Steven has a birthday!

December 27th is Steven's birthday. He is now 28 years old. Steven is the owner of Dimitri's Pizza in Alpine, Utah. He is a great father to Austin and Sean. Rachael loves to be teased by her big brother Steven.





Happy Birthday to you!


Happy Birthday to you!





Happy Birthday, dear Steven!


Happy Birthday to you!

Christmas

Merry Christmas! We hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I had a great Christmas present - a new puppy. We are now the proud owners of a blue heeler. We have named her Chloe. She is a really cute puppy and a happy addition to our home. The cat isn't so sure that she likes the new puppy, but I am sure that she will adjust. Lightning is trying to be a good big sister, but she doesn't like being chewed on.

Christmas Eve

Richard had Christmas Eve off, so he and Rachael got to do the shop with the crowds on Christmas Eve. What a ZOO!!!

Holly got to work. (YUCK!!) The boss let everyone go home about 3:00, so Richard and Rachael picked me up then and we went to the theater at Thanksgiving Point to see "National Treasure - Book of Secrets" We all enjoyed the movie, especially the "intermission". During the movie, the picture stopped, and the sound kept going. It took them about 10 minutes to get things fixed and running correctly again. It worked out good for us, we were able to visit the bathroom, refill the popcorn and drinks without missing any of them movie.

When the movie ended, we came outside to find the Christmas Eve storm had come in with a punch, bitter cold, wind, and lots of snow on the ground. The roads were a mess driving home.

I Am Legend

Richard got to pick a movie for us to see. He picked "I am Legend" All we really knew about the movie was that it starred Will Smith, and he was the last man alive. It was a little more scarey that Rachael and I expected. We teased Richard that he can't pick the movie anymore, unless he knows more about the movie.

Later in the evening I talked with my parents and the funny thing was that they had seen the movie that afternoon with Amy and her family. I guess we should communicate better and we could have all gone together.

Ward Christmas Party

We attended our ward Christmas Party on the 15th. We had a breakfast at the church. A group of men sang some Christmas songs after we ate. Holly helped fill orange juice and water cups. Richard helped with the clean up. It was fun to have the party be a breakfast, because we still had the whole day to go Christmas Shopping.

Braces

Rachael now has braces on her bottom teeth. She got her top braces in July and had forgotten how much it hurts to get them put on. She was uncomfortable for about three days after getting them put on. She was excited to get them put on, because the sooner she got them on the sooner she will get them off. Hopefully about a year to go.

Christmas Choir Concert

Rachael is in the 7th grade choir at American Fork Junior High School. They held their Christmas Concert last week. Rachael enjoys singing. I enjoyed the concert. Now if I can just figure out how to add a movie clip from my camera, you will be able to hear them. Maybe tomorrow I'll figure that out.

A Visit to Santa

We took Sean and Austin to see Santa last week. When Sean was 2 he called Santa "Ho,Ho", we thought it was so cute. As we walked down the hall and saw Santa, I heard Sean say,"It's Ho, Ho". What a memory I will always have of a little boy and Ho, Ho. We all had pictures taken with Santa. Hopefully we all let him know what we would like to see under the tree in 12 days.

A Little Boy and a Horse

I had Austin and Sean with me when I dropped Rachael off to go for her Horse ride with Shauna. Sean could hardly wait until we got to the horses. Shauna opened the window on the trailer so Sean could see the horses. He was so happy to pet Rusty, maybe next summer we can get Sean on a horse ride.

A GREAT RIDE

In October Shauna Leake took Rachael for a ride on the horse trail up American Fork Canyon. Rachael had a GREAT time riding Rusty. She has really come along way since she first rode Rusty a year ago with Jamie Leake in their back paddock. Rachael was able to lead Rusty and stay with the group. She said they laughed the whole time they ate lunch. Shauna's brother was really funny. Rachael slept really good that night, and the next morning was pretty sore. But when asked if she was ready to go again the response was YES. Hopefully she can go with Shauna again next year.
Thanks Shauna, for sharing your love of horses with Rachael!

Another Science Project

Rachael had to do a science project for school. She got 5 boxes that were 4 inches by 4 inches and filled each with a different padding for a raw egg. Then she went to the warehouse at Rhinehart Oil and dropped them from the second floor landing to the floor, about 12 feet. Much to our surprise none of the eggs broke. So I guess you can pad things with popcorn, newspaper, floral foam, packing peanuts or bubbble wrap they all worked.

Cindy turns 50 ! ! !

