Video Chatting

I am not very up on the latest technologies - I just have a regular cell phone and have never once texted (texting is actually blocked on our phones), we do not have cable or a dvr or a flat pannel TV, we only got high-speed internet 2.5 years ago - and I only got a web cam a couple months ago. There is a lot about technology I don't like - but there are also some things I love - and I have just fallen in-love with video chatting.

At Christmastime my family had a big party - I didn't get to be there. I also didn't have a video cam at the time, but my sister did and so for part of the party I got to watch my family (they couldn't see or hear me but I could them so it kind-of felt like I was there with them).

My MTC companion and I have a tradition of talking every year around the time we entered the MTC. She is a Canadian however, so I can't talk to her for free. But video chatting with Skype and Google chat is free - so this year we bought a web cam. We have tried a few times to chat, but our chats have been cut short due to technical difficulties. One of the times our chat wasn't working out one of my friends from BYU, that I haven't seen since before my mission I think, was on-line and I ended up getting to chat with her for a little bit, which was fun.

Last night I got to chat with my companion, Crystal Little Schlenker, for 1 1/2 hours - so fun. Since being home from the mission I have only seen her twice - once just a month or two before I got married - so 7 years ago. The other time was a couple years ago when Ryan and I were on our way to Vancouver for our Alaska cruise we had a lay-over in Toronto where she lives. She traveled about an hour (each way) to see us for 30-45 minutes. But it was so great to see her. Well, after last night I almost feel like I have seen her again. I feel blessed.

Now I want to chat with all my favorite people who I don't get to see regularly. So, you should get a web cam if you don't already have one and we can chat. Let me know when you want to!

May Holds Camping - and more bird stories

Our temple closes the first two weeks of May for cleaning and up-keep. That means we have two free Saturdays. As our first free Saturday was approaching we tried to remember what we used to do on Saturdays before we started working at the temple - we would get things done. So, our first Saturday we spent the majority of the day doing stuff in the yard and around the house. It was exhausting and we thought we needed to get back to the temple to get a little more rest. (We did play games with Ryan's parents that night, which was fun.) It was interesting though, we spend almost every Saturday at the temple and have done so for a year and a half now, and somehow despite work and church service we are still able to get all our stuff done. I have no doubt that if we hadn't had this time off from the temple we would still have been able to get all our stuff done some how. I think it is like keeping the Sabbath Day holy - you may have to take a break from your work and focus on the Lord for one day, but if you do you are blessed to get all your other stuff done faster - I have seen that happen too many times to even need to rely on faith anymore, I know it will happen. I guess it is the same with all obedience, God will make sure everything can work out, as long as you are obedient - so nice of Him.

But since we got all our work done that first Saturday, we were able to play the second one - and play we did. When Ryan and I were engaged and registering for gifts, we registered for camping equipment. We were given a lot and used it frequently our first several years of marriage. Camping is a tricky thing in Texas though because the weather doesn't go very gradually from cold to hot or from hot to cold. There are definitely some nice days, but they are rather sporadic and hard to predict. Generally you can only think of camping in April and May or September and October, and even then, like I said, it's hard to know. As a result, we haven't been camping since before we started working at the temple because there just haven't been many opportunities. But we had a weekend off that also had perfect camping weather - and so we went. On my way home from work I always pass by signs for Joe Pool Lake. Neither Ryan or I had ever been there. But a few months ago (like 6) a guy I work with said he would go camping at this place near there and that there was camping there. Ryan and I tried to go hiking there on New Years, but it had been rainy and so the trails were closed. But we decided to try again, and I am so glad we did. It is only about 20-30 minutes from our house, and oh so pretty.

There are various parks around the lake with camping - we camped at Cedar Hill State Park. It was fantastic because there are tons of trees which makes all the campsites secluded, and the lake is nice. We got there fairly late Friday night so by the time we got out tent up the sun was already down so we only had enough time to walk to the lake and check out our surrounding area. The next morning after breakfast and packing everything up we went to Penn Farm (it is within the park). It was interesting, I don't know how many acres, but pretty big with lots of old farm equipment and buildings and such. I wish I were a better photographer because I think you could get some AMAZING pictures there. I would like to have family pics taken there. Anyway, we walked around the farm for awhile and had some interesting run-ins with some birds. First, we were just on this covered patio when we saw a mama bird sitting on her nest. We took a couple steps closer to get a better look and she started flying all around the nest. We stopped, I was hoping she would sit back on the eggs so I could get a picture, but she didn't. then we wondered what she would do if we got closer to the nest, so we tried. She is not at all a good protector, instead of dive-bombing our heads as we expected she just flew to the other side of the porch and watched us. We got a stool thing and looked right into the nest and she didn't do anything, not even chirp at us. But it was still fun to see her 5 little eggs.

