Alyson's Birthday Too!

Hey Everyone... wanted to let you know that yesterday on the 27th was Jason's wife, ALYSON'S birthday!!!!!!!!! Alyson, hope you had a great day! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
And thanks Melissa for the birthday message. You're a sweetie pie. Love you alL! Katie

Happy Birthday Coug & Aubrey

Happy Happy Birthday Katie Dear.

We hope your baby boy comes soon this year.

If we had a wish then it would be

a Happy Happy Birthday to you from me.

Ok, so that is the best I got. But I hope you have a very Happy 27th Birthday! I love you so much Katie. You are a one of a kind friend and hold a special place in my heart! I have always been grateful for our friendship Coug! I love you!

Melissa

Also, I know Aubrey checks our blog often and I just wanted to wish her a

VERY HAPPY 29th BIRTHDAY!

Aubrey, you are very dear to me too. I love you so much.

I hope your day is a special one.

Merry Christmas

I am home until Christmas Eve. Donald stayed in Wyoming to work but I fly back on Christmas Eve to be with him. We have had a good time so far. My sister is also here. We went to see "It's a Wonderful Life" last night. We have baked cookies, shopped, shopped, and shopped some more. Today my treated us to manicures and pedicures. Then we had a little early Christmas. I knew I was getting a camera and my sister got a new lens for her camera, so we opened those today so we could use them. It is so nice and I am so excited to use it!

Tomorrow we are going to see "The Christmas Carol" at Hale Theater and then we are going to a rea life Bethlehem that a stake puts on every year in Provo. I am pretty excited about that.

Merry Christmas to all of you! I hope it is wonderful! I love you all!

Christmas Delicacies

Yum. Your recipes look delicious! Here's one of my Christmas favorites. Actually, it's an anytime favorite, but really I just love pumpkin and take advantage of the fact that it is "normal" to eat lots of it between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Mama's Pumpkin Bread
(Easy, Fatty, Delicious)

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups oil
2 cups pumpkin
1 bag chocolate chips (I added that part)
Mix all ingredients (chocolate chips last). Pour into two greased bread pans. Cook at 350 for about an hour.

Holiday Recipes

Christmas White Chocolate Peppermint Crunch
(recipe by Dena: Brooke's sister-in-law)

2-3 lbs. white chocolate (use the big white chips like for making suckers)
1 bag of peppermint crunch (Or several crushed up candy canes)

Directions:
Melt the white chocolate. Stir in peppermint crunch. Spread the mixture on a big piece of wax paper until it's about 1/4 inch thick. Let it cool. Break into pieces.

(You can get the white chocolate at Wal-Mart in the cake decorating part)

Fudge (recipe by Grandma Leona)

In a large pan combine: 1/4 lb. (1 stick) margarine

1 12-oz. can evaporated milk

4 1/2 cups sugar

Bring to a boil and boil EXACTLY 10 minutes. Stir constantly.

Add: 1 12 oz. package chocolate chips

1 7-oz. jar marshmallow cream

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix well. Allow to cool - stirring frequently. Drop by teaspoonful on waxed paper. When set and thoroughly cool, store in an airtight container.

The trick is in the timing - if you boil it under 10 minutes, then it never sets up, and if you boil it over 10 minutes it gets dry and hard. Other than that, it's not hard.

Melinda!

I saw Lynley at the mall today and she told me you're coming???? You better get your tushy over my way is all I gotta say, missy!! You best be calling me so we can go to Wal-Mart together. Ha ha ha... Love, Katie
OH yeah, LIZ... what day are you coming again?????? And BROOKE, are you for sure coming AFTER Christmas????????

Christmas Recipes??

Brooke... Your post is what gave me the idea to ask this question to all you girls. First, what is your favorite Holiday Yummy to make during Christmas? And second, would you like to post the recipe? So far this year I've done banana bread, popcorn balls and licorice caramels. Still ahead... fudge, cream caramels, more popcorn balls, maybe peanut brittle... and maybe something else that you girls want to share with me!!! :) I love new recipes. I highly recommend the licorice caramels, so I will share this recipe with you. (Even if you don't like the taste of black licorice, I've heard from those who don't and they still love these caramels!!)

