Belle Marie - Born June 9th

Congratulations Steele & Sarah! Here's a picture of their new baby girl, Belle Marie. She is the 5th child in the family. We weren't able to see her until we came back from Idaho on the 22nd, but I'm glad we could stop in for a while to say hi and see their new baby!

A beautiful baby for a beautiful family!!

Belle Marie

Jon & Jenn's Wedding - June 28th

Last Saturday we had the opportunity to be at Jon and Jenn's wedding. It was BEAUTIFUL!! They had the reception Friday night, wedding in the St. George temple Saturday morning, luncheon that afternoon, and left for their honeymoon to Boston that night. I'm glad we could be there! At the luncheon, Jonny's dad even asked Jesse and I if we would share the story of setting them up on a blind date (which I was happy to do... Jesse says "There's way too much credit for you floating around this family!"). Congrats and good luck Jon & Jenn!

Right out of the temple

They look so good together!

Jon & Jesse... friends since they were kids

Jenn & Mindy... friends from nursing classes

Weekend at Palisades Reservoir in Idaho June 20th - 21st

This last weekend, Jesse and I met up with a couple of my high school friends and their husbands at a cabin in south-eastern Idaho near Palisades Reservoir. Emily and her husband, Christian, and Susan and her husband Andrew, and Jesse and I all went four-wheeling, white water rafting (a first for Jesse), set off fireworks, cooked tin-foil dinners, went to the square ice cream shop in Swan Valley, and played games. Thanks Susan and Emily for inviting us and helping us have a great time!

Mindy and Jesse in front of the campfire roasting marshmallows

Jesse and Mindy riding on a four-wheeler

Jesse was a little crazy taking me off jumps... look closely at my face...

[Top right corner]: Emily (dark blue jacket) and Christian on the left and Susan (pink jacket) and Andrew on the right

We tried finding our white water rafting pictures on the professional companies' websites... but it looks like they skipped us and didn't take our pictures. So, the best we have is this video of some kayakers going down the Snake River "Lunch Counter" rapid.

Triathlon - June 14th, 2008

My first completed Olympic distance triathlon:

The results:

I had a really good time! It was harder than I thought it would be, but not hard enough to scare me away from doing others. I am excited for my next one... You can see pictures of Natalie, Audrey, and myself above - Natalie's time: 2:48 - awesome job, Natalie! Audrey's bike had problems so she wasn't able to finish, but she finished the swim and bike. The timing company had problems with their timing wires so they just combined my transition times into one (6:44) but I had a hard time with my wet suit so over 5 minutes of that time was spent before I even got on my bike. But I finished! I got 3rd place in my age group (4 total - one didn't finish). :) Next triathlon I will train more in a wetsuit (especially the getting out of part) and train for the run. Thanks for the support to those that came!

My time: 3:45:01

Jonny & Jennifer

They are getting married! Congratulations! One of Jesse's friends from high school and one of my friends from nursing classes- they make a really cute couple. They are getting married on June 28th here in the St. George temple. Their photographer is new, but amazing. Her name is Denise Hoogland and you have to check out some of their engagement pictures & bridal pictures. I would post them here but I don't want to get into trouble with copyright or something... enjoy!

Memorial Day Weekend

Last weekend was Memorial Day Weekend and Matt, Jana, Adam, visit. Everyone (except me - working) went to dinner Saturday night, and on Sunday MiMi and Sabrina, McKay all came to Papa even had a barbeque! If you know them - unless it is roast beef they usually don't cook meat. Everyone was wondering how they were going to "barbeque" and since Jesse and I left our small bbq at their house they decided to try it out. When I say small, I mean like "squat next to" small (something like the one to the right). They also used the broiler to cook the burgers. It turned out well - we all had good food and a good time.

On Monday, we had pizza over at Nate & Audrey's with them and Matt & Lindsay and played some games. Pretty fun weekend! I didn't get very many pictures... in fact Carly took most of the pictures, but here they are!

Triathlon on June 14th!

Audrey and I signed up to do our first triathlon in the Utah Summer Games! The triathlon event is on Saturday the 14th of June and it starts in the Sand Hollow Reservoir (same swim/bike course as the St. George Tri I think, but different run). Anyone is welcome to join us and I think it is always more fun to work out in a bigger group. Wish us luck!

