Headlines from the Holts

Here's the scoop!

2012-02-09T19:57:00.000-08:00

One thing I know for sure, is that Dad definitely knows how to throw a party!

He loves to entertain. He loves to be social. He loves to feed people and

always makes sure that everyone has a good time and, oh yeah... he loves to dress up!

So when he was asked to be in charge of the Stake Ice Cream Social at our church,

he was excited and immediately recruited me to help plan the party. YAY!

We worked together chopping nuts, blowing up balloons,

carmelizing bananas and scooping up ice cream.

It was a lot of fun and was a big success

with over 200 people that came that night to listen to the live band,

to socialize and eat ice cream!

But the best part of the evening was watching Dad,

who dressed up like the Good Humor guy,

greeting everyone, MCing the party and scooping up ice cream!

Gotta love that guy!

*Yes! That is a hat from In 'N' Out that Dad decorated all by himself, using circle die cuts.

Did I mention that he is also very clever and creative?!

ESF Art Auction & Music Exhibition

2012-02-06T13:58:00.000-08:00

I never cease to be amazed at the energy and creativity of the Eureka Schools Foundation volunteers

as they hosted another extremely successful fundraising event.

Not only did they raise a lot of money at the ESF Art Auction & Music Exhibition on Friday night,

but they provided an evening full of entertainment and fun for the whole community.

The place was packed with parents, frantically bidding on the artwork created by the students and teachers.

Kids were running around from booth to booth, where principals and teachers
were in charge of a variety of art projects such as making a collage and face painting.

While parents, teachers and students enjoyed listening to the band and choirs
from all the different schools who performed throughout evening.

There were plenty of fun, food and festivities for the families of the Eureka school district.
Another great ESF fundraiser!

Some of my favorite art projects that were being auctioned off that evening.

This is one of my favorites, "Live, laugh, love, play!" which was created by Mrs. Hagan's class.

It was so clever and cute that even though I didn't have a kid in the class, I just had to bid on it!

Mrs. Hagan had each student lay down on a white sheet to form the letters in each word.

Then she got up on a ladder and shot the photo looking down on them.

Then she said she created this poster using Shutterfly. So clever!

Why didn't she do this when Tyler or Allie were in her class?!

Here is Alex, one of the triplets that live next door, who is standing next to the items that her class made.

The triplets, along with their big sister Katie, come and visit me on a regular basis..
so I don't miss my own kids so much and I love it!

We do homework together. They come help me clean out my candy jars and my pantry too.

And I call them whenever I need to go grocery shopping so I don't have to go alone.

Gosh! I really love those girls and it was fun to see them that night!

More artwork!

Dad was one of the sponsors for the event so Renee, the triplets mom, who was the MC that night,

called Dad and Dr. Anello up out of the audience to introduce them...

and then the next thing you know, she hands the mike to Dad.

Without any warning or notice, Dad grabbed the mike and greeted the audience,

talked about what a great event it was, introduced Jina (Dr. Anello) and chatted it up with the crowd.

He was a natural! I knew that he was in his element when he struck this poise!

And this is my favorite photo from the evening!

This is my next door neighbor, Renee, mother of the triplets and cute Katie,
past ESF President, past Auction Chairperson, best organizer and volunteer on so many ESF fundraisers,

probably one of the biggest contributor in time and money to the ESF and to our community.

She is so generous and so wonderful in so many ways
that she deserves a blogpost all about her so I will stop there and save it for another day.

But I will tell you that she had surgery less than 2 weeks ago then landed back in the hospital last week.

She was told that she supposed to take it easy and even though she was scheduled to be the MC,
that she should relinquish her duties that night... Right?!!! We all knew that wasn't going to happen.

She just couldn't sit around and watch all the action take place around her.

Sure enough, she was up on the stage halfway through the evening,
much to everyone's surprise and joy. She is definitely loved by all!

Holt Orthodontics had a booth and here are Carrie and Sandy, and Sandy's daughter,
making balloon animals and flowers for the children.

You can tell that they had a good time making the balloons and entertaining the children.

Kim, Jina and myself with Renee at the end of the night.

And Dad with the BracesbyHolt gals, proud sponsors and best bunch of balloon makers and wire benders in town.

A win for the Kings!

2012-02-03T11:34:00.000-08:00

The old saying goes, "It doesn't matter whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game."

Well, I'm here to tell you that it does matter... winning feels much better than losing!

And how you play the game makes all the difference as to whether you win or lose the game!

Last week, the Kings played so bad that they didn't have a chance to win.

They didn't seem to care whether they won or lost... so they did lose... by 30 points. It was ugly!

But last night they played like a different team. They played to win.

They were aggressive and determined. They hustled as they ran up and down the court!

And about halfway through the 2nd quarter, you could just feel it in the air

and it became clear that we might just have a chance to win this thing.

Throughout the 2nd half the crowd got excited and started to cheer.

And as we took the lead in the last minutes of the game,

the place became electric... the kids started shaking their signs,

women started dancing, grown men were fist pumping...

and there was a lot of chest bumping going on.

At that point, Marci and I put our Iphones away to watch the last few minutes.

(I have to confess, during a slow part of the game,

I was trying to help Marci set up her Pinterest app on her phone. Oops!)

The last 13 seconds were exciting as we held on to a 3 point lead

to win with a score of 95-92 over the Portland Trailblazers.

The crowd went wild! You would have thought we had just won a championship game or something!

Mark and Jerry were excited about the Kings lead in the 4th quarter.

Marci and Debbie are excited that Jerry and Mark are NOT involved in the chest bumping celebration!

