Christmas Decorations

We got our Christmas tree up and decorated. It was a lot of fun. Last year after Christmas we found some new decorations that we both really liked. It was a lot of fun to use the decorations that we had both picked out. I also really like the nativity scene (on the table) that my mom gave us. It was a perfect day for Christmas decorating too because it snowed most of the day and into the night. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Deer Friends

These deer have been hanging out in our back yard. It's been fun to be able to look out and see them. I don't know what they will do now that there is snow.

Pumpkin Pictures

This year we decided to try sculpting pumpkins instead of carving them. We saw it on the food network. Obviously we are still learning, but I think Tyler's (the skeleton) turned out really cool, especially in the dark.

November Update

I apologize that I have not been keeping my blog up to date. The last few months have been busy and exciting. It is amazing how quickly the time has gone.

Most of our time and energy has been taken up by school. Tyler is working on finishing his degree in Spanish by this April. Between the upper division Spanish classes and the optometry pre-requisites he has had a difficult semester, but he has worked hard and stayed on top of everything. He is hoping to go to optometry school when he finishes. He has applied now and a couple of the schools have let him know that they are considering him, but he has not had any offers yet. So, we still do not really know where we will be next year.

I have been absorbed in getting my thesis finished. For a while, I was not sure if I would make the deadlines for graduation this semester, but things miraculously worked out. I just turned in my final draft to the library to get it bound, and I am all approved for graduation in December, so now I just have to finish my finals for my last two classes and I will be set. I am also going to try to get my project published in a scientific journal which will mean more revisions, but I can do that after I graduate.

We were in Las Vegas for Thanksgiving and had a really great time. One of Tyler’s friends took us to Lake Mead for some winter water skiing. Tyler really enjoys knee boarding, and he has only gone once since we got married so he was excited. It was pretty chilly even though it was Las Vegas. The water was about 60 degrees and the air was probably about the same but with the wind chill it was colder. Luckily we were wearing wet suits and Kimin (Tyler’s friend) had a hot water shower on his boat so that we could thaw out after we got in the water. Yes, I did try it out. I was not sure if I would have the guts but turns out that it was not as bad as I had thought.
Celebrating Thanksgiving with Mom and Dad Wyatt was a lot of fun as well. Tyler’s oldest brother Brandon came with his family as well, so it was a pretty good sized group. One of the unique traditions they have is to smoke a turkey. It gives it a really good flavor and makes superb gravy. That is definitely a tradition that is worth passing on.

On “Black Friday” we opted to avoid the craziness and went out to do some shooting instead. The guys had competitions while the rest of us either watched or searched the area for brass to recycle. (It is kind of like a treasure hunt!) All in all the week just went by too quickly. We were dragging our feet all the way back to Provo and school. Luckily we only have two more weeks!

Apple Press in Action

This is the Apple press in action. This first picture is of them splitting the apples before butting them through the grinder. The video is of them grinding the apples before putting them in the press. That is Brother Ashton on the left and Jeff, Tyler's co-worker on the right.




And this is how they made the blocks, they had a mold that they put cheese cloth in and filled it with the shredded apples. After they got several blocks on top of each other they used a hydrolic-numatic jack to push down between the top crossbeam and the board above the blocks of apples. And below is the view of the juice draining into bucket. Tyler was holding the camera and trying to help out so it gets a bit wobbly. Sorry it's sideways.




Pretty cool isn't it? Apparently the Ashtons have also been using their press for grapes and other things. I think they like it. In case you are wondering how well the juice comes out, Tyler said that the pulp was practically dry after they had finished juicing it. This kind of press wouldn't have to be this big, or expensive, but that was what he thought the Ashtons would want.

Apple Juice and Fall Colors

Tyler has been working hard to finish an apple press the Ashton's asked him to make. I took a couple pictures of it before he had all the parts on it. The pictures don't do it justice because it is actually very pretty. It looks more like a piece of furniture than something you use to get juice out of apples. It probably doesn't make a lot of sense to you looking at the picture because, like I said it doesn't have all the parts on it yet. You will have to talk to Tyler if you want the whole picture.

The leaves have been so pretty lately!

The Latest

We've had a busy semester so far. I'm teaching a lot of classes, and finishing up my requirements for graduation. I am just getting my data analyzed so that I can report what was found. It will be interesting to see if anything came of it. Tyler just finished taking his Optometry Admission Test (OAT) so that is one big stress that is past now.

The leaves up here are just starting to change colors. It is beautiful. I will try to get some pictures as soon as possible.