1500m Swim, 25mi Bike and 10k run

Laguna Beach... and the data center

Sunset at Laguna Beach, California

I was lucky enough to join Jesse on his business trip to California a couple weeks ago. I was able to get work off and finish my last tests before he left so he took me with him! We stayed at Vacation Village on Laguna Beach, which is south of Los Angeles. It was very relaxing (for me) but frustrating for Jesse. Some people had to finish things up at the data center (a place that TCN keeps their computers/servers) before we could come home, so we were sort of "stuck" there longer than we anticipated. This is Jesse and Florin in the data center in their "cage" the day we arrived (before installing equipment).


The weather was beautiful and since we were so close to the beach (literally 100 steps from our hotel room) I got to go to the beach every day. I also went on a few hikes in Laguna Canyon Park that had an overlook of the ocean. I spent a lot of time with Florin's girlfriend, Irina, who was there, too. We went to a lot of art galleries, did some shopping, and ate together. This little church on a pole is actually a mailbox - I found that everything in the town was centered around art (besides the beach, anyway).

Overall I had a good time, but I wish I could have spent more time with Jesse. Such a beautiful beach and fun city to visit!

Jesse and Mindy downtown Laguna Beach

Here we are at the beach.

(Irina on the left, Jesse in front, Mindy on the right)

This is the data center after all the equipment was installed.

Good job Jesse and Florin! :)

Tons of pretty flowers and plant life...
crabs, lizards, jellyfish, dolphins...
swimming, sand... Loved it!

Trip to California

So Jesse had a business trip to L.A. that I got to tag along on... which was very relaxing... every day on the beach... but my camera cord disappeared so before I can post pictures I need to go buy a new one. I'll post soon!

Hiking & Tennis

We went hiking (again) in Snow Canyon State Park on the hike with "Grand Staircase" and had a picnic at the top last Wednesday. That was my idea for date night. :)

We also played tennis with Jen and Jon last night at Tonaquint. There were lights but the pictures still didn't turn out very well. Jesse, on the left, said "I lost the game because of your flash photography!" Sorry Jesse.

Scout Cave

For FHE tonight we decided to go to Scout Cave (Gila trail near Snow Canyon State Park south entrance) and do a short hike. Here are pictures:

In the middle of the picture is the little hole called "Scout Cave"

Here's what it looks like when entering it

Here is the view looking out over the edge (St. George in the background)

closer up

Emily's Wedding

This weekend Jesse & I drove up to Idaho Falls because Emily was getting married. It was a long drive, but it was worth it. Emily was one of my best friends in high school, and we still keep in contact. She got married in the Idaho Falls temple on March 22 and we were invited to attend. It was a beautiful ceremony. Why would you ever want something different?

Emily (in the middle) at her bridal shower the night before with her sister-in-law Marie (on the left) and her mom Trudy (on the right).
Susan and I at the shower - we went together :)

Jesse and I also went to lunch afterwards with Susan and Ashley (2 more of my good high school friends) at Chili's. It was good to get to know their husbands a little better. The reception was held at The Rose Shop in Idaho Falls, which was beautiful - Emily looked stunning! Emily and her new husband, Christian, look really cute together. He seems to make her really happy. I'm really happy for her!

Since the drive is so long... Jesse and I tried listening to a book on tape to see if it would help pass the time. We listened to "The Last Juror" by John Grisham and both decided we didn't really like his style of writing. But it did help the time pass by more quickly. Hopefully I can find something better for the next car trip and maybe the time in the car will fly by.

We wanted to join Grandpa Bird and Zelpha for Easter Sunday church meetings, but we arrived at his house in Pocatello... they weren't home so we drove around looking for an LDS church building nearby, but all we found were 4 other churches. All within a mile of his house! We looked for 20 minutes but still couldn't find it so we just kept driving south. Terrel let us know later that we had passed by the church on our way to Grandpa Bird's house. Oh well - this summer we can join him! Happy Easter everyone!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I know.. not the most exciting holiday, but I thought I'd wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day anyway. Jesse always remembers that it is tradition to wear green and purposely avoids wearing it... I think he likes getting pinched. We had a very Irish dinner tonight... corned beef & cabbage (yum!) which Jesse admitted to liking as well. Hope you all are wearing green today!

