Idaho Trip/Conference Weekend

This past weekend we decided to go up to my parents place in Idaho. Steve and Rob picked me up after work Thursday evening. We wanted to get up there a little earlier so they could get some extra hunting and fishing in. The drive up went by quickly and we got there just in time to go to bed.

The next morning the boys left early with my dad to go call some coyotes while I slept in. They hunted most of the day while I worked on my personal finance project. Here they are in their gear.

Dad, Rob, and Steve after coyote hunting




That night we went fishing. Unfortunately when we got to the lake the boat wouldn't turn over. So instead of going home, we fished off the banks. Everyone caught one or two, but dad caught the BIGGEST one and the most!!!

Dad and Rob trying to fix the boat


Riley, Dad and Daron trying to caught a big fish


Dad caught the first one!








And another one


Riley had to see if it was still moving


Steve caught one too


Sunset


Just like two little boys fishing


Riley w/ seashells



Saturday we watched General Conference and the boys went coyote hunting again. Barb came down w/ Abby and Brady also. We went over to the Dairy to look at the cows and Steve and Rob shot pigeons. Corinne and Elaine were also at Grandmas so we went down and visited for a while. When the boys went to Priesthood session, mom and I went over to Grandma's and played Apples to Apples.

Cute Abby and Brady


Steve and Rob shooting pigeons




Abby and I on the 3 wheeler


Looking good! Ready for Priesthood session


On Sunday Daron, Kristi and the kids came over for lunch, then we went out to where there are Indian hand-prints. Unfortunately a fire went through and most of the paintings were hard to see. It was still fun though.


Ride 'em honey ;)



Come on up Dad








Dad just hangin out



On our way back we stopped by to see Grandpa's grave

Fishing Fun!!!

Friday night we went up to the cabin with a mission companion of mine (Sister Britney McPherron) and her husband Joe Graham. After I got off work Friday, Steve met me at the tracks station where we hurried to a reception of a girl I was an ambassador with at Snow College. She got remarried in the Draper Temple and the reception was in South Jordan. We went to that just enough to say hi to her and another girl who was an Ambassador with us, then rushed home to pack. We got everything ready to go in an hour or so, then ended up waiting another 2 hours for the Grahams to arrive. They were babysitting, and the parents ran into some trouble, so ended up coming home later than expected. We actually didn't leave until close to 11 pm, but Steve knows the drive like the back of his hand, it wasn't a big deal. Dave and Joann had gotten up there earlier that evening.

The next morning Steve and Dave went out fishing, while the rest of us slept in an hour or so more. I then made pancakes for us for breakfast, then we headed out to meet them on the water. They only caught one fish (right as we called), but after we got one we couldn't stop catching them. I drove the boat while Dave and Steve helped get the lines going. The weather was beautiful and the colors on the hills were changing and simply amazing! We all had a good time, even though we got a little more sun than we thought. Here are some pics from our adventures:

Steve and Joann enjoying the lake


Joe showing us how much he loves the fish!


Caught another one!


Work it honey!


Dave helping Britney get her fish out of the water


Love the fall colors coming in


Joe working on his Magic Eye skills



My favorite in laws doing what they do best :)



Joe and Britney on the boat



Like father like son, a true fisherman


Steve helping me bring the boat in after a successful afternoon fishing


Our success!


Steve, Penny, Britney and Joe


As we were finishing up fishing, Dave went to pull the motor up and hurt his back. Luckily we had Steve and Joe to help get the boat and trailer back. He was in pain the rest of the night and next day. Since it hurt him to sit let alone drive, and Joann is not supposed to drive due to her foot in the boot, we decided to stay and help them down on Sunday. The next morning I made pancakes again, then we cleaned and packed up. Dave went to see a chiropractor on Monday and is doing somewhat better, but he's lucky he didn't do any more serious damage than he did.

After we got back down to the valley, Steve and I changed into our church clothes and headed over for a missionary meeting. The branch president went over some new goals w/ us an 2 other branch missionary couples. I think we're finally heading in the right direction.

We then came home and I made a white cake w/ cream cheese and cool whip on the top for dinner. We picked up Joann, then headed over to LuDeans for dinner w/ everyone. We had taco, then made a really cute Halloween craft. Steve's Aunt Diane was in charge; they turned out really cute. Steve and Dave actually cut out the wood earlier in the week, then we all painted them. Steve and I worked together to finish ours. Here it is.

