A Little Excitement

I feel like a dork because I can't think of anything exciting to post about. Oh, there's been excitement, but I just don't have any pictures. Ok, so there hasn't been THAT much excitement. But I did just finish something exciting so I thought I'd share it with all of you. I just read "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer and loved it, of course. And I was proud of myself for finishing it in just a couple of days! But I won't mention the part about neglecting my kids, my talk in church for Sunday, the laundry, JR, a shower, etc. The book was different than I expected, but brilliant still and I recommend it to anyone and everyone. So, if any of you have some time to kill and feel like neglecting something then I highly recommend "The Host". Great book, but unfortunately it hasn't helped me with my talk for Sunday. Help!

Draper Temple Open House

Thursday night of this week JR and I took the kids to go to the Draper Temple open house. I was super excited for Cali to see the inside of the Draper Temple so that she could get a better understanding of just what temples are all about. And it was a perfect opportunity to talk to her about how special they are and how we can be together forever because mom and dad were married in the temple. When we got there we realized that it was going to take much longer than I had planned on. There were so many people there! When you go, you start out at a church building near the temple where you watch a short video about temples. Then you board a bus that takes you up to the temple. It's quite the coordinated effort! We got to our designated chapel at about 7:40 p.m. (our reservation time) and we didn't get up to the temple until just after 9 p.m.. So, by the time we were done going through the Draper temple it was about ten. Isaac was such a trooper despite being so tired. Cali was tired too, but she liked all the pretty chandeliers and was excited that she got to go see the temple. Even thought it took longer than I expected, I'm so glad we all got to go. It was a wonderful experience and it just reaffirmed to me how much I love the temple and the wonderful Spirit that's there.

I'm so grateful for temples. Even talking to Cali about them made me choke up. How blessed I am as a member of the church to be able to attend the temple and know that my family can be with me forever. I'm so grateful that I started my marriage in the temple. Knowing that JR and I are sealed for eternity impacts our choices and how we want to live our lives. I encourage anyone who can to go to the Draper Temple open house. It was such a wonderful experience and I loved being able to share it with my family.

To make a reservation go here:

http://www.lds.org/reservations/ticket1/0,10785,1624-1-501-0,00.html

Vote for CJane!

For any of you out there who read my blog, PLEASE help me help out a fellow blogger. Please vote for CJane's blog as best Major Blog on the Weblog Awards. It seriously takes two seconds. Just click HERE. Or you can try this link:

http://2008.weblogawards.org/polls/best-major-blog/

If it doesn't work please let me know. Or just google it and hopefully it'll get you to the right page. I believe we have until tomorrow at five p.m. to vote. Please show your love and support for Courtney, Stephenie, Christian and their entire family - not to mention support for people who blog about things other than politics and cars. If you don't know CJane, her family, or her blog click HERE. There are also links at the bottom of my left hand navigator for her and her sister Stephenie's blogs.

Lets help CJane win!!!

The Best New Year's Eve Ever!!!

Usually New Year's Eve consists of spending a little time with family and/or friends and then heading home, putting the kids to bed, and watching the ball drop on TV. I remember one year JR actually got in bed 15 minutes before midnight. Yeah, he didn't get away with that one - stinker :). This year, though, we actually had some plans! First, we dropped off the kids at JR's parents home to play and spend the night, so JR and I had the night all to ourselves! I love my kids, but it's amazing how nice a night away is!

Then we hit the first of two parties for the night. First we went to a party at our good friends John and Laycie Bowers home. We had great company, amazing food, fun games, and just an overall great time. We don't get to see them as often as we like, so it really was a lot of fun hanging out with them and their friends. We love you guys!

Me, Laycie, Laycie's brother and his date, and Celeste all playing The Game of Life. Too bad we couldn't finish the game before JR and I had to leave. My life was looking pretty good!

Here's John (center) with some friends rocking it out on Rock Band. JR had quite the fun time doing the vocals on this game. If any of you haven't figured it out by now, JR loves to sing :).

After spending a few hours with John and Laycie we went to another party that my good friend Jami Werner invited us to. It was with lots of ward friends and was held at our ward building. It was an 80's theme party, so of course we had to get decked out :). We played rock band, 80's trivia games, we danced, ate food and enjoyed counting down the new year.

