Biggest Accomplishment: Finishing my Italy scrapbook. I am so glad it's done! It is 52 pages long and will help us remember what a great time we had in Italy. "These are memories frozen in time people!"
Funniest Moment: During the family reunion this summer in Utah my brother Tom and his family took us and my dad rafting down the Provo River. We sent my Dad off into the river in an inner tube with his white legs dangling vulnerably out over the top of the tube. His only defense against the rapids was an oar which he bravely wielded. Unfortunately, he was quickly defeated. Not 2 minutes into the ride there were some rapids that took you under a bridge. Angelo and I were in a small blow up raft and ended up ahead of my dad and got to see the whole show. My dad bounced around a bit as he maneuvered around the rocks and then BLAMO! He bounced against the bridge piling and immediately flipped backwards. The last thing we saw were his legs kicking in the air. After a few seconds we saw him emerge out of the water gasping for air with a shocked look on his face. We weren't sure if it was because the water was so cold or if he was surprised he had made it. During his brief underwater jaunt, we were able to catch the tube and oar and waited for him to make his way towards us. I swear we didn't laugh until we knew he was still alive but man, it was freakin' hilarious. Once I knew he made it I almost fell out of the boat because I was laughing so hard. He bravely got back into this little inner tube and the rest of the time he held on to a rope tied to our raft as we made our way to the bottom of the canyon. Every time we'd come to some rocks he would clench his jaw and brace himself. He did bang up his leg up pretty bad but I think he was just glad he didn't die that day on the river.
Weirdest Moment: Being at Girls Camp and having a crazy mother come steal her kids out of a tent at 2am! It was truly one of those "is this really happening?" moments. It is kinda funny now that its over but I will never forget sitting in the tent with Kelly (the other leader) and being totally shocked at what had just occurred. After a while all we could do was laugh. I will always remember Kelly joking, "You're certified 1st year, you're certified 2nd year, and you - well you're just certifiable!" There's no one I would have rather had in the tent with me that night. I learned that it is really hard being the leader sometimes!Saddest Moment: Losing our Mollycat. My cat that I've had for 22 years died in August. We miss her so much! She was one of my greatest friends. I got her when I was 6 and she came to live with us when we got married. Molly was the best cat. Thank goodness we were bless with Otto last year. I don't know what I would have done without another cat in the house.
Biggest Build Up for Nothing: My 10 year High School Reunion this summer. It was really weird. I don't know what I expected but after it was over it just seemed like a lot of build up for nothing. I already see all the people that I want to from that four year period of time so why did I go and pay tons of money to see people that I didn't like 10 years ago? It was kinda like how you think your prom is going to be like the prom in Pretty in Pink but then you go to yours and you're like, "so what?" I think I was expecting Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion and instead I was like, "so what?" again. Although I didn't invent Post-its so maybe that would have made a difference.
Best Addition to Our Family: We got a new little kitten named Jasper. He has been so fun to have around. He is the sweetest cat and has become good friends with our other cat Otto. We are really lucky.
Scariest Moment: I'd have to say the scariest moment this year was the wild fires that hit San Diego in October. The fire didn't get to close to our home but it is always scary when all you can see is orange sky and everything is covered in ash. It is hard to just sit and wait watching the whole region burn up.
Biggest Surprise: Getting the Camp Snoopy room at the Knotts Berry Farm Hotel! We went up to the Ford Car Show in April and were surprised when we walked into our Snoopy filled eye sore of a room. It was suppose to be a nice romantic weekend but instead we got fire engine red carpet, Snoopy curtains and bedspread as well as a Snoopy cut out on the wall above the bed. We tried to switch rooms but it was sold out and we were stuck with Snoopy. The guy at the front desk actually tried to tell us that it was an upgrade! It wasn't a total bust. You get a free snoopy plush doll when you stay at Camp Snoopy!
Biggest Cleanup Job: While my parents were on vacation my sister Laura decided it was time to clean out a few of the "over crowded" rooms in their house. See, as children left the home my parents continued to filled up the house with "stuff." So I helped Laura clear out two packed rooms. My parents were shocked but thrilled. You can now actually walk through the rooms! It's a miracle! In order to determine what to keep or get rid of we'd ask each other, "Hey, do you want this when their gone?" If the other answered no it would go in the trash or off to charity. (My mom has gotten lots of mileage out of that story, haven't you mom?)
Favorite Hobby: Blogging! It has been so fun blogging about life and reading all about yours. We hope that 2008 is great and we can't wait to see what the year holds for us!
Here's Mom and Dad next to their Juniper Christmas tree. (This tree is artificial and one of the lamest trees I've ever seen. It's super tall and skinny and I made fun of my parents all night for buying such a lame tree. It has giant gaps between the branches! It looks better in the pictures than in real life though.)
For Christmas Eve we invited my parents and Karyn over for dinner. My mom pulled out one of her Mom-isms at dinner when she said that I was "skiing on thin water." What? That's right. We ended up playing a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture Edition where I falsely accused my Dad of hating Wayne Newton! (You had to be there.) At one point, I also confidently yelled the answer, "Miss Chloe!" on a video question when the real answer was "Miss Cleo." The boys team stole that point from us - dang it. This picture wins for ugliest of the season. How is it that we both blinked at the same time? Karyn and I look like sleep walkers or zombies. We've come to eat your brain!
On Christmas we slept in and then opened our presents. Here's Angelo's new sweatshirt! If you don't know what it means you're lucky. That means you are not a nerd.
The cats loved Christmas! 
We went to Angelo's parent's house for Christmas dinner and wow was that an experience. They lack what you call a "sense of humor" so it was not very fun. We had gotten Angelo's dad this flying monkey that screams when you fling it across the room and when I launched it across the room the only noise that could be heard was the sound of the screaming monkey. There was no laughter. It was one of those extremely awkward moments. Who doesn't think a flying monkey is funny???? After our fun-filled present opening fiasco we had dinner. At one point when me and Angelo were the only one's left at the dinner table I leaned over and asked him if he knew where any pencils were. He replied, "Why, you want to jam one in your eye?" I said, "Yep, that wouldn't be as painful as this visit." Notice there are no pictures posted from the evening. That's because no one takes pictures at the Outlaw's house. If you whip out a camera they look at you like you have horns growing out of your head. Apparently, there is no reason to take pictures of the family gatherings - it's not like it's Christmas or anything!!! I did have one moment of joy though. I went to the bathroom just to silently scream and wave my arms in the air and let out some aggression. Then I saw that the toilet paper roll was loaded the "wrong" way. So I turned it the "right" way and that made me smile. (My mother-in-law prefers it the "wrong" way and she will notice that is has been changed.) So the visit wasn't a total bust. Merry Christmas!
And my favorite part of my sweater? The tiny bells.
They are installing the toilet paper rolls the WRONG way...
Is this some kind of conspiracy? How hard is it to load toilet paper the correct way? They loaded all the stalls this way! (I checked all of them out to see if this was just happenstance or a mean trick. Before the 1-ply debacle they were loading them the correct way - what has changed?) No one should have to fish around for the end of the toilet paper roll. It should just be waiting nicely on top of the roll for you to grab it. You shouldn't have to spin it vigorously to find the end. Are any of your guilty of loading your toilet paper the WRONG way??? If you are I will track you down and make it RIGHT! Some offenses just shouldn't be tolerated.