It was a fun night with the Martin's and a King's win!

I joined a gym... what?!!

2012-01-31T08:48:00.000-08:00

One of the harsh realities of sending Brooke off to college and becoming an empty nester

was the fact that Dad no longer had a workout partner.

Brooke, his constant and enthusiastic companion at the gym... was gone

and he immediately went into recruit mode

with me being the obvious recruitee... obvious being the key word!

At first I was reluctant, I mean, as many of you know, I really don't enjoy working out.

The whole changing out of my regular clothes into workout clothes, driving down to the gym,

hanging out with other sweaty people, fighting for a piece of workout machinery

and then working up a sweat, just isn't my idea of fun!

Especially during this whole time that I was working out,

I could be getting something else done at home, checking something else off my "To Do" list!

But I haven't been walking lately since Karen, my walking partner is in Africa

and now with all the kids gone, I've had a little extra time in my day

to get all those "Things to Do" done, so I decided to give it a try.

Of course, Dad had to bribe me a little. He promised that if I went to the gym with him,

he would take me to dinner at Costa Vida after we workout.

Not a bad deal... so for a couple of weeks I joined him as his "guest"

still not ready to completely commit until one night...

I ran into our adorable friend, Lindsy Ethington, who I haven't seen in ages, at the gym!

We talked and chatted and caught up on every thing she has been up to lately.

It was so fun and wonderful, and I felt so rejuvenated and full of energy!

I was beginning to believe that there might be something with this workout thing.

Then last night, Lindsy's mother, Deborah, who is also a member of the gym,

meet up with Mark and I for Family Home Evening at the gym.

(That's right, kids! That's how we do FHE with just Mom and Dad at home!)

Deb and I giggled, and talked, and laughed, and oh yeah,... we worked out a little too.

After enjoying a yummy dinner and I guzzled down my diet coke at Costa Vida,

I was convinced that "going to the gym with Mark" should be added to my "Things to Do" list!

So sign me up for the 2 year membership! A gym rat, I will be!

Jimmer & the Kings!

2012-01-26T18:10:00.000-08:00

Wow! How I miss the Kings from the the 2001-2003 seasons!

I miss watching Vlade Divac, Mike Bibby, and Chris Webber on the basketball floor!

I miss hearing them announce "Pe-Ja Sto-ja-ko-vic!!!" when Peja scored a basket!

And I really miss seeing the hometown favorite, Bobby Jackson, "the 6th man"

light up Arco arena every time he stepped out on the court!

I miss seeing the team doing the little dance before the game,

interlocking the arms, leaning back and forth to the music, trying to get their gameface on!

It was a magical time in the King's history and I miss it!

So when the King's drafted Jimmer, we couldn't be more excited! And so were all of the other King's fans.

We all believed that Jimmer was going to bring some of his magic to Sacramento!

Tickets sells went up! Attendance was up! We even beat the Lakers in one of the first games of the season!

We couldn't wait to go to a game to see Jimmer and hopefully see the King's win!

But it was not to be. By the time we could go to a King's game, they were already on the downslide.

Last night, the King's played terrible, the attendance was awful, even the garlic fries were cold and stale!

But Jimmer saved the night and was the high scorer with 19 points!

Halfway through the 3rd quarter, when it was getting really ugly and we were getting beat by about 30 points,

all the sudden Jimmer made a 3 point shot and as it swished through the basket, only touching the net,

I turned to the boys and reminded them that

"this is why we are here tonight, to watch the Jimmer! and that makes it all worth it!"

I think I might have to tell myself that all season!

The other highlight of the night, besides watching Jimmer,

was going to the game with our favorite Jimmer fans, Dave and Mary Pettey!

The other nice thing about a blowout game is that Mary and I could just talk all night long

and not even worry about watching the game.

It was great to catch up with her!

Although, a King's win would have been nice, chatting all night with Mary was nice too!

Dr. Pettey sporting his Jimmer jersey!

Two of the cutest Jimmer fans that I know! Don't you agree?!!

10 Luxurious Things to Do in Park City!

2012-01-20T11:42:00.000-08:00

It has always amazed me how Kimber can squeeze so much into her day.

Even on vacation in Park City, she was working on a story for FoxNews.com

and we had the pleasure of watching her put it all together.

And we got to pose and be her ski models in some of the shots...

or at least our hands got to be in the photos:)!

Take a look at her live interview today on FoxNews.com.

She is becoming a regular doing the live interviews.

(Sorry about it starting out with kind of sad news with the death of R&B singer, Etta James.

I honestly have never heard of her but my condolences to her family.)

Here are some of the photos that Kimber took that day for the slideshow for her story.

Just a casual shot of Kimber, drinking her hot cocoa out on the deck at Look Out Restaurant at Canyons.

The menu and incredible fondue at LookOut Restaurant.

Yes! That is Brooke holding the menu!

The Wild Game Mixed Grill Skewers were incredible!

Dad loved the Pleasant Creek Ranch Beef Shortrib and Winter Vegetable Ragout

and this is a cameo of my lovely nails in this shot!

Thanks, Van at Lily's Nails!

Brooke's favorite was the potatoes and the fondue!

It was pretty amazing!

And here is Dad with another one of his favorite dishes,

the Utah Goat Cheese Dumpling and Garden Vegetable Napoleon.

The chef suggested adding chicken with this dish and I would highly recommend it!

And this is my personal favorite, the hot cocoa. It was divine!

Definitely better than the free hot chocolate we get at the lodge:)!

And finally, here is Kimber taking a little break and enjoying a delicious meal on the slopes!