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups white Karo syrup

1 can sweetened condensed milk

pinch of salt

1 cup butter

Mix these ingredients in a saucepan on med-high heat, stirring constantly, until they reach 235 degrees F. Add one teaspoon of Anise extract, and 3/4 teaspoon black food coloring (the paste coloring is in the cake-decorating section of your craft store) Pour into a pan to cool. Cut into squares & wrap in wax paper. Yummy!!!

You have kids...I have a dog!

So I wanted to post this cute picture of my little pup. I like how one of her eyes is green and the other one is blue! She needs a haircut but looks so cute! You know you guys have kids to take pictures of and I have a dog!

Sorry Melissa to copyright your temple picture but I love that picture! I want to make a huge picture of it! Hope you don't mind. Brooke that is great news you are off all your medications and your heart is doing so good. That is so good! I can only imagine how hard the other struggle is though. You are such a great mom and have always wanted that...I am sure Heavenly Father has something great planned for you! Hope everyone else is doing good. Liz your family looks so good in that christmas picture. Such a cute family. And Katie you are a hot momma! You look great prego lady! Love Mel

Who is coming?

Hey, wanted to check and see.... Melinda and Brooke? Are you coming for Christmas????
Katie

Christmas Cards Anyone??

Hey Girls... quick note so as not to cover Liz's cute post... Liz, Brooke & Melinda- I imagine you have the same mailing addresses this year... Melissa- do you have a PO box where you can receive mail? If you do, please email it to me, and if you all would like I can re-send the email Liz sent last year compiling everyone's info onto one email, just updated. Who agrees?? Love, Katie

Happy Holidays!

We set up our tree tonight. I love the feeling of Christmastime! Anyway, I'm not very exciting but here is the family picture we took with the timer on the camera. Have you all decorated yet? (Does the Holiday Inn let you put up a tree?) :) What is everybody doing for Christmas? Do you have Christmas traditions started with your families? Let's hear 'em...

Celebrity look alike

Well, I am pretty bored here in the hotel. It is snowing outside and so we haven't been doing much. No one is posting so here I am as a celebrity.

I always have loved Shirley Temple. She was always so cute. And the others-they are okay.

So, here I am:



I hope you are all doing well. Love ya

Holiday Season

Ok, so is anybody alive out there? How was everybodies Thanksgiving weekend? Liz-it looks like you had a great time on your family vacation! We had a great weekend. We ate Thanksgiving dinner at my aunts house with all my cousins. Friday we did some shopping and packing. There was not a whole lot we were actually looking for so we didn't find any terrific deals but did buy some Christmas gifts for the fam. Saturday we had a great day in Salt Lake. We went around Temple Square, saw the Joseph Smith movie, and saw Savior of the World. Which I loved! It has terrifc music in it and my testimony was strengthened that night. It was a great way to start off the Christmas Season. It is going to be hard be in Wyoming with no family around for the holidays. So it was nice to be with my family.


We did a ton of packing today and are almost all done. The movers come on Wed morning and so everything has to be all ready to go. I am getting so sad. But just trying to be positive about it all. It will be so good financially and for Donald to be moving up is awesome!



Well I hope all of your holidays were wonderful!



Love you all, Melissa

Bachelor

PS I heard about the crappy ending with The Bachelor. What was with that? And why did they do that? What are they going to have tomorrow night?

Blog

Well, I found 2 more long lost friends-Britt Mcgee and Ann Kalcich!!! I hope you don't mind me adding them to our list! I love blogging!!!!

The Mafia... Look Out!

Hey Girls... I am sure you all remember THIS!! I hope it came through okay. There are a few things about this picture that I think are funny... first being... what's up with the silver duct tape?? Second... um, could it be more obvious that I was self-conscious about my height?? Third... um, wow. What a group, huh?

I have a bunch more stuff, but I realized it is really late and I am really tired and have class tomorrow... I need SLEEP. Enjoy the photo!! Love you all! Katie

To all my friends

Here is something that I got at church and have been wanting to give it to you for quite a while so I thought I would just post it.

