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!