No, it's not 2011 already? Here's looking back.

The year of 2010 has come and gone. Here are the best things of the year... or at least some of them.

The year began with some heavy snowfall. As most Logan winters do. We enjoyed it with some winter hikes and picnics. Anything to get outdoors.

The snow really is beautiful. When you are indoors. 

We ate good food. And lots of it. 

 

 Our first sushi making experience. And definitely not our last of the year. 

Smoking. Tons of smoking. 

Thanks Whitesides siblings for Ty's graduation gift. 

 

 We've had as many parties as possible.

  I love a reason to celebrate.

 Shower for baby Josie. Beautiful people and great times. 

 Surprise party for Ralph in Park City. Complete with a game of giant checkers. 

We spent a lot of vacation time in the sand. I really feel like a got around this summer. 

 The beach on the Outer Banks.

 

 

 Sand dunes at White Sands Natl. Monument.

We had some great vacations. It is wonderful to visit family far away.

 The summer treated us real good. 

The warmth of the weather makes for such a great times.

 Enjoying treats at Summerfest. One of Logan's greatest attractions.

The Greenehouse. Oh, this place is too good for words. We spend a few days there every other summer. Basking in the sun. Talking with family. Playing games into the night. Every time we leave I can't wait to go back. 

Finished and started another year of teaching. It feels good to have one year under my belt. Things truly get easier the second time around. 

 This was waiting for me after the first day of school. All my school supplies converted into candy. Ty knows me all to well. 

Fall never disappoints. 

We spent much time at the cabin, wishing the season wouldn't end. 

 

4-wheeling. A new hobby of my fathers. I can't complain. 

Fall in the mountains is truly a magnificent thing. I think I could frame this and look at it forever. 

Halloween was a great success.

 The gnome family. I can't wait to put them in my front yard when the weather warms up.

My dream of being a jelly fish came true. It was all I had hoped it would be. 

 Jack made an appearance. I love this alter ego. I hope he comes to say hi every year.

Being with family. 

This is what tops the year off every time. I hope it stays that way. 

Here are few highlights of some time spent with some people I happen to really like:

 

Feeding ravenous ducks with the Lund girls. I seriously have never seen creatures so hungry. They swarmed us as soon as they saw bread. I wasn't sure if I should be taking pictures, or shouting for help. I had really wished we were being filmed after it was all over.

It seems that most creatures struggle in the winter. Especially when your home freezes over. 

My mom's 1st birthday.

 

These guys. I think these 3 were meant to be like this. Together. Being crazy. All the time.

 McDonald Family Photos

 Christmas cookies with the Johnson's.

 I'd say they turned out pretty tasty. This was a great way to welcome Jolly Ol' St. Nick.

 

This year has been great. 

Just as we thought it couldn't get any better, this fall things got crazy. 

This guy (the one below) had some great things happen.

He's getting published! 

You say, "What does that mean?"

I asked myself the same thing. 

Ty signed a publishing contract with Shadow Mountain (think Fablehaven, Leven Thumps) for a multi-book deal. Scheduled to come out August 3rd. 

Great things are happening for this guy. I always knew they would, I just didn't expect them so soon. 

The whole publishing world is secretive and ambiguous. Quite intriguing, really. I have hesitated sharing too much out of fear of breaking some contract rule. When I know it is safe, I will tell all I can.

Thanks 2010 for being so nice to us. 

In return, we promise to do even more in 2011. 

More baking. More exercising. More talking to family. More reading. More traveling.

More picture taking (or at least stealing them from my sisters.) More learning.

More enjoying our lives. 

Car (oldish). Many Miles (1,500+). Family (C and Hil). Memories (good ones).

That pretty much sums it up, but here is a more detailed review.

After staying in Texas with C and Hil we hopped in their car and made the journey from Texas to Utah. And with the help of our professional tour guides (Clayton and Hilary- let me know if you want their info...) we made the road trip a journey with MANY memorable stops and sights along the way.

Day One

Bryan's Poco Taco. Look closely at the photo. We, of course, had to start off the trip with a real show stopper. Eating at the classiest restaurant Texas has to offer. It was a great beginning to an epic journey.

Up next... 

