Newport beach

merry christmas. we are enjoying a trip for christmas this year. so more to come. good times. memorable times. merry christmas.

Utah 17 BYU 16

The Rivalry Game- Utah vs. the Team Down South

I can't miss this game! (Okay-two years ago we did but not again). The big Utah/BYU football game came on a COLD November afternoon. Babysitters lined up, kids dropped off ---->and off we go. How many layers of clothing needed-more than what I had on! Kickoff temperature: below freezing (I think) with a nice breeze. COLD. COLD. COLD. Watching the game on TV does no justice for how cold it was.

I didn't bring my camera, so the cell phone pix will have to do. My brother Jay was working the game for KSL. It was fun to see him before the game. He is cheering on his Weber State Wildcats.

Utah had lousy offence and good defence and 1 amazing special teams play to win the game for Utah. Okay-sure there were a few bad calls on BOTH sides of the ball. That's why we love college football eh? Here is a little pre-kick-off smack talking. Finally a moment worth taking a picture of--->Happiness at the end of the game! Utah won! It was a COLD game. I could not feel my toes. I had two blankets around me. Hat, hoodie, coat, jacket, long johns. But it was all worth it when Utah blocked the BYU field goal as time expired on the clock.
Fans rush the field. (no-we don't rush the field) Thanks Carl for getting us tickets again. We love you man!!

We are still celebrating this victory!! GO UTES.

Turkey Fry

Two years ago, Jimmy's dad got a turkey fryer for Christmas. Jimmy decided its been sitting in the box TOO long. Time to learn how to fry a turkey!

We got the turkey-oil-propane. Here we go!

Peanut oil=Liquid gold. Some places sell it for $15 a gallon. We needed 3 gallons!

Heat the oil (the set up) Jimmy's dad made the metal tray to cook it on. Its a nice flat, large surface. If we cook it on concrete, then oil won't get everywhere. See thermometer in oil on the side. We keep the oil at 350 degrees.The lucky bird-see the cool rack to hold the bird. This was nice setup. Easy to move the bird around.
The bird in the fryer.


Waiting for it to cook. (It took an hour. Jimmy had to push a switch every 15 minutes to keep the gas on. A safety feature.) Jimmy's on the phone with his brother-Yes JOE-finally Dad's Christmas gift is finally being used.

Its cooked! Yummy!

Jimmy's an animal-he loves it! YUMMY!

We can re-use the oil after each use. It can be used three times. On Thanksgiving, we are frying our third turkey. I can't wait to try out Jim's new toy in the summer. It can steam and boil too.

Its so fun trying something new.

Just Listed

See link:
1664 S 1600 W, Woods Cross, UT 84087

White Wash Sand Dunes

Camping in November? Yup. We did it. Jimmy's dirt bike friend, Spencer, was finally back in town. The weather was gonna be good. So we planned a camping trip. We left Thursday afternoon & drove to the White Wash Sand Dunes, which is between Greenriver and Moab.

After a stop in Greenriver for water and a little break.

Then pulling into camp at sunset.

We drove 45 minutes on dirt road. Um, parts of the dirt road were CRAZY. There were low spots we had to be careful of-luckily it hadn't rained there in a while, or the mud would have been a problem. We had to be careful to not scrape the bottom of the trailer as we went down & back up these washouts.

Once we got off the main dirt road, we had a 0.5 mile downhill descent on a ROCKY dirt road. I was already freaked out cause of the dirt road we just traveled, but this last part made me nervous! I had to close my eyes, and just hold on......Jimmy did an amazing job driving, but I had not been on a road like with with a HUGE truck, trailer, and my FAMILY. In our camping adventures, we had NEVER traveled a road like his. I was happy to get to our destination.

Friday morning, we shot a shot gun some. We hit an empty water bottle down the hill. It was fun. Cute to see Jimmy do it with the kids. Jimmy & Spencer went out on a bike ride.

Jann & I + kids went on hikes. It was fun. My kids haven't been hiking a lot, so it was fun to see them try & climb. Sometimes they were scared to climb up or down something, but they conquered it.

Another hike in the afternoon.

Another day, another hike. Different route. We let the kids lead the way. We walked away from our camp, then looked around and let the kids choose which way we headed. They loved being in charge!
We directed the kids back to a spot we hiked to the day before. We came at it from a different direction. They got so excited when they recognized this place from the other day. Yes, I hauled my 27 lb baby in a baby carrier. I didn't want to invest in a big, hiking backpack until I knew I would really use it. I still don't know if i want one.
Jimmy got a little beat up on his bike ride. I will have to figure out how to get the pix & video off of Spencers facebook page.....hhmmmm....But he had fun.

Hanging out around camp.

The 'fish' cop stopped by our camp to see if bikes were registered. We were fine, but he sure talked our ear off. I like charlie just sitting in the dirt playing as the ranger guy was here. We blew a tire on our trailer so here is Jimmy putting the spare on. Cirrus, the dog, helped. Good Boy. Cirrus & sophie became good friends during this trip. Cirrus was almost a babysitter for Sophie. We knew the two would be together. ahh-love a good campfire!My cute kids asleep on the couch. I moved them to their beds-but awww! precious! Ashley was laying the same direction as the others when I walked in the trailer, but flipped sides before I could get the camera. One last ride before we go home.

My cute family!

Last stop-dumping before we got home.

If you.....

