiled.


Here we are watching fireworks in the backyard. Sorry you can't see 'em, but I trust you to use your imagination. At the same time, I received a lovely new hairdo.


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Now I conclude this post with this sassy pic of me out at the ranch. I have loads of more pictures, as you could imagine, and since I usually have little to blog about, perhaps I'll post more pictures of the trip later.

Happy Birthday Sweet Sister Suzanne!

My charming, kind, clever, smart, fun sister had a birthday today. Hooray! Until she requests the removal of the following pictures, they shall be on display as a tribute to her, for she is a true supermodel superstar!

Happy Birthday Suzanne!

(Note: I have four totally awesome sisters, and this little trend of doing a birthday tributes on our blogs started at a time past the birthdays of the other 3. Check back in October for the Ho Jo's birthday tribute. Oh yeah!)

Some New Stuff

Nothing too exciting happened in the past couple of months. Preston did get me a puppy while I was in San Antonio. He's a little Yorkie, and we named him Bear. He's the sweetest, non-yappy little dog I've ever known. Even though I said, "No dog...EVER!", I'm glad Preston didn't listen to me this time.

Here's a picture of some kids in my backyard tree. Their father is also in this tree...somewhere...much, much higher up. We've decided to grow our first garden, and no, I'm not growing any drugs. We're planning on having tomatoes, a variety of herbs (and no, none are drugs), sweet peas, squash, and cucumbers.

San Antonio

I went to San Antonio last week to visit my sister Suzanne and her family. I had a grand time!

I visited the Alamo. I forgot to check out the basement though.

This is me in front of a fun tree. Check out all the possible swing branches. This was in the sideyard of the Alamo.

I visited a mission...

...and the famous San Antonio River Walk...

...and Sea World. I'll betcha didn't know San Antonio had a fantastic Sea World.

The most fun I had, however, was just hanging out with my girls. Annie, Abi, and Elena were TOO PRECIOUS!

I said, "Don't tase me, bro!"

Preston was tased (or tasered) again. This time, he just casually slipped it into our after-work conversation that went something like this:

Kristin: "How was your day?"
Preston: "Good. How was your day?"
K: "It was sooo busy. This guy asked me the craziest question today. He said...[insert funny work story]"
P: "Ha ha ha. That's so funny. What else happened?"
K: "Not much. So, did you learn anything good?"
P: "Yeah."
K: "Like what?"
P: "Oh, it was just some refresher training with some other officers. "
K: "Oh. What did they teach you?"
P: "We just went over facility safety and some inmate stuff, I got tased again, and I had some of that garden salad."
K: "Oh, that's nice."

5 minutes later...

K: "Wait! Did you say you were tased again?!?!"
P: "Yeah. Why?"
K: "WHY!?!? Why did you have to do it again?"
P: "I have to do it once for each department. It wasn't that bad."

So there you have it. The more you're tased, the easier it gets. That's good news!

Summary

I don't have any pictures to post, so don't get too excited. I lost my camera charger, so I didn't take any pictures on any of our adventures this month. On a positive note, I do know where the computer/camera connection cord is. Anywho, here's what has happened in the past two weeks. We went to Bountiful/Kaysville to my cousin Melanie's wedding last Saturday, and that was a total blast. It was fun because I love weddings, but it was especially fun because my sister Suzanne came all the way from Texas to join in the festivities. We stayed with the wonderfully hospitable Standings while in SLC, and that was a bonus. (I wish I could have stayed longer too, Mrs. Standing.) The morning after the wedding we attended Music and the Spoken Word, which was an additional bonus (because the MTC is my favorite musical group second only to the delightful King's Singers). On our way home we saw Preston's brother Nelson in Provo (so the week wasn't entirely Pearson dominated). We drove from SLC to LV on Sunday, where we spent our final night at our condo. That's right...FINAL! We were a tad bit sad, but we're so grateful to have A- and K-Bed living there now. They have saved us from our prolonged two-mortgage crisis. Yay! In closing I will say that Preston starts his new job tomorrow. Good times!

New Stuff

Preston officially starts his job here on March 2nd. Yay! We just got that info this past week, and he signed the important paperwork today. Also last week, we went to the King's Singers concert in SLC, so I'm seriously overflowing with joy, excitement, and gratitude! BEST WEEK OF MY LIFE (with the exception of the week that I was born and, I guess I have to say, the week that I got married)!

Good News!

It looks like I'll be getting a husband sometime soon. I guess I'll have to start cooking again. I've been eating peanut butter and boysenberry jam sandwiches every day. I just love 'em!!! Preston strongly dislikes peanut butter sandwiches, so the menu will have to change. It okay though, because I'll take a husband over a PBJS any day!

