Great News

Surprise... I'm in a "delicate condition" as my brother-in-law puts it.  (Ha ha)

I'm pregnant and so happy!

It looks like a bean but I'm pretty sure it's an embrio:

Ryan Darton

Our rockstar friend came to town and let Todd play a show with him :)

They sounded great!  Check out his website:

www.ryandarton.com

The handsome drummer:

Snowshoeing

We went snow shoeing with some friends last weekend.  The forecast had predicted one to two inches of snowfall in Park City, so we thought we'd be fine, especially since we now have a four wheel drive vehicle.

Well first off, we barely made it to our destination.  The roads were super slick and apparently our tires are bald, and we were sliding all over the place making our way up the canyon.  And once we arrived it was snowing so hard and it was so cold and windy I didn't dare bring out my camera.  These pictures are from people's phones, thanks guys.  The snowshoeing was great but windy and cold!  We got back and ate fruit, crackers, and cheese in a lodge.  Our cars had maybe 10 inches of new snow piling up on them.

And then driving back...  I think snow driving is honestly my biggest fear.  I absolutely hate it, I couldn't even watch and closed my eyes and thought about the cat while we slid all over the roads.  We barely skimmed between a car and the curb while nearly sliding into a bus, we crashed into a snowbank, we couldn't even get out of the darn parking lot without several people pushing us.  Blah, I can still feel the anxiety, and I'm sure I didn't even see 80% of our close calls.

The freeway was just as bad but more crowded- it took over two hours to make the "40 minute" drive home and we passed innumerable crashed cars and semis that had slid off the road.

Our next big purchase: snow tires!  They'll cost around $800, but will be well worth the peace of mind they'll bring.

Kyle and others at the car:


The group resting under the shelter of a bridge






I was really hoping to follow this plow down but it took us too long to get out of the parking lot.

Basement Update

We finally finished the basement!  We did the painting and caulking, and ripped

out the carpet and didn't have to pay the $1,000 deductible. 

Here are some photos, even though it looks basically the same:

New carpet that looks like the old new carpet:

New floor and replaced toilet & sink

Our front yard is a little lumpy but who cares?

We took the extra carpet (not the sewage soaked stuff) and carpeted the walls

 in the drum room. It muffles the sound well and stops echoes.

Smog Lake City

This awesome inversion is just wonderful.  It keeps the warmth from the sun out of Salt Lake by blocking all it's rays.  It holds the pollution and junk in the air so we can smell it's sweet aroma.  It promotes S.A.D. disorder by keeping everything cold, gloomy, and grey.

On the other hand, it is really beautiful if you see it from the right perspective.
Hmmm.  That sounds like a life lesson.








Photos taken at the park by my house and from the top of Grandeur Peak.

Welcome Home

We were welcomed home from China with a nice surprise... Our sewer backed up and flooded the basement.  Awesome.
It's a $1,000 deductible we pay to our insurance who will pay for the basement repairs.  Insurance doesn't cover the sewer line 7 feet deep in our front yard, which runs $3,500 to $7,000 to fix.

I thought for sure we'd just bought ourselves a new sewer line for Christmas and our next 2 birthdays!!

Fortunately, Todd's mad skills prompted him to just fix it himself, with a little help from a professional.

It ended up costing maybe $500, and it looks like we'll be able to do some work on the basement to "take care of" the $1,000 deductible.  Yesss!!!

Here's our used-to-be-beautifully-completed laundry room.  (Toilet is from bathroom, not a permanent fixture in the laundry room ha ha.)


And what's left of the bathroom:


Todd learned the ropes on the excavator.


And Nat ended up helping too.


Our new best friend Tom

Thanks everyone for your help!!

Lost in Translation

Here are several things we photographed because they just didn't quite translate as intended.Please throw organisms in trash can:


I'm not exactly sure what this one means:


Hungry? Why wait, grab a noodle horse:


I really like tomatoes.


And corn? Delicious.


If you're thirsty in Hong Kong you can just grab a can of sweat:


So good, don't you dare taste them.


Obamao


Believe it or not we saw a lot of this:






This is the pharmacy.


And for your viewing pleasure, here are some Chinese music videos and soap opera teasers: