Jennifer Porter

I'M A CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL CODER-APPRENTICE!

2011-07-21T10:56:00.000-07:00

I have been going to school for medical billing and coding at Salt Lake Community College since September. I just found out I passed my national test on my second attempt! The test is five hours and forty minutes and is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life! I'm a certified professional coder-apprentice!!!!!!

My 37TH Birthday!

2011-07-18T12:14:00.000-07:00

I turned 37 on July 5th. That day I went swimming at Cottonwood Heights and then to Chili's for dinner. At Chili's they gave me a free chocolate shake for my birthday! On July 9th we had a family swimming party at my brother's condo pool. (Except for my niece cutting her cheek on a table and needing stitches), it was awesome!

The Fourth of July!

2011-07-18T11:16:00.000-07:00

We went to the fireworks at Holladay Elementary again this year. As usual, it was a blast!

The Easter Egg Hunt!

2011-05-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

This is me on Easter.

There was a neighborhood Easter Egg hunt going on in the yard in back of us. They had a really cute Easter Bunny, so I had to get a couple pictures of that.

But the Easter Bunny also came to my house for my cute nieces and nephews! That was the most fun of all!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

2011-03-25T11:50:00.000-07:00

I had a really fun Saint Patrick's Day this year because it was during Spring Break and because I got to have corn beef and cabbage, rainbow fruit, and green punch with Isaac, Chase, Kylie and Lilly. Everyone was wearing green. Top of the morning to you!

Mason's Birthday!

2011-03-25T11:46:00.000-07:00

My nephew Mason turned three in March. He had the coolest robot party! Happy Birthday Mason!

New Pictures With New Niece And Nephew!

2011-03-25T11:33:00.001-07:00

Here are some recent pictures of me with my newest niece Sadie and my newest nephew McKay! I love nieces and nephews!

Lilly's Third Birthday!

2011-03-25T11:18:00.000-07:00

We had a fun birthday party for my cute niece Lilly who turned three on January 24th! She got really cool presents and a fabulous cake! Happy Birthday Lilly!

2011-03-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

We had another fun party at Sarah's house in January. It was for the birthdays of my two brother-in-laws Jake and Cody! It was really fun! What a great cake! Happy Birthdays!

New Year's Eve 2010!

2011-03-25T10:39:00.000-07:00

I know this is really late, but we had a fabulous New Year's Eve party at Sarah's house. We had games, food, family, and dancing! It was great! Here are some pictures from the fun event!

Christmas 2010!

2010-12-28T16:47:00.001-08:00

I had a very Merry Christmas this year! I got four new outfits, two watches, some lotions and shower gels, a CD of religious music, and some things to put on my shoes so that I can walk in the snow and ice without slipping. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving!

2010-12-28T16:31:00.001-08:00

We had a very fun and tasty Thanksgiving this year! Thanks Becky for letting us have it at her house.

Halloween!

2010-12-28T16:12:00.001-08:00

We had a fun Halloween this year! I was a green goblin, Isaac was a spooky clown on stilts, Chase was a hunter, Kylie was Strawberry Shortcake, and Lilly was Little Red Riding Hood.

Nightmare on 13th!

2010-10-08T15:31:00.000-07:00

Isaac, Chase, and I went to the Nightmare on Thirteenth Haunted House on Wednesday night. It was soo much fun! There were scary clowns, mazes, an insane assylum scene, a part where it seemed like you were going to be pushed off a cliff, and a turning tunnel to walk through and much more! I was glad to have people to go with. We even got our pictures taken with a couple of the scary guys!

The Circus!

2010-10-08T15:20:00.000-07:00

I went to the circus with Becky and her family! It was soo much fun, even though we weren't celebrities! There were elephants, lions doing tricks, tight rope walkers, acrobats, and clowns! One of the clowns had an ironing board on him and was holding an iron. The announcer said "Never fear. Iron man is here"! It was soo much fun! That's me in the background.

Chase's 8 1/2 Birthday!

2010-10-08T15:12:00.000-07:00

We finally had Chase's 8 1/2 Birthday party at his house! He got a new trampoline, stilts, ds games, games stop and itunes gift cards and a Honda 50cc motorcycle! Happy Birthday Chase!