Slowly but Surely

I've been trying to upload these all day and blogger is being stingy. So here is one more... maybe it will let me do more later.

Here's another fun one. Does Nathan still wear socks with his sandals? :)

I'm Inspired

Okay, you've inspired me. Sorry about the horrible scanning- the only scanner we have is a really old piece of scanning junk, but you can still pretty much see the pictures. We had so much fun together! Here's a few I found entertaining. We must have really liked that booth in the mall! :)
I am so grateful to have had you guys as friends growing up. When I think of my kids growing up in this crazy world, I pray more than anything that they will have good friends who uplift them and support them in being righteous. I know parents and families have a lot of influence on kids, but I know that- especially as they get into junior high and high school- friends are a huge influence. I think that I am who I am today partly because of you guys. Thank you! I'm so glad we were there for each other!

I thought I'd include the back of the school pictures, because that's always funny. :)
"Liz, You're a great pal. Hope we'll always be that way. Have a fun year. Katie 1996 AKA Coug"
"Liz- Hi! I had a great time here- thanks for everything and being the great friend you are to me. I can't wait to come back for good. I've missed everyone. Write to me! Love Melinda 15 years old"
"Liz, Hey buddy! Stay sweet! And always CTR. Love ya! Melissa '96"
"Elizabeth, Hey! Wassup!? You've been a great friend! I hope things never change! LYLAS. YF Brooke Sophomore '96"

You guys are the best!

(**EDIT- Blogger won't load my scanned pictures! This is the only one that came up. I'll try to put up the other ones later. Bummer. I was so excited to have finally gotten some scanned.)

speaking of old times

So tonight I was cleaning out my guest bedroom where my old things are kept and found a few things that I thought I would share. I found a bunch of stuff from when I lived in Australia. It was kinda sad to think of all the times I missed out on but I had fun on our little adventure too. I found a journal of the week before I left Australia and all the people I went and did things with before I left. Me and Brooke buried rocks at that one park. Diana Jerica and I went shoppping. I have several birthday cards from you guys. Nathan and Shea even signed them too. (who would have thought later you would have got married!) I can't believe that was 10 years ago! I am working on my tag list Katie! Somedays it seems just like yesterday...I am getting old. We had a great group of friends growing up and I think that makes all the difference in the world. I just hope for my kids that they can have the kind of friends I do!
Yes I know I have a big head that is why it takes up most of this picture ... but look it's the bum tongue!!! Thanks for remembering that!

Quick Note....

Sorry Liz to cover your post... I was commenting on it and forgot to write what I was going to write so I figured I would just make a little post. Yeah, I agree that it's been fun remembering (and realizing how much I already DON'T remember) about high school and those fun times. Do you still have that hot dog in your car? Just kidding! I really hope you never kept that. Remember how we all had "Boy Boxes" where we kept every shred of evidence that we had had any contact with a boy whatsoever... a little "momento" from every date? Or even a leaf or a piece of garbage that a boy had given to us?? Every flower, every movie ticket... I remember being so proud of my silly boy box. Brooke, I remember when you used to write notes all the time in Jr. High and every note would have a different type of lettering on the heading. How about when we walked to Jr. High from Liz's house after seminary? Liz, your mom was always quickly quizzing you on your Spanish words as we were leaving the house. Did you know Mr. Calori passed away, by the way? I meant to ask, and I figured Rachel or your parents would have told you. He and his mother died on the same day. Crazy! Anyway, I ran into Ryan's mom at the grocery store and she was wondering if we were all getting together still. Honestly, I haven't heard from anyone, so I'm not sure if anything is going to happen. I guess I will just wait to see if anyone calls. Meanwhile, just getting bigger and having more and more fun tying my shoes... or TRYING to, at least!! I finally bought some slip on shoes, but they are uglier than I thought they were in the store. Why does that always happen to me? Oh, which reminds me... Liz, I was talking to Tito on Sunday and I couldn't help but remember the time I brought that horrid Halloween mask to one of our slumber parties at your house and scared him so bad I made him cry. So what about killing moths with tennis rackets and fly swatters? What about putting sugar water all over our legs to make mosquitos eat us? What about BROMINE in the jacuzzi water? What about Edie running around your backyard in the buff? Oh my goodness! Know what I was just thinking about the other day?? Melinda!! Remember when we nicknamed you bum-tongue? (I had to censor that) HA HA HA HAA! I had totally forgotten about that! (No people, it's nothing gross... her tongue is tied really close to the front!) Brooke, remember when you put my pocket knife on the church bench at Sean's farewell and I sat on the blade and stabbed my bum??? I still have a scar there, oh, and I still have the slip I was wearing that day with a hole in it. Can you believe that?? What about seminary council? Remember our temple trip? Remember when we went ice skating? Melissa, didn't we stay at your aunt's house for that trip? Remember how my internet, EFY "boyfriend" met us up there? His name was Nathan too. Oh man, the memories are just flooding back. Remember when we stalked the Provo basketball players when they were participating in the tournament here in town? We were the only ones in the entire building rooting for the Bulldogs! (It was Bulldogs, right?) Then one of the kids we met was in a seminary video we were watching?? Oh man! What about when the 4th ward boys all shaved their heads and let Liz do it? What about the Rocky Marathon at Sonny's house? What about the gallon challenge? What about when Perry Max got his red truck stuck out in the dunes? Okay, I promise I am done for now. Just had to go off for a minute! I feel better now! Hopefully these things have sparked some memories for you all to talk about! Hope you're all doing well!! Love you! Katie