Kimber also has a blog, citytreatsandtreasures.com

where she share her great tips if you are planning a trip to the city

or living in NYC, things to do and see in the Big Apple.

Today is the last day to enter her giveaway.

Enter and you could win a pair of these darling shoes!

You won't want to miss it!

SNOW!!

2012-01-17T23:12:00.000-08:00

This is me and Dad yesterday on the Tombstone chairlift!

Yes, it was snowing... kind of... but not enough and it was absolutely freeeeezzzzzing!!!

Every single part of my body was frozen! I was seriously afraid that I was going to get frostbite!

Even the hot chocolate at the lodge was only lukewarm! Boo!

Dad felt so bad that he said that I could download

(which means take the gondola down the hill instead of ski down)

and he wouldn't even tell anyone. What a nice husband!

But I was tough and skied down Doc's Run as fast as I could.

Needless to say, Dad was proud, especially when we got home

and checked the thermometer and it read 15 degrees!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

This is Brooke and me a couple of days earlier, enjoying a beautiful sunny day on the slopes.

And yes, Ashley... that is your coat that Brooke is wearing.

This is what happens when you leave during ski season and live in a foreign country.

Miss you, Ashley and I miss having snow this winter!

But not to worry... Dad asked for snow for his birthday

and guess what?

It's going to snow... I think for real this time!!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Chuck E Cheese

2012-01-17T14:45:00.000-08:00

Did I tell you that these two little gals love pizza?! I mean they LOVE pizza!

And what could be better than pizza and Chuck E. Cheese?!

So I did what any aunt does that is trying to become "the favorite aunt" does,

take the girls to Chuck E. Cheese, on a weeknight no less!

It was worth every penny to see the excitement on the girls faces

as I handed them their bucket of tokens.

For 2 hours they ran around like crazy kids on a ~~sugar~~ ~~pizza~~ token high and for a moment...

maybe a few moments, I couldn't locate those two crazy kids.

Don't worry, I stayed calm and found them in the booth

where Chuck E. was sketching a portrait of the two of them for their mom.

They actually turned out absolutely adorable (see photo below.)

Chuck E. Cheese hasn't changed a bit since when my kids were little.

The pizza is still pretty lame but the kids loved it! They messed up our order

and brought us another large pizza so we had plenty to bring home, which made the girls so happy!

The girls combined their tokens in order to win as many tickets as possible.

Apparently the "Wonder Wheel" alotted the most tickets of all the games

so the girls spent most of the evening at the wheel.

I would hand them 10 tokens at a time
and a few minutes later they would return with big smiles and a handful of tickets.

And just when the girls had used up their last tokens,

a little girl came up with a whole bucket of tokens and gave them to Megan and Molly! Score!

I thought Molly was going to have a heart attack because she was SO excited!

She couldn't stop talking about the "nice girl who gave them all her tokens" the rest of the night

and even mention it in her prayers and thanked the little girl for "sharing her tokens" with them.

So we had extra tokens, extra pizza, it was an extra fun night

and best of all the girls came home extra tired,

which made me extra happy because they fell asleep extra early:)!

The girls returning from the "Wonder Wheel" with a handful of tickets.

They liked this monster truck and I loved how Megan made Molly drive.

More tickets from the "Wonder Wheel!"

It took a team effort to knock down these scary monsters that popped up.

Tyler loved this game when he was a kid but I think they were gophers

and you bopped them on the head with a hammer.

It's harder than you think!

These are the cute portraits that Chuck E. sketched of Megan and Molly.

Aren't they absolutely adorable!

Best bargain of the night! It only cost 1 token!

If you are going to Chuck E. Cheese, I would say this is the best money you will spend all night.

Better than any of the other tacky prizes that you can buy with all of your tickets!

It was a fun night. The girls were happy! Mary Ann loved the portraits

and the extra rest that she got while the girls were at Chuck E. Cheese!

And I loved watching the little girls devour the pizza, run around and spend their tokens,

and then sweetly share their tickets as they carefully and thoughtfully

spent them on tacky toys, penny candy and tattoos.

Chuck E. Cheese is still the place "Where a Kid can be a Kid!"

and the place where, "an Aunt can be the favorite Aunt"... at least for one night:)!

Lucky Socks

2012-01-15T14:35:00.000-08:00

Bowling at the Wilkinson Center at BYU has always been a favorite family activity.

Years ago, when Brooke was about Megan and Molly's age, Mary Ann took her bowling one afternoon.

When they went to rent the bowling shoes,

Mary Ann realized that Brooke she didn't have any socks on because she was wearing sandals.

Everyone knows that you have to have socks when you go bowling,

but because it was summer, I didn't even think of that and sent her without a pair of socks.

So Mary Ann took her upstairs to the BYU bookstore and let her pick out some BYU socks

with a big "Y" and a Cougar embroidered on each side.

Brooke was absolutely thrilled with the new socks

and fell even more in love with the socks when she bowled a great game!

Mary Ann reported that with the bumpers up, Brooke bowled a near perfect record,

hitting almost all strikes and spares in both games.

Brooke decided that it was her "lucky socks" that made the difference

and for a while she thought that bowling was going to be her sport!

Everywhere she went, she had to wear her "lucky socks"

especially if she was going to compete in any competition.

She loved her "lucky socks" and told everyone about how her Aunt Mary Ann bought them for her.

So it was only fitting that before we went bowling last Saturday,

that we visit the BYU bookstore first and let Molly and Megan pick out some "lucky socks" of their own.

Brooke and Allie joined us and we had a fun time bowling.

