Christmas Tree Hunting

We had such a great time this morning with Ryan, Erin and their awesome family hunting for the perfect Christmas tree. I love this time of year and the great traditions that happen, my family has always gone Christmas tree hunting and we have had some pretty great memories come out of that very simple tradition. I remember very clearly on one of our Christmas tree hunts about 4 years ago, we were past Henrieville but not quite to the blues on one of the big bends. The kids and mom decided that we really liked one tree BUT dad liked another tree. So just as we were deciding what tree to chop down dad said hurry every one get down, there is a car coming and we are not suppose to cut a tree down this close to the road. Everyone dived on the ground thinking that we might get caught and dad (laughing at us for believing him) just happened to duck down right where 'his' favorite tree was, so while he was close to the ground he just chopped it right down. We were all so ticked but laughing quite hard. That is just my dad to a T; you just can't help but to love him. Thanks mom and dad for always taking us out to find a real Christmas tree!
Here are some of our pictures from our Christmas tree hunt this year.

 Searching for the perfect tree.

 Emmet's huge snowballs!

 Snow ball fight.

 Jim's floating snowball! ooOOooo!

 Cutting down our tree.

 You can see who did all the work... me of course I was taking all the pictures! That is hard work you know. ;)

Molly and Erin's nose scrunching. hehe.

I love family and I am so thankful that Ryan and Erin live close enough that we can do so many fun activities with them!

Family Fun

We have had such a great time with family this November and since tomorrow is Turkey Day we will be having even more family fun. I want to share some of our pictures from this month.
We were able to have Ian come to our house one weekend this month and boy did we have fun! We even built a fort on the bed he slept in!

 The next weekend we went up for Ian's Baptism. It was such a neat experience!

We stayed with John, Alysha and Mckaylee, we had a blast with them. We even went to the nicklecade. Jim and I loved it so so much!

Thirty point buck.

Okay so it wasn't a thirty point, but good enough for us!

Any one who knows the Shakespear's knows that they are die hard deer hunters and me... I come from a family where our deer hunting proceeds from the window of the F350 (which probably scares all the deer away from us). So this was my first 'shot' at Shakespear style hunting, I didn't have a tag but I went along any way. And I would tell you details but I am pretty sure that is forbidden...can't give away the location of the Shakespear's holy hunting ground to any outsiders! hehe.

Saturday was the first day of the hunt and Jim, Mom, David and I headed out to the boonies at 5:30 in the morning! Not such a great start for me because I am so lousy at getting up early and being perky and happy about it. I did get a little sleep on the way but not much because the roads were so terrible due to the immense amount of rain that southern Utah is getting these days. We arrived at our destination to find that they boys that were there already were... still asleep :) so we awoke them with a nice loud horn honk because there was no way we were getting out in that cold fall air. Once they woke up we had a nice pancake, hot chocolate,sausage and egg breakfast (we had a slight mis-communication about who was to bring the bacon... so Jim and I left ours home...oppps). Then we headed out on the hunt. I have to say it was quite exciting to get on a trail and start tracking. For the most part we stayed warm and it only sprinkled on us, so I was very happy about that! I tagged along with Jim since I didn't have a radio of my own and I'm not particularly fond of being by myself in the wild outdoors or getting lost. I am sure that I was too loud and too chatty and too this and too that, but Jim was very nice and only had to reminded me a few times to be quiet. 

As they day went on we finally met up with Mom and she decided that she was done hunting for the day. I decided Jim would probably have more success with out me scaring all the deer away so I was right there with her; we headed back to our nice running water and heated house. On our way we could hear on the radio that they boys were getting pretty close to catching their prey so we stopped and listened as Jim revealed that he had shot his first buck in three years. There was some extreme excitement as we heard Jim, Ryan, Franz and David exchange coordinates and details about the kill. Of course when they all got to Jim... they stopped using their radios, so we were out of the loop and couldn't hear the rest of the exciting story that proceeded as we chugged back to tropic. 

We got back to tropic and later that evening I got a call from Jim, he told me that he had shot a 4 point and that they couldn't get it out of the gully it was in, so they were going to have to wait till morning to get it out and they would have to do that piece by piece. Now I was feeling very thankful that Mom had decided to come home when she did. So I decided to stay at my families house on Saturday night and spend Sunday with them. 

