Jeff and Linnea

Childhood Moments

2011-10-14T11:20:00.001-07:00

Jeff and I thought this video was a lot of fun.

We watched it last night, and had a good laugh over her reaction. I told Jeff later that someday I want to do that for our future kids, wake them up one day and say they aren't going to school that day, we're going to Disneyland!

Then Jeff told me that he was thinking about her reaction, and the most comparable moment he can think of his own childhood was when he and his siblings really wanted to go see the movie, Jurassic Park. Their parents said no. They went and sat in the other room, dejected and depressed. Then Kathy came back in and told them that they were going. They were all really excited.

I told him I just don't think that's the same. One, it wasn't a surprise, it was parents giving in finally. Two, that makes his childhood look a little lame compared to being surprised with a trip to Disneyland.

But hey - if it's that easy to get a reaction like that out of him, I'll take him to the movies tonight.

The difference a year makes...

2011-07-25T12:12:00.000-07:00

Holly, Fredrik, and Livia just left this last week for China. I'm glad they are reunited with Daniel, but really bummed that they had to leave.

I thought this comparison was fun - on the left is a picture of Fredrik a few days before they left for DC July 2010. On the right is just before they left for China. He's still super cute, and still loves that swing!

And of course this little sweetie wasn't around last year -

She is always all smiles, unless you look at her with pringles in your mouth like a duck. That really terrifies her.

We were looking through old pictures recently for a project we were working on and I came across this one of Daniel. He looks so much like Fredrik! Holly and I got a good laugh over that. That expression is so Fredrik.

It was such a special treat that Holly and the kids were able to come stay in Utah at all before jetting off to China, but that didn't make them leaving again any less hard. :-( So glad we were able to spend more time with them!

I'm a bad blogger...

2011-06-13T14:41:00.000-07:00

I realized today it has been over a year since I posted on this blog. I thought to myself, well, it's definitely time for a big update, then!

Then I thought about what to write in an update. And...we honestly don't have any huge updates. We are both still working. Both still going to school - taking spring/summer off, going back in the fall. We live in the same little duplex.

However, I suppose it is worth it to write a little about our lives here. Then Facebook (which I use much more) will be our large plates, and this blog can be our small plates. And the record of our lives will be preserved in the interwebs.

So, if you haven't actually spoken to us in the last year, I suppose there are a few little things I can update you on:

We're back in the Singles Ward.
Jeff got called to be the second counselor in the bishopric of the YSA 1st Ward in the Provo YSA 1st Stake last November. Neither Jeff or I really threw ourselves into our student wards when we were single, so I guess this is our second chance. It was definitely an adjustment - harder for me than Jeff I think - but we've made some good friends and really enjoyed the calling. And in a way I think it helped me make better friends back in my married ward because I had to really work to stay in contact with them - so that was helpful too. This means Jeff is gone Tuesday nights and basically all day Sundays at meetings, and we also have the worst meeting schedule in the world now - we meet from 2-5. I teach the Sunday School class on marriage - technically the marriage and family class, but we just do the first 8 lessons on marriage over and over (no need to go into parenting at this point) and my class is attended by those who are engaged. So I have a very large class. There was a grand total of 2 yesterday.

Jeff is getting ready to apply to Physical Therapy school. He will be taking the GRE in about 2 weeks, so a lot of his time is spent studying hard for that. He'll begin applying for schools this summer, and will graduate with his undergraduate degree in December. He has been volunteering twice a week at hospitals, and has volunteered enough hours to become a certified medical interpreter.

Jeff has braces.

I had a difficult last semester, or well, last two semesters really, with photography. But I'm still pushing ahead. I do feel like I've improved a lot, and all the stress has probably been worth it. Luckily I have a very wonderful and patient husband and great friends in the program who really helped me through it. My apologies again to those who saw me cry - in the studio (Crystal, Luke) in the print lab (Veronica) in your office (Val) and listened to me complain over and over (Molly, Veronica, Luke, Sarah, James, ManDevin). And Jeff, for listening to me complain and cry just about every day.

I went to New York in March with the photography program, and learned a lot there. And had some great food and fun adventures with friends. Met some amazing photographers - Rodney Smith, Ilan Rubin, Mark Lund, Jay Maisel. Plus several others. I was very influenced by many of them and left feeling very inspired.

I received three wonderful scholarships for next fall, one financial need based and two talent based. I am so grateful.

I am still working for LDS Philanthropies and still love it. I have begun doing more photography work for them, and had the opportunity over the past year to meet and photograph Elder Ballard and Elder Nelson.

Jeff and I took a trip to Washington DC to visit Daniel, Holly, Fredrick and my new niece Livia in April. We had a wonderful time seeing the sights, hanging with family and also having a chance to visit Jeff's cousin, Lindsey.

We celebrated our 3rd anniversary a few weeks ago. Hard to believe it has been 3 years already! We celebrated by hosting Singles Ward FHE at our place. I guess the honeymoon is definitely over.

Vacations we've taken this past year: Seattle, San Francisco, Newport, Washington DC, New York. Vacations to come this summer: Seattle, Redfish, Portland (just me, and it's really work, but it will still be fun).

If you read all of that, I suppose you deserve some pictures of us from the past year. Here's a few, and keep in mind that if you are our facebook friend you have most likely seen them before:

Out on the Washington Coast.

Good old Phantom Lake.

Hallie & Sean's beautiful wedding last summer.

San Francisco.

Ready to go to the Governor's Gala last September.

Ballet West's Nutcracker.

This picture from Christmas makes me laugh.

New Years!

At BYU's Y Ball - a dance for married students - last February.

With my roommates in New York.

After I received my scholarships at Awards Night.

Outside Kent Manor in Maryland.

Thanks for reading! Come back next year for another update...just teasing. I'll try to blog again before that. ;-)

Memorial Day!

2010-06-08T22:06:00.000-07:00

We went up for a traditional Evensen family barbecue on Memorial Day. Hamburgers, hotdogs, a little sporting competition out in the greenbelt.

This was supposed to be a watermelon racecar, but it looks a little more like a baby buggy..or a wide mouth frog. The fruit was delicious, though!

Despair . . . (dot com)

2010-06-07T13:04:00.000-07:00

First off, this is Jeff. Second blog post ever! So, a guy at work showed me this website: http://www.despair.com/ Totally ruined my day . . . because I spent it looking at this site. They take the pictures used in motivational posters and change the captions to make them Demotivators. Some of them are REALLY funny. I thoroughly enjoyed them. I guess it's kind of sad that we like to laugh at things that are so negative.

