HELP!!!

Jean and I have the ever so fortunate opportunity to give talks in church in two Sundays. YIKES! Besides the fact that I am not into public speaking per se, I would like a little help from my friends as I can't seem to talk my way out of it...Our topic is Heroes from the Book of Mormon. I was thinking to share a few stories about how I was inspired by BOM people, but thought it would also be interesting (not to mention lengthen my talk--Jean will appreciate that) to get some stories from friends that I could plagiarize (giving you all the credit of course--so I guess borrow is a better word). If you would be willing to take a few minutes out of your day and email me or post a story of how you have been inspired, I WOULD LOVE YOU FOREVER!! Okay, chances are I probably will anyway, but you know what I mean...THANKS!!!!

Things I am learning about being prego...

--Zofran is an amazing drug...if you have morning sickness, DEMAND Zofran from your doc (let your insurance suck it up and eat the cost--it is well worth the fight with them!)
--I can no longer suck in my gut, I suck and nothing happens...guess I have extra stuff in there filling in the previously voided areas...and as a side note, I hit a high point yesterday when my niece asked to feel my baby so I guided her hand to where to feel and she says, "Wow, your belly is huge!" That is a good thing, right????? Please comfort me, haha.
--I have a new found love for Cheetos (maybe this should be the blame for the waistline instead of the baby...nah, the baby is the cause, for sure!!)
--Long flights are no longer the sole cause for my elephantitis...can I just tell you how much I dislike the feeling of swollen ankles and feet? I really don't like it. I can't even stand to look at them after a day on my feet...it makes me feel strange inside, like watching contortionists...
--Every woman seems to have horror stories about giving birth, which doesn't make sense to me, because I keep hearing that women forget the pain blah blah blah and that is why they keep having babies...well, the stories they share with me surely are pain-filled and it doesn't sound like they have really forgotten. I guess by the end of the year I will be able to join yet another strange club of women that don't really make sense, joy! =)
--Maybe I have more patience than previously I have given myself credit for. We find out on Aug 5 (8 days...who's counting???) whether we are having a boy or girl. But the point of that is, I am proud to say that I did not cave in and head to the mall for an early ultrasound. There is some hope for patience in motherhood!!!

Picnic in AF canyon!

Last night, prior to getting out of the house, Abbie wanted to show off her new make-up that Grandma bought her and lucky man that he is, Jean got to be her test subject. (We don't test on animals...just humans!) The eyeshadow in his eyebrows was quite dashing, but it quickly got rubbed off!

I learned on the drive up the canyon that the combination of two little girls and a camera can get things rolling and pretty entertaining. Emma and Abbie love to play photographer...which got Jean's imagination going...
Jean (I guess following the beauty theme from earlier) decided to style my hair into Cousin It and of course, Emma had to join in on the action! I think that we are way stylin! When Jean was snapping the photo I had to really fight the urge to smile, I think I still did in the end, not that you can tell, haha.
We got to the site and the girls and Reba (dog) immediately were off to explore the hill and river.
My mama almost got the smore right out of Amy's hand...sneaky little....they were a hot commodity, especially because we discovered Dallin was a graham cracker monster and was downing our supply!
I had to make sure Emma did my roasting because I repeatedly set the marshmallows on fire (well more accurately couldn't distinguish the fire)...so I am easily distracted, give me a break!
Abbie was so into her smore that she didn't even notice me literally in her face taking pictures. Can you just see the enjoyment in her face?
Dallin is really a cute little boy that will bring a smile to your face! He was very happy with the combination of his two favorite things, his mom and being outside!
Can I just add that I love the mountains in Utah!!! This is such a beautiful state!
We also got to chase prairie dogs, the girls got to pet a fish (thanks to a nice fisherman), watch horses go by and saw deer! So that summarizes our outing last night to the canyon, it was pretty great times!

Viva Las Vegas!!

My fave free tourist attraction. The Bellagio. Love the water show. Last weekend, Jean and I went down to Vegas to visit my parents, Cherilyn and Spencer, as my parents just bought a new house in Vegas. And, according to me, the trip wouldn't be complete w/o the Bellagio.
We had to kill some time between each show, so we (and by we, I mean I) went a little crazy with the camera...and took a million pictures of everyone and made Cherilyn take a million of Jean and I. After taking so many, you would think that I would have at least one I really liked. Oh well, I will take what I get!
Unfortunately, we didn't get any pics at the house, but you can look at Cherilyn's blog for a pretty good collection of the house. My parents found a great deal on a great house and we are super excited that one day they will be closer to Utah!
Too bad my brother Spencer had a date or he would be included in these pics...I guess a worthy cause though! =) We had a great time hanging out with him too, he always cracks me up...and Spencer, sorry about breaking your homemade "skateboard"!!! You can break something of ours next time you make it to Utah...
Well, it was a quick weekend and we ran from dawn until way past dusk, but had a great time! Thanks Mom and Dad for having us down!