If you click on my collages can you see them bigger? I can on my computer, but a friend said she can't see my pix big enough. If you click on them can you see them larger?

Catch-Up time

School started for the girls. I drove them to Bountiful Elementary for three weeks until we moved to Bountiful. The girls get to walk to school now versus a bus which we had last year. The crossing guard is the same lady that did crossing guard when JIMMY was in school. WOW. The girls have amazing teachers. I like Bountiful Elementary. It's gonna be a good year.

Charlie started preschool in October with a lady that lives close to our house. Its so nice having a preschool close to our house-its less than a 10 minute walk. Its cute to see Charlie so happy about learning and having somewhere to go.

Ute Fan Fest

We love the Utah gymnasts-Kyndal Robarts pictured with the girls. Down on the field

Labor Day Bee's Game with cousin Cooper

The kids lasted a few innings. Am I crazy to take 5 kids out with me....um yeah! But we did great. Popcorn, park and we lasted the whole game! Thanks to a friend for the tickets!

Ashley's Baptism

She looked so pretty in her special dress made by her grandma. Jimmy did a great job and it was an honor for him to baptize his girl. We loved having lots of friends & family around.

Sophie is getting to be SO cute. She toddles around, gets into things, and is such a cute BLUE eyed girl! (where did she get those blue eyes?)

Jimmy headed to Wyoming for the Utah football game in October. So I wanted to play too. I met a friend at the Hill Air Force Airplane Museum. It was great and FREE. The kids went at their own pace-running. Charlie loved it-that stuff is cool to a little guy!
Fall is upon us-the weather got colder. Loosing daylight & the leaves are falling. New adventure with this house-leaves to rake-LOTS of them. Here is one Friday afternoon with some friends playing in the leaves.

And (almost caught up)-->Halloween. The week was full of:

Ward Trunk or Treat

Neighborhood Carnival

Trick or treating on Main Street in Bountiful.
The kids had class parties too and we did a few crafts around the house too.

DC Trip HERE

Finally-I have my blog updated with pix & details of my anniversary trip to Washington DC with my sweetheart! Check out the following 8 posts. Thanks!

Monday: Tour of the Capitol

So we started our journey at the Forest Glen Metro station. (Train=cool-just like in the movies.) We rode the train into Union Station & headed to The US Capitol. We tried to do a tour at the Library of Congress but we had to make our tour at the Capitol, so we just went inside the Library of Congress for a few minutes then headed to Senator Bennets office. We toured the US Capitol with an intern from Sen. Bennets office. Its a more personalized tour of different rooms in the Capitol. It was really neat. The rotunda was HUGE. Amazing. It hurt my head trying to look up at it all. There is just SO much information to take in-so many things about the history of the building, the artwork, the architecture. We didn't get to see the rooms where the senators & legislatures do their voting (as seen on CSPAN) but it was still neat to see everything. LONG LONG tour. Lots of time on our feet, but well worth it.

We ended the day in DC with a stop at The Good Stuff Eatery. GREAT burger joint! Our tour person recommended it for the shakes, but the food was great! (and we were hungry!)

We did stop at the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence and the other documents of our countries beginnings. Cool stuff. Amazed at the technology used to preserve things.

Saturday-Sunday: North Carolina

Since we were on the East Coast, we decided it would be worthwhile to see my Grandma Dortzbach, who lives in North Carolina. Joe & Debbie haven't been to North Carolina so they joined us on our journey. Saturday morning we hit the road to North Carolina.

**MOM MOMENT--->We stopped at the gas station for some gas & some goodies before we hit the road. As a mom without kids, and without being rushed, I COULD NOT DECIDE WHAT TO GET at the convenience store. I just stood there for a few seconds, stumped. What do I do? What can I get? What would I like? I decided on something but it was a hard choice. That's when you know you need a vacation.......

Who knew traffic in Virginia would be horrible!! We ended getting off the interstate and took a highway down to Lexington, NC. It was a real pretty drive but being stuck on the interstate for 3 hours, barely going 60 miles, was ridiculous! It was worst than any Utah & California traffic we have been stuck in. We made some good memories being in the car with Joe & Debbie for that long, but it was GREAT TIMES! We got to my grandma's and my aunt fixed us some dinner-GOOD SOUTHERN COOKIN! We decided to finish our visit tomorrow as it was getting late.

We chose to stay in a cheap motel instead of crashing at my Uncles. CHEAP MOTEL-but we didn't die during the night and well.....that's all we need to stay. HORRIBLE nights sleep.

Sunday morning, we visiting with my 2 cousins on my dad's side of the family-Jennifer & Keith. Jennifers husband was there as well as their daughter Elise. We visited and Elise entertained us. It felt good to see a child, as I was adjusting to being without child......

I sure love my Grandma. Ever since I was little, I remember writing my grandma letters. I would ask her about her life. She would send pictures, and was always generous to send birthday money and christmas money. She loved to hear about all my adventures. I still write my grandma letters and send her pictures. Her health is declining, and she is slowing down with age. Who knows how long she will be around. She came out to Utah 3 years ago for a visit and that was a big trip for her! She is such a sweet lady-yes short, but a very wonderful lady. My #2 girls' middle name is after her. My dad calls his mommy every week and she loves to hear about the crazy life of the Dortzbach's out here! I meant a LOT to me to see my grandma. It was a sacrifice of time to see her, but well worth it.

Elise pulled out the play dough & everyone had to have a picture with her hat she made. Kids are fun.