By the way, they also have a do it yourself page that you can make your own. diy.despair.com And that's where I made this:

Now don't spend too much time on there, you might actually share it with others ;-)

To-Do Lists.

2010-05-04T12:30:00.000-07:00

I am a list making person.

I think it's in my blood. My mom has a little notebook that she makes a to-do list in each day. As I've gotten older, I've begun to copy this, generally with a sheet of note paper, folded into fourths, that I stick into my planner. I make a smaller list of things to do that day and a larger list of what needs to be done that week. I put stars next to the things that are the most important. Sometimes I'll even write something down that I already completed for the pure joy of checking it off.

Most of the time having a nicely laid out to-do list is a comfort to me. However, there are times - particularly toward the end of a semester - when the list becomes a glaring white banner that screams at me every time I open my planner, reminding me again that I have more things to do then I have time for. And there are also times when the list seems to mock me, reminding me again and again that I must do the laundry, scrub the bathroom, head to the grocery store.

On Sunday in Relief Society, this very topic was brought up, and similar tales were shared about feeling overwhelmed with trying to do it all, with frustration of having little time available to do the things we actually want to do. That is something I've been battling with recently - it's finally my summer break! This is when I'm supposed to have so much "me time", right? Instead we've been running around crazy - something different planned every night. It's exhausting, and a little frustrating.

Jani Driggs made a very intriguing suggestion on Sunday. "Every day, do one thing that won't come undone," she said. "Call a friend, read a story to a child, write in your journal."

I loved this idea. My kitchen will also get messy again, but there are so many things that I love to do that leave me feeling accomplished and satisfied. So many things that won't be gone the next day. Reading, sewing, creating something for myself or others. Learning something new. Spending time with family and friends.

And I feel that as long as I have at least one "won't come undone" item coupled with my daily grind, I'm progressing. My life isn't a day-to-day repeat of itself, it gains more meaning! And when tossed together with the substantial zest of purpose, my daily tasks retain their flavor, rather than growing stale.

Now I think I might go write "blog" on today's list, so I can check it off.

Dad had a birthday...

2010-04-28T18:44:00.000-07:00

Shout hurray.

Mom lit all the candles on the cake, then promptly blew out half of them while blowing out the match. Although we had to light the candles twice, this did not entitle Dad to two wishes. It is unknown, however, whether or not Mom made a wish of her own before "accidentally" blowing them out.

We all had delicious German chocolate cake, except for Fredrick. He had crackers, although obviously not all of them made it into his mouth.

Farfar with Freddie.

We went to the Bees game to celebrate.

Holly explains baseball to Fred. (Shouldn't that be Daniel's job?)

He's not that interested in baseball, but Holly's churro is another story...

The usual round up of crazy faces.

Nils is making kissy faces at the 'Honey Bees'. (For some reason, it reminds me of the kissy faces they make in the cartoon Fox Trot)

And of course, no week is complete without a good competitive game of Catan.

Oh - and just a few more of Fredrick. He didn't really care for the grass, can you tell?

In my email inbox today...

2010-04-21T13:56:00.001-07:00

Dear Linnea Farnsworth,

Congratulations! Your Freshman Portfolio Review has been completed by the Photography faculty and we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted as a Visual Arts student in the Photography track.

I read this in the library, with Jeff. I was so happy I started crying, while he just kept hugging me over and over. I'm sure we made some good entertainment for those around us.

This whole year has been so emotionally and mentally draining, and I am so grateful to be able to look forward to my future with more certainty now. I really worked as hard as I possibly could this semester, and thankfully it has paid off. Jeff has been so wonderful to put up with me - especially during this last week of worrying and stressing and being unable to sleep.

Thank you so much to all of you who have supported me, listened to my thoughts/fears/rants/joys, and have shown how much you care during this whole process. I'm so grateful.

And nothing can get me down today. Not the rain outside, or even the gigantic run in my nylons. It's a perfect day.

Arches, Easter, and other recent things...

2010-04-13T23:30:00.001-07:00

Over Spring Break my parents, Anders and Christian went down to Moab on a quick little trip. I decided to tag along last minute..luckily Provo is on the way and they could swing by and pick me up. :-)
It was really windy, but still sunny and nice. We had a good time doing a little hiking and wandering around. The last time we went to Arches as a family it was snowing, and we were driving around trying to squint to see any rock formations. I was much more impressed this time.

Christian nicknamed Balanced Rock "Snoopy".

He posed himself on this one.

It was a fun little trip. The best part was Christian reminding my dad to drive slowly and carefully - "I don't want to die when I'm only seven!" Of course, this caution did not apply to his own decision to take his life into his hands while running over slickrock and around Delicate Arch. Mom was the one worried then - chasing after him saying "Okay, okay!"

Now, you know you have all brothers when the centerpiece for your Easter dinner looks like this -

Speaking of boys, look at this adorable little one who has mastered crawling.

He's now ready for walking - he pulls himself up every chance he gets. A

Now that he's mobile, he loves chasing after this lovely lady -

Who seems to be patient with him, if somewhat annoyed. Which is also how she appears to be in this photo - she really hates having her picture taken, but she let me get this one. I'd appreciate it if she'd at least pretend to be less grouchy about it, but I'll take what I can get at this point.

It Runs in the Family

2010-03-25T22:31:00.000-07:00

The Haneberg genes are strong ones.

Recently I was browsing through old family photo albums, and came across this photo of my mom and three of her brothers back in 1975.

I was struck by how much my own brothers and I had resembled the four of them at the same ages. I dug through the un-albumed family photos, trying to find something that would really showcase the striking similarities.

The best I could come up with was this, from Christmas 1995.

Well, aren't we a good looking bunch. Nothing like having Daniel in a Jr Jazz uniform, with a basketball and his broken arm which was the result of playing a banned game at recess. (Banned for a good reason, apparently.) Then you have me, showing my insanely keen fashion sense in my Garfield sweatshirt. Nils of course is already practicing his pretty boy pose, and Anders is the sweetest little boy with platinum hair and rosy cheeks.

But still - can you see the resemblance??

It's probably stronger if you actually knew us back then. Particularly the Arne/Nilsy part - that one just blows me away.

And though the Haneberg genes are strong ones, I still often hear about how much my brothers and I resemble my dad. However, none of us do quite like Christian. This became really apparent to me last spring when I was making this video for my dad's birthday, and scanning in old photos of him.

