Snow and Christmas

Merry Christmas!!!!

I'm finally getting into the Christmas spirit. With school and kids and work and everything else going on I haven't done much for Christmas this year. The kids are a little concerned that there is not one single present under the tree, but that just adds to the fun, hee hee. We put our tree in the middle of the living room again this year. The kids think that's a great place and who am I to say different? The weather has turned cold and snowy and I think that adds to the Christmas spirit. It feels like Christmas now.

The kids have really loved the snow. Mitch and Jo play outside more now than they did in the summer. They've started a snow boarding ramp down our big driveway and they board down the hill. The funny part is that they don't have snowboards, so they ride down the hill on planks of wood left over from the basement. I'm personally amazed they slide at all. I think we will have to take them snow boarding at Sundance this year.

New phones, aughhhhhhhh!

There's nothing in the world that makes me feel more stupid than a new cell phone. This has been my adventure over the last couple of weeks. It all started with my work started to send out mass text messages to the staff when there is an open shift, sick call that needs filled, ect. Easier in the sense that they can send out one text message to everyone and let the staff call in if they are interested in the extra shift instead of calling 50 staff members one by one and having the majority of them say no. Smart idea, I thought. My old phone was never set up to text so I gave them Boyd's cell phone number. After a couple of weeks Boyd finally said that he didn't think NuSkin would appreciate paying for all my text messages from work. So I went to change my service with Qwest to add text messaging and they are changing over their service to Verizon so all new changes are made through them, which also means that my old phone wouldn't work and I needed a new phone. Now the dilemma. Since I am not a good texter I decided I wanted a phone with a standard keyboard, but also wanted a phone that was small enough to fit in my pocket. After browsing and looking at all the cool new phones I got a Samsung Glyde. A cool looking phone with a touch pad screen for all number pad functions and a full keyboard that slides out for texting. The touch pad was heat sensitive, so if you have cold hands (which I do most of the time) it doesn't work so well. After a week of getting ready to throw the phone across the room I decided to call Verizon and tell the troubles I was having. They were really nice and said they have had multiple complaints about the same thing, and since it was within 30 days of purchase I could exchange the phone without any penalties, and recommending that I go into one of their stores and try out the different phones to see which one I liked the most. So, a shopping I go. I finally decided on a Samsung Alias. It's a flip phone that when opened normally, which push button keypad for numbers, then it opens the long way to reveal a full keyboard the other way. It's kind of cool. I played with 2 different phones I was deciding against for 45 minutes until I decided on the right one. It was also $40 cheaper!!!! They transferred over my contacts and everything!!! They were really nice and helped me fix this problem. Now if I can just keep Mitchell off it I'll be a happy woman.

We also had our first snow storm of the season. The kids were so excited and played in the snow all day. The snow has now melted and the weather is beautiful again. But on the way to school the other day, JoLyn exclaimed, "I tired of beautiful days!! We need some snow!!!!" I'm sure she'll get her wish soon enough. For now, we'll just go put up Christmas light on the roof and the trees while we have the chance.

Happy Halloween!!!!!

I love Halloween, in fact I love from October 1 through the New Year. We had a great time this Halloween. Boyd dressed up for work as a rock start. His coworkers said that didn't suprise them much, it fit him. I told him his alter ego wasn't as well hidden as he thought. The kids had a great time dressing up for school and in the parade. He came home and carved pumpkins, then went to dinner and trick or treat around the gym at the church. Then hit the streets for some good old fashioned trick or treating. Both Mitch and JoLyn had friends that came with us which I think made it more fun for both of them. We were tired when we got home, but had a great time. I hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween.

School Pictures

The kids got their school pictures for this year yesterday. I can't believe how grown up they look this year. It amazes me how fast they are growing up. I thought I would share their new photos with everyone. We are getting ready to go down south for the weekend. The kids and i are coming down Thursday afternoon and Boyd is coming down Friday night. I think Boyd is planning on camping out while deer hunting. The kids and I are just going to play. Can't wait to see everyone.

Happy Birthday JoLyn!!!

JoLyn turned 9 on Saturday and we had a very busy day. Mitchell and Boyd went to scout activity at 7am, so JoLyn woke me up at 9 and we played board games and had breakfast together. JoLyn was scheduled to take her ATV license class that afternoon, so we went and bought her some new riding boots, went to lunch then went to her class. She has been studying for weeks for this class and the written test. There are two portions to the class, the written test, then the riding part. She did just fine on both parts. Here are some pictures of her in the class. She looked so small out there with all the big machines, but she kept up with all the big kids and rode like a champ. She was so excited to have her license.

After the 4 wheeler class, we went home, showered and got Little Ceasars Pizza and she invited a couple of friends over for a movie night. She had a wonderful time. We were exhausted by the end of the night though.

When in Rome......

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When living in Happy Valley (Utah County) this means go to the BYU football games. I went to my first BYU football game on Saturday. Boyd got tickets through work and we had nothing else going on. We got there a little late and the score was BYU 7, UCLA 0. When we left at the end of the 3rd quarter the score was BYU 52, UCLA 0. BLOWOUT!!!!!!! Being in the atmosphere is the fun part. I don't really care if BYU wins or not, but it's fun to be there, watch the players, the halftime show and get caught up in the excitement.

School for me is in full swing. I've started clinicals with the nurse educator in the ER at Utah Valley which I think will be really good for my overall work experience at the Valley. It's good to see the behind the scenes stuff too. Well, I'm off to make dinner.

Awesome!!!!!

Hi sometimes life is complecated.But when you set your mind to it you will sucseed.Mind my manners my name is Jolyn and I forgot.

Ahhh, the attention span of a 9 year old. JoLyn decided she wanted to add something to the blog too.

We are doing great here in Payson. The weather is starting to cool off at night and still be warm in the daytime. My tomatoes are going crazy, I have tomatoes gallore. So far I've canned 2 batches of salsa, one batch of chille sauce and one batch of diced tomatoes. My plants still look like I haven't picked any tomatoes and I'm out of bottles. Oh, well, that's what I wanted anyway.

The kids are taking swimming class and they think that is the greatest thing ever. They are learning freestyle, the backstroke and the dolphin kick. We found a swimming teacher in Spanish Fork who has a enclosed pool in her back yard.

School has been great. The kids like their teachers and are doing really well. I started school last week too and it looks like this semester won't bee too hard. But there is a lot of clinical hours that I have to do. I'm doing my clinicals at Utah Valley ER, so that will help me in my job too.

My First Blog

Jamie has inspired me, I've decided that this is a good way to keep a journal and keep family members informed of our goings on. This is going to be a learning curve for me. It might make me take a few more pictures, I think the only pictures I've taken this year is of Christmas and birthdays. More to follow.