That time of year...again.

We saw A Christmas Carol last week. I can see how it would be a little scary for kids, but Steph's kids all liked it. And also, Ryken looked super cute in his 3D glasses.We made gingerbread houses with the kids. Some of the frosting was from last year's gingerbread house kit, which made for less then stellar houses.

Ryken's and my house was freakin' awesome.

This week was my 20th birthday (if it were 1999). To my shock, Candice drove 3 hrs from Boise to Poky last night to hang out for my birthday. She also brought her super yummy homemade Oreo cookies and my mom's Russian Tea Cake christmas cookies. Yowza. Thanks Candice! It was an awesome surprise.

A Lot of Goings on and Thanksgiving

I hadn't been home since Halloween. Which may not seem like a long time, but, for me, it felt like forever. Thursday I worked half the day, drove 3 hrs to Boise, went to dinner (with Candice, mom and my sisters), Kathy Griffin, and then the New Moon midnight showing all in one day. Yowza, no wonder I fell asleep during the movie.

I miss hanging out with these guys. Especially Noelle's and my weekly Costco samples trip. Here are Laura, Noelle, Danielle, and Josie at the Cheesecake factory before Kathy Griffin.

Then Laura and I went to Kathy Griffin. You could say she's a tad raunchy. As you can clearly tell from this picture, she's wearing a Boise State shirt. Then comes the New Moon midnight showing. Candice went before we got there to save our place. Keep in mind, I bought our tickets 2 months ago. I'm not sure exactly what went down, but Candice was bugged and talked to the manager, pulled some strings (or whatever she did)and we were able to get our seats when we got there at 10:15. I told Candice I would pay for her ticket if she dressed like Harry Potter like she did for the Harry Potter midnight showing, but she chickened out...how awesome would this have been at the New Moon showing?Holy crap, teenagers at midnight showings can not be more annoying. Anyway, as you may have seen on Candice's blog, our first attempt at a group picture was a fail. Then we had some kid take this picture for us. I think that chick above us is dying, and also, Candice and I are apparently holding hands.

Surprise surprise, I actually really liked the movie. It followed the book really well. The visuals were much better, and everyone looked better. I will admit the acting isn't great, but, hello, didn't we know that going in? I do, however, wish they would have made the Alice's-vision-to-Aro-of-Bella-as-a-vampire-running-through-the-forest a little less cheesy. And yes, I did fall a sleep during parts - many parts. Never fear, I saw it again with Steph and Marlee. Also, Danielle and Candice still owe me a movie *cough cough*. Lily wanted me a take a picture of her with my iphone.
Then one of her from afar...
Josie's smile is probably my favorite smile ever. We celebrated Nicole's and my birthday on the same day. We decided on Chuck-o-rama, because come on, admit it, it is tasty. And if you get something you don't like, you don't have to eat it. Win/win.

Russ was confused, he thought it was date night with Nicole. Thanksgiving was at Steph's house this year. Noelle, Laura and Danielle all went to their in-laws so mom and dad came here to Pocatello. We celebrated with the EchoHawks - Paul's parents(Larry and Terry) and his brothers - Matt, Michael, and Mark and his family. Then we closed the evening by playing Nerts, Rockband, and a photoshoot...

Then we went to The Blind Side. It was actually packed so we ended up in the very front row. So that was awesome. Reguardless, the movie was really good.

iPhone!!!

I feel like this needs it's own post. The greatest invention of mankind...well, except for maybe the DVR...and the HDTV.

Get it.

Um yeah, that's right, that's Adam Lambert...no seriously, it is. Since he's single now, do you think he might go straight?

His album comes out in 2 1/2 weeks. You can get both his singles that are out now(they're both in my playlist below) - For Your Entertainment and Time For Miracles. I've had them on repeat since they came out - so good. He's already been on the cover of Rolling Stone, he's on Details mag now, he's performing on the AMA awards later this month, he's gonna be on GMA, Ellen, and Letterman...he's got Pink, Lady Gaga, Rivers Cuomo of Weezer, Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, Katy Perry's producer, etc., etc., etc. involved with his album...huh, now, was he really the runner up?

