UVA

Seth and I just got back from "Darden Days"-the admitted students weekend at the University of Virginia (the business school is called Darden). Charlottesville is honestly amazing! The school is even more amazing. It is Jeffersonian architecture and is immaculate. The town is so charming and has so many fun things to do. We found a townhome that we love next to some members who are first years at Darden. It has 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, two fireplaces, and a back patio with a stream in the back yard. It is so perfect. Attached is a picture. We hope that we can secure it-maybe if you all pray that we will get it, we will! It is very underpriced too. I am so excited for this fun adventure. It is absolutely beautiful out there, so anyone coming to the east coast must come visit! We were also able to stop in Baltimore to visit my brother Paul and his wife Stephanie. Their son Luke is 3 and is huge, and their other son Liam is 4 weeks old and tiny (he wasn't even 6 lbs when he was born). It was really fun to see them

Continuing with the good news...

My good news is I'm PREGNANT! Ahhh! :)

I am due October 7th, so my big day comes a little after everyone else's! I am 14 weeks along. This past Friday we went to our second appointment and heard the heart beat! It was so neat and so crazy.

I go in for my ultrasound to find out the gender on May 17th. We cannot wait! Justin wants a boy so they can be "best friends" and I will be happy just to have a healthy baby! So far things have gone so well for me. I have hardly ever felt sick. As long as I get plenty of sleep and eat every couple of hours (I feel like such a pig!) then I do really well. I have never thrown up, so I feel like one of the select few lucky ones!

This baby will be grandchild #4 on my side of the family and the first on Justin's side, so his parents can't wait! Although my parents are excited as well. I still haven't told anyone at work, but I plan to do so soon!

TRIPLE Good News!!!

You guys will never guess! I heard the news of my life last week.

My parents were in town for 3 weeks, and they headed back to the Philippines last Friday. Well, I was talking to my mom on the phone to make sure I would get the chance to say goodbye. As we chatted, she met up with my dad. I could tell he was informing her to pass some information on to me. The conversation went a little like this:

MOM: "Oh, by the way, Dad says plan for me to be there for the baby on May 20th."
ME: "Really?! That's great, Mom!"
MOM: "Can he come, too? Can we both come - to stay?"
ME: "Well, sure! Do you mean that? I didn't know both of you would be coming. I'd love it!!"
MOM: "Becky, did you catch what I just said?"
ME (rewinding a little): "What? You said can you and Dad come. Oh wait, did you say TO STAY?!? Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
MOM: "Yes. We are coming home to stay."

It turns out that my dad got a phone call on March 9th, asking him to take a new assignment. My parents are coming back home! It is so shocking since we've all been preparing for another 1.5 years without them... But every time I think about it, I can't wipe the grin off my face!!

Double good news!!

Congrats Kathryn! I'm so excited for you! I love this blog! Does anyone else check it all the time to see what's new with everyone or is that just me?

I also have good news to share.......I got engaged today too! The Easter Bunny was very busy. :) He had a friend dress up as a huge easter bunny and deliver an easter basket to my house during my big family party. He proposed right there in front of everyone! I was so surprised because I also didn't think we'd be getting engaged for a few weeks.

His name is Devin Bland and we've been dating about a year and 4 months. We were set up on a blind date around Christmas 2005.....who ever thought blind dates actually work? :) He's great and I'm so excited! We're getting married September 12, Salt Lake Temple and Millennial Falls for our reception, so hopefully everyone can make it. I will post updated pictures of us later.....this one is almost a year old.

Congrats again K! Can't wait to see your ring!

Guess what!!!!!!!

I am engaged!! So most of you know that I met Jeff last summer when we were in Guatemala together and we've been dating since last May. It has been crazy the last year as he's been going to school in Utah while I've been working in California and DC. But now he's out here with me in DC and it has been so much fun!!! He planned an Easter egg hunt for us today and in the last one I found there was a ring! I was way surprised. Well I knew we were going to get married but I didn't think we'd be engaged for at least another month or so. We are moving home in July and will be in Utah for at least another year because Jeff has one more year of school left at BYU. We're planning on getting married August 7th, so you better all be there!! I think someone has a list of everyone's addresses, right? Becky maybe? I'll call you. Anyways, I am so happy and Jeff is the best!!! I am excited for all of you to meet him. xoxo

ps does anyone have any suggestions of places to look for wedding dresses? and any reception centers that they love? thanks!

Cancun and A HOLE!!!!!

Hi all! Well, Bryce and I were lucky enough to go to Cancun last week with my parents. We got back one week ago and had a blast! I finally got a tan! Getting a tan is very difficult when you are inside an office 40 hours a week. So it's nice to finally have some color! We didn't do very much. We sat by the pool a lot, which was fabulous! Bryce and I went parasailing (that is a picture of us...I promise), we went snorkeling a few times, and just played and had fun! I'm glad we got to go. It was great weather and it was sad to come home to snow last week...good thing the snow didn't stick to the ground! :)

The hole is the hole for our house (I'm sure you figured that out when you saw the picture)! I'm not sure how much many of you know about this house of ours, but I was told that I would have a house in this neighborhood in about 2003/2004. When Bryce and I got married we were told to only sign a nine month lease on our house because our new house would be done in June of 2006. Well...none of that ever happened! :) But, things are finally happening now! Our hole was dug last Thursday and the foundation is going in sometime this week! Bryce and I spent about 4 hours on Saturday (yes we missed the second session of conference...we are bad) driving around and looking at houses and going through a couple of model homes. I have to start picking everything out and I'm looking forward to it...but I'm also not looking forward to it at the same time! So...that's the "news" in my life as of right now! Most of you like to see pictures of babies posted on here...and...well...since I don't have a child yet, our house is my baby for the next couple of months. So I will probalby post pictures on here as things progress so you can all see our house turn from a hole in the ground to an actual home!!! I'm just extremely excited that things are happening!

Anyways...I hope to hear more from people. I'm glad that we have people posting and sharing their lives with us...but I still would love to hear from more! :) It's great keeping in touch since it's so hard to get together nowadays!

I love you all, Karen

Claire's first food

Hi friends! Yesterday we took Claire to the doctor and she is still in the 95th percentile for height and weight. She is so big! He also gave us the go ahead to starting feeding her. Today we fed her rice cereal. She seemed really weirded out by the texture (but most babies are) and she was so funny. It was really a blast. Being a mom is the greatest thing in the world!

