Why people have kids

Donny and I found some fun cookie cutters the other night and thought it would be fun to decorate some Halloween cookies. Well as you can tell it looks like we invited the neighbor kids over to help us decorate the cookies. Now I know that one of the reasons people have kids is to blame their lack of creativity on the inexperience of their kids...or maybe we were just hoping to do that after we looked at our results. Either way it was fun! Happy Halloween! I don't know if we'll share these ones with our neighbors.

Two of our "favorites"

I Belong to the Church of Jesus-Christ...

Our favorite neighbor Jackie just got baptized! It has been such a privilege to see her make changes in her life as she prepared for baptism. The spirit has been touching her for a while and she has been so prepared. It has been neat to see how different people in her life have helped to lead her to this point in her life. It made me realize once again the importance of sharing our light with others. As I sat in on the lessons that the Elders taught, when we went to the visitors center, or just visiting with Jackie I realized how important the simple things are. I know what my purpose is in this life and there are many that struggle with that. I know that even though I mess up each day that Jesus Christ died for me and everyone to help us overcome those times we fall short. I know I can live with my family FOREVER! I know this life is about finding joy in the journey. Donny and I went over to Jackie's one night after her baptism and we discussed the organization of the church and how it is the same today as it was when Christ was on the earth. I dusted off my cup analogy that I used on my mission (I know you are wondering how I still have these, they are great just need to update the 12 apostles) and we had one of the most exciting discussions about so many things about the church. I love the excitement of new members! We are so blessed to have a great friend that has reminded us that it is great to belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Adventures in Camping

I had a week off of school for fall break and Donny decided to take Thursday off, he doesn't have Friday classes. So we left Thursday afternoon and headed up North to go camping. We wanted to get up in the pines and we found them. We rolled down the windows and smelt the fresh sweet smell of the mountain air.

Donny started the fire and we made tin foil dinners, I LOVE these! They tasted so good, either because I was so hungry I could have eaten my arm or because everything just tastes better when you cook it in a camp fire. We made peach cobbler in our new dutch oven (one of our favorite wedding gifts). We sat around the fire talking and singing Kumbaya. It felt so good to be out and away from everything, and up in the mountains.

When we had decided to go camping we realized we didn't have a tent. Well we figured we could just sleep under the stars and would be ok, it Arizona for Pete sake. Well with a change in 4000 feet of elevation the temperature dropped quite a bit. Well I am a pansie when it comes to the cold (I know you are thinking to yourself but you are from Idaho...well I didn't get the extra layer of skin when they sent me down to Idaho). Luckily we had thrown some old tarps that my dad had given to us to cover our couches when we moved down here. When I say well used I mean they have served their time well. If you look closely in the next couple pictures you can see the few holes in the sides. We coincidentally found a spot where someone had already cut a tree down and laid it side ways between two trees so we had the perfect lean-to spot. We had two tarps, one to cover us and one to put under us. We used some rocks to weigh down the corners and then just like any good camper would do, inflated the air mattress. We put chairs at both ends of the lean-to to keep out whatever we kept hearing move around the brush :) It was quite the adventure!

One year older, wiser, and more good looking too!

Donny just hit his 29th b-day and he is still as youthful as ever! Not that 29 and older isn't youthful :) I just want to take this time to brag about the best husband ever. He gets up at 5 am with me to get breakfast ready and pack my lunch and send me off to teach. Then he goes to school and is in class all day long, comes home and then does his readings for the next day of classes. He always makes time for us each day weather it's going for a run, going swimming, playing a game of scrabble, or just talking. I love to watch him interact with others he is so concerned about others and is aware of their needs. He works hard to do the best at whatever he does. Sometimes this drives me crazy because he can be such a perfectionist, but he says he is just thorough. Whatever the case he does a great job at anything he does even if it does take forever sometimes to do it ;) He is such a kid at heart, I love the playful energetic side of him. I am blessed with such a great man. Happy Birthday Donny, many great ones are yet to be!

Martha Stewart What?

Nothing like pulling out the wedding decorations, adding some crate paper and a garbage bag and vwallah...instant Halloween decorations!

*Side note, Donny and I are debating the proper spelling of the word vwallah or is it
wallah and I just added the v for spice. Whatever the case don't judge me, I teach Math not English therefore I am exempt from spelling correctly.

**Donny said according to dictionary.com it is wallah, but it is more fun to say it vwallah, you are saying it to yourself right now... aren't you!

Donny isn't part of the decorations

Viva Las Vegas

We took a trip to Las Vegas to meet up with my mom, dad, Angie, Christina, and Nate (friend of Angie). We got to take Kim, a cousin that lives down here in Gilbert. I love road trips because it brings out the conversations that you don't usually talk about in "normal" conversations. We talked about everything from sharing your "days of the week underwear with your sister" to how the gun on "Duck hunt" works, if anyone knows the answer to this question please let us know. When we got to Vegas we went to M&M world where they have an entire wall lined with all the different types of M&M's.

Then Kim introduced us to frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity's, sooo good. It was like Christmas to get to see our family again. We all met up in front of the Balagio and watched the fountains. I love mom and dad's double 75 on the back of their shirts!

Then we went to the BYU vs UNLV game. It was so good to get to see the Cougs play, we have been going through college football with drawls. During half time I was standing out waiting for Donny and there was a man that approached me and asked what it meant to be "fully invested" (my shirt says this). So I explained what that meant and he said "so that's what you Mormons are all about." So I explained to him that it was a lot more than that. I got to talk to him about why life is so good. That despite our everyday trials Christ helps us get through them and even ENJOY them!! He told me that he was set financially and I told him that was great and important for sure but I asked him if he had purpose to life. He told me that there wasn't a whole lot of meaning there. It was really fun to just chat with this great man, Rich, about how life is so great with the Christ as the center of it. I love to travel and I think one of the biggest reasons is because we get to meet so many different people and find out about them and what makes them tick. Then I get to do the same for them. It was a great trip!

Home Sweet Home

Donny and I pulled in to Arizona one HOT night. We had some great friends and family unload a lot of our things that we sent down before we got there. We unloaded all of the things we had packed in to our two cars. We were soaked, never move to Arizona during the summer. We had a couple of weeks before Donny started school up so we spent those two weeks getting things situated...we didn't step foot in to Walmart or Target for a while after we finally had everything we needed. It finally feels like home to us. We love our location! We have family within a mile a way, our ward is A-MAZING, frys, the farmers market, and we have three pools to choose from (visitors are welcome). Donny started school and I stayed at home by the pool trying to keep my tan up, just kidding. I emailed every principal in the area and told them I was a certified Math teacher and if they needed any help I was more than willing. Well we figured I would just be substitute teaching for the year and then I was made aware that in some districts they weren't even accepting substitutes. Well only by divine intervention did the following take place. I got a call from Highland High School, the school I wanted to teach at, asking if I could come in for an interview on Monday. Well long story short there was a teacher that was unable to teach due to health reasons and they were in a bind and they had received my email saying I was a math teacher. I was hired on Tuesday and began teaching on Wednesday...at 6 AM, they have a class before normal school starts!!!! Fruitcakes, who wants to learn math at that time of day? Well the nice thing is I am done by 2. Donny is so good to get up and pack my bag and get breakfast ready. He is in midterms right now and works so hard. I am amazed at how much he reads everyday. He gets home and takes a little break and then is right in to his books. He is so great to take time for us as well. We are loving this time in our life we miss family but are grateful for this time we get to be in the Sunshine state.