This weekend

Well, I thought I would just update everyone on the crazy weekend we had. First of all, Jake and I went to Round Valley this weekend so that I could go through the temple on Saturday. When we arrived on Friday, we promptly began delivering wedding announcements. It was actually pretty fun. We got to see a lot of lights and we talked to a lot of people. Then we went home early because our session started at 8:30 in the morning in Snowflake. Mom and I had to be there at 7.

Anyway, it was great to go through. Justin had me a little freaked out, but it was really cool. Heather and Sam made the trip and others present were the Goodmans and Ashley, Janet, and Jake and his parents. Sister Ziegler was working in the temple that day and she was great. So good times. Then, we had to book it home for a bridal shower. It was pretty great, and thanks to Donna and Ashley and Lori and Ashton. So after all that, I went home and power went out at about 4:00. I decided to take a nap. When I was finished, the power was still out. So mom heated up some soup and we lit kerosene lamps and played Yahtzee (with Hilary's permission).

So then on to Sunday. We were a little worried about the weather, but decided to stay for church. About an hour before church started, Jacob's dad called me. He told me that he checked Jacob's blood sugar (for fun) and it was 552. For those that don't know, that is SUPER high. But Jake said he felt fine, no different than usual and he would wait till we got back to Mesa to go to the doctor. So we went to church and ate lunch. Jacob didn't eat any carbs at lunch, and we prepared to leave. Before we left, we checked it again and it was 480. So we went to the emergency room because it was sunday and there were no doctors in their offices. So they gave him insulin and prescribed him some pills. They wanted to keep him for a couple of days at first, but he has finals this week and he didn't really want to stay. So we went to Dr. Wilson's office this morning and promised we'd find a doctor down here. Then we went and got a machine to check his blood sugar and came home, where we filled his prescriptions and went running to see if we could help bring his sugar down a little.

All in all, it was a pretty crazy weekend. I'm now wearing garments, and Jacob has a chronic illness. And we are getting married in 12 days. We are still very excited about marriage, despite the rest. I just thought I should update everyone.

Braids

This is not the most exciting post in the world, especially considering Heidi has had all sorts of big news. But I made braid today. I made some last year at Christmas, but I haven't made them since. We got a Kitchenaid yesterday, and I thought I would try it out. Here are the results. Not too bad, eh? They're not Mom's, but maybe with some practice I'll get there. Makes me feel all Christmas-y inside.

A Few Things...

Happy Thanksgiving family!!!

I wish I was in El Paso right now. But I have some time while I am watching the Macy's parade, and I remember there are a few things that were overlooked that I meant to blog about last week.

First of all, big shout out to Heather and Jason for the way their cougars played last Saturday. If only it were enough. For those who don't know, Utah beat the cougars 48-24. Go Utes!

I also got my real ring the other day. Jacob took several pictures, so here is one. He did a good job picking out what I wanted.



So there it is. I guess I haven't made the official announcement on here that I am engaged...but I called everyone so here is my official announcement.

Happy Thanksgiving!

CONGRATS HEIDI RUTH!

Just a quick note to let everyone know that Heidi is an official [RN]. She took her State Boards yesterday and today found out she passed and has a license to practice nursing. Way to go Rufus. We love you and are proud of you! - love mom and dad

Engagement Pics

Here are two pictures I am choosing for the announcement...if anyone cares, let me know which one you like the best. In the one where we are hugging, we would fix the fact that my shirt is coming up just a little...I don't really want that going out like that. Haha. Anyway, let me know what you guys think.