2nd Year Anniversary

Jesse and I went to Vegas on Monday for our 2nd year anniversary. It was pretty fun - we had lunch at In 'n' Out Burger (yum!), shopped a little at Fashion Show Mall & Forum Shops, walked a LOT, and then saw Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian. The show was amazing - we actually got upgraded to the front row! Since we went on a Monday night, it wasn't very full so they probably upgraded most people. We stayed the night at the Monte Carlo hotel and came back Tuesday and went for a hike out in Kayenta. We had a good time - it was nice to be able to drag Jesse away from his computer for a few hours.. :)

We stopped to watch the fountains at Bellagio...

Here we are watching the Roman statues "come to life" at Forum Shops.

Me in front of a cool statue at Forum Shops

They don't allow cameras into the theater... so here's my picture of Phantom.

The next morning right before we left for home

Out on our hike at Kayenta
King of the Rock :)Thank you Jesse for a wonderful 2 years! You mean the world to me. I love you!

It's been a while...

So I've been pretty busy with school lately, but here's what's been happening lately:

Trip up to Provo (Feb 10-11) - I went up to Provo to visit Rachel and also go to the Utah State Nursing Convention held at UVSC/UVU. I had a good time with Rachel, but the morning of the convention I didn't feel very well so I didn't end up going. At least it wasn't expensive to register.

Cable is canceled! (Feb. 13) - I finally talked Jesse into canceling cable... I think it is such a waste of time. Jesse and I spend more time with each other and I seem to have more patience with him. It is definitely an adjustment, but a very good one. We still rent movies (and TV series sometimes) so we are not deprived of anything (except commercials). For our wedding, some of Jesse's relatives gave us this book that is homemade, and in it I read how the best thing for a new marriage is not to have TV. You will get to know each other faster and better and learn to spend time in other ways than just watching TV together. I wish we could have canceled it after our "free" preview over a year ago, but it's not too late.

Valentine's Day - I actually had a clinical rotation at the hospital for school and then worked the rest of the day... but the Saturday before (when I arrived back to St. George from my trip to Provo) Jesse had cleaned the whole house, made me dinner, and had a little pot of flowers for me. :) What a sweetheart. He even had a couple pieces of key lime cheesecake from Basila's - a restaurant I always try to get him to take me to. I love you, Jesse!

Work - I worked my last day of the front desk for the Spa on the 28th of Feb... I am still hiking for the Spa when I am not in school. The weather is warming back up so it will be a lot more pleasant to hike. I LOVE warm weather! This week it is supposed to be in the mid-70's! I expected to start working at an assisted living place (The Ted Warthen Center) the following week but there are a few delays with starting the place. They haven't officially opened yet. It isn't your typical rest home - there are maximum 16 residents that can pretty much take care of themselves. They need help cooking and cleaning and taking the right pills at the right times. They can all get around by themselves, but maybe their vision is poor so they can no longer drive and none of their family lives nearby. I'm excited to work there - they are just waiting on the final "ok" paperwork to go through. It will be nice to have a break from work, though.

Nate & Audrey's Wedding (March 1st) - Beautiful wedding! They make such a cute couple. They are moving down to St. George in a few weeks after Audrey finishes school up north. The weather was perfect and it was nice to see everybody. Jesse told me it was the first time all 10 of Terrel's children were in the temple at the same time. Wow. That is amazing.

School - BUSY! This probably explains my lack of blogging. This week, however, is Spring Break. A needed break from hectic school life. I have finished my hospital clinical rotations (8 6-hour shifts, total) but still have a lot left to do for the semester. My last test score was a 93%! That is the best I've done in a while... I am still loving it and still working hard!

Games - We've been playing games with a lot of people lately, and it has been fun. I love to play games. A new one that we learned is called Bang! and it is really fun! We've also played Mofia, Settler's of Catan, Pirate's Dice (informally known as "the dice game"), Mancala, chess, and Jesse played Lord of the Rings Risk last night. He played with Nathan, Matt, and McKay and was pretty excited this morning when he announced his victory to me. (I went to bed before they finished at 2am).

