Star Valley & New Mexico Christmas

The weekend before Christmas Sheila & David came to Star Valley to open presents with me. We had a lot of fun playing board games, Wii games, and putting together a puzzle. We also watched a few movies including the Simpsons movie that they gave me for Christmas. I received several very nice gifts from my parents as well which I appreciate.





A few days later I moved down to Las Cruces, NM where I'll be living until approximately the first week of March. I particularly enjoyed having the opportunity to spend Christmas day with my stepcousins this year. I had so much fun playing the card game Apples to Apples, for several hours after Christmas dinner, with them especially. I'm very grateful for all of the memorable moments I had during this Christmas season.







I'm still trying to set up a Criminal Justice internship and I'll also be taking a Sociology class that should keep me busy until May. I'm really looking forward to attending some of the New Mexico State University sporting events while I'm in Las Cruces as well. I hope that everyone reading my blog had a merry Christmas and that 2010 will be an enjoyable year for us all.

Twelve Days of Christmas

I saw this on a random blog awhile ago and thought that I would post it to my blog as well. Hopefully this idea hasn’t been copyrighted yet...

Your 5 Favorite Christmas Songs are:
1. The First Noel
2. Oh Holy Night
3. Silent Night
4. Oh Come All Ye Faithful
5. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Your 5 Favorite Christmas Memories are:
1. My friends, Katie & Todd, visiting with me in person during the Christmas season of 2007.
2. A cruise to Belize & Cozumel with my stepcousins.
3. I was able to “host” a Christmas party with some of my high school friends a few years after I had graduated high school at my home. I wasn’t in touch with my friends very consistently back then so I was grateful to have that enjoyable opportunity.
4. Sheila helping Santa put a lump of coal in my stocking.
5. Simpson family Christmas parties, with my cousins, when I was younger.

Your Favorite Tangible Christmas Gift is:
1. That’d be the Christmas ornament from the year I was born or the Denver Broncos helmet I received when I was very young.

What is your favorite aspect of Christmas?
My favorite aspect of Christmas is having more opportunities to be generous to people. I’ve enjoyed spending more time with my family or friends during Christmas as well.

Thanksgiving Weekend

This year I went to my Uncle Dahl & Aunt Chris's home for Thanksgiving dinner. I had an enjoyable time visiting with my cousins, aunts and uncles. After dinner nearly everyone went to the high school to play basketball or volleyball. I always enjoy the challenge of trying to win a basketball game against my Dad or Uncle Dahl whenever I have the opportunity to. I tossed a football around with my uncles and cousins for a few minutes as well. It was fun to relive some of those wonderful, traditional Thanksgiving memories that I have from previous Thanksgivings and to feel like a kid again in some ways.



For the last two years I've been invited to help keep the score for Star Valley High School's Annual Alumni Basketball Tournament that takes place on the weekend of Thanksgiving as well. I enjoyed being able to spend time with some of my friends that I hadn't seen in ten years and to catch up on their lives for a few minutes. My cousins, Tyrell and Darnell, played on the 2004 team that finished in 2nd Place this year. It was enjoyable to watch them play basketball and to be able to spend some time visiting with them. My Uncle Dahl was one of the tournament referees as well and I enjoyed talking with him during halftime or as we were waiting for the next game to begin.



I'm very thankful for the opportunities that I had to spend some quality time with my family and friends during Thanksgiving. I always come away from the Alumni Basketball Tournament feeling grateful for the memories I have from keeping the statistics of basketball games during my high school years that still mean quite a bit to me. I'm thankful to have developed those skills and abilities back then that are still useful and appreciated. I'm grateful for the opportunity that Thanksgiving provides to think about the countless blessings that I continue to enjoy in my life on a daily basis.