Family Reunion!!!

This past weekend we went up to Idaho for our Family Reunion. We left Thursday the 15th around 11 (my nose/head was hurting so I slept in a little and was moving a little slow). There was a couple places of construction so that took a little longer as well, but we got there by 4 p.m. When we got up there, everyone was just getting back from the Lake, so it was pretty good timing. Pauline/Chris got up there the night before, and Barbara's family came down, along w/ Daron's. We then visited, had dinner (Rose came by then also), set up the volleyball net, and the guys went shooting and bunny blasting.


Just having fun! (Dakota, Summer, Mikey, Riley, Colby, Charlotte, and Ava)


Pauline and Charlotte riding the horse

In order to fit all of us and our "families" at the house, we were all over the place. Pauline's family slept out in the camper, Barb's family in a tent in the backyard, Steve and I were out in a tent by them, Rose and Anna's families were inside, and Dexter's family went over to stay at Daron's place. It worked out well though and we all had some "space" and a place to sleep.


The tents we slept in, and the camper in the background


Dexter, Steve, and Wade playing horseshoes


Haley leading Mikey and Riley on the horses (Dakota helping too)


On Friday we went to the Lake after breakfast. We swam at Black Sands while dad took people on the boat for rides and to go tubing. We all had a great time, though it was REALLY hot!!! It got up to 104 degrees! We had lunch there at Black Sands, then headed back (the heat drained us). We then had a scavenger hunt for the kids around the house. I helped Barbara and Pauline put it together and get it set up; it was a lot of fun! The guys went clay pigeon shooting, I went w/ them (and Michelle and Kristi). I shot Steve's 4-10 gun and got one actually, then just watched. We also played games (Scum, Apples to Apples, Phase 10, etc


Steve helping to put the boat in


Steve, Summer and Haley swimming


The boat running again


Pauline and Char enjoying the sun


Steve, Jared and Chris after a swim race


The kids working on the scavenger hunt


Clay Pigeon shooting, Steve and Daron


Saturday morning we went over to Grandma's. While the guys (cousins too) were helping to cut and stack firewood, I went and mowed the lawn for her. She has a cute little John Deer riding lawn mower that I got to use. It was really fun once I got the hang of it, and I surprisingly do love mowing lawns!


The cool lawn mower I got to use


After the "service" we cleaned up and went over to the church for lunch. It was Grandma's 80th Birthday so a lot of the cousins/aunts/uncles came to celebrate. We each made a scrapbook page or two to put into a book we were compiling of our memories of her; she seemed to really enjoy the book too. We had lunch, played games, some went swimming (Steve and I worked on homework), then we came back for dinner. We had a hot dog roast out at the pavilion by the church. It was a great idea and it was fun, just a little too HOT to be by the fire. After that we went home and played games, watched a movie, and the guys went fishing for about an hour. They had a great time and caught quite a lot of fish too!


All of us (just our side of the family not any cousins) and Grandma at her 80th Birthday Party


We were the only ones w/out kids, so Daron stepped in to help :)


S'mores!!!


Steve, Kristi and Chris roasting their hot dogs



Ya it was HOT!!!


The fish the guys caught


Besides the reunion update, we also got new tires for my Corolla. With the new tires we all got free oil changes for a year (4 times basically)! We also went to the Doctor to follow up on my surgery. He said things are looking good but to still take it easy in some aspects, including not taking Ibuprofen for another week or so. We'll go see him the first week of August too just to check up on it again. We also went and had dinner w/ Steve and Abby Bonney last week. They're expecting their first kid, due in January.

Work is going good. I'm applying for a new position; should find out w/in a week or so if I got it. My class is going pretty well, we'll start week 4 next week, so midterms. We also went and did initiatories on Tuesday, then hurried back and did homework the rest of the night. Steve is just about done w/ his Summer Semester. He has one final next week then the others the first week of August. He'll have a 2 week break, then will start the Fall Semester. I think he's getting pretty excited about getting done!

Good Times.....