Just saying hi!

Hey everyone! It has been a long time since I have posted and although I don't have a lot to share, I'll share what's going on right now with me!

Quickly Happy Birthday to Emily Waltman on the 23rd, which is in a couple of hours here! Justin's birthday is Sat., on the 24th and it is his golden birthday! 24 on the 24th! We are driving to Star Valley, WY tomorrow after 5 for the weekend to celebrate with his family. We haven't been up since Christmas, so it should be really fun! Justin's youngest brother Brad who is a freshman here at BYU received his mission call at his parents house and he will be opening it either tomorrow night or Saturday, depending on when the other siblings arrive!! We are very excited for him.

Work is going well for me. We are working on launching American Founders Academy (14-18 yr. old kids) and University. We are teaching morals and principles that schools no longer teach these days in public schooling in our courses. For the kids who may be attending school, this will be a supplement to their education. We are teaching classes on the Constitution, classes on economic prosperity, family studies, a bunch of other classes. Anyway, I could say a lot about it, but there's an idea!

Justin is still going to school full time and working 32 hours on the weekends! I'm really excited that I get to spend some time with him this weekend!! He plans on attending spring and summer terms at BYU and will study in the meantime for the LSAT which he will take either Sept. 29th or Oct. 1st. He will only take two classes fall semester to finish up and graduate in December of this year. He will then work full time starting in January of '08 until law school at the end of August...that's the plan anyway! He will start taking his prep class for the LSAT this summer again and he feels confident he will do well, so we hope he will!

I also wnat to report that Layers is very soon going to be introducing their spring line! I am really excited because I've seen a couple of pics and they are going to have some really cute stuff! Of course I'm supposed to say that, but I would say it even if I weren't a distributor! :) They are coming out with swim suits, boy shorts for swimming, spring/summery dresses, and of course shirts! I plan on having a party with our friends sometime possibly in April, so I will post about that when the date is sure so you can all come! Primarily it will be fun to just have a hang out so we can see everyone! It feels like it's been a while!

Well I hope things are going well with each of you. Christine your pics make me want spring to be here really soon! Ah! If only I lived in Vegas!!

Love, Nicole

My Reaction

I just can't believe all of these babies!! Are we really that old? Crazy!!!

Summer

So, since Kathryn mentioned summer, I had to brag about this weekend! We tried the pool out for the first time this season. The water is 80 degrees! A little too cold for Claire, but still lots of fun. Feel free to come visit anytime :)

Pinch!

I hope you're wearing green! Happy St. Patrick's day!!! And it's almost summer, I'm so excited!

Good day mate! (is that Irish? I don't think.) Top o the mornin!

Watch Out!

Okay, I've decided to be brave and post a picture of myself and my belly. Christine requested pictures of the little ones; this is the best I can do. :) In answer to the most common questions/exclamations I receive: Yes, the belly is huge. Yes, I still have two months to go, even though yes, it looks like I could pop any day now! At least this pic can give you a fair warning so you don't die of shock if you see me...

More Posts!

Hi everyone. So I have decided that people need to post more. I know you might think that you have nothing intersting going on, but you do! I want to know what everyone is up to, and I want pictures. I especially want to see pictures of the kids. They grow so fast and I want to see them change, so please post! Well, Claire is almost 5 months and we just took our first flight to Utah. She did pretty well. She is as big as her one year old cousin (in the pics). It is now in the 90's here in Vegas and I am not looking forward to the summer! Well, hope to hear from everyone soon!

Save some money!

Hey guys - As you're doing your tax returns this year (if you haven't already done them), here's a couple of things you might want to check out.

First, for those of you that moved in 2006, you might qualify for a deduction. I did and was able do deduct almost $500! Go to http://www.irs.gov/publications/p521/index.html to see if it applies to you (it's kind of long to read through, but you have to be sure you meet all of the qualifications).

If you paid tuition in 2006, you may be able to get a credit (even better than a deduction) for it. Go to http://www.irs.gov/publications/p970/index.html and check it all out. I was able to take the Lifetime Learning Credit and save $250.

If you made a contribution to a retirement savings plan (like a 401K or IRA), you can take a credit for up to $1,000 or $2,000. Check out http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=107686,00.html. Note, you cannot take the credit if you were a student for any part of 5 months during the year.

Make sure you take the credit for federal excise tax paid ($30 for single and $40 for married filing jointly). Everyone gets this one.

There are other deductions/credits that you might qualify for, but I think these are the most common for the situations most of us are in. It can get pretty complicated, so if you do it yourself, make sure you are really thorough and fill out the forms correctly. It would probably be worth it to hire someone. Let me know if you have any questions!!

Miss you all!! xoxo

Diapers

Hi guys

So, I receive a monthly email from a conservation organization called NRDC. (National Resources Defense Council)
The topic this month was the most eco-friendly way to use diapers; whether cloth diapers are better because they reduce waste, or worse because they require water and chemicals to clean. The answer was that it is hard to say, but they talked about a new company that offers flushable diapers. I think the general idea is that you buy fabric diapers, but there is a snap-on thing that you flush when it gets dirty.
I don't totally get how it works, but here is their website, if anybody is interested:
http://www.gdiapers.com

It seems cool, but not being a mom and having to deal with messy diapers, I don't know how it would really work.

Also, here is a link to the whole article about diapers:
http://www.nrdc.org/thisgreenlife/

Sorry if you're bored by now, I just thought it was such a cool solution!!!
Just for fun, here are some pictures from our President's Day climbing trip to St George.
It was 76 degrees! It felt soo good!!! (:

Me climbing at Chuckawalla

Jared bouldering at Moe's Valley

Happy Birthday Nanette!

Nan,

just wanted to wish you a happy birthday! Hope you are doing well

Baptism

Hey friends,

I wanted to make a new post but I couldn't think of any big news...then I remembered that a couple of weeks ago Adam baptized his grandma! She's almost 90 years old! Adam's mom Suzi converted to the church at 16. Her mother, the one that just got baptized, was totally against it and wouldn't let her get baptized. So Suzi got baptized when she was 18, and around 30 years later she converted her mom! It was an amazing spiritual experience to see my husband baptize her. He'd been hoping so long that she would join the church, and she finally did. She is the sweetest lady in the world. Here's a couple of pictures!