Quick Update

Hello family,
I try to avoid posting on here as much as possible because my life is so freaking lame compared to all of you! But I also can't handle it when no one posts, so I guess I'll take one for the team. Things with me have been good....I guess. I finally decided on what to do about my credit dilemma and I am going to go ahead and take the 18 this semester and 17 in the summer. I know you all think I am crazy but it feels like the right thing. Plus I am not even sure I can yet because I have to get all A's this semester to raise my GPA so that I can apply in the spring. So I guess we'll know once I take my O-Chem final if I'm even going to be able to take 18 credits.
Work is going great. There is this one annoying girl on my team that I think is going to be fired, so that'll make work great. I feel bad for her, but she totally deserves to be fired. All she does is play solitaire all day, which leaves all the work she doesn't do to me and one other girl. So hopefully she shapes up!
I got a new calling. I am the Emergency Prep Coordinator for my ward! YIPES! I'm not too sure what all that entails, but I guess I will find out. Don't get me wrong I have been wanting a calling for awhile now, but seriously emergency prep? Why can't I have a nice normal calling where my job is CLEARLY laid out and I don't have to guess I can just do it. Again, not complaining that's an honest question.
Other than that nothing exciting for me. I'm not getting married, having babies, going on fun trips, or have cute kids to liven up my day. So sorry for such a mundane post, but hey that's what happens when you're single and don't have a life! :) I am posting a few pictures of my Wilma Flintstone costume from Halloween. It was way awesome. I would like to point out that I made every single piece of clothing that I wore. My costume cost me 9 dollars, and it was pretty killer if I do say so myself. Anyway love you all! Miss you too!

Wilma and Betty


Me, with my painted red hair!


My awesome dress!

Ode to the Family

Hey all, I thought since it's been a while since we posted on here that I'd do a quickie. The blessing went well and I am glad it is over. Thanks to all that made it and we wish we could have been with everyone that didn't. Thanks mom and dad for making the long drive and all you've done for us. Having a kid of our own has started to open our eyes to the sacrifices necessary for a strong family. Koy is doing well, although his sleeping habits are sporadic at best. Here's some pics of an outfit Jason and Jen sent. Thanks a bunch for everything. We appreciate everyone. 

Next Book

Tallin has a little more time on his hands since his recent playground accident. He was trying to do a double back with a twist dismount off of the monkey bars (he loved watching the men's gymnastics during the Olympics and decided to try out a few moves on his own) and he over-rotated and landed square on his backside. Hey, it happens. He ended up with a small crack in his hip and has been ordered to stay off his feet for the next 5 days. The doc said it would either get a lot better or worse, genius really I know, he was really going out on a limb there huh. Anyway, Tallin has already memorized "No Dinosaurs at Church" and he said he's ready to move on to some more challenging material. So the next book will be "Hearing the Voice of the Lord" by Elder Gerald Lund.

Boredom

Hello Family! I haven't posted in quite some time. Not much has been going on in my life. Well actually I have had some pretty bizarre and embarrassing days this past week, which include locking the keys to my COMPANY'S car inside, not having a cell phone with me to call, and being stranded at the post office. Never once have I ever locked the keys inside of a car, and the FIRST time it happens it has to be with the company car. My boss was pretty good about it, although I am still being made fun of for my ditzy moment. The Dietetics students put on a "Fruit and Veggie Fair" for an elementary school this week that I was able to help with. It was pretty fun and we came up with some pretty creative games involving fruit and veggies. At one of the booths the kids won a cucumber as a prize, and I have never seen kids get so excited about a cucumber. I doubt they knew what it was, and were probably really mad when they got home and realized that we had given them a vegetable as a prize for winning, but oh well! I also have been putting together a display for a Health Fair that we are having in a few weeks. It's all about the benefits of eating a lot of lower calorie foods compared to eating a lot less food for the same amount of calories. Sounds like fun, I know. So between all of my fun projects and school and work and play I have been a busy little bee!
It was snowing when I woke up today. I was NOT a happy camper, but it didn't stick so I guess I will live. Our weather has been so great lately that I forgot that I live in Logan where it's winter ALL THE TIME!