How to burn your money in 15 minutes....

First Happy Fourth of July! I love good 4th celebrations that must include fireworks, which leads me to my "how to" for the day. Fireworks--exact definition of burning your money. You go spend precious money on all these entertainment promises and then what do you do? Set them on fire. Now that is my kind of fun!!! Except I learned a very valuable lesson this year...it is way better to let your neighbors set their money on fire and then watch theirs!!! I, for one, am too cheap to spend lots of money on fireworks (though I love love love them) so I just end up buying things like ground bloomers and poppers. But if you discover neighbors like my brother has who quite literally spent no less than thousands on their firework festivities you can get your own little free show without having to get stuck in city traffic at the city fireworks! What a deal!!! Thank you neighbors! P.S. I do recommend blue planets...pretty good show for $10. Hope you had a great fourth!!!!

There is nothing like a good RODEO!!!!!!

We went to the Lehi Rodeo on Saturday night and had a really good time! It sure beat working in the concession stands on Thursday night...I think I can still smell rodeo burgers and hot dogs. Though I was disappointed they didn't have mutton bustin, there were still good times to be had. Some highlights include:

--now I may be putting my foot in my mouth big time here if anyone reading this knows the man who sang the National Anthem, but wow, I have never quite heard it sung like this before and I have to say, I don't think I have ever heard a man sing the Anthem at a public event and not to discriminate, but maybe it should stay that way. The mic kept cutting out leading up to that huge high note near the end and I have to wonder if they were trying to turn off his mic for that note but got the cue wrong...Bless his heart for trying! (The poor man walked off with his head down!) And what was the deal with him being on his cell phone as he walked out into the arena?? Cell phone ediquette people!

--rodeo clown humor....dry as ever and sometime PG-13 but it is a tradition at a rodeo. I have to admit though, he did have a pretty good magic trick that stumped Jean and I (it isn't too hard to stump me, but Jean will usually pick up on tricks!)

--dirt bikers doing life-threatening high jumps in the air (I know, trust me it was a rodeo, not a monster truck show...why not combine the best of both worlds?!?) Amazing those bikers are still alive! They made my heart race just watching them!

--only like 3 of the some 15 bullriders made the 8 seconds, so you can imagine some pretty good falls

--a bronco rider sustained a pretty good kick to the chest, amazing he walked away, hopefully without mass internal bleeding!

--cowboy falling off a bull and when he stood up, we were thinking his leg was pretty broken and bent, turns out he is just bowlegged

--a rider with, and I am not even kidding, the best in person bar mustache I have ever seen. I mean this thing came down to his chin and then went straight out from his face with a curl at each end. I wasn't even close to the dude and I could make it out...I wonder how long it takes him to set it up in the morning and also what it must look like right after he gets out of the shower....Obviously, I was very intrigued by this.

--Jean has a pretty funny story about a kid at the rodeo that you should ask him about sometime...

Anyway, we had a good time and now I am wanting to go to a good demo derby...know of any?

Polly wanna cracker??

So my niece, Abbie, has discovered that I have a stash of crackers everywhere and everytime she comes over, she wants crackers. She has turned me into a cracker lady!! They are not even the good kinds of crackers, just reduced fat (so reduced flavor) Ritz and saltines. But Abbie really cracks me up (no pun intended, haha) with her constant beggings for ten (or however many she thinks I might hand over) crackers!

Abbie and Emma came over last night for a sleep over and it was tons of fun! I have to say, that Emma can play a mean game of memory! She keeps wanting to play again to let me win, but despite her sympathies, she still kills me! She told me I need to practice...I am blaming it on my prego mind!!

FREE!

Okay, so few things make me more happy than free stuff! (I still think as a starving student!) Today, Jean and I made out like bandits! First off, my boss gave us a free crib! Now we have something to put in our baby room. (I feel better as a potential mom...)

Then we celebrated Jean's birthday (it was Friday--Happy Birthday Jean!!) and Father's Day by going to Jean's favorite restaurant, Cafe Rio. There we got a free meal (we are frequent diners) and a free tres leches, YUM!
Last but not least, we inherited from my brother and sister-in-law a bed for our guest room/office and a stroller/car seat combo!! Again, I can feel more prepared for our kiddo! Today was a great day!!!!

A New Life!!!

Okay, this post is long overdue. We have been super busy with a few changes, but they are big changes. Change #1, last week Jean and I closed on a home in Lehi! We are super excited about it and really are happy here! We moved in over the weekend and got lots done. Jean installed our garage opener, as well as do other manly handyman garage type stuff and I organized our stuff (despite what any of you say, I still feel I have too much crap and it stresses me out). Jean really loves the garage and organizing his tools, and I really love that he can do so much to set up our house. We got our blinds in the mail yesterday so that is next on his list to install. Here are some pics of the house prior to moving in so you can get an idea of what it looks like. It definitely is looking more "lived in" now.