Before...



After...

Anyway, Christine your little girl is so cute! I hope everybody's adorable little ones are doing great, and those who are pregnant, I hope you're doing well also! (Even though I know that's probably not the most fun part!) I hope everyone had a great Valentine's day. I got Adam two little African Dwarf frogs for his valentine! They're so cute, they're tiny water frogs and they stay in a little tank with our Betta fish. He loved them! We also dressed up and went to a formal Valentine's dance at studio 600! It was way fun. Hope this isn't too boring of stuff to be posting...I guess for us, the small and simple things are fun too!

Not much else is new with us...although we are going on an Alaskan cruise in May. I guess I'll post a couple more pictures after that! Stay happy everyone!

--Meredith

Claire is 4 months!

Just thought I would share some recent photos of Claire. Patrice was right, they do grow up so fast. It is crazy! When I was pregnant each day just crawled and now they are flying.

High School Reunion

So I had a quick question: Does anyone know any information about our High School Reunion this summer? I am sure that Meghan does, but since she never publishes anything to this site, has anyone talked to her? We are going to be in Utah in August for a week before moving to VA and I was curious if it would miraculously be during that time.

Sports Broadcast.

Hello all. Just thought I would give you the option of watching my first televised sports report. For my final semester I am in a class that completely creates a 15 news broadcast. I am solely working in sports which I love, and I will get to anchor twice and report two more times. So if you are bored check out http://www.newsbreak.utah.edu/ The title says something about history being made and my name is under the title. I think it is the 4th story? Anyway. . .I'm super busy with two jobs and full time school. But I love school this semester, quite sad I am almost done to be honest. My friends and I are taking a week trip to Hawaii in May, right after I graduate. That's about it. School, Work, and Utah sporting events. That's all I do. Oh I am training for the half marathon in March. It's right before spring break. Then my friends and I are going to play in St. George for the week. That's it. Hope all is well. Hope you had a lovely president's day!

Karen's Update

Well...I think it's kind of ironic that I created this blog for everyone and I am one of the people that never writes on it! :) I just don't have much to say I guess! All I do is work every day from 8-5 and then go home and watch Bryce study (not really, but that's all he ever does...he is even having to study on Friday and Saturday nights now!) So happy I'm done with school!!!!! I guess there is one update I can tell you about...but it's not happening any time soon, but it's still exciting I think! Bryce and I are taking quite the big trip this year (again) and will be going to Europe for 2 weeks. We are starting in France and then we'll be traveling to Italy and then to Austria and the areas around there (Germany/Switzerland). It's just the two of us this time and I'm really excited to go. We will be going in July so it's still a couple months away, but it will probably be here faster than I think. We are also going to Cancun in March with my parents. I've figured out that in the time period of one year Bryce and I will leave the country 3 times on vacations: China, Mexico, and Europe. There's a very (VERY) slight possibility that that number could go to 4 if we end up taking one last trip in December. Bryce has always wanted to see 2 things in South America: Iguacu Falls and Machu Pichu. So if things work to our advantage we may go to Peru and Brazil in December...but that's just an idea for now! We both are figuring that we may as well get our vacationing in now when we don't have kids and while he is still in school and doesn't have a full time job. So...I guess we'll have to see what really happens. (Oh and keep in mind that this list does not include the many football games Bryce will probably want to see this fall.) HA...football! I'm glad it's over for 8 months! Not sure how many of you know how much I watch football...but it sure is a lot! Good thing it doesn't bug me too much huh?! But that's pretty much it for me at this time. No baby news yet...probably won't happen for a bit longer! :) Definitely can't be prego while in Europe, just in case I have the Christine pregnancy! :)

Hope everyone has a Happy Valentine's Day and that it's more romantic than mine! Bryce has a killer test the next day so he'll be in one room and I'll be in the next! :)

One more thing...I had to update the blog from the blogger account to a google account. I believe that when anyone tries to add a post now you are going to have to get a new sign-in or something. Sorry. I didn't want to do it, but it finally made me when I was trying to write this post. The website didn't change, just the login information will change. If any of you have any problems let me know!

East Coast in January

Hi everyone! I don't have anything very exciting to report, but I thought I'd post some pictures. The first one is Jeff and I hiking in Marland on a beautiful, sunny, 75 degree weather in January! It was wonderful all month, seriously I was outside in shorts every weekend. Very sadly, in the past couple of weeks it has gotten freeeezing cold. Brrrr! (it's times like these when I wish I was living in California or Hawaii or something!) The next picture is from a trip we took to New York a couple of weeks ago. It was my first time there and we had a blast. Do you guys remember Megan Fairchild? She got us tickets to one of her ballet performances and it was amazing! I don't know anything about the ballet but I thought it was great and she had a big solo part. The last one is at Mount Vernon (George Washington's old house).

Happy Birthday to Karen!!

Miss you all! xoxo

It attached the pictures in the wrong order, oops.

Big Kicks, Big Decisions

Well, I thought I’d clue you all in on the latest for Adam and me and the baby.

We have decided to name our little guy Colt. The pregnancy is going well, except my increased knack for being clumsy, scatter-brained, and emotional. Colt is ultra active and busy in my belly. I don't think he ever stops! It has gotten wild the last few days; I cannot imagine how it will be right before I deliver. Last time I visited the doctor he told me I was having a contraction. What the?! I couldn’t even feel it. But then, I’m sure I’ll be feeling it later. :)

Adam has an intense school load this semester – 23 credits! We decided it was worth it for him to take it all on right now, not have a job, and graduate in June (six months earlier than anticipated). He’s doing great; I rarely see him flustered, stressed, or doing any homework at home. I know he works REALLY hard while at school to manage his time and get everything done. Man, I love my husband!!

A lot of plans have changed for us in the last few weeks. Adam learned about some career opportunities with a construction company and was immediately called in for an interview. The company extended him a competitive offer as a Project Manager/Estimator… in their St. George office. We felt so good about it and decided to accept! Yep, we’ll be moving mid-summer. I am excited and know this is the right fit for our little fam right now.