Well I started my new class on Wednesday, Managerial Finance. It's going to be another hard class, but the teacher seems like he'll be really good. Steve is working hard at his classes as well. He should be finishing up his summer classes in August. Still no word on his intern.

Thursday after work, I was determined to get our 2nd bedroom back. For the last couple months its been full of Steve's boxes/stuff that we took out of his parents house to help them "declutter." Since we don't have much storage space, I wasn't sure what to do. I just received my gift-card from our last campaign, so we went and bought shelves at Home Depot. We got busy w/ homework, so we didn't put them up, so the next day I was thinking...... I'd rather have that $80 for something else. So I told Steve to wait til I got home before he put them up. For the next 2 hours, I then reorganized what we had in the closet, consolidated boxes, and rearranged our stuff and was able to fit all of his stuff plus what we had before!!! We even had more room than before surprisingly! Steve went to help take down all the sandbags, so when he got home, I had it all put away and cleaned up! The room was finally a room again! I was REALLY excited, if you couldn't tell ;)


Yeah more room in the closet now, and the bedroom is a bedroom again! Steve's stuff is mainly what are in the green boxes on the sides.

Friday we invited 2 couples over to make pizza and play games. When I got home from work, I made the pizza dough, and Steve helped me cook the bacon and sausage. A couple that lives on the 3rd floor above us is moving at the end of the month, so we wanted to do something before they left. I put the pizza stones in so they'd be ready, and started cooking the dough (10 minutes w/out toppings) before they all got there. Then when they showed up we added the toppings and cooked for another 15 minutes. We ended up making 2 pepperoni, sausage, bacon, red peppers and 1 BBQ one. Steve actually BBQ'd the chicken to cook it and give an extra BBQ flavor. This was our first time making a BBQ one; it actually tasted REALLY good. I forgot to take a pic though, since it got eaten pretty quickly :)

It looked something like this but better :)

Saturday, we went over and cleaned the church, then Steve went to help clean up at his Grandmas' and I stayed to clean our place and do laundry. I also went to Smith's to get some groceries. When Steve got back we went to the temple and did family names for initiatories. We then hurried back, changed, put our fruit bowl together, and went over to LuDean's for dinner. She had a get together for her birthday and instead of doing it in December when its cold, we had a Luau when its warm. There was a pretty good turnout and the weather was beautiful! We stayed after to help clean up.

On Sunday Steve had his early morning meeting at 7:30, then church started at 9 a.m. We were both pretty tired after church, so we had a nice LONG nap afterwards. We then went back over to LuDean's to help eat some of the leftovers. Stacie/Phill/London, and Dave/Joann came over to help too. It was nice to just visit. We then went home and went over to our neighbors to play games w/ some other couples from the branch. We played scum; it was a lot of fun!!!

Hope all is well. We're excited to go up to Idaho this weekend!!!!

4th of July Weekend Events.......

So Wednesday, June 30th I went in for surgery. Steve drove me to the Surgical Center downtown next to the LDS Hospital where we checked in a little before 9 am. After filling out some health background, they took us back where I dressed down and got ready. A nurse checked my vitals, and realizing after taking my blood that I didn't do too well, called the anesthesiologist to let him know that I was a "sensitive" one. The anesthesiologist was awesome! Though I was really nervous about the whole thing, especially the needles part, he was really patient w/ me and gave me an option. So....instead of getting the IV first, he let me inhale the gas to knock me out first, then once I was out, he did what was needed. He said they usually just do this for kids, but I was very thankful he made an exception for me.

When I came to, I could hear Steve's voice, which made me cry. My throat was really sore and the back of my head, not to mention my nose. It took me a while to actually open my eyes. In the mean time to try and wake me, the nurse had Steve feed me a Popsicle. Apparently the drugs worked really well on me. The anesthesiologist told Steve he didn't use all the drugs to knock me out, and it took me twice as long to wake up as everyone else (most were out in 45 minutes whereas it took me 1 1/2). Once I was awake, they put me in a wheel chair and took me out to the car, then once I was home, Steve put me straight to bed.


