You + me ski trip

For our anniversary this year, we did something we've never done before as a couple. We went skiing!

China Peak was our destination. The only time I've ever been up to this location in the past was as a senior in high school - it was called Sierra Summit back then. I went with some friends to try snowboarding. Yeah, me on a snowboard. It was not a pretty sight. There is actually a terrifying story that goes along with that ill fated snowboarding trip... something about completely loosing control, flying at high speeds down a hill, and colliding at full speed with a group of unsuspecting skiers. I may or may not have injured someone really really bad. Hmmm... All I remember after that ill-fated event was a super sore bum. I fell down sooo many times - it took weeks for my booty to recover!

It is for that reason that I was most hesitant to strap on a pair of skis and try it again. But Jeremy decided that this was the year that I was going to learn how to ski. We've been up to Badger Pass a few times this year as a family. And after much patience and some good one on one instruction from my ski expert husband, I am slowly gaining confidence in my skiing skills. And it seemed only appropriate to take a trip up to China Peak to enjoy a day together on the slopes.

It was a gorgeous day. 56 degrees. Sunny and warm. No coat necessary. And there weren't many people there as it is almost the end of the season. (The lack of people there definitely helped ease my fear of running into people.) We started our day at the very top of the mountain. We saw the top of the actual China Peak. That was awesome. The views and vistas were so beautiful. Huntington Lake was completely covered in snow and the white treetops added to the majestic winter woodland effect.

We had a lovely day. Just us. You + me. Enjoying skiing, nature, and just being together.

Happy 13th Anniversary to us!

Enjoy another glimpse back into our past. Here is the first snapshot ever taken of us (almost 15 years ago in 1996 or 97). We were dating, so young and so carefree. This was back in the day when he drove around in his sporty Rx-7 and I had my lovely 1982 Honda Prelude. He taught me how to drive a stick shift on our first date.

And here we are today. Well, about 6 months ago anyway (at Jordan and Stephanie's wedding). We look the same as in our dating pictures, eh? Just kidding. We're definitely older. More mature. And maybe not so carefree anymore. But I think we've aged beautifully.

We are just as happy as when we were first dating, maybe even more. In the beginning phase of our relationship we couldn't stand to be away from each other. That phase hasn't faded one bit. Even after 13 years we can't stand to be apart.

We've grown a family, grown through trials great and small, grown a solid relationship, and grown even closer together.

Happy 13th anniversary to us!

What are you watching?

Here is our latest TV obsession. Alias. This TV show finished airing in 2006, but we started watching season 1 about two months ago. We were hooked from the first episode! So far, season 3 was our favorite. Oooooh, Sark and Lauren were soooo evil! Last week we began season 4 and are about to begin the final disc.

What we love about it:

the fast pace story line
the action
the small romantic story lines
the likeable characters (Marshall is our favorite for his comic relief)
it's on DVD so NO COMMERCIALS! :)


Soon, we will be finished with this series and will need something new to occupy our time. Anyone else share our Alias obsession? Any suggestions for series that are similar to this one? What are you watching these days?

A Seinfeld Valentine

This post is long overdue, but we didn't want to forget about our exciting "Valentine's Day" adventure.

Last year, back before Christmas or was it Thanksgiving? can't remember. Anyway, we decided to give each other tickets to Seinfeld as our Valentine's Day gifts this year. No other gifts were expected or required. For reals. These tix were pricey enough as it was. Yes, we'd go out to dinner, but no purchases of any kind were to be made. And we both stuck to that. Hallelujah!

So Valentine's Day came and went and we had to wait until MARCH 25th to see the show! So can we really call it a Valentine's gift? I don't think so. And here's why: because March 25th is the DAY BEFORE JEREMY'S BIRTHDAY. Oi! Why did we not just call it a bday gift to him?!

Well, no matter what kind of gift you wanna call it, we went. We went to see Jerry Seinfeld, live at the William Saroyan Theater, the day before Jeremy's birthday for Valentine's Day.

We went to dinner with some friends at a cute sushi place just near the theater and enjoyed a quick meal before the show. Mmmmm... sushi. That was a delicious start to a fun night.

Jerry was Jerry. He did his whole stand-up comic routine about nothing. Just like his TV show. He began with his bit about Fresno and raisins. "Raisins in my cereal, raisins in my muffin, chocolate covered raisins, and raisins with my raisins..." What the heck kind of hotel is he staying at that all they serve him is raisins? is what i wanna know. Of course, he shared all of his hilarious observations about marriage, children, parenthood, blackberry phones, public bathroom doors, and everything else about nothing.