That about sums it up. I am feeling fine and keeping busy with work. There is always something for me to do – travel, recruiting, HR tasks. If all goes well I will be working till the beginning of May. Hope this letter finds all of you happy and thriving!

THE END.

Oh, and I almost forgot – HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KAREN!! We love you.

About the FranklinSquires Companies

Hello all. I wanted to let you all know more about the company that I work for. Here is a little info that I pulled from the FranklinSquires website:

FranklinSquires is a private capital and consulting firm built on the philosophy of Prosperity Economics-- the “ancient principles” of prosperity rediscovered by America’s founding generation.
A person or society locked in serious financial bondage ultimately loses all other freedoms. Since its inception in 1999, FranklinSquires has been committed to helping individuals, families, and businesses worldwide achieve self-reliance, economic independence, and the liberating consequences of prosperity. This is accomplished through FranklinSquires’ commitment to developing a global infrastructure of education, media, and finance by working with inspired entrepreneurs building world-class companies dedicated to this mission.

Working here has been a great opportunity and blessing in my life. I have learned so many things and continue to learn more each day. There are many ways to get involved if you are interested in what we do and stand for.
-The owner of the company is Rick Koerber and he has a radio show...called Free Capitalist radio. You can go to www.freecapitalist.com and listen online or you can listen on 630 AM K Talk. He is a great speaker who talks with lots of passion and power and is very motivating.
-The Producer Revolution is a membership for those who want to rub shoulders with those who are like minded. They have forums once a week in several places in the nation...including several in Utah. There are many things included with the Producer Revolution including an online forum and message boards, a daily email, etc. You can find out more about this at www.producerrevolution.com.
-American Founders University is very soon going to open. It will offer classes four times a year with 8 50 min. blocks. Then the next 90 days will involve activities where you apply what you have learned in real life situations. Right now we are still working on the curriculum, but we are soon going to launch! You can find out more at www.americanfoundersuniversity.com.

If you would like to know more information or have any questions, let me know! I just thought I would share so you can know more about what I am involved with!!

Have a great day! Nicole

P.S. If you have seen billboards with people that say I earned such and such amount of money using my 700 credit score, those are from my company! Also there are billboards that say Free Capitalist radio and have Rick, the owner on them.

Just for everyone's info Ben Luikart's wife Andrea is pregnant! She's only about 6 weeks along, so she's got quite a ways to go. Ben is so excited! He prays every night that it's a boy, it would be hilarious if he ended up with all girls.

One of the rare moments when Blake is attacking Hallie! Other than that not much is going on. Blake is the sweetest little thing when Hallie's down for her nap and he's in the spotlight. If he gets too hungry all hell breaks loose! He takes after his daddy. Hallie's in the copy cat phase and is now telling me to 'hang on one sec' and 'stop it'. It just goes to show that they really are listening. She does have a jealous bone, Ryan cant give me a hug without her complaining about it. It's hillarious!

They just put our cabinets in our house and are starting to stucco, it's nice to see it turning into a home. We cant wait to move in!

Hope everyone it doing fabulous! and planning babies, ha ha ha; but I'm totally serious!

HAPPY VALENTINES MONTH!

Sara is speaking in church!

Sara wanted me to let everyone know that she will be speaking in the Union First Ward, aka the ward she and I (and others of you!) grew up in on Feb. 10th at 11:00 am. I know that only one or two people made it to hear her speak when she had just returned, so I'm just letting you know that you will have another chance to be listen to this amazing speaker!!:)

Also it was a lot of fun to see so many of you who were able to come to the Layers party on Saturday! Don't worry if you missed it, we'll do another one in the next few months with the spring line coming out in March sometime!! If any of you would be interested in hosting a party, either with our friends or with your friends and family, let me know! Karen earned a lot of free shirts at her party!!

Receptionist

Hey there!

I just wanted to spread the word that we are looking for a receptionist at my work. The office is located in Draper. It's a great opportunity for someone who needs a full-time job with benefits. I'd consider it a starter job, not really an aspire-to-a-career job. :) We're looking for someone to answer phones and greet visitors and who is bright/intelligent and experienced in an office setting. I love working here and will be sad when it's my time to leave. If you or your sister or your cousin or neighbor would make a good candidate, let me know! You can call or email me.

Thanks a million.

Hello! As most of you know, our good friend Nicole is a distributor of the Layers Clothing line. Well...we are finally having a party so that she can start selling shirts. I will be hosting a party this Saturday from 1-3 PM at my house. I will also be sending an email and I mailed invites today...hopefully you get them tomorrow. Sorry this is such short notice. : The shirts that will be available this Saturday are from Layer's fall line. They are getting ready to show their spring line so all of the fall line is up to 75% off. If you want to check out any of their shirts you can by going to www.layersclothing.com. They really have cute stuff and their shirts are LONG, which is fabulous. We would love to see you there on Saturday...even if you don't buy anything! It is an open house so you can come anytime you want between 1-3 and stay for however long you want as well. I hope everyone has a fabulous day! :)
Love, Karen

PS...this is unrelated, but I realized yesterday that you can click on the pictures that people post and it will show you a bigger size. It's kind of nice since the pictures posted aren't huge. So I just thought I would let people know!

A Few More

I'm waiting for time to pass so I can pick Justin up from work (he is still working weekends and gets done around 11 pm) and I was looking at some of our pictures on the computer. I decided to share a few more pictures with you (and sorry if you're sick of looking at pics of me!!) of some cold moments...maybe not quite like Nan's, but they're taken in Star Valley which I hear has been -30 degrees lately!! A day or two after Christmas I went on my first "real" sleigh ride! There were four horses and they had bells on!! It was really fun and I got to learn how to "drive" them, which by the way is not as easy at it may seem! I will also include a picture of Justin's lovely shaved head. And I think more people should share their pictures with us!! They are so fun to see!

Our Little Cougar

Hi all, I just had to post a picture of Claire wearing her "you're looking at one cute cougar" shirt, given to her by Nicole. We were able to get tickets to the UNLV/BYU basketball game last night-on the 6th row! She wore her cute little outfit and we had a blast. We left at half-time, though because it was pretty loud for her, but that is okay considering that we lost :(. Anyway, just thought I would share. I know her hair looks red in pictures, but I would say it is more light brown, it is weird how pictures always make her hair look red.