I'm not sure which was more exciting, picking out their "lucky socks"or bowling with Allie!

But both were fun activities and kept Megan and Molly entertained before Brooke's race that afternoon.

Megan getting her game face on and ready to roll her ball.

After rolling a spare, Megan gets a arm bump from Molly, congratulating her!

Allie is a little excited about her "blowout," which means all the pins are down but one.

Molly needed a little help keeping the ball in the middle of the lane

so Megan grabbed one of these bowling slides to help her.

And that made Molly very happy!

What a nice big sister!

Bowling buddies!

Allie with her bowling buddies!

I can't believe that I didn't get a good picture of the girls "lucky socks!"

But here is a shot of their lucky shoes!

And I was very lucky to have Allie there that day,

who was such a good sport and bowled with the girls since I was suffering from a bad cold.

Thanks Allie! Remind me that I owe you a pair of "lucky socks" of your own!

Catching up with the college kids at BYU

2012-01-13T19:56:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things to do when I'm staying in Provo

(besides visiting the BYU bookstore and buying fudge)

is visiting with my GB friends that are attending the Y.

One day we met up with Clay Wilkes and his friend, McKenna, for lunch at the MOA.

We had a wonderful time catching up with him

and hearing about his adventures from his recent trip to Africa to visit his parents,

Brad and Karen Wilkes, who are serving a mission in Rwanda.

Brooke treated us to lunch using her dining plus card. Thanks Brooke!

McKenna and Brooke are both on the BYU cross country and track team

so it was such a fun lunch chatting and catching up with these cute kids.

I really appreciated the fact that Brooke and Clay color coordinated their outfits that day for me.
It's the little things that really matter:)!

These are my adorable former GB3 ward Young Women who are now attending BYU!
On Wednesday morning, I sent around a text inviting them to dinner at Brick Oven that night.
It was last minute because I wasn't sure what my schedule would be
with watching the little girls and taking care of Mary Ann.
But Mary Ann felt good that day and I had promised that I'd take Megan and Molly to Brick Oven
because it is their favorite pizza place.
I invited all the girls from our old ward to join us because I love catching up with them.
Even though it was totally last minute, all of them were able to make it that night,
Carlie McKeon, Brooke and Anne Barton, Katie McGregor, Kelsey McGregor Perry,
Carissa Mills*, Brooke Holt, and Allie Holt Larkin.
We had a back room all to ourselves and had so much fun catching up!
Two of them are in grad school, one is applying to law school, one is getting married, another just got married,
one will be graduating in April, another in December, and a couple are just starting their college adventure!
It was so wonderful to see them all grown up, making good decisions, excelling in school and achieving great things!
I have to admit, as I was telling them all good bye and how much I loved them
and how proud I was of them at the end of the night, I almost lost it and got a bit teary eyed.
I just remember being their YW leader at church when they were young
and I remember telling them to believe in themselves. Anything is possible.
That they can achieve anything that they really want if they work hard and put their mind to it.
And years later, to look around that table and see those beautiful young ladies, so posed, confident and classy,
listening to them talk to each other about what is going on in their lives, was truly inspiring!
It was one of those moments that warms your heart,
grateful to have the opportunity to be surrounded by special young women in my life!

*Not pictured above is Carissa Mills. For the record, she was there but I couldn't find my camera at first so we took picture with my Iphone but it made all of us look like we had vampire eyes... scary! After she left, I found my camera at the bottom of my purse and we took the picture above. I would have posted the Iphone photo with all of us which included Carissa but the girls may not have joined me for dinner ever again! Yes! It was that scary!

Allie's Zebra Birthday Party

2012-01-10T21:34:00.000-08:00

After I picked the little girls up from school last Friday,

we headed straight for Zurcher's to pick out the decorations for Allie's birthday party.

As soon as we walked into the store,

we passed a table all decked out with zebra theme paper products.

The girls squealed with delight and insisted that these decorations were perfect

because "Allison LOVES zebras!"

They are right. Allie does love zebras.

Little did they know I had been purchasing random zebra items for months,

saving them to give to her on her birthday.

I have been doing this for the past couple of years. It never gets old, at least not for me.

Allie is a good sport and seems to enjoy adding zebra items to her collection.

This year she received a zebra glue gun, zebra scissors, zebra compact,

zebra back scratcher (Justin's favorite), zebra cup, zebra manicure set and a zebra print Iphone cover.

You can never have too many zebra items, right?!

It seems like zebra print is everywhere you look right now, especially at the party store.

We found zebra stuff on every aisle that we just had to buy!

So a zebra birthday party theme it would be!

The first surprise of the day!

Justin invited us over for yummy french toast bake that he made for Allie.

She didn't know we were coming so the girls hid behind the kitchen cabinets

and jumped out and yelled surprise!

That Justin is such a good cook. The french toast bake was delicious!

And it looked so festive and yummy on the pretty party plates

that they got as a shower gift from my dear friend, Katie Segale!

The girls once again surprised Allie as she came to the door that night,

wearing these zebra masks and huge smiles.

They insisted that Allie wear the heart headband all night!

Megan made the cake the night before with a little help from Brooke

and they decorated it together! It turned out pretty cute!

They set the zebra party table and made party bags!

They sang "Happy Birthday!" to Allie.

And helped her blow out her candles.

Molly was an expert with the zebra tissue paper and knew just how to fluff it to make it look pretty!

Molly was particularly proud of this zebra bag

because she had so carefully put the tissue paper inside

then added a big bow in the front.

One of the favorite zebra item is this zebra cup and Justin scored and got an OU cup too!