Our favorite part of the evening was his Q & A session he opened up during his encore. People ask some silly questions when they are in the presence of TV royalty.

"When are you going to do a reunion Seinfeld show?!" someone yelled from the balcony.

Jerry answers with a snarky, "Didn't we just do that on Curb Your Enthusiasm?"

Hello people? Really? (Not that we watched that reunion show - it was on HBO - which we don't have, but we certainly knew it happened.)


"WE LOVE YOU JERRY!!!!" a few fans scream from the mezzanine.

"I've never heard that before," Jerry replies with a sarcastic eyebrow raise.


The last question from the audience was the one he didn't have an automatic prepared response for: "What are you doing for Passover?!" a man yelled from the floor.

Jerry stopped short and turned, "Is it Passover?" he asked with a baffled look and put a hand to his forehead. (Um, yes. Easter would happen the next weekend.) "Woops," was all he could reply.


It was a fun/funny evening. We love Seinfeld. We love Valetine's Day. And we love Jeremy's birthday. Mostly, we just love an excuse to buy tickets that we normally wouldn't buy and go out for a night on the town.

Starry Eyed for Star Wars

Last week we got the chance of a lifetime. A phone call came in from our good friend, Brock, and he offered us a set of 2 premium tickets for the Star Wars in Concert happening at the Save Mart Center. I thought he was joking. I really did. He is a super Star Wars fanatic - he has the official clone trooper costume to prove it. He finally convinced me that the offer was for real and I couldn't have been more excited. Our family went through a Star Wars phase a few years ago (we purchased all of the movies, wore clone trooper costumes for Halloween, played LEGO Star Wars on Wii and XBOX for days at a time, we were ecstatic to see the all new Star Wars Clone Wars movie and animated TV series come to life, stood in line at Disneyland too many times to ride Star Tours just so we could get another glimpse of C-3PO and R2-D2, and bought every last one of those Star Wars Galactic Heroes action figure toys.) We were INTO IT! Even though we are past that phase of life those characters will remain our lifelong friends.

We were/are beyond grateful for the generous gift of these 2 tickets. But that posed a dilemma for us. Jeremy and I both wanted to see the show, but how could we go and not take out 2 boys whose lives revolved around Star Wars for so many years? Jeremy headed down to the box office and purchased 2 more tickets. 2 $25 seats. Yes, they were in the VERY BACK ROW, at the TOP of the highest balcony, where their heads touched the back wall. Nosebleeds. You got it.

Here was our plan. Mommy and Trevor got the good seats for the first half of the show. Then Logan and Daddy would take the good seats for the 2nd half. It worked out great.

Here we are before the show is about to start - can you feel the excitement?! Trevor wore his Rebel Alliance hat in place of his wookie costume.

The show began and it was quite the overpowering emotional experience! Check out that 100+ piece orchestra! The first few notes of the Star Wars main theme began and it was indescribable. (FYI: it's the French horns that play that main theme - we learned that by watching the musicians do their thang.) The live music was so impressive as the movie frames of all our character friends flashed across the giant screen. The combination of "seeing old friends" and being overpowered by the awesome talent of the orchestra brought tears to my eyes.

Even seeing the bad guys (Vader and Darth Maul) generated tears. The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme) felt so good to my ears!

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Maybe it was a combination of being exhausted after a long week of working Cub Scout Day Camp and studying the music of John Williams all week, or maybe because I've been a lover of music my entire life, whatever the case, I was quite teary this evening.

Our narrator for the evening's performance was the actual Anthony Daniels. (He's the guy who played C-3PO in the original trilogy.) He was there on stage (no recorded voice over business) in person! He was so entertaining! He walked us through all 6 films, did a fun bit on the importance of his character, and brought so much life to the evening. We were thoroughly impressed by him and his excellent acting skills this evening.

During intermission and after the show we were all giddy school-children out in the main halls. There was a great display of characters' costumes, weapons, backgrounds, and my favorite - written music by John Williams himself! Trevor and Logan were next in line to get a picture with Boba Fett and Clone Trooper, but they were called away just as the boys began to take their places. Here's the best shot of the boys with the cool costumed guys.

C-3PO and Han Solo frozen in carbonite (*swoon* Harrison Ford)

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Ah yes, here's the best part of the displays: THE MUSIC!! Look closely now... that is John Williams ACTUAL HANDWRITING! Look up in the upper right hand corner. Can you see his name written up there? Yeah, he wrote this stuff!

A few more pics with the displays: Chewbacca, Vader, and mommy's Princess Leia inspired sandals!

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These were the cool backgrounds hung around the outer hallways. Trevor and Logan would portray some excellent Ewoks, eh?