New Years Vacation

Hi everyone! I love reading these posts, and check this Blog almost as much as my email!! (:
In contrast to Nicole's sunny, warm Mexico pictures, I thought that I would post some pictures from our icy, cold ice climbing and ski trip that we took to Colorado over the New Year. Every year we go with Jared's sister and her husband, and a few other friends. It is always so much fun!!

This is me climbing at the Ouray ice park

This is us at the top of Silverton. We had to hike 1,500 ft to get here!!!

I hope that everybody is having a good 2007! In May, I graduate in meteorology, and cannot wait!!!!!

Claire

Here is little Claire, well, not so little Claire. She is already in 6 month clothes and is only 10 weeks old. She fills them out length-wise, but not width-wise.

Cruisin'!!

Justin and I returned Saturday from our cruise to the Mexican Riviera aboard the Diamond Princess with his family!! We had a lot of fun. We went to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas. We went on a jungle canopy tour, Justin went fishing (although they didn't catch anything!) and golfing, and I went on a colonial villages tour (only ok) and shopping of course! So anyway, if you chance to go on a cruise, GO!! The food, entertainment, and even the rooms were great. We thought the rooms would be so tiny, but they really weren't that bad...although the bathrooms are another story :) !! The only negative thing was the big waves on Friday and I was seasick! I threw up that night but the next day when we were back in LA I was just fine! Here's a few pics, hope you enjoy!

P.S. I have a new niece and nephew!! Baby Major belongs to my sister Natalie (boy #2 for her)and baby Alexis is my brother Ryan's first. Mothers and babies are doing well! The babies are both soooo cute!! They were born five days apart. Nat had a scheduled induction and Becky (Ryan's wife) had a c-section but is recovering well. We had quite the exciting couple of weeks!

Oh and so you know...left is Justin with two of his bros (third is on a mission), middle is riding in the Mexican Hummer (as our driver referred to it) on our jungle canopy tour, and right is one of the formal nights.

Baby Bode on Christmas

Here is the crazy Bode on Christmas. He is the cutest kid in the world. He just loves his new pound puppy!!! Anyway hope everyone is doing good!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! Well I told myself that I wasn't going to stay up because if Claire was sleeping, I needed to sleep, but Seth made me stay up. I am exhausted today, but I guess it was worth it :). Last night we went out on the balcony, with our Martinellis and watched the about 8 different firework shows (we have an incredible view of the entire city). Those on the strip looked so amazing. Seth really wanted to be downtown, but I sure as heck didn't want to be driving with all of those drunk people. My sister-in-law went but she stayed downtown at Caesar's palace and she said it was amazing. Well that is about it for our Las Vegas New Year, hope everyone had a great time.

Happy New Year

Hello! I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas and that you all have a Happy New Year! We had a great Christmas. It was so fun to be with our families all weekend. Our big Christmas present this year was our house. We are so excited to be living there. It is so fun to be home owners. (Especially since we haven't made our first payment yet!) Tyler is going to start his fun project of finishing the basement this weekend. Sara, welcome home! When is your homecoming? I haven't heard. Nicole you need to call me on this one. Christine, we will all miss you, but that is very exciting for you. You always wanted to move away and now you are moving to the big city of sin! jk! Good luck to your cute little/long family. There isn't too much new with me other than moving into a house. The picture is kind of dark because we took it at night. I hope all is well with you. We need to figure out some get together. Love you all!

Finally

Well, it took me forever, and I finally did it!!! Karen, thanks for all your help...and thanks for setting this up it is awesome! So Merry Christmas! I hope everyone had a great day yesterday. Clint and I had fun just hanging out with my family and watching Bode play in the wrapping paper. We spent the day at my parents house and just played games with my brothers and their wives. It was a blast. Things are good these days, I just get to stay home with my little boy and lets be honest, he is a blast. It is such a blessing that I get to stay home with him and see his every move! Clint is still working way hard and going to school. He has about one year left, which is awesome. He just got a different job and he is now a machining engineer. It's pretty cool, but he has been working a ton. So it will be nice this Christmas break to spend time together. Well, on our spare time we are working on finishing our basement, and I really don't know if I was made to frame and put up sheetrock, but we will see how it goes.
Anyway, I think that a Christmas party would be a blast, and let me know if I can help with anything or what! Hope all is well, Patrice

baby Claire

Well, we had Claire's two month check-up two days ago. She had to get 5 shots and it was the saddest thing ever! I had always heard how hard that was, but man, when it is your own it is so hard. She is doing very well and is in the 95th percentile for her head size and her weight and she is off the charts for her length. She is quite the long baby! We are leaving for vegas early tomorrow morning. It is weird that I am leaving Utah for good, or for a very long time. Yet it is a very exciting adventure. I will miss you guys!

Guess Who?!

Dear Friends,

Can you believe I'm finally posting?! I've been reading the updates on this blog for quite some time, but I've never actually registered until now... Sorry, Karen! :) I hope you are all doing well. I think it's great to keep in touch. Hopefully the activity on the blog will continue to increase.

If you haven't already heard, I'm pregnant! Adam and I are expecting our first baby on May 12th. We just found out Monday that it's a BOY. We're soo excited!! I'm five months along, and my belly pops out like crazy. It's a lot of fun and really special.

I think it's a great idea to have a get-together over Christmas break. It will probably be hard to coordinate schedules, but we should still make the effort. I'd love to help out! Maybe we could choose to have an open house style party on the 27th, 28th, or 29th. One of those dates should catch most of the people who'll be in town, plus we'll get to celebrate Sara's homecoming. And everyone could just bring a treat or snack. The main issue will be finding a place to hold the get-together... Any ideas? Well, I hope we can get a few people to organize something! It sounds like a bunch of people would show; everyone keeps mentioning their hope for a big friends gathering. Let's work on it and see.

I am so excited for Christmas!! Be safe traveling and I hope to see all of you soon.

Love Becky

Sara!

I'm sure some of you know but I wanted to let those of you who don't know that Sara is coming home this Friday, the 22nd from her mission! I don't know any details about her flight or exactly when she'll be home, but her home phone number in Draper is 523-1275. So give her a call over the break, I'm sure she'd love it! She will be attending BYU next semester. I just thought I'd share the good news!