Me Again

Hi guys! I don't really have any news or fun pictures, I just thought it had been a long time since I posted anything. I post a lot on my blog, so I think I just figure you probably look there, too, so why be redundant? But I was thinking today about that "tag" that Katie sent our way, and the first question was so fun! What was I doing ten years ago? Hanging out with you guys. ALL THE TIME. We had SO much fun together! It has brought back so many fun memories- every single one of which involves you guys. I think maybe the only fun, funny memory I thought of that didn't have you guys in it was when my calculus study group put my mom's canker sore Novocaine on our lips and tried to eat chocolate pudding (which was very funny). :) You guys have been a part of my life for, well, pretty much forever, it seems! I love you guys! It has made me miss you even more than usual.
So, next week is Thanksgiving. Will you be having a BBQ with Sam and Ryan like you talked about? I am jealous. I'd love to come! I can't believe how fast life is going by! Every time I blink I am older and my kids are older and there are new joys and new challenges. Life is crazy!
Okay, so that's what's been on my mind. I'll stick up a few pictures just for fun. Do you guys remember my cloud pjs? Man, I loved those! So I was way pumped when I saw these in Eme's size from Target.

Joining the blogger world...

Aaron and Kassie have finally joined the blogging world! Here is their link:

http://www.akrogers.blogspot.com/

I also put it under our sites!

Love ya all!

Also, How do you like the new look? I thought it was time for a change! If you want to ever change it just go into the administrator login and if you don't remember it, email me and I will email it to you!

Weekend

This weekend, my friend from NM came to see me with her husband and baby Porter, before we move to WY! It was so much fun to see her and see how fast her baby has grown. I took them up to Salt Lake to shop and to see Temple Square. We had a ton of fun eating and talking! The only bad thing is her husband and baby got sick on Saturday night. Let's just say, I had to change my shirt and wash a lot of blankets that night! he was trying to break me in for when I am a mom! Anyways here are a few pics!

This is Porter and his mommy Staci!

I took them to eat at Otavios in provo. They had an accordion player who is so good. I love going there because the food is awesome and it just feels like you are in Italy.
Then we went to the Conference Center and around Temple Sqaure. It was a great day. We saw many brides which was so fun. We went to Brigham Young's home and around the museum. It was just an awesome day. This is all of us in front of the Christus. Oh, and the picture of President Hinckley was in the Conference center. I just love that man and I loved this picture of him.

