Watch out world...

Watch out world, a miniature Jer or me will be joining us at the end of March. That's right, we're pregnant! I'm now a little over 12 weeks along, and so far things are looking good. I've already had 2 ultrasounds, and I'll have my next on Wednesday. I can't wait to see how much the baby's grown since my last appointment. We are planning on finding out the gender, but we'll have to wait until November for that. We'll scan the ultrasound pictures in eventually for your viewing pleasure, but for now...no pics yet.
We're both thrilled, but still a little nervous. Every day starts getting a little more surreal for me, especially since we've started announcing it.
Thank you for all the hope, support and prayers, they've meant a lot to us, but we definitely still need them!

Ice Cream Cake

I made my very first ice cream cake last week and figured I should do a post on it.
The story behind making it in the first place is that one of the young women (Maria) in our ward is always talking about wanting one, and that started making me want one, and curious of how to make them. I wasn't about to go buy one (they're so stinkin expensive), especially since we have this handy-dandy internet thing that has all sorts of free info on it. So I finally gave in and set a day to make the ice cream cake, with Maria.
I baked the cake in 2 rounds the night before so I could put them in the freezer/fridge to chill over night. 30 minutes before Maria came over, I got the ice cream out to soften a little. I was going to have her fill the empty cake round (lined with plastic wrap) with it so it could set up in the same shape as the cakes, but she came late (what else do you expect from a teenager?) so I did that job too. I put it in the freezer and let it start setting up, which is when Maria got to my house (nice timing, huh?). Since we needed the ice cream to set up for awhile (I didn't know how long), we put "The Skeleton Key" on. Maria loves scary movies. I'm not a big fan (I used to be, but hate them now), but since I've seen it before I was alright with it. I kept getting up to check the ice cream, and probably half-way through the movie, I figured it was ok to put the cake together. We paused the movie, and got all the stuff out. The cake ended up looking like a big ice cream sandwich, but that's ok. I hurried and frosted it with and 8 oz container of Cool Whip, then popped it back in the freezer before the ice cream could melt too much.

This is what it looked like before we cut into it:
And this is how it looked on the inside:
Yellow cake with Rocky Road ice cream. It was very good and I'm pretty proud of how it turned out, especially for my first time!

Pioneer Day Party

Just about every year, Jer's parents have a party for the 24th. Food, fun, friends, family, swimming....all that good stuff. If any of you have seen any of the pictures from when we got engaged, my arm is wrapped in an ace bandage because of the 'fun' we were having at the 24th of July party in 2005.

This year we invited some friends (one of Jer's old friends and his wife and one of his younger brothers) and we had a good time. The guys did a Scottish pole toss, and everyone joined in the gunny-sack races. We tried a 3-legged race, but Jer and I lost horribly. I'm pretty sure I've never gunny-sack raced before, I'm sure I looked ridiculous trying! Mike and Ashley were pretty good at it though, maybe they should go pro? The boys had so much fun they had to race twice, so I was able to get some video of that:

After some swimming we enjoyed us some burgers and salads, and you can't forget the dessert. All in all it was a good day, even if I had to work and Jer got to have the day off.
Thank you Pioneers for giving us another GREAT reason to party in the summer!

Lake Powell Trip '09

We went to Lake Powell last week, and had so much fun. It's amazing to me how much work goes into a trip like this though, especially grocery shopping for 18 people!

We spent most of the time lounging around, working on our 'tans' (or at least getting rid of the tan lines):Looking at the beautiful scenery,

(I love the clouds in this one):

Rode the jet ski:
And went down the slide:
Jer jumped off the boat, but we don't have a picture of that. I didn't post a lot of pictures because they all seem pretty similar, so this is what you get. We had a great time, it was a nice break from life.

Rodeo

July 3rd we went to Oakley for the annual rodeo, it was pretty fun, and there were some crazy animals. One of the horses tried to climb out of the stalls before anyone was even on it, it was funny to see everyone's reaction to that.

Jer took some pics of the action, so here they are....