I didn't really get any pics of the upstairs (well, I guess the hall bath...not terribly exciting) but the house has three bedrooms and two and a half baths. We get to landscape the backyard so I am going to be learning a lot, as I don't pretend to have a green thumb or know anything about yard stuff! Okay, drum roll please.....
Change #2....I am prego! Now that is more crazy to me than change #1. I am due sometime in December and am almost done with my first trimester...which hopefully means I am almost done with morning (really it is all day) sickness. That part is no fun but we are both really excited to be parents....yikes. Now that we have a house and a completely empty baby room, we are also excited to spend more money on baby stuff. It is really humbling to think that I will be a mama this year. I will just say that I have lots to prepare for!!! And it is so fun to see Jean talk about our future kiddo and how excited he gets! He is going to be one absolutely fabulous dad!!!! However did I get so blessed? Anyway, thanks for letting us share our new life with you!

HOGLE ZOO!!!

This weekend provided for some perfect zoo weather which we were happy to take advantage of! For those of you who have this impression that I am not an animal lover, the zoo is proof that while I don't love having animals in my house, I do like animals and will enjoy watching them at the zoo...(and especially if I can have a picture where it looks like I am growing a giraffe head from my shoulder!)

Long ago I had a bad experience with a gorilla and this is about all I can handle relating to gorillas to this day. Some of you know my experience and if you don't, ask me about it sometime. But is this zoo trivia trying to tell me if I come across a wild gorilla one day I can hold my own against it if my arms are long enough???? I DON'T THINK SO!!!Here I am with my two nieces. The camels definitely added some excitement to our day. I always love it when the animals get playful or roudy and I would say that these camels raised the bar. And just as a disclaimer, I think the Utah winter got to these camels because they are looking a little mangy and floppy...

Yea employment!

Back to the grind! =) Well, after a bit of searching, I finally got the perfect job! I am working as a Hospice/Homecare Social Worker for Intermountain Healthcare. I have almost finished my first week and I am so pleased with this job! I really think it is a good fit for me and I get great benefits, so who can complain?? So, with Jean's two jobs and my new job we see each other at 9 pm, which kind of stinks....well, really stinks, but at least we will replenish our savings more quickly (traveling for a month can get more expensive than planned--but we would not have had it any other way, in fact, I can't wait to go back to Brasil!)!!!

So, you might be trying to figure out the significance of these pictures. I will tell you, I have the best commute to work ever. Really, if you have to commute, the only way it should be done is driving through a Utah Canyon! My commute is 30 minutes and is right through Provo Canyon--one of my favorite canyons to escape into! Okay, so those of you in Utah right now know that these pictures are not accurate to the current season...there is a ton of snow all over and little reds/oranges right now, but still, quite breathtaking! (It is sometimes hard to keep my eyes on the road...) The top picture is of Deer Creek Resevoir (the road goes along the south side). The middle picture is Bridal Veil Falls (which is pretty much frozen icesicles right now) and the last is the view from the valley my office is in. I LOVE IT!!!

Winter Wonderland (now that it is officially Spring on the calendar...)

We woke up this morning to see that our front yard was covered in snow. All the snow had pretty much melted in town, so it was a nice surprise. (I would have been more pleased if it had been on Thursday night as I went snowboarding on Friday and the slopes were fairly icy, but I will take what I can get!)

And yes, that is the Provo River going through our yard in the middle of the picture! We love our view! Usually we can see the mountains too, but it was snowing in this picture. We will have to post a Spring picture whenever Spring comes....
This is the view of the back of the house we are renting (the front of our apartment). We are renting the basement level, so you can see our front door here.

Catch up!

Okay, so it is about time that I caught up. I have been procrastinating putting up some more pictures from Brasil, I guess because it is just reminding me that I am no longer there. Sad. We had a great time there and I miss it. It was so wonderful to see Jean around his family and friends and get to know Brasil. It is a beautiful place and I love it! Give us a few more years and we will be living there!