Anyway, I posted a few pictures from a few different weekends. My roommates and I went and hiked to the wind caves one weekend and the fall leaves were BEAUTIFUL! The next weekend Jessy came up from provo and we went and got some more pictures in the canyon, so I thought I would share them with you all cause they are so pretty! I love you all and hope everyone is doing well!

Look at all those COLORS!

The view from inside the cave!

This cute little cabin Jess and I found!

The Next Book

Sorry it's taken so long to post this, but since I was elected to pick the next book for Christmas I figured I better get it done. I have chosen "No Dinosaurs at Church" it is one of Tallin's favorites so I thought it would be something we could all learn from. Also for those of us who aren't studying in institutions of higher education, or molding young minds, I decided to pick something that wouldn't be to challenging. You can find the book online at Deseret Book, or probably anywhere else where Mormon paraphernalia is sold. Enjoy!

I just want to take a moment and thank you all for the compliments and set a few things straight. First of all, yes I am a tyrant. But that is what has made you all such good kids. And as for being a hypocrite, I'm sure that is true also but you need to know that it is Mom's idea that I have one so I can call if I get lost or something in Chicago. With my luck the dang thing won't work when I need it anyway. It is a camera phone so it will be useful if I want to take a picture of the cows or something. One other thing you need to know, the texting is not part of this contract so don't even try. I know what you are thinking girls. I couldn't figure out how to text anyway so what's the use, right!

Mom and I are looking forward to seeing you all through the next few weeks. There sure are some exciting things ahead for this family and we can't wait. And finally, I need to deflect a little attention from me to someone else. This is kind of a mean thing to do but I can't resist. Your mother got an application for AARP in the mail today. She is pretty excited about that. Luv ya, Dad

A "LEISURE" afternoon

Just thought I would make a post and tell you about our Friday afternoon. Dad decided he would get some wood for
Cal Eagar who lives in Snowflake. He is the good old guy that has the handicapped sons, he and dad have struck up quite a friendship. Cal can't breath real well and has some other health problems, so dad wanted to get him a trailer load of quakie. His pick-up is STILL in the shop, so we decided to take mine, and take along the old "Cibeque Queen". We headed up to Green's Peak, but before we left we noticed that we only had 1/4 of a tank of gas, but dad said "Oh, we'll be o.k." We found a place where there were many old quakie logs already on the ground. We tried to back the trailer up close, but we couldn't get the pick-up in 4-low. Dad started cutting "logs"! They were at least 6 feet long and were heavy. I tried to roll, push, WHATEVER I could do to get them close to the trailer. We started lifting them end over end, but some of them I couldn't even lift! I asked him if he could cut some of them shorter, so I could lift them, but he said we needed to hurry and that was a waste of time. I was not much help, I'm NOT much of a skidder, and pretty soon I was too tired to lift one more log. Dad just kept cutting and carrying logs to a pile. He decided it would take too much gas to pull the trailer home that afternoon. We left the trailer and piles of logs and headed for home with the gas light flashing. We started to coast after we passed the Greer turn-off. Miraculously, we made it to the gas station. Dad and Dennis went back the next morning to finish the job. I told him the next time he wanted a "skidder" he should call one of you boys, or call someone with a CAT. I guess I'm just a whimp. haha Oh, one more thing. You're dad broke down and got a cell phone today. Don't faint! HIS # is 551-1651, so add that to your phone list. Hope all is well with all of you. I will be seeing most of you soon - and hopefully "baby Hall" will be there when I arrive. Love you all! Mom

RS Broadcast

I think someone else should post on here besides me, but I wanted to say how much I enjoyed the RS broadcast last night. I particularly enjoyed President Utchdorf's talk. For those of you who weren't priviledged enough to attend, he spoke about two pursuits that can bring us closer to feeling the Lord's happiness: creation and compassion. It was a really great talk. I couldn't help but think about Mom during his talk. She has been such a great example of those things. She has always been involved in pursuits that create something beautiful, but mostly she has devoted untold time, worry, and work into her children. I'm so thankful for your example, Mom. You and Dad both have been great examples of compassion. You are always helping out someone, and I appreciate that we have the kind of parents who recognize when there's a need and do something about it. Thanks for all you do!