I was released today from YW and had to talk in Sacrement Meeting. It was kindof an emotional day for me. I love the YW and my ward so much that it is hard to say goodbye. I still have 2 more weeks but being released just kindof hit home! Donald is in Colorado until next wed. He didn't get to come home this weekend either. It will be so nice to be together after he is done with this training.

We might buy a mobile home in Sheridan. It is really nice-3 bedroom, 2 bath. There is nothing to rent up there and houses are just too expensive. But I will be happy as long as I don't have to be in a hotel! And this one that we want is really nice and it has only been owned by an older couple. We will see if the loan and stuff goes through.
Other than that, not much other news.
I hope all of you are doing well. Love ya, Melissa

Please Endure Another Bachelor Comment

Okay, Brooke, since I know you're the only one who has been keeping up with the Bachelor... I was just wondering what you thought about Monday's show? Here are my two bits... I am glad Bettina is gone only because I thought her family hated Brad, and they obviously liked the x-husband a LOT! Plus, Bettina never really gave a legimate reason why she had left her husband, so I just assumed it was for selfish reasons. Shoot, as far as we know she left him so she could go be on shows like THIS! Anyway, I really don't care a whole lot for Jenni because her laugh is so obnoxious. Plus, she seems shallow and kind of ditzy. Between Jenni and DeAnna, I have to say DeAnna for sure. She just seems way more connected and down-to-earth. Their relationship seemed based more on a real-life thing. I could see them making a good couple. I would send the missionaries to their house though, so they could do things right. Oh, by the way... here is a link to a site that plays an interview with Brad that was done after Monday was taped. It is pretty funny, and he makes it clear that even though television gave the impression that he was "getting to know" the women, he actually didn't "get to know" any of them... which was a relief! I would have thought he was a dirtbag if he had.
http://www.967kissfm.com/cc-common/podcast/single_podcast.html?podcast=BobbyBonesShow.xml
Hope you all are doing well!

My Little Ladybug

Here we all are at the ward Halloween party. Do you like mine and Jason's costume? I wish you could see his earrings better in the picture. He was such a good sport to let me put jewelry and makeup on him. We had a great holiday and Allary will be on a sugar high for days I'm sure.

Catch up on Monday Night...

Brooke, didn't want to cover up Melinda's new post, so I'll make this short... I was so disappointed on Monday that Sheena got eliminated. Honestly I think it's just because she is on a higher level in many ways. For one, she is very mature. For two, and I like this best about her, she is not skanky and won't just make out and throw herself all over Brad like the other girls do. Part of me wonders if Brad is wanting more of a hoochie? Sheena was too classy for him. Also, can you believe Bettina is still there??? Her family was way hardcore. I'm actually leaning more now toward DeAnna, even though I didn't like her so much in the beginning. I thought her dad was way cool and down to earth. They seem like a great match, cuz she isn't all needy and stuff. What do you think?

It's all girls

Just thought I would post another pic of my bro's wedding. Here is all the sisters at the wedding! Yeah I am the shortest one and sadly enough I am still wearing high shoes. That is pathetic.

Guess Who?

Do you guys remember who this cute girl is? I can't believe how much she has grown. We went to my brothers wedding this weekend and we got to see Bro. T and his family again. Jason and I were really excited to see him again. It was really good to see him except for I could kick myself for not getting a picture with him. It makes me want to go down to St. George and knock on his door! Besides the weather is great there. We had a really great time and it was a great wedding. I will post more pics soon!

Thanks for the idea, Brooke!

Hey Everyone!

Brooke, I took your idea and ran with it, all the way to Hobby Lobby. I can't believe I made a sewing project out of this. I always end up regretting it, because halfway through I realize, "Wait a second. All I know about sewing is what I remember from Ms. Marcum's 7th grade Home Economics Class! Who am I kidding??" So anyway, I can never start a sewing project without finishing, so this is what came of my Friday adventure. I begged and begged Nathan to wear his uniform to our ward carnival, and he refuses. I borrowed my brother-in-law's black and white jailbird costume, so Noah and I will both be criminals. I guess every party has a pooper. I asked if he would at least just wear his police t-shirt and maybe bring some handcuffs. We will see what happens.

