I'm all in

Okay.. after enough talk about this series and how good it is I have finally joined in and started reading the first book "Twilight". I sort of finished my last series, Lemony Snickets (that is a whole different topic in itself and one that gets me way too upset this early in the morning) so I can move on to these.

I got the first book from my mother-in-law for Christmas and I started it last night. I have been wanting to start these to see what all the talk was about and so far so good. I will let you know what I think and decide if I HAVE to go out and buy the rest of the series after reading this one.

Task Completed

I DID IT!! I got my Personal Progress signed off by the Bishop today after church and I am so excited about it. It has been a few years now that I have been working on this (off and on) and I finally finished it. In about the middle of this year I decided that my goal was going to be to finish my Personal Progress by the end of this year. I still had quite a few "experiences" to work on but I was tired of seeing the book just sit there and wanted to actually get it done. I have been out of Young Women's now for quite a while and have really wanted to accomplish this goal once I found out that the leaders could get their medallion and pass off their Personal Progress as well. Since I decided that I was going to do it I really wanted to finish what I had started and I had set the goal of finishing it this year and I am very proud of myself for completing it. There were times I was not sure I was going to get it done (since weeks would go by and I would not work on anything at all) but when it came down to it this was something that I really wanted to do.

I am glad that I had the opportunity to work with the Young Women when I did and also to work on the Personal Progress program as an adult. I was not able to go through the program as a teen but have still learned tons by doing it now.

Christmas Highlights....

This is a glimpse of our Christmas and what we did...

We had our Christmas Eve dinner by candlelight (a tradition at the Urbancic house). It was Mike and Holly, Amy and Steve, Nate and Katie and Dan and Aranne. We then read the Christmas story in the bible (Luke 2) and also a Christmas book which Holly had chosen (also a Urbancic holiday tradition).


After our dinner and stories on Christmas Eve the night gets a little louder with games and laughter. This year it was Catch Phrase. The girls kicked butt and beat the boys 3 to 1.. it was a sad showing on their part.


Christmas morning it is not as bright and early as it once was but around 8:30 or so we all were up and in our "jammies" ready for Christmas to finally start. We had the "traditional" stairs picture taken and then the party could start. Mike, Maile and Ellie would be joining us later from Tuscon.


We now draw names... Nate and Katie had Amy and Steve, and Amy and Steve had Nate and Katie... Mike and Maile had Aranne and Dan, and Aranne and Dan had Mike and Maile.. Funny how that worked out this year. This was Amy and Steve being really excited out an outdoor fire pit for their new house that they got from Nate and Katie.


Steve is a HUGE kid at heart. We was very excited to get a Mr. Potato Head from mom and dad and more than willing to show it off. It was an Arizona Diamondbacks Mr. Potato Head after all, not just any Mr. Potato Head. That is going front and center on his desk at work.


Mike and Maile got us some themed gifts this year and they were great; all having to do with SNOW... I got a beautiful snowflake necklace. Dan got a extreme snowboard DVD and then we both got a Snowboard edition of Monopoly. We got them Citypass tickets for things to do around San Francisco (where they now live) and hope they will be able to take advantage of that. I also made them a small scrapbook to put pictures of their adventures in when they are finished. Hope they liked it!


This had to be the best gift ever. Ellie got this beautiful PURPLE dress from Auntie Katie and Uncle Nate (and they scored BIG points). Her favorite color is purple and she loves princess stuff, so this dress was a huge hit. She had to put it on right away and spin around in it. She didn't even want to take it off for dinner.

Christmas was great. The best part was being able to spend time with family and create these wonderful memories and laugh together. We enjoyed the time that we had and look forward to being together again.

Dog Days of Christmas

There has never been a Christmas with so many furry friends there to celebrate with us....


This picture pretty much tells the whole story. We were all tired out by the end of the vacation. The dogs had had enough and the people were tired too...


This is Megan.. Mike and Holly's mama pug


This cutie is Nate and Katie's new "baby" Sophie...


This is the calmest of the bunch... Good old Max, who belongs with Mike and Holly too


And this bundle of fluff Jackie goes with Amy and Steve...

Mike and Maile and Dan and I are the ones left out when it comes to being the owners of dogs... We just play with them when we come to visit and that is enough for us I guess. They are cute but a lot of work that is for sure. But it was fun to have them join us for Christmas and they all got lots of new toys and treats from Grandma and Grandpa Urbancic!!