Just out from surgery; I didn't feel very good let me tell you... ;)


I was pretty sore and groggy the first couple days, again the meds seem to work really well on me. I enjoyed the visits and calls, thanks everyone. Dave and Joann stopped by and Stacie/London stayed w/ me while Steve went to school. It was really fun to visit w/ them and keep my mind off the pain. When others weren't around, I slept a lot, and just kinda vegged; I didn't really feel like doing much else, not even reading.


Flowers sent from my parents



Flowers from Steve's parents

Saturday, we went over to LuDean's (Steve's Grandma) for Dave's yummy BBQ ribs. After dinner we had some fireworks "for the kids" and the neighbors came over to watch too. It was really fun to watch; the boys loved it especially (it seems like all boys love anything w/ fire).


Steve showing off his firework skills



Me trying to stay warm during fireworks, still not feeling 100%



Steve trying to help his dad; He's doing a good job eh?

On Sunday we decided not to go to church so I could sleep more. I actually slept until 2 in the afternoon (I guess I was really tired). Then to get out of the house, we drove up to Silver Lake and walked around it. It was a cooler day to begin with (only 80's) so up there it was only in the 60's; luckily Steve brought me a jacket. :)


A squirrel at Silver Lake



Beautiful Silver Lake on a Sunday afternoon


Monday, Steve went fishing w/ his dad, Rob, Zack, and Rich Bennett(grew up w/ Dave but ironically we home teach him). While he was gone, I cleaned up and went to Ross and got a mirror and 2 sconces. I decided it was finally time to get them and put them up. We've been trying to decide what to put above the fireplace...a picture, mirror, or some design thing. I made a chicken rice casserole for Steve, then he helped me put the mirror and sconces up. We also got more shelves for our closet to store Steve's stuff on. That night I made spaghetti and we rented a Redbox.


Our new mirror and sconces above the cute fireplace Steve and Rob built



Tad ah!!!

Well, I start my new class on Wednesday, Managerial Finance. It's supposed to be even harder than my last ones in Accounting.... yikes. Steve is still working hard through his classes. We still haven't heard back from the last interview for his intern and are waiting for others to call for an interview.

Summer Time Finally!!!

It's been a while, so I'd better get an update. First of all.... I'm soooo glad it's finally Summer Time, and the weather is acting accordingly!

Steve has been busy w/ school. He still hasn't got an intern, but we he does have an interview tomorrow. The interview will be w/ a clinic downtown SLC, a homeless clinic. It's run by the state though, so they have descent hours actually (only til 7 pm latest, and no Sundays). We'll see how that goes. Hopefully they'll work w/ his school hours, hire him, and will be able to start in July. He needs to do his 200 hours (no pay) then we'll see from there where to go.

On Thursday, the 17th, I took my Managerial Accounting final. It was a timed test, which lasted 3 1/2 hours. It was, as you can see, REALLY long! I took the whole time, but wanted to pace myself, especially since most of the questions were essays/math problems. It took a couple days to get it graded, but I got an 88% on the comprehensive final and an A for the class. Yeah!!! ;) It feels really good to get that over with, and now I have a break until July 7th.

Last weekend up went up to the cabin. After work on Friday we packed up our stuff to go up. Before we went up though, we went over to IHOP (because I had a free meal coupon). We then picked up a couple things at the store that Dave and Stacie needed, then drove up to the cabin. Dave, Joann, Stacie, Phill, London, and 2 girls from Ireland were already up there (Alyssa and Robyn). We played the game we picked up, Phase 10 Twist. It's a fun game and a little more exciting than the regular game.

The next morning, Steve and Dave went out fishing while we made breakfast (probably an hour or so later). A couple hours later we met them to go for a boat ride. It was a beautiful day on the lake! Then after lunch they went for an ATV ride, so I went w/ Dave and Steve back out on the boat. I drove them around, trolling, while they fished. We were actually catching some too!!! It was really fun and again, the weather was amazing! We brought home 2 fish, not for us to eat of course. :) For dinner Dave made is amazing ribs, yummm!! That night we watched "Blind Side" and I made popcorn, both kettle corn and regular from the WhirleyPop.


