Mission Call

Many of you may already know, but Kimberly got her mission call last week. She has been called to serve in the St. Louis Missouri Mission and will be entering the Missionary Training Center on February 4, 2009. Only about 6 weeks away. We thought you might like to see her reaction when she got the call.

So who was excited? We're proud of her and she's pretty pumped about getting ready to go. More to come when we know more. Dad and Mom

Happy Holidays!! (for realsies this time)

I hope everybody has a lovely Christmas, I know I'm enjoying it. We got packages from Kanab and Rexburg today.

And for all you folks stuck in freezing, snowy weather I thought you might like to know that I just went for a jog in shorts and a t-shirt. That's right it's an amazing 70 degrees here in NC. SUCKERS! Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Time for a new look

I thought I'd spend some time changing things up a bit around here. I hope nobody minds, but I was just getting tired of looking at some random desert scene and thought it could use a little more personal touch. I hope you all like it.

Sorry to spam, but...

... I wanted to let Mom, Dad, Kimberly, Bryce & Keith know that ALL your gifts arrived today. It was so much fun to open the front door and see this pile of boxes waiting for us! The kids and I tore into them and they placed the presents under the tree.

Every time Hakan would put a present underneath, he would say, "Happy birthday TO you!" I haven't gotten any gifts wrapped yet, so the tree was looking a little bare underneath. Not anymore! Thanks guys!!


(P.S. Mom- when I pulled out Hakan's doll and said, "What's this?" he shouted, "My BAAAAAABY!!" and gave her a big hug and kiss. I didn't realize he'd missed her so much. Thanks for including T.O. 7 with the gifts.)

No go

Thought I should let everyone know that Aaron will not be flying to Pittsburgh today. Earlier this week he had a phone interview with a corporate guy and the man he'd answer to (if he got the job), and shortly afterwards he got a call from the recruiter saying that they think he's too young to start up a new plant. Bah. He was pretty bummed for a couple of days, but I think he's okay with it now. I wasn't as disappointed as I expected to be. I guess this just wasn't the opportunity we've been praying for. Anyway, now we know and can stop wondering where we'll be in a month, etc.

Happy Holidays Everybody!!

So I came home from work this afternoon to find a strange silver Cadillac in my garage with somebody frantically trying to get into the car. I pulled up close to find out what was going on and he rammed me in reverse, pushing my car back about 5 feet. He managed to get out and drive through my yard out to the road and away. My TV is in the garage right now, my 2 laptops and a camera are gone. He didn't seem too interested in any of Dena's jewelry or anything in our closets or underwear drawers. He was probably disappointed to find only love letters in the safe that Dena keeps under the bed. I'm still pretty frazzled, especially when I considered what might have happened if he hadn't gotten away and was cornered.

I would post some pictures, but like I said the camera is gone.

Thankfully we haven't found anything missing yet that is irreplaceable. Even all our data on the computers (photos etc.) was backed up to the desktop computer upstairs (that was left untouched). It's really a strange feeling and I hope none of you ever get to experience it.

Oh, and he didn't take any of your Christmas presents that we had laying out on the table either, so you guys are all OK.

Heads up

i've heard from a couple people that my links to the skinit.com thing on my wishlist doesn't work. but i promise, it really does. it's just weird and for some reason, instead of showing the skin on the full page like it was intended, it's like in the right-hand corner and you have to choose the device, which is a MOTOKRZR. just so you know.

♥--Jennifer

Heinz update

I thought I'd update everyone on something pretty major that's happening around here. As many of you already know, a few weeks ago Aaron was approached by a recruiter with Heinz about a position at their corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh. It was for a corporate Quality Manager job, which means basically overseeing Quality Managers of several of Heinz's plants- kind of a Quality Manager's manager. Anyway, we were really excited about the prospect. Aaron sent them his resume and they continued to express an interest in him, though they said they wouldn't be holding any interviews until after Thanksgiving.

After we got home from our vacation Aaron decided to call the recruiter to find out what the latest was. He was told that the corporate job had kind of been put on hold, perhaps indefinitely. However, they were very interested in him for another position within the company. They'd recently opened a brand new plant and were a month behind in hiring a Quality Manager for it. Apparently that's the first position they fill, so they were anxious to get someone signed on. Get this- the plant is in Florence, South Carolina. Yep, a whole hour south of where I spent my teen years. I have to say, I wasn't exactly thrilled at the prospect of moving back. But after some tears, lots of thought and prayer, I've warmed up to the idea, mainly because this would be a great opportunity for Aaron to join a major corporation and for us to improve our financial situation.

