March Moustache Madness

As you might have read in a previous blog, March was officially the moustache month for Alan and a bunch of the guys he works with. We were finally able to get a card reader for my camera, so I thought I would post the final results. Don't mind how nasty they look, we went to take pictures as the end of a busy day. Oh, and check out the hair, even better:




Believe me, I was SOOOOOO happy the day he shaved that gross thing off of his face. Ugh! Someone was saying they should do it again in May, how 'bout no?

Conference weekend

For the Priesthood session of conference, the girls held their 2nd annual girls movie/food/craft night. Although things ended up being kind of crazy, I think the kids had fun decorating their "crafts." I got the kids foam glasses they could decorate and then had to get pictures. Of course I really couldn't get a good one of Tagers (the little stinker never holds still for me) but Ellie and Reecers were more than happy to oblige (don't ya just love how sassy Ellie is?)

Puppy Pics

I haven't posted any puppy (well, he's not so much a puppy anymore) pictures in a while.

One of his favorite things to do is sit behind you if you're eating anything on the couch. It cracks me up how he just sits there....

Alan calls him "the rat," but I think he's adorable!

Happy Easter

This past week has been one of the usual-kind of crazy and extremely busy. I decided (last minute, of course) to put together Easter baskets for work. As an activity this month we went yesterday to go see Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D (if you haven't seen it yet, you really should. It's the cutest show and kids LOVE it! We should know....I forgot when I scheduled the activity it was spring break here. The theater was PACKED with kids, but they all really seemed to like the show). But, I thought it would be nice for the adults I work with to get a little Easter treat as we always are getting things for our kids or others, but nothing usually for ourselves. I ordered the majority of the baskets from Oriental Trade, but they didn't come until Wednesday, which meant I had to hurry and throw everything together. On top of that, I decided to put together Easter baskets for siblings/friends/grandparents/parents, so it was kind of hectic. As I sit here reflecting and thinking of all I still need to get done today, I realize how ironic it is. Easter is just like Christmas in a way, extremely commercialized. And of course, I'm totally buying into it! So, before I start my day of fighting with traffic and running a million errands, I'd like to start my Easter off right and remember what it's really about. At our house we celebrate Easter on Saturday with the baskets and then on Sunday really focus in on what Easter is about. I am so very thankful for the true meaning of Easter and for my Savior. Recently our ward was split and we were released from our calling as Sunbeam teachers. Although the calling was hard (it's hard to entertain 4-5 year olds for an hour or so) I actually was almost crying our last day in class. I had grown to love our kids so much, they had so much life in them. They enjoyed everything we did in class and were so great about participating. Our Easter lesson was supposed to be the Sunday before General Conference as tomorrow is our Stake Conference. I was so excited to talk about Jesus and Heavenly Father and the sacrifice they made for us. We were going to do an Easter egg hunt and in each egg was a topic we would discuss about Easter. Their little minds were so great about soaking things up in class. I told Alan several times that it didn't seem like we would even talk about the actual topic we were supposed to because some of it was hard for little minds to absorb. But, as we were taking around a goodbye gift to all our kids (I had already purchased all of the Easter stuff for class and didn't want it to go to waste) we had several parents tell us their kids were so excited to talk about what they had learned in class and show their parents the crafts they made. It made me feel so good to know that the kids WERE paying attention and enjoyed coming to our class. It also made me feel good to know that we were just a small stepping stone to help them learn the teachings of the gospel. I am so grateful for my knowledge of the gospel and for my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I'm grateful we were able to listen to General Conference last weekend and for the wonderful prophet. I'm so grateful for this Easter season and for what it truly means for me and my family and for the sacrifice Jesus made so that I can live again. I truly love the Savior and the gospel and know that Christ knows and loves me too. Happy Easter everyone and I hope we can remember what this weekend is truly about.

Chronicles of a busy household......

Well, here it is April and it's been a while since I've posted. March was a busy, but fun month. First off, I'll answer the question I've been getting quite a lot lately. Nope, not pregnant. For some reason it didn't take in March, but as I keep telling Alan, my birthday is coming up and I can't think of a better present! We have another appointment this week to see where I'm at and when we can do another insemination. So, we'll just keep plugging along and see where it gets us. On a plus note, not being pregnant has really motivated me. Forever ago I posted about starting to work out and eat better. Well, that was in February and well, nothing had really changed (yeah motivation!) Our gym membership had come up for renewal and we decided to cancel it as the one we were going to (sporadically) was closing down. Once I found out I wasn't preggers, I decided to join Lady Fitness and go to morning classes with my very awesome sister-in-laws. Although I didn't make it every day this past week (yes Tara, I am officially a slacker!) it felt so good to go on the days that I did go. I also forgot how hard that first week is......extremely tired (I have to be up between 4:30-4:45am to get to class by 5:20) and so freakin' sore it looks like you have a stick up your bum when you walk. But, other than that, I'm ready for a new week. Add on top of that weight-watchers, and hey, it equals out to some fun times! The gym is a lady only gym, so while I miss working out with Alan, it has been so much fun to catch up with Tara & Misty and have some fun friends to work out with.