New Computer - Jesse is awaiting his new computer for work... He seems pretty excited and seems a bit impatient it is not here yet. He showed a picture of it to me, and since I am not a fanatic about computers, I think it looks the exact same as his current one (a MAC). He is still working as hard as ever and doing an excellent job. Florin has been in town for the past few months (he's a fellow programmer from Romania) and so Jesse has been getting a lot accomplished with him.

Hope you enjoyed the update!

SNOW in St. George!

So it was snowing today... and since I was at school I got a picture with a couple of my classmates - Jenn (left) & Amy (right). I haven't seen snow in St. George in a while... maybe even since our wedding... :) We are in front of the Udvar Hazy building and you can see the institute building in the background.

and a close-up..

Trip to Brian Head

Yesterday, since it was a holiday, Natalie took her kids up to go snowboarding for the day. She invited McKay and I to go with them, as well as Berlyn's friend, Sydney. So all together it was Natalie, her kids Berlyn, Dryden, and Elle, McKay, Sydney and me. I was the only one to go skiing (I have never been snowboarding and didn't feel like learning that day). It was really fun - I hadn't gone skiing in over 2 years. Brian Head Resort (a little over an hour north of St. George, UT) was pretty nice, but I have definitely seen better snow. Maybe I'm spoiled with northern Utah's snow or Idaho's snow... but I thought it was VERY icy there. It was fun, anyway. It got pretty cold after about 2pm so we quit a little earlier than we had planned.
I thought this was pretty interesting - I wore my heart rate monitor while skiing, and during the 4 1/2 hours of skiing I burned 2,000 calories! Crazy!

Here is Elle and McKay - Elle surprised me with how good she is! She's so young but so good!

Here I am (in blue) with Berlyn on the ski lift

Here are Dryden (left) and McKay (right) on the lift in front of us.

Can't wait 'til next time - I can go with Jesse!

Liar's Dice

If you have seen Pirates of the Caribbean 3 you may remember this game. My parents learned it from some of their friends from Idaho, and they taught the game to Jesse and me over the holidays. There is a scene where the pirates are at a table playing a game with dice, and the game is called "Pirate's Dice" or "Liar's Dice." I found the rules somewhere online, but you can also buy the game from Walmart or just dice from the dollar store works too. We played at Matt & Lindsay's place (and Cody was also there) last night and it was a lot of fun. :) Ella and Kash are CUTE!

Each player gets dealt 5 dice, numbered 1-6. Ones are wild and therefore count as every number.
Each round, everyone rolls their dice secretly, and the starting player makes a bid.
Play proceeds clockwise. When it comes to you, you may either raise the bid or challenge the previous bid. Note that you are not bidding on just your dice, but ALL the dice in play.
To raise the bid you must increase the number of dice on the track, or keep the same number of dice but increase the value of the face being bid on. Example: the previous player says seven 4's. You can say seven 5's, seven 6's eight of something (or nine, ten etc. of something), but not seven 2's or 3's (because that would be going down).
If instead of raising, you challenge, all players reveal their dice, and whoever is wrong loses one die. Remember that ones are wild, so will be counted as any number.
Exception (we didn't play with this exception, but it sounds interesting): if the bidder was spot-on, then everyone loses a dice except the person who was right, i.e. the bidder.
Play then begins again with the person who won that challenge.
The winner is the last man standing.

(I have modified these rules to the way that we play... so if they don't make sense, then find the rules somewhere online and play your own way, or, better yet... invite Jesse and me over to come play with you!)

Mitt Romney takes Michigan!

I've never been into politics much, but I am excited this year because I watch the news (Jesse always has it on in the background). I have been semi-following the presidential primaries. I am especially excited that Mitt Romney is doing so well! He has "2 Gold & 2 Silver" now. Go Mitt!

Happy Birthday, Jesse!

Jesse's birthday was yesterday (4th of January) and those of us in town got to celebrate (with McKay, of course - his birthday is on the 1st) at Olive Garden. It was fun to get together with everyone and we had a good time. We wish you were here, Adam! (Adam's birthday is coming up on the 8th.)