Mesa Lights...

The Urbancic's in Mesa...

We went to see the lights at the Temple tonight... It was Mike, Holly, Dan and I. It was a little chilly but the lights were beautiful.


We have been married for over 5 years and Dan had yet to take me to see the lights so we figured it was long overdue!


There were lights everywhere and manger scenes too.

Lights Galore

We went looking at Christmas lights tonight. It is the one tradition that my family has and I love to do it. Dan on the other hand is not very into it but I can usually drag him along and he is a good sport about it. There is just something about seeing all of the lights and the houses all done up that I just love. I remember as a kid going to a street by my house (Yankey Circle) and every house was decorated. It was so amazing! I love to see all of the lights and it just makes Christmas to me. We drove around for a while tonight and saw lots of houses that were done nice.

We have lights on our house too but we didn't put up all of our lights, maybe next year we will actually get them ALL up.

My Christmas Movie Is...

We took this Quiz just for fun to see what is said and the results are in...

Dan is..."A VERY BRADY CHRISTMAS"

Your Christmas is Most Like: A Very Brady Christmas

For you, it's all about sharing times with family. Even if you all get a bit cheesy at times.

What Movie Is Your Christmas Most Like?

And Aranne is..."NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION"

Your Christmas is Most Like: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Christmas is a big, boisterous event at your place. And no matter what, something hilarious usually happens.

What Movie Is Your Christmas Most Like?

Mail Call

FINALLY!!! This year I really thought I was never going to get our Christmas cards out on time. But today they went out into the mail. Now it is up to the United States Postal Services to get them to everyone on time; but I feel pretty confident that they should be there before Christmas. The overseas ones might not make it but it was the thought that counts right?!

So, over 50 cards handmade, hand stamped, hand addressed and all done. I enjoy doing them but sometimes when I am in the middle of it I begin to think to myself that it is not such a good idea and the cards in the stores start looking really cute. But when it is all said and done I really am glad that I take the time to to them all and hope that everyone else enjoys getting them too. (I think they do)



Now I have to move on and start with the Thank-Yous.

"O" my goodness!

Today I received one of the most exciting pieces of mail in a very long time. Usually I go out and just get junk mail or bills, nothing that I am even remotely excited about. But not today... Today when I looked in the box there it was... My new subscription to "O, The Oprah Magazine" compliments of the best brother and sister-in-law around, Nate and Katie, for my birthday and it had finally arrived. I was so excited. I have glanced through it already, of course, but tonight I will be savoring it in a lovely bubble bath and I can not wait. This will be my new monthly ritual and I will look forward to it.

Dancing Queen

Monday night I had my Christmas Program at the Rec Center. My dad and Dan came to watch. It was fun. It is just in the gym and we only do two dances; one tap and one jazz, so there is not too much pressure, just something fun. We danced the jazz dance to a song from "Dream Girls" and the tap was "Christmas in NY" hence the I Love NY t-shirt I am wearing.

After all of these years I still love to dance and enjoy doing the performances. I am also glad that I found a teacher who I love and a place to go and spend time with friends. It gives me something constructive to do and I look forward to our big show in May.

Christmas Came Early

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This year's Christmas Party was a mix of emotions... It was a little hard to have it so close after Grandma's passing but we all know she would have wanted the party to go on, and so it did. But with the funeral being the same week it gave us the opportunity to have much more family at the party. Les and Lori from Canada were able to join us, as well as Karen, Ken, Matthew, Katie, Cencio and Jaden all from Susanville. This was one of the biggest parties we have had yet. We saw old friends that we have not seen in many, many years and that was really nice. Dad was also able to reconnect was some friends from Disney too. We know look forward to Christmas with our families and then planning this again for next year.

A Fond Farewell

This weekend was my grandma's funeral in California and I didn't know what to expect. We headed over there on Wednesday night and had to be at the mortuary on Thursday morning. That was not too bad since I didn't go inside at all. We then did the processional over to the church.



These are some of the beautiful flowers that were at the church. The church service was hard but also really nice. I did not go inside and sit and listen to it because I knew that I couldn't, but I did hear most of it from out in the foyer (that was hard enough for me). This church service was the most important part for grandma. She had her favorite hymns sung and her favorite scriptures read.