New Blog

Just thought I would tell you all that Sam and I started a new blog. The address is
www.theblackhamspot.blogspot.com
There are pictures of the peaches I canned there. (Yes, you heard me right.) Hope you are all doing great and enjoying the fall.

I Passed!!

Yay, I passed my last final today. I am going to be a real nurse someday. Now all I have to do is get through my preceptorship and pass the NCLEX. But I don't have to take any classes over again. Thanks, family, for all the support. And I am especially grateful to mom and dad cuz I definitely could not have done it without them. I love you guys! Anyway, even though it's not quite over yet, the worst definitely is. So yay!

A Very Happy Birthday to ME!!!

As we are all aware, it was my birthday yesterday! Turning 20 will change your life, I mean I feel so much older, wiser, and mature..........HA YA RIGHT! Come on people like I am ever going to actually grow up! :) I just thought I would share some pictures of my great birthday weekend! With the help of Justin, my friends and I had a wonderful bonfire on Saturday night. It was so much fun, but sadly no pictures were taken to document the event. We did however have a wild and crazy Friday night with some masks......I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. I also have some pictures of the great cake my roomies bought for me! I also got to go out to dinner with Justin, Sherrie, Sheena, and her boyfriend Matt. It was way fun and SO YUMMY! And of course I got a lot of great presents! I guess I really am spoiled rotten! Anyway, love you all! Thanks for making it such a great birthday!

So creepy, yet so funny! We got these masks for a dollar at walmart! We went to everyones house that we could think of and scared them! It was a great adventure!

Aren't we a cute couple?? Ha ha best dollar I have ever spent!

So I realize that I look really stupid in this picture, but I was super excited about the cake!

The roomies minus one! RiKelle is in the middle and Kayla is on the right! They are way fun girls! We were misisng Kyleigh, she had to go to Sandy.....

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Hil-bug...
Happy Birthday to YOU!!!

Sick

I have learned some interesting news today, and it is the ONLY thing I can think about. I have been obsessed with reading news articles all day. I found out this morning that a girl that I visit taught about 6 months ago was just arrested for MURDER. First degree. I am sick just thinking about it. She is accused of murdering her ex-boyfriend, who is responsible for introducing her to the church and baptizing her. She began coming to our ward when they split, in an attempt to put some distance between them. However, they apparently were still having a bit of a relationship even after they broke up. She moved back to California, and he was found dead (stabbed with his throat slit) in his shower a couple of months ago. He was dead in his shower for several days before his roommates discovered him (another creepy detail). This girl was formally charged with his murder yesterday. I would have never in a million trillion years thought that she could be capable of something so horrific. I still can't believe it, and I'm not sure I do, though apparently the evidence is pretty overwhelming against her. Unfortunately the capacity of people to do horrible things is all too real at times. And living the gospel is critical. I suppose you just never know...but who would have ever thought I would VISIT TEACH someone who could possibly be a murderer? I hope I'm not gossiping by putting this on here. I just can't get it out of my head. I feel like I want to vomit over the whole thing. And I feel horrible for both of them and their families.

Hi everyone I just wanted to put up some pics from Tallins birthday and first day of school and some other ones I just like. We had Tallins birthday at chucky cheeses and it was so much fun. He is such a good boy and I am so thankful to have him. Love you guys hope everyone is good.

Just to let you know

Dearest Children - I talked with grandma this morning, and gramps is having a hard time getting over his infection. It's been a pretty stressful week, although the last two days he is doing better. Dad and I are going to focus our fast on him and wanted to invited you to do the same. I'm sure our united faith and prayers can only help.

