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!!!

Back to School.....

Well it's official, Steve and I are back in school again! My online class, personal finance, started this week, and Steve started his classes on Wednesday. We have had a heck of a time getting Steve into the right classes too. About a month and a half ago we signed him up for the classes he'd need to graduate and applied for graduation this fall; both for his Medical Assisting and his Associates of Science. Shortly after we get a letter in the mail stating he's missing a class. Over the next month Steve went in to the Advisers office to get clarification on what he was missing, but every time he went in he was told he needed to add one class and drop another class. No one would tell him the same thing and we kept going back and forth adding and dropping different classes. So as school was starting we were still trying to figure out which classes would satisfy the requirements. Of course by this time all the classes are basically full and now the teachers have been told that they can't "add" anymore students since SLCC has apparently more students than they anticipated. So now we have to just get whatever is open at whatever campus at whatever time. We had his schedule all figured out (and we had the right classes to begin with) so he had them all at the same campus in the mornings in hope that he could find a part time job as a Medical Assistant. We have things are figured out now, but he's going to 3 different campuses and has to take a night class. We're just a little frustrated about the whole ordeal.

Steve did finish his 200 hours last Thursday, so he's good to go. Unfortunately the current office/Instacare didn't need any more staffing, but they did refer him to another First Med clinic that's actually a little closer to us. Steve called the lady there and talked to her today. They had someone get in a car accident recently, so they actually need someone for 3 months to work part time, which would be PERFECT!!! She's supposed to call him back later this week and run a possible schedule by him. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it works w/ his school schedule ;) When Steve finishes this Fall, we're thinking of just staying at SLCC to finish up his prerequisites for nursing then transfer to a University for nursing (since it's cheaper at SLCC).

I've been in training all last week and will be both this and next week. So far so good. I'm learning the Institutional side, like 401ks and stuff, so it's different but good. The good thing though is that we're always closed holidays and weekends! :)

This past weekend we went up to the cabin. We invited Rob to come up w/ us, so we picked him up Friday evening and headed up. Once we got up there and unpacked, I just read my book, "The Lost Symbols," by Dan Brown, while Steve and Rob watched a little TV. The next morning after breakfast, Steve and I went out and started pulling out sagebrush to clear the pathway. Well after we did that we wanted to clear more out. Rob came out sometime after and we all ended up working on a piece in front of the cabin basically the whole day. It was pretty fun at first, working w/ Steve and all, but of course by the end we were all tired of it. I managed the ATV, getting the cable in and out and actually pulling the sagebrush out, while Steve locked them in place and Rob unloaded it into the trailer. We took at least 5 BIG loads and just dumped them on the backside of the cabin where other sagebrush were. Though it was a lot of work, it looked a whole lot better when we were finished. :) Here are some pics of our work.



Lots more to go....where's my car....



Steve getting the sagebrush hooked in, me waiting for the go


Rob beating the sagebrush down trying to make more fit


Rob and Steve unloading. I would slowly move the ATV forward while they held the sagebrush in place



Ya that was a BIG one!


Where'd Rob go?



Working the ATV


Steve having to unhook the sagebrush


We're getting it down now


Teamwork!


Steve backing up the trailer (I'm still getting used to it)



Cutie!


Finally we were done!


That was a LOT of sagebrush!


A cool shower and some homemade pizza after all our hard work!!


Yummm;)

After we got done I made some pizza for us for dinner. Dave and Joann showed up shortly after also. We watched, "Clash of the Titans." Sunday after church Dave made his famous ribs again and we had Mike and Gloria over to help eat them. After a nap, we packed up and went home.

Well the Summer is almost over though I don't want to admit it. It's gone by waaaaaaaaaaaaay too fast!!! We've been in our condo one year now; time sure does fly. Hope all is well. Keep us posted. Love ya! ;)