Skookie pans and Elder Parker Olsen

A BIG surprise call from my sister Patrice who is living in Vidor Texas...Elder Parker Olsen (Wade's high school buddy, serving his mission in that area) was at her house! Daniel sent me this photo. We were on speaker phone and were able to say hello quickly to him. It was AWESOME!!! He is a great young man. Same day we received a Christmas present from Ben and Amy...SKOOKIE pans! Or as we like to call them Snookie pans! hahaha They are little skillets you press yummy cookie dough into and bake. They are truly wonderful! It's been a great day!

J Dawgs

This year we were introduced to "J Dawgs" a wonderful polish sausage/hotdog joint in Provo. It just opened and we are HOOKED! The sauce is to DIE for! All they sell are polish or beef dogs, chips and drinks. It's genius. They sell the sauce in a big bottle and we immediately bought some. Rob has been trying to "recreate" JDawgs for weeks. haha It's really good!

Preference 2012

This weekend was BUSY!!! Krista had her productions review and then her first dance/date! Preference (or girls choice prom) was Saturday night. She asked Michael Ruesch months ago and was really looking forward to this date. They are great friends and her group (7 couples) were all close. Leanna was asked to take the photos and it was a blast. Leanna made all these cute props and I tagged along to make sure we got all the photos we needed! The kids went to Dippidee Cupcake shop (Keaton Kitchens mom owns the shop) and had a candle lit dinner. Chef Chris, and Chef Marcee Kitchen made a wonderful salad, Italian Cream Sodas (I was the bartender!), homemade lasagna, green beans, and the best dessert choices ever! It was an amazing dinner and the kids were having a blast! They then went to the High School for the dance. The theme was Wish Upon A Star. Krista said the minute she got their she kicked off her high heels and started dancing. She said they danced the night away! So glad she had the perfect date and the best group to hang out with all night.

Putting It Together - Broadway Review

Krista had a blast performing in LPHS productions class REVIEW. She was fantastic performing her duet! I am so proud of her. So many friends and family came and supported her. For that I am truly grateful.

Productions Review 2012

Krista is a part of a great group/class in High School this year. I am the musical director for this show. She had a duet with Steven Lind singing "Anything You Can Do" from Annie Get Your Gun. Just wanted to post for all the family who was unable to see her shine! So proud of her growing talent and thrilled I get to direct such talented kids. All 38 of them are amazing! What a blessing for my baby to be surrounded with such talent!

NEW EXERCISE ROOM!!!

As part of our NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION we decided to create an exercise room. I LOVE the color. We all decided as a family to have a Caribbean theme to motivate us since we will be headed to Hawaii after Wade's mission. :) Since this picture we have hung mirrors on one wall and a TV to help us with that effort. I plan on putting up motivational quotes in Vinyl lettering. Leanna is gonna paint us a big canvas of Hawaii to hang up as well. It's been so great exercising in the comfort of my own home.

Wade's first birthday away from home :(

Wade is on his mission for his 20th birthday. If he would have been here I knew what he would have done...deliver cake and/or goodies to his favorite people. SO I invited some of his close friends over for a taco dinner and some dessert. After we ate we headed over to Brooke and Chase Grants home (his favorite directors) and the Nilson's (pretty much his favorite family). It was really fun and we felt the spirit Wade would have had. I miss my boy but know he is in good hands.

NEW YEARS EVE!

We spent a quiet evening at home playing the games Dicecapades and Sorry. Krista went to a party at Keaton Kitchens home and then ended up at our home before midnight with her best friends Jake Nilsen and Sierra Dew. They blew the horns, ran around the house and popped our ONE firework outside! We watched NEW YORK celebrate on TV and had salsa, chips, queso and brownies. It was an enjoyable evening and we are READY for this new year to begin.

IT'S CHRISTMAS!!

Leanna made me promise to NOT put any photos of her up on the Blog so I didn't (plus I wanted the same respect!). Krista didn't care though! The girls got me and Rob fun gifts. They got us TOYS!! Rob got a remote control car, and I got Candy Land Game! They also got me a sweet necklace. The girls loved all their gifts. Leanna's favorite: New Camera! and Krista's favorite: Pirate Queen music and a new Watch IPod! Rob got me 3 season passes to Hale Theatre in Orem!! I was BEYOND excited and I gave him 12 months worth of preplanned dates! One of which is a trip to CANCUN!!! We are really excited to plan the year together and enjoy dating again. The best part of our day was being able to go to church and think about our Savior, come home make tacos and wait to hear from mama (because they got to Skype with Travis who is in Argentina) and get a call from HAWAII!!! Travis called first and it was so good to hear about their call. Wade called later and was able to talk to us for over 2 hours!! He again, showed us his skills on the Ukelele and shared some interesting and wonderful stories about the year he has been serving. I was thrilled with the call and can't wait until Mother's day to hear his voice again. Merry Christmas!

Night Before Christmas 2011

Every year we try to do the 12 days of Christmas for someone. This year we chose the Graf family! This is the gift basket we gave them. Instead of the 12 DAYS we did a 12 WAYS package. I had also sent this to Wade for Christmas hoping he would do it with a family in his ward. We also celebrated the holiday by making Gingerbread houses. Steven Lind helped us one night and Christian Graf did another. Then the girls did one together. We had a really nice evening at Uncle Craigs home eating yummy food and playing White Elephant Santa game. We then went home to open the traditional "Night Before Christmas PJ's", made our traditional BREAD PUDDING for Christmas morning and headed off to bed. We are especially excited since on Christmas Day we get to hear from our boy!!!! It's been 7 months since we talked to him so I already have a knot in my throat just thinking about hearing his sweet voice again.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Daddy turns the big 47! We got him the Blu Ray version of the complete Star Wars Episodes! We also made him a cake and enjoyed being with him for the day.