Good News...

I passed the Praxis Test!!! Yay!!!

Welcome Home, Elder!

Andy's brother, Danny, returned home from the Costa Rica San Jose mission on Tuesday! I cannot believe how fast these past two years have gone by! Andy & I are so happy Danny is home. We have missed him so much! Welcome Home, Danny!!! We are so proud of you!

Enjoy some pictures from our airport experience.


Zach, waiting very patiently for Uncle Danny.

Emily & her cute kids came all the way here from Boston to welcome Danny home! I am so happy they were all here!

THERE HE IS!!!

Tami & Danny
Andy & Danny

Danny & Benson.
The last time Danny saw Benson, Benson was just a few months old. Quite a difference.

Studly & Danny.
Studly looks up to Danny so incredibly much. I thought it was so nice of Studly to be there at the airport to support Danny!

The BEST picture I got all night!!! REUNITED AT LAST!!!
Shanna & Danny
Look how happy they both are!!! You two are so cute!

Reunited With A Long Lost Friend

I haven't played soccer in over three years, and OH, how I've missed it! For the past few months, I have been dying to start playing again, and now I am!!! I am now playing on an indoor coed team, and I am LOVING every minute of it (even when I am completely out of breath due to my VERY out of shape self). Our team may not be the best in our league, but we sure have a great time! Thanks, Casey & Candace, for inviting me to play and for reuniting me with my long lost friend! I really appreciate it!

Three Musketeers + 3

All my life, I have had the most wonderful friends, but my friends, Jessica & Tricia, have been around the longest! We met when we were just little kids, and have been friends ever since. Our church leaders would always refer to us as "The Three Musketeers" because we were literally always together! I have loved growing up with these great friends (even though they are more like sisters to me), but I am absolutely loving spending time with them now because their husbands/significant others are WONDERFUL people! I could not be happier for either of of my friends because I know they are in great hands. I sincerely love hanging out as "The Three Musketeers +3." They are ALL such amazing people! Thank you, Jess & Trish, for finding such wonderful boys! Can't wait for our next friend get together!!! Love ya!


Silly Jess & Jordan

Trish & Captain Kirky :) & Crazy Jordan again
Andy (& pretend I'm in the the pic too)

Kids Say the Darndest Things...

For those of you who didn't know, Andy & I were called as Sunbeam teachers last September. We loved seeing our little sunbeams every Sunday, but when the new year came, they moved on to the CTR 4 class (Andy & I also got moved to teach the CTR 5 class). It's been really hard not teaching our lil' sunbeams because we got so attached, but we'll live. Throughout the few months that they were our little Sunbeams, Andy would jot down funny things they would say in class. I hope you enjoy them.

Picture these cute kids as you read the funny things they said.
H (girl): "It's just a bad day at church."

M (girl): "Look...no ladybugs!"
(This darling would bring ladybugs to primary EVERY week--not kidding. She was so happy to tell us the day she didn't bring them).

G (boy): "I LOVE JESUS!"

G (boy): "Ahh! Bad guys!!!"
(He was referring to the finger people in his church. You know how you make the church with your hands...I hope you get it).

G (boy): "We only wear sandals at Smith's. Not any other stores."

G (boy): "My name is G-man!!!"
(Right after saying the prayer. He heard A-men and it obviously reminded him that his name is G-man).

G (boy): "...and they didn't bring toys!"
(Referring to the picture of the pioneers coming across the plains).

S (boy): "I don't think I'm going to grow up."

So I asked the following question to our Sunbeams:
"There is someone in our class whose Dad is one of the Bishop's counselors. Do you know who that someone is?"
E (girl) responds: "Jesus?"
(It was her we were talking about. Her dad is one of the bishop's counselors).

AND JUST FOR FUN...

During Sacrament Meeting one week, we noticed the two kids sitting in front of us were playing Battleship. They had drawn their own boards and ships on separate sheets of paper (VERY SMART KIDS). So we are just sitting there watching them play, and then we hear them say this:

Little brother: "Direct miss."
Big sister: "No. I hit you, so that's a direct hit." PAUSE "Let me see if I hit you." (As she gladly takes a LONG look at his entire battleship board. What a cheater!).