Our second run-in was actually quite scary. I am not sure I can inspire in you the fear we felt, even with the pictures, but I will try to explain. There is this big red barn thing on the farm that was made to incorporate two previously existing buildings - I know one was a school but I can't remember the other one. When you go inside the barn you can easily see the structures of these old buildings inside. They are fairly small though, maybe 10-12 by 10-12 feet. The first one we came across had cut-out windows, one on each side. I looked in first and didn't see much, it was really dark but just looked like a big empty space to me. Then Ryan looked in and told me there were chickens in there. I hadn't seen them when I first looked in so I took a second look. Sure enough I saw these black chicken-like animals, but they were covered in about an inch of dust and standing totally still. I thought for sure they were just statues - what animal would be able to live in such a dark place where they clearly weren't being taken care of - what would they eat and how would they get so dusty? I told Ryan I thought they were fake, but he told me they were alive. As I watched a little longer they started moving, super slowly, and very scary. Their bodies and feet look like chickens but their beaks are more vulcher-like. CREEPY. They reminded me of those vulcher-things on The Never Ending Story - do you know what I am talking about? Anyway, we wanted a closer look so we went to the window that was on the side of the building they were huddled against. As I poked my head in they moved in to the corner to get away (I was so nervous even looking - such crazy animals) but then Ryan looked in and the hissed at him - actually HISSED! They were SCARY! We left them alone as we explored more of the farm, but we wanted another look at them since they didn't seem quite chicken or quite vulcher. When we went back I tried a different window, but they had again moved to a new corner. I only had my small camera with me, but I got a few shots with our zoom. I wanted to get a better picture though so I decided to go in to the building they were in. I was scared - not sure if they would try to get me or something. I climbed in and when I was still 8 feet or more away they both started hissing at me - yep, they scared me - I froze, took my picture, and got out of there. Would you be scared of these birds too?

After the farm we went on a nice hike in the park - it was so nice to be totally in the shade pretty much the whole time and see tons of flowers and butterflies - it was just so nice and pleasant.

We then left the state park and went to Cedar Ridge Preserve - it is kept up by the Dallas Audubon Society and it is amazing. It is free although they suggest a $3 donation - totally worth it. We did some super pretty hikes there as well.

After all our hiking we were hungry and a little tired so we stopped at JBs on our way home. It is in this new shopping center in south Arlington. They just happened to be having a car show in the shopping center - so after lunch we walked around the car show for a while, which was fun - it was a first for me. And that was our great camping adventure - loved it.

April Adventures Continued

My sister Molly came to visit for my birthday. She was here with two of her kids and husband on my birthday a few years ago - I think my 26th birthday. I am pretty sure she has been the only one from my immediate family that has been with me on my birthday since I graduated from high school (except when Emily and Maggi lived with me at BYU). So it was fun having her there. She came on Friday afternoon. She took me shopping for clothes as a birthday present - so nice of her. I got a super cute shirt and sweater.

Saturday, the day before my birthday we went to brunch at Blue Mesa Grill, which is fantastic. Then we went to the temple so Ryan and I could work our shift while Molly just got some good temple time in. We left the temple and headed to Ennis to see the wildflowers, which of course were beautiful.

After our flower viewing we went to the drive-in movie theater. While waiting for the movie to start we played some miniature golf. Half-way through our game it started raining pretty hard - we played a quickly as we could and then ran to the safety of our car. Have you ever watched a movie at the drive-in in the rain? It was quite an adventure. But we learned that having your wipers on while your car is not on drains the battery fairly quickly. About 3/4s of the way through our first movie, How to Train a Dragon (which was fantastic), our power went out. That was disappointing. It wasn't so out that we couldn't still listen though, so we did. During the intermission before our next movie, Bounty Hunter (not worth your time) we let the car rest, said a prayer that it would start so we could enjoy the movie, but more importantly get home, waited a little longer, and then started it up - and it did start so we were grateful. Doing these things (Blue Mesa brunch, temple, Ennis flowers and drive-in) have become a bit of a tradition for my birthday - and I like it. I am so glad my birthday is at such a beautiful time of year.

Sunday we went to church, took naps, and then Ryan's parents and sister came over for dinner - paninis (another bit of a tradition - this is the third year in a row anyway - maybe I'll change it up next year). They also brought me cheesecake (my favorite.) It was a fun birthday.