I'm so glad that I was able to spend Allie's birthday with her

and glad that she puts up with all this crazy zebra stuff!

I'm not sure who had more fun... me, the little girls or Allie!

Happy Birthday Allie! We love you and love that you love zebras!!

Finishing First

2012-01-08T17:52:00.000-08:00

The first track meet of the BYU indoor season was held at the Smith Fieldhouse today.

Brooke ran the 3000 M and finished in first place with a time of 10:27.

It was a great race. Two of Brooke's teammates ran the first part of the race, pacing her.

Brooke lead the rest of the pack most of the race.

As the two "rabbits", that's what the girls that were pacing her are called,

dropped off, Brooke was still leading.

But as the gun went off to signal the last lap, another BYU girl passed her.

By the time the girls came around the turn, Brooke was trailing by about 5 yards,

and it looked like the new leader was pulling away from Brooke.

Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you that the track at the Smith Fieldhouse isn't really spectator friendly

since more that half of track is enclosed, you can only watch about 1/3 of the race.

There are no stands so friends, family and fans stand in the middle field or the inside of the track,

to watch the race, or should I say, 1/3 of the race.

So back to the race... as they head to the enclosed part of the track,

it appears that the other girl is pulling away from Brooke,

and then they disappear and we are left to wonder.

We slowly walked over to the finish line, across the field,

thinking that Brooke was in 2nd place and hoping that she could hold on to that spot,

when we hear a lot of cheering and hollering and I can hear someone say,

"It's Brooke! Brooke is in first place!"

We ran over just in time to see Brooke sprinting to the finish line with about a 20 yard lead.

It must have been a great last 300 meters... too bad we couldn't see it.

But we didn't care. It was more fun to have Brooke just tell us about it.

Many who were down on the track, teammates and coaches,

said that it was the most exciting race of the day.

Coach Shane was very, very happy about her race!

And so was her cousin and teammate, Stephanie, who was one of her "rabbits."

Thanks Steph!

I love this photo of Coach Shane and Brooke.

Like I said, he was very excited about her race.

This picture was taken the first time he came up to congratulate her.

He was so cute and looked so serious, almost emotional

(kinda like Dad gets after a good race), looked her right in the eye

and told her all the things that she did right in the race.

Then a few minutes later, he came back again

and was so excited to tell her that he looked up the times for the race last year

and that Brooke would have won that race too.

Brooke's cute friends from the dorms, came and watched her race.

After Brooke ran her cool down, we all went to Los Hermanos to celebrate!

I was so glad that I was in town and was able to watch Brooke's race.

The little girls thought it was great too.

And of course, Allie and Justin came to cheer her on to victory.

I called Dad and told him about the race.

He was at the church helping with the young men's basketball tournament

and could barely hear me but he must have heard enough

because he got kind of quiet and then said,

"You better not tell me anymore because I'm going to start crying right now

because I'm so happy for Brooke.

And I better not cry right now because everyone will think somethings wrong with me."

Gotta love that Dad of ours!

I wish he could have been here too!

Tender Mercies

2012-01-08T12:24:00.000-08:00

When we found out that Mary Ann was going to have surgery at American Fork Hospital,
Allie was so happy because that is the hospital where she works.

When she found out that Mary Ann was scheduled for surgery on Friday,

Allie was really happy because she was scheduled to work that day.

Allie could be Aunt Mary Ann's nurse,
she could be with her before and after the surgery and take care of her.

And that made Mary Ann very, very happy, knowing that her little niece, Nurse Allison
(Aunt Mary Ann still calls Allie, "Allison" and so do her little girls. It's cute!)
would be there to take care of her was very comforting and reassuring.

Now many might think that this was just a fortunate coincidence,

but I know that it was a tender mercy from our Heavenly Father.

I believe that even through our challenges and trials our Father in Heaven

is watching over us, keenly aware of our every need, blessing us in small ways,

letting us know that he loves us and is with us even in our dark days

or on a scary and uncertain afternoon in a hospital.

Nurse Allison was there with Mary Ann in the recovery room
as she was coming out of the anesthesia, comforting and reassuring her.

And Andrew, Mary Ann's husband was there to take this picture of the two of them.

This photo is precious! I love that Andrew caught Mary Ann smiling like that.

I mean really... who smiles like that right after surgery and is so willing to have a photo taken?

Maybe the anesthesia hadn't worn off or she really wasn't aware of what was going on.

Either way, I'm glad that we have this photo

so that I can remember to acknowledge the tender mercies in my life.

.brave.

2012-01-05T23:25:00.000-08:00

This is me with my little sister, Mary Ann.

Let me tell you just a little bit about her.

She is one of the sweetest human beings I have ever met.

Truly sincere and kind hearted and completely without guile.

I have never heard her say anything negative, mean or unkind about anyone. Ever.

Now, I know that you are all asking yourselves,

"How is this possible that you and Mary Ann are related?"

You are right. I am really not like her at all.

But when I'm around her, I try to be like her.

A little kinder. A little sweeter. She makes me want to be a little bit better.

One of my favorite memories of Mary Ann, was when we were about 8 and 10 years old,

and we got our tonsils taken out at the same time.

Together, we went to the hospital.

(Back in the "olden days" you had to stay a couple of days in the hospital.)

Both of us had our dad give us a priesthood blessing the night before the surgery.

I remember waking up from the anesthesia and looking over to her

and was comforted knowing that she was in the room with me.

And of course, I remember laying on the couch together,

recovering from the surgery and sucking on popsicles for days together.

But the thing I remember most was that even though she was my little sister,

she was much braver than I was.