Hey All!
Well... I finally figured out how to put up pictures. This was Jake's "initiation" to the family from my cutest neices Brooke and Anna. Welcome Jake! :)
I just want everyone that we MAY have found our future house. We are still working out the deal and the details, but we may put in an offer. It's pretty scary, I don't know if anyone else is a home owner, but the thought of having a mortgage is slightly nerve racking. I'm going to have be a "real adult."
Christine your moving to Vegas?! That's awesome, we have some friends that live in Henderson, and they LOVE it there. It gets a little warm, but they like it. Then off to VA or someplace cool. That's awesome, Congrats on the acceptances. Jake keeps telling me that when he is retired we are going to move to boston for a baseball season and get tickets to all the Red Sox games. He's a nut! But I'm totally jealous and that will be so awesome.
Nicole, aren't look busy.. .jewelry and layers? WoW! I've thought about becoming a rep for The Mod Bod, but I just haven't gotten around to doing it.
Anyway, everyone I just wanted to give you all the latest update, who knows! We could have a house under contract by the time we come to Utah for Christmas. Which is the 21st. I hope there is going to be some sort of get together that I can see everyone.

Layers Sale

Layers clothing is having a sale starting tomorrow, Thurs. Dec. 14-Sat. Dec. 16th and I thought I would let everyone know. They are having 25% off all their fall line, which is everything on their website: www.layersclothing.com. They are also having free shipping this month, so if you are interested in buying any shirts, right now is a great time!

You are welcome to order online or you can call me and I can order for you. It is probably simplest to order online because you can just enter in all of your shipping and billing information, but if you would rather have me do it, I am happy to! If you do order online, I'd love for you to give me credit! There is a place on the page where you review your billing, shipping, and credit card info, and at the bottom of the page it says "Referring Stylist, if any". Just enter Nicole Pendleton in that box. They have some really cute stuff right now with almost everything in long sleeves. If you have any questions, let me know! Oh and also they are doing this sale at their warehouse which is in Murray at about 4500 South where they also have what's left of their spring line, which is up to 75% off I believe. I can forward the email on to anyone who may be interested.

Besides that I don't have much else to say! Things are going well for Justin and I. We are going on a cruise Dec. 30th-Jan. 6th to the Mexican Riviera with Justin's family and we are so excited to go! I will have to post some pictures here if there are any decent ones when we get back!

I hope all of you are well and happy and enjoying the Christmas season!
Love, Nicole

We got in!

Yipee! Seth got in to the University of Virginia. I am so excited because that was our first choice. I really cannot believe that we are in, it is such a blessing. Only 10 % of applicants get accepted. We are still waiting to hear from other schools. Seth just got back from Harvard and he pretty much decided that if we got in we have to go there (a very slim chance) and I guess that I could get used to Boston, but I really want to live in Charlottesville, VA.

In other news, Claire got blessed yesterday and it was really special. It is so wonderful being a mom. That is about it for us. I hope everyone is having a great Christmas season. Love ya!

Finally

Hi everyone. Well I have been trying to get on for the last two months but apparently i was using the wrong user name :). Well, as for me things are going well. I love being a mom, and I feel great. It is much better than being pregnant and throwing up every day for nine months. The second Claire was born I felt better. She is getting really big and is now 6 weeks old. She is pretty skinny with chubby cheeks, but is super long! No surprise there, considering her parents. She also has big hands and feet and she hasn't lost any of her hair. She is starting to smile and has a cute little dimple right above her lip. She is wonderful. I have been truly blesssed.

In other news, Seth and I are moving to Las Vegas on December 22nd. He is going to work for his dad who is the president of a home building company. After lots of considerations, we feel this is the best for us. If anyone is ever in Las Vegas let us know! Also, we are waiting to hear from schools for his MBA program. It is pretty amazing because he has been invited for an interview to all the schools he applied to. This is pretty cool considering most schools want an average of two years work experience. We don't know if we will get in, but after some work, we have a much better chance. We have applied to Duke, Virginia, Yale, Cornell and Harvard. He is going to Boston next week for an interview and we already found out about Cornell and he is on the waiting list. Pretty bummed about that, but nonetheless we are really blessed. Kath, if we do end up in Virginia (which is our number one choice), we will have to come see you! Anyway, that is about it for the Vances. Love you all!

I'm thankful for...

You!! :) You guys are all awesome friends. I love this holiday because being thankful means eating a lot of food. I agree, no Christmas stuff until after Thanksgiving. Starting Friday I will be celebrating Christmas in full force the entire month of Dec, including parties, a NY trip, plays, etc. I hope I can see at least some of over the Christmas break! We should all get together. Also, if you ever feel like coming out here to visit, I'd love it! You're all welcome to stay with me anytime.

I hope you all have exciting plans for the weekend--I'll be going to my grandparents' (and probably be the only person under the age of 50).

HAPPY TURKEY DAY

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I can't believe how fast this year has flown, especially how fast November has gone. I have to say I'm a bit jealous of Nicole for becoming a Layers distributor. They are probably my most favorite shirts. I think I wear them almost every day, either as a shirt or as an under shirt since they are modest and LONG! Hallelujah for that! :) The long torso-ed people need a little break sometimes and luckily long shirts are the "in thing" right now. We just need more people to sell long inseam pants. I went to Express the other day to get pants for work and only a select few styles came in long. What's the deal with that? Don't they realize that there are tall people out there that don't enjoy walking around in either floods or the same pants every day because they don't come in long? I'm not talking about jeans...I can find those at my favorite jeans store...Buckle, but work pants are hard to come by (at least I think they are). So there's my plug for 2 clothing lines...Buckle and Layers! :) Well, I really didn't have too much to write about! I just hope everyone has a happy holiday this week. And after tomorrow (turkey day) people can put their Christmas decorations up. I don't know why but it really bugs me that people already have their trees and lights up already. What about Thanksgiving? :) Bryce told me that I'm letting it get to me too much, but I guess I have my own opinions right! Well, have a fun weekend everyone!
Love ya, Karen

Layers Clothing

Hey everyone! I wanted to let all of you know that I am the newest distributor for Layers Clothing company! I am really excited and think it will be a really fun thing. Yesterday I got my starter kit which has 19 samples of their Autumn line they are currently featuring. Now I'm ready to throw some parties!! Here is the website if you would like to check them out. They have some really cute shirts right now I must add:
www.layersclothing.com
For those of you who have never been to a "tee party" as they are called, here is how they work. First I give you (the hostess) invitations to invite all your friends and family that you want to come. You send them out about 2 weeks before your party and then call and see who's coming if you want an idea and to remind people! Then I show up on the date you choose and bring my samples so that everyone can try the shirts on and figure out what size they are. I have catalogs with me showing pictures of the whole line including the sizes, colors, and prices for each.