A little chip off the ol' block, I'd say.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

2010-03-17T19:57:00.001-07:00

This morning I purposely put on non-green clothing. Then I put on some green and white striped "Happy St Patrick's Day" socks. I stuck my feet into some slippers and waited for Jeff to come in.
He came in, looked me up and down, and told me I wasn't wearing green. I said nothing. He told me he was going to have to pinch me. I gave him a pitiful "don't pinch me" look.
It didn't work.
He pinched.
Then I jumped up, pulled up my pant legs, and crowed loudly about how I had tricked him and now I got to pinch him ten times! Mwahahhahaha!

I hope your St Patrick's Day was equally successful.

Farnsworth Travels...

2010-03-15T23:30:00.000-07:00

So it turns out that when something fun and exciting actually happens, I end up with zero time to blog about it. :-)

Jeff went to Anaheim the last week of February for work. Apparently. I mean - he says it was for work, but this is all he has to show for it -

-so you can't blame me for being a little suspicious.

I missed him while he was gone, but that didn't stop me from jetting off to Miami the day after he came back. I went down with the photography program, where we visited several photographers and shot around some ourselves. Oh, and spent a fabulous day and a half in Key West on the beach.

Photo taken by Paul Adams. We were going to make a sand castle by ended up opting for a giant cruise ship instead. Ashlee and I make Jack and Rose out of seaweed and twigs, they are up on the front of the ship.

Another one of Paul's pictures. You might think we were all taking pictures of some amazing sight in the wild. Actually, we were all taking pictures of John -

So, although it was separately, we both had a lot of fun. However, there is no place like home - especially with the gorgeous weather we had today!

A First.

2010-02-17T18:06:00.001-08:00

This morning, I babysat this adorable little guy. Mid-morning, Jeff came home from school and played with us for a while. As these things go, soon it was time for the second round on the changing mat.
I handed Jeff the diaper, wipes, and mat.

This is pretty much the face that Jeff made, as well. Just teasing, Jeff. ;-)

It was his first time ever changing a diaper! This seemed a little strange to me, but I suppose that him being the youngest and never having been a 12-year-old girl who babysits every weekend would have something to do with it.

He did a terrific job, and we were smiles all around afterward.

Jeff.

2010-01-26T22:08:00.000-08:00

Tonight I was lamenting to Jeff that I would like to blog, but have nothing to really blog about. Our lives are fairly mundane right now - we go to work, we go to school, we do homework. Jeff said, "Well, blog about me."
So, here goes.
This is Jeff.

24-years-old. Loves movies. Currently reading about a gazillion different books - including Tale of Two Cities, Frankenstein, and Lord of the Rings. Dislikes onions and mushrooms. Does not drink carbonation. Currently needs a haircut. Had his nose broken in high school when it was hit by a baseball. Loves playing Settlers of Catan- especially Cities and Knights. Is a lot better at remembering to write in his journal than I am - (which makes me more motivated to do my own journal writing - I have to make sure our posterity gets the whole story). An extremely loyal employee. Tells you to take Noni for any ailment you may have. Likes rollercoasters. Loves being in the water - be it ocean, lake, or pool. Nice singing voice. Speaks Spanish. Right now he has an obsession for Fifa Soccer 2010 on the Wii.
Has been working really hard on his homework this semester, which is why I'm sitting here bored and trying to come up with things to blog about. :-)

Lately...

2009-12-20T23:19:00.001-08:00

School is finally over!!
Tonight we were sitting after dinner, and Jeff remarked on how wonderful it was to not have any homework to worry about! It feels so strange. I guess we shouldn't get too used to it, though.

We went to the big Lucia celebration in Salt Lake. While we were standing in line waiting for dinner, Christian started singing - "Walking around, the Christmas tree" I was like..."Walking?!?!?! It's rocking!!" Whereupon he gave me a bewildered look and responded, "Rocking? What does that mean?"

The program was lovely.

Christian was a baker.

Mom and Dad sang in the choir.

The boy next to Anders kept putting his star over Anders' face whenever I tried to take a picture.

Last week we went to see Anders play the clarinet in his band concert.
Instead, we got to see him do this -

and a little bit of this -

He finally did do some of this.

I guess he's just following the usual manner of Evensen teenage boys. Look good and talk to the ladies.

Yesterday we were lucky to be able to go attend the wedding of my very good friend Kylee. She and James had a beautiful, beautiful wedding.

The happy couple.

Jeff and Joe.

Ky and I.

The girls.

Now the next big thing on our calendar is Christmas!!

Making Spirits Bright

2009-12-12T11:37:00.000-08:00

Now that classes are over, Jeff and I have a schedule full of holiday cheer. Thursday night we were lucky to be able to go to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert, featuring Natalie Cole and David McCullough. It was a wonderful show. I've always loved Natalie Cole, so it was awesome to get to see her perform live.

Friday night we had a Christmas party with our friends. Dan and Tasha were very nice in offering up their beautiful home for everyone to meet at. The party was full of ugly sweaters and yummy goodies. It was so fun to get everyone together!

We need a little Christmas! Right this very minute!

2009-12-06T23:05:00.001-08:00

Jeff and I put up our tree last weekend. It sure helps bring the Christmas spirit into our little house. Unfortunately we have no star...so there is a Julbok on top instead...ha ha.

We found this little stowaway in a box while unpacking this year. Not sure where he came from, but he sure gave us trouble. First his little carrot nose broke off. While hot gluing it, I somehow managed to knock off one of his tiny black clay eyes. Jeff managed to find it somehow - it was really impossible, I thought - on our dark wood floor. We were trying to glue that back on - and dropped it again! This time I found it. But alas, there was just no way to properly glue it back on without it looking ridiculous and him having a bulbous eye. So we decided to just pull the other eye off and color it in with a black pen. And I accidentally colored outside the lines (I need to go back to Kindergarten) - anyhow, long story short, he has eyes again, though they are imperfect. And a nose, too.

I'm not sure what we're excited for more - Christmas, or the semester to be over.

Jeff had a birthday, shout hooray!

2009-11-18T20:43:00.001-08:00

He's 24 now - so grown up. :-)

It may not have been the prettiest cake, but he was ready to devour it anyhow. :-)

Halloween

2009-11-16T21:21:00.001-08:00

Okay, I am now finally getting around to blogging about Halloween. Jeff and I had a great time putting together our costumes - we made Jeff his big bad wolf mask on Thursday evening! The mask was fully articulated, so when Jeff opened his mouth (really wide) the wolf's mouth opened as well. :-) A lot of people asked us about the teeth - Jeff made them from sculpy clay.

Us together - my costume was nothing special, though very vital to the whole thing -

We went up to SoJo to see all the kids...
Here is Christian as Harry Potter, showing off his puking pumpkin -

And this is a most sincere pumpkin patch.