Monday I helped Molly set up a blog and then a Facebook account, and then it was time to head to the airport. I'm so grateful I have fantastic sisters, so lucky!

One day during that next week Ryan came home and there was this guy that told him someone in our neighborhood needed their phone line fixed, which meant they would need to work on the boxes in our backyard. We are not fond of the appearance of these boxes so we have planted bushes all around them to cover them up. As a result, this guy said they would need to dig up one of our bushes to get to the box, but that the guy doing it was really good and that they would replant it. We thought it would be no big deal, that they would dig up our bush, do a little work on the box, replant the bush, and no one would be the wiser. Little did we know - this is what Ryan found when he came home from work.

We were a bit surprised to say the least. We had this gigantic hole in our backyard for three days. They filled it in (kind of, if you walk on the area the hole was the ground starts to sink) and put sod over the area where the hole was, but not where all the dirt was piled up so we now have a big muddy patch. But oh well, what can you do. We knew when we bought the house that they would have access to the spot, we just didn't realize they could dig such a huge hole. Now we know - and so do you.

The Friday after the hole arrived, so did a bird on our back porch. Ryan saw him (I am just guessing he was male) lying on his side breathing really hard. We were sad. It has happened before that birds have flown into our window and knocked themselves out, so I thought maybe he just knocked the wind out himself and that he would be alright. We also thought that maybe it had just hurt one or both of his legs, which was why he was lying on his side, so if he could get upright maybe he could fly. I decided to try to help him. I got some of my gardening gloves and headed to help him fly away. When I first reached to pick him up he started flapping and flew a little ways but stayed close to the ground. Once I did actually pick him up he seemed to calm down quite bit, but he never flew away. So I ended up setting him upright in the grass, he didn't jump or fly out of my hands, I had to set him all the way down.

So this reminded me of another time I held a wild bird. This is a fairly funny, yet true story. My last year at BYU, the year I was dating Ryan, I went grocery shopping at WalMart. On my way to my car I saw this bird just sitting right on the ground, his legs tucked up tight underneath him. Even when I got super close he didn't move at all. I was worried if he stayed there he would get stepped on or rolled over. I did not have any garden gloves with me, I just had my groceries. But I had just bought tortillas, so I used them to scoop him up. He still did not move, so I placed him and the tortillas on the child seat of my cart and proceeded to my car. I unloaded my groceries and he was still there, so he and the tortillas went on to my passenger seat. I figured he was probably rather nervous so on the drive home I played some church music to help soothe him. It is about a 15 minute drive from WalMart to my condo. When I was less than a minute from my condo he decided to fly - he flew around my car for a little bit (which was quite startling) and then landed somewhere, I wasn't sure where. I drove a Subaru Forester so there was quite a bit of space for him to fly around. When I got home I got out of the car, leaving my door open and then went to the back where the groceries were. I looked around for him for a while but couldn't find him. I proceeded to take my groceries in, but as I couldn't find him I figured he had flown out when I wasn't looking. As I picked up my last grocery load, which was a huge purple ball he flew out, which was startling again, but he flew right away, didn't' seem hurt at all. SO I suppose he just wanted to get relocated or take a ride in a car, or sit on tortillas, or just hang out with me for a while, I'm not sure which. But I was glad he was able to fly away because I do not know what I would have done with him.
That's the end of my story, and the end of my April adventures. We will have to see what May holds!

What We've Been Up To

Well, it has been a little while since we last posted so I thought I would give a little up date on our happenings. Mostly we have been working, serving at the temple, doing our church callings, and just enjoying life - but there have been some adventures to report.

In February in snowed here - AGAIN! The 4th time in one season - and this time a lot - I think over a foot in some places. Ryan and I both worked from home that day. We took a half hour in the middle of the day to go on a walk and play a little bit - it was fun. I really like snow to visit me once in a while - as long as I can stay home and not drive in it.

And if that wasn't enough - it snowed AGAIN in March. Have I mentioned before that it usually snows 1 time a saeson here, and usually doesn't really stick. It snowed 5 TIMES this year, and stuck. SO CRAZY (or should I say SNOW CRAZY - okay I'm sorry - that was a dumb joke.)

This is our garden - we foolishly thought that since it was almost the end of March it would be safe to plant our garden. Wrong - I think this happened less than a week after we put our tomotoe plants in - so we had to cover everything with boxes to keep it from freezing.

And this is just to exemplify how crazy weather is in Texas - my trees clearly thought it was Spring - but then the snow came.





But Spring did come and it was beautiful - this is what spring looks like at our house - I love it!

