Freaky Weather - Roads Closed- Accidents...

I had a horrible experience last night. I left the house around 9:15 to go clean the credit union and took Packer with me to help. We got out to Main Street and it was dead stop so we decided to go the back way around into Saratoga Springs and then back down Redwood Road. What a HUGE mistake. As we were headed the back way we hit major ice and went sliding left and right into the on coming lane. Luckily the on coming traffic wasn't close, yet… We kept sliding and I couldn't stop the car, braking seemed to be making it worse. So I let my foot of the brake and we ended up about a foot away from falling down into a ditch, a ditch that probably would have ruined the car. Yikes. My heart was pounding so fast and luckily all the cars behind us were able to stop and wait for us to get straightened out. As we continued to press forward (we couldn't turn around and go home at this point) we yet again hit another ice patch as we were approaching an accident. I thought for sure we were going to slam right into the cop car. The big truck behind us also hit the ice and was swerving in every direction trying not to hit us. After some time and driving 10 mph we made it to redwood road and were headed north again. But it was dead stop in that direction as well. Both Redwood Road and Main Street were closed. You could see accidents everywhere and police lights flashing in every direction. They had search and rescue people on snowmobiles helping people who ran out of gas, had health problems or were stuck and had to abandon their cars. There were abandoned cars all over the place and we were out in the middle of open farm land between Saratoga Springs homes and Smiths. Our car was on empty and nearly out of gas. I had no idea how much longer we had before the car died. We waited and watched for quite along time as snow and 70 mph winds continued to blow.

Finally traffic began to move again and they were detouring everyone down some small country road towards Eagle Mountain, when it was our turn we were able to move forward and continue on towards Smiths, which was another 5 miles or so. We did finally make it there and I realized I had no wallet to buy gas. Oops! Luckily Packer saved the day and had 10 dollars in his wallet.It was now time to clean the credit union. We had made it this far, we might as well while traffic dies down. So we got into the credit union and I realized the alarm wasn't on, well then out of a room came a couple of people. The funny thing is that our first instinct was to run, so we started heading for the door when they came out the room and saw us. We probably looked so stupid! I just explained that we were there to clean; they were actually stranded at the credit union and couldn't go home. So they ended up staying the night. It was a horrible experience; I’ve never experienced anything like it. We left at 9:15 and didn't get home until 11:45. Aaron left for work at 5:30 this morning and was sliding everywhere on the roads. It took him twice as long to get to work but we are happy he made it safely.Schools and roads everywhere are closed for awhile this morning. Tooele got something like 4 feet of snow. We've got a couple of inches but we've got more snow drifts and ice. My parents got at least 6 inches.We are so sick of this crazy cold, snowy and icy weather. We want spring!

Sunday, Monday, Today!

Great days! Sunday we ate dinner at my parents house and celebrated my Mom's birthday. We gave her some beautiful gerber daisies and a couple picture frames with some fun pictures in them. After dinner we watched a good movie and ate some delicious cake. Yum - best i've had in awhile.

Monday I was up early taking Josh to Primary Children's Hospital for his appointment with the Pediatric Urologist. The appointment went really well and everything turns out fine. I honestly wasn't worried though. He has was 10 percent of boys have until puberty but it's nothing to worry about. Completely normal! Yay!

Today is my mom's birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

We hope you have a special day!

We LOVE you!

Shooting, Sledding, Saturday

Saturday morning my parents came by and picked Joshua and I up and took us shooting with them. We went on the west side of the lake and enjoyed a couple hours out there. We had a lot of fun and Joshua wasn't bothered by the loud gun sounds. He wore the big blue ear muffs most the time and looked absolutely gorgeous.

Once Aaron got off work we met up with the Watsons again and went sledding down this hill near our home. It was awsome. We had a blast!

Aaron & Joshua = Sledding Pros!

Friday Brings Old Friends...

