Christmas time!

We had a wonderful, relaxing Christmas this year.

Jeff had the whole week off so he was able to run some errands and get a few things done. I worked 2 1/2 days of the week. On Christmas Eve we were able to go see the newest member on my side of the family, Oliver Comfort Smith-and boy is he a CUTIE!!! He is my brother Alma and his wife Matti's baby. The family is doing well and I'm so happy that everything went well for them. On the way home from their house we took a little drive and looked at some Christmas lights. It has been a tradition that both of our families have done throughout the years and we decided we'd like to continue that. There is one particular street that's actually named Christmas St (or Ave I can't remember). It was amazing to see the whole street, both rows of houses all decked out! Unfortunately I didn't think to pull out my camera, but hopefully I will next year. :) When we got back home we each opened one gift. Jeff got me a popcorn maker-it's my most favorite treat ever! And Jeff got a blanket that I've been crocheting and working on for him.

Christmas Day we slept in and leisurely got ready, then we headed over to Jeff's mom's house. We had a big breakfast and then opened presents. We got a good amount of stuff and we're very thankful to all of our family for the gifts! We spent the remainder of the day relaxing, watching movies, chatting, etc. It started snowing around noon and didn't stop until well into the early morning the next morning. We almost stayed at Jeff's mom's house but decided we'd try to make it home. A drive that would normally take 10-15 minutes turned into a good 30-45 minutes! Here are a few pictures of our day :)

This is our first Christmas being married!

Jeff's mom and sister, Jen, figuring

out the new mixer!

By the next morning we had about 8 inches of snow. And we got another inch or two the next day as well. Too much snow in my opinion!

A very busy week!

Last week was extremely busy for us, as most turn out to be! Here's a quick rundown...

Sunday-
We had a pretty good Primary class that day, not too wild! After having dinner at Jeff's mom's house a couple from our ward (we actually teach their son in Primary) invited us to go over to their house for a "hot beverage" party (Mormon style of course). We went over and enjoyed some yummy hot wassel and hot chocolate and getting to know some more people from our ward.

Monday-
We spent the evening decorating our Christmas tree. We'd had it up for a couple of weeks but just hadn't gotten around to putting the bulbs on, so that's what we did as our Family Home Evening activity.

Tuesday-
Jeff worked from home and I stayed home from work because of a bad snow storm. It actually turned out to be very beneficial, I got a LOT of much needed cleaning done. Our second bedroom had quickly become a "junk room" (for lack of a better term) and it was really beginning to drive me crazy! Plus we'd be looking for a way to have a make-shift pantry/storage area for extra food we had. So, after getting the idea from my sister Marie, I cleaned out that room and closet, rearranged a few things and voila! I had a clean extra bedroom and a "pantry/food storage"! I was rather excited/proud about the job I did. It took me the majority of the day to get all that done. By the evening it had stopped snowing for the most part, so we went out and got some groceries.

Wednesday-
After work we ran a couple of errands and then headed to our good friends' house, Nathan and Angela. Us four along with our friends Dustin and Christy all got together for a holiday dinner! We had tacos and boy were they yummy! Angela made this really yummy pulled pork and it was so good my mouth is watering again just thinking about it! We had a great time just eating and chatting and hanging out with our friends.

Thursday-
After work we met up with some friends from our ward and went out to dinner then went to a concert of an A'Capella group called Eclipse. They were amazing singers! They were very entertaining and fun to watch. We also had a great time getting to know some more couples in our ward. It gets kind of hard for us to meet new people in our ward since we're in Primary now so we get rather excited when we have those opportunities!

Friday-
I left work early this day because there was a terrible snow storm. The drive home, which is normally 15-20 minutes even with traffic, was a little less than an hour. After skidding around, almost going off the road twice, and gripping the steering wheel till my knuckles were white, I made it home in one piece! Later that evening we met up with Jeff's mom, grandma and sister (and her boyfriend) for his sister's birthday dinner. This time we went to Texas Roadhouse...DELICIOUS! We enjoyed some time with them and then got some redbox movies on the way home and just relaxed in our nice warm house!

Saturday-
We slept in and rested most of the morning. Once we got ready to go we did some shopping and then went to the Jordan River Temple for a session. After that Nathan and Angela came over and we all headed downtown. We ate some delicious greasiness and Crown Burger then headed for Temple Square. All of us had yet to have seen the lights this year so we all headed down together. We had a great time and laughed a LOT!!! Here are some of the pictures-

Jeff's Birthday

Jeff's birthday was on Dec 1st. We started off celebrating when his mom took us (and his siblings) out for dinner to Olive Garden the Saturday before. That is their tradition as far as birthdays go. It was a lot of fun, and VERY yummy (as usual).

Monday night he got to choose what we made for dinner. So we made what we now call "Poor man's Enchilada's". It's more of an inside joke than anything, but basically they turned out to be taco seasoned enchiladas, and boy were they yummy! We spent the rest of the evening at home just lounging around.

On Thursday I finally took him OUT for his birthday. The night started off with eating dinner at Pei Wei in Sugar House. Pei Wei is a delicious Chinese place. We had a bit of excitement there that Jeff says actually "made" his birthday. We were sitting at our table waiting for our food when a man walked in the door. After a few seconds of deliberation, trying to figure out why his face looked familiar, it dawned on me (and Jeff confirmed) it was Mitt Romney!! We were rather surprised and also excited, we're both big fans!! He was with his family and we both felt bad bothering him, so NO we didn't go up and talk to him or anything. I did try to play coy and took a picture of him on my phone...see below :)

After dinner we headed for the Conference Center. I had been trying and trying to get some tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert, but those are nearly impossible to come across if you don't get chosen from the "raffle". So instead we went to their rehearsal on Thursday night. Honestly, and we both agree, the rehearsals are funner to go to. It's all casual and you get to here them work through stuff. We were both fascinated. People were still putting decorations up and everything, it was a really neat experience! Once I again, I didn't have the camera with me, but took some picture on my phone-

I just want Jeff to know how grateful I am for him. He is an amazing man and an even more amazing husband! I love you Honey-babe!!!

Tag-Scattergories style!

SCATTERGORIES...it's harder than it looks!
Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following. They have to be real places, names, things. Nothing made up!
You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

WHAT IS YOUR NAME: Jeanette
BOY NAME : Jeff
GIRL NAME: Jessica
OCCUPATION: Justice Court member?
COLOR: Jade
SOMETHING YOU WEAR: Jammie's!
BEVERAGE: Juice
FOOD: Jumbalaya
SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM: Junk
A PLACE: Juneau, Alaska
REASON FOR BEING LATE: Jump Start car
SOMETHING YOU SHOUT: Just right!

