Bringin' in 2011

 

(Just realized we never blogged about New Year's)

 This year for New Year's we were invited to some of Morgan and Andrew Schauerhamer's relatives' home.  We had so much fun!  There was a ton of food and games.  I absolutely LOVED their REAL Christmas tree.  Just look at that thing.  Can you even take in how TALL it is???!??

For New Year's it was FREEZING outside. Literally!

When we left Ashton it was -17 outside.

I don't think the truck we took ever got completely defrosted the whole drive down.

Where in the world do we live.

When we first got to the party, we realized there was a POWER OUTAGE

in Sugar City.  That was a great start to the party.

The lights came back on about an hour after we got there.

Awesome!

 We left the party around 11:15, so that we could get back up to Ashton, pick up the Leah and Lily, the Schauerhamer's girls, and bring in the New Year with some Martinelli's Apple Cider.  Yum!  

We made it just in time.

 On New Year's Day Andrew and I decided to try out our NEW Ice Cream maker we got for Christmas.  It was our first time and it was ok, not the best, but still pretty GOOD!

WE are excited to make MORE & MORE ice cream in the days and years to come.

Christmas in Utah

This Christmas we went to spend the break in South Jordan, Utah with Andrew's family.  Everyone was there and we had a great time.  I took four days off from work and we headed on down.  It was great to be with everyone.  

We did a ton of shopping, hanging out at the house, movie watching, and game playing.

On Monday we went down to Payson and visited with the Hinton family.  They are some of our good friends that Margie met at EFY!  We were really excited to see the girls and the girls were so excited to see us.  They have just grown up so much.  It was so nice to spend FHE with them.

Unfortunately, on our way down to Payson we got a flat tire.  No big deal, we had a spare and we were able to get a new tire the very next day.

 Wednesday we had more of the family over for dinner. Aunt Pat and Uncle Edward came up from Spanish Fork.  Aunt Rae and cousin Stephen and wife Sarah came down from Clinton.  It was actually my first time meeting Rae, Stephen and Sarah. It was so nice to finally get to know them.  It was a very enjoyable evening of talking, laughing, eating, and singing.  That's right, we called Grammy in New York and sang her a few carols.  THEN she wanted us to record them, so we did just that.  That turned out to be extrememly fun!!!

Thursday night, Mike, Cathy, Mom, Dad, Andrew, and I went bowling.  Mom had a great deal for two hours of bowling, pizza, and drinks.  It was way fun.  You just gotta love bowling! 

 Christmas Eve day we were able to go see the third Narnia movie.  It was a great movie and we had a fun time seeing it with the family.  Thanks Mom for the tickets.

That night we had FONDUE!  It is a love of mine.  I would love to do it whenever I can.  We had a cheese fondue and the chocolate fountain.  I loved doing it, because it reminded me of Christmas Eves in my home growing up.  We always had Fondue for dinner on Christmas Eve, which is exactly where my love of Fondue started.  After dinner we read the Christmas story from Luke 2 and then watched a movie together as a family. 

It was a wonderful evening.

Christmas Day was just as wonderful.

We played KARNAXIS basically ALL day.

 In the morning, Andrew and I opened up our presents from my parents.  My favorite one was the HAPPY APPLE.  I had one of those when I was a baby.  Mom was able to find it on Ebay for OUR baby!  I almost cried when I opened it.  We also got a Digital Photo frame, Smart Mouth from Ariana and Spencer, a cute Texas Santa and our annual deck of cards. Thank you for the FUN gifts!

We then headed downstairs and had breakfast.

Carson had brought her Belgium Waffle maker.

They were AMAZING!

We then opened up presents from Andrew's family.  

At this moment in time I was not feeling my best...(pregnancy sickness and a head cold.  So, I was NOT myself...which meant I didn't take ANY pictures.  That should show you how out of the norm I was.)

We got some awesome things for gifts.   In our stocking were waffle cone bowls, and all sorts of ice cream toppings.  Yummy!!  

We started to open our gifts and found....

an ice cream scooper,

Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Recipe Book, 

are you starting to see a theme here...

THE BIG GIFT..

the Ice Cream Maker attachment for the KITCHEN AID!

Thank you, Mom and Dad Walker!

Kate and Branson had our names and Kate made us some blankets with our names on them.  AWESOME!  She also made us a little blakent for the baby and we can attach the baby's toys on the blanket.

Needless to say it was a great Christmas!

 Little J and Pop Pop starting a fire.

It was great being around Little J this Christmas.  A little two year old is always fun to have around at Christmas time.

 Uncle Andrew and Little J having some fun!  We got that goat puppet as a White Elephant gift.  It is pretty much amazing.  Everytime you close the mouth it sings a little bit of "The Lonely Goatherd."  I love it and so did Little J!!!

 Monday night we went to INCREDIBLE PIZZA FACTORY.

