Bev's family has a yearly tradition of cutting down christmas trees the day after Thanksgiving. Every year they head down to central Utah near Richfield and spend the day at Grandma and Grandpa Miller's house and on the mountain in search of the perfect tree. We had a wonderful time at the house this year, catching-up with family and eating hot-chaws (a topic for another time).
This year Bev and I were the last to find our tree. Some were lucky enough to find their perfect tree close to the base of the mountain and right off the side of the road. Others of us had to search the whole mountain for the perfect tree. Bev and I hiked to the top of the mountain, where we stopped and found our tree for the year. Then we had to wait for the chainsaw (operated by Bev's dad) to catch-up to us. We then began the journey down the mountain carrying our fresh tree.
After some hot cocoa we loaded up the trees and headed home. We couldn't wait to put up our tree, so the minute we got home we put it in the stand, turned on some christmas music and decorated it that night. We stayed up way past our bedtime, but we had a lot fun decorating the tree. Best of all, our house smells like moutain pine...a perfect air freshener.
We wish you all a very merry christmas!!!!
Tonight also gave us another chance to don our cute halloween costumes. Bev made them from literally nothing and we were able to wear them to the Homer Family Halloween Party. She did such a great job. I don't think there is a cuter hot dog in the world! Really this was such a great costume.....because it meant I got to hold her all night long. Obviously, I was the bun, fully equipped with mustard and ketchup.
This was the beginning of the oath I took yesterday as I was sworn into the Utah State Bar. It's official, I'm a licensed attorney!! It was a great time at the Salt Palace with Bev, my parents, and Bev's parents in attendance. It is a huge relief to finally have the bar behind me. At first I didn't think too much of being sworn in, until I took the oath and realized the obligations I was undertaking. I am now officially a "Defender of the Constitution." How cool is that?!?
This was our third week in our pottery class. We're having a lot of fun getting dirty and trying our darndest to create something--we're planning on making all of our dishes from here on out. The first week the instructor gave us a basic lesson of how to prepare the clay (wedging), how to place it on the wheel (basically you just throw it on), how to center the clay (nearly impossible), and then how to make a cylinder (the basis for all good pottery). That was pretty much the end of our lessons. The past two weeks we've been practicing and trying to make something, really, anything! We've finally gotten down the whole centering the clay and making a cylinder, now we're working on shaping and creating amazing pieces of art (lately everything ends up becoming a paperweight) that will surely become a permanent fixture in some art musuem or more likely our home. 
