12 Days of Pictures-Day 12

Emma, in Christmas finery, December 2006 (she'd been home about a month).

12 Days of Pictures-Day 11

We made our annual pilgrimage to see the lights on Temple Square last night, along with thousands of other families for FHE. This is a photo in front of the tree in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building lobby.

12 Days of Pictures-Day 10

12 Days of Pictures-Day 9

This is an old favorite from Italy in 2001

12 Days of Pictures-Day 8

Christmas Tree 2010. We had a fake tree for several years (which I liked mostly because you can bend the branches around at all sorts of strange angles to meet your ornament-placing needs), but we lost more and more lights every year so we decided to get the genuine article this time. Smells good and fits well in the back corner of the living room. Isn't it funny that we put actual trees in our houses and then string lights on them and hang stuff on the branches?

12 Days of Pictures-Day 7

Here's a nice Spring-like photo for the Winter doldrums. Denny is here with her sisters Barbralicious and Julie-boolie. Ok then.

12 Days of Pictures-Day 6

Emma and I in some airport on one of the legs of our trip home from China.

12 Days of Pictures-Day 5

Here's a photo of our front yard on December 27, 2003, after one of the biggest snowstorms in Utah's history. You can see the broken branches in our yard and across the street in Liberty Park. The day before (Boxing Day!), after more than a foot of snow had fallen, Joe and I decided to hike up to Smith's on 9th and 9th to get some milk to make hot chocolate. We strapped on our snow boots, etc., and trudged up to the store and bought a gallon of milk. On the way back, Joe helped two or three vehicles get unstuck from the snow (it was a baaaad day for driving). We probably spent two hours total out in the snow, trudging and digging. The last car that got unstuck accidentally backed up over our gallon of milk. Kersplash. We were almost home by then and decided not to hike back for more. So no hot chocolate. But it was lots of fun all the same.

12 Days of Pictures-Day 4

This is one that I like. October 14, 2004 at a train station somewhere between London and Edinburgh. It was a great trip filled with many new adventures. My dad has always been a train freak, and loved studying the maps and train schedules. Ok then.

12 Days of Pictures-Day 3

Hmmm....looking through the photo archives for something out of the ordinary. How about March 2005. I accompanied Joe on a work trip to Nashville and we took a side trip to Memphis to visit Graceland. So here's me in Elvis' pristine shrine of a living room.

12 Days of Pictures-Day 2

As part of our Thanksgiving festivities in Phoenix this year, we went for a hike to a tower that overlooked a couple of valleys. At this same time there were single-digit temperatures back home. Thanks to Uncle Mike and family for the fun hike and the following week of screamin' muscles! Ok then.

12 Days of Pictures-Day 1

Our friends over at The Spring Garden are doing 12 Days of Pictures. I like the idea and told Genevieve I was stealing it. So here's our first picture -- Emma in the pool on our recent Thanksgiving trip to Phoenix. It wasn't perfect swimming weather, but it sure beat the temps in Salt Lake that weekend (so we heard), and Emma was undaunted.