Alan had the opportunity to fly out to Sacramento last week and help a friend ordain his son a deacon. The friend is the only LDS member in his family, so he was kind of nervous about the ordination and asked Alan if he would come out to help. Alan went by himself, so while I missed him like crazy, he was doing a good thing. He was able to catch up with his family and see some good friends again while I worked and spent some quality time with my mom and little sister. I'm really glad he was able to go out and help, but even more glad when I was able to go to the airport on Monday and pick him up. While Alan was on his way to Sacramento, his brother and cute family were on their way out here to Utah. Our sister-in-law is originally from Utah, so while they were out here (after Alan had gotten home) we were able to go to dinner with them and their adorable kids. Do I have any pictures to post? Um, no. Me, who usually always carries the camera completely forgot it. So, although there aren't pictures, we did have a great time with Kenton & Bree and it was fun to see you guys again. Hopefully next time we see you it can be for a little longer! Hope your trip back wasn't too bad and you didn't run into too much snow.

Last night we were able to go to Alan's mission reunion and I was able to meet his very cute Mission President and his wife. To be honest I was kind of bored, but it was fun to see Alan light up when he saw people he hasn't seen in ten years. Yep, ten years, my baby is getting old (and so am I!) I was able to meet some companions and a second cousin, so it was worth it. There are actually a lot of old mission friends who have made their way back to Utah to live, so hopefully Alan can stay in touch with them better and see them more often. Again, I forgot my camera which I really regret because it would have been nice to get a picture with Alan & Pres. & Sister Jones. Hopefully they'll be another reunion so I can do so.

On a final note (because this post isn't big enough already) with the end of March comes the end of the beloved moustache. In a previous post I explained how March was the moustache month and Alan and a bunch of friends all took the pledge and didn't shave for a whole looooooonnnnnggggg month! The very last day of the month I went to Alan's work with a friend so we could get a picture of all the guys rocking their staches. Hooray, a picture! But, we have to get a card reader as the dog chewed the cord that uploads the pictures. So, until then, you'll have to be content with the following picture that was courtesy of Uncle Rob:

Thanks Rob! When I saw this I started laughing so hard! Unfortunately for Alan, his stach wasn't quite as good as this, but it was close! Hope everyone has a wonderful conference weekend! Enjoy!

Happy Happy Birthday Lyssy Dear....

Just a shout out to my lovely little sister who turns the big 2-0 today. Happy Birthday Lyssy! Also, wanted to wish everyone a very happy St. Patrick's Day!

Updates, Updates, Updates

I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I would give everyone some quick updates. As for right now I still have a job, but currently the company is in due diligence. If everything goes as planned, the company will most likely be sold by July or August. Sooo....that means I need to find a job quick (throwing it out there people...let me know if you hear anything)! On the plus side, my husband rocks and we're going to see:

If you couldn't tell, I am SOOOOOOOO freakin' excited! I've been wanting to see it and knew they would be in Salt Lake, but the tickets weren't exactly cheap. So, Alan and I were talking about it and decided we would go for my birthday. That, and he totally owes me for his ugly moustache. If you didn't know, it's moustache March (yeah, I've never heard of it either) so for the month of March Alan's facial hair under his nose is getting bushier and bushier. Combine that with some shaggy hair and you've got one sexy porn king.... don't be haters ladies (and yes, I will post pics at the end of the month so you can all be jealous). I told him if he grew out his moustache he totally owed me, so I guess yeah for me! It also helps that I have a musically inclined husband. He likes to go to these kinds of things with me, which makes it a little easier to talk him into it!

However, I saved the best for last. Our most exciting updated would have to be that in the quest for one of these (no, not the stork)

we had our first insemination today. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but it went pretty smoothly (and no, I'm not going to go into detail on a public blog. If ya want to know how it works, google it!) What's amazing to me is the doctor said as far as they can tell, if it works, the conception takes place about 5 minutes after the insemination. Crazy! So, I guess we'll know whether or not it worked by the end of the month, fingers crossed! We're just grateful that since we are going through fertility, we have a great doctor who is so optimistic and works at a wonderful facility. Thanks everyone for the positive vibes, we love ya!