Anyway, after speaking with the recruiter a few times, he was asked if he could make himself available for a phone interview the next day (Thursday of last week). Apparently he'd caused quite a buzz at Heinz and they were anxious to talk to him. During the interview he tried to find out a bit more about the corporate job he'd initially applied for, but apparently they just aren't ready to move on that yet. The Florence job is an a.s.a.p. situation, so that's what they really talked about.

Yesterday he got some more calls from the recruiter and was asked to have a second interview- this time in Pittsburgh! He's supposed to fly out of Boise on the 21st for an in-person interview on the 22nd. Now we're really excited. We figure they wouldn't go to all the trouble to fly him across the country unless they were seriously interested in him, and we're kind of hoping they'll make him an offer while he's there. We know they're anxious to get the plant staffed, and that starts with the QM job. I'm thinking we ought to have some news by at least the first of the year, if not sooner.

So now, we wait. I hate waiting.

Thanks for A Very Happy Thanksgiving

We just wanted to thank all of you for the time, effort and expense you took to be with us this Thanksgiving. It was a wonderful week and we all made some great (and a few not so great) memories. I hope most of you got the DVD with the combined pictures on it. Sarah said her copy had all the folders on it but only one of the folders had pictures in it. I guess that's what I get for trying to burn them while we were playing cards. There should be another one on the way in the mail, Sarah.

Good Food
Good Fun
Good Fashion
Good Grief!
I was talking to my brother Ryan last week, and he and I mentioned how well our families are able to get along. He had some friends whose family got together for Thanksgiving, and one sister spent the whole time sitting out in the yard under a tree not talking to anyone, and a couple of others weren't on speaking terms, but they came anyway so their kids could be with grandparents and cousins. Mom and I are just so glad we all get along so well and enjoy our time together so much. Thanks again for the weekend, and I'll leave you with a sunset picture we took on the way back from the Grand Canyon on Monday. (The moon, Jupiter and Venus at their closest conjunction for the next 46 years).

TADAAAAAH!!

Well, most may have heard by now but if not...here's the big news.   I'm engaged.   Kristen and I have been dating for a little over 6 months.  She was able to come down to my place for Thanksgiving this last week and got to meet my entire family.  (sort of a road test to see if she still wants to be with me)  well....she passed.  I had planned to do it on wednesday but it was cold and rainy the entire day.  So I figured that I  would do it on Thanksgiving.  Again it was cold and rainy.  I only had one day left to ask her before we had to leave for Rexburg.  Luckily it was great weather on Friday.  So the plan was to use this activity called geo cacheing.  It's these little containers of trinkets that people put in random places and then put their coordinates on this website where people can look them up and then use their gps devices to find them.  Well, there's three of them fairly close to our house.  So I asked her about a month ago if she wanted to do that when she came down and so I told her that the coordinates would be ready when she got down here.  That way I could put the ring in my own spot without having to put the coordinates on the internet.  So when we were about to go out, I had dad take the ring to my spot and keep an eye on it.  All the while Kristen and I went  to the office to get the park's gps device.  dum dum dum...it  wasn't there.   bah!!!  So I improvised and told her that I knew the general where they were at and we could just look around there.  Luckily she's pretty gullicalf...even gullible and believed me.  Anyhoo...I took her to the first real one in case she caught on that this was how I was going to propose.  We looked around for a little while until we found it.  Then I drove past the second one so we went straight to the third one (which is where the ring was).  We walked up this small hill towards this cool rock formation.  All the while diverting her attention away from dad's truck on the other road.  We got to the top of the hill and began to look around the base of the rock.  I casually went over to where the ring was and exclaimed "i found it."  she came over and while I was down on one knee, I  turned around with the ring.  She said "you're tricky."  I then proceeded to propose and with a huge smile on her face she accepted. (believe it or not)  It worked out great.  We've sorta decided on april 11 as our date.  It's not set in stone but it's all we've got right now.  We're gonna get married in the Rexburg temple.  If you want any more details or have any more questions...let me know

Cheap netbooks

For anybody that might be interested in getting a little mini laptop like mine, it looks like they will be on sale this weekend for only $300. Not bad, considering I paid almost double that only a couple of months ago. I've got to quit being an early adopter of technology.