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We had a blast at this concert. It was fortunate that this concert was the first for Trevor and Logan. They had a great experience and look forward to many more live music events in the future. One last shout out to Brock (and Erin!) for the tickets - THANK YOU! This concert will be a highlight of our 2010 summer adventures.

Jeremy's new job

Last Thursday afternoon Lizzie says to Benny, "Guess where my daddy works now?"

Benny guessed it, "MCDONALDS!"

Lizzie yells, "YEAH! MY DAD WORKS AT MCDONALDS!"

Thursday night was a big night for our family. Jeremy's school had a fundraiser hosted by McDonalds. Don't get confused here. He dosen't actually work at MickeyD's. He just got to help out in the drive-thru window for one evening. The kids were stoked! They really thought it was the coolest gig ever.

Check him out - being all official as he hands us our food. What service!

We just went through the drive-thru so we could see Jeremy doing his thang. Afterward, we grabbed a parking spot and took our food inside to eat with the rest of the crowd that was there to support his school.

Here is our contribution to the schools funds. Yeah, that was a lot of trash. AND a lot of food! We shelled out a pretty penny that night for our dinner. But that was the point, right?

It was a fun night for everyone. The students even provided some entertainment for their patrons - the Drum Line was there as well as the school's Glee Club. Mama got the night off from cooking dinner. The kids got to eat french fries to their hearts' content. And Daddy got to earn a pretty penny for his school.

"Bah, dah, bah, bah, pah... We're lovin' it!"

Will you go to PARIS with me?

Actually, it was a Paris themed Prom, but YES, we did go!

Our church sponsored an LDS Prom for the 16 - 18 year old kids in our area. It was designed to be a fun alternative to the regular school proms - a place where kids that belong to our church (and their friends) could come and not have to worry about compromising their standards. We all thought it was a GREAT idea and hope they continue this dance as a tradition for years to come.

We were invited to come chaperone the dance. We really didn't have to do much. Those were some really good kids that didn't really need to be looked after. We basically spent the evening together, chatting with our friends, and playing apps on Jeremy's ipod the whole night. So really, it was like a date for us too! Especially since we went to dinner before - sushi! My new preferred out-to-dinner indulgence. My favorite part was the dancing. We rarely get to dance anymore so that was a delightful pleasure.

The picture taking was also fun. This photographer was fabulous! He came with lots of silly props for the kids to wear in their photo shoot. We got to sit on a cute bike with a fan blowing our hair and scarves. Check out our cute pictures below:

Awww... who doesn't love a good prom picture?
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The traditional group pic with our friends

The boys thought they were so funny... ha. ha. ha.
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This picture was my #1 favorite of the evening. I laugh out loud whenever I look at it! These guys were the leaders in charge of the dance. Do they have a great sense of humor or what?!

It was a great night. Something different than our usual date night. And, if he asks me, I will definitely go to prom with my hubby again!

Clash or not to Clash? That is the question. And we have the answer.

This weekend Jeremy and I got a special treat. Our kids were invited to stay the weekend with Jeremy's parents! They like to take the kids on a weekend near our anniversary so we can celebrate without worrying about a babysitter. It is a treat we are most grateful for. The kids look forward to spending time with Grandma and Grandpa and we get to have piece of mind knowing the kids are in good hands.

For our first night alone together we decided to do something we rarely have time to do. We did dinner AND a movie - all in one night! Shocking, I know. And, bonus, we had gift certificates for both. Ya'll know how I love FREE stuff.

Dinner was at a new place we'd never been before. (Maybe it's not a new restaurant, but it's new to us!) Bella Pasta. Ever been there? The atmosphere was charming, service was good, and the food was super tasty. It was drenched in butter. Our favorite. Everything is better with butter, right? Jeremy got the gnocchi and I had the fettuccine alfredo with chicken. Yes, it was a carb fest, but we rarely go out for pasta. So it was a treat any way you look at it.

After dinner we headed out to the movie. We had 2 choices. Date Night with Steve Carrell or Clash of the Titans with the guy from Avatar. I admit, I was the one that chose Clash over Date Night. And with that comes all the responsibility of what comes next. The movie review.

I was not one of those lucky folks who got to see the 80's original version of this show. Jeremy watched it with the kids recently. Now I wish I'd been on the couch with them watching the streaming movie from Netflix so I could've had a more educated decision in making my movie choice.

We were both in agreement on this one. It wasn't that great. The story could've been better and there were just too many action/fighting scenes.

The GOOD:
Avatar guy did a great job acting. We did liked seeing Liam Neeson as Zeus, but his costuming was just odd.

