New Year's Fun

I spent New Year's Eve with Jamie, Rob, and their family up in Bountiful and of course we had loads of fun.  We ate lots of snacks, drank some Martinelli's,

and watched a few movies.  We were going to play some games too but somehow we never made it that far...

After getting some much needed sleep that night (I am still fighting a sinus infection and working full-time was definitely not helping me get over it), we all went sledding!  First we headed over to the stake center as there is a pretty decent hill there, however, a ward had the same idea we did.  Off to the next spot...  We found a hill at a park and spent some quality time getting to know that hill.  Everybody went down the hill (even Jamie!  I have pictorial proof!) and had tons of fun!  Brandon and Sean even went down a hill and off a wall onto the snow below!

Brandon going off the wall.

Alauna and Natalia getting ready to go down the hill.

Jamie going down the hill with Rob and Natalia cheering her on.

Sean tried multiple times to master this hill.

 Coming back up the hill with Rob giving Alauna and Natalia a ride back up the hill.

 Natalia not quite making it on her own.

Brandon

Passover

  Back in March, one of my sisters, Jamie, and I attended the Passover feast that is put on every year by one of the professors here on BYU campus. It was really interesting and highly educational. I learned about the opportunity to attend Passover from my religion professor this last semester. I was taking a world religions class . . . finally! I have also wanted to take this class but have never been able to fit it into my schedule until this semester. I loved this class and I learned so much. Plus my professor really knew what he was talking about as he has been to most of the places we were talking about, has friends in all the religions we talked about, and has lived and studied in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas for several years. So he knew his stuff.
  Anyways, so did the professor, Victor Ludlow, who puts on the Passover feast every year. We did the whole thing, from start to finish. We started off discussing the different elements that make up Passover and why they are all there and then went through it all. We sang, drank (grape juice), partook of the seder plate (including the bitter herbs), read scriptures, and ate. It was fun and I would do it again. However, it did take longer than I know I was expecting. It started at 6:30 pm and got over about 10:15ish or so but it was still good.
This is the parsley that you dip into salt water. - Symbolic of the coming of spring and the perpetual renewal of life.
Haroset. - A mixture of apples, nuts, cinnamon, and wine. - Represents the mortar the Israelite slaves used in Egypt.
 The Seder plate. (The white stuff behind the shankbone is the Maror aka the bitter herbs (horseradish).
 This picture depicts the exodus from Egypt and is entirely composed of miniature watercolor letters telling the the story from Exodus.