Dave driving the boat and showing off his "comb over"


The 2 girls from Ireland, Alyssa and Robin and Stacie and Phill


Phill catching Dave's hat that flew off


Cute little London playing w/ her toys


Steve w/ a fish, finally!


Dave holding Steve by his pants while he gets the line out of the motor


Steve practicing shooting


On Sunday, we went to the Fruitland branch for church. It was a really good service on Fathers, for Father's Day. We then went back, had some lunch, played some games, then took a nap. I actually wasn't feeling too well, and slept for several hours. Steve and I left shortly after I woke up.

The next day I felt even worse. I went to work feeling dizzy and just yucky. I stuck it out until lunch, then went home. As soon as I got home, I got a little bit to eat, then went straight to bed. Needless to say I was tired; I didn't wake up until 5:30pm. Since I'm having my surgery next Wednesday, I'm not supposed to take Ibuprofen (since it's a blood thinner), but I could take Tylenol. This helped some, but most of the day I was just miserable.

I stayed home Tuesday all day as well. I took some other meds, Musinex D and Sudafed which helped a lot. Ironically, my mom called as was on her way home (had been visiting her parents in American Fork) and was able to stop by and see us, though Steve left a little while later to go to school. Since it was lunch time, I decided to make some Cajun Chicken for my mom. After lunch, my mom had to get on the road again.

Wednesday I went back to work, and did pretty good, other than I had a cough. After work we to Smiths for their great coupon sale. We got $90 worth of groceries for $48 bucks! I love coupons and sales! That night I didn't sleep much due to my cough so I was pretty tired the next day.

Thursday after work, we got w/ the other branch missionaries at Anzack Park (Otto and Emily Shill and Anna and Brad McMurtie). We decided to get together for everyone to meet, get to know each other, and come up w/ ideas on how to increase our effort in missionary work. We borrowed Jeff's little grill and grilled some hot dogs. We also had Doritos, grapes, Capri-sun and brownies. After going over some missionary ideas, we then went and played sand volleyball. It was a lot of fun and the weather was beautiful! I love summer nights!

On Friday, Steve went up to the cabin w/ his parents, Rob and Zack. So, I Eve and I decided to get together. She met me up at our place, then we went to Cafe Rio for dinner. We then went out to West Jordan and watched the play, "7 Brides for 7 Brothers." It was a really good! We then came back and talked for a while. We haven't hung out for a while (just the 2 of us), so it was really nice to just talk and catch up.

On Saturday, I cleaned the house, went grocery shopping a little, and then went and did initiatories. I did 6 family names that my mom sent me, that my Uncle Stephen submitted. We were going to go to our branch BBQ, but Steve didn't get home until 6 pm, so we went for a walk instead. We then went to Red Robin for dinner, and had a $5 cheeseburger---yumm! We then went shopping a little, rented a movie, then came home and watched it.

Today we went to church, then came home and had a good long nap together. Then we went over to Jeff/Kim's for Jeff's B-day party. Everyone had a good time, and the weather was beautiful, though hot for a while til the shade came.

On Wednesday I'll have my surgery. It should be fine and the recover should be quick. I'll take the rest of the week off though just in case. Steve will be around when he's not at class, so we should be good. Hope all is well for you all! Love ya ;)

This week.....

Just a couple things...

On Wednesday, I have class right after work, so I just take the trax down to my car, then drive to class. Class goes from 6-9:30pm about, so I don't get to see Steve from 7am until then (sad I know). But........... this week, I was hurrying out the door from work, and looked up and there was Steve!!! I looked at him and recognized he was there waiting for me, took a couple more steps, then took a second glance at him. I then asked, "What are you doing here?" He said since we don't get to see each other much on Wednesday's he thought he'd ride back down w/ me on the trax. He rode the trax up to Gateway, just to come right back down, but w/ me this time. He also brought me some snacks to eat during class....such a cutie ;)

Thursday after work, Steve and I went swimming in our pool which was just opened Memorial Weekend. The water was surprisingly warm. We swam for about an hour. It was a lot of fun! After that I made a cheesecake for Steve, and a white cake w/ cheesecake and whip cream and strawberries on top. I also got stuff ready for Eve's party on Friday. She turned 30 so I wanted to throw her a party. The girl who took my spot, Hannah, has been helping me. Steve had to watch a foreign film for his humanities film, so he watched "Coco before Chanel." It was interesting.