I Tag: Marie, Melissa, Beth, Brenda, Vera & Angela!

Which Twilight Character are you?

This is the link:

http://www.quizilla.com/quizzes/5585712/which-twilight-novel-character-are-you

Jeff's Results:

You're Carlisle Cullen - You are very intelligent and have high moral standards. You truly care about people and helping them. Your knack for solving problems and pleasing two warring sides makes you unique and a desirable friend to have, even if sometimes you have to tell people what they might not like hearing.

Jeanette's results:

You're Bella Swan - You are intelligent and kind but not quite sure what you want out of life yet. You have a feeling there's something more out there for you. You're attracted to those who are real and avoid the fake. Sometimes you're a bit accident prone, but your true friends will always be loyal to you and come to your aid when you need it.

The Jazz game

Last Saturday (the 29th) we spent most of the day with Jeff's family. That afternoon I went and caught a matinee of Twilight with Jeff's sister Jen, his brother John and John's wife Heather.

Jeff's mom took us all out for dinner in honor of Jeff's birthday (is was Dec. 1) to Olive Garden. And then to the Jazz game that night. They played the New Jersey Nets. It was a close game throughout the first half, but in the third quarter the Nets pulled ahead. We left about half way through the 4th quarter because John and Heather wanted to walk around temple square and see the light for a little bit.

It was a good day/evening with them...we don't get to see John and Heather very often so it was fun to have them up here and spend some time with them! Here are some pictures from the game.

Thanksgiving 2008

This year we spent Thanksgiving with my, Jeanette's, family. We went back to Caliente, NV (my home town) and joined ALL of my siblings and their spouses and children there. The family has gotten so big that we were all spread between my parents house, my grandpa's house, and my brothers house. Jeff and I slept at my Grandpa's house. In my family there is currently 24 people with 25 on the way, my sister-in-law Matti is due December 31!

Here is a picture of all of us together, eating our delicious Thanksgiving feast! Jeff now fully appreciates why I have the first instinct to reach for food when it's in front of me...in my family if you don't do so, you don't get any!

We had a great time visiting with family and playing with the nieces and nephews!
















And relaxing-















On Friday all the guys went over to help my brother split some firewood. They were gone pretty much all day, but got the whole pile done.
















Jeff and I left Friday night as people were heading to bed and ended up driving all the home, getting here around 3:00 am. It was a great weekend with the family and we are so thankful for everything we have!

Twilight!!!

Yes I know I'm a few weeks late, but I did want to put my opinion out there on the movie Twilight!

After just this past week I have now seen the movie 3 times...yes that's right....THREE times. Luckily one was free :)

Jeff and I went with our friends Nathan & Angela and Dustin & Christy the first time. We made it a date night and had dinner, did some light shopping, then watched the flick. This was the day it came out, Friday, November 21, 2008. The the next day Jeff and I joined our insurance agency and enjoyed free popcorn, free drinks, and the free movie...did I mention how it was all FREE :)...yes I do love free things. Then I went and saw it this past Saturday with Jeff's sister Jen, brother John and his wife Heather.

My personal opinion-the movie is great for what they had. It was a very low budget movie but I still thought they did an amazing job at capturing the characters and the essence of the story. Yes it was cheesy, but then again so were the books. Yes there was a lot left out, but they covered the basics and just that took over 2 hours!

I thought Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart did remarkable jobs as Edward and Bella...talk about a drool fest :)...and even the author, Stephanie Meyer, had her own little 10 second spot in the movie!

Yes I love the books, yes I love the movie...I know they're the same story but I can honestly see them and two separate renditions and appreciate both...kinda like the differences between the 6-hour version of Pride and Prejudice and the 2 hours version of it!

A couple things I was disappointed with:
-The lack of Alice, I know that's more of a personal thing because aside from Edward and Bella, Alice is my favorite character. Then again she doesn't appear as prominent until New Moon, and even more so from then on, so I can't wait!
-The way they portrayed Edwards skin in the sunlight...yes they were low budget, and yes the book says it sparkled like diamonds...I don't know, I guess I just envisioned it differently!

Along with some of my least favorite thing here are a few of my favorites:
-The intensity between Edward and Bella-GREAT job by both actors!
-The baseball game...LOVED it!!!
-Rosalie..I hated her so much I love her!
-And of course, Robert Pattinson actually playing the piano in the movie...yes that was him REALLY playing! I've even heard rumor that HE wrote that song for the movie!

Anyway, there are my two cents. Go see the movie for yourself (if you haven't already) and make your own judgements...just remember to go to it with an open mind!

Tagged once more!

Yes I have been tagged once more! My cousin Val has tagged me this time around...thanks Val :)

Anyway, this time it's the 2nd folder and the 11th picture...so here you are!
This picture was taken right after my LITTLE brother's Homecoming football game. It's his senior year this year so Jeff and I wanted to go down and see him play. It was a great trip and we had a blast!

Anyway, the picture...one of the first things Neal usually does when he sees me is pick me up over his shoulder...no hug, nothing - just up and over the shoulder (even in my wedding dress)! So in all the excitement of winning a blow-away game (74-8) I went over to go congratulate him and this is what I got! It's all good fun though and I'm so used to being picked on such ways!

Now I tag:
1 - Brenda
2 - Katie
3 - Thalea
4 - Tasha

Tagged again!

My good friend Beth tagged me...so here I go!

What you have to do it go to My Pictures...go to your 4th folder..then the 4th picture, and post it on here and explain it!

Here's what I found-


Our good friends Nathan and Angela invited us to go hiking with them one beautiful Saturday afternoon. You might remember the post - Hiking and roasted "pigs in a blanket" - It was a fun hike and great to hang out with our friends. The fresh mountain air was so refreshing and the temperature was perfect. We hiked up to Donut Falls in Big Cottonwood Canyon.

The reason for the wood? We built a fire a ways up the trail and made roasted pigs in a blanket! They're easy and sooo yummy! Well the picture is of me just being a dork and having some fun! Hope you all enjoy!

I now tag:
1-Matti
2-Vera
3-Angela
4-Marie

In honor of this weekend-Twilight!

A friend of mine posted this on her page...so now I'm doing the same. All in honor of the Twilight movie coming out this Friday, November 21, 2008!

You are observant, diplomatic and often aim to please. You are unaware of your
attractiveness and despite being uncomfortable with any form of attention, people enjoy your company. You can be impatient, stubborn and headstrong, but you are true to your word and mature for your age, often taking care of your family and enjoying a good book over chatting with girlfriends on the phone.

