Family....

...We may not have it all together but together we have it all!!

Here are a few of our family pictures we had taken while we were in Texas for Thanksgiving. We had them taken at the Texas Old Town. Beautiful place.

Thanksgiving

This year we had the opportunity to go to Texas to spend Thanksgiving with all of my family! We spent one great week and wished it lasted forever. It was the most relaxing week we have had for awhile, even with the few projects my parents had lined up for us.


Here is our feast! We had everything you could imagine and then some! We had enough to feed several families, but, there were no leftovers when we left!







While we were cooking, my nephew, Carson, came around and asked us what we were thankful for. We were thankful for our family, gospel, crayons and brownies!





A lot of time was just spent hanging out. I sure can not believe how fast my nephews have grown in just the last 6 months, the last time I saw them.

Carson




Jensen

We left on Saturday the 28th- The day of the big UTAH vs. BYU game, so this is what my nephews showed up in to say goodbye.






Even wearing blue, I still love them!

Here are the guys watching cars right before we left to head to the airport. My nephews, especially Carson, have every line and song memorized, but who doesn't like Cars!?!




Also while we were there, we took family pictures. I will post them soon!

Diaper Cakes

On Wednesday I helped throw a shower for one of my co-workers. For the decorations and gift, I made diaper cakes. She is having a boy, so I did a sports theme.

Each cake had its own theme with ribbon and base.



Soccer...grass



Basketball...hardwood floor




Baseball....dirt



football....grass

One for each table with sports chocolates to add to the tables.

They turned out so cute!

Playing catch up!

As tradition, we went to Unitas Camp Ground with my family for the Labor Day Holiday! It was so nice to get away. We went fishing, hiking, did some catching up with the family and more fishing.





My brother Jason



Uncle Dean and Adam



Jason, Derek, Adam and Christopher

We had a great time and cant wait till next year!

Guys trip only!

Adam, his brother Chris and our nephew Noah went backpacking to Cuberant Lake (Mirror Lake area). They had fun eating, fishing and just hanging out!

I am glad Adam was able to get his first and last backpacking trip in this season. With the job changes, he had no time off.

As for me, I also enjoyed my time while he was out.
My friend Alisha and I had a "girls night Out!"

We left work early on Friday to use our gift certificates are work gave us to Massage Envy! Aww what a nice relaxing way to start the weekend!!! That was a much needed massage.

After the relaxing time, it was off to dinner at Bucca Di Beppo. That was our first time ever going! It was great food. I was full for the rest of the night!!

After a great dinner we went and saw The Time Travelers Wife. It was a great ending to a great "girls night out!" Thanks Alisha!!!

August 21-23, 2009

We headed to Bear Lake! It had been a few years since Adam and I had gone , we use to go every year with my family, but that last few years we were too busy to go. So we were excited to go this year with some friends!



We sat on the beach enjoying the sun!



Played volleyball (we did have more playing the first round, this picture was taken during the second round)

We got really hot after the first few games, so the guys decided it was time to jump into the
ICE COLD RIVER!!!



Hum...should I jump or not?......I'll do it!




I love how he trips going in and trying to get out.

It looked fun and I was really hot! So I jumped too!





It was cold, but within a few minuets, the sun warmed me up!


Thanks Nick and Kim, we had a great time!

Ward Camp Out

The weekend of August 14 and15 was our ward camp out!

Despite all the chickens who did not come up because of the rain, we had a great turn out! We stayed up til 12:30A.M. playing phase 10. We tried not to keep all the others who were trying to sleep up with our loud laughing and jokes, but I am sure we did! Sorry!


.

What to do at work.....

Google your name and needs (Jennifer Needs) and post the first 10 "needs" that come up.

1. Jennifer needs a cold shower
2. Jennifer needs your help
3. Jennifer needs to date Jason
4. Jennifer needs to get in bed
5. Jennifer needs facebook
6. Jennifer needs a smack daddy
7. Jennifer needs a self righteous, conspicuous, charitable position
8. Jennifer needs to play by the rules
9. Jennifer needs to feel more secure
10. Jennifer needs a miracle

and could not resist doing Adam's needs....