And the whole little family

Then we went over to the Julian's, where Katie had put together the cutest little Halloween buffet - here are some of her yummy treats -

And more pictures from the night. Unfortunately I only took pictures during the first half hour or so, so anyone who came after that is not pictured..sorry guys!

And I don't know what on earth is going on here...

So Happy Late Halloween, everyone!

Random Art.

2009-11-11T22:04:00.000-08:00

Jeff and I made this amazing work of art for my 2 dimensional design class. Be impressed, be very impressed. We dipped rubber bands in paint and shot them at a blank sheet of paper. It was great fun, and a great mess.

We've Got Rhythm...well, sort of.

2009-10-14T21:09:00.000-07:00

Martha Graham once said, "Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion." I'd say that by that standard, the Evensen family is a collection of truly great dancers.

Saturday night, while making a cheeseball for the baby blessing on Sunday (more on that later) we had a little Shaun Barrowes playing, and naturally this turned into a little dancing in the kitchen.

Now, earlier that week I had googled Stephanie Birkitt after reading about her relationship with David Letterman. This led me to this video of her dancing -

- so of course, I began doing that dance move - I mean, how great is that? Then I turned and saw my dad doing what appeared to be the same move. This led to a couple of "Are you...?" "Wait, is that...?" back and forth between us a few times.

I mean, I figured I could say, "Are you doing David Letterman's ex-lovers old boyfriend's dance move?" But how awkward would it be if he had no clue what I was talking about? I mean - there was no real way to explain it if he hadn't seen it, so perhaps that would have been a dance-mood killer.

Well, it turned out he was doing the same thing! He had come across the same video while "researching" Birkitt - great minds google alike.

So thank goodness - rather than killing the dance mood, it led to lots of laughter and another round of the "Letterman's ex-lover's ex-boyfriend's dance move".

Everyone can do it! Here is Mom and I -

I believe it has now been inducted to the collection of family dance moves - which includes the following:

Any of the moves seen in this segment from A Charlie Brown Christmas -

Favorite moves include those demonstrated by Freida, Shermy, and Linus. There was this one Christmas Eve (not too long ago, mind you) that we turned on the movie and watched this part over and over again, dancing along as a family.(The over and over again part was courtesy of Christian, who ran up to rewind it every time we finished. And hey - once that music starts, you can't help but dance.)

Another classic move is one brought to us from Dad's high school days. It goes a little something like this -

A recent addition has come from Nils, who explains it this way - "You go up to a group..."
Unfortunately I don't have a photo to share. But it's an easy one! Just put both arms up in 90 degree angles. And...you're done. You can choose to pulse with the music some if you'd like.

And of course, the classic dance move that started it all. This dance move originated with Daniel at a Mariners game in the summer of 2006, I believe. Here Dad, Mom, and Anders do it at the Mariners game this last summer.

I'm sure Martha Graham would be very impressed.

Freddie

2009-09-23T21:38:00.000-07:00

Isn't my nephew the cutest thing?

Type Writers.

2009-09-09T09:29:00.000-07:00

My little brother Christian has lately become fascinated with type writers. He likes to write little stories and poems on my mom's old type writer. On Monday he showed me this 'poem' that he had written. The 'd' key no longer works, so he decided to substitute the 't' in for it, but the rest of his spelling errors are non-intentional. It turned out really funny and ironic, though I'm sure he didn't mean it to. :-)

1,000 Days.

2009-08-28T14:58:00.001-07:00

Today marks 1,000 days that Jeff and I have been together.
We were dorky and figured that out a few weeks ago, and I put it in my phone as an event on the calendar. And then forgot about it. But today it popped up and reminded me - so here we are! And now we get to celebrate!
This was us..1,000 days ago -

(See Jeff's necklace? I convinced him to stop wearing it not too long after that...)
We thought about taking a picture of us today - to compare, but um...we both look really scroungy today since we've just been cleaning and getting ready for going back to school. So we're going to pass on that for now.

A baby, a wedding, a vacation...

2009-08-23T21:39:00.001-07:00

Lots of exciting things have been going on for Jeff and I in the last two weeks. :-)
First, My brother and his wife had their first baby! Fredrik Gustaf Evensen came on the morning of August 12, weighing in at a whopping 9 lbs 14.5 oz. He is absolutely adorable, and it's been really fun to see what a Scandinavian Taiwanese baby looks like. :-D Lots of lovely dark hair on him, and an adorable little face. I really want to take pictures of him, but haven't had a chance yet - so I stole some off of Daniel's facebook...hehe...

Then, on the 18th two of our good friends, Katie and Blake, got married. Jeff and I were really happy for them, and it was wonderful to be able to celebrate with them. I've known Katie since Kindergarten, and we always enjoy spending time with her and Blake. She looked beautiful, and so happy.

It was so fun to be able to see so many old friends.

Then on Wednesday, Jeff and I decided to trek out to California to join my family, who was vacationing in Disneyland. Once again, Cole and Shannon were gracious in allowing us to crash at the condo - especially when we called to tell them we were there and gave them quite the shock - somehow we'd had a mis-communication and they thought we were coming next week! Now that is the mark of a truly good host - when they can still welcome us and act totally excited to see us. ;-)
We spent Thursday at Disneyland and California Adventure with my family, which was a blast. Friday we spent playing around in San Diego, finishing up with dinner and games with Cole and Shannon. Saturday we went down to LA for a while, and had some great pizza at BJ's with my Aunt Marianne. It was so much fun to get to visit family, and Mickey Mouse too.

All the walking every day was really hard on Christian's hip. He was constantly begging anyone (especially Nils) to give him a piggy-back ride.

Waiting for the Aladdin Show -

Christian and I took the jelly fish up after discovering he was about 2 inches too short for the Maliboomer - a real disappointment for a boy who wasn't scared of any ride - no matter the height or speed.

Space Mountain is still our favorite...

The excitement was contagious.

Jeff had never been on the teacups before, so we went together and just about made ourselves sick trying to spin around as fast as possible.

Mickey on my shirt and next to me.

You can't tell from this picture how drop dead tired we all were at this point. In fact, Jeff and I couldn't even make the drive home to San Diego that night. We ended up sleeping for at a rest stop on the side of the road - a new adventure for us.

Unfortunately, our little point and shoot camera died while we were at Disneyland. But I stole this picture of Marianne and the boys off facebook.

When we were trying to decide whether to go or not, Jeff remarked that since school would be starting on the 31st, this was our last time to be irresponsible. Somehow, I don't think school will stop us from being irresponsible...but who knows. ;-)

Seattle Vacation

2009-08-04T22:52:00.001-07:00

Jeff and I are still alive, believe it or not. ;-) We've been having a really fun, busy summer.
We took a vacation up to Seattle for my mom's family reunion in the middle of July. We had a really great time seeing my family and running around doing different activities.
Here are a few pictures. There are a lot more in an album I created on facebook, so you can check that out if you are interested.