As a side note, dad and I did corn this morning, (what LITTLE BIT the skunks and racoons didn't eat!) I know you are all feeling so bad to have missed out on all the fun. I'm sure it brings back such fond memories! We only got 13 bags, but at least it is done, cleaned up, and dad is chopping the stalks and hauling them to the barn right now. It's a good job done, but I must admit, I MISSED all of you. Hope you're having a great day. Love you all. - MOM

Light at the End of the Tunnel

So today in class we got all of the paperwork we have to complete for graduation. Which is a lot. Two applications, one to the Arizona State Board of Nursing and the other to the NCLEX test. We also have to get another fingerprint card through the FBI. All of which costs money. Lame...but anyway, the good thing about this is that it is super exciting. Aside from the fact that I have to come up with like $500 just to sit and take a 3 hour test given on the computer, it is nice to know that it's getting close. As long as I pass 2 more tests and then the final, and I do a good job in my preceptorship, then I should be a nurse pretty soon. Yay. So I ask all my wonderful family members to pray for me during this last month...Thanks guys!

Happy Birthday Tallin!

Just wanted to say Happy Birthday to my favorite 5 year old on the Blog. I also have a few favorite pictures that I want to post of him...

Oh I just LOVE school!

Well I haven't posted in awhile and decided that now is as good of a time as ever! A lot has happened lately! I moved into a BEAUTIFUL little apartment. I love it so very much! I feel a little spoiled to be living there actually, but then I remember all the food I served this summer, and I don't feel bad one little bit! I came back to work a couple weeks ago and was promoted a week after I got back! They put me on as an assistant manager of a new team in our department.....so I am still WAY down on the list of people who actually matter, but hey, I got a dollar raise! Yippee! It made my whole stinkin' day when they told me! I was starting to get stressed about money...well actually I am ALWAYS stressed about money.....but it made me relax a little bit. And last but not least on my list of changes in my life....I started school yesterday. It was kind of a long day. I have some good classes and some tough ones, but I am still feeling pretty ok about them. I am taking stats and O-chem....so that'll be interesting to see how that turns out.....oh and I am also taking KARATAY! (yes, I am aware that I spelled that wrong, however, once I attended the first class I realized that you can't just mumble out the word....you have to give it some spunk....plus you just sound cooler when you say it that way.) I know can you believe it!? I am the ONLY girl in the class....and while you think this may be a good thing for me....it's NOT! They are all goobers and hippy's. But my Sensai (aka Professor) promised me the "ability to dispose of any component that dared intrude on my space" ya that's a word for word quote there folks. So this should be interesting. I decided I will definitely be practicing my ninja techniques on my dear older bro. Watch out Justin here I come!
So that is about it for me. Kind of a long and boring post, but I just thought you would all like to know what your favorite little member of the family is up doing! Love you all!

Check these out...

Our photographer posted a few pictures on her blog. She is working on editing them, and I am getting anxious to get them back. I think you will get a kick out of these though. The one with Gramps and Gram is pretty cute. (The parentals are too, but they haven't quite got the grandpa and grandma look yet) The blog is:
www.andreawardle.blogspot.com

Why I didn't make the Olympics

Don't play this video if you are in a library, work, or any other place where reverence is expected. I also wouldn't recommend wathcing this with a full bladder. Enjoy.

Wedding Pictures

Here are a few...I can't post any that Sam's uncle took because they are huge files. Hopefully we'll have more back from the photographer soon. Hope everyone is doing great!

Hey Kim-

So Justin said you would still make bedding for the babe. Here is a picture of one I like.... mostly for the colors and polka dots and stuff. If you want to see if you can find anything along these lines, we would love it! Just make sure you let us know how much it is!

Wedding pics

Hey guys! I'm still in Utah, but here are a few pics one of my friends posted on facebook. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=639248057
If that doesn't show up as a link try pasting it in your browser. I will post some pics soon. Thank you all for your hard work and your support! The day turned out even better than I imagined. Love you all!!!

Wow - I'm Tired!