1. Adam needs someone to move into his apartment
2. Adam needs immediate infusion of $25 Million
3. Adam needs facebook
4. Adam needs some new art
5. Adam needs books for class
6. Adam needs to do better then anyone else
7. Adam needs a brother
8. Adam needs to awaken his inner ninja
9. Adam needs more cowbells
10. Adam needs a tour

- Adam says, "I think that everyone can use more cowbell."

Finally Catching up!!!

June 10-13, 2009

Adam's sister, Ceanne came into town for a few days. It had been almost three years since the last time we saw her, so we were excited to take some time off to hang out!. She taught us Canasta, a gift she gave us for Christmas 4 years ago and no one else knew how to play, and a few other games. It was great to see her and hope it wont be another 3 years till the next visit!

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June 20, 2009

Adam, Jake, Gavin and I hiked up Mt. Olympus Saturday morning. This was my first time and man what a hike! I thought I would do ok with all the "working out" I have been doing! But I was wrong. I had to physically lift my legs into the car and it hurt to walk for a few days. But the view was so worth it!

This was about half of the way up with the Salt Lake Valley behind.

Right behind us is the top. It was pretty windy up there!

Gavin, I and Jake with Lone Peak behind.

We had a great time and are planning another trip in the late fall. But this time we want to go up on a Friday and stay the night to see the Beautiful sunrise on Saturday morning. If you want to go, just let me know. We would love to have you!!

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June 23-29, 2009

My parents came in town. I took the whole time off at work, but it was Adam's 2nd week at his new job, so he was not able to take the time off. But we were able to go to lunch with him and we also had the weekend. We went to Roosevelt to see my mom's family and to attend a family Reunion and Baptism of my cousin. With all the fun things we did, this is the only picture I took.

My cute mom!

It was nice to see them and to see how well my dad is doing after the last time I saw him (see trip to Texas). What a transformation!!! He is almost back to himself. But has 2 more surgeries to go. They told us the next time they will come back to Utah is when my dad retires in 6 years or Jason (my brother) gets married or I have a baby! So I guess we will see them in 6 years!!! ;)

6 months and no more counting!!!

That is right, Adam is no longer unemployed!!! YEAH! He is very excited and nervous to start his new adventure with Lefavi (financial company). He will be doing marketing and writing for the company. I am very excited for him and know he will do great! Congratulations Adam!

While Adam has been unemployed, he started a blog. Check it out!
http://adams-infinite-space.blogspot.com/

Happy 5th Wedding Anniversary to us!

Yep, you read that right! Today Adam and I have been married for 5 years!!!! Crazy huh? Time has sure gone by so fast. I have loved every moment and cant wait for all the years to come!

Rocking out in Moab

Over the weekend, Adam and I went to Arches and Canyon Lands with our friends Emily, Eric and Kian.

Our first stop was Arches.



We hiked in the hot sun to see all the amazing arches. It was so beautiful.

Next stop Canyon Lands




Here we all are looking over the green river.




Adam and I literally on a cliff.

We had so much fun and hope we can return again.

My trip to Texas

After arriving in Austin Saturday night, I was taken straight to the hospital to see my dad. He had no idea I was coming. My mom thought it would be nice to surprise him. I walked into his room and said SURPRISE!!!! He looked at me and smiled. It just melted my heart to see how excited he was to see me. With everything going on....brain surgery, meningitis, diabetes and gout, we were all glad to see him smile!!! I spent most of my time at the hospital with him. On Monday the 4th we thought he would be able to come home. He was discharged and almost ready to go home, when he started vomiting. The pressure from that opened his wound. DISCHARGE CANCELED. Tuesday morning his Dr came in, who did the surgery, and saw what was going on with his wound and did surgery right away. He removed a piece of bone he placed in with the first surgery. The bone was infected. The surgery went great. He looks much better. I also spent time with my brother, sister-in-law and kids. We went to a splash pad one day, got hosed down by the fire department and had family home evening in the hospital. It has been really busy going back and forth to the hospital (hour round trip) helping my mom with her projects, taking my grandma around town and tried to have fun. I have had such a great time. My dad will be coming home in the morning and I will be heading out that night. I wish my dad was able to be home while I was here, but I am glad that I came to help out while he was in the hospital. It just worked out. He will be home and my mom will be able to somewhat get her life back in order. She will have all the help she will need and more from their awesome ward!!! They have been so helpful through all of this and will continue it. They sure all wanted me to move out here!!! So if they find Adam a job, maybe we will ;)

Where to begin....