Also in March we attended the BYU vs. TCU basketball game with some of our friends. It was fantastic - even though the Cougars started out a bit slow, they ended up winning by 30 points - Go Cougs! (Too bad they couldn't keep up this pace in the tournament.)

And now it is April. April is my favorite month in Texas - not only because it is my birthday, but also because the wildflowers come out and the trees get their leaves. Other than the people I love here, the wildflowers and the trees are my favorite things about Texas -they make me happy.

Over Easter Ryan and I decided to take a little trip. Neither of us had ever been to New Orleans, not even to Louisiana. One of my friends from Las Vegas lives there (actually two of my friends from Las Vegas - they are married - Jake and Shelley Koch). They were super nice and let us stay witht hem and their cute kids, which was fun. We decided to drive there (since it was spring we got to see pretty flowers the whole way). We spent our first night in Shreveport - we had our first Cajun dinner and it was great. The next day we drove to New Orleans. We had two main stops on the way. First we stopped in Baton Rouge. We went to their capitol first. Loisiana has the tallest capitol building in the nation. We often go to capitols on our vacations and we were kind of excited to go up to the viewing area at the top of this one. But we were disappointed to find it was closed for renovations and we were only allowed to see the first floor. It has a lot of marble in it and it is pretty, but we wish we could have gone to the top.

Another thing we like to do on trips is visit temples - we really like to do sessions in temples, but sometimes it isn't possible. Unfortunately this was one of those times. Mini-temples, like the one in Baton Rouge, have limited schedules. On Fridays (the day we were there) they don't open until 5 or 6, we were there around 12. Darn it. It was still fun to see and they had a picnic table on the grounds which we made use of, which was nice because the weather was perfect.

Our other stop was at the Oak Alley Plantation - I can't remember the name of the city where the plantations are - but htey are along the river about 30-60 minutes outside New Orleans. Shelley and Jake and their kids met us there to go on the tour with us, so that was fun.

Shelley made us a fantastic dinner that night and we just relaxed at their house. The next morning we took Jake and went on a swamp tour. The weather was perfect for beign out on the water - it was over cast, a little cool, but very pleasant - no sun burns. The only problem was that aligators don't seem to like that weather as much as we do. At least they don't show themselves unless it is sunny - we didn't see a single gator. But the swamp was still gorgeous and we saw lots of snakes and birds.

After our swamp tour we met Shelley and their kids at the French Quarter. We had a tasty lunch, and then Ryan and I toured around the area for a little bit, plus we went on a walking tour of the Garden District - such pretty houses.

We spent a little while just hanging out with Jake and Shelley when we got back to their house which was really fun. The next morning was Easter - it was fun watching their kids enjoy their baskets. But we didn't get to do too many Easter festivities before we had to say good-bye and embark on our long drive back to Burleson. But it was a great trip and we were so glad to have gotten to see the Kochs again - it had been since before Ryan and I got married that we had last seen them. I am hopeful they will come visit us soon so we can see them again.

All right - I am out of time so I have will have to finish catching up on the rest of our April adventures another day.

My Parents Came for a Visit

My mom told me that she thinks they should see us every other month - either they will come here or we should go there. I don't know if that will actually happen or not. We went to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving, so my mom had planned for them to come here in January. Well, it just so happened that UNLV Rebels came here in January to play the TCU Horned Frogs in basketball. Anyone that knows my family well knows that my dad is a die hard Rebel basketball fan. He has had season tickets since before the Thomas and Mac Center was built, and has had the same seats ever since it was - right in the center, about 15 rows up. On the right sits his best friend Ron Gifford. On the left is his brother Gerry. Behind them are Ron's 3 brother's and sister's-in-law. I grew up going to those games and often get one in on visits home still. So, when we found out that the Rebels were coming here and would be playing on a Saturday, (they seem to usually play here on Wednesday) we thought my parents would like to come then. And so they did, as well as Ron.

We had a great time. While they were here the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo was going on. Ryan and I had never been to it before, but it is like a fair - tons going on. We went and saw a little bit of the festivities before the rodeo on Friday night. It was pretty fun.



Saturday after the temple we went to the game. For a little while we were slightly nervous - I think TCU tied it up twice - but UNLV was victorious so we had a good time and left happy - GO Rebels!

Sunday morning we woke up to find that Santa Clause had come for a visit. We hadn't yet done Christmas with my family so my parents brought everything to us - and it was fun!

Monday we went to the Federal Bureau of Imprinting and Graving (where they make paper money). It was super interesting - I would recommend that if you visit Fort Worth or DC that you go. Unfortunately they didn't allow cameras in there so I couldn't take any pictures :(.

It was so fun having them all here!