Well, here we are almost 40 years later, and tomorrow morning,

once again, we will be in a hospital together.

But this time, she is the only one having surgery.

Hopefully, this time, I can be the one that will bring her some comfort, help ease the pain,

and maybe, just maybe, I can be the one that is just a little bit braver.

And in the meantime, I get to hang out with these two adorable little girls all week long.

Go ahead! Be jealous!

Kimber Crandall on FoxNews.com

2012-01-04T21:44:00.000-08:00

It was just another regular day for Kimber, chatting live on FoxNews.com

with Jamie Colby about saving for your dream vacation.

Pretty funny that Kimber's first live interview is with Jamie,

who she interned with 8 years ago, the summer after her freshman year in college.

What are the odds that Jamie would be anchoring the show that hour?!

If you want to read more about Kimber's first live interview with Foxnews.com,
you can go to Kimber's City Treats and Treasures blog. Enjoy!

Favorite ski pics from Christmas Break

2012-01-02T21:41:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas Break, despite the low snow levels.

Thank goodness for Canyons amazing snowmaking capabilities!

There was plenty of fun and frolics on the slopes!

The cutest ski couple award goes to Mr. & Mrs. Larkin!

Brooke wore her "Y" neck gator, part of her official team gear.

We were all jealous and wish we had one too!

There were lots of group hugs on the slopes!

Our fearless leader, biggest cheerleader and best skier on the mountain!

His ski enthusiasm is unparalleled and unsurpassed by none.

According to Dad, everyday is "the best ski day ever!"

There wasn't a lot of snow but there was no shortage of free hot chocolate!

The Besties spent lots of quality time together

since the happy couple's favorite third wheel is leaving for a semester abroad!

Dad liked the ice sculpture and after a good day of skiing,

he decided to take a break and sit on the cool bench.

And Allie took a break after enjoying a yummy lunch at Lookout Cabin restaurant

and took in the beautiful view from the balcony.

This is a very tired Bear, who skied every day and ran 60 miles each week.

Brookie Bear was either skiing, eating or sleeping all vacation!

A bear's gotta sleep when and wherever a bear's gotta sleep...

even it is in the lodge!

Allie is so happy that Justin took a break from studying for the MCAT to meet her on the slopes!

And this is our adorable Ash Bash on her last ski day of the season.

She leaves tomorrow morning for Jerusalem

and we are going to miss her lots, on and off the ski slopes!

We will miss her funny stories, awesome dance moves,

her contagious giggle and ~~loud~~ adorable laugh!

But we are very excited for her

and know that she will have an unforgettable experience in Jerusalem.

We can't wait to read about all her adventures here.

Anah-nu Ohavim Ot-ha*, Ashley!

*which means we love you in Hebrew.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T18:26:00.000-08:00

We rang in the New Year with our good friends, the Howell family.

Early in the evening, we watched the fireworks at Canyons from our bedroom windows.

Our good friend and Tyler's former roommate, Eric stopped by with his wife, Nicole to say "hi!"

So we had to take a picture for Tyler and Sonya!

Since Utah had a big win earlier in the day,

Scott showed up wearing his favorite Utah sweatshirt

and he wanted to get a picture with one of his favorite Cougars.

And then Allie reminded Scott that she is one of his favorite Cougars too!

Dad, Justin and Jeff shot off some great fireworks up on the hill.

Jeff, of course, was the one with the lighter!

We had fun visiting, the kids spent time in the jacuzzi,

we watched the countdown from Times Square,

there was a small snowball fight (Allie and Caitlin won),

and we had a fabulous spread of hor dourves and goodies to munch on all night.

Earlier in the week, we met up with the Howell's for pizza at Sette Bello in SLC.

My girls absolutely adore Linda.

And so do I!

There is nothing better than celebrating the New Year with good friends!

OK, one thing that would have made it even better
is if Tyler & Sonya and Brett & Kimber were here with us too!

We missed out on doing the sparklers this year!

But we enjoyed seeing Kimber's New Year's sparkler pictures!
Happy 2012!!

Canyons Owner's Party

2011-12-29T11:56:00.000-08:00

This year's Canyons Owner's Party was once again, a huge success,

with a Hollywood theme, lots of delicious food

and a live band that provided great entertainment throughout the night.

The little girls are ready to have some fun!

Ash and Brooke love trying all the different hor dourves at each food station.

Allie and Justin loved the mashed potatoes that they served in a martini glass with all the toppings,

just like a potato bar. It was a hit with all the kids!

After downing the mashed potatoes in a martini glass,
Justin found the dessert table and came back with a wide variety of cakes and cookies! Yum!

And it looks like Dad found the dessert table too!

Last year, Allie had to leave the party early to go to work and we were all sad that she missed out on the fun.

The girls are so happy that Allie didn't have to work this year and was able to stay and party all night.

Allie and Justin are ready to get their pictures taken in the photo booth.

Brooke liked the pictures from the photo booth.

The pictures from the photo booth.

Dad found a moose!

That is, he found a picture of a moose!

He loves the moose, can't you tell?!!

At the end of the night, waiting for our car, sitting on the bench under the heat lamps, keeping warm!

Comfy, cozy and happy!

Opening presents on Christmas Night

2011-12-29T09:25:00.000-08:00

Brooke and Ashley were very patient about opening their Christmas presents

and waited until Allie and Justin could join us on Christmas night.

Brooke, our crafty one, was happy to find a Michael's GC in her stocking.

And Dad was happy to find a BYU football PEZ candy dispenser in his stocking.

Allie was so happy that Santa gave her the Anthro kitchen towels that she had been wishing for.