(Front)

(Back)

Tagged

Okay Katie tagged us, so here it goes.

6 interesting things about myself:

1. I was born in Honolulu Hawaii but only lived there for 3 weeks.

2. My right eye twitches when I get really tired-like right now!

3. I was picked to try our for the National Water polo junior team when I was 13. I trained at the Olympic training center for a week. Even though I was the worst goalie out of 9, it was still a a great experience.

4. Me and Donald only dated for 3 weeks before we were engaged. And only met 4 days before our first date!

5.I LOVE the movies "High School Musical 1 and 2". Cheesy I know! But I love them!

6. I sing at the top of my lungs whenever I am in the car or at home and no one is around! I don't have a great voice but I would sure love one! I envy all that do!!!

There you go! Katie was right. That was harder than i thought!

Love you all!

Melissa

Melinda, Where Are You?

Melinda, where did you go?? Hey everyone, how's it going?? Just thought I would post a blurb and see how you all are doing. I am so stumped for Halloween. I think I used my whole brain last year on Noah's Noah costume and now I am out of ideas. I didn't want to just run and buy a costume, but I am having trouble thinking of something. Maybe a scarecrow? Lumberjack? I don't know, do you girls have any ideas?? Saturday is our ward's trunk-or-treat, so I have to have it done quick. I am open to any ideas you might have. I don't have any new pictures to post, but I will soon. Love you all! Katie

Halloween Time!

Ooh, sorry it's been so long since I posted anything. I check the blog all the time, though! Things are good with us. I just thought I'd put some pictures up of the kids getting ready for Halloween. Emeline is SO excited! She is June (from the Little Einsteins). Jarom is a bear and Baxter is Superman. (No, not superdog, but superman- little arms and everything). I'm excited to take them trick-or-treating.


Other than Halloween preparations, life is pretty normal around here. We're going home for Christmas, which I am so excited about! My little brother Taylor got off his mission two weeks ago, and I can't wait to see him! What are all of your holiday plans? We'll be here for Halloween (who leaves for Halloween, anyway?) and then for Thanksgiving we're going to Virginia because I was so sad last year when I spent two days cooking a huge nice Thanksgiving dinner then it was just us here to eat it- dinner lasted about 15 minutes and I swear we had leftovers for a month or two- maybe there is still turkey in the freezer, I don't even know!
I love hearing what you guys are up to and seeing your pictures. Good luck with the move, Melissa! That is so exciting! And good luck with the new hospital, Melinda- also very exciting! And good luck with the new baby Katie! And good luck with the Disneyland de-tox Brooke! :) Your trip looked like such a blast and made me really want to take Emeline to Disneyland.
I love you guys!

Another Monday Night...

Hey Ya'll... last night we went to the theater with Tara's family and Kari Ann's family to watch Transformers. Greg showed it on the big screen and we had pizza and goodies. It was fun. Noah loves running around with his cousins. So, I didn't watch those shows that are on Monday night. However, I watched the Bachelor online, which I didn't even know you could do! Anyway, Brooke, just thought I would add my comments on THAT! I am so glad Hillary is gone... I couldn't believe how dense she is. I want to write her a letter that says, "Dear Hillary. For future reference, if a guy ever begins a conversation with the words, 'I am going to be straight with you' or 'I hope you don't take this the wrong way' IT'S NEVER A GOOD THING! She just didn't get it that he wanted to be her friend and nothing more. Poor thing had to make a fool of herself on national tv. I still like Sheena the best for some reason. What do you think? Love you all. Katie

A few of my Favorite things

You all know swimming is one of my VERY FAVORITE things to do. One of my Young Women had this on her sweatshirt and so here is the QUote of the Week: GO SWIMMERS!

I have a few YW that swim and I just love it! It makes me miss swimming and being on my team from NM! Ahhh the memories!

And another of my favorite things are cows and so I had to get a picture of just the little cow puppy that my Aunts dog just had! How cute is he!?!?!?
Sorry I don't have much to talk about. I do LOVE LOVE LOVE the Biggest Loser so if anybody wants to chat about that I would love to! Sorry I don't watch the Bachelor! I don't watch much of anything anymore but the Biggest Loser!