Friday after work, I hurried to go down to American Fork. Since it was Friday and the weekend, traffic was crazy (I hate traffic). I made it down there though and we got things set up. We had a good group of girls show up. We had Cafe Rio salad, chatted, then played "Diva Family Feud." It was a lot of fun. We then had strawberry shortcake kinda. I made a white cake then put cream cheese mixed w/ cool whip on top, then made a strawberry sauce to put on top. We sang to her and had her open gifts also. We were going to watch "13 going on 30" but it was pretty late so we didn't.

Well today at church we found out Little Cottonwood creek has been flooding (off 13th east, in our Stake). Last night there were people from our branch helping to sand bag. Then, after church Steve got a call to come and help. Apparently the bags weren't holding, so they had to re-due them and keep adding on to it. Steve was there 3 hours about, then came home to go to LuDeans for dinner. He barely got done w/ dinner then was called to go back and help. He's been there since seven or so. There are over 500 hundred volunteers from around the community along w/ firefighters, police, etc. And then it started rain Here are some pics:














Here's the article on KSL.
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=11064362

Cabin Weekend #2........

So last weekend for Memorial Day, we went up to the cabin again. We didn't go up until Saturday evening but still had enough a good amount of time up there. We decided to go to the Jordan River Temple Friday night to do a session. It was really nice being there. We even ran into a couple from our branch who were in the same session, kinda funny. We've ran into them while doing a session at the Draper Temple too a couple months ago. After the temple we stopped at Maverick at got a frozen yogurt, yummm ;)

Saturday I met my sisters for lunch (see my previous post). It was great seeing them and just hanging out. I then hurried home where we packed and went up to the cabin. Melanie, Brandon, their 3 boys, Dave, Joann, and Diane were all up there since the night before. We got up there just in time for dinner. We helped get dinner ready, then afterwards Steve and I went on a short ATV ride. Later, after the kids were put to bed, we all watched the movie "Invictus" and I made some popcorn.



On Sunday we all went to the Fruitland Branch again. Since it was a holiday, it was COMPLETELY packed!!! We left a 1/2 hr early and barely got seats in the back of the chapel. Everyone else that came in after us basically sat in the halls and in the small class rooms. Since it's only a branch, they don't have a very big building. The sacrament took the longest part of the meeting of course. The deacons were weaving in and around people trying to get to everyone. People were there who were camping or at their cabins. It's crazy how many come, but it's good that they all came, though on vacation. After we got back from church, we ate, then Steve and I took a nap. Steve woke up after an hour or so, but I kept sleeping for a couple more hours (I guess I was pretty tired). The rest of the day we had dinner, walked down to the Lake and skipped rocks, made a bonfire outside (until we got smoked out), played games and chatted.







On Monday, Steve and Dave went out fishing on the boat. The didn't have much luck catching any fish, but they said they still had a good time. I stayed at the cabin to work on my homework assignments the best I could. After lunch we cleaned up, packed, went w/ the boys to catch crawdads, then left. Once we got home, I worked on homework some more (lucky me I know).

Lunch w/ Sisters!

On Saturday I got together w/ 2 of my 4 sisters. It was Rose's b-day last week so we got together for lunch; she chose to go to Super Salad. They closed the one close to me here in Midvale and the other one in Sugarhouse, so we went out to Taylorsville. Rose had some coupons so we got the lunch buffet for 5 bucks! It was fun to just get together and enjoy ourselves. We stayed about 2 hours just talking and having fun. Rose and Pauline had some nail polish, lip gloss and other make-up, so we had a little makeover time too. It was a lot of fun, thanks sisters! (Hopefully soon we can get together w/ all 4 sisters)