My New Niece Sadie!

2010-10-08T10:42:00.000-07:00

My new niece Sadie was born September 16th. I went to the hospital and got to hold her. She is very cute and I can't wait to get to know her better!

My New Nephew McKay!

2010-10-08T09:49:00.000-07:00

My new nephew McKay Spencer Porter was born October 3rd. I was at the hospital and got to hold him. He is soo cute! I can't wait to get to know him!

Timpanogos Cave!

2010-08-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

We went to Timpanogos Cave! It was really interesting! The hike up was very hard! The hike back was much easier!

Mount Pleasant!

2010-08-19T18:35:00.000-07:00

We stayed overnight at a cabin in Mount Pleasant. We rode Dune Buggies and 4 Wheelers!

Lagoon!

2010-08-19T18:17:00.001-07:00

We had so much fun at Lagoon this year! I loved Lagoona Beach!

Hogle Zoo!

2010-08-18T12:03:00.000-07:00

We recently had a wonderful day at Hogle Zoo!

Wheeler Farm

2010-08-18T11:23:00.000-07:00

Jeff and his family were in town from July 29th to August 19th. We went on many fun activities with them. One of them was a visit to Wheeler Farm.

My Birthday Pool Party!

2010-07-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

Once again I am so thankful that Steve and Katy have a pool and that they let me have my birthday parties there! This year we had the party on Saturday July 10th. This year was very fun! The weather was great! I brought a very small rubber ducky to dive for. Everyone sang Happy Birthday to me and we ate cake and ice cream. I blew out fake candles! Becky's family gave me a noodle chair and an aqua catch set that I had a lot of fun with at the party! I also got four CD's of religious music and some viola music! I always have fun with my nieces and nephews!

My 36TH Birthday! (The actual day)

2010-07-13T16:11:00.000-07:00

I went to Chili's for lunch with my parents.

I love chicken crispers!

Our waitress was the best! I didn't even tell her it was my birthday. She overheard us mention it in a telephone conversation and brought me cake and ice cream! The phone call was Isaac, Chase, Kylie, and Lilly calling to sing Happy Birthday to me! That was truly the best present!

My GPS system and my CD player/radio had been recently stolen from my car, so I got new ones for my birthday. I also got new clothes.

The Third(Not Fourth) Of July!

2010-07-13T15:03:00.000-07:00

Since the Fourth of July was on Sunday this year most of the parks did their fireworks on the third of July. We went to Holladay Elementary to watch them. On the Fourth of July I watched our neighbors across the street do their fireworks.

Isaacs's Tenth Birthday!

2010-06-01T11:51:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures from Isaac's Birthday party!

EVERY LITTLE STITCH!

2010-05-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

I just finished crocheting a blanket I started in January. I'm very proud of it and wanted to share these pictures of it with everyone.

EASTER EGG HUNT IN THE SNOW!

2010-04-03T20:06:00.000-07:00

The Easter Bunny came to my house this year. Isaac, Chase, Kylie, Lilly, and Mason helped me find the eggs. There was quite a lot of snow on the ground. Yes, on April 2nd. The Easter Bunny did not want his paws to freeze so he just hid candy inside and filled plastic eggs on the porch and patio. It was so much fun!

CHRISTMAS 2009!

2010-04-03T19:38:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures I took at Christmas 2009! It was very fun! The most memorable thing I got was money toward a new viola that I bought. It is so much better than my old viola! The difference is night and day! I also got a really comfortable blanket and some clothes. I also got a tire gauge because I have driven on a flat tire at least once this year and wore all the tire off! I guess I needed it! Well, anyway, it was fun! It's been so long that I really don't remember all the details, but here are the pictures FINALLY!

HALLOWEEN!

2010-01-30T19:24:00.000-08:00

This past Halloween was very fun! I was the devil! I have never been that before. I had a good time passing out candy to the about ten trick-or-treaters we had and to my neices and nephews. I also had a blast at my work Halloween party that my sister Becky and her family and my parents came to. This year they actually had games like a fish pond and a scary Halloween movie for the kids. I had fun saying "Just be bad. Everybody's doing it." My nieces and nephews had really cute costumes. I even made it to the Nightmare on Thirteenth haunted house this year! I carved a pumpkin as well. Here are some pictures from this Halloween.

