The wheels are turning...: December in pictures

Rhonda the Honda hit 150,000 miles. (And yes, this picture was taken with one hand on the wheel whilst driving 65mph and the other on the phone camera, capturing this momentous occasion.)

I went to the San Diego Zoo for the first time. Work sent me to San Diego for a conference, but there was time for play, too.

Llama face!

I don't know why, but flamingos have always been my favorite! (Though, they tend toward the more fragrant--blech--end of the animals...)

My sister Sarah loves turtles, so I had to snap a shot!

...and my sister Laura loves giraffes. (I've always wondered why it's not 'giralves' plural...)

My view of the San Diego Marina from the convention center.

I would go out to the veranda during lunch and just bask in the sun while I thought about my family and friends back in Utah who were freezing. Vitamin D really does do a body good. I even got a bit of a sunburn, and I've never been happier to have gotten one.

My co-workers taking a load off while we waited to head to the airport to come home.

These trees were fascinating. And they apparently ate kites. Luckily there was a kite store just a little ways down the boardwalk. (Talk about location, location, location!)

Coronado Bridge

Sun reflecting on the water...imagine the sadness in my heart, as this was only hours before I got on a plane to return to the bitter, frozen tundra.

Isabelle (my niece) decided to make a fashion statement in her gingerbread jammies and my heels.

This was actually a lot worse than it looks in this picture...but it's the result of my clumsiness coupled with my lack of paying attention.

I was wrapped up in googling something on my awesome new phone (the same phone that brought you all of the pictures you see in this post!), and I tripped up the stairs on my way into a restaurant.

Mo Tab and David Archuleta! Woo!

No, we didn't purchase tickets (who DOES that?!), but we almost didn't make it in with the tickets we did have. My mom procured them through some connections she has on her temple shift, so my sisters, my mom and I headed to the conference center for the preview performance. HOLY. FREAK. Traffic = disaster. Parking = nightmare. Lines = crazy town. Everyone was so angry and pushy and it seemed like those in charge were incapable of doing their jobs. Long story short, my mom and I had to elbow our way in, whilst in cell phone contact with Rachel, who was saving us seats. We barely made it. I was going to cry when I finally collapsed in my seat. The concert was fantastic and beautiful, and while I'm not a David Archuleta fan, I gotta say that that boy has got good pipes.

I look tired or drunk. Rachel is photogenic as always. And we look like we're sharing one big shirt.

On my way to work I saw deer tracks in the freshly-fallen snow! Yes, I stopped and snapped this photo.

Jared (nephew) in his toy box. He crawls in there by himself! Keeps him entertained for hours.

My sisters and I helped Natalie make a cake for her somehow-related sister-in-law or something.

We cut the timing on this thing pretty close, but made it...barely. I mostly helped with the insides of this beautiful cake. The artistic stylings were done by Rachel, Paulie, and Natalie. My contribution comes in the form of delicious cake and a crazy-difficult cinnamon chocolate meringue frosting that took an hour to make. Too bad I can't give you each a sample via this post...

Oh, and the bottom layer is a light orange-flavored layer that was quite scrumptious.

On Christmas Eve, Isabelle got slippers. She decided Bruce the dog needed to try them on. He didn't seem to mind.

On my drive home from anywhere north of my place, I come down the hill by the Capitol to this sight. It is kind of neat as you crest that hill and are suddenly immersed in the light of Christmas.