Christmas Time

Christmas time was magical this year, as always. It also went by in a flurry! We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with the Taylors. Christmas Eve, we decorated cookies, shopped for gifts to send to soldiers, and then were each given $5. We drew names and had to get that person a gift with our $5. I had Keith and it was still surprisingly hard, but fun. Before we exchanged gifts, we had to come up with a spiritual thought to go with our gift...... they were pretty good, I must say!!

After that, we had Christmas dinner and opened gifts

Grandma Taylor and Mackenzie (Jason and Ashlie's baby)

One of the funniest moments of the evening was when Bill and Katherine passed out everyone's gifts before we opened them. Keith had a pile that kept growing and growing, with some BIG boxes. He got all excited to open them when Bill told Keith and Ashlie to switch places (and therefore gifts) and Jason and myself to switch places and gifts. They had marked all of the gifts opposite of whose they were, to be tricky. It was pretty comical!

Keith loving his pile and getting excited to see what might be in some of those boxes.

And then we switched. (It was for the better though, I don't know what Keith would have done with a high chair, serving platter, or anything else Ash got.)

We stayed the night at our own apartment Christmas Eve for the first time since we've been married. We usually stay at one of our parents houses, but since we live in the basement apartment of the Taylors, we got the best of both worlds.

Santa surprised Keith with some fun goodies under the Tree on Christmas morning.

Then we spent Christmas afternoon and night at my parents house. We all got to talk to my younger brother Wesley, who is on a mission. (Love that kid!)

My Dad, opening his tie hanger

My Mom, opening one of her gifts

Whitney and Grandma Cornwall (My Mom's Mom)

The cutest of us all, Baby Santa Clause Caden

We had such a great Christmas and we are so grateful for this time of year and the reason for celebrating.

November.... in one post

So, it's been a little while...... sorry about that. School is now over for the semester, hallelujah! Maybe updates will come more regularly...... maybe.

Here's a little bit of the happenings from the past 6 weeks, or however long it has been.

On November 15th Brandon and Becky had their baby!! YAY!! Our first Nephew! They named him Caden Charles Mennear, and we can not wait to meet him!! (I couldn't pick just one picture, so here's a few)

I think these are 2 of my favorite!

(Really? Could he be any cuter?)

I was sad he couldn't wait 3 more days till my birthday, but we are so happy he is here, healthy and strong!

I don't have any pictures from my Birthday, but it was pretty much a week long celebration. By the time my Birthday came, Keith was forbidden to sing "Happy Birthday" any more. (He sang it multiples times a day to me starting at least 4 days before my birthday) Anyway, thanks everyone for the phone calls, messages, gifts, and everything else! I love you all!

Later in November we drove to Wyoming to see some of our friends, the Turners. Almost the whole Turner family worked at Scout Camp the summer we did, so we got to know them pretty well. 3 of the kids were in a play, so we went to watch and visit. Alicia, the youngest, has been my faithful pen pal. :) She would always send me fun letters in Dominica that would totally brighten my day!

We were so grateful to be home and with our families for Thanksgiving this year!

This picture is a lot of things, but mostly gross and embarrassing. We were not put at a table by ourselves to eat, the table was actually full of people. Everyone else ate, talked, and completely cleared the table of everything but what Keith and I were still eating ..... And yes, we started at the same time as everyone else. (I'm trusting that someone will be proud of and not just disgusted with this confession)

My youngest cousin Morgann, the flying turkey. She was flapping her arms and running and jumping around being a flying turkey until Tobin was nice enough to actually fly her around. She kept telling people she was going to "Peek" them with her peek, instead of peck them with her beak. Too cute!

My extended family always play Bingo, and the prizes are worth keeping! The head apparel that's won is usually nothing short of amazing..... this year was no different.

After dinner with my family, we went to Keith's family get-together.

(above:Keith and his mom below: Me and Keiths cousin Ashley)

So, there's an update. Sorry this is the longest post know to man, I'll try to do better! (but no promises!)

finals

I have not dropped off the face of the planet, promise. My last final is Wednesday and if I make it out alive, I'll finally update this beast. Thanks to everyone who continually blogs though, it gives me something to do during class (and at night, instead of homework). :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Today is Keith's 28th Birthday! Holy Moly! I can't believe it! He really is an incredible person though, and here are just 28 reasons why:

1. He is easily the most patient man...ever!

2. He is actually pretty funny, even though I tell him he's not

3. He has self discipline that is OUT OF THIS WORLD!

4. He is very devoted to the things he loves

5. He spoils me rotten, even if it means he will have to go without

6. He is a great help around the house and does dishes and laundry all of the time! (without me asking)

7. He is a great cook.

8. His testimony of our church is rock solid.

9. He always prays first thing in the morning.

10. He writes in his journal daily.

11. He would love to be a ski bum.

12. He will probably never go bald, he has nice thick hair.

13. His skin smells good even when he doesn't have on cologne. (except for the 2 days after he eats something full of garlic)

14. He is an excellent teacher!

15. He doesn't love to get his hands dirty unless it is on the football field, but he will if he needs to.

16. He is a good example of service.

17. He is very routine-oriented. He likes to go to bed, wake up, work out, etc. at the same time every day.

18. He tries his hardest to help me be a better person.

19. He loves kids.

20. He is really fun to be around, I love to stay home and hang out with him in the evenings.

21. He is respectful of his parents.

22. He is a very hard worker.

23. He lost 70 lbs. in 1 1/2 years (thanks to his work ethic)

24. He can now dunk a basketball again! (thanks to his weight loss)

25. He loves all products produced by Apple.

26. He is a surprisingly talented actor!

27. He would ride a motorcycle year round if he could.

28. He never treats anyone badly and has a heart of gold!

To celebrate, we went to dinner and had French Silk Pie for dessert, since Keith isn't a huge cake person. He had to blow out candles that were in jars, since we didn't know where the birthday candles were.