The Fair!

2009-10-16T11:37:00.001-07:00

I went to the Utah State Fair on September 19th. It was really fun! I saw the cows, horses, sheep, goats, pigs, and other stinky animals! I saw the butter sculpture. I also ate cotton candy. I saw an alligator show where a little girl from the audience came and sat on one of the alligators, while one of the keepers held it's mouth closed of course! One of the keepers stuck his hand inside the alligator's mouth and touched the top of it's mouth real quick before it snapped it's jaws shut again. Scary! The funnest part of the fair for me this year was the Bear Show. They had bears who could climb on top of a ball and turn around on it. There were also bears who could play basketball and climb ladders. Some of the bears also participated in a ring toss game. It was very entertaining! After the show, they were taking pictures with the bears. This is me with a brown bear. Yes, he's real. But, don't worry. He's behind a fence!

Mom's Birthday!

2009-10-16T09:02:00.000-07:00

My mom's birthday is August 10th. This year Sarah, Mason, Becky, Isaac, Chase, Kylie, Lilly and I spent the day with her at Hollywood Connection. They have a whole bunch of really cool rides. Adults can go on quite a few of them. I went on a roller coaster type ride with Kylie and Chase. We all had fun on the merry-go-round. Mason especially loved it! We also went miniature golfing there. I like to miniature golf there because the ball will go flying very far if you barely tap it! They also had arcade games. I won a plazma ball with all my tickets. We had refreshments in the ice cream shop and sang happy birthday to my mom. Nobody was actually working in the shop at the time so we couldn't buy anything there, but we had brought our own food so that was okay. I had so much fun and I hope my mom had a fabulous birthday!

Kylie's Fourth Birthday!

2009-10-06T05:39:00.000-07:00

My niece Kylie turned four on July 29th. We had a family party at her house. She also had a water party with her friends. Of course she had a princess cake! She also got a pink princess power cruser that she and Lilly are always riding! Kylie is definitely a girl! She loves to play barbies with me and especially likes to fix the barbies hair. She is always wearing pretty outfits with all sorts of flowers, bows, and ribbons on them. I call her my little princess! We had so much fun at her party! She has a swing set with a slide, a trampoline, a huge wading pool, and a hammock in her backyard. She got some really awesome things for her birthday! I gave her a srawberry shortcake doll! I love you Kylie! Happy Fourth Birthday!

My 35Th Birthday!

2009-10-06T04:01:00.000-07:00

I turned 35 big ones on July 5. I don't look that old do I? I had to work on my actual birthday, but I had July 4th off, so I took advantage of the free time and went to Raging Waters! It was so much fun! I hadn't been there since I was about twelve years old! I remembered some of the slides like white lightning and blue thunder. One slide that required you to use a slide and had a very big drop off was very scary! I liked the lazy river. The water park didn't seem as big as I remembered, but I guess that is because I was smaller.
That night my parents took me to Chili's and then we watched fireworks at Holladay Elementary.
I had to work on my birthday, but they sang happy birthday to me at lunch and some people gave me cards and presents. I worked untill seven and then I came home to a beautiful cake with flowers and a butterfly and presents. It was great!
Then the next Saturday we had a family party at my brother and sister-in-law Steve and Katy's pool. It was so much fun! I always look forward to that! I love swimming and I just love to be with my family and play with my neices and nephews! Kylie was teaching me how to breathe under water and pulling me around in the kiddie pool! I went in the large pool with Isaac and Chase, and the hot tub! Wonderful! My wonderful family sang happy birthday to me. We had dinner and a cake with balloons on it! I also recieved so many fabulous presents! Here's to being old!

Isaac's 9th Birthday!

2009-10-06T03:35:00.000-07:00

My nephew Isaac turned 9 on May 22nd. We had a family party for him in his backyard. He also had a water party with his friends. As I mentioned before, they have a huge wading pool, a swing set with a slide, a trampoline, and a hammock in their yard. I can't believe Isaac is nine already! He is such a sweet, tender-hearted person! He is very sensitive and has a unique ability to understand how other people feel! That is one of the things I love the most about him! He also is very easy-going. He always sees what needs to be done and just does it. For example at meals he will ask you what you want and just serve you. Now I know I never did that for my aunts! We had so much fun at his party! There were so many things having to do with water! I want one of those awesome huge wading pools like he has! You can even use floatation devices in that thing! Like I said before, I always love to get together with my family and my nieces and nephews! They are so much fun to play with! Isaac got so many cool presents! I don't think they made so many great things when I was a kid! I love you very much and hope you had a Very Happy Birthday Isaac!

