Tag...I'm It

So, I guess I'm supposed to list six things about myself. I think they're supposed to be strange things, but they may not all be so strange.

1. When I was younger, and pasta used to come in bags instead of boxes like it does now, I would walk up to the spaghetti in a grocery store and break it. I'm not sure why, but I just loved breaking something that was perfect. I could probably go to jail for that ;) Oh, and I don't do it anymore!

2. I was once only weeks away from going into the United States Navy! But then I thought I was in love and probably going to get married (and I suddenly became afraid of the water.) Or at least that's what my excuse was. I would still like to be in the military. For some reason I just love anything military related!

3. One of my goals in life is to be able to RUN at least five miles (and not be dead tired.) Unfortunatley, I don't think I have that kind of a body, but I keep trying.

4. I want to learn how to play the Banjo! Hence the song about a banjo on my playlist....Banjo Boy by Ryan Shuppe and the Rubber Band. I'd also like to learn how to play the mandolin.

5. You probably already know this one, but I am also the last of 9 kids....by eleven years. Therefore, I have nieces and nephews that are VERY close to my age. Molly is only about six months younger than me. I have about 30 nieces and nephews, and I think about 12 great nieces and nephews. If you add Jim's in, it makes abo ut 50 nieces and newphews.

6. Hmm, what should my last one be? I guess I should say something about my dogs, who I love SO much! I never had "my own" (meaning that I got it when it was a puppy, and raised it myself) dog until I was married. We got Gunner, a chocolate lab, after we had been married for a couple of years. He is one big boy now, over 100 pounds, but he's all love, no mean-ness in that boy. When he was about two, we got him a friend....a female ivory colored lab, her name is Daisy. She is expecting her first litter of pups. We expected them around Jan. 25th. That will be an adventure. Anyway, my point was that I never thought I could love something else so much! It makes me wonder what having kids will be like. I know it will be amazing though, because I know I'll love them more than my dogs, and I love those dogs a whole bunch!

So, there there they are, the most interesting things I could come up with. And they aren't that interesting. But now you know a little more about me.

I guess I tag Kendra because she is the only other person I know that blogs, that hasn't been tagged yet. YOU'RE IT KENDRA :)

We Wish you a Merry Christmas!

The Christmas season has been quiet for us. We were originally supposed to go to Escalante for Christmas, but since my parens extended their mission a year, that kind of put an end to those plans. I already had the time off, so wanted to do something to take advantage of the days off. So....Jim had surgery on his nose! Not too exciting for either one of us, but he needed it and it worked out to be a great time for him to be away from work. His surgery was on Dec 21st, and he is already up and around. He had a very quick and fortunate recovery. We were worried because we have heard so many horror stories about this surgery, but his was wonderful! He's being watched over and blessed, that's for sure :)
Because we knew that he was going to have this surgery, we decided to just stick around our house for Christmas and not make any big plans to go to anyones house because we didn't know how his recovery would be. Turns out we should have made some plans. But that was ok. We still ended up going to his parents house for their annual Christmas Eve get together. Only a sad thing happened while we were there. They live way out in the country so we always take the dogs and let them run around while we are there. It's never been a problem before, but last night they were no where to be found when it was time to go home. Jim drove all around looking for them, but they didn't show up. We wanted to get home before it was too late so we just left, hoping they would find their way back to his folks house. We called about an hour later, and much to our delight, they had showed up. Bad Dogs for making your mommy worry so much. Needless to say we missed them on Christmas morning!
Christmas day so far has been pretty quiet. We got up at about 6:00am (still can't sleep, even though we're "adults.") We turned on the Christmas Tree and some Christmas music and opened our gifts. It's over pretty fast when there is only two of you opening and no little kids to fuss over. I can't wait for the day that we actually have children to get all excited about what Santa brought them!
One of my favorite gifts this year was an electric juicer that Jim got for me. The reason it is so special to me is because one of my favorite Christmas memories is my dad making fresh squeezed orange juice on Christmas morning. I remember the sound, the smell, and the taste. I didn't really like drinking it as a kid because it had too much pulp, but it sure tasted good this morning. Luckily there are enough oranges to do it again tomorrow, and maybe even the next day.
The rest of the day has consisted of Jim playing his new computer game, and me working on a puzzle. We're contemplating a movie, but there is much playing that we are interested in. I guess we'll see what happens. Wish I had some pictures to post, but I haven't downloaded them yet. Maybe later :)
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO EVERYONE!