We Saw a Legend - and weren't terribly impressed

Ryan's annual work party was last Friday. This year they had it at Billy Bobs (which is this huge bar with slot machine things, dancing, bull riding - it is massive). Later on in the evening there was a Willie Nelson concert there, which we were given tickets to. Neither of us are huge Willie Nelson fans, but we figured if we had the chance to see a legend for free we should take it. We were also given tickets to the bull riding between the work party and the concert. We enjoyed the party (the food was pretty good), the bull riding was also fun-ish (although I have decided I'm not a huge fan of it since I don't think they are very nice to the bulls, and it is so dangerous), and we even enjoyed seeing Willie Nelson. I don't know, how he looked or sounded when he was younger and in his glory days, but honestly I am not sure how he made it so big. He pretty much just picks one note and sticks with it - not a lot of range. It was interesting. But we're glad we had the chance.

Yeah, this is pretty much what he looked like when we saw him. He started out in a cowboy hat and then switched to his bandana.

Great News!

I just got an email from our adoption counselor letting us know that our profile is now up on the website, itsaboutlove.com. You can see our profile if you want by going to https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/23737905/ourMessage.jsf. Some day I will learn how to make a button to put on my side bar to have a direct link to it, but that has not happened yet. Anyway, we are excited! We have been trying to have kids for a long time, finally felt right about adoption a few months ago and have been working since then to get our profile up. We hope our birth mom will find us soon!

Three Times the Charm

Well, it snowed again, that makes three times before January! I think this is a bit excessive. I am thinking all this snow is a result of global cooling - what do you think?

The weather here continues to be crazy and unpredictable. The snow came on Tuesday. Wednesday it was quite nice, I think it got at least to 60, maybe more, and sunny (I think it was forecasted to be overcast and colder than it was). Yesterday, Thursday, was drizzly, overcast, windy, and really cold (again, not according to the forecast). Today is sunny again, but I haven't been outside yet to see how warm it is.

On a side note - yesterday we went to the Armed Forces Bowl game. This was our second time to go. Anyway, we got there early for some pre-game stuff. They had tanks, rope courses, and some other military equipment around. In that same area they had these tablets with the Ten Commandments, which made me happy. I'm glad to know we are still a nation under God, despite the opposition.

While it was super cold, we still enjoyed the game. Our friend (and former bishop) works for one of the corporate sponsors and got us great seats - right on the 50 yard line. Also, our friends the Neeleys came with us so that was fun. And I had my huge winter coat that I got as a freshman at BYU, which kept the entire upper half of my body completely warm. And to top it off, Air Force pretty much ran away with it - so happy that another Mountain West team has won their bowl game!

Oh - Happy New Year everyone!

My First White Christmas

Well, I just had my first white Christmas ever. I hve never been someone dreaming of a white Christmas - I prefer it when the weatehr is in the 60s and sunny and you can spend a lot of time outside. But, since it was cold anyway, I really did like the snow. Ryan and I went out in the morning, had a snowball fight, made snow angels, and a snow man. Making the snow man was just as easy as they make it look in the movies, make a ball and then roll it around in the snow until it gets to the desired size. It was a lot of fun, I fully enjoyed my first white Christmas.

Confused

Anyone who has lived in Texas knows that the weather here is kind of crazy, rather unpredictable. This year has been especially crazy, and I think it has confused my plants a bit. We had a a freezing day I think in October, I know it snowed in either October or November (I can't remember any more). Since I have lived here (6 1/2 years) it has snowed once a year - usually around February. Well, not only did it snow early, but it has gotten warm and then cold and then warm and then cold, several times. All of this has been too much for my daffodils, they started coming up in October.

On December 23 it got to 75 degrees!

My daffodils on the 23rd.

What I wore on my feet on the 23rd.

But less any of you should be envious of our warm temperatures, on December 24 it got down to below freezing - and we got a blizzard - at least to us in Texas it was a blizzard. We got covered in snow and the roads all iced over so people were slipping every where. It was crazy! I am not sure what will happen with my daffodils - I hope they make it!

The snow just starting in my back yard.

We had to leave Burleson to go to Grapevine so we could be there to do Christmas Eve stuff with Ryan's family before the snow really started sticking much - so we never got to see our yard covered in snow - but this was the result of the storm in Ryan's parent's backyard.