Love you all!

Melissa

YEA!! The Bachelor

Oh Katie, of course I have lots to say about The Bachelor!!! I am so happy someone else has tuned in. I really get very involved. First of all, don't you think Brad is so handsome? Wow. Did you watch the Premiere? I was cracking up. That one girl was sooo drunk and just kept saying "Sweeeet!" She also lost her "padding" from one side of her bra. Oh my goodness. And what about the girl with the webbed toes? Oh, and the human pretzel? Where do they find these girls? I am so glad he finally got rid of Solisa last week. I hated how she was all talking about having good morals and values, and the next minute she was asking him for a body shot and doing all kinds of other immoral things. The girls were being really mean to each other in last night's episode. I think McCarten and Deanna are the worst. I used to like Bettani, but I didn't like the things she was saying about Jenni last night. Yes, I like Jenni. I think she is being real and she is there for the right reasons, despite what the other mean girls are saying. They are all just mad because she got the first kiss and she didn't tell them about it, which they took as lying. I think she is way cute and she will probably be in the final two. I like Sheena too, and I am excited that she gets the one-on-one date with him next week. She seems a little more mature than some of the others and I thought it was cool that she called his twin brother out right off the bat. Did you see the one with his twin? That Lindsey girl totally had no idea, she was all flirting with him and asking him how long he wanted to be engaged. Oh man. And what is up with Hillary crying ALL the time now? Yikes! Oh man, I love this show!
Is anyone watching Dancing With the Stars? Sabrina (the Cheetah Girl) is awesome! And so is Helio (the NASCAR driver).

Brooke

Come on Brooke... I know you'll pull through for me. (:

I Need To Know!

Okay you gals... please don't think I am a total dweeb, but I am dying to know what you are thinking of "The Bachelor"... I sort of starting watching it and now I am curious to see what your opinions are!!! I think some of the girls are being so mean to each other. It's kind of sad. But I do think Sheena is way cool, even though I haven't seen much interaction between her and Brad yet. I was irritated tonight when they showed DeAnna kissing Brad in the hot tub. My goodness... just wrong. Do you think Jenni is for real?? Tell me your opinions. Love you all! Katie

Long Time No Post

I know it's been forever since I posted here. Sorry about that. So here's the news from my way. We just got back on Tuesday from our family reunion at Disneyland. It was awesome. It was so good to see my whole family and so fun to be all together. It's always fun to go on rides of course, but it's even more fun to go on the river raft ride and bust up laughing as your older brother gets drenched or to go on Thunder Mountain 5 times in a row while all your nieces and nephews are screaming at the top of their lungs, some out of fear and some out of delight. Allary was a little trooper and she was a little nervous about some rides, but did really well for the most part. I never realized how loud and freaky some of the little kids' rides are, like Snow White and Pinocchio. Some of her favorite rides were the train that goes around the park, Dumbo, It's a Small World, Finding Nemo (awesome new ride) and Monsters Inc. My favorites were Space Mountain, California Screaming, Thunder Mountain, Tower of Terror, and Pirates of the Caribbean. We had such a great time. The only downer was that Allary came down with a stomach bug in the middle of the night before we left. She threw up in the car several times on the way there. I was so upset because I thought I was going to have to sit at the hotel with her throwing up while everyone else was having fun. Luckily, she did great for the 3 days we were in the park. Her stomach must have still been sensitive though, because she threw up again in the car on the way home. Ugh. As if the drive wasn't bad enough without that, right? Then the night we got home, both Jason and I came down with the same bug and were really sick for about 2 days. We are all better now though, thank goodness.
Jason is working like a madman at his new job. I've had about 3 hours with him since we got back and he started work again. I am feeling a little down because now our vacation is over and I don't really have anything exciting to look forward to. Also, I feel like all my friends in the ward are moving away leaving me friendless and lonely and desperate for adult conversation. So, I know I can be a little over dramatic sometimes, but I feel like I have no husband, no friends, and no money. Woe is me.
On the bright side, Allary is such a sweetheart. I lose my patience with her at times, but mostly just because I never have a break from her. I feel lucky to have such a sweet good-natured kiddo. She is starting to string words together into sentences now and it is so fun to hear her try to put her thoughts into words. She loves her new toys we got her at Disneyland and is very much into all things Nemo and Disney Princess.