LINK

Costume Pictures

Sarah mentioned today that she wanted to see pictures of those costumes I made (or did you just mean the dress? Oh well) so I guess I'll post a few here! Me in my dress and wig as Toph Bei Fong from Avatar: The Last Airbender. A few of you might recognize it. The dress was made from a wedding dress, a long-sleeved t-shirt, quilt binding, duct tape, interfacing and some hand stitching. I think it turned out nice! Soon as I can, though, I'll be machine-sewing it all to make it more durable.The back shot of my wig. I wish I had found a longer one so I could have more hair to work with, but oh well. Jeez, do I look weird with black hair.

This is the costume I wore for most of the convention and for Halloween. I'm really happy with how the armor came out, having made it myself. That was a fun little experement in prop armor. Don't ask me about that weird expression. I think I was trying to look tough. Wish I had taken that dumb lanyard off, too...

Lastly, the outfit I came up with for the "rave" dance. It's supposed to be a punked-out version of that ^ costume up there. I had glowsticks taped to me all over the place. And sticking outta my hair. ^_^ Too bad the dance wasn't as fun as I was hoping it would be.

Oh, and one last picture you might find amusing:

There was a Transformer there. XD Soundwave, I think his name was. Poor guy couldn't fit through most of the doors, though.

So there you go! Proof of my insanity, but I still think they're pretty cool costumes.

Happy Birthday

Just wanted to give a quick shout out to my girl Sarah - Happy Birthday!

Its bitter sweet, but it seems like just yesterday we were all sleeping in the same room and shouting "don't sit down at all!" Another year has gone by and Sarah, you are still the coolest, most beautiful lady I know. You are always so creative and clever with every thing you do, always so kind and really make the rest of us feel lazy and uninteresting when ever we hear about one of your new "projects". You are an amazing and inspirational woman, and I have always been so proud of being able to call you my sister. I hope your day is beautiful and I hope tomorrow is even better. Your the best.




For this Birthday installment, I thought I'd go with a little smattering of cake batter on the face rather that the traditional placenta juice. Enjoy.

New Family Member

A while back, Sarah posted a blog about their new family member being their new car. Well now it's my turn. Jennifer and Mom have been agitating for a while about how much gas my truck uses, and how big it is and what a pain is is to see out the back with the camper shell on and so on and so on. So Mom and I were in St. George last week and we decided to look at something more fuel efficient. We ended up going back to the dealer we bought the Mitsubishi from and ended up getting a new Subaru Impreza. I got to thinking, and after 30 years of marriage, this the very first really new car we've ever had. We bought a Ford Escort once, but it was a demonstrator and had about 5000 miles on it when we got it. This one is brand new and so far, we like it rather a lot. The only thing to complain about may be the manual transmission. Jennifer is mad because she has to learn how to drive a clutch better. But it seems to be getting about 30 MPG and is lots of fun to drive. We figured Bryce would be pleased with us getting a Subaru.

^New Hotness --------------------Old and Busted^
(Will Smith, Men in Black II)
Anyway, things here are about as usual. I've been able to get up on Cedar Mountain lately and do some trail marking in preparation for the snowmobile season. Things have pretty much slowed down here at the park. We're planning on going to Provo this weekend for the BYU-SDSU football game - my cousin Blake offered to put us up and let us have 2 of his season tickets. Taylor and Daniel were able to get a couple more for Todd and Jennifer, so we are all going to be able to go. Should be lots of fun. The weather even looks decent.
Well, that's about it for me. We're looking forward to Thanksgiving more than you can imagine (or maybe not, since you are all coming as well). See you soon! Dad
P.S. Sorry about, the 'old and busted' crack, Todd. Couldn't resist. :)

Old Broncos and Big Buffalo

I haven't posted anything for a long time now and thought this was a good excuse to add something fun. Patrick and I went up to Antelope Island today for the yearly buffalo roundup. Thanks to dad's contacts in high places, we "volunteered" to help with said roundup by hopping in some old Broncos and cutting the herd at high and near poop inducing speeds. Chris, the ranger driving the Bronco, went through POST with dad and skillfully negotiated the chaos while we listened to Carrie Underwood on the radio... crazy. This certainly wasn't on my list of things to do before I die, but I'm glad I left room to pencil it in.

Other than that, life has been pretty hum drum. Rachelle and I have been really happy to have so much company this past month, including family and our good friend Bennett. Halloween wasn't very eventful but I did get to dress up a bit for school. I've posted a couple videos of the round up and my costume. Love you all.

Halloween - " On Location Weather Man"