Moving on...

Well, this will be our last post to this blog (at least for now). Kaitlyn and I have started up a web site where we plan to post pictures, bio's, videos, and a new blog.We will be posting each week on Sunday. Feel free to venture on over to that web site and check out what we're doing.

Morning Surprise

This morning Kaitlyn started for work and

noticed that there were two moose in our backyard. As you could imagine, we both were quite surprised. We don't see moose in Rexburg very often, especially in town. Today was a "Teacher Workday" for me, so I didn't have to be to work at the usual time. I used the opportunity to follow these poor moose around and take their picture, whether they liked it or not! If you are unfamiliar with our back yard, it's not really a yard at all. It's a field, full of mice and probably hobos. The field is fenced off near the back where the field turns into an actual productive alfalfa field in the summer. So, I decided it would be

okay to walk into my side of the field and start taking pictures of the wild beasties (don't worry, there was a fence that separated us). Because the snow was still a bit deep in the field, and me being in my hous

e slippers, I didn't make it too far. Luckily, living in the Ghetto that we do there are a lot of old cars and trucks parked indefinitely in the field. So, I got up on one of them and started taking pictures. Funny, the height actually helped with the pictures. After about 20 min, the moose wandered off into another property and I decided to let them go. It was fun to watch them. Even better, I got to go outside and enjoy the outdoors in the early morning while it was still early without anyone around, I love that!

New Years Eve Party Dips

So, New Year's Eve came and went and it's been two weeks since we had a great party with the Harts in a reserved LDS Rigby chapel (thanks Karen). I told everyone that I would post my French Onion Dip Recipe and Kaitlyn's Guacamole recipe. Well...sorry it's taken so long, but here they are.

Tim's French Onion Dip Recipe

1 1/2 cups - Sour Cream

3/4 cup - Mayonnaise

1 1/2 cups - Onion, chopped fine

1/4 tsp - salt

1/2 tsp - celery salt (normal salt will do also, this just adds another dimension)

1/4 tsp - pepper

1/4 tsp - garlic powder

Instructions

1. Combine sour cream and mayonnaise in a bowl.

2. Cook onions in a skillet for 20 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt to onions to help pull out moisture. (Don't rush this, we need to pull out all the sugars and essential flavors of the onions, and to give them some color so they will color the dip later.)

3. Once cooled, add cooked onions to sour cream and mayonnaise mixture and add celery salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

Kaitlyn's Awesome Guacamole

1. 5 small avocados (2-3 large)

2. 2 tbsp onion, chopped

3. 1 roma tomato

4. 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

5. 1 tsp salt (can add more for flavor)

6. 1/2 key lime, juiced

Instructions

1. Get a wicked cool "molcajete" (stone mortar and pestle) and smash up all but a few of the avocados. (leave 1 or 2 not so smashed so it will still be chunky!)

2. Add the rest of the ingredients, minus the lime juice.

3. Allow the guacamole to "mello" for about 20 minutes (if you can) while all the flavors get to know each other.

4. Add the lime juice at the end and adjust as needed. Salt can also be added a bit at this time if you need it, but use a chip because they could be pretty salty.

On Thursday of last week, I finally finished my last semester of classes on BYU-I campus! The light at the end of the tunnel has now appeared. Although, I am down with classes on campus, I am not done with my undergraduate degree. I still have to complete student teaching, which I will begin on January 5th. Once this has been completed, and my passing all the requirements, I will graduate and walk on April 9, 2010. I’m terribly excited. I started school in January of 2004, not including the summer semester I attended before serving a mission. It’s been a long road, but I’m glad to say that we are debt free! It took me a while because I opted to work in the summers in Alaska and pay for school instead of attending classes. I am on a Winter/Summer schedule instead of the sought after Fall/Winter schedule.

Another reason I am glad that I am finished with this semester is because I can now enjoy Christmas. Attending one’s last semester of classes is not usually an easy task. There are portfolio’s to assemble, paper’s to write, and certification exam’s to take. Attending to all of the assignments doesn’t lead for much time to enjoy the Christmas holiday. I never felt that I could give too much attention to celebrating Christmas without falling behind or forgetting something important for my classes. So, you could imagine my sigh of relief as those classes reached their end and I could shift my focus from not failing to enjoying the spirit of Christmas.

Proform Airborne Extreme Show

Last year the Proform Airborne Jump Rope Team that Kaitlyn and I coach restarted a show that we put on for the community. Our jumpers went door to door, contacted family and friends, and sold tickets to anybody to help send our team to the National Competition in Texas. Last year, after counting pre-sold tickets we were planning on about 300 people for our 45 minute show. When the doors opened we were surprised when there was a line at the door going down the street. When we started we were filled past fire code for the building and had nearly 1,000 people watch our show. It truly was a great thing for our team.

On November 14th, we will be hosting our big community show again, which we dubbed "The Extreme Show", here in Rexburg at the high school. We hope that once again we will be able to surprise ourselves and have even more than last year show up for the show. This show is a great opportunity for the jumpers on our team to make money for themselves that they can put forth towards paying their way to the new $1000 cost of jumping at the national competition in June. It is also a way for our team to give back to the community that has supported it for so many years. Rexburg loves the jump rope team and our jumpers love to perform, so it's a great combination.

Kaitlyn and I would love for any of you to come see our jumpers perform at our community show if you can make the trip to Rexburg. Tickets are $5 for Adult, $3 for kids, & $20 for families. We hope to see you there!

Proform Airborne Highlight Video

For those who don't already know. Kaitlyn and I coach a community jump rope team. The team is located in Rexburg, Idaho and includes jumpers from the surrounding communities and ranging in age from 8-20 years old. The team competes yearly at a regional competition and a national competition. They also perform at various school shows and half times around Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. Check out this video of highlights from this past year compiled and edited by one of the team members parents (John Allred). I hope you enjoy discovering the competitive world of jump rope!

Wedding Pictures Proofs

I have received a few emails and blog comments wanting to see more wedding pictures that I shot. I didn't realize that my taking wedding pictures would be so popular among the family members. Thanks to all who have shown interest. I have attached a few photos to give you a glimpse. I have a long way to go before I reach Julie status, but I like them. Enjoy!