Festival of Trees 2008

Jandaco, the company I work for, once again participated in the Festival of Trees. They provided a fully decorated Christmas tree that was sold at auction. Every penny (100%) raised at the Festival goes to provide medical care for needy children at Primary Children’s Medical Center. 

I love the whole spirit of Festival of Trees and have gone every year since I was young and as Gabe and Glen know - I do not like to be rushed. My mom did it for a few years after my brother passed away and it has always held a special place in my heart. I am grateful to work for a company that recognizes what a wonderful cause the Festival contributes too.

Mike {brother-in-law}

Jodi {sister-in-law}

The finished product {I promise there is a tree in there}

HaPPy #26!

Todd turned 26 on December 3rd - and man did we have one wild party!!! We celebrated Todd's special day with some of the coolest people I know - My parents, my brother Matt and his CUTE friend, Anneli and perhaps the coolest person there that night... MICHAEL MCLEAN!!! That's right - we went to The Forgotten Carols and I am sure you can tell by the look on Todd's face that it was a very special day indeed.

Matt and Anneli's face stayed that way the whole night. They love Michael!!!

Thank you so much Mom and Dad for such a fun night. We really had a great time! It was so fun to spend time with you guys. 

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TODD! I LOVE YOU!!! 

Blogging... or the lack there of

So my brother Matt sent this to me and said it reminded him of me - thanks brother - are my posts really that boring? I guess lately our whole blog has been boring. Todd and I are keeping busy but it is definitely not anything to blog about. I do enjoy looking at everyone else's blogs since it seems like you all have fun and exciting things going on. With the holidays and our 2 year anniversary coming up - I am sure there will be some posts soon. 

All Hail...

We told everyone that we were going to Las Vegas for a Wells Fargo Recognition Event for Todd but really we went down there to see Todd's all-time FAVORITE performers...

Really though - Wells Fargo flew us down to Las Vegas for a huge recognition event for their top performers. Todd was among those top performers. We stayed at Caesar's Palace and went to many events sponsored by Wells Fargo.

Todd cashing in his huge "winnings". Wells Fargo gave us chips when we arrived but we decided to cash them in immediately and USE the money for something fun before we lost it.

We went to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay

We even got to touch stingrays

This sea turtle was huge!

We went to see Mamma Mia for the 2nd time. I LOVE that show!

Recognition Dinner

Dessert... that sign was made out of solid chocolate

Todd on the big screen... well at least his name.

I just want to give a shout-out to my wonderful, hard-working husband - He works hard at what he does and his clients and the people he works with really respect him. I love you Todd.

Bear Lake 2008

Todd and I joined my family in July for, what is becoming, our annual trip to Bear Lake. We had so much fun with my sister, Brooke and her family, my sister Kelly and her kids (we missed you Cory) and my cute parents. We really wished Matt could have joined us but he was being the "responsible" one of the group and stayed back to work.

While we were there we...

Went boating (thanks to the Powell's)

Went wave running (Thanks to the Gillett's)

Caught some SwEeT air on the tube (some of us preferred no air at all).

We discovered the Bear Lake Monster.

We played...

We even had time to just relax...

We really had a great time with everyone and can't wait to go back next year.

4th of July in Lake Powell

We went to Lake Powell with some of Todd's family {Connie, Amy, John, Dane & Alexa (sister, bro-in-law, their 2 kids), Mandy (cousin) and 3 dogs} over 4th of July weekend.

Let me tell you - it was quite an adventure.

Without getting into too much detail here is an overview of our trip:

~Wednesday, July 2nd~

- Left at 10:00pm for Lake Powell.

~Thursday, July 3rd~

- Spent a great day out on the lake in Hite. There was no one else there - the water was awesome.

- Tried to watch a movie outside and ended up killing a rattlesnake - went back in the motor home.

~Friday, July 4th~

- Spent some more time on the lake.

- Ate lunch.

- Made a 50 mile trek {I might be exaggerating} on the boat from Hite to Bullfrog to watch the fireworks.

- Left Bullfrog around 11:00pm to make our way back to Hite on the lake. Get lost several times.

~Saturday, July 5th~

- Boat ran out of gas at 2:00am

- Help arrived at 7:30am

- Got back to camp at 8:30am

- We all took a long nap and then came home

All-in-all it was a great trip - the weather was great, the stars were bright and beautiful and it was great to spend time with family.

The morning we got there.

Knee-boarding and tubing

Me and Mandy

my CUTE hubby!

We got take-out at the Anasazi Restaurant on July 4th so we could go back to the boat to watch fireworks.

Pleasant Grove Strawberry Days

Todd and I decided that because we are now "Pleasant Grove-ians" that we should participate in the local festivities. So we, along with some of Todd's cousins, attended the Strawberry Days RODEO!  YEE HAW!!! 

Todd and his cousin, Josh, showing off their belt buckles. Yes, Josh's belt buckle is a gun. They tried so hard to fit in and I think they almost pulled it off.

             

MUTTON BUSTIN' = Parents convincing their children to participate, child falling off the sheep, getting dirt in their face and then carried away crying. WHY, PARENTS, WHY?!? 

Todd's cousins: Ashley, Matty, Molly & Nick. We had so much fun with them!

More cousins - Josh & Aarean

By far this was my favorite event - A cow milking contest! Several teams made up of three men were each given a cow to milk. I don't know what they do to these cows but when they come out of the gate they are ANGRY. The men were being pulled and tugged through the dirt - just to try and milk these poor cows. It was HILARIOUS to watch!

P.S. Todd is looking for 2 STRONG men to participate with him next year. Any takers?

This is a MUST: Strawberries 'n' Cream