Another Saturday, Another Snowstorm. We woke up Saturday morning agin to snow on the ground and it kept coming all day. We started the day at Cabela's getting our free $10.00 gift card for being one of the first 100 customers of the day. We just kept going from there, store after store, buying Christmas presents, or adding things to our Christmas lists. We headed to Ogden that evening to celebrate Cindy Yorgason's 50th birthday party. Lots of her friends, brought lots of yummy food and we had a great time.

Happy Birthday Cindy

Sad but Joyous Occasion

The Baria family was in town last weekend. JoAnn's mother had passed away and they were here for the funeral. David Baria was one of Richard's counselers when he was Bishop in Denton, Tx. We have gotten to see the Baria's about every year when they have come to visit Joann's family. Richard and I attended the viewing on Friday night and had a quick visit with them. David had to leave on Sunday to get back to work and the girls were driving home on Sunday. It was good to see them. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as the grieve their mother and grandmother.

We Love you guys!

Girls Play

Richard was in St George working for Miracle Method the first week in December so Rachael and I got to do things together. We got ice cream from Maggie Moo's one night. On Tuesday we went to see August Rush. Rachael and I have been anxiously waitinig to go see this show since we saw a preview months ago. It was really cute.

Dan in Real Life

Richard, Rachael and I went to see the movei "Dan in Real Life". What a funny show. Richard didn't really want to go, but was really glad that he did. We had the theater pretty much to ourselves, only one other person in it. We used the last of the tickets we got from Larry H Miller when we bought the Jeep. We also still had a free popcorn and drinks coupon from then also. Fun movie.

Rhineharrt Oil Christmas Party

Holly works for Rhinehart Oil and they hold their annual Christmas Party the first Saturday in December and every year we get a really big snow storm that day. This year was no exception, we had lots of snow falling all evening Friday and most of the day Saturday. Richard and I did some running around Saturday morning and we had to oput the Jeep into 4 wheel drive many times just for safety.

The Party was held at the Alpine Country Club. Holly won a DVD Player in the employee drawing, and then won the money jar at the end of the night. It was a great night out with my husband. Thanks Rhinehart Oil for the fun time and prizes.

Pictures from our night at Desert Star

Deseret Star

Dad and Mom took the whole clan to Desert Star to ses "Ging Grinch or how Ging Grinch saved Christmas". We all met at a Sizzler for dinner before the show. The play was great. If you haven't been to a play at Desert Star it is time to go. A Great evening with a GREAT family.
http://www.desertstar.biz/

Yummy Thanksgiving Dinner- Twice

We had Thanksgiving Dinner at Mom and Dad Anderson's. We had a good crowd. Mom and Dad, Holly, Richard, Rachael, Ross, Gail, Mindy, Ryley, Amy, Jay, AJ, Jordan, and Grandma Shoat. We had great food, great company, and lots of fun. My favorite dessert was Grandma Shoat's lemon pie. YUMMY! YUM!

We left there and picked up Austin and Sean and went to Steven and Connie's for our second Thanksgiving Dinner. Steven's friend Evan cooked a fried Turkey, it was very moist. I definately overate today.

Rise and Shout the Cougars are Out

Richard and Holly got to go to the most talked about football game of the season. Yes, we had tickets to the BYU / Utah game on Saturday. Our seats were in the south end zone, so we weren't able to watch any of the replays. It was a great game, with BYU coming out on top, with the game going right down to the last play.

Our seats were in the shade the whole game, and it was cold, but we had a GREAT time.

GO COUGARS!

Pie Pigout

The Reitz family gets together on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving and has a dessert party. We all met at Uncle Stephen's house. There was more treats than we could all sample, great food, great fun, great family.

ENCHANTED

Holly won 6 tickets to see the movie ENCHANTED. Grandma, Grandpa, Gail, Mindy, Rachael and I all went to see it at the Gateway theaters. It was a fun show and we all enjoyed it.

http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/enchanted/

Go see this movie, you will enjoy it.

Ross, Gail, Mindy, and Ryley

It must be Thanksgiving time, the Ross Anderson Family has arrived. Ross, Gail, Mindy, and Ryley arrived on Saturday night to spend a week here for Thanksgiving. Ryley just gets taller and taller every time we see him. Mindy is now in college, and Gail is going to start working full time next month. It is good to have them here. We went to Amy and jay's for dinner on Sunday and had a great time.

Cyclocross in California

Normally we only officiated Road Racing Events, but once in a blue moon I get asked to do a cyclocross event. I flew out to California to work a UCI Cyclocross Race in the LA area in October. I found out about the race on Monday and flew out on Friday. We had host housing and I stayed at a home that overlooked the Rose Bowl. I could have almost watched the football game from the house. The area brought back lots of memories of our family trip to the Rose Parade when the American Fork High School Marchinig Band played in the parade. The band had a performance at the Rose Bowl a couple of days before the parade.