Find out which Twilight Heroine you are!

A weekend of NOTHING!!!

This past weekend we went up to Park City and enjoyed two free nights at a resort up there. How did you score two free nights do you ask? Well I (Jeanette) am a frequent checker of the KSL.com Classifieds free section and one day while I was perusing on there I saw an add for a vouchers for the two free nights at the WestGate Resort in Park City. At first I just figured it was some kind of scam and ignored it. Well about a week later the offer was posted again, so I sent the link to Jeff and he called the guy and it was completely real and legit! The only catch was that we had to go to one of those time share presentations, but we didn't care...we listen to the people, tell them no :) and then enjoy two free nights at a nice resort/hotel...DONE!

So Friday night, after work, we grabbed some dinner then headed up the canyon. It was a beautiful drive, I LOVE fall, and love driving through canyons where colors are already changing! We got to the resort and checked in and decided to just go straight to the little presentation thingy and get that over with...so we did. Of course it was all sales pitch and stuff, but once the lady finally realized we were willing to pay for anything like that at this time she let us go! So we went and found our room and just relaxed. We enjoyed a movie, some snacks, and fell asleep whenever we did. Of course...I can't seem to keep myself awake for very long, so I was out pretty quickly.

Saturday we did....NOTHING!!! And it was so wonderful. We laid in bed, watched tv, took steam showers, etc...we were in absolute bliss. We realized that we hadn't done anything like that since we'd gotten married...sure we've gotten out of town, but it was always for family functions. And our Saturday's were always filled with house work and other random activities! So it was great, extremely refreshing and re energising. We headed back down Sunday morning and got ready for church and went. It was very much needed weekend...just us two, enjoying each others' company!

Halloween week...

Everyone else has Halloween posts so I thought I'd put one up of my own. Our Halloween week was kinda busy, but not nearly as crazy as some. Monday and Tuesday were spent running errands after work (including EARLY voting...best thing invented ever regarding politics) and watching Dancing with the Stars :) (my-Jeanette's-new addiction).

Wednesday we headed up to Bountiful Temple to finish up some family names that my Grandpa Smith had given us a little while ago. We decided to go to Bountiful because neither of us had been there to do any work (Jeff had gone to the open house, but that was it), and we wanted to change things up a bit. So we grabbed some grub at yummy Cafe Rio then headed up there. The temple is beautiful. We only did baptisms, but we are looking forward to going up again to do other work as well.

Thursday I went out for a ladies night with my friend Angela. We went and saw Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants: 2 at the $1.50 theater. We each enjoyed our own bag of deliciously buttery popcorn! It's so fun to go out with the girls and get away from the boys every now and then. Granted I usually end up missing Jeff by the time the night is over, but not enough to make me not want to go again!

Friday was full of all sorts of fun! My building does a big Halloween celebration full of contests/prizes, trick-or-treating of employees' family members, LOTS of food, etc. I even had a couple visitors of my own. My cousin, Marianne (Ty's wife) brought their little boy Kent. Then shortly after they left my sister-in-law, Matti, brought Bella in. Both kids were adorable! The area that I'm in had a HUGE pot luck lunch of Potato Bar (one of my favorites). That evening, after work, Jeff and I headed over to Alma and Matti's house for some delicious chili and cornbread and a fun Halloween movie. It was so fun to watch Bella trick-or-treat to a few houses, and even more fun to watch her get excited when the trick-or-treaters came to their house. It was a great evening all around!

Saturday we slept in :) then did a lot of work around the house (yes we're still trying to get COMPLETELY settled). It doesn't help that I get so OCD about things! We went out for a drive with Jeff's mom to go see a house she was thinking about buying. Then headed home again to make dinner. Ty and Marianne joined us and we enjoyed chatting and eating with them (as we usually do).

Sunday was a peaceful/restful day (with the exception of our Sunbeam class, they were quite the handful this week, for some reason).

Anyway, here are some pictures of the Bella and Kent when they came to my office to trick-or-treat. They were quite the hit!


Isn't she the cutest Tinker Bell you've ever seen?!!

And the cutest little spider that ever was! Even Jeff can't be afraid of him!

Hiking and roasted "Pigs in a Blanket"

Last Saturday, we were invited by our friends, Nathan and Angela, to go hiking up one of the canyons here in SLC. It was a beautiful day to go hiking and since those nicer days are quickly dwindling we are glad we took advantage of it! We met at Nathan and Angela's house (Dustin and Christy came too) packed up the cars and headed up the canyon. We got to the head of the trail, took turns using the nasty outhouse then headed up the trail. Being as out of shape as I am (and waking up with a charlie horse in my calf the night before) it was kinda tough, but a blast and worth it none-the-less! We stopped at a spot that had a fire pit and roasted some wieners-even better though, Nathan had discovered and ingenious way of making "Pigs in a Blanket" over the fire...and boy was is deeeeelicious!!! After eating, chatting, and having fun we headed back down the trail. It was completely dark by the time we got back to the cars.
We had a blast and LOVE spending time with our friends. Thanks Nathan and Angela for inviting us along on your hike...we love hanging with you guys!

And of course...here are some picture from our hike!

Weekend in Caliente!

Last weekend (Oct. 17-20) we went down to Jeanette's home town of Caliente, NV. It was the high school's Homecoming week and her younger brother's senior year. We left Thursday late afternoon and stayed the night in Cedar City. Friday morning we went the rest of the way to Caliente. We stopped in Panaca for the Alumni Assembly, it was fun to be back in the atmosphere and see Jeff so amazed and shell-shocked and the smallness of the school/student body! After the assembly we headed to Caliente, grabbed some lunch, then went back to Panaca for the Homecoming parade. Once again back to Caliente for settling and rest. After chatting with the family and dressing in some warm clothes, we headed for Panaca for the game. It was a very good, yet unexciting game. Lincoln won 74-8!!! Neal even got to carry the ball for a play.

On Saturday Jeff and the boys headed out to help Jeanette's dad on his new shed he's putting up. Jeanette's dad had surgery on his shoulder just over a month ago and is still recovering. They spent the majority of the morning out there working away. Us girls just kinda hung out in the house :). That evening we went out to dinner at a local "fast food" place (by fast food we mean waiting about 5-10 minutes for a burger!). Then played some games back at the house.

Sunday was church, an amazingly yummy dinner, and a long drive home.
It was good to visit with family and see/meet some old friends and acquaintances from Jeanette's growing up years. It never ceases to amaze her how fast all the kids she used to babysit grow up!