Well what an exciting day, our friends Rees and Becki were in town from Ohio and came to visit us. We haven't seen them for 3 years! Their little girl Loni is no longer 'little' and it was the first time we've seen their little boy Morgan. He is just a few months younger than Josh. We had fun catching up and the boys enjoyed playing video games :)

This picture of Joshua is hilarious though, of all the pictures i've ever taken of him he looks most like his daddy here. An Aaron look alike...

6th February 2008

Joshua loves playing with Stephanie when she is off track, on wednesday they played 'choo choo train' and followed Steph all over the house. It was so cute!

That evening I made my first batch of onion rings. Mmmm yummy, they turned out really good but made the house smell like a fast food joint. Turns out, Aaron can't stant onion rings either so I enjoyed them with stephanie.

Friday was Mum and Dad's Anniversary, we sent them a funny e-card and a gift certificate from local movie theaters.


Happy Anniversary Mum & Dad!!!

Sunday - Church, Superbowl, Eva's Birthday!

Sunday morning we woke up to a ton of unexpected snow. Just after a couple hours of church there was already 5 inches ontop of our car. It was crazy! It took us just over 1 1/2 hours to shovel the driveway but we had a lot of fun doing it. I think the nice crisp cold air helped joshua's cold to loosen because he seems a lot better today.

The Suxo family invited us over for the superbowl so we spent the rest of the day there with the Pendleton family. We had a lot of fun and ate a lot of nice 'snack time' 'superbowl' food. Yum Yum........ Joshua fell asleep upstairs near the doll house, he was so cute. Just sprawled out on the floor like he had no more energy inside him.

Sunday was also Eva's 6th birthday so we sang Happy Birthday and ate a delicious ice cream cake that Mary-kate made.

We love sundays!

Ultrasounds, Photos, Illness, Cows!!!

Sounds funny huh!... Well first about the cow, early Thursday morning Aaron was headed to work and going past our chapel making his way through the back roads to the freeway when around the corner there was a huge black cow in the road. Keeping in mind that this particular road is very narrow and there isn’t much room to go around. Aaron was ready to turn around and go another way when he decided to slowly squeeze around the cow. As he was making his way around the cow he looked to the left out his window, and found the cow staring right at him. Aaron's reactions was hilarious, he freaked out and got past him as fast as he could. It’s a funnier story coming from Aaron, you’ll have to ask him about it.

Joshua had a pretty nasty head cold the end of last week and is still slowly getting over it. Friday he had his ultrasound which went ok, but we still haven't heard back from the doctor yet.

Saturday Marcus and Nichole were over so that I could take there engagement photos. After Aaron got home from work I took Marcus and Nichole to a few places by the lake and took a bunch of pictures. They turned out very good actually. We had a lot of fun doing it other than Marcus couldn't keep his eyes open because the sun reflecting on the snow was too bright for him. So we had to play this game where they would close their eyes, I would count to 3 and then they would both open their eyes while I snapped as many photos as possible before Marcus’ eyes closed again. It was pretty funny and we sure did get a lot of photos with Marcus' eyes closed :)We had a lot of fun though and Joshua even joined us when we finished the photo shoot back at home.

Marcus & Nichole Engagement Photos

Marcus & Nichole

Click on the link and it will take you to a photo book where you can check out all of the adorable photos.

Let us know which are your favorites :)

(Photos taken by Kimberly Presbury)

Sunday 27th January 2008- The Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley dies at age 97

This Sabbath day was a day of remembrance. Our block of meetings at 9:00 went very well with Joshua now understanding a bit of how sacrament meeting runs with hymns sung and prayers said. He also does a very good job of taking the sacrament on his own. I taught my first lesson as the Laurel Advisor and it went really well. I made these really cute handouts that I gave to each girl and all the leaders. The lesson was on 'Living the Gospel Daily' and I made cute flower pens with the quote
"Just as a seed needs daily sunlight, water, plant food and T.L.C. to become a beautiful flower; we, as daughters of God need, love prayer, service, obedience, scripture study, and work, daily to become beautiful young women!"