Hiking up on Mt Rainier

Enjoying a delicious dinner at Salty's with Anna and Bob, courtesy of my uncle Lars.

Um, that is the Seattle skyline behind us. I promise. I know it is really blurry.

We went to a Mariners game. They lost. Badly.

My husband is crazy. I tried to tell him how cold the ocean was going to be, but it didn't even phase him.

We went to Forks! Jeff played gameboy the majority of that excursion. Such a lit
tle town...with nothing going for it except Twilight. This is Bella's truck, parked at the information center.

Roasting marshmallows at my grandparent's cabin, located on the Quinault Indian Reservation.

The whole family!

One reason they should have recess at the office...

2009-06-09T13:12:00.000-07:00

Four square!

I mean, talk about a morale booster. At least for the person who was reigning A-square champ when it was time to go back inside.

...From Nashville to Norway, Bonaire to Zimbabwe, Chicago to Czechoslovakia and back!

2009-05-29T14:03:00.001-07:00

It all started a few months ago, when Jeff and I found the board game of "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego" at the DI for $2. Not long after, "Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego" appeared on top of it in our game closet - this one a Savers find. The next addition to our Geography family was clear - it had to be the Leapfrog Explorer Interative Globe. My family has one, given to us a few years ago by my grandparents. It is the best. toy. ever.

On one side of the dial, there is the educational section. You can compare population of two countries, hear music selections from different cultures, capitals, currency, the flying time from one place to another - the list goes on and on. But on the other side of the dial is where the fun truly begins. You can go head to head on your knowledge of where certain countries, capitals, states, etc. are. Four 45-second rounds, 1 intensely fun game.
If you come over, we will play it with you. But be warned, we are now geography pros. I had Jeff telling me about the latest Geography Bee winners the other day. This is serious.

One year!

2009-05-26T11:53:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe that our one year anniversary has already come and gone! Jeff and I spent a relaxing weekend up in Park City together to celebrate, full of tennis, swimming, and shopping. We were also able to enjoy the top of our wedding cake, which was surprisingly good for being a year old!

So many things have happened and changed in the past year. It hasn't always been easy, but this first year of marriage was definitely a lot of fun!

It's about time

2009-05-05T10:18:00.000-07:00

So Here's what I think. Linnea is the only one that posts on this blog. I think it's about time that I start putting my thoughts out there too! WHO'S WITH ME! . . . . (cricket sounds) Well, it might just be me, but I thought I'd do this for fun. . . .

FREE MONDAY NIGHT MOVIES!

(Linnea says I don't publicize enough)

Every Monday Night at my work, Tahitian Noni International, we have free movie showings. Free. Gratis. Zero. $0.00. Nada.
They start at 6:30 pm and we give away free soft chews! If you haven't tried any, just let me know, and I can get you some. They're good!

One of the coolest things is that I get to choose the movies! So if you want to see one of your favorite movies on our 16 foot big screen, let me know! It does have to be family friendly, and you have to invite as many people as you know. :-)

Next Monday, May 11th we're going to show Madagascar then May 18th Madagascar 2, which I heard is hilarious!

There's only one problem . . . . These movie nights might be going away! We're kind of doing a trial to see if it's worth it or not. Before I had this job I always thought, "Monday Night Movies. Wow. That sounds like a great idea! I'd like to go to that . . ." BUT I NEVER WENT! So if you are like I was, Get over yourself! Ha ha, j/k. Just come. Or if you can't, let people know.

I think it would be even just a cool friend get together where we get to watch whatever movie we wanted to together and have fun! What do you think? Let me know. Thanks.

Photography!

2009-04-24T22:03:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I found out that I was accepted into BYU's Photography program! I'm so excited. It will mean a lot more school (instead of graduating next semester) but this is what I really want to do, so it will definitely be worth it.
If you haven't already seen it, I have a photography blog, too. Check it out!.

An Evening with President Monson

2009-04-21T22:09:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I had an awesome opportunity to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony to open the new replica of the original Deseret News Room at the Crandall Historical Printing Museum tonight. It was actually my dad who was invited to the event, but since he couldn't go we decided to take his place. :-) (Thanks Dad!) When we got there I, being a woman, was directed up to the front row - where the last seat available was exactly front and center. Jeff, as a man, had to stand in the back - which was great actually, because he had the camera and was able to get some great shots for us.
We learned a lot about the first printing press and Guttenberg and typesetting and all sorts of stuff. President Monson, being a printer himself back in the day, was the guest of honor. They had him pull the "devil's tail" to print a sheet of the Bible in Latin. We enjoyed the chance to hear him speak some before he cut the ribbon.
Afterward we headed over to the Mariott to enjoy a wonderful dinner. We were quite thrilled to discover that since our tickets were under my dad's name, we had prime seating - front and center once more. :-) We were right by the podium, about 5 feet from President Monson the whole time. We were at a table with other Deseret News people, seated right next to Mr. Cannon and his wife. We got to hear some really beautiful musical numbers and President Monson spoke again. He told all sorts of funny stories, and it was really interesting to get to hear him just speak and cover all sorts of topics - whatever came to his mind, really - instead of a set address. For example, President Monson says his bedtime is after Perry Mason wins his case. He likes winners, and Perry Mason always wins. Ha. Jeff and I are Perry Mason fans too, so we enjoyed that. :-) He also told a very amusing story about when Elder McConkie attempted to add 2 more Articles of Faith to the Book of Mormon.
All in all, it was a very enjoyable evening, and we feel very lucky to have had the chance to be a part of it.
The Replica of the original Deseret News printing press -

President Monson cuts the ribbon -

This picture shows my prime time seating - I'm the blonde head in the front row. :-)

Here President Monson pulls the devils tail -

And then shows off the sheet that he inked -

Happy 50th Birthday Dad

2009-04-20T11:47:00.001-07:00

Dad's 50th Birthday Video
by LinneaAnne

Hare Krishna

2009-04-12T12:50:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Jeff and I trekked over to the Krishna temple with every other college student in driving distance (it seemed) for the Festival of Colors. There is nothing better then throwing powdered chalk (some of it scented!) all over strangers. We had a great time, though traffic was terrible and we ended up getting chalk all over the car. :-)

The stuff family legends are made of...

2009-03-20T15:49:00.000-07:00

This short video clip illustrates a story that has been told for years in our family. I almost feel like I remember it..but I'm sure that just comes from hearing the story and watching the video so many times.