Chase's 7 1/2 Birthday!

2009-10-06T03:19:00.000-07:00

My nephew Chase was born on New Year's Eve, but he celebrates his half birthday instead which is at the end of June. This way he also avoids his birthday being bunched together with Christmas and New Year's. We had a family party for him in his backyard. As many of you know, they have tons of things to do in their backyard. They have a swing set with a slide, a huge wading pool, a trampoline, and a hammock to name a few. Chase is such a sweet heart! He is very smart, reads above his grade level, and loves to learn new things! It helps that he has his big brother Isaac to look up to and follow. Also, Chase does not become discouraged by mistakes when learning new things such as the piano, which is more than I can say about myself. We had so much fun at his birthday party! He got so many fabulous presents!I always love to hang out with my nieces and nephews! He also had a party with his friends. Happy Half Birthday Chase!

Jeff's Visit!

2009-10-06T02:48:00.000-07:00

In May my brother Jeff visited from Spain with his wife Maria and their two sons Martin and Nicolas. Since I don't get to see them very much, every time the boys come they have grown so much! Every time it seems they have become less shy. They were both talking quite a bit more than last time. During their stay we got in quite a lot of activities including a trip to the zoo and a ride on the Heber Creeper. Martin is also into computer games now and loved a particular one about a gingerbread man. "I like the little cookie," he said, with a Spanish accent of course. By the way, he can speak both languages and even tell them apart. They also had fun playing cars while they were at our house. It was really great to see them and I wish we could get together more often. One time I told one of my local nephews, Isaac, that I wasn't a good aunt because half of my nephews didn't even know me. He told me it wasn't my fault. Isaac and Chase were so good with them while they were here and could keep them from wondering away while we were at the zoo much better than I could. Here is a darling picture of Isaac, Martin, and Nicolas at the Heber Creeper.

HOGLE ZOO!

2009-04-11T08:51:00.001-07:00

We went to Hogle Zoo on Friday April 10th. It was very fun! Here are some pictures!

EASTER EGG HUNT!

2009-04-09T11:45:00.000-07:00

Every year the Easter Bunny comes to my house to hide eggs for my darling nieces and nephews. This year he came on the Thursday before Easter. Isaac, Chase, Kylie, Lilly, and Mason came. The weather was a little wet, but it was very fun! Here are some pictures.

PLAY PARTY!

2009-04-03T12:42:00.000-07:00

I played viola in school orchestras from third to eleventh grade, but I was always last stand. During my school years I only took viola lessons for a few summers because it was hard to find a teacher who would stick with it. I always felt that most of the orchestra members were so much better than me. Well, that is probably because they had had years of lessons and practicing. I always wanted to become better, so a little over two and a half years ago I bought a viola on e-bay for sixty dollars plus the cost of repairs and new strings. I found a wonderful viola teacher, Marcia Bramble, who has actually stuck with me for almost two and a half years. She is a former member of the Utah Symphony and a current member of the Orchestra on Temple Square. I have learned so much that I did not know before! In high school I could only play in first position. I now know up to seventh position. I am even doing exercises to learn vibrato. I am playing from the Suzuki viola books among other things. Currently there are eight books in the Suzuki series. Marcia has me memorize the songs in the Suzuki books. When you finish all the songs in a Suzuki book you get to have a play party which is kind of like a recital. The rule is you have to invite at least one person. I get nervous easily, so I have only invited my mom. By the way, she used to play the viola as well. We just go to my teachers house and I play my songs with my teacher accompanying me on the piano or viola. I had my play party for book one in October of 2007 and I just had my play party for book two two days ago on Wednesday night, April 1. The best part about play parties is I get to bring my favorite dessert, cheesecake! I am so glad to be taking lessons and I am learning so much all the time! It is not always easy to practice, but my goal is to finish all eight Suzuki books in my lifetime! Wish me luck! Here is a picture of me practicing my viola.