Jim didn't call me till 5 o'clock on Sunday... I was starting to get worried that it was raining there and they couldn't get out ( like during the muzzle loader hunt). They had gotten home and 3 o'clock and taken care of his deer and then called me. I was thankful again that I didn't have to be involved in that part of the deer hunting. 

It was a great weekend and I sure do enjoy being in the wild outdoors with a wonderful family. I am truly blessed to be apart of the Shakespear Clan. 

Continue in Patience

I love President Uchtdorf and his great insight about having patience. Its something I know that I need to work on cause I would for sure give in and eat the marshmallow before 15 minutes were up. :) I hope you all enjoy this clip as much as I did.

Puppets

I have decided that I have definitely chosen the right career. Not only do I love to work/Volunteer at North Elementary with English as a Second Language students but I also get to make fun things like these for my classes!

 These are mine and Jim's newest additions to our family. :)

 This one didn't work quite like I wanted it too. Her head wouldn't stay up so I had to hold it.

This is my favorite one! He is a marionette and he is so great!

Adventures

"Adventure is out there!" ~ from the greatest movie of all time UP ~
And boy have we found it in the last month Jim and I have seen hole-in-the-rock, peek-a-boo and spooky gulch and some amazing hot air balloons!

My mother and father in law have both read the book the Undaunted  and they were kind enough to let me borrow their book and read it. I have to tell you, it was an amazing book, besides the fact that I love Gerald Lund's writing, I was truly inspired by the feat that these pioneers conquered. 

 

                                                                                                              

Our next adventure was to peek-a-boo and spooky gulch. These are about a hour out of Escalante.

 As well as Devils Rock Garden.

I thought this looked like a turtle!

AND last but not least our Balloon festival experience.

As you can see we enjoy the extraordinary things in life and are always up for an adventure! :)

I can SEW!!

I should correct my title... I can *kind of* SEW! I have been wanting a white skirt for some time now and I decided that since I can never find what I want I will just make it. So Erin helped me (thank heavens for that wonderful women) she taught me how to put it all together while Jim, Ryan and the kids watched Indiana Jones on Friday night. Then I spent pretty much all of Saturday working on it, then finally finished it this afternoon. I was a little vain and thought I was skinner than I really am, so its a little tight around my wonderful hips that I inherited from my mommy.Other than that I would have to say it turned out pretty dang good for my first time sewing a skirt. :) 

 I am quite proud of myself, of course its not perfect but I still love it.

Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps

"What do you get when you blend Alfred Hitchcock with Monty Python? A hilarious mystery spoof that will keep you guessing! Murder, betrayal, and espionage intertwine with sly and hysterical nods to many of Hitchcock’s films, resulting in one of the funniest plays to ever hit Broadway. See if you can figure out whodunit as this cast of four transforms into over 150 farcical characters!" - http://bard.org/plays/39steps.html

On Wednesday Jim, Margaret, Franz and I went and saw this gut busting play put on by the Utah Shakespearean Festival. They did such a wonderful job at it too, with only 4 cast members it was amazing to see what they could do. They are very talented people. For anyone that is thinking about seeing a play before this summer is over, I would highly recommend this one to everyone! I laughed so hard I almost fell off my seat, not to mention the man in front of us had a hilarious laugh!  I sure do love spending time with my in-laws and to see them laugh and have such a good time was so fun for me and Jim.

Jim's updated site!

Hey everyone, check out Jim's updated website that he has for us! It is so awesome! I sure do love having him around he is a great guy and you have to admit he is talented, I could never create my own website that looked as good as this... http://www.shakespearfamily.com/JLShakeme/Welcome.html

Goal

This weekend was such an inspiring one!

Jim was able to go home on Thursday night with Ryan and the boys so they could get up early and go fishing at Barker Reservoir. Apparently the fishing up there was no better than what we had up in the Uintahs. They had fun though and that's the important thing anyway.
I had to work on Friday and then was able to help one of my friends with her shopping. I sure do enjoy helping others when the chance comes and I know that they Lord provides ways for us to be in the right place at the right time! Then I headed on home to Cannonville where I was able to spend time with my great family. It was such a busy weekend we had the 1/2 marathon and the bear festival and the Smith reunion. busy busy.