Santa gave Ashley a camera to take to Jerusalem.

Justin found a BYU PEZ dispenser in his stocking too.

Brooke got a vintage candle to decorate her room.

Justin and Allie love the gift bag with the Christmas zebra ribbon!

Dad loved his gift bag with the snow...

that's probably the most snow he has seen all week:(!!

Mom and Ash gave Brooke a bear themed gift, with a bear apron, bear glass and bear cookie cutter.

"The Bear" loved it, of course!

Christmas Day!

2011-12-28T22:09:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day was different this year with just "the little girls" here in PC with us.

Since the married kids were spending Christmas with their in-laws,

we had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner with Allie and Justin when Kimber was here.

Dad and I decided that we should let Ashley and Brooke choose the menu for our Christmas Eve dinner.

The girl wanted to change things up a bit and suggested that we have a taco bar.

And just like that, our Christmas Eve party became a Feliz Navidad fiesta!

It was so fun and festive that we decided that we need to make it a new Holt Christmas tradition.

After dinner, it was time for our Christmas Eve Nativity program.

We thought about making the little girls act out the Nativity

but with just two kids acting out all the parts,

we decided that it would require too many costume changes,

so we opted for the bible videos about the birth of Christ.

Afterwards, we watched "A Christmas Story."

Always a favorite Christmas movie at the Holt household.

The next morning we went to the "visitor's ward" in Park City

and enjoyed a beautiful program of music from the Spanish branch and one of the Park City wards.

Our favorite number was "Far far away on Judea's plain", sung in Spanish. It was beautiful!

We came home and took a few pictures with our favorite Snowman.

And of course, we had to get every combination.

Fortunately for Dad, there was only four of us so there were fewer possible combinations.

And lucky for me, he was patient enough to get a picture of the two of us together!

This is the 30th Christmas that we have spent together!

30 wonderful Christmases together and looking forward to many, many more!

Christmas Dinner

2011-12-26T19:32:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Christmas a little early with the kids in Park City!

We had our traditional Christmas dinner on Thursday night, before Kimber flew to Arizona,

where she was meeting up with Brett to spend Christmas with the Crandall's.

Dad and the kids sitting at the dinner table,

patiently waiting for Mom to take a picture so she could document the occasion.

The yummy spinach salad that Kimber made.

Kimber and Ashley.

I love the Christmas plates and reindeer glasses.

And I love that I bought the glasses at Smith's a couple of years ago.

Can't beat $2.99 a glass! I just wish that I had bought more. So festive and fun!

So glad that Allie and Justin could join us.

Yay! for Allie not having to work at the hospital that night.

And so glad that the spinach salad and the raspberry jello salad

that Kimber made matched the Christmas plates and holiday decor!

The salads looked great and tasted delicious too!

The little girls.

Dad grilled some filets, which were amazing!

It was such a fun night! All that was missing was Tyler & Sonya and Brett!

It's a Christmas Miracle!

2011-12-25T22:20:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, Dad loves the moose at Canyons. I mean, he really LOVES the moose.

Most of all, he loves looking through his spotting scope for the moose.

Remember this post?! It's one of my favorites!

So, right after church today, as soon as he changed from his church clothes,

he started staring through his scope, looking for a moose.

Now, those of you that know Mark, know that he takes his looking for the moose, very seriously!

While the rest of us ate Christmas cookies and candy, Dad spent the afternoon leaning over,

peering through his scope, patiently waiting and watching, hoping for a glance at a moose.

And just when the rest of us had given up hope, the moose appeared and Dad spotted him through his scope!

"It's a Christmas Miracle", Dad exclaimed!!

It was truly a Christmas miracle, for not just one moose was spotted but two!

Dad was so happy! So happy that when asked to share your favorite Christmas memory

at the dinner table tonight at Grandma's,

Dad whipped out the camera with pictures and video for the whole family to see.

I think the little cousins were really impressed...

And I'm sure you will be impressed too, that's why I included this video. Enjoy!

Gotta love that Dad and his Christmas Miracle moose!

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

2011-12-21T20:45:00.000-08:00

It has been snowing all day. But that didn't stop us from getting out on the slopes.

Although, I have to confess, we may have spent quite a bit of time at Red Pine lodge,

thawing out and enjoying our free hot chocolate. Yum!

I'll just try not to think about the extra 20 lbs. that I'll be packing around come spring!

I'm not sure what is happening in this photo, but this is my life, on a snowy day with Dad and the girls!

I swear, all that they drank was hot chocolate!

Somethings never change... this is exactly how they skied together about 15 years ago.

Allie being silly and egging everyone on. Ash and Brooke, always ready for a good time.

And Kimber, really not sure about the whole thing but doesn't want be a party pooper, relunctantly joins in on the fun!

Ash and Allie, best ski buddies.

What a difference a day can make!

Here is Dad and his girls at the top of Doc's run.

The same spot where I took a picture of this group yesterday.

Just a little more snow today and the girls were a bit more silly

so they threw in a lunge or two... for Kate, of course!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

2011-12-20T14:52:00.000-08:00

It truly is the most wonderful time of the year, especially when we are skiing with this cute bunch of kids!

There is plenty of sunshine, a sufficient amount of snow (it's all manmade but surprisingly great snow!)

and best of all, our season pass includes free hot chocolate every day! Simply wonderful!

At least, it was wonderful, until dad informed me that if we drink one of these every ski day

that we will probably gain 20 lbs. by the end of this ski season.

That would not be so wonderful, but on a cold, snowy day, it just might be worth it:)!