Well, I guess that pretty much sums it up. You'll have to go to my blog for more pictures of our vacation, but here we are with Mickey.

Conference Weekend

Well, Conference weekend is over but it was so good. I was edified this weekend and just feeled with the spirit. I love liseting to the Prophet and our Leaders. They are truely called of God.

We didn't do much this weekend. Lounged around and listened to Conference. Today, I had to take Donald back to the airport though and so we decided to leave a little early and go through AF Canyon. We left after the first session and it was so gorgeous! It had just snowed and it was just beautiful! It was nice to just go and see this wonderful creation God created!

Then I had to take Donald to catch his flight. It was so sad because I just miss him so bad during the week! 2 Days is not long enough! But I know in the end it will be better!

Anyways, I hope you are all doing well!

Love ya, Melissa

New Hospital and sister-in-law!

So this is the only picture that I managed to take while I was taking a tour of my new hospital. I had my camera with me the whole time and forgot to take pictures. Dang it! Well this is the entrance to my new hospital I will be working at the end of October. I am pretty excited to start this new adventure but a little nervous too. I mean a whole new place with a whole new bunch of stuff to learn! Anyway just thought I would share it with yah. Haven't done much lately besides this. I am working on redoing my bedroom so when I get it done I will have to post a picture. For now I will just say that JC Penney online outlet is my new best friend! I got a bunch of stuff for my bedroom set for 9.99! I am addicted!

Here is a picture of my brother and his soon to be new wife....that sounds weird! We are excited for them and they are really happy together. Aren't they so cute!

Happy Birthday, Allary!!

Happy Birthday, Allary! I wasn't quick enough to get a card in the mail, but I did remember your birthday! We Love You!

Can you believe she's TWO? Kids grow up way too fast! Have fun at Disneyland!

Busy September

Well I just updated my blog and so I thought I would post a few pictures here. I have been so busy every weekend either working or other things that I have not had a lot of time to post. I check the blogs but don't post. So here I am. Young Women's is going great. We took our beehives to the salt lake Temple to do baptisms with their moms. It was a ton of fun. I even did some of the baptisms. So that was really neat. I am still in the presidency and love it. I love the girls and the leaders I work with. I have gained many great friendships with the leaders and so that has been wonderful. Work is going good. I still massage at nights. That is going pretty good. I have quite a few each week so it has helped. i am exhausted but it is worth it. Here are a few pictures of us this month.

This first one is of us and my friends little boy. he is so cute and I just adore him! We are making monkey faces because we went to his monkey birthday party! Here is me and my beehives at the Temple.
And Donald was able to take a trip to Kentucky to see jeremy his brother. He is leaving for Iraq next week so I flew him out there so he could see him. It will probably be a long while before we see him again!

Well, I hope all is well with everybody! I sure miss you all and love you a ton! I am planning on coming to NM over conference weekend if anybody will be avaliable to do anything. My neices birthday is that weekend and so we need to come down for the party.
I love you all!
Melissa

Blog Mania

Hey Girls!
Just wanted to draw your attention to the links... I talked to Chuckie B Swindale and he gave me links to his and Ryan's blogs. He said I could stick them on our list. Also, you'll notice that I am trying to get one going too, so it's on there. Brooke is going to be helping me get it going! And one more question... Sam was saying we should get anyone who is in Farmington on Thanksgiving together to have a barbeque. (Inside, of course!) So who is going to be here during Thanksgiving? Hope you are all doing well. I love you! Katie

Yummy Yummy

Jarom started eating real food yesterday! (Well, sort-of real food... if you call rice cereal mixed with formula real food). If you've read my blog you know he's kinda shrimpy, so I'm trying to beef him up. :) Anyway, I thought I'd share these pics because I thought they were cute. And if anyone has any ideas on how to get a baby to eat more, please let me know!