Lilly's First Birthday!

2009-02-01T08:47:00.000-08:00

On Sunday January 25th we celebrated my niece Lilly's first birthday at her house.

Kylie helped her open her presents.

She got a princess cake just like Kylie did.

I gave her a doll.

She has absolutely the cutest smile! I have really enjoyed her so much this last year and love her so much! Happy Birthday Lilly!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-14T17:00:00.000-08:00

This New Year's Eve I went to my friend Heidi's house to watch a movie and then I went to my sister Becky's house for our family party. I love to spend time with my nieces and nephews (and the rest of my family)! I got to play barbies with Kylie! Becky has repainted and carpeted Kylie's barbie house. It looks awesome! I brought my 20Q game to play with as well. Chase is really good at reading it! I also had fun watching people play board games and played a little Clue myself. There was tons of yummy food including cranberry pudding and soda pop! Almost everyone stayed up until midnight when we watched the ball fall on TV. We yelled Happy New Year, banged pots and pans, and went crazy with our noise makers! We even wore Happy New Year hats! We also saw and heard some fireworks that night! We had root beer floats which have become quite a delicious tradition for us! Here's to a fabulous 2009!!!

Merry Christmas!

2009-01-14T16:16:00.000-08:00

I had a very Merry Christmas this year! I even got to sit on Santa's lap! I also drove a car dressed up in a reindeer costume from the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas. The car costume was given to me by a man who lived at my work. We had two parties at my work this year. One was for the residents and their families and the other was for employees and their families. On Christmas day I got to sleep in. We had our family Christmas party at two in the afternoon. I always love it when everyone comes over! I got some pretty awesome gifts this year including a GPS system for my car that I am really enjoying! One of my sisters got one as well. I also got a Cricut cutting scrap-booking machine that I am absolutely loving! I can cut out letters and shapes including hearts, stars, circles, blue ribbons, apples, and even fleur-de-lis! We drew names and my sister-in-law Katy drew my name and gave me the DVD and CD of The Phantom of the Opera that I had asked for. I love it! I have watched the movie repeatedly and I listen to the CD whenever I go anywhere. Thanks Katy! I also got a coat and another CD. I had so much fun spoiling my nephews and nieces! I got so many barbies for Kylie! It was so much fun! I decorated our house with a Christmas tree upstairs and another one downstairs. I also found an old cardboard wall hanging of Santa in a sleigh and his reindeer that I hadn't seen since I was a child and I put it up in our basement. It is kind of old and worn, but it sure brought back memories. My nieces and nephews gave me the most darling handmade ornaments! My visiting teachers gave me the twelve days of Christmas this year! Every day was a different figure until I had a full nativity set! Thanks to everyone for making my Christmas so wonderful!

Once There Was A Snowman!

2009-01-14T16:02:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of me with the snowman I built. The snow was pretty good packing when I rolled the bottom snowball. Then for some reason it became difficult to roll snowballs anymore so I just picked up snow with my hands or in buckets and tried to shape it into ball shapes for the other two snowballs. I added a hat and arms. I finished this before work one morning. When I came home from work that night someone had added the cutest eyes, nose, buttons, and broom stick! Thank you so much Isaac! What a great surprise! I added a yarn mouth and it was done!

The Lights On Temple Square!

2008-12-05T02:42:00.000-08:00

On the night of Tuesday December 2nd I went to see the Christmas lights on Temple Square. I hadn't gone for a few years and I've always enjoyed going. They were beautiful! The temple looks so gorgeous at night! The lights were dazzling! It really put me in the Christmas spirit! I love to walk down row after row of sparkling lights! It must take them so long to put them all up each year! It was not very crowded that night. It had been raining earlier that evening, but fortunately it was pretty clear while I was there. The different colored lights really accent the temple grounds! The multi-colored lights on the trees around the tabernacle are so cheerful! I think I like the bright yellow lights the best. My favorite picture is the one with the water in front and the eight pointed star in the back ground. The trees covered with red lights look like they're on fire in the pictures. The picture with the tower surrounded with red trees reminds me of Thanksgiving Point. I really enjoy looking at the manger scene and listening to the story on the speaker. It reminds us of what the true meaning of Christmas really is. I just love the large Christmas tree with the star on it just outside the temple grounds as well. I had such a great time and wanted to share these inspiring pictures with you!