Here's JR and I 80'ing it up. JR was Don Johnson from Miami Vice (sexy, I know :), and I was... um, someone from the 80's :). Nothing specific really, I just grabbed anything 80's I could find and threw it on - which btw is NOT that hard now. 80's stuff is EVERYWHERE! Great for my outfit, not so great for 2009. Scary!

What Don Johnson outfit would be complete without Aviator glasses. Thanks Steve for letting JR borrow them! Grrrrr :).

Me posing on the 80's wall. Even though I was little in the 80's, there were still quite a few things up there that I remember using. Ahh, memories. Oh, and if you're totally loving my Chicago sweatshirt (DI is the best!), it got even better on the back. It said "Tour '84". Yeah, it was pretty cool :).

Here's all us 'ladies from the 80's'. I was the youngest one there, but I was still rockin' it up. I just wish I would have had time to crimp my hair :). I am proud to say, though, that even without the crimped hair I still won the "most stylish" award. I guess all that 80's shopping paid off!

Here's JR rocking it out on Rock Band (for the second time that evening) with some of the other 80's men at the party. Love the shoes with no socks :).

And here comes one of the highlights of the night... JR's lip-sync to "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice. Yeah, he knew the ENTIRE song and did the whole thing - all 4+ minutes of it, complete with his amazing dance moves. It. Was. Awesome! I seriously almost peed my pants it was so funny!

And if that wasn't great enough, our home teacher Jared Warren (who btw is one of the nicest guys and more of the quite type - well, at least he seemed that way to me!) knew the whole song too and was 'the DJ' in the song. Again, IT. WAS. AWESOME!!! And, we found out on Sunday that apparently news of JR's amazing performance has been making the rounds in our ward. Could there be an encore in JR's future?

Here's us women rocking out to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". I learned in practicing for this that my moves weren't 80's enough. Oh well, at least my outfit looked good :).

I had to add this picture because, well, it's awesome :). Here's Jason Leckie and Ryan Howell after their moving lip-sync to a Wham! song. Yes, those are official 80's pants that Ryan is sporting. And no, their chest hair is not real, but it sure looked cool :D. Hahaha! Too funny!

Here's us enjoying a nice dance to some wonderful 80's song. Man, 80's music really was the best!

This picture just makes me laugh. Here's JR and I with our good friends Jason and Jami posing it up. Jason and Jami's pose totally looks like it could have been from a dance picture in the 80's. Too funny! Thanks for inviting us Jami! You guys are the best!!!

According to JR, we had the best New Year's Eve EVER! I think I have to agree :). It was nice not having to worry about the kids while we were out late. They had a blast at the Petersons and JR and I had a blast enjoying an evening out with amazing friends. Thank you to everyone who helped make our New Year's Eve the best yet!

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVERYONE!!!

P.S. Ok, so I know I've totally written enough already on this post, but I HAD to share this story. I don't know if any of you remember the 80's show Dallas, but there was a main character in the show named JR. Some people think my JR was named after that JR, but he's definitely not. So, JR's whole life he's grown up with people asking him, "So who shot JR?". Apparently that was a huge question in the TV show. So during the 80's trivia game we played I learned who shot JR. It was his girlfriend KRISTEN!!! I about died! You would have thought with all the people asking JR who shot him on Dallas that that would have come up. It was just too funny. So now JR knows he REALLY needs to be nice to me :). Its a good thing we don't own any firearms :D. Hahaha!

Our Merry Christmas

I know I always feel like each Christmas is the best, but this year really was my favorite Christmas to date. The kids were so much fun to watch and we got to have lots of fun with family. And the weather cooperated! Here's a picture re-cap of our wonderful Christmas day:

I got some great shots of Cali's face opening presents. That's what it's all about :).

Isaac opening his Elmo guitar. This is about the only pic of him looking at me. Most of the pictures are of him looking intently at all his toys. He had a blast :).

Cali opening Wall-e. Love that movie! And love the face. Priceless!

Isaac and his Sponge Bob football from dad. He sure does love Sponge Bob, so of course we indulged him :).

Me and my fancy fancy new camera!!! My blog is about to get a picture upgrade!

JR opening his Harry Potter box set. I think he was excited :).

