Good Friends!

We had a hot dog and mallow roast a couple weeks ago with some good friends. The kids had so much fun with their buddies. (Cam, Dev, Marcus, Cynthia and Ethan)

And I have wonderful friends too! In this picture is Reagran, me and Becky. And I can't forget Natalie behind the camera!

Master Kate

I Ihad a great trip for Kate's graduation and Women's Conf. Although we woke up to snow flurries on Thursday morning! Unbelievable! Kate's graduation was very nice and I met a lot of her friends. We got to hear some great talks from Sheri Dew, Julie Beck, John Bytheway, and Pres. Monson, just to drop a few names. The underlying theme was "Awake and Arise, and Come unto Christ". Lots of great counsel for us to increase our faith and overcome our fear, and be witnesses for Jesus Christ. There were so many women, many of the classes filled and we had to find different ones, but they were all good.

We visited with Uncle Darrell and Dianne. He cooked this great breakfast for Kate and I. Kate showed me her favorite street, South Temple, and the cemetery where many of the prophets were buried, including Pres. Hinckley. We went to Jodi Wagner's house on top of a mountain and watched the Jazz playoff game. I won Kate in ping-pong. (Sorry Kate, I need to grab all the glory I can!)

The countdown is on!

On Tuesday Stephenie Meyers new book, "The Host" comes out! This one is not part of the Twilight Series (the next one comes out in August) but it sounds really good. I know Emily has read the Twilight ones-so Carrie and Kate AND you too Mom, need to jump on the bandwagon and get reading! I promise you won't be disappointed :)

Carrie, I'm glad you like Secret Life of Bees. Troy's mom recommended it to me. I put our book clubs most recent book, La Linea on the list; it's about a 15 yr old boy and his sister trying to cross the border into the U.S. to get to their dad. It's a very quick read, but it was interesting, especially where I live since a lot of people here have gone through similar experiences. My friends husband went through some horrific things to cross the border, so it was amazing to hear what she had to say. It created a lot of great discussion and opinions for our book club.

So, I am bummed I'm missing out on Kates graduation! I can't believe you have your Masters Kate! Is it this week? Carrie, are you going to Utah this week?

If anyone has any good books please tell me so I can post them on our book list!

ben folds and a warm day!

Last week me and some friends went to a Ben Folds concert!
We saw him walking around before the concert and I'm
kicking myself for not talking to him or something. But it was
a great concert. Ben Lee opened for him, who is also really good.
And Ben Folds played all my favorites, including his song
called "Kate."




We've had a pretty cold spring so far, but Sunday was beautiful.
My roommate Ashliegh is watching her sister's kids, so we took
them to temple square.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ROD!!!!

Rod turned the big 3-1 today!!! We celebrated with Coco Pebbles cereal, church, and lots of homemade cards and pictures from the girls. I also made my first cheesecake ever. It was delicious! Rod and I went out to dinner last night, Rod got in his bike ride, and we got to go bike riding together on Friday. So we've had a fun weekend. Rod informed me he's feeling better than ever on his bike! So, of course, he's celebrating his birthday with some custom (a.k.a. handicapped) handlebars.

The birthday meal: grilled ribs, mashed potatoes, grilled broccoli and lemon, and homemade Parmesan garlic bread sticks. Delicious! We probably eat red meat, like literally 3 times a year, so we figured we could feast!

Rod has this new PDA that he LOVES. It's got GPS and all the fancy stuff so he can get to his jobs all over town. Here the girls are watching Esther and the King (a Liken the Scriptures movie) on it with daddy.

Rod turning 31 is crazy! It becomes more crazy when I remember that we met when he was 22 and I was 18. Where does the time go? I still consider us newlyweds, but in just a month and a half it will be 7 years of marriage! It's hard to believe our dating years (okay, year) was that long ago. It's fun to look back and see where the years have taken us! I love to look at pictures of us doing fun stuff- camping, rock climbing, going to dances, and just hanging out- while at the same time realizing that it just keeps getting better! Of course, we can't do all that stuff as easily with kids, and a job, etc., but there's so much more to be done, and time just keeps screaming by!

A few edits: Ah- Rod wants me to clarify- he said his bike riding is the best since his surgery, NOT "better than ever", implying even better than before his crash. But I think he is quite happy that it hasn't even been 6 months since his accident and he's able to get back on his bike and ride. AND Will and Sarah (Rod's little brother and his wife) had their baby boy today (Monday), and have named him Garrett. So Congrats to them!

The Adventures of Emily Jean!

Bon Voyage Em! I (all of us) am so jealous....I hope you have a great time seeing the sights and learning so much. You have to document everywhere you go and tell us everything you ate. I mean EVERYTHING :) I love you!

Job Update....

Well, I know everyone is wanting to know whats going on with the job hunt-and really there's been nothing much going on. It's been harder to land an inteview than we expected, most likely because he has no previous experience. Anyways, he did get a phone interview with a VERY RURAL school district in northeast California! He felt very good after talking to the superindendant, and they were very encouraging in that they would want to set up an interview in CA. Here's a link to the district if you want to check it out- http://www.bigvalleyschool.org/
It's about 1 1/2 hrs from any sort of major shopping (gulp) and I'm sure there's a small branch (hopefully) somewhere! They are doing interviews at the school on Mon. May 5th, and if they want Troy to go, I think I'm going to go also so we can check it out together. Troy's mom said she could take the kids for a couple days, we'll keep Alex with us though. So it's all very exciting and scary at the same time. We're very aware that he may not get the job, and that's okay-we know we will be where the Lord want us to be. He is also looking at a job in Waitsburg, WA-which is another rural town 20 minutes south of Walla Walla (about 2 hours from Sunnyside). The superindendant invited him to take a tour of the school and community, so he is doing that on Monday, then they'll be doing interviews shortly after that, so we'll let you know what's going on!


Update-this morning (Fri) I got a call from Big Valley School District-they want to interview Troy! So I guess we're headed to CA on May 5th.....