Eagles

My oldest sister, Missy, will turn 40 on Christmas Eve. Tonight my family celebrated her birthday by having a dinner, opening presents, and then putting all the kids to bed and the adults played games. I didn’t get to be there, which was sad, but such is life. Well, in order to commemorate her 40 incredible years my mom, my sisters, and her husband have been working on a project for her since Thanksgiving. I guess for my sister Emily’s baby shower Missy made her a bag with several “merit badges” on it. She said that as a mother you rarely get recognized for your efforts or achievement. For example, your son can get a badge for practically anything, like threading a needle, but you are the one who sews the badge on for him, and yet you don’t get anything for that, or the countless other things you do. So my mom thought Missy could use some recognition for some her accomplishments – our goal was to come up with and make 40 badges. Along with the badges we compiled a notebook of what she has done to earn each badge. For example, one of the badges was Scriptorian - For extensive personal study, wide knowledge of scriptural themes and passages, ability to apply principles learned to life’s challenges, special ability to apply gospel principles to raising children and other interpersonal relationships, and using knowledge to bless the lives of others by teaching and counseling. We ended up overshooting our goal a bit and made more than 40, but that is okay. Although I didn’t get to be there with them my family did a video chat with us so I could watch her open it and go through them and the notebook – I love some things about technology. Anyway, she liked it which made the hours of putting it together worth it. So, the reason I write this is because even though I am not a mom yet, I realize that it can be discouraging sometimes. I did teach seminary and know that despite all your efforts and sacrifices, kids rarely express let alone feel gratitude, which can be a challenge. So if you are feeling discouraged or like your efforts and sacrifices are not noticed, or like you haven't achieved much or that no one notices your achievements, let me know and I will point out what I love and admire in you, so you can know that there are people that think you deserve an "eagle".

A Nice Day - Including a First

Yesterday I went with my friend and her 7 kids to see “Polar Express” at the Omni, and then to Mc Donald’s for her kids to play. It was fun to spend time with their family. I am impressed with the obedience of her kids and how willing they are to accept disappointment and change and just go with the flow. I hope I can cultivate the same characteristics in my children. And then last night my visiting teachers (who are some of my good friends) and another friend came and caroled to me. This was a first for me and I really enjoyed it. They also brought me some yummy treats – so nice.

Sara Poyfair, Shadi Smith (my VT), and Leanne Bell (my other VT)

Our First Ginger Bread Houses - We Are Proud

Well, they never cease to amaze us – our activities committee, with the help of our Stake Activities chair, Sister Beezley, provided us with a fantastic evening of ginger bread house decorating for FHE. Ryan and I have never decorated ginger bread houses together, and Ryan doesn’t think he has ever decorated an actual ginger bread house (just graham cracker ones) and I think I have only assisted my nieces and nephews in making them. But we had so much fun this may be a new tradition for us. Not only did we get make houses and eat more candy than we should have, but we got to know some of the members of our ward better, and that is always fun.

Don't you love the creativity in our ward - the Elders and one of our other friends took off before this picture was taken, but we were impressed with everyone and had a great time.

Fabulous Activities - and a Funny Story

Our Single’s Ward has a fantastic activities committee. Every activity we have ever been to, including every FHE, have been super fun, super creative, and we have just enjoyed ourselves. For example, last Monday we attended FHE and it was “human bowling”. They often do “human” versions of games such as “human Battleship”, and it is just fun. Well this bowling was hilarious. Pins were made from 3 cardboard boxes taped together. The “ball” was a person sitting on a trash can dolly who was then pushed into the pins by his/her partner. So funny, and so fun. Ryan and I didn’t actually get to participate on account of his shoulder, but we still enjoyed watching.

I stole these pictures from this girl's Facebook since I didn't take my camera that day, but I wanted you to get the picture of what it was like.