Molly & Todd got Hitched!

What a beautiful day this was! Molly was a BEAUTIFUL bride, and Todd didn't look too bad himself ;) I was so happy to see my niece (and one of my best friends!) be sealed for time and all eternity to a very special guy. It was a beautiful ceremony, and gave us all a lot to think about and remember in our own relationships. The reception was so much fun...great food, and great decor!

Our love and best wishes to the new couple on their eternity together!

I am so Thankful!

This year we spent Thanksgiving with Jim's family in Glenns Ferry at his parents home. There were about 40 people there! Lots of brothers, sisteres, nieces, nephews, and even some visitors. It was a true rat race, but thats the way Thanksgiving should be (I think :)
This year has been one to be truly thankful for. We have had many opportunities to spend time with family....reunions, weddings, baptisms, and many other get-togethers. I am so thankful for our familes, and for the good people that they all are. I'm especially grateful that we are both from familes that are active in the gospel, and for the knowledge that this great "family thing" will continue onto the other side.
Hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We are thankful for all of you, and love you so much!

Pie Crust..... Anyone?

So,we decided to try a few new things for Thanksgiving this year. One of them being pie, with homemade crust and filling. I took a shot at the crust first, but it was no good, so I was ready to give up on the pie idea. But Jim thought differently! He's a good cook, but I wasn't sure how he'd do at baking. Well, he did great! It was beautiful crust, especially for a first timer! So, we contributed two pies to this years Turkey Day. I would like to say that I at least made the filling for the pies :) Way to go Jim!

Family Photos :)

Last weekend, my brother-in-law, Mike Wood, took some pictures for us. I was wanting a "family photo" for our Christmas card possibly, and just some pictures to remember what we looked like in 2007. The day was windy so my hair was blowing all over the place! And, it's hard to get dogs to pose. So, here you go.....a few pics of us.

Back on the Court Again!

Just in case you didn't know, I played volleyball in high school....AND I LOVED IT! Granted, that was 12 years ago, and I'm a lot older and a few pounds heavier now. But, none the less, I jumped at the chance to play on a city league team when my niece Kira (Munson) Heward invited me. Heck yes I'll play, thanks for the invite. The only down falls to the whole situation were that we played our games in Boise, and since I live in Nampa, I'm considered a non-resident and had to pay a little extra. Oh well! I'll do anything to play. Jim wasn't too keen on it since it meant an extra trip to Boise every week (on top of the one that we make to work every day.) But he gave in to my pleading, and allowed me to play.
Guess who our team sponsor was? Mr. Mark J. Munson, Owner/Operator of AAMCO transmision. Hence our name, AAMCO Attack! We even got shirts (see the pic!)
So, we weren't too successful. Probably a lot in part to my rusty skills and heavy feet. I certainly improved by the end of the season, but never got too good. I'm 30 years old, and I think the closest in age to me was MAYBE 25. So I was the "team mom." But they were all sweet and encouraging to me, and I had a great time. Last night was our last regular season game :-( We are still waiting to hear if we made it into the tournament, but I think it is doubtful. I'll keep my fingers crossed though.
My next volleyball adventure is to coach my ward young womens team. That should be interesting. I'll keep you posted. Wish us luck :)

Weekend Getaway

Gotta get away! That's what we were thinking, so we flew the coupe to McCall, about a two and half hour drive from our home in Nampa. We stayed at our Trendwest Resort, so didn't have to pay anything extra for a place to sleep....always a plus! We took a couple from our ward, Nathan and Janae Bird. They had never been before, so it was fun to show them the town. Friday night we stayed up until 2:00 am playing Monopoly. It was fun, hadn't played that game for many years. We spent Saturday eating and shopping. Had breakfast at the Pancake House, and dinner at The Mill. We loved breakfast, but were disappointed with dinner. Shopping was fun, even though we didn't really spend any money. Sunday we checked out at noon, and then Jim and I took a scenic drive out to Ponderosa State Park. It was a little chilly, but not many people around so we felt like we had the place to ourselves. Got home in time to relax a little. Now we're ready for another week at work...I guess. Always good to get out of town!

My First Posting!

Wow, so this is totally new to me. But I'm excited about it. I love to share pictures and stories with anyone that wants to look/listen. So, hopefully you'll enjoy our fairly boring life. It consists mainly of our kids (the dogs), work, and the weekends! Now that the summer is over, weekends should be quiet. No more camping, but we can still go to the cabin and hang out with our huge extended families.