Believe me it is INCREDIBLE!

We ate all you can eat buffet.

Played some MINATURE GOLF,

LAZER TAG,

and BOWLING!!!!!!

 We played Lazer Tag the most.

It seriously was so much fun.

 We had such a great night there.

It was seriously SO MUCH fun!

 While we were there in Utah we did some shopping.  the top picture is of Andrew reminding me of one of my favorite commercials...Geico commercial talking about A Bird the Hand being worth Two in the Bush!   The bottom picture is a Nativity that Andrew and I really WANTED!  It was 200 dollars though.   Someday we will have the money for it!   Until then, this picture will have to do!

On our way back to Idaho we stopped in West Point to say hello to the Law's.  Their daughters, Kathryn and Melissa are some of my best friends.  The Laws have been friends of our family for 20+ years.  It was so great to stop and talk to them.  I was also so excited to introduce Andrew to them, FINALLY!!!!

Needless to say we had such a great break. 

We are going to be PARENTS!

Have you heard?

We are having a BABY!

I am 12 weeks on Monday!

First Trimester -- DONE!

Luckily, I have not been as sick as I know I could have been.

We are hoping it stays this way.

We are pretty excited about this.

We know our life is about to change.

We are due June 21st!

Our 3 year anniversary.

Two days later is my Birthday.

Can't wait to see when the little one actually comes.

It will be one excited June of 2011!

Christmas Decorations

This year Andrew and I decided not to put out ALL of our Christmas decorations.  We just put out the tree and all of my Nativities.  We are in the market for a new tree.  I love my tree.  We just want to get a bigger one.  But for now, this one will do.  My dream is to have two trees.  A big really nice one in our Living room and then this one that I have right here with all the FUN ornaments on it for the Family room.  But seeing how we don't have those TWO rooms right now in this home, we will continue to have our little tree!

I also love what I did with the Dollar Store Hurricanes.  It is simple, yet beautiful.

I like to get a new Nativity each year.  The ones that I have gotten so far are not the big extravagant ones, but I love them just the same.  I usually don't spend more than 5 dollars.  One of these days we are going to get a REALLY REALLY REALLY nice one.  Andrew and I even saw one that we would have loved to have, but it was 200+ dollars.  We are not quite that rich yet.
One of my favorites is the one under the Temple picture.  My mom gave it to me last year.  It is a Mary Englebrieght and it is little kids doing the Christmas Pageant.  I am so happy Mom decided to give it to me.  I just love it so much.

 

Here are more of my Nativities.  It was so peaceful in our home with them out. 

These are my two new ones for this year.
My mom bought me the colorful one.  I love the flow and colors in it.
The white one Andrew and I bought for 5$.
It was normally 60$, but it was missing a Wise Man.  We took out the wise man it came with and just have out the Holy Family.
Perfect!  I love the simplicity of it all.

I just love remembering the reason for the season by looking at all of my Nativities.

How blessed we are to live in this time.

How thankful we are to know that Jesus was born in a manger so many years ago.

Merry CHRISTMAS everyone!

WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO CUSTOMER SERVICE?

       
        What has happened to our society? I am only 29 yet in my short lifetime we have lost the notion that the customer is always right. Yesterday I went to get my tires rotated and my oil changed at Big O's in Rexburg Idaho. I have been a customer there for about two years and I have rarely been satisfied but I have continued to go because of one of their employees, who wasn't present yesterday. I walked into the store and was the only customer. The owner was at the counter and asked me, "What do you want." Not the best phrased sentence but it wasn't unpleasant. I told him that I needed an oil change and tire rotation. He replied, "Which one?". Fortunately I'm not stupid and I decoded his cryptic talk to mean which oil change. I asked for the mid grade option.
        I then asked him to check my account notes because the employee that I like told me he left a note in my account to remind me of a service I needed to have done on my car. At the time I forgot what it was but since I have remembered it was to change my transmission fluid. (A $180 job they lost because I'm never going back). The  owner gave me a quizzical look and said "What!?" I repeated stating that on my last visit one of his employees told me he'd put a note in my account so I could remember what I needed to have done.He replied, "What?! Are you sure you're not thinking of RC Willey?!".  For those who don't know RC Willey is a Furniture and home appliance store. I can see how he might have thought I got his TIRE store confused with a FURNITURE store. I hope you noted the sarcasm. I replied no sir I am talking about your store. Your employee told me.... I couldn't finish my sentence because the phone rang and he answered it without saying excuse me or anything. A reminder that I was currently the only customer in the store and their were at least 4 other employees including his wife in the adjacent office who could have answered the phone. He then helped the customer on the phone for a few minutes and I walked away and sat down. About 30 minutes later my car was done. The owner never even looked at me the whole time.
        I am a bit upset with myself that I didn't say anything to him and just let it slide. I should have told him he was way rude and his customer service ability was no better than that of the guy who hacked into my bank account last year and stole all of my money. When I checked out another employee, the one who performed the service, checked me out. They charged me $22, which is the price of the lowest oil change not the one that I had requested. Did they not hear me mention I wanted the mid grade?!!! Oh wait, that's right, he was on the phone at the time. To add salt to the wound they spilled oil all over my engine so oil fumes pour into my car as I drive down the road. It will burn off in a few days but in the meantime I'm developing lung cancer.
       This is just a small example of the crappy customer service that is looming in the majority of our stores. I am PAYING money for a service and a product. I demand to get my money's worth.