I decided I would make a post for the second time in my life. I haven't been on the blog for weeks - and then I see how my second son talks about me and even has the nerve to make fun of me. Just for the record - I think I held up pretty well. I certainly shed a few tears - but that is the right of a mother - and Justin's predictions were way off. I think he sould pay up because he totally LOST!

Between the reunion, dad's conference in Las Vegas, and the wedding we have been about 2,650 miles in three weeks. The reunion was GREAT and Heather's wedding was AWESOME. She was a beautiful bride and Sam looked pretty darn good himself! It was so good to be together with all of you and from what I saw, all of you behaved quite well - (even Justin as far as I could tell). I really do appreciate all of your help. THANKS a million.

We got home Monday afternoon. Today I am bushed - but part of that is because I just mowed the lawn. I am helping give a baby shower tomorrow - and Saturday, Dad is over the Stake 24th of July celebration. We are really looking forward to seeing the end of the month of July. When I get pictures, I will send you some, but someone smarter than me will have to post them on the blog. It was great to see all of you - be good and remeber how much I love all of you!

And another one bites the dust...

One down, two more to go! I think we are all in agreement that Heather's wedding was pretty rockin'. I even almost shed a few tears, but I held them back mostly because I didn't want to be ridiculed by my older brother (I'll let you all guess as to which older brother I am referring to). The only complaint is that it was so, so hot! But all in all I think it went well. Now we just have to get Heidi married off and then we can all shift our focus to me......but it might be a gruelling task seeing as how I am not bilingual (sp?) and have not and will not serve a mission......I guess I am just a lost cause! Ha anyways, just thought I would tell everyone that we all made it home and that the drive was great as usual. Can't get enough of that reservation! Anyway, love you all and I will be seeing some of you very soon! (namely Justin and Sherrie, seeing as how I will be living with them for a few days! Lucky them!!) Hasta pasta!

Wedding Gambling

Due to our blog being extremely uneventful recently I decided to make things interesting. I preface my predictions by noting that because of my gender I might not have the expert insight on such matters as this, but I still have a pretty good idea. The only other Hall wedding I attended was my own, and I was pretty oblivious to the perfunctory wedding tasks, not to mention the groom's side is always less stressed than the bride's. So here's the gamble, I am setting the over/under for #of times a Hall female bursts into tears vs. #of times they thank me for trying to lighten the mood at -20/+20. For you non-gamblers out there, that means Vegas is saying that normally tears will be shed 40 more times than "thank yous" will be handed out for well-intentioned sarcasm. Send your checks to me and I'll let you all know how it turns out. 

The Wedding Cake

So Janet sent me this pic to put on here to see if Heather likes it. I think it is really pretty! It makes me hungry too!

What's been goin' down in E-town!

Hello dear family! I know it has been a long time since I have blogged. There are 2 main reasons for this. 1. I live in Round Valley, so I basically have no life now except for work. 2. Ok I am not going to lie, I don't really love to blog. Don't get me wrong. I think our little blog is super duper, but right now I am kinda feeling like a lame, lame loser. Everytime I get on here someone is engaged or pregnant or going to freakin Brad Paisley concerts! And what do I do? I go to work and help fat people get even fatter! So needless to say I haven't really felt like there is anything really worth blogging about!

Ok so it's not really that bad. Work is pretty lame though. I don't like the new owner of Molly's. He is the guy who invented the swimming noodle thing, and so he is super rich and super snotty, which results in him being super annoying! =) And it is kind of depressing going to school and hearing about food and not getting fat every single day, and then moving home and aiding in the outbreak of diabetes and obesity. I sort of feel like a traitor to my major....but hey, I need the money!