The weekend that I was in California the Santa Ana winds kicked up and we had lots of wind. The fires stareted that weekend and I could watch the smoke progress across the sky. It was very dark from the smoke. It was a successful bike race and I had a great weekend.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Austin and Sean joined us for Halloween. We went to the ward "Trunk or Treat". Dinner and Games followed by the Trunk or Treating. We finished the evening with Steven getting treats in his neighborhood. Special Thanks to our friends Kevin and Shawna Leake for the "Giant Pumpkin"

THE HOTTEST TICKETS IN TOWN

Rachael and Mom had tickets to the Jonas Brothers Concert, with the following act of Hannah Montana/Myley Cyrus. The concert was great, the music loud, the fans screaming, the glow sticks glowing. A GREAT TIME for GIRLS NIGHT OUT

Happy Birthday Carla!

We are so lucky to have another birthday in our family. Today is Carla's birthday. She is living in Texas. (Go Cowboys!!) We miss Carla. Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Carla, Happy Birthday to you! Hope your day is Fabulous!

Jessica has a birthday!

Today is Jessica's birthday. She is living in Arizona going to school. We don't get to see her often enough. Happy Birthday Jessica, have a GREAT day. We Love You !

My pictures with the STARS

Rachael is with Kay Panabaker, James Best, and Sasha Cohen

MOONDANCE ALEXANDER

Rachael won 3 tickets to see the World Premiere of Moondance Alexander. It was pretty exciting to see the Limo's pull up to the theater. Watch the stars walk down the red carpet, the press was all over the place taking pictures. We enjoyed the movie and then got to attend the post movie party and mingle with the stars. It was a GREAT movie. Everyone should go see it.

Pumpkin cookies

For the last couple of weeks when we go to the Grocery store Rachael has asked us to buy pumpkin cookies. We kept telling her no. But while she was still asleep Richard and I went to the store and got the stuff needed to make pumpkin cookies. On Sunday we made the cookies. They were YUMMY!

My family loves me

Rachael has been out of school for the fall break (UEA). She spent the day Friday at Dimitri's with Daddy. In the afternoon they went shopping and while they were out they surprised Mommy at her work with a bouquet of flowers. Thank you Daddy and Rachael. I love you guys

Mommy - Daughter Date

While Richard was out of town at the Huntsman World Senior Games. I got a pair of tickets to a Jazz Game from her work. Rachael and I drove to Salt Lake, parked the van and headed to the Energy Solutions Arena. Our tickets come withe dinner in the sponsor room. We had manicoti, pork roast, and chicken wings. Fresh fruit, potatoes and gravy, and rolls. for dessert they had mint brownies, caramel brownies, and cake. YUMMY! Our seats were on the 14th row. Rachael and I cheered with the crowd, clapped when the Jazz made baskets, and sometimes got excited and clapped and cheered for the wrong team. We got nachos and popcorn in the sponsor room at half time. The Jazz lost the game, but Mommy and Daughter had a great time. Thanks Rhinehart Oil for the tickets!

Study - Study - Study

Richard is going to attend an upgrade clinic to upgrade his Officials License to a Category "A" license. He has been studying cycling rules every night. He is very dedicated and will do great when he goes to the clinic in November.

He officiated as the Chief Judge at the Criterium of the Huntsman World senior Games in St. George on Thursday. That completed the requirements he needed to go to the upgrade clinic. Thanks to Gary and Louise for letting him volunteer on the crew.

Awesome Austin!

We ran to Paradise Cafe after Sean's game and had a cup of hot chocolate and warmed up before returning to watch Austin's game. He put his coat under his jersey, but again wore Rachael's gloves and her beannie. He was much warmer than the rest of us, because he really hustled trying to kick the ball. His team did great and outscored the other team 6 to 1. Way to go!

Sean, Snow, and Soccer

We left American Fork early Saturday morning in the rain, by the time we got to Thanksgiving Point we were in the snow (thankfully not in any of the 8 accidents we saw). As we got to Rose Park for Sean's Soccer game, it was a snow and rain mix. Part of me was hoping that the game would be canceled, but as long as we were there they might as well play. Sean did his best to keep warm, his uniform is hidden under his coat. His head is warm thanks to Grandma's LOTOJA beannie, and his hands warm with Rachael's gloves. His team won!

Dave Zabriskie

Richard, Rachael, and I got to help "Bikes For Kids"Time Trial with Dave Zabriskie. Dave is the US Pro Time Trial Champion. Rachael helped at Registration, Richard started all of the racers, and Holly was at the finish giving all of the ride times.