Please leave a comment on your crappy customer service experience and be sure to leave the employees name and their wonderful place of employment!!

November Happenings

 Ok, now that you all know that I was going through the first trimester in November, hopefully that will give way to forgiveness for me being a SLACKER on this here blog.  The last thing I wanted to do was ANYTHING!  Just wanted to sit back and do nothing, so that is mostly what I did.  But, did not want to miss out on sharing events from November.

First off, it was my friend, Laura's wedding.  Andrew was in Chicago for it, so I had to go by myself.  It was fun, but wish my love could have been with me!  The Idaho Falls Temple looked absolutely beautiful.  The foliage around it were these wonderful Fall colors and it was breath taking.

 The happily married couple!  Such a fun story.  Laura moved to Ashton a year and a half ago.  She didn't know anyone, accepted the job for Music Director at the North Fremont School.  Met up with the missionaries, baptized October 31st, 2009.  Met chad in December 2009....engaged May 2010...MARRIED November 2010!  Her life sure did change all in one year. 

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Andrew and I also had the opportunity to go down to Utah to see Richie perform as ROMEO!!!

 We went to the BYU Cougars football game!  

Thank you love for being AWESOME and getting us tickets!

 We were pretty much at the VERY top of the stadium!

 Then we headed over to the Theater.

 This is not the theater Richie performed in, but at first glance I thought it said Margaret's Theatre.  That would have been cool!

 LOOK IT IS ROMEO!!!!

 

My Dad just looks like a floating head in this picture!

A small side note!  This was also the weekend we told everyone we were PREGNANT!!  It was fun to finally TELL everyone!  They are all just so excited for us.

 We had to leave on Sunday...a day earlier than we wanted.  But there was a HUGE storm coming in so we had to beat it.  We still drove through some pretty nasty weather.  This is the front of our car full of ICE!

 We were unable to make it back to Ashton, so we hung out at the my brother and sister-in-laws for Sunday and Monday.  It was fun!  I love my neices and nephews.  Here they are showing off their MUSCLES!

 We were also able to play this game that Elizabeth made for Mom.  It is all about the U-crew and the memories we have from growing up.  Ariana and Andrew were good sports and played along.  It is a great game and can't wait to play it again!

 We finally headed home Monday night.  AH....this is what we came home to.  Over the weekend Ashton received about 2-3 feet.  Yep, we missed the blizzard.  But, we came home to see the remains of it all.  Andrew had to shovel out our path and driveway.  I stayed in the car and watched.  What a wonderful husband!  I hope you can tell from the picture above that the snow comes to Andrew's KNEES!  Crazy!  I was happy though because school was cancelled MONDAY & TUESDAY! 

Tuesday, we were snowed in.  ALL the roads around us were closed...even the HIGHWAY!   The next day we got a visit from the Schauerhamer's.  We hadn't seen them for about 20 days.  They had just gotten back from AFRICA and ROME.  The only way to travel for them was by snow machine.  This is how they went to the store that day!  Only in Ashton.  It was so good to see them and we so happy they stopped by to say hello. 

 Here is the school....yikes!  There was a ton of snow!  All from ONE weekend!

 This was the plate of turkey sandwiches one of my student's mom made for our Thanksgiving feast at school.  Super creative.  I love it!

 It is TURKEY TIME!  Andrew and I were hosting it at our house this year. 

 The turkey is all stuffed and ready to go in the oven.  People said it was the BEST turkey they had ever had.  SWEET!

 Here is what the table looked like, minus the plates and food, oh and PEOPLE!

 Here are the guys watching FOOTBALL.  The Patriots were playing.  My dad was happy!

 It is almost time to eat!  Get excited!

 We had Andrew's parents and my parents and RICHIE come and join us for dinner.  It was great company and great food!

 Wow!  Look at this, Richie and Dad did the dishes!!!!! 

 And then of course we played KARNAXIS!  Mom Uminski took it!!!  She won!

 My Daddy and me!!!  And he wonders where I get it from?!?!?

Thanksgiving was a great time.

We loved having our parents and Richie join us.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

PS:  Why wouldn't I love my job when I have a principal that is Batman and a secretary that is the Husky Hero!!  I love where I work!!

Hope your November was great and you had a wonderful December too!