Carlsbad Caverns

The Caves were incredible. You walk down a paved trail to the bottom of the cave. The cave then opens up into this wide room of cave formations. It kind of felt out of this world. Being so far underground is truly a unique feeling, especially when you ride an elevator back to the top. This is a great stop if you happen to find yourself in New Mexico, just avoid spending too much time in Carlsbad, as the city itself truly is BAD!

Next Stop...

White Sands National Park

These natural sand dunes provided many hours of entertainment. The park rents saucers used for sledding down the dunes. We got in some pretty cool tricks, then the wind picked up. as an alternative to being sand blasted, C and Ty discovered that the saucers turned into great wings. This was the closest I have ever felt to being a bird....

After playing in the sand long into the night, we made our journey onward and found our way to 

Santa Fe.

I loved this city and feel like I could spend much more time taking in all it has to offer. Great art, food, buildings. It all has a very western feel, but I loved the uniformity of the architecture. I am sure this place has some great things to offer. Including some pretty old buildings...

Although we wanted to spend MUCH more time exploring the city, we knew we must trek onward. Our next stop put us at

Mesa Verde.

 We were crawling. Climbing. Sitting. Standing. Gazing. Sweating. and in Awe. All in a place where the Anasazi dwelt. It was pretty incredible. And I felt pretty lucky to be there. I am glad this treasure has not only been preserved, but has been made so accessible for all to enjoy.

While we may have killed many bugs on our trip, the only real casualty we experienced was the tire. Which was quickly replaced by a spare and fixed not much later. Not too shabby for so many days spent on the road. We truly did have the best (cautious and safe) tour guides!

In true road trip fashion, we all felt that our trip was ending a little too soon. So we decided to throw in one last stop. And I am oh so glad that we did.

Arches National Park

We sort of did an, "Arches in 3 hours" tour. Which clearly is not enough time to enjoy it all. But I was again amazed by the natural splendor.
After spending so much time in other states, I think I forgot how much Utah has to offer. And all in all I have concluded that Utah is a pretty great place.

This was a road trip to go down in the record books.
Ty and I were sure grateful that we got to tag along on this one.

Everything is HOTTER in Texas...

We just returned from a two week excursion to the land where they claim everything to be bigger. I have come to my own opinion and believe that everything is truly hotter, and that in reality most things are just about average sized. 

Hil and C were great hosts. Each day was full of well-planned activities and I feel like we got a great taste of Texas in the short time we were there. 

We started out by floating the San Marcos River. The rivers are the life source for the Texans. It was amazing to see all the people recreating there. It was a great way to ease into the Texas heat.

That evening we traveled to the city of Lockhart for some real Texas barbeque. It was AMAZING. So much meat and only a knife to eat it. We were already starting to feel like Texans. 

The following day we woke and journeyed to San Antonio. We began by touring the missions in the city, they were just like we expected. So much history and information to learn from these historical buildings.

We, of course, could not miss out on the landmark mission in Texas. 

The Alamo. 

This was the fist time I realized that things really are not all that big in Texas. The Alamo was smaller than expected, but the gardens and grounds around it made up for its lack of size. It was again a great place to learn and appreciate history.

And we finished our San Antonio tour with a trip to the River Walk. It was a place with a really unique feeling.

The next day took us to the capital, Austin. We took a hike (really like an inclined walk) to see a great view of this sprawling city. To cool down Hil found a great little trailer that sold frozen, chocolate covered bananas. MMmmm...Tasty.

We visited a musuem at the University of Texas, admired all the Longhorn pride, toured the State Capital, and enjoyed the live music scene at a great little cafe/grocery store. My love for Austin grew quickly. It was a great city with lots to offer. 

We ended the evening with the renowned bats at the Austin bridge. We were anxious to see the phenomenom of a million bats flying from underneath the bridge in search for food. Exciting, right? Well the bats decided to pull a no-show for us that evening. (I think it was all a hoax. Texans.)

 

Our last touring day in Texas we ventured into the smaller outskirts of Austin. Hil and C took us to Wimberly, where we had to get a piece of pecan pie. We checked out all the cute spots of town and found that if there is a river in Texas, there are certainly going to be people tubing down it. It was an afternoon well spent. 

Our time in Texas was perfect. it is great to visit family, especially when the do all the planning and preparation. Hil and C were great tour guides. I am thinking that maybe it is because of the heat that I am warming up to Texas more and more. 

(All photos courtesy of Hil. Isn't she great? I think so. That is why I didn't take a single photo.)