The Love Dare

The other night Alan and I had an early "date nite" as we had a ton of things going over the weekend. We went to Redbox to get a movie, but the one he wanted to rent wasn't there. I saw the movie "FireProof" which I remembered from a previous post Alan's cousin Brooke had done on her blog. She had gone to seen and said it was really good and made you really think. It never went to theaters here in Utah, but I did want to see it. I suggested it to Alan and he thought it sounded fine to him. I have to admit, it was a little cheesy in some places, but overall was a really good movie with an excellent message. It was about a fireman (Kirk Cameron) and his wife and how their marriage was on the brink of divorce. Kirk Cameron's father asked him to complete The Love Dare (without his wife knowing) prior to signing any divorce papers or actually filing for divorce. Basically it's a book that has you do 40 steps over 40 days to improve your marriage and learn to appreciate each other again. It also has bible versus (the movie was produced by Christian producers) so that you can bring God back into your marriage. By the end of the movie the two characters had improved their marriage and decided to stay together. Anyway, I was thinking about the book and decided to buy it - after all, why wait until you're really in trouble before you try and work on your marriage? However, I'm going to switch it up a little. One of the first steps is to not say anything negative to your spouse. Either walk away or change the subject. I think this is such a great step that I'm going to do it (well, try as hard as I can, anyway) for a week, not just a day. After you've done that step, you're supposed to do the next step in addition to the first step, etc. So, as it's the first day of a new month, I thought I would give it a try. I haven't actually read the book yet, but I guess I really only need to read it step by step, right? What's the worst that can happen? An even better marriage?

Baby gift idea

My mom asked me to make a baby gift for a girl she worked with, but she wanted something different. Since I've been into using pots lately, I started thinking about different ways to turn them into a gift and came up with this:



I had to free hand a lot of the circles as the template I used just wasn't working very well. Once I had it painted and the styrofoam put in place, I put onesies and washcloths around it to hold everything together (that way the pot is reusable to decorate with, or hold toys). It turned out a lot cuter than I thought it would. You know when you have a great idea, but sometimes when you put it together it just doesn't look quite right or not as cute as you thought? I was stoked at how well this turned out the first time. And, for all you prego friends out there, sorry if this spoils the surprise, but you might just end up with one of these!
Side note....can you tell I'm ready for summer? I thought maybe if I changed my background, that might help....

Sorry....forgot to talk about the sucker. It's actually a 5 inch lollipop (I had to order it online as I couldn't find a big enough one at any of the stores) with a onesie wrapped around it. Then I just took cellophane and tied it with ribbon. I think it's adorable!

Better late than never

I would have posted these sooner, but my puppy decided he wanted to chew through our camera cords. So, we've been unable to upload the pictures from the camera to the computer! Anyway, hopefully we'll have that problem fixed soon, but in the meantime I thought I would post some anniversary pics. We stayed at the Johnson Mill Inn in Heber, Utah which was gorgeous.

Our room was on the third level of the inn and took up the whole floor, which was nice.

This is usually the first thing Alan does when we stay anywhere....jumps on the bed to see how soft the mattress is. I think in almost every picture I've taken when we've gone somewhere, I have the same picture!




Different views from our room....there are some perks to being on the top floor and have two different balconies! There are all sorts of trails around the mill that you can walk on and I guess spot deer and different animals. I'm sure it's even prettier in the summer. Once we checked in and hauled the luggage up, we headed down to Park City to go to dinner and do some shopping at the outlet. We were able to get Alan a brand new Columbia coat (they just put in a brand new Columbia outlet) for snowboarding for $50...it's a $213 coat. Yeah, I was pretty stoked! Plus I got some hiking/trail running shoes for $30, can't beat that. Tuesday morning we went to a cute little cafe for breakfast (they served breakfast at 9:00 at the inn, but it felt so nice to be able to sleep in that we just didn't want to get up!) and both ordered hot chocolate. The first drinks came out in normal cups, which Alan took down pretty quick. The second time the waitress brought out a drink for Alan, it was in the biggest coffee cup I've ever seen! He loved it!



I don't think this picture does it justice....notice Alan's hair. He is currently growing it out and it's driving me nuts! But, I'm a supportive wife and have told him if it starts to get longer than mine, I will cut it during the night. I don't think it will be too much longer before he cuts it, it's even driving him crazy. I never thought I would see the day that my husband has to pull out my blow dryer to dry it. If he pulls out my straightener, I might have to put my foot down....Anyway, after breakfast we headed down to the Draper Temple open house. We weren't able to get any good pictures because the weather was so bad, but it is a beautiful temple. It was fun to be able to just hold hands with Alan and walk from room to room. From the temple we headed home and ended up shoveling this:

This was all in a one day span....we ended up getting home about 5:00 pm because of how bad the roads were. So, we spent the rest of the night shoveling and trying to get Alan's car in the driveway (it kept getting high centered on all the snow!) Our little adventure had come to an end, but it was a lot of fun, even with playing catch up at work. Now if we could just have some decent spring weather....I think everyone is antsy to just get outside and enjoy some warmth!