Anyway... the reason for this post is that I now have a new goal. I was so inspired by my cousin Barbie running the 1/2 marathon that I am going to start preparing for next years race! I am a little nervous but I am going to do it! I think being physically fit is so important and I am much happier if I am getting the exercise that I need. When I got my gallbladder out the surgeon told me that every person should get their heart rate up to 150 for at least 30 minutes a day. I have been struggling with being tired all of the time and he told me with the exercise he recommended, more iron in my diet I would be happier, more fit and I would have more energy!

Anybody that wants to run with me next year, you are so invited to train and then run the race with me!
So here's to a healthier and all around better lifestyle!

Uintah Camping Trip

Last Wednesday Jim and I headed out for the Uintah Mountains. It was a very needed, relaxing trip. This annual camp out is usually just the boys and I am proud to say that I was the third Shakespear girl to ever attempt camping with the tough Shakespear Boys, and I made it! I came back with out too much damage done. There was one rough night, but that's just me learning how my body reacts to certain foods now that I no longer have a gallbladder or appendix.

It was a bit cold up there in the mountains, we were up 10,500 feet and the air is much thinner there than I am used to.

 That is frost on the ground!

I must say that the main reason I love camping ever so much is that it gets me closer, I feel, to all of Gods wonderful creations. I so enjoy seeing the hand of my loving heavenly father in my everyday life, and don't get me wrong I can see those things here in the 'BIG' city of Cedar, but to be out where there is almost no sign of man or the harm we do to this earth is such a spiritual experience for me. I always get a re-confirmation that God does love me and that he has made this beautiful world for us to live in.

Here are some of my great pictures from the trip.

That's Franz fixing up his fishing pole

I loved this flower! It is so Brilliant!

 Beautiful little waterfall

Chepeta Lake

My Mountain Man!

House Work

Jim and I are currently living in a house very close to campus which my parents bought back in November last year. It is such a wonderful place to live and we love it ever so much...except... we have house guests every weekend. My Parents. Of course it is so great that we get to see them so often the problem is that we get put to work on our nice, relaxing weekends. Its a huge project that they had invested in and its going to be an even better place to live when we are all finished.  My dad, of course does most of the work, but that's okay because most of it he does while sitting down with a BIG pepsi in his hand, you may ask how this is possible... well he owns a cement business in Cannonville,UT and he has lots of fun toys like this one.

He Loves doing work, especially when large equipment is involved! I love my daddy!

Shan doing some demolition downstairs.

Jim digging for a water line, dad in the background doing the easy digging.

 This is where the diesel tank sat before we took it out.

This is where the stairs will be...eventually.

So far we have dug out new, huge downstairs window wells and we have huge windows for both of the downstairs bedrooms. We dug up a diesel tank that was on the south side of the house and then put all the dirt back where the tank was. we dug up a water line and a gas line and replaced them, dug a ginormous hole in our front yard where eventually there will be stairs that lead down to the basement and then cut out a door to the basement as well. So that is what our weekends have been full of for the last little while. 

Of course with lots of help from all the family. 

They hope to have renters by the fall, but I don't know if they are going to be quick enough for that since we only have 6 more weekends till fall semester starts. We are still going to be replacing all the water lines in the house and putting another water heater in and putting carpet down and painting the walls and making a closet for one of the rooms. It;s just a big job to do. I will sure be glad when it is all done. 

 

They are hoping to get a married couple to live down there, so if anyone is looking for a place to live in the fall possibly or next spring, they hope to get $500 a month, just let me know.

21st birthday

I can't believe that I am 21! Not that it really changed much in my life but, holy cow 21 is getting up there. Okay so not really. Jim and I got up early on the 16th and made our way to Zion National Park, it was so great! We went on a hike that I have never been on before, and Margaret informed me that it is mentioned in The Undaunted by Gerald Lund anyway, it is called Hidden Canyon. It was kind of a HOT day but once we got into the canyon I was almost... no I was... needing my jacket. It was actually COLD in the canyon. Jim loved that part. The neatest thing was that there were ferns and all sorts of fauna growing on the walls of this canyon and it was just so spectacular! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who was going to Zion.

The other exciting this is that my wonderful husband gave me a sweet little kitten to me. I believe we are going to call him Piper because he is always putting his two cents in, every time we talk he has got to as well. He is the cutest darn thing, I love him already, and the saddest thing is leaving him when I have to go to work. I guess I will get used to it though.. sigh...

I will put pictures on this post when I get around to it, life is SOO busy these days (do I sound dramatic? I was trying really hard for that, you know poor me I have to work... haha)