So, while in Bombinhas we saw this crazy steep street that Jean could not resist driving up. I don't know if you can see in this picture, but to stand up straight I had to lift up my toes. The car only made it to that drive way on the left. We were turning the car around by doing like a four point turn and when we got perpendicular to the road, I thought for sure we were going to go rolling down the hill. Needless to say, I was a little frightened and grabbing onto the car door.
So this sand crab crawled onto my beachtowel and I didn't even freak out. Shocking! On this cold and windy day in Utah, it is hard to believe that I was baking on the beach in January.
We had a great view and it was fun to be so close to the beach!
If you know the owner of this cool ride, don't show him/her this picture. We couldn't resist jumping on for a quick picture! I want one....=)
Okay, so we loved Brasil and feel so blessed that we were able to spend a month there. It was a great opportunity and now it is hard to get back into real life! It is just not as exciting....haha

BRASIL!!! cont'd

We are still having a great time in Brasil! We went to Itiquira, which is an amazing waterfall. Words cannot even express how perfect it was. You can hike almost right to it and stand about 30 feet in front of it. The water is coming down so strong that there is this heavy mist and you get drenched pretty much immediately. I wish I could´ve captured the view up close but we didn´t even take the camera that far as it would´ve gotten too wet. So you will just have to enjoy a picture from a bit further away, which sadly is not as impressive, but still beautiful.

So, Mormons don't really have horns, but I thought this was pretty funny. These horns were pulled off a tree that is lined with thorns, it is a pretty interesting looking tree.

A few days later we went to another waterfall without as enjoyable an experience. While walking there a wasp landed on Jean´s face and stung his nose. We got to the waterfall and starting swimming but became alarmed at how quickly Jean´s face was swelling that we left early to get some Benadryl. He took some and went to sleep and when he woke up a few hours later we discovered the swelling had not stopped so we took him to the ER where they injected Cortisol, which greatly reduced the swelling. I felt so bad for him! Who knew that a wasp could totally ruin your day! Jean hates the pics of his swollen face, so even after begging to post one, I was unsuccessful and you will have to use your imagination.

Jean gave me the grand tour of downtown Brasilia and here is some of the evidence. The statue of the two men is a monument to the men who built Brasilia. We made it back to get acai. It was delicious as promised and died my mouth purple.

CURITIBA!

We love this place! Here is a day full of fun there. Curitiba is south of Sao Paulo and Jean and I drove there to see more of Brasil and visit with some of his friends. Here is Opera de Arame which is all glass walls and metal bar structure and I can't wait until the day Jean takes me back for an opera. It is pretty breathtaking to see the lake and cliffs around it and you feel like you are outdoors while inside it.

Curitiba has a lot of really cool parks and the city is so green! Here are some pics.Tangua Park drops down below this building into a lake and has a waterfall. It was fun to look down into the valley.
This park has a pretty good background view of downtown Curitiba.
Jardim Botanical reminds me of gardens for a castle in Europe. If it was in my backyard, I would throw huge parties! Inside this building is a great variety of different plants and flowers.
This is the Campinas temple. We stopped here on our way to Curitiba and stayed overnight in the lodge. Right now I am sitting in a beachside hotel in Bombinhas trying not to move my legs as I burned them by staying on the beach all day. Jealous? haha The water is beautiful and a perfect temperature. I want to live in Curitiba one day and have an apartment here in Bombinhas (about 2 hrs south of Curitiba). Stay tuned for some pics of the beach and more adventures!

Brasil!!!!!

Well, after about 30 hours of traveling and six airports later, Jean and I made it to Brasilia. In Sao Paulo I was so proud of myself because a lady came up to me and asked me a question in Portuguese and I took that as a compliment that I looked Brazilian. I started to feel a little silly that I could not answer the second person to ask me a question and by the third time I was vowing to learn Portuguese more quickly! =) But at least I haven´t stood out as a tourist yet, well, that is until I open my mouth to speak, then I get looks.

This picture is a shot of the downtown Brasilia from the middle of Brasil. There is a park and monument at the geographic center of the country along Lago Sul (South Lake).

This is in front of a lakeside restuarant where we attempted to get acai. The line was too long so we will have to go back. Acai is a fruit and we wanted to get the dessert that this restaurant has that is kind of like a sorbet. Jean says it is delicioso!

Here is another shot from that monument with a cool bridge in the background.

We are standing in an area where the President of Brasil makes speeches and they have special ceremonies. The structure has great acoustics and sound travels pretty far. We tested it out by clapping, whistling and shouting. I should´ve gotten a picture of the whole building, it is pretty cool looking.

We are standing in front of our house here in Brasilia. His parents are living here and have done a great job helping us complete it. Jean started building it before he moved to the U.S. And below is a picture of the room we are staying in.

I love being here and have really enjoyed getting to know Jean´s family and friends. Everyone has been so kind to me and we have had a great time laughing, talking and translating and eating good food! =) Brasilia is a beautiful place and it is fun to get the grand tour from Jean and his family. I feel like I am learning a lot of Portuguese, but know I have a long way to go. Anyway, I will finish this post but try to put more up often. We send our love from the southern hemisphere and summer weather! =) (The temperature has ranged from 25 degrees Celcius to 32 degrees and is humid!)