Our cute Halloween craft


Well things are going well at work. I've only been out of training just over a week and a little bit, but so far so good. This new role allows us to do overtime basically whenever we want, so that's good when you want to get a few extra bucks. My manager is brand new to our role along w/ all but 3 other people, so we're all learning as we go. I feel like I've learned a lot already, but there's definitely still lots more to go.

Steve is working hard at school but still hasn't found a part time job yet. We're trying to decide exactly what we're going to do for his nursing degree and prerequisites. We're thinking of having him do them at SLCC since it's cheaper, but we'll see.

We also were able to go do some initiatories last week right after I got off work. Steve met me at the traxs station w/ a skirt and we headed to the Jordan River Temple. The Spirit was strong, and of course it was a great experience.

Well hope all is well.

Love ya lots,
Steve and Penny ;)

This weekend

Friday after work, we had our date night. We went to Red Robin for their yummy burgers, then went downtown to a reception for a girl Steve grew up with. A lot of people from Steve's home ward was there, so we got to chat w/ them for a while. Afterwards, we were going to rent a movie, but decided to just read our books instead. Steve was reading the 3rd book to the "Hunger Games" called "Mocking Jay" and I was reading "The Lost Symbols." It was nice just being able to read together.

On Saturday we went and did a session at the Jordan River Temple. It was a really good session; the Spirit was strong.

Some flowers at the Jordan River Temple







On the way home, we stopped by at Best Buy and picked up new phones. My phone had completely died on Friday. Both screens were blank and you couldn't see anything. Steve's phone has had issues in the past too. His front key pads didn't work and now there was an echo when he called people. So.....we decided it was time to get new ones. After looking at the options, we decided to get the Samsung Reality phones, which have a limited Internet usage on them. At Best Buy, you're also able to try the phones for 30 days and bring it back if you don't end up liking them. So far we really like them.

Our new phones





After getting our new phones, we packed up and headed up to the cabin. Dave and Joann had gone up Friday, and Melanie and Brandon were on their way up too. When we got there we played games and just chatted. Sunday, we went to church, played games, talked, and went to the lake to throw rocks (the boys wanted to). It was nice to just relax and enjoy the beauty. Steve and I both finished our books while up there too. Great books if anyone hasn't read them.

At the cabin, Strawberry Reservoir



Pretty flowers at Strawberry







Sunset by the cabins

Updates to the condo

We'll after a year of dealing w/ our GHETTO dishwasher that wouldn't clean and our fridge that leaked water all over, we decided we'd better replace them. We've been looking around for a about a month now, and finally got what we wanted. Wednesday after work, we went over to Home Depot to get the dishwasher, but when we got there we found out they don't really carry white appliances anymore. We then went over to RC Willey to see what they had on hand, and after looking at their appliances and prices, we decided to go to their outlet store out on Redwood.

Once we got out there we were looking through their discounted items, looking for the Maytag we were trying to get at Home Depot and came across this Kitchen Aid dishwasher. It was stainless steel on the inside and nice nylon coating on the racks. Ironically Steve and I both really liked this one that we saw at the regular Home Depot, but it was out of our price range. As we were looking at it and asked about the price, the salesman stated that the price would also include the 5 yr warranty. After hearing the price (which was actually better than Maytag and WITH warranty) we decided to get it.

While we were waiting for him to "ring us up" we went looking at fridges just for fun. As we were looking, we came across this LG fridge that we really wanted also, but again, it was normally out of our price range. Our space is pretty small, so the fridges they make that size actually cost more. And this one w/ the freezer on the bottom usually cost more. Yet, the salesman again stated that it would include the 5 yr warranty in the price......so we decided to get it too!!! It actually cost the same price as buying a ghetto, small, and basic fridge! We took home the dishwasher that night, then went back and got the fridge the next day. The old dishwasher had to been in there since they made these condos. Steve and Rob worked on it Wednesday and Thursday and finally got it in. We had to buy an adapter too and extra wiring to get it in, but it's in and running great!

The old ghetto dishwasher


The new AWESOME dishwasher


Nice stainless steel inside w/ big compartments


Old Fridge


New AWESOME fridge


Nice big side drawers


Big freezer compartments


Rob taking our door off to get the old fridge out


Taking the old one out




Yeah it's finally out of here!!!