Here are some pictures of the weekend!

Tagged!!!

Marie tagged me, so here are my eights!

8 Shows I Love To Watch(Don't really watch a ton of tv, mainly because we only have digital bunny ears...but I'll list some I would like watch :) )

*Dancing With the Stars (Go Warren Sapp!!!)-I do actually watch this one now!
*Eli Stone-new show, like it so far
*Any competition on the Food Network
*Larry King Live
*NCSI
*Amazing Race
*Extreme Makeover, Home Edition
*Everybody Loves Raymond reruns

8 Favorite Restaurants

*Olive Garden
*Texas Roadhouse
*Cracker Barrel (that's right, hangin with the old folks!)
*Cafe Rio
*Red Robin
*Su Casa
*The Other place
*Smiths' Chinese on 9th & 9th :)

8 Things That Happened Yesterday

*Tried to stay awake at work
*Started my seasonal hot chocolate drinking :)
*Started a new thing on Facebook
*Spent an hour and a half at Walmart waiting for our stupid tire to be fixed
*Went to Jeff's mom's house
*Watched DWTS:Results (sorry Toni Braxton, your gone) and Eli Stone
*Did some work on the computer
*Got in contact with an old friend!

8 Things I Look Forward To
*Jeff's b-day
*Thanksgiving
*1-year anniversary
*Holiday sales in Avon
*Christmas
*Going to sleep at night
*Getting out of debt COMPLETELY
*Paying off the brown car

8 Things I Love About Fall

*Pumpkin desserts
*Thanksgiving
*Color-changing leaves
*Cool weather
*Sweats and slippers
*HOT showers/baths
*Rain
*Changing our clocks BACK on hour!

8 Things On My Wish List
*Jeff getting a raise or new job
*Get pregnant around the first of the year
*Nintendo Wii :) (with Wii Fit and/or Wii DDR)
*Be able to be a stay-at-home mom
*Happy and Healthy Children
*Family members being strong in the gospel
*Own our own business
*Go to Poland with Jeff

8 People I Tag
Matti, Angela, Christy, Tasha, Lynndi, Casey, Katie, Beth

Girls' night out!!!

Last night was a very much needed girls' night out! I (Jeanette of course) was invited by my sister-in-law Matti to join in as a sub to her Bunko group. This group of 12 ladies gets together every second Wednesday night and enjoys food, snacks, LOTS of laughs, very exciting rounds of Bunko, and PRIZES!!! They rotate houses and who's in charge of what. I've been a sub for them once before and, as people's lives change, am only 2 spots away from being a permanent member! I had a blast, and even won two of the three big prize "contests" (most Bunko's and Bunko on the 'lucky' box) and even got second place in the overall score! I only got on prize (there is a prize for everyone) and it was still a blast!

Bunko is a game you play with dice...it's kinda of hard to explain, so if you wanna learn about it you can google it. But it's a lot of fun and sure to give you some good laughs, especially when you're in good company.

Thanks again Matti for inviting me to play! And like I said last night, I'll sub anytime!!!

A busy, busy month!

So last month was another crazy and busy month. I felt like I never had time to sit down and get blogs written and pictures posted, and when I did have time I didn't have the camera with me or it was dead!

Anyway, it was a good fun month. Hanging out with friends, visiting with BOTH side of the family, going on a few free but fun dates, and working, working, working.

I'm including just a few random pictures that I had taken through out the month. When we were up at a baby blessing for my (Jeanette's) side of the family we got a family picture taken, and you'll see that. There are now 24 members of the Kevin and Ann Smith clan...and 25 on the way. NO we are NOT announcing anything, my sister-in-law Matti is expecting a little boy in late December/early January (you'll see the soon-to-be big sister, Bella, with Jeff in some of the pictures, we get to babysit quite often and LOVE it :) ). Anyway, enjoy the pictures! Also scroll down for two newer blogs as well!

A weekend with the Littlewoods!

I know this weekend was mentioned before (Bunny Bashing and Baby Naming), but I thought I would post some pictures of the beautiful girl that is the newest edition to the Littlewood family (Jeff's mom's side).

Here are some pictures of Alayna Joy!

A weekend with the Smiths!

I know it's over a month late, but we finally got some pictures from Jeanette's newest nephew

Deker Comfort Picanco!

He is now almost 2 months old, but his baby blessing was August 31st over Labor Day weekend. We had a lot of fun visiting with Jeanette's family and sharing that blessed event with them. Here are some pictures of the weekend!

The Senate Bailout Bill

This is the Senate Bailout Bill, all 451 pages of it including the pork earmark at the bottom.

Ed Morrissey put this list together of earmarks.

New Tax earmarks in Bailout bill
- Film and Television Productions (Sec. 502)
- Wooden Arrows designed for use by children (Sec. 503)
- 6 page package of earmarks for litigants in the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident, Alaska (Sec. 504)

Tax earmark “extenders” in the bailout bill.
- Virgin Island and Puerto Rican Rum (Section 308)
- American Samoa (Sec. 309)
- Mine Rescue Teams (Sec. 310)
- Mine Safety Equipment (Sec. 311)
- Domestic Production Activities in Puerto Rico (Sec. 312)
- Indian Tribes (Sec. 314, 315)
- Railroads (Sec. 316)
- Auto Racing Tracks (317)
- District of Columbia (Sec. 322)
- Wool Research (Sec. 325)

Dave Ramsey's Bailout Plan

We listen to Dave Ramsey all the time and he mentioned that he has a plan for America during these rough economic times. His plan only costs $50b not the $700b that just passed in the Senate yesterday. Here is the link to his 3 step plan to stop the House from passing this tragedy of a bill. Below I have the plan that he has made.

Years of bad decisions and stupid mistakes have created an economic nightmare in this country, but $700 billion in new debt is not the answer. As a tax-paying American citizen, I will not support any congressperson who votes to implement such a policy. Instead, I submit the following three steps:

Common Sense Plan.

I. INSURANCE

A. Insure the subprime bonds/mortgages with an underlying FHA-type insurance. Government-insured and backed loans would have an instant market all over the world, creating immediate and needed liquidity.

B. In order for a company to accept the government-backed insurance, they must do two things:

1. Rewrite any mortgage that is more than three months delinquent to a 6% fixed-rate mortgage.
a. Roll all back payments with no late fees or legal costs into the balance. This brings homeowners current and allows them a chance to keep their homes.
b. Cancel all prepayment penalties to encourage refinancing or the sale of the property to pay off the bad loan. In the event of foreclosure or short sale, the borrower will not be held liable for any deficit balance. FHA does this now, and that encourages mortgage companies to go the extra mile while
working with the borrower—again limiting foreclosures and ruined lives.