Disneyland!!

2009-03-08T15:32:00.000-07:00

The last week in February Jeff packed up and headed to Vegas for a work convention. I decided I couldn't miss the whole week of school, but I really wanted to go with him, so I drove down myself on Wednesday. Although he had to work all day, we had a great time in the evenings together!

Friday morning, instead of heading home, we headed the other direction and drove to San Diego. We found Disneyland tickets on Craigslist for $30 each, so it was a deal we couldn't pass up. We stayed with Jeff's cousin, Cole, who was very gracious to let us crash there with less than a day's notice. We went out for our first ever Thai food experience with Cole and his fiance, Shannon. We had a really great time. Saturday we spent all day at Disneyland. It was so much fun, though by the end of it our feet were starting to hurt. But we ended up doing almost everything. Space Mountain was definitely our favorite.

Jeff took a turn on Mickey's piano..

While I tackled the Goofwin.

Such an impromptu vacation was exactly what we needed mid-semester. Plus the weather there was terrific - it was about 80 degrees while we were at Disney.

Are you game?

2009-02-02T20:04:00.000-08:00

Jeff and I love to play games, and are always up for trying out new ones. In the last few months we've been introduced to two new ones that have quickly become favorites of ours.

First up, Dicecapades. It just does not get more random or more fun then this, folks. And we haven't found anyone yet who hasn't enjoyed playing with us...and although Dan claims we are both just good because we play it so often, that is totally not true. It is a great game, and if you are up for trying it, let us know and we'll invite you over. :-) Oh, and just ignore the freaky looking people on the box.

Then, Ticket to Ride. We had been hearing about this game here and there, but never had the chance to try it out until my parents got it for Christmas-the Nordic Countries edition. We sat down together to figure it out one night over Christmas break, and after we played it once we immediately set it up and played it again. And then we played it three more times the next day. Jeff got me the Europe version for my birthday a few weeks later.

In other news...we're both just working and going to school. :-)

Honeymoon Video

2008-12-08T18:16:00.000-08:00

I put together some video clips and pictures from our honeymoon...oh boy does that warm weather look nice right about now!

Twilight Dinner

2008-11-22T10:46:00.000-08:00

Last night Kari, Katie, Kylee, Kristina and I got together to have a nice little Twilight themed dinner before hitting the theaters to see the show.
I got martini glasses from the dollar store and dipped the edges in hard candy to look like blood. :-) Then we mixed up some yummy mocktails.

The whole dinner spread - we had mushroom ravioli, salad, bread, apples, the works.

And then of course werewolf cupcakes...here is Kylee holding Jacob -

The movie itself was very unimpressive. And I went with very low expectations to begin with. My favorite part had to be Stephenie Meyer's little appearance - good grief.

However they did show the latest Harry Potter trailer - now that looks amazing. I can't wait to see it.

Los Tigres = Champions!

2008-10-23T20:58:00.000-07:00

Jeff and some of his buddies from high school played intramural softball this season. Their team, Los Tigres, took the Championship in their division last weekend!! They got cool new champion shirts and all the fame and glory that comes with BYU intramural sports. Congratulations, guys!

Official Team Picture

Unofficial Team Picture

More highlights of Jeff from both the Championship game and ealier in the season...

I like this one because you get a great shot of Jeff's ring.

More Fall Decorating...

2008-10-07T10:24:00.000-07:00

So I attempted to turn our decorations on top of our entertainment center over to a more fall theme..but hadn't gotten much farther than taking the little fake green apples from our wedding and sticking them in a few different sized vases. Part of my problem was that I really really didn't want to spend any money on decorating. So finally last night, I decided it was time to get creative. So I wandered around our little place, looking for inspiration. And of course, what do we have a lot of? Noni products! So I gathered together these little product boxes and got to work.

And what else do I have a lot of? Why, scrapbooking paper of course. I covered each box in a different paper and then inked the edges. I had some old cardboard letters that I painted gold and glued to the front of each. And there you have it! It took under half an hour, and now we have a lovely little decoration. Oh and the boxes stand up great, seeing how most of them still have their products inside. :-)

So our entertainment center top looks like this now. I want to get some wheat to put in those green vases, but that will have to be anther day. But I did put a different picture of us in a more fall-ish frame, and there you can see my lovely apples in their vases.

And of course, since Halloween is well on its way now, it was time to get out my Peanuts Halloween figures. The whole gang is here -
Linus, ever faithfully waiting for the Great Pumpkin, and Sally, trusting in him so explicitly

Lucy, dressed up in "exactly the opposite of her true character"

And yes, thats Charlie Brown under the sheet with a million holes, complete with his bag full of rocks. Poor guy.

And then Schroeder and Snoopy, who is dressed as the WWI Flying Ace.

Alright, so I'm a dork, but I love Peanuts. I have It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! on DVD and we'll be watching it here soon, and you all are welcome to come enjoy it with us!

Crispy and Creamy Doughnuts!

2008-10-05T18:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Conference weekend everyone! Jeff and I decided to try something totally new today - we made doughnuts! We had gotten a deep fryer as a wedding gift and decided it was time to put it to use. :-)

Jeff tried to make this enormous monster doughnut...but it fell apart.

Yummy!!

Dinner with Stephen and Adele...

2008-09-29T21:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, I was meaning to post about this awhile ago...but you know..got busy. Anyhow, we had our friends Stephen and Adele over for dinner the other night and had such a great time! Stephen brought his keyboard over and they put on a little concert for us after we ate. It was awesome.
I'm putting on two videos of them singing...they are really really crummy quality, but you get the idea.
Oh and here is my shameless plug for Stephen...he just put a cd out. Its available here.

Otherwise, not much is new with us. Just trying to keep up with school and work and life in general. We both have tests coming up this week. Woohoo!

Oh - as a side note though. We were riding in the car the other night and that song came on the radio - the one that goes, "Give me the beat boys, and free my soul...I wanna get lost in your rock and roll..." and Jeff was singing along, except he had a bad case of misheard lyrics. He was singing, "Give me the Beach Boys and free my soul..."

So if anyone can provide Jeff with the Beach Boys, his soul would greatly appreciate it.

Jeff's New York Trip

2008-09-18T21:32:00.001-07:00

New York! New York!

This was a great little trip that my company set up. It was for a Latin Conference in La Guardia, New York and they chose me to go with some other people to help with the registration and just to make sure everything flowed well. And of course we got to enjoy ourselves a little. I mean, Come on! We were in the Big Apple!