On Friday we drove out to Riverside National Cemetery were she was buried right with my grandpa. That service was short and sweet. It was also kinda nice because we got there early and were able to drive by and actually see my grandpa's headstone which I had never seen and see where my grandma will be buried. The weather made us all a little nervous, teasing rain, but it never fell while we were standing outside and that was wonderful.



We said our final goodbyes and then went to place her with grandpa where she belongs and where she was longing to be. I know that she is gone but it has still not completely sunk in; I think partly because after the church service we went back to her house and were all there together. I guess I just kept thinking she would come around the corner or something. I think it will just take a little more time and the house being gone before I really feel it sink in for me.



She was a wonderful lady; a great grandmother, grandmother, wife, mom, sister, friend, aunt, and daughter. But I guess the most important thing to me is that she was just someone who cared.

ALICE LENHARDT...SEPTEMBER 1925 - DECEMBER 2007....WE LOVE YOU

Happy Birthday

So I learned something new while searching on the internet today... Today is Walt Disney's Birthday. I always knew since I was little that Mickey Mouse's Birthday is November 18th just like mine but I never knew when Walt Disney's was. And after all what would Mickey Mouse be without Walt Disney. So in honor of the man himself, I say Happy Birthday and thank you for many, many special memories and lots of fun days and nights at the Happiest Place on Earth.

A New Attitude

Well for anyone who looks at this with any regularity at all you will be able to tell some differences and I hope you like them. I do... I am trying to get into the Christmas spirit (having to admit it is a little more difficult with the recent news) so I thought I would change some things on here as well. I hope you won't get too annoyed with the Christmas music, I love it. I also changed the background to feel more winter-like as well. Enjoy. And keep checking in as updates will keep arriving. Thanks.

What a day?!

The day started out fine but soon took a turn for the worst. Had I had known I made had done things a little differently.

Dan worked out in the backyard first thing this morning and trimmed up all our bushes getting them ready for winter. I on the other hand stayed inside where it was warm and watched a Christmas movie.


I then ventured out to help him when we went to the front of the house to start putting up the lights on the outside of the house. We did a pretty good job. Still have a few more to get up but the hardest part (the roof) is done.... Good job Dan!


We went inside to change and get a little more prepared for the day. I put on my (RED) shirt (Dan wore Red too) in honor of World Aids Day. I was proud to wear the shirt and know that I had done my part to help at least a little.


This is where the day went south and fast. I got a call from Laura at about 2pm and she said that my grandma had passed away at 12:03pm. She was surrounded by her children and at home in bed which is what she wanted but it is still hard to believe she is gone. I don't think it will actually sink completely in until we go back to California and there is no "grandma's house" to go to. She made it to Thanksgiving which was what she wanted and got us all together for one last "party" and then she was able to just let go and that is what she did. We will all miss her but I especially just miss being able to have a grandma and she gave me that opportunity when no one else could.

Keep it coming

Well rain fell today on our valley and it kept falling and falling and falling. We woke up to it and as I sit here and write it continues to fall. It was actually a nice change that we don't get to see a lot of. Dan didn't appreciate it too much since he had to be out working in it for a while this morning but it was nice to have a fire this evening and enjoy the wet weather from indoors.

The good news is that when there is rain at our house there is SNOW on the mountain. We checked the reports and YES... Mt. Charleston is receiving snow. In fact over the last 24 hours they had received over 9 inches of snow and have about 12-18 inches for a base. Now I know that is not a lot but we are at least progressing. We have to be hopeful for something. Every little bit counts at this point. Keep it coming Mother Nature!!!

Deck the Halls

We spent Sunday decorating the inside of the house for Christmas. We also realized that we have A LOT of stuff. The tree this year just has colorful globes on it. We try to do a theme each year and that is what we decided on this year.



Our fireplace is where the collection of Santas goes. This is getting quite large but still fits nicely up there. We also have our stockings hung waiting to be filled by old Santa himself.



This is a photo of where all the drama began. This is our china cabinet and where we use to be able to display ALL of our Nativity scenes. No longer does this hold them all. We have TOO MANY. This is only a sample of what we now have. They have out grown this.



More of our Nativity scenes. I love them and love to collect them and find different and unique ones. But I think I need to slow down or I will never find a place to display them or store them for that matter.

I am thankful for....