Dad thinks it is pretty wonderful spending time on the ski slopes with his girls.

Here's a little Christmas cheer!

2011-12-19T22:07:00.000-08:00

Here are my little nieces singing a Christmas carol.

Aren't they absolutely adorable?!

Hope you are having a wonderful Christmas time!

BYU Basketball!

2011-12-18T15:36:00.000-08:00

It was a full house at the Marriott Center to watch BYU play Baylor on Saturday.

We were lucky and scored some sweet tickets. It was awesome!

The student section was rowdy and the kids came ready to cheer their Cougars on to victory!

Some enthusiastic fans held up some pretty clever signs, which read:

"Welcome to the Marriott.

Ainge built. Jimmer remodeled it."

We thought it was very clever and quite enjoyed it.

Upon closer observation, we realized that it was our good friend

and favorite former missionary, Trent Boulter.

Yes! He is the one holding up the Ainge sign, wearing the white headband.

He was hands down one of the most enthusiastic missionaries in our ward,

and now he is definitely one of the most enthusiastic Cougar fans!

While getting snacks during halftime, we ran into our friends from home, Greg and Pat Smith.

They are also dear friends of Elder and Sister Wilkes

so we chatted about how much we missed our favorite missionary couple!

My favorite snack was the blue popcorn! Yum!

During a timeout at the end of the game takes a timeout to try

and make a plan to score in the last few seconds.

Unfortunately, it didn't quite go the Cougars way today.

It was a tough loss but the Cougars played great against the #5 ranked team.

Here we are with Cosmo and some of our very favorite Cougars!

A visit with Grandma and Grandpa Olson

2011-12-17T21:41:00.000-08:00

Mark and I got to spend a few days visiting with this cute couple last week!

Aren't they adorable?! This precious photo was taken on one of our early morning walk at the mall.

Grandma loved the gingerbread sandcastle! It was pretty cool!

Mark and I had a wonderful visit with my dear parents!

They are as cute as can be, always cheerful, positive and so appreciative of every little thing.

When we picked up Mark from the airport, the first thing my dad did

was thanked us for a little gift that we gave them years ago.

It was such a little thing and so long ago that I don't even remember it.

But to my dad it was absolutely the greatest gift thing ever.

Every time we are with Grandma and Grandpa Olson,

they will remember something that we gave them

or something that we did for them and then thank us over and over,

until it's down right embarrassing.

They are always so incredibly grateful for any little thing that you do for them.

And they always make you feel like you are absolutely fabulous

and everything you do is incredibly amazing!

No wonder Grandma and Grandpa's house is always busy with family and friends visiting them.

You just got to love these two!

Speaking of love... they absolutely love and adore each other!

The way my dad gently holds my mother's hand, constantly stroking it,

while he tells us how wonderful she is and how lucky he is that she married him.

Their positive attitude and joyful hearts make growing old graciously look so easy!

I'm so glad that Mark and I were able to spend a few days visiting Grandma and Grandpa Olson!

I feel so much smarter, cuter, sweeter, and more clever than ever!

Thanks for the wonderful visit and for being so absolutely adorable!

Christmas Shopping in San Francisco!

2011-12-13T13:50:00.000-08:00

I've said it before, but I'll say it again,

there is nothing better than being in San Francisco on a warm, clear day in December!

It really makes me so happy!

And that is exactly what it was like in the city a couple of weeks ago!

I truly love that city and really love it when the Christmas tree is up,

the store windows are decorated, the weather is gorgeous,

and I'm with family or friends who love it as much as I do!

That's why when some of the gals from Granite Bay asked me to join them

on a Christmas shopping adventure in the city, I was excited to get in on the fun.

Every year Suzanne Butcher organizes the SF trip for over 40 ladies in Granite Bay.

Most of us have know each other for almost 20 years now.

We have either been room moms together, met while working on the Auction

or our children were on the same sports team or attended school together.

In past years, I have had kids to take care of or school board meetings to attend

so I've never been able to go.

But now that I'm "footloose and fancy free" I was able to join in on the fun,

starting a new tradition with my GB friends and that made me happy!

We chatted the entire way on the bus ride to the city.

We took advantage of the 25% Friends and Family discount at Macy's at Union Square,

ate lunch at Scala's Bistro near Saks Fifth Avenue,

and did some more Christmas shopping before heading home on the bus that evening.

It was fun and festive and felt like Christmas!

Union Square~Christmas 2011

Trici's Baby Shower!

2011-12-11T19:13:00.000-08:00

My dear friend, Trici, is expecting a little girl

so we threw a shower to celebrate the baby's birth!

My girlfriend, Debbie, made the absolutely adorable invitations,

banner and cookie labels. She is amazing and makes everything look cute!

I missed Brooke A LOT when I tried to make this diaper cake.

It was so much harder to fold those little diapers

and wrap a rubber band around them without Brooke.

She can just get so much done so fast and make it look so easy!

And whatever she makes looks so clever and cute!

All I'm saying is that I truly missed my party planning partner!

These two adorable little girls couldn't be cuter!

They are cousins, best friends and my big helpers all night long!

The table decorated in lots of pink!

Pink packages, pink sleepers, pink onsies, and pink tutus!

I love all the pink and I love little girls!

Trici, with the "big helpers" who are going to help open the presents!

Thanks to all of Trici's dear friends, that brought some delicious cookies!

Yum!

The chocolate mint were so good! I think I ate three before the party even begun!

Trici, holding up the adorable pink dress that Pam Peterson gave her.

We are all so happy and excited for Trici and can't wait for the arrival of her little one!