We did get to see the Broadway showing of "The Little Mermaid" (honestly not my pick) also stroll around Time Square and eat at some great restaurants that filled our stomachs and emptied our wallets!

Here's a little collage of my "business" trip in New York.

Me and Time Square!

This is one the wonderful New York transit systems (aka the subway). Looks like my boss on the left felt very comfortable with us.

Is it fall yet??

2008-09-14T13:23:00.001-07:00

I love fall. I love everything about it - football, the weather, the holidays, the leaves - everything. So I keep wondering...how soon is too soon to decorate for fall? And I've been holding off..but finally the temperature started dropping this week and I figured it was finally okay - maybe still a little premature - but at least acceptable.

I was also so excited that Tasha was here visiting from California this week - Dan was at a work retreat in Loa and Jeff at a work convention in New York, so we were both husband-less. Having her here definitely made Jeff being away for the first time less traumatic.

Jeff kept asking me what Tasha and I were going to do together, and I kept telling him we'd find something. And we did - we made fall centerpieces!

Shopping for the supplies actually took longer than making them. :-) We went all over to find the best deals on what we needed. Here's what we got...

The little bases we got (mine are gold, hers is black) were definitely our best find of the day. We headed over to the DI for those - and I got all three of those gold candle holders for $1.50! I love the DI.
Since they were just candleholders, and I wanted my pumpkins to be able to sit on top of them, I picked up some wire and wired a little platform on the top of each one. It was pretty simple, and ended up working really well.

Next we glittered the pumpkins. We used a spray adhesive, which worked well but got everywhere - as did the glitter! And I mean everywhere - I still have glitter stuck to my hands today. After we'd finished we looked just like we used to in the seventh grade - back when we'd go crazy with the roll-on glitter. Man were we cute back then. Here is Tasha spooning the glitter onto her pumpkin -

And here the completed pumpkins and gourds...

Mine..................................................Tasha's
We got some glitter on the stems, so we used acrylic paint to hide that. In hind sight, we really glittered way too many pumpkins. They can't all fit on my little gold stands, or in Tasha's container either. But they turned out so adorable - and now mine is sitting on my table and screaming to everyone who enters the house that fall is coming and I am so excited!!
Here is my finished centerpiece (I don't have a picture of Tasha's, sorry)

Happy 100th Birthday Anne!

2008-09-02T10:01:00.001-07:00

The classic, Anne of Green Gables, has turns 100 years old this year. Anne and her stories have been favorites of mine since I was a little girl. Her story has never been out of print, and multiple TV movie adaptations have been based on it. The Deseret News said in an article today about the books,
"During the past century, Anne Shirley, also known as Anne of Green Gables, has inspired, amused and entertained countless kindred spirits everywhere. She has become one of the most beloved of all literary figures, passed down from mother to daughter and generation to generation."
Thanks to my mom for first introducing me to Anne, and to Lucy Maud Montgomery for creating such a lovable character.
Happy Birthday Anne!

BYU Football

2008-09-01T22:04:00.000-07:00

Go Cougars! Saturday Jeff and I watched BYU cream Northern Iowa. We had great seats thanks to our good friend Paula who invited us to go along with her. Should be an awesome season!

Up the Canyon

2008-08-31T17:00:00.000-07:00

Friday night Jeff and I went up Provo canyon for some quality time together. We cooked hot dogs and smores, looked up at the stars and broke Jeff's sunglasses. It was gorgeous up there!

I tried to tweak our blog to make the pictures bigger...and I succeeded in not only making them bigger, but also screwing up our background and layout and everything. And I'm not sure how to fix it. :-(

With Honor

2008-08-30T20:20:00.000-07:00

I love this video, made by some of the talented people on the communications team at LDSP (not me, unfortunately.)

To see a higher quality version of this video, visit bronco.byu.edu.

Dear Stephenie Meyer,

2008-08-29T10:47:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week my attention was drawn to the rumor of the Midnight Sun leak - and I was able to find and download (illegally, unfortunately, I'm very sorry - but it was so good I would be willing to pay you for it) the first 12 chapters. And I loved it.
Today I saw on your website that you responded to the leak, and that you feel so unhappy that it was leaked that you may not write the rest...and have put off the project indefinitely.
This breaks my heart. Please please please write the rest, and publish it so I can finish reading it.
Oh, and then if you'd like to continue and write the rest of the books from Edward's point of view too, I would fully support you.
Thanks,
Linnea

To read what Stephenie had to say, go here. And she has posted the leak there as well, so you don't have to resort to illegal means.

Ballet Shoes

2008-08-22T21:46:00.000-07:00

Ballet Shoes, by Noel Streatfeild, was one of my favorite books when I was younger. (And still is today, in fact.) So I was thrilled to find out that a movie based on the book was going to be released next week here in the US. It was originally a made-for-television movie in the UK. I've always been a fan of Emma Watson, who plays Pauline in the film.
Its only showing for a limited engagement at one theater here in Utah...you can bet I'll be there. :-)
Here is the preview...

ConGRADulations Daniel!

2008-08-14T21:44:00.000-07:00

Daniel was lucky enough to graduate today. We went out and took some pictures of him in his robes last night. He's so excited to finally graduate, and he and Holly will be moving to China for his internship on the 21st.
Congratulations Daniel!

Sundance Outdoor Film Festival

2008-08-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I have enjoyed going up to Sundance's Outdoor Film
Festival this summer. Every week they project a movie out in their
theater area, and its free to the public. Last night we went with Kari
and Ryan and watched one of my personal favorites, Moulin Rouge.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

2008-08-11T19:45:00.000-07:00

Last fall, my roommate Katie made this delicious zucchini bread - a lot of it. I think we lived off it for about a week, eating a slice for every meal as well as snacks and dessert. Jeff helped me make some tonight, and now I'm all set to have it for every meal tomorrow. :-)

Here's the recipe -

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon baking powder

3 eggs

½ cup unsweetened applesauce

½ cup vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon grated orange peel

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups shredded zucchini

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and baking powder. In another bowl, beat the eggs, applesauce, oil, orange peel and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the zucchini, nuts, and chocolate chips.

Transfer to two greased 9 in x 5 in x 3 in loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 2 loaves.

My new camera!!

2008-08-11T09:21:00.001-07:00

So we've been after this camera for a while - and this weekend we finally purchased it. I'm thrilled - we got such an amazing deal and the camera is spectacular. Its a Nikon D80, and we got it with two lenses as well as a wide angle lens attachment.

Jeff and Christian were my models yesterday. The rest of the boys complain that Christian is a camera hog..which in all actuality he is. I had to tell them not to worry - we'd get pictures taken of the older boys soon enough.