We were able to go to California to spend Thanksgiving with family and friends and it was great. We are so blessed and we have such great family (including those we were not able to spend the holiday with). We love them all so much. We are thankful for so many things in our lives including our health, our marriage, the Gospel, and our families. We hope that we are able to take the attitude of thankfulness and bring it with us through the entire year and not only remember and recognize it at Thanksgiving. We are blessed everyday by our Heavenly Father and we need to thank Him daily instead of just once a year.
We had a great time in California surrounded by our family, old and new, and we hope that we will all be able to spend time together again soon. We need to take the opportunity to do that more too.

Love stinks

Dan speaking here.....
Well I am taking this opportunity to use this Blog to express my discontent with the happenings of a show called "The Bachelor". Some background on "The Bachelor" is that he dates 25 single women looking for LOVE. As the weeks and weeks progress through eliminations the Bachelor tries to narrow down the potential "candidates" to fall in LOVE with. As you may well know last night the season finale aired on TV. The Bachelor had two remaining females to choose from. The point of the show is to "fall in LOVE" with one of them. As Aranne and I watched the show the first female, Jenni, who he had a strong connection with (our pick) was turned down for the reason of wanting more. In our disbelief we realized, by process of elimination, that DeAnna, the second female, was then going to "win". As DeAnna stood in front of the Bachelor hearing the news that he was sending her home as well caught us by surprise. We have never seen this occur in the show before. I then immediately felt USED. I then realized that for the past however many weeks the Bachelor's season is was all for nothing. It will be hours upon hours that I will never be able to re-live. I am using this Blog to inform everyone of the anger that I feel towards Brad Womack aka The Bachelor. In conclusion the point of the show is to find "true LOVE" and if that does not occur in the show they (the network) should either A. have a disclaimer or B. not have the show. I will then be taking heed before watching another show of this caliber. Please do the same.

Another year older...

Yesterday was my birthday and I had a great day. I was overwhelmed this year by the amount of cards and calls and just "Happy Birthdays" that I got. It was really nice. I also got some nice gifts which is fun too. I think the most original gift was from my brother and sister-in-law who bought me the Oprah Magazine collection book. It is fabulous I must say. And I think my own brother gets the prize for the funniest gift. He bought me a gift card online but put Cox on it instead of Urbancic... I mean I've only been married over 5 1/2 years... I did give him a hard time for that one.

All of the gifts were great, the cards were beautiful and the calls were wonderful. Oh that reminds me. I did get a surprising call too. I got a birthday call from the Stake President.. Yep, the Stake President. He just called to wish me a Happy Birthday. I told you that I got lots of calls and I felt like everyone remembered this year. It really was a great birthday which hopefully means it is going to be a great year.

What do you say?

There is not much that you can say to a friend who losses their mom. My friend just lost her mom on Saturday, and to top it off she passed away on my friend's birthday. (I know.. how horrible is that) I went to the funeral today and had no words to comfort her. Really what do you say? There are no words that can bring comfort in a time like this. The only thing you can do is be there as a shoulder to cry on and an ear to listen but nothing can take away the pain and nothing can bring her mother back to her or take away the fact that from now on her birthday will forever be associated with the death of her mother.

I love her so much and just wish there was something more I could do. She is strong though and I know she will come out on top and will make it through this. I pray for her each night that she will be comforted and find the strength for one more day and then another, and each day will hopefully be better than the next.

FSA Breakfast

Saturday morning we had our first FSA (families supporting adoption)activity that we were able to be involved with. We didn't know exactly what to expect but we went anyways. It was a pancake breakfast; they had a bounce house for the kids and we were doing a service project for the local hospitals as well. It turned out nice and we were able to talk with some of the other couples and get to see Brad (our counselor) outside of the office setting which is great. One of the best parts was watching the kids as the enjoyed the thrill of the bounce house. The one thing that was the common among everyone there was the love that we had for the kids and the repect that we have for adoption. It was awesome to be able to see so many families that had come together because of adoption and how much love was there.


Look at the pure joy on this sweet baby's face.


How precious is she?


Doesn't she make you smile?


How can you beat this face?

Time for a change

Well I have been trying to decide what I wanted to do with myself. Did I want to cut my hair short? Did I want to try bangs again after over 10 years without them? I wasn't really sure...


Well, Friday afternoon I went and did it. I got my hair cut and decided to go with the bang idea. I am still not sure about it since it has been so long since I have had them and now I don't quite know what to do with them but I guess it always takes a while to get use to change. The one good thing is that they are still long enough to pull back when I need to and that was very important to me. We will see how this goes, after all it is only hair and it should grow out in a couple months anyways, then I can decide what I want to do next time.