WE ARE GOING TO MISS THESE CUTE KIDS!!!

What A Blessing!

My nephew, Parker, was blessed today by his daddy. The blessing was wonderful! I can't believe this lil' guy is almost 3 months old! He has gotten so big so fast and is only getting cuter every day! He has started smiling a lot now, and it just melts my heart! I love this little boy SO INCREDIBLY MUCH! He is such a sweet boy! He truly a wonderful blessing in all of our lives!

And we snapped a few pictures of the newest lil' guys in our family. Three very handsome boys, huh?
Konnor, Parker, and Jaxon.

He's FINALLY Here

Our newest nephew, Konnor, has arrived!

He was born on December 14th at 1:43 PM. He weighed 7 lbs and was 20. 5 inches long. He is absolutely adorable! I am so happy to have another baby around (which we still have one more niece and one more nephew to welcome into this world within the next 3 weeks--MAYBE SOONER). We are so lucky that we get to have all these new additions right around Christmas! They really are WONDERFUL Christmas presents (at least for me)! Congratulations, Tiffany, Sean, and big brother, Keegan! We love you all!

I just thought I would add a picture of Keegan when he was born. Don't you think they look alike? My family sure knows how to make CUTE babies!

Konnor & Aunt McKenzie. Don't you love the Santa hat?

Temple Square

Andy & I went to see the lights on Temple Square on Thursday night, but it wasn't your ordinary trip to Temple Square. We went by plane. It was AMAZING to see the lights from the plane! There is absolutely nothing like it. We flew all the way down to Provo, so we also got to see all the Christmas lights from here to Provo plus all the temples. I love to see the temples, but yet again, seeing them from a plane is unbelievable! I tried to get some pictures, but it didn't work very well because I couldn't use a flash, so here's the best pictures I got as the sun went down.

Then on Friday night, we went to Temple Square with my family. It was cold, but just being on temple square brings warmth to your heart. :) I absolutely love seeing the lights at Temple Square. It's something I MUST do every year! This year, I went a little crazy with pictures because I had figured out how to take better night pictures on my camera. So I hope you enjoy!

The Family (Minus Tiff, Sean, Keegan, & Curtis. We missed you guys)!

Andy & I

Call Us Crazy!

This is a very long story, but something I want to remember, so read if you want.

It's official! We have become crazy black friday shoppers! Andy & I tagged along with Natalie & Casey this year for the black friday deals at Target. Andy wanted a new tv, even though he bought a new tv last year on black friday, so we went VERY early to make sure he got one. We arrived at Target at 10 PM the night before, and were the very first ones there, but as we were getting our stuff out of the truck, another car showed up and quickly ran to the doors. So we ended up being second in line, but that was okay because I knew the people in front of us. It was a kid that I played coed with (some of you may know him by Holley), and let's just say they were very experienced black friday shoppers.

At target, the store sets up a bunch of carts out front as a sort of barricade to the front of the line. It's actually pretty smart. Well, our pals next to us decided that it wasn't good enough, so what did they do? They hooked every cart together using the kid belts on each cart. This way, people would definitely not be able to get through the barricade. The security girl even said it was an excellent idea! I thought it was hilarious!

So anyway, there we are at 10 PM just waiting for 5 AM to arrive, and it starts to get really cold! Andy kept checking the temperature and for most of the night, it was at or below freezing! Oh, let me remind you that I was not at all prepared for an all nighter at Target. I ended up having to borrow an old coat from Natalie and a blanket from my mother-in-law. Also, I was wearing flats, so my feet got cold very quickly, but luckily Andy had enough hand warmers in his nice, big, extremely warm coat.

So then, it gets to about 12:30 AM and Natalie and Casey leave for a bathroom break. They ended up driving all the way back to their house because they couldn't find a place nearby that was open (even though Walmart was open), but I was very glad they did because they returned with more blankets and McDonalds! I really think that McDonalds was what got me through the rest of the night. Thanks, Nat & Casey! We owe you!

