It's in the Degn blood!

Shooting is something that is in the blood of a Degn. Shooting is what distinguishes a Degn as a true, fun lov'n Degn. The day after Christmas, a bunch of us TRUE Degns came together in the bonding activity of shooting. We had a little problem getting there in Uncles Michael's SUV, and a big truck had to pull the SUV out of a patch of slippery snow. In the picture below, you can see the track the tires left behind as the SUV slid side ways.



We went to a place near Saratoga Springs. You can see the frozen Utah Lake behind Uncle Michael and Hannah. It turned out to be the perfect day for shooting - not too cold, just right.


Here is Quincy, Clayton, and Uncle Blaine loading their guns.


Here is Matthew shooting at our two targets.

Here is my dad, Zach, and Josh.


Towards the end, Uncle Michael brought out his elk/moose 7 mm hunting gun. And yes, it has a kick! Here my dad and I are shooting it.

Christmas Morning!!!

While opening presents, Jonathon had to lie on his stomach and ice his back.


Here we are with all the presents opened. Joy was thick in the air.


After all the presents were opened, Alison and I tried out our new angel chimes that our aunt and uncle sent from Sweden.
While Jonathon put together a miniature war beast.

Sledding Accident & Christmas Eve

Sledding Accident 

On Monday Jonathon went sledding in an old gravel pit next to my parents' house with a bunch of friends. He chose to sled down a path less traveled, which turned into a huge mistake. His sled took an unexpected turn and went off a big jump, landing fifteen feet away. He was lying on his back as he rode down so when the sled landed it was his back that felt the impact.
This is what the sled looked like afterward.


My parents took him to the emergency room where he spent 2 and 1/2 hours lying on his back in a neck brace.

The doctors found that he had a compression facture in a vertebrae in his back. His neck turned out fine, but he had a little whiplash. He has spent most of the week lying down.

Moral of the story: Don't sled on your back on a thin sled in a gravel pit.

Christmas Eve

For Christmas Eve, we went to my Uncle Rob's house in Highland where my mother's parents were staying. It turned into a fun-filled, holiday, wonderous evening.


We exchanged gifts,


broke a pinata (which loaded us with candy and money),

and sang Christmas carols.

Merry Kissmas!

I love Christmas and decorating makes an apartment feel so much like a home. My roommates think I am nuts because I ended up buying 2 Christmas trees, one real and the other fake. Unlike Bruce, I know where one can find a "tame" tree that doesn't need to be cut down.




And here is my beautiful fake tree.

Merry Kissmas- is what the tag says. But this misotoe hasn't been used by me. The guy just had to go home disappointed. My roommate has used it more.
For those that live outside of Utah, Utah County now has a car pool lane. And this is my dad's car pool budy - a big stuffed brown bear. My mom wanted to demonstrate how it works.

Actually, Grandma Susan and Alison used the pickup to get Grandma a Christmas tree. Alison mentioned to Grandma that the high school is collecting useful items for Navajo families. Grandma found a few items--3 garbage bags full and a bear.