The Lights On Temple Square!

On the night of Tuesday December 2nd I went to see the Christmas lights on Temple Square. I hadn't gone for a few years and I've always enjoyed going. They were beautiful! The temple looks so gorgeous at night! The lights were dazzling! It really put me in the Christmas spirit! I love to walk down row after row of sparkling lights! It must take them so long to put them all up each year! It was not very crowded that night. It had been raining earlier that evening, but fortunately it was pretty clear while I was there. The different colored lights really accent the temple grounds! The multi-colored lights on the trees around the tabernacle are so cheerful! I think I like the bright yellow lights the best. My favorite picture is the one with the water in front and the eight pointed star in the back ground. The trees covered with red lights look like they're on fire in the pictures. The picture with the tower surrounded with red trees reminds me of Thanksgiving Point. I really enjoy looking at the manger scene and listening to the story on the speaker. It reminds us of what the true meaning of Christmas really is. I just love the large Christmas tree with the star on it just outside the temple grounds as well. I had such a great time and wanted to share these inspiring pictures with you!

Thanksgiving!

We had our Porter family Thanksgiving party on Saturday November 22nd due to scheduling conflicts. We had it at my sister Sarah's apartment club house because that was about the only place big enough for all fifteen of us. The dinner was delicious! Thank you everyone! We had stuffing, turkey, rolls, salad, potatos, jello, and a yummy ginger ale appetizer. We had ice cream and four different kinds of pie for dessert-chocolate, pumpkin, lemon, and banana cream. Yum! It was great to see everyone again! I had so much fun playing with my nieces and nephews! Isaac is so sweet and thoughtful! Even with his broken arm he poured a drink for me! He was wearing a head band with a goal post on it that I thought was pretty cute! Chase and I played a word game that is similiar to scrabble. He is so smart and was even helping me with my turns! Kylie is such a cutie! We had fun playing hide and go seek. She loved it and hid in the same place at least five times! Lilly and Mason are darling and growing fast as well! They've changed so much every time I see them! We all had our cameras, of course! I had a wonderful time and I have so much to be Thankful for-my family, my health, the gospel, food and shelter, freedom...etc.
On Thursday, the REAL Thanksgiving, after watching some of the Macey's Thanksgiving Day parade on T.V., I decided to keep up with tradition and went bowling at Fat Cats. I tried Olympus Hills Lanes first but they were booked for hours. It was really fun! I played two games. Since I was by myself it went really fast! My scores were embarrassing by the way, 39 and 33. Oh well! I did get at least one spare in there. I had to work from 3-6:30 that night, but everyone was so stuffed from their big meal at lunch that we had only nine people to serve! It was the easiest night I've ever had there! It made for a very happy and memorable Thanksgiving! Gobble! Gobble!

Halloween!

Here are some pictures from Halloween including the pumpkin I carved and my cute nieces and nephews dressed up in their costumes. I had the day off so I went to see the costume parade at Cottonwood Elementary school that morning. There were some pretty awesome costumes there. The one that stands out in my mind was the kid dressed like a shark with human legs coming out of his mouth. I had fun dressing up as a nurse and handing out candy that night. The reason I decided to be a nurse this year is that a resident at my work gave me a pen that looks like a tool used to draw blood a few weeks earlier. It even had some fake blood inside of it. I found the rest of my costume at a Halloween Headquarters store. This year I decorated my windows with cute Halloween cling-ons that I found at JoAnn's. I had a spooktacular Halloween!

Spooky Work Party!

On October 30th, Le Chateau at Brickyard Plaza, where I have worked as a waitress for nearly two years now, had their Halloween Party for staff, residents, and our families. My parents came as well as my brother-in-law Jake and nephews Isaac, Chase, and niece Kylie. We served dinners of either chili or chicken and dumplings. I got to personally serve my family which was fun for me! There were also drinks and desserts on a buffet table. It was a costume party. My mom was Snow White, Isaac was a mummy, Chase was Prince Caspian, and Kylie was Little Bo Peep. I dressed up as a nurse in case you can't tell. Debbie, the other server, dressed up as a cat. There was a spooky Halloween movie, pumpkin decorating, a fish pond, and trick-or treating. I just feel bad that my nephews and niece had to leave after dinner and missed the activities which were the reason I thought it would be fun for them to come in the first place! It was a very fun night and I just wanted to share some pictures from the evening with all of you!

Nightmare On Thirteenth!