2. Cancel ALL golden parachutes of EXISTING and FUTURE CEOs and executive team members as long as the company holds these government-insured bonds/mortgages. This keeps underperforming executives from being paid when they don’t do their jobs.

C. This backstop will cost less than $50 billion—a small fraction of the current proposal.




II. MARK TO MARKET

A. Remove mark to market accounting rules for two years on only subprime Tier III bonds/mortgages. This keeps companies from being forced to artificially mark down bonds/mortgages below the value of the underlying mortgages and real estate.

B. This move creates patience in the market and has an immediate stabilizing effect on failing and ailing banks—and it costs the taxpayer nothing.




III. CAPITAL GAINS TAX

A. Remove the capital gains tax completely. Investors will flood the real estate and stock market in search of tax-free profits, creating tremendous—and immediate—liquidity in the markets. Again, this costs the taxpayer nothing.

B. This move will be seen as a lightning rod politically because many will say it is helping the rich. The truth is the rich will benefit, but it will be their money that stimulates the economy. This will enable all Americans to have more stable jobs and retirement investments that go up instead of down. This is not a time for envy, and it’s not a time for politics. It’s time for all of us, as Americans, to
stand up, speak out, and fix this mess.

Happy Bunny (TM)

So this lady at work has this calendar with a bunch of bunnies on it...I know weird that just this last weekend I went bunny bashing. Anyhow this calendar has some pretty cool sayings. Like these:

• Whatever, you moron.
• Hating you makes me all warm inside.
• Nobody's perfect. I'm as close as it gets.
• Your ugliness cheers me up.
• I'm happy. Don't wreck it by talking.
• Don't blame me. I was born awesome.
• You go girl. And don't come back.
• Please stop existing, thanks!
• Hi, where is your off button?
• Time to go, gross people. You know who you are.
• A makeover? You need to be runover.
• I just realized. I don't care.
• I've been naughty. So what.

I looked it up online and here are some more sayings of this Happy Bunny (TM).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYN27cYoGmU

Bunny Bashing and Baby Naming

So this last weekend, we went to Boise, ID for some good times. Friday night I, Jeff, went to a small farm about 2 hours from Boise and helped a farmer keep down the pests that eat his crops. There was about 6 of us with guns and spotlights going around the farm perimeter and shooting rabbits and coyotes. This was heck-a fun and a do again sometime next year when the rabbits come back in full force.

While I was taming the wildlife population, Jeanette went into Boise area and colored her hair a medium brown. I like the new look. We went to Boise for my cousins baby blessing. Alayna Joy was born about 6 weeks ago to them and it was nice to be apart of the festivities and food.

An American Songbook

The musical at the Conference Center on 09/20/08 was really good. Jeanette picked up some tickets and took me out this last weekend. A night just for us - Yay! This was a free concert put on by OC Tanner, MoTab, Utah Symphony with a broadway singer and some opera singer. It was really, really good and coming from me that means alot. I like the the former broadway singer the best - his songs were sung very well. Overall, free events at Temple Square usually don't let me down and this was the same.

Something fun!

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php).
d. copy the mosaic image (right click, save image as) to your computer.



The Questions:
What is your first name: Jeanette
What is your favorite food: Mexican
What high school did you go to: Lincoln County
What is your favorite color: Orange
Who is your celebrity crush: Hayden Christiansen
Favorite drink: Milk
Dream Vacation: Europe
Favorite Dessert: cheesecake
What you want to be when you grow up: a Mom
What do you love most in life: my family
One word to describe you: Nurturer
Your flickr name: none

And we're back in action!

We know, we know...we've been MIA for awhile, but that's all because we didn't have our computer up and we didn't have the Internet for awhile! But we're back up and running and back into the blogging world once again!

It's been a long couple of months trying to get everything done with the house, but we are finally there!!! We are moved in, experience first-home-owners anxieties and just getting used to the fact that we are home owners now!

No we're not completely unpacked and settled, but we are slowly but surely getting there. After finishing up the house and moving in our motivation has slowed down and dwindled just a bit, but we still get a few things done here and there.

Anyway, there are a few different posts all with pictures from different events that took place throughout the past couple of months, so enjoy those and let us know what you think by leaving some comments!

Thanks again to all those who came and helped us out in all the many different ways that you did!

The ones you've all been waiting for!

Well, as you all know we have been moved into our house for almost three weeks now. But haven't had the Internet set up until now. So, as I have gotten many requests (if not demands :) )to post pictures of our floors...Here they are!

Jeff's cousins KC and McKay both do hardwood flooring, so they were kind enough to come down and install a hardwood floor for us. We did hardwood on the entire first level, except in the laundry area we did tile. Then we also got brand new carpet for upstairs and tile in the main bathroom upstairs as well. Everything turned out great and looks amazing.

The weekend that KC and McKay came down actually turned into a family get together, resulting in cousins from Richfield coming up as well. It was a fun, hot weekend.

Thank you so much KC and McKay for all your help, the floor is absolutely beautiful!


Here are the MUCH requested pictures!

The Aquarium

Through the midst of all of the working (both at our jobs and on the house) Jeff and I tried to take a few days off to let our bodies have a rest. On one of these particular nights I decided to surprise Jeff and take him to the local aquarium. It was nothing major, just a small little aquarium that had a lot of fish native to Utah, but also a few other more "exotic" fish. We even were able to touch some sting rays and some other more odd sea animals. It was a lot of fun. After we got done there we also went to dinner at a yummy restaurant and just enjoyed the night out!

Littlewood Family Reunion

In the mix of everything, we took about 5 days off and went up to Bear Lake on the border of Utah and Idaho for the Littlewood Family Reunion. The Littlewood's are Jeff's mom's side of the family.

Between four-wheeling, food, the beach, food, swimming, food, horse shoes, food, four-wheeling, and food we had a great time. Jeff and I were in charge of it this year, and with the help of KC and Val we got all the food and stuff up there. It was a great time. So nice to just kick back and relax and have no expectations. And the weather was great! Not too hot, not to cool...just right! Except the day we were at the beach we had some of those deceptive clouds and a few people turned into lobsters. It was still a great time had by all!