Goodbye Boise

Goodbye Dr. Buhrley's office...hello Poky. I lost my job in Boise, but I was lucky to find a job in Poky the next week. I now work for Steph's dentist, Dr. Smith. He lives down the street and he was her former bishop. No more Boise, no more Costco runs with Noelle and Danielle, no more good restaurants, no more decent mall. But it's not so bad, now I'm living at Steph's house...but it can be a little nutty. I feel kinda bad throwing Lola into the mix. Now Steph has to deal with 3 dogs. Sorry Steph...

This is what 3 dogs in the back of Steph's car looks like.

Now that I don't have Lola sleep in the crate at night, apparently she has taken to sleeping in the bed with me. She's actually looking a lot like Toby, which makes me a little sad but it's also kinda cool, kinda like I have a little bit of Toby around. Sometimes I call her 'T.J.' for Toby Jr.

Teagan wore this home from school...yeah. And then he wanted to wear it to school the next day.

Oh Ryken.

I share a bathroom with Marlee now. When you'd shower, within 10 minutes it turned into a bath. I told Marlee it was clogged with hair. Marlee claimed it was my hair, apparently I've lost a whole head of hair in 2 weeks. I couldn't stand it anymore so I got a hanger and Steph watched while I pulled this 'thing' out of the drain.

Aaand...Casablanca.

I'm not dead, I swear...oh and MIDDLE FORK

Yeah yeah, I haven't posted in FOREVER. So I'm going to have to post a few updates to catch up.

In late July/early Aug. I went down the Middle Fork with Steph and her family and our Dad. It was kind of a crazy mash up of a private/outfitter trip. We had to pay a little more then a private trip but we got to take our own boats and then the guides took care of most of the work and the cooking. We went with a bunch of people Steph knows from Poky - Paul's brother Michael and his other brother Mark and his family, Marlee's best friend Sheridan and her family, Kim Smith (my now boss) and his daughter Whitney, and a few other people. I wish Noelle and/or Joseph could have come, but it was still SO much fun. Good fishing, good food, and we were lucky to have great weather.

Let's pretend Steph took a picture of the launch at Boundry Creek...it would have looked like this. (This is really our Middle Fork trip from 05'). But it's one of my favorite things.
Look closely and you'll see 2 rattle snakes in the bushes. This was at Rock Island camp during lunch. Whitney just happened to hear them when she walked by. There was a male and female. It's creepy how well they blend in. This is Sheridan and I entering Tappin.Cole taking his turn running the boat. He was actually doing pretty well.The cutthroat fishing was gooood.Kim Smith (Steph's dentist and now my boss) made us do a group floss every night. Marlee on the tube of my cat.Me and Sheridan on my cat at Indian Creek.

Here's myself, Steph, Sheri, Laramie, Miso, and Whitney at Lune Creek camp. I'd never stayed there but it made for a really cool camp. It was super hot a couple of the days. We put our chairs in the water to cool off while we waited for dinner.Marlee manning my cat.And here's the whole group, although I think dad was tinkering around on his cat and Lloyd was taking the picture.

"Her Name Was Lola..."

Steph and I got our puppies on Friday. Could they be any cuter? Sadly, I had to come home today and left Lola with Steph til Thursday when I go back. But we wanted Lola and Steph's puppy Presley to be together for the week. Here she is Friday, we weren't planning on picking them up til this coming Tuesday, but Steph and I have no restraint. We ended up going back that night and taking them home.As you can see, I took part in one of Marlee's photoshoots while playing with the puppies at Mark and Diana's house.

Then we went to Petco where I spent a buttload of money on puppy stuff. Ryken with his kiddie cart. Their first bath. She looked like a drowned rat.