Christmas Collection

Our Christmas spirit was ignited when we went to the tree lot and got ourselves a tree. As you can see from the photo below... we decided to go big. Yikes! It's size in the house kinda shocked David and made us a laugh a bit. I even had them cut a few inches off, but the tip top is still bent. I can't even fit the bow on the top!

We usually have a smaller tree and so I was a bit short on ribbon and decorations. Shhh, don't tell anyone that there is pretty much nothing on the backside of the tree.

Any trip that David and I take, we buy an ornament as memory for the place. Here are ones we've collected...

The first was actually given to me for my b-day by

those at an orphanage I volunteered at in Ecuador.

The next was from a trip to Jackson with Dave's family in June '06. We would drive through the Tetons looking for animals to watch, the bears did like their berries.

This March ('07) Dave and I got away to NYcity on a last minute business trip. Just a weekend, so we rushed to take it all in. We bought this ornament on the top of the Empire State Bldg. We took a cozy horse drawn carriage ride through Central Park. While there we realized that there is a whole lot to do in Vegas and we NEVER take advantage of it! We just stick to our area most of the time. Gotta get better.

April '06 David took me to Disneyland for my birthday. We had so much fun. Even more than I thought we could, being just two adults. It was just what I had wanted.(haven't put a picture in yet, since we didn't have a tree last year). It was the 50th anniversary of Disneyland.

Feb. '07: We went to Disneyland with my students!! One of my students invited the entire class (including a parent and sibling for each- some even more!), all expenses paid to Disneyland and CA Advent for his Bday. His dad booked a fancy bus, nice hotel rooms (1 per fam), fancy dinner and lunches. He bought each student (and Dave n' I) baseball caps, and we all got our silhouettes done. Mickey came and visited us during dinner in the Grand Hotel. He had set a lot up ahead of time and so we didn't wait in any lines for more than 20 min! We arrived at 1pm and Dave n' I had "done" Disneyland by 10 pm! It was awesome.

June '07: We went to San Fran. I tell you, one of the best trips we have taken so far. We were treated, once again, to the ENTIRE thing by the same student's dad who took the class to Disneyland. It was my student's brother's birthday this time. He got to take 3 friends and each brought a parent. My student brought one other friend (and his fam). I tell you, talk about organized! We did it ALL in just two days. I was wiped out when we got back to school, but it was the last week and so I didn't have to do intense grading. I'll definitely have to tell more about it later.

Oct. '05: We went to Jackson with Dave's parents, two siblings and their spouses. Beautiful time of year. The fish represent our fly fishing experience. I LOVED it. too bad I hooked our guide, david AND myself. Oops. I did manage to get the biggest fish though. I seriously love the sport!

April '07: We had decided to take a big trip, just the two of us, before we became parents and we actually did. Cancun, Mexico! I was four months pregnant, but it wasn't noticeable. It was "Spring Break", yet not busy. We went to the pyramids (stayed late, paid a guard and climbed them. cool), the beach, the "jungle" (got a massage in a tucked away hut with pretty much only a roof; fun hearing the real birds and such), and Margaritaville (pretty funny, early evening- not bad). We took a ride on the dolphins, so that helped us choose the ornament. We did the "Superman," the dolphins pushed our feet and swam, lifting us out of the water!

Oct. '06: We made it to Yellowstone while in Jackson. So neat to see it all. We were within arms reach of the bison, saw Old Faithful, and all sorts of natural things!

Nov. '03: Switzerland!! Brady Industries won a trip to Switzerland through one of their distributers. It was because of the Linen division and so David and I got to go!! One day we did a "drive around" and just happened upon all sorts of castles, a neat winery, and the temple. We were going to rent some bikes, but then we saw a bunch of Jaguars in the front of the hotel (there was a convention for them). We were joking around and thought it would be funny to take one for a ride. I actually asked. They handed the keys and said, "No time limit, just refill the gas." Ahh! Cheaper than renting bikes! Sure added to it all. We also went paragliding, running off of a 3000 ft. mountain and then "flying" by parachute back to a meadow in front of the hotel. It actually felt like I was sitting on a swing. Crazy.

Well, all for now. Reading Suzie's and realizing the "journal" benefits, I figured this a good place to record the memories while fresh enough.