The BAD:
Medusa was ENTIRELY computer generated! I, personally, would have liked to have seen at least the face of a real actor on her snake body.

The UGLY:
What was up with all those scorpions? And who were the alien/metallic/blue hearted guys that spoke their own language? That was just weird.

I don't feel like I can safely say, "If you liked the original then you'll definitely like the remake." You may or you may not. Jeremy, definitely did not. We most likely won't even rent this one when it comes out.

So... we give it 2 Crackens out of 5. Yes, it was entertaining. No, it wasn't horrible. But we were not impressed.

jeremy's 35th year

Jeremy's 35th birthday was last week, but we did not do a big birthday post. No worries - we DID celebrate, as we always do, we do enjoy our week-long celebrations around here... The purpose of this post is not to document what we did for his birthday, but to celebrate all the cool stuff Jeremy got to do during his 35th year of life. The year was packed with good stuff and good memories! It was a GREAT year! Here are some of the highlights:

Jeremy's school won 2 very prestigious awards #1 was the California Distinguished School Award and #2 The National Blue Ribbon Award.

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The spring season was full of many firsts. Jeremy took the family up to Yosemite for a day. We did our first official family bike ride there. Everyone was on their own bike! This dream has been in Jeremy's mind for as long as I've known him. And finally that dream came true! Speaking of dreams coming true... Jeremy finally got to eat at the Blue Bayou in Disneyland! His #1 favorite ride is Pirates of the Caribbean and has forever watched from the boats as all those people ate lunch at that restaurant. We were there alone. With no kids. Also, the first time ever. That was a great day.

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Jeremy got to baptize Logan when he turned 8 years old. It was such a special day to watch Logan choose to be baptized and watch Jeremy use his priesthood. Oooh, they look so good in their white clothes!

Jeremy went to Pismo Beach a couple of times this year. And both times got to enjoy his favorite BBQ Tri-tip sandwich from Brad's. See how much he loves it? He gives it little kisses before he chomps down.

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Our big summer trip was a different story. We go to Shaver every year during the summer for a week of fun. We play on the lake, go fishing, kayaking, do campfire with karaoke, go for nature walks, and eat as a massive group of 50+ friends. This year turned out a little different. Most of our crew got sick - including Jeremy - which made for an uneventful, miserable vacation experience.

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In the fall we got to take another "just Jeremy & Jennifer trip" to Washington D.C.! Once again, we were all alone and got to enjoy everything WE wanted to enjoy without worrying about entertaining the kids. We even got to see the Washington D.C. temple for the first time (took our first taxi ride to get there) and do a session inside.

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Another life-long goal of Jeremy's was to teach his kids how to ski. This winter he did it. He bought a cool $100 pass good for 4 lift tickets for 4 people for one season of skiing. Wow. What a deal! He had a blast taking the boys up to Badger Pass several times and watching them develop some skiing skill. It was a great satisfying experience for this daddy.

And, finally, there was a LOT of coaching that went on this year.... Jeremy coached Lizzie's soccer team, Logan's soccer team, and Trevor's Destination Imagination team. He's always wanted to be an involved father especially with the kids' extra curricular activities. He had a great time with each of the kids - spending quality time with them and doing everything he could to make them feel like they are important to him - because they are important to him!
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Once again, I say, IT WAS A GREAT YEAR! Next year will be even better. Happy Birthday, my love, my hubby, the father of my children - you deserve all the happiness a birthday can bring!

12 years of sharing

BEFORE (engagement photos) and AFTER (12 years later)

It's been a great 12 years. I love sharing everything with you.... I love that we share a bank account, an iTunes account, the blankets on our bed, and I especially love sharing a plate with you when we go out for sushi. I LOVE sharing life and memories with you!

Happy anniversary, my love!

Skiing with the boys

Jeremy learned to ski at an early age and has always wanted our kids to have the same opportunity. Two days before Christmas, Jeremy took the boys up to Badger Pass in Yosemite for their first skiing lesson ever. They were all thrilled to spend a "boys day" together. Cousin Jacob and Grandpa Doung also came along for the fun.

They began at the bunny hill or the turtle hill (or something beginner like that) and practiced their pizza plow. They were unsteady at first, but gained confidence the more they worked at it.



The boys looked really good by the end of the day. They had a blast! Here are 2 short videos: the first is their expertise in boarding the ski lift and the second is their awesome control when coming down the mountain.


Trevor came home and made sure everyone knew that skiing was his new favorite sport. They all had an absolute blast. Thanks to Grandpa Doug for coming along and helping out - the boys loved all the attention and one on one time!