Christmas lights

Well, my lights outside are all up...actually I've had them up since the 1st or 2nd. I was just going to buy the colored lights this year and then do the icicles next year, but when I went to go buy them, they sell them all together these days...so I bought just enough to go around the front and then next year will have to find more. Hopefully they'll be on sale after Christmas.



I also, with the help of the Halgren kids and Margo got my tree all decorated last Monday. I even have one present underneath already. I can hardly wait for all of my homework to be done so I can start my Christmas baking. It will be a great year. I also enjoyed the 1st Presidency fireside last night with Mae. It's just the thing to start the Christmas mood on the right foot, to recognize the Light of Christmas.

Tree hunting

I went up on Saturday to pick out my very own Christmas tree with Martha and Blair's family. I had a lot of fun and found a tree just right for my little house. It was fun to go up hiking and pick out the tree. I even carried it down the hill all by myself.



When I got it home I didn't even have to cut anything else off of it, it was just the right size.



Sarah really enjoyed herself, that is, until it was time to go home and she was absolutely exhausted. Then she was miserable. All in all, however, a great time was had by all and I have my very first real tree. Imagine, only $5 for all of this fun and enjoyment.

Thanksgiving.

I have so much to give thanks for, really I'm quite spoiled. I had my parents, my sister and her family and my brother over for Thanksgiving dinner and everything worked out just right. Dad also spent the couple of days he was here to fix my kitchen drawers and rewire the bathrooms and ground the plugs by the kitchen sink. Samuel got a buzz from helping him.

I feel much safer in the kitchen, feeling like I won't burn my house down, and it is also very handy to be able to blow dry and curl my hair in my bathroom. Here is a picture of the guests and the tables...


I was happy that I had cloth enough for the tables and that they looked nice. The turkey also turned out well, it was done by 9:00am and made the house smell great. I just left it in the oven and it cooled just right to be carved at 11:30. It couldn't have gone better. Martha made the potatoes, the cranberry salad, the vegetable tray, another salad and one pumpkin pie, Samuel made another pumpkin pie and an apple pie that Dad quite enjoyed and Mom brought the rolls, some green beans, the ice cream and herself.

It was very nice to have Mom there to help set up the tables and just get everything organized. I always feel very fortunate to have the family I do. Like I said, I'm spoiled.

ZZZzzzzzzzzz! ZZZzzzzzzzz

I had my first house guests this weekend: LeAnn and John Halgren stayed Saturday night after the BYU choir concert and went to church with me on Sunday. All of their college children either came to church or made it by lunchtime to my house. It was quite fun.



Some of you may be familiar with the Halgren family. They have the unique gift of being able to sleep in any position in any place, regardless of surrounding circumstances. This particular film is only a small demonstration and, to be fair, happened this Sunday afternoon, so David and Kyle have good excuse for their naps, having just eaten a wonderful soup prepared by me. They also are in absolutely normal positions, even though David, in the middle of the floor was stepped over frequently without obvious effect...I'll have to get another picture at some other time to really show their abnormalcy.

Autumn Time

It was very fun to be able to rake leaves...I got five big garbage bags full and I packed it in, ripping one of the bags in the process. I didn't dare jump in the leaves as I have a catalpa tree that drops pointy seed pods and the leaves were also a bit damp. It was quite a workout and I had sore shoulders for a couple of days, however I did have fun being outside and working up a sweat. Another blessing that I received, referent to the leaves is that they all fell down at once. All of my neighbors have these trees that drop little annoying leaves little by little and so they are always having to rake their yards. My tree, happily, has huge leaves that didn't fall for the longest time, but when they fell, they all went together. It was a cinch to rake them up because they are so big and now I may have to rake once more, for the few that were left, but all in all, I'm done for the year. Blessings, blessings, blessings.




Also, when I was going back inside, I noticed that I had a visitor knocking at the door. I was none other than my friend the wolf..spider. He was about the size of a quarter with his legs and all. I decided to send him on his way...I didn't crush him or anything, just told him that he wasn't invited and he probably entered through another route.

Virtual Tour

Come! Take a walk with me inside my lovely house.

The house is put together!!

Africa Themed Front Room



Kitchen....notice the food storage




My Sewing Room/ Office






My Bedroom where I sleep

Goodbye Braids

The braids recently had their demise after a long three months of life and enjoyment....don't worry, I did wash my hair still, you can still wash it with shampoo and everything, so I don't have lice or anything. Here are some before and after images:

During a Mozambique Reunion


Signing the very last loan document on the 7th of October when I closed my house.


Can't keep my eyes open to take a picture of myself


Another puff ball photo moment


On the left: my hair that I lost...Three months of it. On the right: the plastic hair I took out.

ellen's home....a house?

Well, you have all been suffering a lot because I haven't been able to write...admit it...you've been weeping. I know you are all very sad. Anyhow, the great reason why I've been so busy and preoccupied, other than the fact that I'm in school and working a bunch, ect., is that I am looking for and very well may have found my new house. Think of it...ellen's home, not just a virtual site but a reality... I'll be closing the 7th of October if not before and am really excited, and scared out of my mind, to be a homeowner. I expect people to laugh in my face when I tell them I'm buying a house...am I mature enough?? We'll see soon enough I guess. Anyway, I'm excited.

Here are some pictures of the new, the real ellen's home

Huge Dead Snake

Hope you enjoy this huge dead snake found somewhere in South America. It is very like the anacondas that were to be found in Instituto Butanta where I stayed in Brazil.

A little adventure in Colorful Colorado

So this last week, my last week of freedom, I went to my stomping ground to have a little fun. I visited Mom and Dad and saw their amazing house and then went to Glenwood Springs for a little fun and adventure. By fun I mean spelunking, hiking, camping and whitewater rafting and adventure...well Lexi doing flips off of rocks was pretty exciting.


Here's a beautiful cascade trickling over the rocks near the Paonia reservoir
Clothlike stalagtites...just cool looking.



A little spelunking in Fulford Cave out of Eagle...notice the mud and the beautiful underground river.




A little beaver pond with the trees reflecting on the water...picturesque for sure.

Aspen trees rustling in the breeze with beautiful little white clouds.

Lexi and Vincent climbing the rock...how will they get back down?...Lexi will find a way!
I really like this picture, mainly because of the unfocused sign in the background...I really like my new camara.
Cool red mushroom...looks good enough to eat!

LeAnn and David smiling for the camara...such pleasant hiking companions, well, at least LeAnn is ;)

Curitiba and Sao Paulo

Pictures of the temples in Curitiba and Campinas. Also enjoy a very well captured photo of a big white bird in the botanical gardens of Curitiba and a panoramic view of the huge city of Sao Paulo...one word...GINORMOUS!!!

Travel travel travel....what a world!

Well, I have been traveling around Brazil, and I guess I like it...here are a couple of photos...pretty enough I guess...

A couple of pictures from that one time when I was in Rio de Janeiro...at night and one from the soccer game we went to in the largest stadium in the Americas... Maracanã









Picture of Itaipu...the largest hydroelectric dam in the world...







Pictures of Iguaçu Falls from the Brasilian side and the Argentine side as well... a little bit of water there, just a little.