He got a new basketball for his birthday--I caught him mid word in this picture.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEITH! I LOVE YOU!

Halloween 2009

We did a few different things the day of Halloween. We spent Halloween Eve and Halloween morning/early afternoon with my cousins in Idaho Falls while my Aunt and Uncle were in Utah. We then came home and Whitney and Tobin along with our friends Brian and Dana came over for dinner, which was soup in a loaf and then caramel apples.

Brian the cowboy with a gross wig (tucked under his arm) and some serious chaps made of fur!

Dana had a great witch costume!

I haven't dressed up for years, but thanks to my Aunt Juanita who pulled through with a costume for me as we were leaving her house, I was a bird this year.

Keith, of course, was a pirate. He has been working on this outfit for years, and adds something to it every year. This year it was huge rings on his fingers, a shrunken head hanging off his belt, and beads in his wig.

Whitney and Tobin came without costumes, so Whitney got to be Medusa and Tobin got to be a bat-like fairy (Thanks once again to Aunt Nita for sending additional costumes)

He was really thrilled about the wings. :)

After dinner we made a few quick visits and ended the evening around a fire pit with warm apple cider. Happy (late) Halloween!

Halloween-Past and Present Pumpkins

Jack-O-Lanterns from 2006-We had only been married a few months.

2007 (I'm obviously not as devoted as Keith to pumpkin carving)

Sadly, no Jack-O-Lanterns were produced by the Taylor family in 2008, but I wish we would have carved something down in Dominica...... I'm not sure what we would have used though.

2009

The dirty look is not because of the goo from the pumpkins, I don't mind that part. It because we had just purchased them and they had been outside where it was literally freezing!!! The goo was SO cold and painful to clean out! (and I was trying to tell Keith but he just kept taking pictures and laughing.....)

The master at work. He wanted a big pumpkin and since the first 3 stores we went to were sold out of pumpkins, when we found one that still partially green we had no complaints.

The finished products! Pirates of the Caribbean--Dominica, we are still with you in spirit!

I promise our hair is not as big and puffy as it looks--there is a shadow on the wall making it look much bigger than it is! :)

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Picnic

When we got back from Dominica (2 months ago-sorry for the delay) we really wanted to go out on a date.   We originally wanted to do something along the lines of going out to a nice place and then to a movie that just came out.  Once we started planning, we slowly came to better grips with reality: a nice dinner and newly released movie will not be in our budget for about 10 years.  So, we packed a picnic and headed to the park.
It ended up being incredibly fun and we had a good time (and laugh) watching the little league football team that was practicing across the street from us.
It was a perfect evening and I think I had more fun on the picnic than if we had gone to a nice restaurant!  Thanks for the great date Keith!

 

Lame Update

So, it turns out that blogging is a lot harder for me when I'm going to school, working, and not living on a tropical island.  I just feel like most of my "extra" time is spent studying and doing homework and if by chance I have a little time after that, Keith is lucky enough to get a real dinner.  But, here is a lame update of our lives.

For those of you who don't know, we are back in Pocatello, Idaho.  Keith's parents have a house with a basement apartment off of their garage and have been nice enough to let us stay here, and we love it!  No one has lived here since the fixed it up (they actually gutted and re-did the whole basement) and we really like our upstairs neighbors, so we are happy.

I am going to school at Idaho State University.  I went back and I'm taking some generals so that I can get my Associates and then transfer more easily when we move.  I am also working on campus in the Nursing Department.  I worked there when Keith and I were first married and luckily I got hired back.  I help in the Lab, run the mannequins, set up for students coming down to do labs, etc.  I actually really like it, the lab is brand new this year (it opened in the spring) and it's incredible!  I'll take some pictures one day at work so that everyone can see.  

Oh, I babysit 1 day a week too, and I love love love it!

Keith is currently at the PASS Program in Champaign, Illinois.  It's a review/study course for the STEP 1, which is the first part of his licensing exam (and also the biggest test he'll ever take).  He's been gone a little over a week and has not quite 3 left!!  :(    He said he's learning a lot though and that it has been extremely beneficial.

Such a lame update, but there you go.  Hope everyone is doing well!

Wild Wild West

AH!  I love Idaho!  I miss Dominica too, but I love Idaho.  Here are a few more things we've done since we've been home.

We went with my sister Whitney and her husband Tobin up to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to hang out for a little bit and go to the Bar J Wranglers.  We had an amazing meal of ribs, baked beans, applesauce, a biscuit, baked potato, and spice cake.  (Still one of my favorites!)  After wards, the Wranglers came out and sang and performed, and they did a pretty good job too!

One of the antler arches in Jackson

Whitney and Tobin-aren't they pretty?

Everyone had a different reaction to the bear..... even Whitney who wouldn't touch it.

The Bar J Wranglers

A sweet old lady in line told me that she didn't think my hat would hold up on the trail.  I wanted to tell her probably not, but the ones that would, didn't come in pink.  :)

Over Labor Day weekend, we went camping with Keith's parents to Island Park.  They weather was beautiful and we had such a great time.   

Bill and Katherine, enjoying the beautiful weather.

We took bikes and went on a fun little ride.  

Our campsite was right by Island Park Reservoir, it was beautiful!

Keith reread (for the ump-teenth time) the abridged version of The Count of Monte Cristo in one weekend, it's only 500+ pages in the smallest font you've ever seen.  

It's amazing how 2 places can be so different but both so beautiful!