After having dinner at my parent’s house we headed home in the terrible wind. Around 8:30 my mom called with the news that President Gordon B. Hinckley had passed away. It was such a sad but yet peaceful and happy moment. Just a month ago I had finished the book "Go Forward With Faith: The Biography of Gordon B. Hinckley ". I felt such a stronger connection to the Prophet after learning about his life and everything that led up to him becoming our Prophet, Seer and Revelator. My testimony has grown tremendously and my love for the prophet multiplied. I had always known that Gordon B. Hinckley was our prophet and called of God but now it was a lot more than that. I felt as if I knew him personally!
As we watched news documentaries and listened the news stations highlight his life I knew everything they were talking about as if it were my own grandfather.
We are so blessed to have had such a wonderful man as our prophet and even more blessed to have been apart of all the changes and impacts he had in so many lives. Nearly four years ago his wife Marjorie Pay Hinckley passed away while I was in the temple receiving my endowments and now Gordon B. Hinckley gets to reunite with his beloved.
He was a wonderful example in our lives and will never be forgotten. We are excited for the changes and new experiences to come. We are now beginning a new era.

Some Pictures I took of Marc & Tara

Whew! What a day!

Saturday well what can I say, it was an awsome day!
Lots happened and it was so fun to be with family. My uncle Garth got sealed to his wife Carol in the Timpanogos Temple at 11:00. The Suxo-Sanchez family were kind enough to take Joshua and Steph for a couple hours while I went to their sealing with my parents.
Aaron had to work but he met up with us later for lunch.
The sealing was so amazing and the Sealer did and incredible job. The spirit filled the room and alot of emotions were present. I am so happy for the both of them and they looked so happy. They were both beaming with joy.

We then went outside and waited for them to exit. We all had our cameras out ready to take pictures of the happy couple. I stayed and took some pictures while my parents went back and picked up Joshua and Stephanie. I also did a little photo shoot of Marc and Tara - they are so stinkin cute and the pictures were gorgeous.

For lunch we all gathered at Los Hermanos in Pleasant Grove for some excellent mexican food. Mmmm, my favorite. Josh loves the chips and salsa, he seriously scoops a ton of salsa onto his chip and then takes a huge bite. Only once or twice did he stop and say "hot, hot, hot" and then frantically taking a huge gulp of water. That didn't stop him though :)

After lunch we went home and watched a couple episodes of 'Prison Break' , its so good. Then we headed up to Marc and Tara's house. We were going to watch their kids while they went out for their spa massages. They were given gift certificates for these all exclusive massages that cost just over $100.00 each. They loved it!

Afterward Marc made us this really good dinner. I was impressed, he did a really good job and It was delicious. The kids enjoyed their time playing together as always!

Gotta love 'family weekends'!

25th January 2008

Friday -

We finally got our health insurance sorted out and we actually have a pretty good plan now. I have to find a new doctor but the good news is that we get to keep Joshua's doctor.
I took Josh to American Fork Hospital for the blood tests that needed to be done and Josh actually did really well. He didn't fight the needles or the nurses, he did cry a little when they stuck him with the needle but he was ok after a minute. He is such a brave boy!

Later that evening we went out to dinner with my parents and enjoyed the time out. We went to Chilis (our favorite place) and had to wait 1 hour to get in. Yikes! But the food was delicious.
While there Dr. Anderson called and said that they got joshua's blood tests back and they were a bit concerned about some of the results. Unfortunatly I missed the call so he left me a message and said he would call back on Saturday to discuss the results further.

Update...

This past week has been a busy one!
Thursday (17th Jan) the bishopric came over and extended new callings to Aaron and I. Aaron has been called as the Bear Cub Leader and I have been called as the Laurel Advisor in the Young Womens. We are both very excited and Aaron cannot wait to be a part of Elders Quorum.