Kent's blessing

Through all of our craziness in getting things done and family get togethers, we had the opportunity to drive up to Malad, ID and attend the blessing of Kent Martin Petersen, Jeanette's cousin's son. It was so amazing to feel of the spirit in the meeting and knowing that the Lord was there blessing the beautiful baby boy...oh sorry HANDSOME baby boy.

We continue to spend time with them regularly and Jeff loves holding and playing with Kent any chance he has. We were just over their last night and he's definitely getting bigger and chunkier and gaining his personality. His new trick -- talking! It was so cute to hear him just talk and coo away last night!

Thanks Ty and Marianne for all you've done for us and helped us with, and letting us play with Kent!

Here are a few pictures-

Just some random events!

Here are some pictures of just some random stuff that I got pictures of. There's the day we moved out the the apartment (what a glorious day that was), the day we went to Lagoon for our 6-month anniversary (thanks to KSL.com I found some really cheap tickets!!), and just some other random days that something funny was going on or I just got camera happy :)

Enjoy!

WE ARE MOVED IN!!!

Hey guys, this last weekend we moved into our townhome :). We have boxes lined up everywhere with only the bed and a few clothes in place. We need to unpack and get a little organized. It is a great feeling to be a homeowner and have a place to call home. We'll get pics of it online as soon as possible.

Share the memories!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember! If we're only blogging friends, write about a post that is most memorable.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll be sure to write one about you... either on your blog, in my comment box, or I will email you back!

"Breaking Dawn" Discovery!!!

Okay all you Twilight addicts, just like me :), I'm sure we're all geared up and ANXIOUSLY awaiting the release of "Breaking Dawn". Well I have made a discovery that is making the release date more and more exciting. On Stephanie Meyers' website (yes I'm THAT big of a fan) they have been posting daily quotes from the book of "Breaking Dawn". They're usually only little one liners, but still they're making me that much more curious and excited for the book to come! So in my excitement I'm sharing this site with you so that you can join in the excitement with me:

"Breaking Dawn" Quote of the Day

Those are the ones so far...but, like I said, they have a new one EVERY day! There's also a ton of fun thing on her site so go exploring. You can even read the first FULL chapter of "Midnight Sun" (which is Twilight from Edwards perspective...it's extremely captivating!)

Any, I just wanted to share that because I know so many of you are just DIEING (as am I) for "Breaking Dawn" to come out! Only 15 days to go...and counting! August 2nd here we come!

Enjoy!

Time Flies

It has been awhile since we have posted anything. Life is going at super speed right now. We are almost done with the painting - just a few touch ups here and there and we'll be done :). We are going to be working on the floors next week.

Last week, we spent 4 days up in Bear Lake at the KOA for the Littlewood Family Reunion. This is Jeff's mother's side of the family. There isn't a lot of us - just 21 people including kids. We were in charge of it this year and it turned out really well. Unfortunately, Jeanette hurt herself while we were on one of the 4 wheelers. She has a minor sprain on her left wrist and her hand is swelling. We have been working on it to make it better, but it still needs some more time to heal. KOA has many amenities to accommodate the huge range of ages and people. They have a pool, jumping pillow, basketball courts, horse shoes and close access to ATV trails.

For the 4th we worked on the house for most of the weekend and then party hopped in the night to see our friends and family. Then we went to the Murray City Park for the fireworks show. This was really good this year. The fireworks are getting better every year. I really like the 3 levels of fireworks. They added these 50-100 foot fireworks that took up the lulls of time usually. So there was about 25 minutes of straight fireworks. I kinda wish the finale was a little more, but it was free and fun.

We will post some pictures later on when we get to it *cross fingers*.

Texture and Painting...oh so fun!

Well we have finished our second week of working on the town home and we are right on schedule! It was a long busy week spending every night at the town home doing whatever task needed to be done that night. Jeff's mom and sister helped us out a lot. We couldn't be more grateful for their help and support.

Jeanette's parents came up on Friday and helped us that night to do the priming and final preparations for the actual painting. The worst was the oil based primer in the staircase to cover the wood paneling. I think we were all a little tipsy after smelling those fumes, especially Jeff who was the one doing the top of the staircase on the ladder! Saturday morning we started bright and early (for us anyway...8 am) and painted the day away. We took a short break from 11:30 till about 1:30 for Bella's, our now 2-year-old niece's, birthday party. We got the living room and hallway completely done. The two bedrooms just need a second coat, and we need to finish painting the kitchen and bathrooms.

We're feeling great about how everything is turning out and we get more and more excited every time we finish a new main task.

This week we plan to finish painting at least the kitchen and maybe, hopefully, the bathrooms. Also pack and be moved out of the apartment by Saturday afternoon! We have high hopes of getting it all done in good time!

Here are some pictures from this last week...I kept forgetting my camera so there's not as many as I would like, but you'll get the general idea! Enjoy!

My new "job"

Hey everyone, well a majority of you already know, but I have signed on to be an Avon Representative! I am all signed up and ready to go. So you you are ever interested in purchasing something let me know. For those that know me, know that Avon has made me LOVE to wear makeup...that's how wonderful I think it is. But it's not just make up, Avon has great skin care, hair care, clothes, and accessories. I even have my own Avon Website! You can order products straight from the site and choose to either have them sent to me or sent you. If you live out of town and prefer to still get the items through me (I give discounts :) )you can just click direct order and it'll send the order to me so I can order it for you and then deliver it myself!

I have promised myself that I will NOT become one of those annoying sales people that constantly bug people. If you want something great, if not great! If you have questions I'm here and more than willing to help out. Avon also has a great return policy so if you're nervous about trying something, don't be! Try it and if you don't like it send it back for a full refund!

Official home owners...FINALLY!!!

Well as you read above...it's official, we are HOME OWNERS!!!

The week went rather well and a lot smoother than I thought. We signed for the house on Tuesday, I began the summer conference for work at 6:30 Wednesday and ended on Thursday at about 5. We got the keys on Thursday and were busy right away. I took some before pictures, but for sake of time have just added them in with pictures of the first project.

Project #1: Take down popcorn ceiling.
It actually wasn't nearly as difficult as we thought it was going to be. After a few sprays with water, soaking for about 10 minutes then taking the scrappers to the ceiling and it came down rather easy-cheesy!!! :)
Thanks to all our friends that helped us out...it was so much fun and a lot easier having the people there to help! I know we'll get the chance to return the favor sometime!
Here are some pictures of the great event!

