Vacation to California

Last week Jeremy and I were able to spend several days in California visiting the Butler family and being tourists! We went to a San Francisco Giants baseball game. It was Jeremy's first Major League Baseball game, and he loved it! The stadium in San Francisco is really neat. It is (literally) right on the Bay. Rosemary was able to get a baseball for Jeremy, and the Giants won! We got to see several really cool home runs, too! We took CalTrain to and from the stadium. It is actually a really neat ride because you get to go through the downtowns of several of the cities along the south part of the Bay Area.

We got to spend a day in Santa Cruz, and visit the famed Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. It is an enchanting beach town, with the most picturesque souvenir and surfboard shops right along the beach. We walked along the Boardwalk, and were able to see a Chinese Acrobats show right on the sand. We spent some time on the Municipal Wharf. There were several people fishing, and sea lions sleeping (and barking) all around the wharf. Jeremy and I decided that sea lions are our family's official mascot. We have a strange obsession with them. As we were walking along the wharf, we could hear them barking, and literally took off running to see where they were. We found a really neat part of the wharf where we could stand literally 3 feet away from them. They totally ignored us, but we had such a fun time watching them. We spent the evening on the Boardwalk, but this time riding the rides. There are two rides that are world famous - The Giant Dipper and the Merry-go-Round. They were both AWESOME!

The rest of the week we spent with the Butlers. We saw the new Batman movie (awesome) and Jeremy went with my dad to the Winchester Mystery House. All in all, it was a good break and a lot of fun!

4th of July fun

For our 4th of July fun, Jeremy and I had an exciting day consisting of swiming, barbecuing (the burgers were so good!), and fireworks! This year we decided to try the fireworks show at Sugarhouse Park, in Salt Lake. On the news the night before, they said that police were expecting roughly 50,000 people there. Unfortunately, the Utah Dept of Transportation has been doing construction on I-80, which passes right by the park, and the day before the 4th, they closed down the off-ramp.

Jeremy and I went early, and were able to find some great seats right by the Salt Lake Symphonic Winds, who performed for a couple of hours. The fireworks celebration was so much fun, and well worth the wait!

Our red, white and blue cake (OK, it's kind of PINK, white and blue, but you can't win 'em all...)

Working 4 Utah

The Governor of Utah has recently announced that (almost) all Utah employees will be moving to a 4 day workweek - which means 10 hour days. Offices will be closed on Friday, and telecomIt muting will NOT be allowed. There are benefits of course - communting only 4 days, not 5, a 3-day weekend every week, etc. But 10 hour days are long! And for holidays, we only get 8 hours paid, so we either need to make up the other 2 throughout the week, or take vacation time.

The interesting thing is that this doesn't apply to the state liquor stores, which will stay open 6 days a week, but public health, will only be open 4 days a week. Does anyone else see something wrong with this?! It starts the first week of August, so I'm sure I will complain more then... :)

Here's a guy when he puts his contacts in he can see better!

Hello everyone! Rachelle and I had the opportunity to go and see comedian Frank Caliendo the other night. For those who don't know him, he has a TV show on TBS called "Frank TV" and does the FOX NFL pregame show. He's mainly famous for his impersonations of celebrities; John Madden and George W. Bush being his most popular ones. After his show, we got to meet Frank and take this stunning photo with him. It was really fun and an early birthday present from Rachelle to Jeremy, awww, how sweet.

As far as our everything else goes, things are going really well and we are enjoying life to the fullest. We both are still working and keeping very busy. The pond business is entering its busiest time of the year which means Jeremy is continually out building ponds and cleaning them; which is good for him and which he really enjoys. Rachelle manages to stay very busy at the Department of Health and she continues to enjoy her time there. We continue to love the Utah Jazz and look forward to the playoffs.

We were also recently called to be Primary teachers! It's actually really fun and we enjoy the children. We are the Valient 9 leaders and we usually have about 7 to 8 kids per class. For the most part they are good kids, but Jeremy tends to get them all hyper within the first 5 min of class which makes it fun for the rest of the class. It is a great experience and we learn a lot from our kids and our testimonies continue to grow.

Pictures

Hola chicos y chicas! We just wanted to add a few random pictures here for all your viewing pleasure. Enjoy! Pictures are 1) Huge snow storm in West Jordan! We got about 2 feet! 2) Our niece Fiona (Emily and Scott Davis' daughter). 3) Scott, Matt and I at the Las Vegas Bowl vs UCLA. 4) Rachelle and I at BYU vs Utah game (we think the resurrected Doug Miller is sitting behind us) 5) Christmas 2007. 6) Rachelle graduation 2006.
We hope all is well with everyone.

We're bad posters, what can I say?

So we are really bad at posting things. Before it was just that our lives were so boring (we've learned that it is hard to find interesting things to post without children and/or animals), there wasn't anything to say. But the past few months have been very busy, and we still haven't done it!

First - we bought a house! OK, a townhome, but it is ours and we love it. It is in West Jordan, close to Kennecott Copper. It is 3 bedroom, 3 bath and we have a 2 car garage which is wonderful in the snow. We are currently in the process of making it ours. We had to start by painting the master bedroom - let's just say we don't share the same taste as the previous owners. We're now trying to put up pictures and organize furniture (still). Since I (Rachelle) have absolutely no decorating abilities, this is fairly difficult.

Second - Jeremy is finally done with school! He has successfully completed a BA in Spanish and the University of Utah. Now we get to start repaying all those college loans. Yay!

Third - We have a new niece! Fiona (Scott and Emily's) was born on December 20. She is the cutest little thing, with red hair. We also have 2 other adorable nieces, and 1 great nephew. Unfortunately, we never get to see them as much as we would like to.

Alright, that should be a good update for now. Here are a few pictures for your delight!