Well, our activities committee continues to impress us. Tonight was our ward Christmas Party. We had a great dinner, and then had a gift exchange. We laughed a lot, and had a great time. In anticipation of this night Ryan and I picked out some gifts that we really liked. The first was a signed picture of us – last year we gave it for a white elephant gift exchange at a party for the high priests in the Burleson Ward. It went over super well – I think it was traded the maximum number of times and the couple that ended up with it still have it on their fridge. While it didn’t go over quite as well with the singles, everyone got a good laugh from it, and the owner claims he is either going to frame it or sell it on eBay.
Our other present I thought was equally funny, and now has a funny story to go with it – at least I think so. A few weeks ago Ryan had a doctor’s appointment to get his ankle checked out. This doctor was located in a hospital – we arrived 15-30 minutes early for the appointment, so walked around the hospital a little while as no one was in the office yet. We found this convenience store so went in. While there I saw this little puck shaped thing that said Oops on it, and so I read it. They were disposable panties! When I first saw them, since they were in such a tightly packaged form. They reminded me of those little sponges that you have to put in water and then they expand – and I just thought that was funny – although now I don’t think that is how they work. There were several things about them that I found amusing – they were called “Oops”, the fact that there was such a thing as disposable panties, that it said on the package that they were perfect for camping and I don’t remember what else, and that they were packaged as they were. We decided they would be perfect for this gift exchange. The night after we bought them I happened to still have them in my pocket when I went to the Burleson Ward Relief Society Christmas Party – and I ended up showing them to 3 of my friends, who thought they were equally hilarious and would like some themselves. So, I was all excited to take them to this party because I thought everyone would find them as funny as I did. I am not a person who likes bathroom humor at all, but I didn’t think of these underwear in that way, it was just the idea of them that I thought was funny, and still do. Okay, so someone finally picks up the bag they were in and I was all excited and had my camera ready to take a picture, and did as our Relief Society president pulls them out of the bag. Now realize that she is this very quiet spoken, soft hearted, sweet girl. When she pulls them out there was some confusion about what they were and the wife of our first counselor said “I could use that” and Summer, our RS president, said she could too. They thought it was ribbon. Then Summer sits down and starts reading it, and so I took a picture then also. Well, she was not amused. She didn’t read it all out loud, but after a second she say “That is inappropriate, who brought this?” She sounded mad, and at the moment she said it Ryan and I felt like we had done something really inappropriate, we were ashamed, and we were afraid to admit that we had brought them because we didn’t know how people would react to the bishopric counselor and his wife for doing something so horrible, and so we didn’t admit, we just sat there as quietly as everyone else. Our elder’s quorum president said something like “Yeah, like anyone is going to admit to it now that you are going to get them in trouble”, and we felt the same way. Later our EQ president did consider taking them from her, and so read the whole package out loud, at which everyone laughed quite a bit, which made us feel better, but since they said panties on the package he decided against them. Since then I have thought about the whole experience and am disappointed for several reasons. First, that Summer didn’t see the humor in them that I did, and was instead upset by them. That we ever felt ashamed, because I still contest that they are hilarious. And third, that we didn’t confess, because it also would have been funny if we had. Oh well, live and learn right. But if you are interested in obtaining some disposable panties for yourself, you can find them here http://www.shopinprivate.com/oodipa2pk.html. On a side note, we did come away with a Rubik’s cube for Ryan and a talking brain for me, which is awesome!

Starting in the upper left hand corner and then moving clockwise, and ending in the center - Ryan opening his Rubik's cube, members of our ward right before we ate dinner, Sumer (the RS president) opening the panties, Skylar (the EQ president) with his first present - a fish he was excited about but didn't get to keep, Joey opening our picture, some more members of the ward right before dinner, Joey showing off our picture, and Skylar reading the info on the panties.

Happy Thanksgiving!

When my oldest sister got married almost 20 years ago our family started the tradition of every year switching of Thanksgiving and Christmas between our family and in-laws (Thanksgiving with one family and Christmas with the other, and then switch the next year). Somehow it worked at that even though we are now all married, we are all on the same schedule, either because our husbands were the first to get married in their families so they built their schedule around ours, or because their in-laws don't necessarily have a schedule and just feel grateful to get the families whenever they can. Well, on odd numbered years like this we have Thanksgiving with our family and Christmas with in-laws. So...I went to Las Vegas for a FOURTH time this year, and loved it. And, quite unusual for us, Ryan and I actually traveled together both directions, which was nice. We left Friday after work and got to be there for ten days. While we were there we spent a lot of time doing stuff with my family (of course). We went to the Bellagio and saw the arboretum and a pretty amazing sculpture display. We attended birthday dinners for our brother-in-law Bruce and our niece Michaelanne, went to dinner with some of our family, saw "New Moon" (not our favorite - the book is just so much better), went on hikes to various places (Springs Preserve, the Wetlands, Mt. Charleston, and Red Rock - I recommend them all!), visited with my good friend Steve and his family, went to Rebel games (go Rebels – we loved watching them beat Louisville), watched some football, played some games, celebrated the birthdays of all the brothers-in-law in our family (all but one of them have birthdays within 2.5 months of each other), and of course ate a ton! Oh, and Ryan and I braved our first Black Friday, came out victorious with a $150 video camera and a $25 8 GB micro SD card, and will consider doing Black Friday again. It was all fantastic and it was hard to say good-bye.

My dad, my niece Miachealanne, Ryan, and I really enjoyed hte Wetlands - did you know there was a place with this much water and this green right in the middle of Las Vegas?