On the night of Monday, October 27th I went to the Nightmare on Thirteenth Haunted House. It was really scary! It started off with Nightmare Theatre where a scary puppet spoke and parts of the movie The Ring were shown. The haunted house included tunnels, mazes, a haunted circus, and insane assylum scenes, as well as a guy chasing you with a chain saw. I paid for the additional Nightmare Extreme part of it, which featured more dark mazes and scary monsters jumping out at you. I really enjoyed it and would recommend this haunted house to everyone! Happy Halloween!

Wheeler Farm With Mason!

Yesterday my parents and I met my sister Sarah and my darling seven month old nephew at Wheeler Farm. It was so good to see Mason! He is such a cutie! He seemed to enjoy most of the animals there. He was so brave while some of the other babies there started crying at the scary sheep! His favorite animals by far were the turkeys! He tried to talk to them and to get as close to them as possible. He started crying when we left them to look at other animals and was only happy again when we came back to them. I had so much fun watching him. He is growing and changing so much all the time and I am so excited to get to know him better! I love you, Mason!

I Joined The Circus!

On Thursday morning September 11 I impulsively decided to go to the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus that evening after work. I bought the best available tickets they had on-line. I ended up spending a little over one hundred dollars for them and my parking pass. When I got to the circus I found that my seat was on the front row and was one of several with a cover on it that said Circus Celebrity. The best part of the evening was that Becky and Jake ( and Jake's parents), and the kids were there too! Their seats were further back and in a different section, but still great! What a coincidence that we had chosen the same night to come! We hung out together during the pre-show and got cute clown noses to wear and I got some autographs of some of the performers. The show began with some clowns and doggies and then came the dancing princesses as Kylie likes to call them. Tom the bubble blowing clown was next and then the horse acts. Sometime during all of this those of us sitting in the Circus Celebrity seats were handed circus celebrity passes. On the back of them it told us that during the first half of the show we would be pulled out into the show. At this point I thought Oh no, what have I gotten myself into! My heart raced as I imagined myself being singled out to eat fire or something! I wanted out! But then I read on that we would just be riding on a circus train around the stadium floor. It turned out to be fun riding that train! It felt like we were in the circus! It was our fifteen minutes of fame! I waved to my cute nieces and nephews and saw them waving back! We shared the stage with motorcyles who were doing daring stunts in a huge metal ball. During the intermission I got to visit with my cute nieces and nephews again! The rest of the show featured balloons, tight ropes, tigers and elephants. It definitely was an experience I will never forget! I have never before enjoyed the circus in quite the same way! Chase was absolutely right when he said, "That's why your seat was so expensive!".

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE!

I spent this past Thursday through Saturday in Saint George with my friends Allison and Julie from high school. We left for the six hour drive Thursday at about 1:00 P.M. We got to our hotel at about 7:00 P.M. We did some shopping at the outlet stores and had dinner at Chili's that night. Friday morning we enjoyed the hotel's continental breakfast and then I swam in the hotel's pool for two hours and had it all to myself! Yes, there was even a hot tub! Neither one of my friends brought swimming suits. We had lunch at a restaurant and spent the afternoon sight seeing. We took pictures on the grounds of the Saint George temple and went on a tour of Brigham Young's Winter Home. I saw many different plants in Saint George including cotton plants, pecan trees, and peppers. We also stopped for shakes and did some more outlet shopping. That night we had dinner at Village Inn and then went to see The Sound Of Music at the Tuahcahn outdoor theatre. It was amazing! Saturday morning we had another continental breakfast and I went swimming for about an hour, again with the pool to myself! We had to check out of our hotel at eleven on Saturday morning and then after a little more shopping we were on our way back to Salt Lake, stopping for lunch at Burger King. I had a wonderful time in Saint George, but it was very hot and I am so glad to be sleeping in my own bed again!

MY 34TH BIRTHDAY PARTY!

On Saturday July 5, 2008 I celebrated my 34th Birthday! My brother Steven and his wife Katy invited the whole family over to swim in their condos pool and have a barbecue! The water was perfect, especially in the hot tub! I had so much fun with all my siblings, neices and nephews! Even my youngest nephew Mason got his feet wet! The hot dogs were delicious! Of course there was birthday cake and ice cream! Everyone joined in singing Happy Birthday to me. The wind was so strong that the question mark shaped candle on my cake wouldn't stay lit, so after the singing I had to fake a blow. I got clothes, a computer program, a DVD, and a new viola case. I guess being a year older won't be so bad!