Church has been ok. Like the second week I was here Kim Hunt and I got called to be the young single adult reps for the stake. I shouldn't be surprised seeing as how kim's dad is the Stake Pres. but still, they can't even wait 3 weeks! It hasn't been too bad yet. We even had a FHE and there was more than 5 people there. So hopefully they keep coming. And yesterday I was blessed to recieve another calling! Any guesses on what it is!?? I am a DEN LEADER IN THE CUB SCOUTS! Ya I'm not lying. I want to die. Me and Janet are working together. I don't even know what that is or what I am supposed to do. They mentioned something about cubs and mountain lions and bears, or some other woodland animals, but I wasn't really paying attention. I was still shocked and wondering what the crap they were thinking making a 19 yr old GIRL A DEN LEADER IN THE CUB SCOUTS! Ya so this should be interesting. Serves me right for moving home I suppose....

Ya so that is what is going on with me. I have been able to have some fun while I have been home. I went to El Paso and saw Jas and Jen and the boys. We had mucho fun spending some time with them! Hence the pictures of Tallin chillin' with his favorite Aunt! And the other day Kim and I hiked Escadilla! Oh ya baby! We went all the way to the top! Ok, so it's not THAT hard of a hike, but let's be honest who just up and decides to hike a mountain on their day off?? It was pretty fun, and it was nice to be able to spend some time in nature listening to the birds and reconnect with ourselves. We even had a little butterfly guide. I am not lying this little guy followed us the WHOLE way! We called him our Holy Ghost. =) Ha ha ya we are weird, but we have to keep ourselves entertained somehow!

Anyway, I hope all is well with everyone else! I am a little sad I will not be able to attend the reunion! The Halls will be poorly represented without their funniest, smartest most beautiful child there. However, I am expecting the rest of you to step it up and make me proud! =) I love you all and miss you. Except for Scott and Kim, cause I see them everyday! Toodles for now!

Hey You Guys

Sherrie started a blog for our little fam, so check it out. Most of my posts on this site recieve ridicule and rebuke anyway. Hope you all enjoy. justinandsherrie.blogspot.com

Brad Paisley Concert

So for my birthday Jacob took me to Brad Paisley. The concert was last night and it was amazing! Even the openers were good, especially Jewel. I have a new appreciation for her. She actually yodeled. Anyway, Brad came on at about 9:30 and the concert ended about 11. He was awesome. He is even better live, and he is pretty funny too. Anyway, we took some pictures for everyone to see. I know Justin will be jealous. There are some songs that I haven't heard that I think Justin would really enjoy. One of them is about speeding and outrunning police cars. It was pretty good. Anyway, we had a great time! Definitely a wonderful birthday present!

I guess I will take the risk of loosing some of you to heart attacks and send a little note to all of you. It is nice to be able to get a word around to each of you, all at the same time. I worry a little about the "teacher" looking over my misspelled words, punctuation errors, and poor grammar but she will just have to deal with it. I have many other shortcomings. First, 31 years IS a long time but it has gone by really fast and it only gets better. A lot has changed in this old world since your mother and I got married and those things are a big concern to us. I really don't want my first addition to this blog to be preachy or gloom and doom either so just take it for what it's worth. Every one of you are (is?) making huge and important decisions right now and I think you are doing great. It is really comforting to know and feel that each of you have your feet on a pretty firm foundation of a testimony and you know where to go to get help for the big things. Every other decision seems to be down the list if you keep and improve on that foundation. I wish sometimes that we were rich and I could help you more but I don't really think that would help. I do hope you struggle and worry a little before you make some of these big financial decisons because a little caution now could save you a lot of worries later. To quote our leaders, "BE WISE" and don't let them talk you in to something that you really can't handle. They probably don't realize that you are planning on taking 10% off the top for Tithing and we all know that it really comes to more than 10%. President Hunt is taking the next 5th Sunday to talk to each of the wards and he is really concerned about the economy. He said he is going to emphasize 4 things and they are all what the Prophet has been saying all along. #1- Pay your tithing. #2- Food Storage for 1 year. #3- Get out of debt. #4- Save some money. I don't know if they are in the proper order but I am sure that #1 is right. It is really hard to do all of those things at the same time and they can't be accomplished all in a short time. It is a life long process. But some effort and sacrifice now can sure make it easier in the future.

