Sicky

I stole this from a website titled, "Where the Swine Flu Came From". It's pretty much the most disgusting thing I've ever seen...but adorably cute at the same time. I've had the flu since Monday and it hasn't been fun. There are, however, some serious "upsides" of being sick:
1 - No school
2 - No work
3 - No cleaning
4 - No cooking
5 - You're allowed to live off popsicles, jello, fruit snacks and capri suns.
6 - You discover all sorts of idiotic TV shows to pass the time, and gain an entirely new level of respect for shows such as Desperate Housewives, Degrassi, True Life, World's Strictest Parents, Divorce Court, etc.

Sugar Cookies!!

By far, my favorite thing to do around every holiday is to make sugar cookies! I was hoping we could find cookie-cutters of ghosts, pumpkins and witches...but the only ones left were the tombstone, cat and skull. Kind of morbid. They turned out alright, the dough was a bit strange (always the recipe's fault, never mine) but they tasted yummy. Brandon decided he doesn't like sugar cookies which is wonderful news for me because if he does like something it's gone before morning.

Oh heavens Brandon. Why mix the red dye with frosting when you can just squirt it right on the cookie?

The crucial moment right before I dropped my favorite cookie (the kitty) and broke it's ear off.

I believe he called this the spineless fish.

No, how do you really feel about me?

A few of our favorites. Brandon quickly noticed only one of his cookies was on the display tray...shoot.

Probably my favorite picture. Only when he's concentrating REALLY hard does he stick his tongue out like this. It's usually when he's playing tennis, or about to win a video game, or working on a math problem....but hey, drawing perfectly symmetrical dots on either side of a squiggly line is a stressful process for some of us.

Ok, yes I am bragging, but I've been coveting these boots for months now so I'm allowed to. Not only do I wear them everywhere, but I also sleep with them lying next to me on my bedside table. I am definitely not a shoe person, I think everyone who knows me would agree that I hate shoes. I'd much rather be barefoot. But for these I'm willing to make an exception.

Thank you Bran.

Zion's

This is an older picture that I found the other day. It's from this last August when we went to Zion's National Park for a day. If I look tired and ticked that I'm hiking this crazy steep mountain in this ridiculous heat then you're right on. Brandon NEVER looks tired or ticked, he has this amazing (and extremely annoying) ability to absolutely never be in a foul mood. I have never met anyone quite as happy and satisfied as he is, it's a great quality but makes me feel like the biggest grump in the world! His shirt says, "Any problem can be solved with dancing"--James Brown. A perfect motto for him.

Calvin & Hobbes

When Wants Become Needs...

It's terribly difficult to convince Brandon that $115 rubber boots are crucial to my happiness.

Purty

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful,
we must carry it with us or we find it not." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Autumn in Utah is truly beautiful. It's the only time of year I'm not wishing I was in Oregon. Brandon and I went up to Squaw Peak last weekend to enjoy the colors of the changing trees before the inevitable and dreaded first frost. I had a lot of fun taking pictures and messing around with them after wards. Brandon just got "photo shop" for me so my picture editing is only going to get more annoying from here on out!

For Dad.

For Ian.

For Mom. I don't know, reminded me of something she'd paint.

ShaalAmira

Autumn Trail Rides

Nicole and I go on trailrides as often as we can - which isn't very often. This is a grassy spot we stop at to let the horses rest, they are exhausted by the time we hit this point. The entire trail is uphill as it winds up the foothills of the mountain. We hadn't rested long before the horses went crazy. They heard something coming down the mountain long before we heard anything (hence Honey's frozen expression below), they were determined to get out of there and it took forever to calm them down. It was just two horseback riders.