And of course we can't forget the fireworks, though it was a shorter show this year.....
If you look closely, you can see a smiley face made out of fireworks in the top of this next picture

We're so grateful for our freedoms and all that our country's service men and women do for us, they sacrifice so much. Jer hates the song, but we really are Proud to be Americans, "where at least we know we're free", even when the world and economy are crazy, we still have our freedom!

Upcoming

Well, we don't have a lot going on at the moment, and like we always tell people, we lead a pretty boring life, but here's a little of what's been going on and our plans for July.
Jer and I went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house, and then I got to go again with the youth. It's a beautiful temple, and I'm excited to go when it's dedicated because my parents will be temple workers in it. Here's a picture of the angel Moroni since being hit by lightning, it's so crazy to see up close in person...

Lately I've been pretty down, I think it's a mixture of the weather, not having much to look forward to, and being disappointed every month. Hopefully I can pull out of it soon. My hormone pills need to be changed because of some scary side-effects they were giving me (besides all the symptoms of being pregnant, even though I'm not), so hopefully that can help too.
We do have some things to look forward to in the next couple of weeks though, and we're pretty excited about them. I'll be sure to post some pictures (if we have any of interest) when we get back. This weekend we'll be going to Oakley for the rodeo, we'll stay overnight Friday and come back for fireworks at Jer's parent's house. The rodeo is always entertaining, and if the animals aren't enough, we're always on the look out to find the most interesting looking people that show up with their mullets, etc.
Next weekend we're doing a youth conference type activity for the youth in our ward. Since most of them aren't old enough to do the actual Youth Conference, we decided to do something special for them. One of the big things we'll be doing is go up to Salt Lake to see some sights and have them learn some Church history, it'll be fun.
Right after Youth Conference, we'll be headed to Lake Powell with Jer's family. I'm so excited, I've been needing a break from things for awhile, so hopefully I can get some relaxing in and not burn to a crisp.

Jer got me some planters awhile back, and we bought some flowers for Mother's Day, so now they're hanging off our balcony. I went out to water them one day (awhile back before all the rain) and this is what was there...I was surprised it let me get so close . I really do love this picture though, I'm considering printing and framing it and hanging it up somewhere.

A Tribute to my Grandma

My last living blood grandparent passed away Saturday, June 6, 2009 after struggling with colon cancer that had spread to her liver, and eventually took her life. She'll be greatly missed, but we are so happy that she is out of her failing body and in a MUCH better place with her husband and other loved ones who have passed on before her.

She was a smart, funny, talented, loving, incredible person. Her mind was sharp till the very end. She loved her family, she loved playing games, she loved to sew. She stood up for what she believed in. She was patient and kind. She encouraged and taught when needed, but she was never overbearing. She spoiled us kids with love and generosity and guidance, and every so often she'd spoil us with treats too. As I got older, I wanted my kids to be able to know her because she was such a great Grandma, but as time has passed, that wish diminished. I asked her to tell them to hurry up and get down here when she got up there. I'm happy to know that my kids have gotten to meet her now, just not how I planned before.

She was the Best Grandma a girl could have.

I remember having sleepovers at her house when I was little, she'd let me watch movies and have junk food, or she'd read me a story and tuck me in. I used to hate the peanut butter sandwiches she'd make because she'd put a bunch of butter on the bread, and then put peanut butter on-it was weird and not so tasty, but a funny memory to have now, and a sweet quirk to remember about her. Another funny thing I should mention is that one time she was talking and Jer cut her off. She looked at him sternly, but with a twinkle in her eye, and said "Shut up, Jeremy!" We laughed so hard at that because it was so unexpected, and someone needed to call Jer on his bad manners!
She was an amazing homemaker, and has made many quilts, even won some awards for a few of them. She made the best chocolate covered marshmallow eggs at Easter, even the marshmallows were made from scratch!
She amazed me.
She led an incredible life, from living through WWII and the depression, dating and breaking many hearts (being engaged more than once), going to USO dances, to getting married and settling down and having 7 kids (raising them all to be wonderful people who are strong in the church), going on a mission to Shreveport, Louisiana, and to being a wonderful Grandmother and knowing all that we were up to and supporting us when she could.
My main regret is not spending more time with her.
I know my words cannot do her justice, but at least I've scratched the surface.
I love you Grandma, and I'll see you again some day!