Thanksgiving!

2008-12-05T01:41:00.000-08:00

We had our Porter family Thanksgiving party on Saturday November 22nd due to scheduling conflicts. We had it at my sister Sarah's apartment club house because that was about the only place big enough for all fifteen of us. The dinner was delicious! Thank you everyone! We had stuffing, turkey, rolls, salad, potatos, jello, and a yummy ginger ale appetizer. We had ice cream and four different kinds of pie for dessert-chocolate, pumpkin, lemon, and banana cream. Yum! It was great to see everyone again! I had so much fun playing with my nieces and nephews! Isaac is so sweet and thoughtful! Even with his broken arm he poured a drink for me! He was wearing a head band with a goal post on it that I thought was pretty cute! Chase and I played a word game that is similiar to scrabble. He is so smart and was even helping me with my turns! Kylie is such a cutie! We had fun playing hide and go seek. She loved it and hid in the same place at least five times! Lilly and Mason are darling and growing fast as well! They've changed so much every time I see them! We all had our cameras, of course! I had a wonderful time and I have so much to be Thankful for-my family, my health, the gospel, food and shelter, freedom...etc.
On Thursday, the REAL Thanksgiving, after watching some of the Macey's Thanksgiving Day parade on T.V., I decided to keep up with tradition and went bowling at Fat Cats. I tried Olympus Hills Lanes first but they were booked for hours. It was really fun! I played two games. Since I was by myself it went really fast! My scores were embarrassing by the way, 39 and 33. Oh well! I did get at least one spare in there. I had to work from 3-6:30 that night, but everyone was so stuffed from their big meal at lunch that we had only nine people to serve! It was the easiest night I've ever had there! It made for a very happy and memorable Thanksgiving! Gobble! Gobble!

Halloween!

2008-11-26T16:50:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from Halloween including the pumpkin I carved and my cute nieces and nephews dressed up in their costumes. I had the day off so I went to see the costume parade at Cottonwood Elementary school that morning. There were some pretty awesome costumes there. The one that stands out in my mind was the kid dressed like a shark with human legs coming out of his mouth. I had fun dressing up as a nurse and handing out candy that night. The reason I decided to be a nurse this year is that a resident at my work gave me a pen that looks like a tool used to draw blood a few weeks earlier. It even had some fake blood inside of it. I found the rest of my costume at a Halloween Headquarters store. This year I decorated my windows with cute Halloween cling-ons that I found at JoAnn's. I had a spooktacular Halloween!

Spooky Work Party!

2008-11-26T16:21:00.000-08:00

On October 30th, Le Chateau at Brickyard Plaza, where I have worked as a waitress for nearly two years now, had their Halloween Party for staff, residents, and our families. My parents came as well as my brother-in-law Jake and nephews Isaac, Chase, and niece Kylie. We served dinners of either chili or chicken and dumplings. I got to personally serve my family which was fun for me! There were also drinks and desserts on a buffet table. It was a costume party. My mom was Snow White, Isaac was a mummy, Chase was Prince Caspian, and Kylie was Little Bo Peep. I dressed up as a nurse in case you can't tell. Debbie, the other server, dressed up as a cat. There was a spooky Halloween movie, pumpkin decorating, a fish pond, and trick-or treating. I just feel bad that my nephews and niece had to leave after dinner and missed the activities which were the reason I thought it would be fun for them to come in the first place! It was a very fun night and I just wanted to share some pictures from the evening with all of you!

Nightmare On Thirteenth!

2008-10-29T14:30:00.000-07:00

On the night of Monday, October 27th I went to the Nightmare on Thirteenth Haunted House. It was really scary! It started off with Nightmare Theatre where a scary puppet spoke and parts of the movie The Ring were shown. The haunted house included tunnels, mazes, a haunted circus, and insane assylum scenes, as well as a guy chasing you with a chain saw. I paid for the additional Nightmare Extreme part of it, which featured more dark mazes and scary monsters jumping out at you. I really enjoyed it and would recommend this haunted house to everyone! Happy Halloween!

