Washington

For the second leg of my Christmas break trip I visited my family in Washington before flying down to Arizona to be with Jen and her family for Christmas. On Sunday, Dec. 19th, we went to visit my Sister and her family in Othello and to attend the blessing of my new nephew Thomas.

Thomas Lance Gledhill and those who attended his blessing

This is my neice Eve, she is a big Nelly fan.

After visiting Othello, we spent the rest of my time in Washington snowboarding at White Pass and exploring the new expansion area.

Nearly waist deep in snow. Doesn't get much better than this.

What is Matt doing?

Rain

I have been in Utah and Washington for the past week and have heard that ever since I left Souhtern California that it has been raining everyday. I guess its been pretty bad too. My friend took the above picture that shows the streets in Loma Linda flooded with mud and water. This video clip is of a street not to far away from where Jen and I live. I hope my house is still there when I head back home on Sunday.

First leg of Christmas Break

Since I will be graduating from grad school this year, this will be the last time that I get a two week vacation for Christmas. I decided to make it a fun one and after finishing up classes on this past Thursday I flew to Salt Lake to meet up with my Dad and Brother to do some snowboarding and then road trip it together up to Washington. This has been the first leg of my break. I will be hanging out in Washington a few more days, then flying down to Arizona to meet up with Jen and spend Christmas with her and her family. Here are a few pictures from the past few days.

Found this gem in a gas station

We spent Friday snowboarding at Snowbird, it was a good day

My Dad taking in the view

Gadzooks

The strap on my bidings broke, so I tied an extra shoelace on for an improvised strap just to get down the mountain

On Saturday we started the 12 hour drive up to Yakima. We stocked up on snacks

The roads were pretty icy and we drove in alot of snow

As we were going over the Blue Mountains in Oregon a semi jack-knifed on the icy road, blocking the entire highway. We sat in the car waiting for them to clear the road for nearly 4 hours. It was cold and our 12 hour drive turned into 18 hours. Im glad to be in Washington now.

Because of Joe

Tomorrow, December 3rd is my dad's birthday. He would be turning 57 years young. Last year at this time I never could have imagined he would be gone, it's still so hard to believe. Over the past months I have often thought about how badly I want my future children to know their grandfather without having him here physically. How will I be able to carry on his legacy? What has my dad taught me that I can share with his posterity?

If I were to describe my dad in one word, the first that comes to mind is generous. He lived a simple life so he could give more to others. He was a talented coach that made good athletes great. He believed in them, taught them how to work hard, be successful and achieve their goals.

About one month ago, my oldest sister, Shelley had purchased a two week membership at a gym for a fundraiser from her son's basketball team. She had never been there before and finally went on the very last day before the pass expired. Upon leaving, the owner of the gym approached her, gave her the new member spill and was trying to talk her into joining. She was in a rush and didn't want to be bothered. The gym owner finally asked her why she was so against joining and she said, " because my son is trying out for basketball and needs some help getting stronger and faster, I need to put my money into training for him, not me right now". The guy looked at her and said, " well that's exactly what I do! When I was in high school, I tried so hard to make the basketball team but got cut my sophmore year. I went to tons of different coaches to help me get stronger and jump higher but none of them helped. Finally I was sent to the very best coach"...

At that moment, my sister knew who he was talking about. The young man went on to say, "his name was Joe Jolley". With tears in her eyes my sister said, "that's my dad". The young man looked upset and walked away. A few minutes later he came back a little choked up and said, "now you don't have anyone to help your son because your dad is gone?" The young man told my sister how my dad trained him, believed in him and helped him achieve his dream of going on to not only make the high school team, but also play collegiate basketball. He said he never would have accomplished what he had or be where he is today without the help of my dad.

My dad helped so many young athletes on and off the field. Coaching was his hobby, not his career. He often did it without pay, sacrificing his time and talent out of love for these young kids and their sport. More important than athletics to my dad was the gospel of Jesus Chris. He once told one of his athletes, "there are two things your future wife has to have, number one, she's got to have a testimony and number two, she's got to be able to back squat double her own body weight!"