Friday (18th Jan) was Marcus' 23rd birthday. We had a little birthday bash for him at our house and Nichole made her very first cake, ever! She didn't do too bad. My cousin Justin and his wife Ashley were also down for the weekend for a sealing they went to. We played some fun games and then watched a few episodes of Prison Break! Its so intense and exciting...
Earlier that day Josh had his 2 year doctor appointment. The doctor evaluated this new rash he has all over his body and diagnosed it as 'Petechiae'. This rash is cause by little blood blisters that form under the skin and can be a sign of many different underlying health problems. So they have written up the labwork for us to go and have some blood work done on Josh. We also have to take him in for and Ultrasound because they couldn't find his left testicle, it has gone back up into his abdomen which can be a problem if it doesn't drop. We are just about done sorting out Health Insurance and then we will be taking him into the hospital for all the testing.

Saturday (19th Jan) brought another long day of events. While Aaron was at work Josh helped me do some laundry and clean the house. I then made a few dozen cookies (the Double Chocolate Dream Cookies everyone loves) that we took up to Marc and Tara's. We met up with Marc and Tara around 5 (including Justin and Ashley) and we went out to dinner. We ate at a place called 'Real India'. The Indian food was so delicious. We had Chicken Tika Masala, Chicken Curry, Coconut Chicken, Rice, bread etc... MMMmmmm it was good and Josh loved it! We then spent the remainder of the evening at Marc and Tara's house playing games, eating cookies and laughing.

Sunday (20th Jan)- We were supposed to go back up to Marc and Tara's for dinner but our day turned into a busy one. After church my companion and I went visiting teaching and then I had Young Women meetings to attend in the evening. When I got home at 2:00 Josh, Aaron, Justin and Ashley were all asleep so I started cooking dinner. We ate dinner around 4:00, relaxed for another hour and then I was off to my meetings.
Our primary class was really sad to see us go, they sang a goodbye song to Aaron while I took Josh to his nursery class. Everyone is always telling me how much they love Aaron, how he has a wonderful sense of humor and is a wonderful dad! They really like him a lot!

Josh is now beginning this singing phase, he loves to sing! There are a couple of songs that he is picking up the words to and during sacrament meeting he tries to sing the Hymns with us. Not so much singing with words but rather Ooos and Ahhhs. Its so cute!

Monday brought Martin Luther King Jr. Day and lots and lots of snow. When we woke up there was at least 1 foot of snow. While I shoveled the drive way another 6 inches to 1 foot fell down on top of it. It took me nearly 2 hours to shovel the driveway and I was paying for it the next day. My back ached because the snow was so heavy. It was beautiful though! I spent most the day working on Young Women stuff and preparing my lesson for sunday.

Tuesday we were back to our normal weekly schedule. Taylor was back and I was working all day on cleaning, laundry ironing etc. It seems as if the days get shorter and shorter and I cannot find the time I need to get everything done.
My parents brought steph down in the evening because she is off track for a few weeks so she will be staying with us. Then Mary Kate called and invited us over for dinner. So we had a delicious dinner with the Suxo-Sanchez, she made a Cheese and Broccoli soup with homemade bread and a fruit salad. Yum Yum. Josh and Steph then hung out at their house for just over and hour while I went to the Young Women Activity. It was a lot of fun, the girls are so cute!
Things are good though, and we received an email from Scott this morning, he is doing great and likes his new companion.

*The second picture of Joshua is of him after getting into a jar of lotion, he loves to put lotion all over his face and in his hair. Its a bit hard to see it in the picture but it was all over, i found him hiding secretly under Aaron's desk with the bottle of lotion... haha.*

Saturday's Activities

Saturday was a busy and fun day! Nichole and Marcus stayed the night and in the morning I did Nichole's hair up and then we headed out to look for wedding dresses.
We spend a few hours looking and she tried on many dresses until she found that special one. It's so beautiful and looked absolutely gorgeous on her.
Marc, Tara and their kids then joined us later, along with Marcus and Nichole, where we all piled in the kitchen and made a big 'breakfast dinner'. It was so yummy.

We had loads of fun playing games and laughing.

Aaron's First 'snowboarding' Experience