Busy, busy times

This month is just going to be one heck of a month. We started out last week with kind of a rough week...very stress and anxiety induced! I (Jeanette) have been busy at work with a huge summer conference for my main supervisor. I even came in late one night just finish making some copies and stuff...ya it's that crazy! Jeff has also had quite the work load on him...one of team members switched positions and now Jeff had been having a lot of the other guys work load dumped on him...I think he kinda enjoys it though, he was always complaining about how boring and slow work always was.

We did have some really good times though. Monday we went and played pool with some friends...the same place we went the night that we met. Thursday we went to the temple with Nathan & Angela and Dustin & Christy. I love the temple so much, it's so peaceful and serene. It was definitely MUCH needed! Saturday Jeff took me to go see the play "Wizard of Odd" and the Desert Start Theater...it's a theater known for taking the most normal of plays and basically doing spoofs of them. They can be very funny and just nice to go and enjoy the nice relaxing environment...you can even order food and drinks (you sit at little tables). We also went to help Dustin and Christy out for a little bit, then went to a bbq with them to a friend of theirs...which ended in us gaining a few new friends!!! Which I always love :) The Sunday we enjoy dinner at Jeff's mom's house and enjoyed the evening over there.

Now for this week...wow! It's going to be interesting to see how it all plays out. We're closing on our town home tomorrow (Tuesday) and as soon as we get the keys the work will begin. Our first task - the ceiling. It currently is a popcorn ceiling (a.k.a. cottage cheese ceiling), so we're scraping that down (if anyone wants to help let us know...we'll take ALL we can get :) ), then we borrowed a texture thingy from our cousins in Idaho, so we'll texture the ceiling and the walls and then paint. We are also replacing the floors...so all of this is gonna take the course of the month. Luckily we're still able to stay in the apt until June 30th so we won't be living in all the fumes and dust!!!

Anyway...just had to let all of that out! We will post pictures of our town home as soon as we can. We'll also do some before and after pictures!

Boise, ID

Over Memorial Weekend Jeff and I went up to Caldwell, ID (just outside of Boise) and stayed with our cousins KC and Val. Our other cousins, McKay and Lyndie, joined us as well. We ha da blast up there and can't wait to go up there again!

Saturday morning the men and women split and did separate things. The guys took the 4-wheelers out and us girls went shopping...what else would we do?! :) That night we went to the horse races down in Boise. That was the first time for me (Jeanette) and I thought it was a blast! We have added a slide show of some of the pictures.

Sunday we did the usual and then had a big family dinner with more family that live up in that area. We even had S'mores for dessert!!!

Monday we hung out for a bit, packed up, made a few stops, and headed on home. One stop we made was at my (Jeanette's) sister's home in Boise. it was great to see and visit with them for a little while as well!

Thanks all you guys for a great weekend, can't wait to see you all again!

My (Jeanette's) horse won!

And they're off...


While at the races, on each individual race, since we were able to see them being saddled up, we would each choose which horse we thought would win. In this race that I just happened to be recording, my horse won!!! As you can hear in the video below...me cheering number 7 along as I realized, while I was recording, that it was winning!!!

Both video's were are form the same race. Oh and don't mind the big horse butt in the way...couldn't very easily tell him to move it! :)

My New "High"

Okay so I have officially become a COUPON CLIPPER!!!

I've always been one to look for sales and bargains, but have never really been big on coupons. I just always figured they were such a huge hassle and it was just more clutter to add to my purse. Well I am happy to say that I am officially a changed woman! Jeff and I went to Costco last night and there was only one...yes count it ONE item that we did not have a coupon for. It was so fun to go around and find things and then realize how much better the price was with the coupon! It was a rush...in the end we saved $53. We had coupons for a lot of cleaning supplies and things that will be VERY helpful when we get working on the Town home. So it's now become a drive of mine to see what kind of deals I can get with coupons...instead of just searching through racks and shelves to find the good deals, sometimes they're right there in the mail/newspaper!

As a couple of side notes, we would like welcome Kent Martin Petersen into the world. He is the brand new son of my cousin Tyler Petersen and his wife Marianne Petersen. Jeff and I had the opportunity to go see them for a few minutes and Kent is just as cute as can be! All three are doing great and are already home.

As the other side note, we have an official close date on our town home. We will be closing on June 10, receiving the keys by the 13th and will start the overhaul/personalization process on the 14th. We are so excited for this HUGE step in our lives, a little intimidated, but excited!

Fun with the Haley's!

On our way home from St. George we made a pit stop at my (Jeanette's) sisters' house in Cedar City. I used to live in Cedar and have been close to the three older kids (Veronica, Tyler, and Samantha) their entire lives, it's been hard for me to be away from them. I always loved being so close, they could ALWAYS bring a smile to my face no matter how horrible my day could've been/felt. And the twins have just added to that joy. Marie and Joe, along with ALL of my siblings, have been such great examples to me of being a parent and raising children. Thanks for letting us stay for a night and part of a morning, it was a blast! (Jeff especially enjoyed the two-year-old twins (Brenna and Braelynn, buddying up to him!)

St. George

This weekend we had the opportunity to go down to St. George with Jeff's Grandma Ivy. Her sister was going through temple and being sealed to her husband who passed away about a year and a half ago. It was a wonderful experience and we had a lot of fun visited with some of Jeff's family. After the temple we went to good ol' Up-Chuck'O'Rama!! :) Which actually turned out to be really good. I, of course, ran into some people I've known pretty much my whole life from Lincoln County, which is almost a give-in, but it was great.

I actually remember my camera this time, so of course I took some shots!

Yard Work...even though we don't have a yard yet!

A few weekends ago ( I know, I know-we've been busy) we went over to Jeff's mom's house to help her out with some yard work. Luckily I was the one with the camera so all pictures are of Jeff...with the exception of a few of his sister and her boyfriend!

Jeff worked on pruning a tree that is actually one he planted when he was younger, and also helped in replacing some sprinkler heads. I rolled up my pants and did some car washing! We are so ready for summer to be here so we can spend more days like that out doors! Even more so we can't wait to have our own house so we can start doing all that to our own home!!! But we'll continue to help Mom and get all the practice in that we can :)!

C.E.R.T.-Community Emergency Response Team

This past week I finished up my last CERT class. I volunteered to become a member of the CERT team at work, but this will also be helpful in my home and community.

In this program you learn how to help in disaster relief and a trained community member. We aren't trained in full CPR, AED, or First Aid, but we are taught basics of caring for people and even rescuing people after a disaster. The classes were fascinating and I loved learning what I did. I honestly hope that nothing major ever happens in the area but it is nice to know the basics of what I can do to help out when/if something does occur.