The great thing about being a hostess is that you earn free shirts! The hostess benefits are 8% of the sales of your party before taxes towards any Layers shirts. Also, you receive 20% off towards any five shirts (I assume you would do this if you wanted more shirts after your 8% ran out).

If you have any questions or are interested in having a party or you know of someone who might, let me know! Give me a call or email me! I own a few of their shirts that I bought previous to becoming a distributor and I love them. They are no only cute, but they are also comfortable and of course modest!

Finally

First of all hello to everyone! What a fabulous idea! I hope everything's going well for everyone. These are my babies Hallie and Blake on Halloween, as you can tell Hallie is really excited about carving pumpkins. All's well at the Button end, our house is nearing completion but not there yet. We hope to be in sometime in January, but we all know construction is never on time. Hallie is sick now, but is mainly an angel. She speaks fluent Chinese Jibberish and is now working on the Engish language, putting 2 or 3 words together at a time. It is so much fun to hear her start to talk, her latest is sound, she starting to wonder what she's hearing. Blake is sleeping through the night now and is close to crawling, but not yet. Ryan and I are going to be using our wells fargo rewards points at the end of this month to go to Kauai! We are so excited, Ryan probably more just cuz I'm the mom and have some kind of attachment to my kids. It'll be a nice break before kids start coming again.

Anyway, today I was watching Oprah and this remarkable woman figured out the baby language. She has photographic sound (don't quite know how to say that). Christine is the only one with a newborn so she will have to test it. All babies make 5 sounds (words) out of reflex. Since this lady has amazing ears she figured it out. Hear's the site.
http://www.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200611/tows_past_20061113.jhtml
Now all of you can start having babies! Yea!

Ryan's kind of freaking out, the computers making crazy sounds but there are three pages to read and it tells you the "words" they make it is fascinating!

See ya later!

Jewelry Party!

Hey everyone! I am having a jewelry party this Saturday, Nov. 18th at my mom's house in Sandy from 11 am-1 pm or whenever. I hope most of you have recieved an invitation by now. A few people in my family have, so hopefully you have. I would love for everyone to come and also bring a friend or your mom, sister, whoever! I have invited all of our friends and my mom has invited some people in the ward. It's just going to be an open house, so drop by whenever.

The company is called Lia Sophia. I went to a party in September and thought it would be fun to do with our friends and anybody who wanted to come! You can look up their website and check out their jewelry if you'd like at http://www.liasophia.com/nora. Also, if you can't come on Saturday but you would still like something, just let me know and I can order it for you, even up to the following Wednesday I believe (the party doesn't officially close until then). Even if you don't want to buy anything you can come and look and just chat with everyone! It's totally a no pressure thing.

I look forward to seeing all of you! If you have questions let me know!

Nicole

hi everyone!!! I have looked at this friends blog a few times, but have never had time to figure out how to post something, but I think I finally figured it out...so we'll see if this works. This is such a great idea, it's so fun to hear how everyone is doing. By the way, Meredith- I loved your guys' halloween costumes!

Me and Ty are doing well, we're living in Provo (but I still hate BYU football- probably even more than before). We're both in school and graduating in April!!! Yeah!! I'm in dental hygiene school and really love it. I'll actually be sad when I graduate. Nicole and Justin came in to our clinic to get their teeth cleaned a couple of weeks ago- it was so fun! Ty has a job in Los Angeles, so we'll be moving out there at the end of the summer. Before we move, we're going to go to Thailand for 2 months (hopefully with Nanette and Jared!) for our last big trip before we start working our lives away. But if anyone wants to go to California next year, you'll have a free place to stay!

It's so fun to see all the new baby pictures. Christine- Claire looked SO adorable in that little pumpkin, I can't believe how much hair she has! Well, I really have no exciting news in my life- but I'm glad I finally figured this out. I hope to hear from you all soon!
love,
em

Halloween

Hey everyone! I hope everyone had a happy Halloween. Personally, I'm sad it's over because it's one of my favorite holidays. Adam and I were a cop and convict!

I'm glad I finally joined this blog! I miss all of you and want to hang out with everyone sometime! I think Ginger is right, we should all do something for the holidays.

Just for an update, Adam and I are living in Murray. I officially graduated from the U in August with a BA in English. It feels so good to be done! I work at the U for a former professor who has a business called Yourstory: Record and Remember. We record people's life stories onto CDs (usually older people). It's really fun, and if anyone wants to have me interview one of their grandparents or anything, give me a call (243-4978) or e-mail me (meredith.rock@gmail.com). The website is www.yourstory.utah.edu. It's a really good family Christmas gift to give everyone a copy of your grandparent(s) life stories. Plus it's good for geneaology/family history work!

Adam is working on his Bachelor's in Communications at the U. He still works at Mstar, an internet/cable/phone service provider. He is so busy that lately he has been working all night long! We are going to Phoenix to visit his family for Thanksgiving. I'm excited!

Well it's really good to see everyone's updates! Congrats to everyone on recent babies! See y'all later!

p.s. Laura and Meghan, cute pictures!

Yay for posts!

