2009 at a Glance

Despite the grim truth that everyone I know has now ditched my blog because I never post,

I am catching up! Let's start with a snapshot of 2009.

April:

Of coarse we can't live without our yearly (sometimes more often) trip to St. George or Moab to mountain bike.

May:

My little sister X got married--She looked amazing! I love love love her dress.

Madi-girl's birthday party. (Tagg's only cousin, at the time, on the Kelley side)

Tagg is surrounded by girls everywhere he goes...doesn't he look thrilled about it? This is FHE at temple square.

This picture is courtesy of my dad (nice teeth, Dad). I am doing hygiene 3 mornings a week and love it. It's nice because two of the days Tyson is home with Tagg and the other Tagg goes across the street to play with his friend Gretta. He loves it there. When I ask him if he wants to go there he gets really excited and runs to the front door yelling, "Gre gre" for Gretta.

June:

MoNeY DIg!!! One of my favorite traditions Tyson's grandparents do is the annual money

dig. It consists of three piles of sand in their volleyball court and about $400 in buried coins...

plus a few ants and thorns. Chuck doesn't put those in on purpose...does he? This year

Tagg went home about $50 richer.

As a delegate for ADHA (American Dental Hygiene Association), I went to annual session in Washington D.C. for a week. As part of my time there the delegates stormed the hill and talked to our legislators about Health Reform and oral health. It was an interesting experience and I learned so much. Between convention meetings and classes we found some time to see the best D.C. tourist sites. I particularly enjoyed Ford Theatre (where Pres. Lincoln was assassinated).

July:

The Howell clan had a 24th of July party combined with Tagg's 1 year birthday party. We all slept over at my Dad's apartment downtown and watched the parade off his balcony. Notice the decorations...what started out as balloons and crepe paper taped to the ceiling slowly became beach balls, legos, pop bottles, Hawaiian leis, and small children. I made Tagg a lego cake which really looked better before it melted in the car on the way there.

My family all went to a Bee's Game and fireworks. Tagg stayed entertained mooching snow cone from grandpa.

Tagg's first time to Flaming Gorge. I was really bummed when I strained my knee waterskiing the first day and had to skip the cliff jumping and tubing. :(

We spend a lot of time at Tyson's grandparents lake-front cabin in Idaho. This is Tyson flying his remote control airplane over the lake (see the airplane?). When we are there we love to boat, four-wheel, snowmobile, shoot guns, etc. Tyson's parents just finished a cabin of their own across the lake and we are pumped about it.

August:

SUMMER Work Party This bad boy won me the woman's competition--grand prize: gift card to dinner (at Bonzai) and a movie for two. If you've ever been to Bonzai, then you know it was well worth it. :)

My step-sister Callie got married at Wheeler Farm.

September:

UDHA (Utah Dental Hygiene Association) Annual Session (Park City, Utah)--As part of the board of trustees I helped roll out this convention and committed to another year as a delegate. It wasn't all business though :)

October (& December):

Tyson went to Germany twice for work.

November:

NEW MOON Of coarse we had to make a girls' night out of it. In this picture we came across a couple of hotties at the restaurant before dinner.

I've been playing indoor soccer and in November we won the championship. I LOVESOCCER!

December:

OATMEAL. So, I think I have a pretty cute kid...but oatmeal?! Really?!

Tagg's new thing is finding creative things to sit in while we are watching TV. Yes, that's a baby doll stroller, and yes, that is The Bachelor (Don't judge me--it's funny :))

BOWL GAMES A couple days before Christmas we packed up and went on a road trip with some family. We hit the freezing BYU bowl game in Vegas, then drove on to see the UofU play in San Diego. We went to the beach while there--it was Tagg's first time and he was terrified of the waves!

Of coarse we have a million Christmas pictures, but I like this one because Tagg decided he would rather ride in his new Tonka truck than push it around. That's one sturdy toy!

My wonderful step-mom introduced us to her traditional shepherd's dinner years ago and we've enjoyed it ever since. It involves eating Christmas Eve dinner on the floor, but only foods that shepherds might have had access to, such as finger foods. Attendees are encouraged to dress up like shepherds or sheep. (what a cruel twist that this year we ate lamb shank...)

Baby Play Group: This year we had baby play group every Monday with Gretta (and Lydia sometimes). We've started noticing Tagg doesn't know any boys his age...just all girl cousins and friends.

What a GREAT Year!!!!