Catching up

My deepest apologies to all those who have seen the picture of Grant and I from Thanksgiving about a thousand times. In addition to our standard lack of motivation, our computer has been broken and infected with a virus. It won't have any pictures but- How 'bout a catch up blog?:

For me, school finished in december. I had 2 online classes to finish and I'm done with one. I studied for and passed the LEED (environmentally-friendly construction) test in time for my big interview in Seattle with Turner Construction. It went well and they said they'd hire me as soon as they have a spot (maybe Sept.?). I got the same response from another company in Las Vegas. Turns out that right now wasn't the best time to graduate in construction management, but we'll be ok. In my spare time I've been grateful to be able to read some books for pleasure and have finished a couple good ones including "When Crickets Cry" and "John Adams".

Jenny has done an excellent job at making some goals and sticking to them since January. She excerises most every day and has done a number of other things to improve her well being both spiritually and physically. She's tried out a bunch of new recipes and has spent some good time on a cookbook of her favorite recipes. She has done quite a bit of reading including biographies of some of her ancestors and some other good books. These things when she can as Grant can be a bit of a handful sometimes. She's also been the head of or planning committee.

We have been living in my sister's condo for about a year now and it is closing tomorrow so we have been packing, moving, and cleaning. **Thanks, by the way, to all those that helped. We really appreciate it! We're moving up to Layton to live with my sister Julie. I'll be working on a remodel project for my parents while I continue to look for a more permanent job.

Not to forget Grant: He has such a great personality. He has much stronger opinions on what he wants and doesn't want now. He commonly will say "dis" and point to indicate that he wants "this". If that doesn't work then he has some other tactics. :) He's become a bit mischievous: when we tell him not to do something, he'll consistently go hide and try it there. He's really been enjoying movies. He likes Finding Nemo and Cars but nothing will compare to the show "The Wiggles" put on. If you want a taste, here's a link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=E83KFvskRvo

We have had the opportunity to spend a good amount of time with family lately and that has been fantastic. We spent time in both Layton and Las Vegas and here in Orem you'll frequently find us at Aunt Chris' party house. We've also spent a lot of good times with our friends and neighbors, the Harwards. Our kids love to hang out and either while they're playing or while they're sleeping, we're playing Guitar Hero or cards or something. Shot out to them if they read this: We'll miss the good days of being across the hall from you.

All in all, life has treated us well these past few months and we're very much looking forward to seeing what exactly the future will have for us.

I love these two!

Halloween Time

It ended up being a bit of a hectic weekend but we still managed to squeeze in some fun. Our good friend Kim invited us to a dinner party on Friday. She always throws such amazing parties. Seriously, an amazing hostess. I don't know how she manages to do it all but the house is decorated, the table setting is amazing and the food is delicious! Thanks so much for including us Kim! Then Saturday we went over to my sister-in-law Michelle's family party. It was fun to see everyone dressed up. We really didn't end up doing any Trick or Treating. Sorry Grant! :) But we were definitely grateful to have a couple of excuses to dress up in our costumes. Here are a bunch of pictures as promised, Mom. :)


My boy, the DRAGON!

Notice the sweet halloween shirt underneath his costume.

Practicing his dragon moves! Rarrr!


Kayden, Grant, Cameron


My Knight and Dragon





Sam and Michelle (Gonzo and his Chicken)
Michelle made these. Amazing huh?


Emily, Tom, Chris (Amelia Earhart, Monk, Gorilla)


The whole group


And a video of Grant. Just for fun.

California Adventure Part 1 - Disneyland!

We went to Disneyland with all of Chris's family a couple of weekends ago over UEA break. We have been planning this trip for almost a year now so we were all pretty excited. Chris pulled some all nighters almost every night leading up to the trip to get all of his school stuff done. We flew there and Grant did pretty well. He was about as antsy as he is in Church so we were used to it. We really had so much fun in California. The weather was beautiful. Our group was alot of fun and we were quite the group too; 28 of us. Grant did great with everything. He LOVED the music that is playing everywhere and he was constantly bobbing his head or dancing. I really enjoyed having more than one day at Disneyland too. That helped everything be a little more relaxed. We didn't feel pressured to run from one thing to the next all day long. A big shout out of love to everyone who helped plan it. Thanks so much for the good times!

Travel and Arrival.




Riding the rides!



Grant's favorite way to wait in line. (Everyone else in that picture were strangers.)




Relaxing which eventually led to even more relaxing.



Eating! Mmmmmm!



Meeting Mickey Mouse and Frozone!



Hanging out and having the good times! (waiting with Adam for Playhouse Disney, watching the parade, posing for pictures, and riding rides together.)