I'm so glad that people are finally posting! Hopefully this is a regular occurence! Ginger...I can guarantee that you will be so happy to be done with school. Coming home from work and having no homework is one of the best feelings ever! I still enjoy it and I've been done for almost a year now! :) I really don't have a lot to say because there really isn't anything exciting in my life that often! All I do is work all day and sit at home all night while Bryce does homework! But work is fun! :) We do go on vacations every once in awhile, so that's fun. The only reason why we go on vacations is to watch football though! If any of you have ever seen Fever Pitch...that is pretty much Bryce, but he likes all college football rather than just one team. We went to Chicago in October to see Notre Dame play Stanford. It was definitely fun and I got a vacation out of it so I'm not complaining. I don't have any of those pictures on my work computer though so I can't post any cute pictures. We are already planning next year's football trip and we might be going to a Tennesse game. That will be exciting because that is my favorite team (besides the U of course). I chose Tennessee when we first started dating because I liked their colors the best! Ha...girls and football! :) Anyways, sorry I don't have any exciting news but I do hope that everyone is doing well! Have a happy day!
Love ya, Karen

Figured it Out

Hi everyone! I am not sure if I am doing this right- but I guess I will find out soon! I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween. I like this blog thing!

Laura Bird

Happy Halloween!

Hey guys! I hope you're all doing well. Congratulations to Christine and baby Claire. I'm happy to hear about the Firths too. I just moved back to DC last week and I am so glad to be here, other than it is freezing cold! I wish I had something really exciting to tell you all, but I don't really. Oh, Jeff (my boyfriend) will be doing Washington Seminar (an internship program through BYU) next semester from Jan.-May. Yay! I can't wait. I have so many things planned for us once he gets here. As for now, I am back working regular hours, which is a relief. That's about it. Have a spooky Halloween! :)
p.s. We need to encourage all of the rest of our friends to post on here so I have more to be entertained with while I work!

Hello everyone! It's been so fun reading all of your posts....it took me this long to figure out how to post one myself. I'll give everyone a quick update on the Firthies......we are both graduated and working up at Primary Childrens. It's stressful, but great! We were both able to take care of those conjoined twins that were separated last month. I have not been working much lately becuase I have mono....not fun. Anyway, life is good. Ash is moving out and leaving me all by myself. We won't be connected at the hip anymore! The love life is interesting.....isn't dating always that way? Since we are the few single friends left, you'll actually still get updates on that. :) I'm still dating that boy I've been dating for a year now, but no marriage yet. Ash ws dating his best friend, but that ended. Now she's dating like crazy and I have to approve all of them! (She doesn't know I'm writing this)
Hope everyone's doing great and has a great Halloween! Hope to see everyone soon! Congrats to all the pregnant ones, new moms, birthday girls, and friends with new houses.

Love the Firthies!!

Great Pumpkin Cake

I made this cake yesterday for a former roommate get together. You can find the recipe on www.kraftfoods.com. It is probably one of the easiest recipes ever!! Looking at it from this angle, it doesn't look the greatest (since you can see the icing that dripped to the base of the cake holder--oops!) but from the side, it looks fabulous!! And it looks more orange in real life (it seems maybe the camera didn't do so well, I don't know). Anyway, it was super easy and I got LOTS of compliments on it! Not only did my old roomies think so, but even their husbands or bf's! Also, I was walking over to the girl's apt. where we had dinner and on my way over this random girl said, what a cute cake! Then she said, did you make it? Ha, like I am some gourmet! Anyway, if you want lots of compliments and a yummy cake, try it! All you use is a cake mix!! You can use any kind you want and then you just put a cream cheese frosting on top and the stem in the middle is an ice cream cone. Right now this cake is the featured cake when you go to the website--it's the one right there on the web page.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Buttermilk Syrup Recipe

For those of you who know me really well, you know that I love pancakes! And breakfast foods in general. Well Justin came home from work last weekend and said he had the best syrup on his french toast for breakfast there last Saturday (he works at a school for troubled adolescents and they have a cafeteria) and that we should try it. I am never opposed to trying new recipes, especially when it may involve a yummy breakfast food. So this morning I tried it and it was REALLY good! I thought I would share the recipe with anyone else who is a huge lover of pancakes, french toast, and anything else you may think of to put syrup on!!

Buttermilk Syrup Recipe

1/2 c. butter
2 c. buttermilk
5 c. sugar (I know it's a lot, that's why it's so good!)
1/4 c. corn syrup

Combine all ingredients into a large pot and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes.

Add:

2 T. vanilla
2 T. baking soda

Wisk until it triples in size. Serve with french toast, pancakes, etc.

*I halfed the recipe since there are just two of us and there was still plenty left over (I thought it would be too difficult to third it or I would have tried that!!)

**Also, if you don't have buttermilk laying around (which I never do) here's a substitute: mix 1 T. lemon juice (yes, I do have that laying around!) with one cup of regular milk, stir, and let sit at least 5 minutes.

It will look all white and frothy when it's done (but it's supposed to!). Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Whitney

Whitney! Happy Birthday to you! I hope you have a great day today and that you have some fun plans for the weekend!! Have a good one!

Love, Nicole

I lost my phone!!!

So, I am a genius, and left my phone outside of the meteorology building where somebody else picked it up. Now I have no phone numbers! If you guys could email me your number when you have time, it would be good to get everyone's number again.

my email address is nanhosen@gmail.com

Things are going well. I am pretty overwhelmed with school and work. All I know is that I cannot wait to be finished!! I think that I will probably go to grad school in hydrology once I graduate, but I am for sure taking a year off to work. I have a job with the National Weather Service, so it will be go to be able to go to work, come home, and not worry about the 18 tests that I have that week.

I hope everything is going well for everybody. Whitney, happy birthday in a few days!!!!

I've got a GOOD one!

I just have to brag for a minute about my wonderful husband! Yesterday Justin picked me up from work and on my seat was this beautiful flower arrangement! He asked me if I remembered what day it was. I had to think for a minute, but luckily I remembered that it was the day of our first date two years ago! And he remembered, I couldn't believe it! He bought food and made me dinner too! Anyway, I just thought I would share! Aren't the flowers gorgeous?!

Home Update

Happy LATE Birthday Nicole and Kathryn! I love birthday's and I hope both of your's was perfect. Needless to say, Jake and I found a house that we really liked. But, it was technically already under contract. But the sales rep told us they didn't think it was going to go through... long story short, it did and we didn't get the house. Oh well! We will for sure be in a house by April. We just extended our lease at our apartment, so we've got another 6 months in this place. Nan, 600 sq. ft is reason alone to pack your bags and move over that big hill. You'd LOVE denver, i went to Ft. Collins a few weeks ago and you should definitley look at grad schools here. I would love it if you were here! Anyway, happy late birthday guys!!! Love you all!
Whit