Personally I am CPR and First Aid certified...I have been pretty since I was old enough to be. But ever since I can remember my mom has been a volunteer EMT back home and so I've known the skills for a LONG time!!! Thank you mom for teaching me all the wonderful things that you have, with those skills I feel even more prepared just to be a better wife (Jeff is sometimes accident prone!), mother, and now a community member!

Learn more about C.E.R.T.

SHMILY~J

SHMILY

Written by Laura Jeanne Allen

My Grandfather and Grandmother were married for over half a century, and played their own special game from the time they had met each other. The goal of their game was to write the word "shmily"in a surprise place for the other to find. They took turns leaving "shmily" around the house, and as soon as one of them discovered it, it was their turn to hide it once more.

They dragged "shmily" with their fingers through the sugar and flour containers to await whoever was preparing the next meal. They smeared it in the dew on the windows overlooking the patio where they always had warm, homemade pudding with blue food coloring. "Shmily" was written in the steam left on the mirror after a hot shower, where it would reappear bath after bath. At one point, my Grandmother even unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper to leave"shmily" on the very last sheet.

There was no end to the places "shmily" would pop up. Little notes with "shmily" scribbled hurriedlywere found on dashboards and car seats, or taped to steering wheels. The notes were stuffed inside shoes and left under pillows. "Shmily" was written in the dust upon the manteland traced in the ashes of the fireplace. This mysterious word was as much a part of theirhouse as the furniture.

It took me a long time before I was able to fully appreciate my grandparents' game. Skepticism had kept some of them from believing in true love-one that is pure and enduring. However, I never doubted my grandparents' relationship. They had love down pat. It was more than their flirtatiouslittle games; it was a way of life. Their relationship was based on a devotion and passionate affectionwhich not everyone is lucky to experience.

Grandma and Grandpa held hands every chance they could. They stole kisses as they bumped into each other in their tiny kitchen. They finished each other's sentences and shared the daily crossword puzzle and word jumble.

My Grandmother whispered to one of her friends about how cute my Grandfather was, how handsome and old he had grown to be. She claimed that she really knew "how to pick 'em." Before every meal they bowed their heads and gave thanks, marveling at their blessings:a wonderful family, good fortune, and each other.

But there was a dark cloud in the couples' life: my Grandmother had breast cancer. The disease had first appeared ten years earlier. As always, my Grandfather was with her every step of the way. He comforted her in their yellow room, painted that way so that she could always be surrounded by sunshine, even when she was too sick to go outside.

Now the cancer was again attacking her body. With the help of a cane and my Grandfather's steady hand, they went to church every morning. But my Grandmother grew steadily weaker until, finally,she could not leave the house anymore. For a while, my Grandfather would go to church alone, praying to God to watch over my Grandmother.

Then one day, what everyone dreaded finally happened. My Grandmother was gone.
"Shmily." It was scrawled in yellow on the pink ribbons of my Grandmother's funeral bouquet. As the crowd thinned and the last mourners turned to leave, my aunts, uncles, cousins and other family members came forward and gathered around Grandma one last time.
My Grandfather stepped up to my Grandmother's casket and, taking a shaky breath, he began to sing to her.

Through his tears and grief, the song came, a deep and throaty lullaby.
Shaking with my own sorrow, I will never forget that moment. I knew that, although I couldn't begin to fathom the depth of their love, I had been privileged to witness its unmatched beauty.

S-h-m-i-l-y: See How Much I Love You.

New experiences...

In my new position at work I've already had a few new experiences that I never thought I'd really care to have, but turned out to be really amazing and informative.
One of my supervisors (my main one actually) is the Health Science and Technology specialist in the state of Utah's education. Each year they have a huge event for high school students where they watch a video of a surgical procedure and can ask questions to a doctor who is explaining the procedure. In the past two years they did open-heart surgery, well this year they did maternal and infant. The whole process consists of pre-visits to each of the separate school in which nurses go in and talk about everything, they even take real placenta's in for the students to see and touch (yes I got to as well).

This past Wednesday (April 30th) was the main event. I stayed here at the office (well down in the studio) helping with the doctors that came for the broadcast. The event was broad-casted to 6-8 different locations. The video was of a natural (vaginal) birth and a c-section. Now for those that know me, you know that I am NOT into this kind of stuff...it's not any interest of mine to go into any field anywhere close to dealing with that stuff. But I was curious about the watching the video and listening to the doctor explain the procedure. So I did watch it...it was fascinating and interesting and I definitely learned a lot. My personal goal was for the video to scary me out of having kids for awhile :)...unfortunately the only thing it did was make me hope I never have to have a c-section! Anyway, Deseret News was there (among others) to report on the event so I'm attaching the article.

Needless to say it was definitely a new experience for me, but I did enjoy it, for the most part!

The Article

Thalea Longhurst (mentioned in the article) is my supervisor.

A blessed event

So the reason I could only stay at the girls' weekend with my sister was two of our very dear friends got married on Saturday, April 26, 2008.

Dustin Ericksen and Christy Steele were sealed for time and all eternity in the Mt. Timpanogas temple in American Fork, UT. The day started VERY early (especially for me, since I didn't get home until 1:00 am) with getting to the temple at 7:30 am...may I mention it takes a good 35-45 minutes to get down there from where we live. The sealing ceremony started at 8 and was over before it seemed possible. The ceremony was beautiful and very special. I personally loved it because it's the first one we've been able to witness since Jeff and I got married.

After a quick (well quick on our part) picture-taking session Jeff and I headed to IHOP with some new found friends Nathan and Angela, because we were all starving! After eating and chatting Jeff and I headed to Bed Bath & Beyond to grab one last gift for the newly married couple. With my being VERY tired due to a severe lack of sleep, we headed back to the church where the luncheon was to be held and I took a quick nap while Jeff read. The luncheon started around 1 pm. It was a good lunch and fun to once again visit with new (and old, on Jeff's part) friends.

Once the luncheon was over we had another few hours to kill before the reception was to start. We debated driving back home, but decided against it...gas is just WAY too much! So we went to Walmart to grab a few groceries, then once again went back to the church parking lot and slept :).

The reception started at 5:30 and it was your typical reception, but a lot of fun towards the end when the fun stuff started. Jeff was able to catch up with some old friends that he hasn't seen in awhile. For the first time ever for either of us, we did NOT have to participate in the "single" events (bouquet and garter tosses). The entire day was overall beautiful and very special and fun to share with the happy couple. The reception ended around 8 pm and Jeff and I headed home.

CONGRATS DUSTIN AND CHRISTY ERICKSEN!!!