The Cutting of a Tree

Yesterday, as tradition would have it, we cut down our Christmas tree. Kelly and I, Kathy and Dennis, Shauna and John, Jay and Joy, Sheryl and Jeff, Alaina, Taylee, Matthew and Parker, all drove up to Heber to cut down our trees this year. It was pretty snowy up there and the freezing rain didn't help driving conditions very much either. We enjoyed a very interesting and at times frightening ride home. Also, as tradition would have it, Kelly found the tallest tree in the forest and we decided that had to be the one...minus 20 or so feet. The tree started out looking pretty big, but we had to cut a bunch off the bottom to keep the top from dragging on the ground all the way home. Also, one side of the tree broke to peices when it landed so it ended up looking smaller in the end. Still, a nice looking tree and as always, a fun filled Grizwold Christmas experience!

Our house, in the middle of our street

Today officially marks the first day of holiday decorating. Fortunately, I begged Kelly to put lights on the house weeks ago before it got cold. Because he's such a WONDERFUL husband, he climbed up on our very scary roof over the driveway and put lights on the house. He says he will never do this again, buuuut...I bet he will. We put up the small Christmas tree in the formal room last night and tomorrow we're getting up at the butt crack of dawn to cut down a Christmas tree for the living room. We figure we can get away with just under a 12 footer this year. (We still have scuff marks on the ceiling from attempting a bigger tree last year). Although it is very dark, and you cannot decipher the colors of the lights too well...behold the holiday spectacle!

Even More of NYC

...And more that I couldn't fit on the second post, as I have yet to master the formatting of this silly program.

More of NYC

Here's more pix that I couldn't fit on the first post.

New York City

As promised, here are some pix of our recent trip to New York. Kelly had to go to New York for work this past week to become the expert on capillary electrophoresis for Cephalon, Salt Lake City. He left on Monday and I decided to meet up with him on Wednesday since I have never been to New York. We stayed on the Jersey City side, in an immensely overpriced hotel with a grand view of the Manhattan skyline. We had a ton of fun when Kelly wasn't working. On Thursday, I maneuvered my way through the subway system to find my way to the three hour river cruise around Manhattan that I had booked for myself. It was really cold, but really worth it. I got to cruise past Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, under 20 something bridges, past Yankee Stadium and around the Palasades. On Friday, we went to see Wicked at the Gershwin Theater, which was really great. The sets and costumes were gorgeous and the music wasn't bad either. :)

We also went atop The Empire State building to steal a great view. (Even colder up there) Ice skating at Rockafeller Center has begun already and there are signs of the much anticipated Christmas season around every corner...on Halloween night.

We also got to see Grand Central Station, Wall Street, Tiffany's, Saks 5th Ave, Central Park, Battery Park, Ground Zero, The Chrysler Building, Times Square, Little Italy, China Town, The Museum of Natural History, and the Metropolitan Museum with a final stop at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, among other places I'm sure I forgot to mention.

My cell phone has a pedometer inside and after every day, we found that we were averaging somewhere between 15 - 18 miles of walking every day. We are very tired. And sore. I suppose that explains why the majority of people in New York are in pretty good shape.

Goin' a Huntin'

This year Kelly and I both got deer tags. Kelly was kind enough to buy me a .270 Winchester Short Mag for Christmas a couple of years ago, the instrument by which we have filled our freezer with loads of ven. I also took hunters safety with my friend Leslie and a number of small children. This year has been extremely un-fruitful, because the harsh winter last year killed off a lot of the deer. Between the two of us this entire month, we have gotten nothing. We've been up to Bear lake, where we saw a ton of doe, China Meadows, Blacks Fork Canyon, and Red Rock, to name a few. Every night after work we've gone up Farmington Canyon in hopes of catching a glimpse of something, but if nothing else, the hiking has afforded us numerous gorgeous views. Kelly has drawn out for the cow elk hunt this November, so hopefully we'll be grillin' up elk burgers sometime soon! Stay tuned for adventures in NYC!