So after, Nat & Casey got back, it was mine & Andy's turn for a bathroom break. We just went over to Walmart. We thought Walmart would be crazy, but it wasn't at all. So we spent a while walking around looking at all of their deals. It was nice and warm inside Walmart, but we had to get back to Natalie & Casey. But before heading back, we took a little drive around Riverdale to look at all the other stores that had lines of crazy people like us. Best Buy was CRAZY! The line was already back behind the building at 2 in the morning (Target wasn't that bad...yet)! Surprisingly, there was no one at Shopko (where I almost died a few years ago on black friday). But there were two people waiting at Carters--the kid clothing store! Now that was funny!

We got back a little after 2 AM to find pretty much everyone in line asleep. We got back in our blankets and seats and joined them. Well, Andy didn't, but I sure did! Target wasn't going to let anyone back in line after 4 AM, so I slept for about an hour, and then it was time to clean up our stuff and take it back to the truck. I knew I couldn't stand in line for an hour before the doors opened without a blanket, so I kept mine with me.

The boys took everything to the trucks, and then got back in line. I was so excited by this time! I was getting so pumped for when the doors would open. Target was very kind to hand out maps of the store that said exactly where every thing was, which was actually very helpful. Andy & I had our game plan and were ready!

THEN, THE DOORS OPENED!!!

You should have seen the security guy when they finally opened. He had the look of complete terror in his eyes! But don't worry, we didn't trample him. We all waited for him to get out of the way, and then, we were off!

They asked us not to run, so I just speed walked. Andy is always telling me that I walk fast, and it sure came in handy today. I was the first person to the TVs (I know, what an accomplishment)! I tried to lift the TV, but I couldn't, so I just stood there with my arms wrapped around it. Finally, I saw Andy coming! He came right over and picked it up with no trouble. MY HERO!

Then, we headed straight for the checkout lines, where we met up with Natalie & Casey. Can you believe it only took us 9 minutes to get the TV and checkout? We waited for 7 extremely cold hours for only 9 minutes of shopping! But, we got a TV!

By the way, my sister, Lindsey, showed up right before they opened the doors. By the time we got out to our truck, she was just barely walking in the doors. That's how long the line was. She ended up telling me later that the line went all the way to the freeway (for those of you that are familiar with the area). When she walked in, I thought sucker, but then I realized that I'm the stupid one that stayed out in the cold all night.

WAS THIS REALLY WORTH IT?

I am still undecided.

Blessed Thanksgiving!

Our Thanksgiving Day started out with some shootin'. Wayne, Brady, Shawnee, Tami, Nick, Andy, and I, and some cousins came ready to shoot. I didn't do much gun shooting, but I did plenty of picture shooting. Here are some of the few. ;)

It was pretty muddy out there so Andy rolled up his pants. I think he looks rather silly, don't you?

But, I guess I looked a bit silly too! As you can tell, I was not prepared for mud.

Andy's AR-15 was a big hit! By the way, Andy did the paint job on it all by himself. Pretty good, huh?

The Wayne man throwing clay pigeons.


Andy's Uncle Greg throwing clay pigeons.

Tami & Nick

Tami shootin'

Shawnee shootin'

After shooting, Andy & I headed to my grandparent's house for some yummy food! We didn't stay long because we wanted to go to Andy's parent's house for food too. After dinner at Andy's parent's, we all just hung out--like we always do.

Here is Andy looking through the ads.

Andy's mom bought him this sweater last Christmas, but he has never worn it. I made a deal with him that he would wear it on Thanksgiving, and he actually did it! As you can tell, he wasn't very happy about it.

But it gets even better. I asked Tami to take a few pictures of Andy & I before Andy took the sweater off. Now I've got tons of pictures AND they are going on are Christmas cards, so everyone will get to see Andy in his nice sweater! Ha ha! I like it, but he thinks it's too girly. Crazy!

Cory wanted some pictures of him & Kokanee for his Christmas card, so I took some for him. Aren't they the cutest couple you've ever seen?

Our Thanksgiving was wonderful! We are so grateful for our families and the time we get to spend with them. We truly love you all, and would do anything for you! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!