Wheeler Farm With Mason!

2008-10-18T11:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my parents and I met my sister Sarah and my darling seven month old nephew at Wheeler Farm. It was so good to see Mason! He is such a cutie! He seemed to enjoy most of the animals there. He was so brave while some of the other babies there started crying at the scary sheep! His favorite animals by far were the turkeys! He tried to talk to them and to get as close to them as possible. He started crying when we left them to look at other animals and was only happy again when we came back to them. I had so much fun watching him. He is growing and changing so much all the time and I am so excited to get to know him better! I love you, Mason!

I Joined The Circus!

2008-10-09T09:15:00.000-07:00

On Thursday morning September 11 I impulsively decided to go to the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus that evening after work. I bought the best available tickets they had on-line. I ended up spending a little over one hundred dollars for them and my parking pass. When I got to the circus I found that my seat was on the front row and was one of several with a cover on it that said Circus Celebrity. The best part of the evening was that Becky and Jake ( and Jake's parents), and the kids were there too! Their seats were further back and in a different section, but still great! What a coincidence that we had chosen the same night to come! We hung out together during the pre-show and got cute clown noses to wear and I got some autographs of some of the performers. The show began with some clowns and doggies and then came the dancing princesses as Kylie likes to call them. Tom the bubble blowing clown was next and then the horse acts. Sometime during all of this those of us sitting in the Circus Celebrity seats were handed circus celebrity passes. On the back of them it told us that during the first half of the show we would be pulled out into the show. At this point I thought Oh no, what have I gotten myself into! My heart raced as I imagined myself being singled out to eat fire or something! I wanted out! But then I read on that we would just be riding on a circus train around the stadium floor. It turned out to be fun riding that train! It felt like we were in the circus! It was our fifteen minutes of fame! I waved to my cute nieces and nephews and saw them waving back! We shared the stage with motorcyles who were doing daring stunts in a huge metal ball. During the intermission I got to visit with my cute nieces and nephews again! The rest of the show featured balloons, tight ropes, tigers and elephants. It definitely was an experience I will never forget! I have never before enjoyed the circus in quite the same way! Chase was absolutely right when he said, "That's why your seat was so expensive!".

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE!

2008-08-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

I spent this past Thursday through Saturday in Saint George with my friends Allison and Julie from high school. We left for the six hour drive Thursday at about 1:00 P.M. We got to our hotel at about 7:00 P.M. We did some shopping at the outlet stores and had dinner at Chili's that night. Friday morning we enjoyed the hotel's continental breakfast and then I swam in the hotel's pool for two hours and had it all to myself! Yes, there was even a hot tub! Neither one of my friends brought swimming suits. We had lunch at a restaurant and spent the afternoon sight seeing. We took pictures on the grounds of the Saint George temple and went on a tour of Brigham Young's Winter Home. I saw many different plants in Saint George including cotton plants, pecan trees, and peppers. We also stopped for shakes and did some more outlet shopping. That night we had dinner at Village Inn and then went to see The Sound Of Music at the Tuahcahn outdoor theatre. It was amazing! Saturday morning we had another continental breakfast and I went swimming for about an hour, again with the pool to myself! We had to check out of our hotel at eleven on Saturday morning and then after a little more shopping we were on our way back to Salt Lake, stopping for lunch at Burger King. I had a wonderful time in Saint George, but it was very hot and I am so glad to be sleeping in my own bed again!

2008-08-01T09:59:00.001-07:00

MY 34TH BIRTHDAY PARTY!

On Saturday July 5, 2008 I celebrated my 34th Birthday! My brother Steven and his wife Katy invited the whole family over to swim in their condos pool and have a barbecue! The water was perfect, especially in the hot tub! I had so much fun with all my siblings, neices and nephews! Even my youngest nephew Mason got his feet wet! The hot dogs were delicious! Of course there was birthday cake and ice cream! Everyone joined in singing Happy Birthday to me. The wind was so strong that the question mark shaped candle on my cake wouldn't stay lit, so after the singing I had to fake a blow. I got clothes, a computer program, a DVD, and a new viola case. I guess being a year older won't be so bad!