Good Idea, Bad Idea

Does anyone remember the show Animaniacs? My sis Mary Lynne and I used to watch it regularly, and we generally enjoyed the segment "Good Idea, Bad Idea". Here's a short clip in case you are clueless on the matter.



Although not necessarily as clever or as funny as Animaniacs, I would now like to share with you my own good idea (and bad idea).

Good Idea - Making the following recipe for dessert:

1 white cake mix
1 can lemon pie filling
Cool Whip

Mix cake as directed on box and pour into a 9x13 pan. Place spoonsful of lemon pie filling in blobs over batter. Bake as directed on the box. Let cool completely. Cake batter covers the lemon, so there will be pockets of lemony filling inside. Spread cool whip over cake and chill.

Bad Idea - Just mixing lemon pie filling with yellow cake mix and baking at 350 for 30 minutes.

Anyway, Preston and I went over to Mary Lynne and Nathan's for dinner this fine evening, and Mary Lynne and I decided to make an experimental dessert. I can't really explain how it turned out. It was interesting, to say the least. To describe the "dessert" taste, Mary Lynne said it tasted how Play-Doh smells. Yes, it was THAT good!

Well, I suppose now would be a good time to post something about the happenings in our life. My knee is almost completely better. It's not better enough to go skiing (sorry Preston), but it's completely functional now. I'd like to take this time to thank Janet for being so supportive...er...I mean her knee braces were supportive. Thanks for letting me borrow them. : )

Preston runs again on Friday, and he's been under the time limit every night in his practice runs. Hooray!!! He's been working through a foot injury though, but seems to be slowly recovering. I think he had some sort of pulled ligament or tendon. I seem to have caught Gimp's Disease from him.

We had a super rad Stake Conference this weekend. Elder Holland was here, and he was so much fun! We loved both meetings we attended! It was just a happy, happy weekend, but now we're both alone again (until next weekend). : (

This Kind of Thing Happens Only to Old(er) People

So Preston and I went to Las Vegas (to attend Harmony's blessing) and back on Sunday with the Millers. After we arrived home, I stepped out of our vehicle and my right knee buckled beneath me. I tried to stand on my right leg again and felt a sharp pain pierce my knee. With the pain came more buckling and a popping sound. I couldn't stand up! I hadn't sustained an injury (that I could recall). Anyway, I went back to Las Vegas again today to visit the doctor and the x-ray machine. It turns out I just have quite a bad strain and/or sprain. I was told to stay off my feet for a week. I just laughed. Silly doctor.

Safe Shopping

Here's a funny sign we saw in the parking lot of the "Ghettos Mall" (Meadows Mall) a few days before Christmas.

Winter Fun

So, as everyone knows, it snowed a lot. It snowed for two days straight in St. George, and it snowed in Las Vegas. Here's a cell phone picture of what I saw out my front door right after the snow began to fall. (Note: This picture does not fully capture the true snowy blizzardiness.)

Now, I'm not complaining about the snow (like everyone else is). I loved it! I wish it had snowed more. I just heard a lot of whining at work today from customers that were terrified by 4 or 5 inches of snow everywhere BUT the roads. I'll admit the roads were a smidge slushy this morning, but that's about it.

Nathan & Mary Lynne invited me to their ward's Christmas party tonight, since I was all alone. For an activity, they had a box at each of the 20 or so tables filled with random Christmasy items that we were decorate our tables with. Mary Lynne and I had a great idea to tear the box apart and make a little dog gingerbread house (with a crazy tree in the backyard). See below:

Christmas Cheer

Check out this totally awesome holiday giveaway by The Cupcake Goddess! I think you might be interested...CLICK HERE to enter the contest. You could win this:

There are two other spectacular prizes too. Also, check out how much it snowed in Cedar (in only a few hours) on Saturday.

O Tannenbaum

Yup, that's our tree. Anyway, it's more like my tree since I got up at 4 AM last year to get it on a Black Friday sale, since I found and bought all the decorations, since I decorated it all by myself, and since I look at it every day BY MYSELF! I was thinking I'd get full-time husband for Christmas, but better luck next year. Seriously though, better luck next year. Preston does his special timed run on Friday, and I think he's going to make it! Hopefully he moves here two to three weeks after that. Yippee skippee!

Jubilee of Trees

A week or two ago, my sister Mary Lynne, my bro-in-law Nathan, little nephew McKay, Preston, and I went to the festive Jubilee of Trees. Where's Mary Lynne? Sadly, we won't see her in this segment.

Mckay loved all the lights.

See these trees?

As evidenced by this picture, Preston is more jolly than Santa.