A Decade of Memories

This new year being 2010 and all got me thinking about the last decade of my life, all that has happened, and the memories. These are just a few of the things that stood out the most to me:

2000

My Junior year of High School. I was involved in SO MANY THINGS that I got TMJ from all the stress and had to make some changes like playing Tennis instead of Volleyball (one of the hardest yet wisest decisions I made in my High School years).

2001
My senior year of High School. I was still Life guarding every Summer which I did for 6 Summers and part of my Junior year in college. I must say I did not love the life guarding part but I LOVED teaching swim lessons.

2002
Graduated High School, went on the Back East trip for the second time and started my College Years. :)

2003
Just finished my first year at collage, but had finally decided I wanted to get my degree in Elementary Education.

2004
I Met Tim in October. We knew we were getting married in November. Then we were engaged in December.

2005
Married the man of my dreams :) Then, I broke my foot while doing laundry (Some guys tease their wives about burning water their first year of marriage. Not me (even though my first roast I made for him had freezer burn pretty bad and it was disgusting) I top it off with breaking my foot doing the most boring thing. Gotta love that first year. :)

2006


I graduated from SUU and taught Kindergarten for a year.
(I only took about 10 pictures in 2006, the one of my mom was while she was making Thanksgiving dinner, and it is one of my favorites of her. She is always making delicious food and serving everyone all the time. She is always so happy and sweet to everyone and I think this pictures shows that a little. The other is right before Tim's Grandpa Don passed away. A pretty good group shot.

2007
Emery joined our family.

2008

We made friends that changed our lives (a few of those friends not pictured)! Wonderful memories!

2009
(A few more memories sense it was just last year)
Accepted to U of U Pharmacy School
Kaven Born

Tim graduated from SUU
Lived in Delta for part of the Summer
Moved to Salt Lake City
Completed first semester of Pharmacy School

You Know it's a Christmas Vacation when....

you have enough time on your hands to make homemade goodies AND boxes for your friends



reunions with cousins are sweet yet sometimes short lasting (little quarrels not pictured for discretion) :).


sled rides are plentiful, even on days when there is no snow,



you get the same gifts from people to prevent those little quarrels never pictured :),



the grandkids swarm to Grandma and Grandpa,



you have as much fun playing in boxes as you do with your new toys,



the gifts given and recieved are magical,


trucks are used for more than just driving from "A" to "B".

Gingerbread Houses

This is a very fond tradition in our household. Five years ago we were making gingerbread houses in Logandale with my side of the family when Tim proposed to me! Ever since then, we have made it a tradition to make gingerbread houses. I guess it was our first tradition we ever started together. This year was no exception. It gets all the more fun with more additions to the family (this year being Kaven). And as you can see he was not left out. This is his first candy cane. We gave it to him, and awhile later we looked over and this is what we saw. We couldn't help but laugh for the next few minutes. Kids make things so fun! Emery made a snowman out of marshmallows (but I didn't get a picture fast enough because she ate it too quickly after. Then Tim and I made our own houses. I thought I would try a pretzel cabin this year with a train! Always fun to try something new. Merry Christmas!

Random December Happenings

This month of December has been a very simple but very memorable one. We are tighter that we have ever been (being in Pharmacy School and all) but the happiest we have ever been. We have not always been great at doing Family Home Evening but made a goal to start doing it EVERY week. We have done really well and it seems to be making an even greater difference in our home. Emery never seizes to amaze me with the things she knows or says. Last Monday we talked about how things like Christmas tree's, candy canes, stars ect. could remind us of the real meaning of Christmas. Tim had mentioned, earlier in the day, what Christmas lights could help us think of. I didn't even think Emery heard him or noticed because she was just running around. In our Family Home Evening I said, "Can you tell us what Christmas lights can remind us of Tim?" He said, "What do you think Emery?" To our delight she said, "The light of Jesus Christ." Both of our jaws dropped!!! It is amazing how well kids really do listen. It also reminded me how close these little ones are to heaven, and how precious they are. Kaven has been changing by leaps and bounds this month as well. We have found that he absolutely LOVES eating finger foods or whatever we are eating. This leads to a lot of time enjoying himself in the high chair and a HUGE mess. Well worth it though. He has also been figuring out how to move himself around. He is just starting to crawl (but can't get very far yet). He also is pulling himself up onto anything he can reach or get to. He also just learned a cute new trick.
It is kind of hard to tell what he is doing but you ask him to show you his muscles and he tightens up his body and grunts a little. It is pretty cute. He is such a happy personable baby that I can hardly believe it. Tim just finished his last final yesterday, boy has he been busy. Our first semester of Pharmacy school is completed, HOORAY!!! It was by far the fastest semester we have ever experienced. Must be going well them. :) He did great and we are looking forward to his next classes. He has learned SO MUCH all ready. We hope you are all having a great Holiday season! Merry Christmas!

Family Christmas Party (Mom's Side)

I love family get togethers! I especially love getting cute pictures like this. It is of my mom and her sister Paula. Aren't they so cute? It has been so nice living in Salt Lake, seeing as my Mom grew up in Provo Utah and my Dad in Orem Utah. So that means a lot of my extended family is pretty close near by us now! I feel that my parents did a great job getting us to family functions when we were kids but it was a little difficult because of the LONG drive. I grew up in Southern California and mostly Southern Nevada. Because of this we did not get to see my cousins as much as I would have liked. Now that we are closer I feel like I am getting to know some of my extended family a little bit better. We have been able to attend some Family Home Evenings, missionary "homecomings" and parties! It has been great!
So this is just one of the few things we have done with my mom's side of the family.
We had a great time at the family party: great food, great company, fun relay races, and it was the best having my mom and sister come up for the party and spend the night at our house.

Ice Skating

We had a VERY special treat last weekend. We were able to go ice skating for our ward party and to top it off my Mom and little sister came for a visit! Makes for the perfect weekend! I didn't think Emery was going to be able to skate because she is so small but when we went up to the desk they handed us these adorable skates just Emery's size! Did she ever LOVE them. When Tim took her out onto the ice the first time she bent over and hardly touched the ice as Tim held most of her weight. She didn't know otherwise though and said delighted, "Dad, I'M SKATING!!" Since my mom and sister were here, they went with us and boy was that ever nice. Tim and I were able to skate alone while they watched our wee ones! THANKS SO MUCH MOM!!! That is probably the closest we have come to a date in a long time. We sure had a blast! Emery and Kaven were able to sit on Santa's lap again and once again it was a delight for both of them. I don't know where they got their bravery because I was always very scared to sit on his lap when I was a kid! I just love this Holiday season! Merry Christmas! I

New Tradition??

Right after the light parade we went to the park to see the lights. They were all so pretty and Emery was in awe of them! We walked through the whole park then stopped at the nativity as we were leaving. It was another great chance to talk to Emery about baby Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas. Sometimes I think that gets put on the back burner a little too much this time of year. So I loved that it was the last thing we saw at the end of a day full of Santa and Christmas trees. I think I might want to add that as a new tradition when we are in Delta.
Merry Christmas!!!!