OK, enough of that. Mom and I are sure looking forward to the next few weeks. We are blessed beyond what we could ever imagine. It will be so good to be together and we couldn't be happier, especially for you Heather!!! Then in August I am going to check out my horse training skills on this horse of mine. He is going to be a champ. I may have to split a little time with Mom's project in that bathroom remodel but hopefully there will be time for both. Then in October it only gets better. We will be making another trip.

Anyway, it's been 31 years and it seems like a long time but you will soon realize that it flies by before you know it. And it is official, your mother is now over the hill. But I think she is probably good for another 30 or so. Hope she doesn't run me off.

Heather, you may regret now setting this up and giving me such an easy means to use to preach to all of you and in the future I will try to lighten up a little! Sure Love you all!!! Dad

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

What better way to acknowledge to beginning of out little family than our family blog?? I just wanted to say Happy Anniversary. We are all so glad that you guys made the decision you did. Look what it got you...the greatest kids EVER! (well, at least in my case). Never mind the fact that they just suck time and money from you (well, at least in my case). Anyway, happy 31st?? (I think). We love you guys!

Wedding Stuff

I'm sure you're all thrilled to look at this stuff, but I need Mom to look at some of it, and the rest of you are welcome to comment if you would like. The first is of a centerpiece (capitvating for you, I'm sure). What do you think? Are those ok? Do we need something else with it on the table? The second is the beginning of the dress. I think it's going to be really pretty. The last few are engagment pictures. We took quite a few, but these were some of our favorites. Sam wants to redo them, but I like them. What do you think?

More Updates

The blog has been dormant for the last little while so I thought I'd at least try to show some activity. First rant, and I say this as a minor tribute to Dad's b-day, is there any way to stop the damn music from busting your ears every time you get on here? What's the point anyway? Can't we just tell people what our favorite songs are and leave it at that? If not, can we make it a friendly option on our site and not compel every viewer to have a brief stroke every time they come to visit? I have Jason-Bourne-like flash-back attacks to my Junior High days, riding in the truck with my older sister, afraid for my life, in a brown chevy luv, rocking back and forth as she approaches a stop sign at the speed of light, while she alternates slamming on the gas and then the brake, all to to the rhythm of the Judds. I think the engine finally blew on that truck because, as dad would say, the damn radio was turned up too loud. In all fairness, it was a tough truck for a woman to learn to drive, but it was possible to navigate without such chaos, and all that required was to turn down the damn radio and listen to the engine purr.

On a totally unrelated note, I think we finally found a town house to buy. The only homes around here that are in our price range are all pretty old, so we are probably going the "glorified apartment" route. The one we found is 2 bed, 2 bath, comes with laundry room, 1 car garage, new carpet and wood flooring, and they repainted the whole thing. It is super clean and affordable. The loan process has been an educational roller coaster, but hopefully we're not getting screwed. So that's all for now. Consider this post a petition to the site administrator, whoever that is, to turn off the damn music. If I wanted to listen to music I'd listen to music. It is almost BYU-like to compel each visitor of our site to such mind-numbing fanfare. 

Happy Spring or Merry Christmas

Yes, this is good old Arizona. You would think we were in Wyoming on the 23rd of May. Yesterday morning we woke up to a little skiff of snow and it rained and spit snow all day long. Last night it started sticking and this morning we woke up to at least 4 inches of snow (according to dad, anyway). Just thought you aould enjoy seeing pics from home. (by the way - aren't you impressed with my knowledge of technology - you know, taking a picture with my phone camera and posting it on the blog. I amaze myself!)

P.S. Just an update on gramps. He had to stay overnight at the hospital, and got home Tuesday afternoon. He is doing o.k. but still feeling kinda yucky. If you get a chance, give him a call, it will make his day. Love ya all and be good!