I was called as the Scout Committee Chairman in my ward about 2 months ago. It has been a challenge, especially because I have no clue about scouts! Adam was called as the Webelos Den leader the same day. He has helped me out, and I have a great committee member that helps me out in every way possible! A few weeks after getting this calling, Adam's partner moved out of the ward. So guess who is his new partner is? ME! And I am still a ward missionary. WOW! But I can't complain too much, it has been great so far. The boys in our den and pack are great, a long with the leaders. I could not ask for better people to serve with.

A month ago I was on my way to the scout shop from work (right across the street), when our blue car started making weird noises and it would not let me go over 15 MPH. I did not think much of it because Adam was meeting me there to get the stuff we needed to for scouts. When he tried to test drive the car, he did not make it very far. It would go and then stop! So here we are at the University, hungry, Friday night, and a long way from home. We decided to get dinner and stop by Checkers and see if they could help us out. We bought some transmission fluid to see if that was it and a tow rope. When we got back to the car, the transmission fluid was fine, so we hooked up the blue car to the xterra and started towing it home. We left the U about 7:00 P.M. Things were going fine, we were taking back roads and going as slow as possible and making lots of people mad! We got to about 2300 south and 300 west, when all of a sudden....screech....I was dragging the blue car and Adam, who was in the blue car on speaker phone, was yelling STOP!!!. Basically the blue car's gear box froze up! None of the wheels would move, it was like it was in park the whole time. Adam was so mad that he dragged the car into a near by parking lot. By this time it was 8:30 P.M. I called our insurance company to see what our plan would cover for towing. We called a tow truck and they took our blue car to our home. It was only $75.00 and our insurance would reimburse us all of the expense. So you are thinking, why didn't we call one in the first place? Yah that is the same thing we were thinking!! Here it is after 10:00P.M. and the tow trucker wants cash. They did not tell me over the phone I needed to pay by cash after dark. CRAP!! What do I do? The ATM is too far away, neighbor? I went to a neighbor who happened to to still be awake and lucky had enough cash. What a crazy Friday night. The car is still under our car port, waiting for us to give it a new home.

A few weeks ago a strong wind came and blew a lot of the shingles off of our roof, due to us being in a HOA, it is their responsibility to get us a new roof. The weather has been great until the last few days. In our bedroom, all around the sliding class doors and all around our skylight, it is soaking wet. Now the HOA is starting to get bids. Hopefully the roof will be replaced by the end or first part of the week. What great fun! :)

Last Thursday I got a call from my mom telling me that my dad has been having trouble seeing out of his left eye for a few days and went to the Dr to have an MRI. The next day, we found out he has tumor and had to wait to find out all the details about the tumor til Tuesday when he was able to get into the neurosurgeon. It was a long weekend for all of us !!The Dr told him it is an benign tumor behind his left eye and is pushing against his optic nerve. It has caused him to loose 60% of his eye sight. He has also had problems with his short term memory as well as formulating sentences just within the last few months. The tumor is infected causing calcification which has eaten over a 1/2" of bone away from his forehead and sinuses.

Tomorrow after noon he will be having surgery to remove the tumor and hopefully save his vision. There is a slight chance he will not be able to get any of his eye sight back as well as his brain functions. Three months down the road he will have to have another surgery to rebuild the bone and sinuses.

With all this going on, I just have to stop and think about all the wonderful blessing we have. We have great family and friends! We would not be able to survive without you!

A first time for everything

On Saturday we drove to Roosevelt for the day to help butcher a cow on my family's farm. This was Adam's first time seeing this process happen. I have been doing this since I was old enough to remember. He had fun and wants to do it again. Here are some pictures. Sorry if they gross you out.





Something is actually taller then him ;)



Cut it up. Yum.

The whole time we were doing this, all we were craving is steaks right off the grill, Philly cheese steak sandwiches, fajitas and juicy hamburgers.....ummmm. My grandma made us chicken noodle soup instead, because she thought we would be sick of beef. It was perfect because we were pretty cold after being in a "fridge" most of the day. It was a short trip, but it was nice to see the family and to get some beef, it whats for dinner.

Our House

Here are the before and the after pictures of our house!!!!

Front Door

Front Room














Kitchen









Laundry Room







Stairs








Bathroom


























Master Bedroom







Master Closet













Guestroom






Guestroom closet