A few years ago my family started the tradition of starting our Thanksgiving feasting the day before Thanksgiving. We really like appetizers, which we have always eaten the morning of Thanksgiving. But we realized that we like them so much that we sometimes eat too many to have room for dinner, or we don't get all that we would like. So we have started a tradition of eating appetizers for dinner the Wednesday befor Thanksgiving - and then we make more and eat left-overs before dinner on Thanksgiving. We combined our appetizer night this year with our brother-in-law birthday party (as well as a celbration of Mike who's birthday it actually was) and made the things they requested - it was excellent!

For the last 15+ years we have always had people visit us for Thanksgiving - whether extended family or friends. Every year I was at BYU I brought at least one friend home with me. We had thought this year was going to be the same, but for some reason everyone that was invited ended up flaking, and it was only my "immediate" family. And not even all of them since my sister Mindy and her family decided to go to their family cabin instead (which was very sad for all of us). Anyway, this is what our Thanksgiving looked like - not as much food as we normally have, but still more than enough. Luckily it was a nice day so we were able to eat outside - even though my parents' house is large, it is hard to fit my whole family (or even those that were there) inside one house for long periods of time.

After getting ourselves nice and full my sisters and I decided it would be a good idea to all jump on the trampoline together. It started with me jumping with just two of my sisters (Molly - 5 years older, and Maggi - 5 years younger). We then convinced Missy, our oldest sister to join us. Then Jenny (in between Maggi and me). We never did get the other two (Mindy was out of town actually) which is too bad because I really had a lot of fun. I am not sure if you can see the love from these pictures - but not only can I see it, I feel it. This is a happy memory for me. When I talk to people about my family and end up telling them I have SIX sisters there always comes a period of surprise, the repeating back to me of how many sisters I have (Six sisters?) and then the question - All girls - what was that like? (Or - What did your dad think about it?) My answer about what it was like has always been the same - It was awesome-I loved it! Having sisters is the best - thanks Mom and Dad.

We loved our hikes to Red Rock and Mt. Charleston - don't you love how Ryan and I are always pretending we are dog owners - we just want to be and will be some day. We would love to own this dog, Bella. She is my sisters dog and one of the best trained and most obedient dogs ever - we love taking her with us on hikes and walks.

Don't I have the cutest nieces and nephews ever! I think so. In the center is my mom with 17 of her 24 grandchildren.

Surgery - Ugh!

When Ryan and I were dating he hurt his shoulder. We are not sure how he did it exactly, but he thinks it was his swimming class, his weight lifting class, or the combination of doing them in the same semester, one right after the other. He went to talk to a doctor about it right before he graduated and was given a series of physical therapy exercises to do. He did them somewhat faithfully up until we got married 6 weeks later. He acknowledged that they helped some, but he still couldn’t do his favorite exercises, so he gave up. That was over 6 years ago. Since then his arm gets sore from doing various swinging motions – throwing a ball, playing tennis, etc. He sometimes has a hard time sleeping on it as well, and he still can’t do the exercises he likes. We put a lot of money in our flexible spending account this year in anticipation that we may have a baby, but we haven’t. So we decided to have his shoulder looked at. He did some physical therapy again, but again, even though it improved slightly, he and the doctor concluded that the only way to really fix it would be surgery.
So, Ryan had shoulder surgery. It was a long ordeal, at least for me. We got there two hours before the surgery was scheduled – they took some blood, asked him a lot of questions, and prepped him for surgery. Then I just had to wait, and wait, and wait. After about an hour and half the doctor came and told me the surgery went well, and that he did have a labrum tear (so he wasn’t crazy) which they repaired. I was glad things went well. And then I waited for another couple hours until he started to wake up and they took him to recovery. But he had started waking up during the surgery so they gave him additional anesthesia, and then when he was waking up he was in pain so they gave him more stuff, so I waited another few hours before he was finally awake enough to get to the car.
Before the surgery he had been told he would be in a sling for three weeks. We weren’t anticipating it being a big deal, he even thought he would get back to work after a day or two. We were wrong. He doesn’t have just a sling, but a “pillow” to prop his arm up. For the first two days he had to take pain pills every 4 hours, even during the night. He also had this sophisticated ice pack called an “ice man” where you have this ice chest thing with a hose that pumps ice water into the pack. So he was attached to this thing for a few days, even while sleeping – good thing we have a king sized bed. He can’t really lie down very well because of his pillow. He was quite helpless at first, but has started to use his left hand to do some things. But still he requires a lot of taking care of – I tie his shoes, help him get dressed, do his hair. Between helping him with these things and having to getup in the night to get him his pills I feel I have had a little bit of preparation for a baby. Bring it on.

Ryan two days after surgery with his pillow and ice man - and after a shower.