Sunday will come

Upper Valley Idol

So it is time for Upper Valley Idol here in Rexburg again. It is a community singing competition that I participated in last year. I had a lot of fun last year and decided to do it again. The first competition was last Saturday. I sang "Hit me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benatar. The competition went well. I made it on to the next round. There are now 12 contestants and it will go down to six next time. I was happy with my performance but Cody was the real star of the night. After all of the performers were done and the judges were tallying up the scores the director of the competition came up to Cody and said that she needed his help with something. She didn't say what she needed but that he would get a prize. Little did Cody know but he was volunteering to participate in a dance off. After the first round to the song "Foot Loose" Cody was cheered on to the final three. They said that they were going to blindfold the final three contestants so that they could not see each other's moves. They blindfolded Cody first and then they asked the other two contestants to leave the stage so Cody was alone. He didn't know he was alone on the stage. He gave it all he had to beat the other two contestants. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen. I am always trying to get Cody to dance because he really can. I was glad he got tricked into letting loose on stage. I got a little caught off guard so the footage isn't that great and there are three different clips. Check them out.

New Hairdo

So for the past while I have been trying to grow out my hair. Cody wanted me to cut it like a girl in our ward (which is a pixie style). I got onto a virtual hairstyles website with intent of showing him that I would not look good with that hairstyle. The plan backfired. I found this style and put it on my picture and both Cody and I liked it. I decided, "what the heck" and went for it. This is the shortest I have ever had it but I am liking it.

BYU Basketball

Last weekend we went to Utah. Cody had an interview with the University of Utah and it was my dad's birthday. For his birthday my mom surprised him with tickets to the last BYU home game of the regular season for him and all of his family. He was thrilled and we all had a great time at the game.

On Friday while Cody was at his interview and I was at my mom's house I made Gracie a little BYU outfit. She looked so cute!

Blessing Day

Since we were home for the holidays we decided to bless Gracie there so as to save our families the hassle of having to drive to Rexburg. We blessed her in Cody's parents' home. It was a wonderful, very spiritual day; one of the best of our lives.

My mom made Gracie's beautiful dress and Cody's grandma made the headband and the little booties. They are so talented. Gracie looked beautiful. It was a wonderful day!

Sorry... I can't get some of the pictures to turn vertically. Any suggestions?

Best Christmas Ever

We had a wonderful Christmas/holiday season. Having Gracie madie it all the more special. We were able to spend the whole break with our families. It was just nice to be with the ones we love and to not have to worry about work and school.

The Best gift ever!

Gracelin Elaine Branch

We aren't sure if anyone even looks at our blog anymore since we haven't posted anything in almost a year but with the arrival of our beautifual baby girl we (I, Jill) have recommited to do better.

Gracelin (Gracie) Elaine Branch was born December 3, 2010 at 6:57 a.m. She weighed 5 pounds 13 ounces and measured 18 inches long. She was pretty small. Her growth started to decline rapidly at about 32 weeks. The doctors monitered her very close and decided to induce labor on December 1st (about one week early). As you can tell by when I was induced and when Gracie was born, it was a pretty long process. I didn't make much progress very quickly. Nevertheless she was well worth the wait. We love her so much. She was the best Christmas gift ever.