I've decided that every December 3rd on my daddy's birthday I'm going to try to go out of my way to help someone more than usual, think to be a little more generous, and do something kind. I'm hoping that my future children will notice this and come to realize I do it because of my dad, because of their grandfather, because of Joe.

only in San Francisco...

I learned a few things while traveling to what people call"the city" by myself this past week...

1. it's totally normal to dine alone in a cafe or any restaurant for that matter

2. giving the "runners wave" to other joggers will only get you weird looks, not a smile

3. panhandelers make more money than I do

4. obesity is not as epidemic since everyone walks to consume their dinner

5. forget about the treadmill, walking the San Francisco hills is much more intense

6. water, what's that? coffee is the #1 source of hydration, or in my case, diet coke

7. talking to old men on buses isn't strange, it's fascinating

8. walking around wearing a bulky Garmin watch to track how many miles you've walked is not the least bit cool. In fact when it beeps at every mile marker people give you a look of disgust : )

9. always carry something sharp in your pocket in case someone tries to mess with you

10. oh & even more importantly, always carry your Rainbows in your purse incase your feet start to hurt

Andy's birthday spook-tacular!

Somehow the birthday boy managed what I'd call more of a birthday weekend, that started with camping and rock climbing in Joshua Tree with good friends!

Spider man & his wifey even paid us a visit!

Sierra, Me & Kiersten

Please note, I did not participate in bouldering i.e. climbing rocks without ropes or equipment and relying on people below to catch you if you fall...I chose life instead of death! Although I do have to admit these other peeps were pretty impressive!

The birthday boy also managed a costume party in between all his fun. I was obviously a hippie and totally rocked my costume to the ghetto to pick up some rice & beans for the party. In front of the restaurant was a homeless druggie looking man sitting in a wheel-chair missing his left leg and when he saw me he got a ginormous smile on his face and yelled "yea man 1972 man"! Guess I dressed the part well!

I promise this is a costume, however all of it did come from his closet! Andy takes dressing up very seriously & has been growing that hairy monster on his face since September...he even got the creepy prospector face down. Let's just say this night gave me a glimpse into my future and I'm rather worried!

We ended his day in the studio audience of the Leno show with Janet Jackson & our favorite guy from modern family! Happy 28th, hope it was a good one with many more to come.

Hawt Dog You're On My BLog!!!

Leave it to this girl to host a semi-formal Halloween Ball & it will be the most fun "event" you will have ever attended! Love her...

& them...

so glad friends throw great parties & give me excuses to drive home for the weekend & play with my family, I heart them

oh & this one is just for Jill...she may regret saying, "I never bring my camera to events because I can always count on Jen to take pictures for us" LOVE YA! 'twas a great dance off ; )

'til we meet again...

This past weekend Andy & I made a special trip to Salt Lake to visit my dad's grave and attend a session of General Conference. I hadn't been to my dad's grave yet and felt it was something I needed to do. After my dad's funeral my uncles took a special brothers trip and took him up to Salt Lake to be buried next to his father. I'm so glad they had the opportunity to do this, it was just what they needed.

We had a wonderful time visiting friends & family. I had never been to BYU campus & we walked around while Andy's brother was in class. I'm not gonna lie, it was a little odd to me to see mother's lounges on campus and young college students pushing strollers to class...weird! I definately never saw that during my college experience!

Michelle & baby Macy

Anne & I at Cafe Rio=tons of hungry mormons in utter chaos

We stayed with Andy's aunt & uncle in Alpine. His grandma and other aunt and cousins made a special trip to hang out with us for the weekend. I love Andy's family they are so much fun! I feel so lucky to be apart of them! Seriously, Grandma Taylor is the hippest, funniest granny on the block! She is always cracking jokes and saying things that may be just a tad inappropriate but totally hilarious...I heart her! I invited her to come live with Andy & I but she declined : (

I am so glad we were able to attend the sunday session of general conference, neither of us had been and it was a great experience, I can't wait to do it again. I loved Elder Arnold's talk and what he said about his parents leaving him a great legacy. My dad left me a great legacy and name that I am honored to have and will try to live up to. 'Til we meet again...