Cali opening Sleeping Beauty. I just can't get enough of her surprise face! Makes me want to go out and buy her more presents! Well, almost. She did get pretty spoiled :).

Isaac with his stocking. He got three Sponge Bob DVDs :). Maybe a little over board, but we all love them. And they keep Isaac entertained. Yeah for Sponge Bob!!!

Cali with her stocking. Fruit snacks are the best!

Isaac and all his toys - referred to as the 'haul' picture :). In my family these pictures have ended fights over who's toy is who's. Here's some proof for later :).

Cali's 'haul' picture. I think she got spoiled, but it was fun :).

JR and I showing off our new Christmas clothes. JR looks H-O-T hot in his new sweater and scarf - if I do say so myself :).

Christmas night with the Petersons. Cali got spoiled again of course :).

JR showing off his very expensive jeans (well, at least according to me :) from his bro Steve. He felt like being overly generous :). Thanks Steve!!!

Isaac in his new Sponge Bob hoodie. It looks super cute on him, don't you think? Thanks Peterson family for the wonderful gifts and for such a fun night!!!

Christmas Eve Lights

Every year JR and the kids and I spend Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas Day with JR's family. It's always so nice to get to spend so much time with each of our families. On Christmas Eve my Dad puts together a yummy dinner, we have the Christmas story, open some presents, and then head off to Temple Square to see the lights. My family has made it a tradition to see the Temple Square lights on Christmas Eve and I love it! Especially now that I have kids of my own to experience them with. It was such a fun night. Thanks Dad for all your hard work! I took a lot of pictures this week, so even though what I posted seems like a lot, it's nothing compared to what's stashed on my computer!

JR and I with Isaac enjoying a yummy Christmas Eve dinner at my parent's home.

My parents and a few of us kids enjoying dinner. This year's dinner was awesome Dad!

My Dad's Christmas sweatshirt. It's weird, but we love him for it :).

Some of the grandkids listening to my Dad read the Christmas story.

Cali was so excited to get Barbie's from her cousins. Her first Barbies. Thanks Gina and the boys! She loves them :).

My sisters Nicky and Annika with my Mom showing off the "Believe" plates I made for them. Yeah for Super Saturdays!

Posing at the reflecting pool on Temple Square. So cold, but totally worth it :).

Here's us all bundled up by the temple.

Cali and Brianne. Cousins and the best of friends :).

Isaac and Beauen. They were being so cute for the camera :).

Enjoying the beautiful lights. Oh, and just FYI - the hat Isaac is wearing is JR's. Yeah, he's got a big head!

It's hard to tell, but this is in front of the manger scene. I always love hearing the Christmas story by the temple. There's such a wonderful spirit there.

***

When we got home we had the kids open up their Christmas PJs. They had crashed in the car, but as soon as they knew there was another present to open they perked right up!

Isaac opened his PJs almost all by himself! I think he was practicing for Christmas morning :).

Cali and Isaac in their new PJs. They were pretty excited for Santa to come :).

Isaac looking at the tree. He actually didn't destroy my tree this year! Here he is being extra soft :). And look at that belly! Man I love this kid :).

Merry Christmas from the Petersons

Merry Christmas and happy holidays! I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful Christmas season. Our Christmas couldn't have been better :). Here's a little something from our family to yours. Just click on the picture to enlarge it. Enjoy!

Also, for those of you who are really interested in what we've been up to this year, here's our family Christmas newsletter. I know it's a novel, but I tend to be long winded. So, here's my apology in advance :).

Good News!!!

Sorry I haven't posted anything for a little while. Christmas time gets so busy, but it's been full of lots of good things :). I have pictures, I just haven't had a chance to post them yet. I do have something that I wanted to post about really quick. I had a follow-up MRI on Saturday to check and see if any cancer was growing back. I was really hopeful that everything was going to be fine. My last MRI from May was clean and I've felt fine since then. Well, I just got the news that there was "no evidence of recurring growth". YEAH!!! This whole process of finding out that I had a cancerous bump behind my ear and going through all the steps to make sure I'm in the clear has been such a testimony builder. It's been a hard year, but such a blessed year as well. Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts on my behalf. It's paying off :). Love you all!!! Merry Christmas!!!