Thanksgiving 2007 - Manti Utah - Day 1

This year we spent Thanksgiving with the Allphin clan down in Manti Utah! The happiest place on earth...

This is a demonstration of one of the most popular activities at an Allphin get together, holding the babies! And of late it is being privileged enough to hold one of the cute little Garn twins. If you want to hold one of these hot commodities you better be on your "A" game ready to fend off all the Allphin grandkids, cousins, brothers, sisters, and grandparents. If you look real close you'll see where I took Grandma Allphin to the floor. Who is holding the baby now grandma?



In an effort to nerdify the Allphin girls I always bring a little technology to share. Technology is a ladies magnet...just ask Jill.

Halloween 2007

There was plenty-o-fun a brewing at the Pickett Household for our Halloween Party. It was a combination of awesome food, sweet costumes, cool friends, and fun stuff..like games and stuff.

Most notably a night to see some friends I hadn't hung out with since just after I got home from my mission...bout 5 years. Wow, time flies.

Anyways, we had dry ice filled pumpkins to cool our drinks, dinner in a pumpkin, best costume contests, prizes, guitar hero!!!! YEAH!!!, board games, card games, and even...yes even a dry ice filled toilet--see pictures for proof. We can thank Tyler for that one.

All and all a very fun filled night. We hope to make a habit of getting friends together.

Until next Halloween, this is the banana..OUT!!! HAHAAHAHAHHAAHHAH!!!! Boo!

Grandma Jan - 1927 to 2007

It's been a few months since Grandma passed away. Here are a few pictures of her funeral. It reminds me of the spirit of that day. We miss you Grandma.

They can put a man on the moon...

Before you read about this post you need to make sure and watch the video clip, come on...honor system. So, yes we had the great privilege of seeing one of the best, if not the best, comedians of our time LIVE at Thanksgiving Point. We were outside under the stars, which made it funny when he started this setup and noticed for the first time he actually had the moon to point at. Jill got these tickets for us as an anniversary present...so happy 4th anniversary to us...which happened on the 30th of July. One of the highlights was when a heckler screamed out, "Move Here!" Brian wasn't quite sure how to respond to that but rolled with it and made it really funny. His tangents were long and funny too. He sometimes couldn't even keep his own jokes straight, yet still hilarious. About 75 % of the material I had never heard before so, overall it was pretty sweet.


until next post...
TAKE LUCK!!!

Allphin Family Reunion

With the passing of the first part of August came the Allphin Family Reunion. This adventure brought with it some very interesting experiences and fun memories that won't soon be forgotten. We went up to Duck Creek, east of Cedar City for some camping, fishing, and some good ole outdoorsy stuff. As you can tell in the pictures a lot a fun was had by all. We learned more good info about pioneers on family night given by Mike and Jolene. We found love for the taste of camp fire starbursts...a first for Jill and I, when cooked right they taste just like a giant skittle...yummy. Our Jelly bean tasting skills were put to the test with such flavors as cheesecake, popcorn, and vomit. The last flavor is for real I am not making it up. Crazy Kim brought along a couple of boxes of every flavor jelly beans. Vomit was the worst. Overall it was a pretty good game. Last but not least we learned how to fly off a four wheeler at 40+ miles an hour...this is also true, but only I mastered it. After about an hour riding on the 4 wheelers, Brian and I decided to race back to camp. I had the lead until he cheap shotted me into a ditch which threw my 4 wheeler out of control hurling me into the air, landing on my head, knocking me out, leaving me to lay quietly on the ground. All except the part about Brian cheap shotting me into a ditch is true, I just lost control. When I came too, I was numb all over and thought for a second that I might be paralyzed, as I was not wearing any helmet and could not feel any part of my body. Luckily I started to get the feeling back into my arms, hands, and fingers. I laid in pain for a few moments. Brian had made it all the way back without noticing that I wasn't behind him so I hobbled onto the 4wheeler, rode it back to camp and was nursed back to health by the family. Thanks for everybody's help. I got a concussion, a fractured ankle, and a lesson on why you should wear a helmet when 4wheelin. Oh yeah and the horse shoes was fun too. Thanks to the Cluffs for planning the Reunion and everybody's good food!.

The Yellowstone Trip 2007

At the end of June we embarked on a pothole, geyser, and wildlife exploring adventure! The great land dotted with these famous landmarks is known as the Great Yellowstone Park. We went with My Dad's Family and the Cutlers. Our privelage was to ride most of the time in the Suburban. Starting out at Bear World where the bumper became the walker of a big black bear, he left his slimey mark all over the back window, a seriously cool highlight of the trip! The above picture was taken at Yellowstone Lake. Along this walkway were many of the sulfur, hot pots, and even more hot hot hot pools reaching over 140 degrees F, indeed.Jill and I located at the Grand Canyon, if you are asking yourself, "Is the Grand Canyon located in Yellowstone Park?" The answer is yes and no. Yellowstone, so big, that it has its very own Grand Canyon, affectionately named, the Yellowstone Grand Canyon. Too many mentions about the Grand Canyon in this paragraph? Duly noted.
Check this out! As if you already haven't...this awesome bison was trotting right along side one of the many windy roads of Yellowstone, this one just outside of Mammoth Springs. You'll notice the door in the corner of the picture showing the fact that this grandioso creature stood only inches from our little car, we were in the corolla. He followed a couple hundred yards back from a whole herd of buffalo with their baby bison mixed in between.

Bearworld, the cabin in Island Park, the lazy river located nearby, our couple of long trips into Yellowstone, Aaron Cutler's Dutch oven masterpiece, all of Aaron's masterpieces in fact, old faithful, the little diner in West Yellowstone...featuring nasty food and fly in your water, the less than entertaining IMAX movie...watch it on VHS...same effect--trust me, our pit stop in Idaho falls (definitely try Jakers Steakhouse and Smitty's INCREDIBLE pancakes and french toast.mmmmmmm). Overall we had a great time hanging with the fam and hanging with each other as we created lots of memories that will be placed in the memory vaults of our hearts. My official rating "Fantastic 5"

Cruise 2006 Teaser

A video of quick highlights thrown together from everyone's cameras. More to come in the future, but for now enjoy this little tid bit...when is the next trip?