Mom calls this his "jack-o-lantern" smile.

And my handsome husband...

In other news, we're excited for the olympics, and I was really impressed with the opening ceremonies. The precision and exactness - it was incredible!

Christian is rooting for both the American and Norwegian teams.

Harry Potter 6

2008-07-30T18:42:00.001-07:00

I woke Jeff up this morning to come watch this trailer with me. Looks good, I can't wait for it to come out! Looks like we know what movie we'll be going to see this Thanksgiving break...

From Drab to Fab

2008-07-25T15:09:00.001-07:00

So last weekend I was looking in Jill's Real Simple magazine, and came across an article on decorating and bookcases. My mind turned back to our bookcase at home...and was not happy with what I saw. We bought the bookcase for about $15 from a girl Jeff used to work with, and its been good for holding books. But suddenly my mind was opened to the possibility of it actually looking good...and I was inspired.
So I went home and kept bugging Jeff to help me change it. Finally today we have a finished product.
Here is the before shot - a drab, ugly bookcase.

And here is the after shot - a beautiful, new fab bookcase!

We borrowed the paint from my mom, who had some leftover from painting Christian's room. And a big shout out to Erik and Charlene, who let us come use their skill saw to cut some new shelves.

We bought these little wooden monkey on the beach down in Mexico. I'm the orange one and Jeff is the brown one. (Thats what I say, at least. I don't think Jeff considers himself a monkey, or cares what color he is. But he's a good sport.)

Noni Power

2008-07-23T22:40:00.000-07:00

So, I'm usually pretty reluctant when it comes to Noni products. I know - my husband sells them, I should be supportive - but I tend to balk at using them merely because for every single minor ailment I may have, Jeff tells me he has a product that can fix that.
Now, my naturally skeptical self does not like that.
However, tonight I was proven wrong. I got three bug bites while we were outside - and I happen to be allergic to bug bites. Jeff immediately told me he would run inside and grab some noni leaf serum - which would...I don't know...fix my problem? I laughed at him. However, soon the bites were swelling and itching, and I didn't have any other choice, so I applied the serum.
And it cooled the burning and swelling right down! It was amazing, and I was amazed.
I may not be ready to try the noni shampoos or the nasty smelling noni lotion or drink the so-called super drinks, but I sure am sold on that serum. (Even though its not actually for bug bites, its for sunburns and that sort of thing.)

Food Court Musical

2008-07-21T05:59:00.001-07:00

This is for anyone who ever wished that life was a musical. The man beyond this flash mob is a genius.

Grandpa Smith

2008-07-17T19:32:00.000-07:00

My mother's father, Glenn Smith passed away early this morning. He was someone that I have fond memories of. Even though I call them fond, others might see it as gross. He used to have me look at him and then he would make his false teeth come out. I loved it! I would ask him to do it all the time when I was little. And that was quite a long time ago, contrary to popular belief. And he would always ask for a kiss on the cheek from every grandkid. Also, I know that he overcame so many different obstacles in his life that it's quite amazing to think about. Although I know his wife, my Grandma Smith, was the one helping -- occasionally pushing -- him along the way. I love my Grandpa and I'm proud to be his grandson. I will always remember his strength. I love you Grandpa.

4th of July Weekend!

2008-07-11T17:36:00.001-07:00

We had a blast 4th of July weekend! Friday morning started off early with Jeff going to work (yuck) but I got to go and join Crystal and watch the Provo City 4th of July parade!

After Jeff got off work we headed up to South Jordan for a barbeque with my family and some fireworks. Daniel and Holly made the trip up too, so the whole gang was there. Mom made these little "frog" treats - though I think more frog parts got stolen by the kids then got assembled.

Mom and Christian doing some sparklers...

On Saturday we headed up to Pocatello, Idaho for Jeff's grandpa's 90th birthday! There was a big birthday party in the park for him, complete with lots of food and cake. In his younger years he had been a fireman, so the Pocatello Fire Department came out and brought all the fire trucks! That was such a wonderful surprise for him.
Highlights from the party...

Ayden sure has gotten big!

And last but not least, the crazy duo. Who knows where they get all their energy from. :-)

Hey, Macarena!

2008-07-02T10:11:00.000-07:00

Christian learned the macarena in kindergarten. So here he is, showing off his skill!

Eureka, we've got it!!

2008-07-01T10:39:00.001-07:00

So for the last month, we've been vacuum-less. Jeff has reverted back to his mission ways, down in Mexico, where they would just use brooms to sweep the carpet clean. Which was okay...but we really really needed a vacuum.
So last night we invested in our very own Eureka Enviro Vac. It has an energy saving motor and a reusable, washable filter - and its bagless. Plus its this delightful baby blue color. We're helping the environment AND I get an adorable vacuum. Everybody wins.
The other great part is that its such a novelty in our house right now - both of us just want to try it out and vacuum all the time. So until that wears off we're going to have really really clean floors. :-)

Risky Business

2008-06-30T09:50:00.000-07:00

Jeff has this obsession lately with playing Risk. He always wants to play, so we end up playing the 2-player version a lot, where you have a neutral army and all.

And I win. Every single time.

No seriously - he has yet to beat me. I slaughter him, and pretty quickly too. I never knew I was good at risk...before Jeff got on this kick the last time I had played it was when I was 6 and my dad took over Greenland from me. That game ended in tears. Jeff thinks I win because I'm sleeping with the enemy.

I think part of it is the two-player version...I don't think I would win if there were other people playing. We were going to call Matt and Stephanie to come play last night, but it was already kind of late. Sorry guys. Maybe next time. :-)

BBQ'ing with Friends!

2008-06-25T17:18:00.000-07:00

Monday night we all got together with meat, drinks, desserts, and one salad (thanks Kari!) to celebrate summer. We had a great time eating, and tossing around the frisbees and football.

One of the greatest highlights of the night was when Sam dropped his steak into the punchbowl.

Katie turned into Martha Stewart all of a sudden and whipped out these amazing jello summer treats! They were beautiful to look at and tasted yummy too...way to go Kate.

More highlights and pictures from the night...

Did I mention Monday was our one-month anniversary? :-)

Armando and Liz got married!

2008-06-24T10:29:00.000-07:00

Armando and Liz got married last Saturday. Jeff and I were lucky enough to go to their sealing, as well as to their gorgeous reception that night at the McCune Mansion. Everything was so elegant and beautiful, and it was fun to see a couple that we love so much get married.

Katie was there too, of course.
I was really happy to see my old
faux-roommate.

Honeymoon pictures!

2008-06-23T10:55:00.000-07:00