"In God We Trust..."

I am thoroughly disgusted and dismayed that the new dollar coin does not include the phrase "in God we trust" anywhere on it. I can just imagine our four-fathers are probably turning over in their grave just as sick as can be. Our country, freedom, constitution, and just about everything that molded this beautiful country was done by God fearing people. So i am going to do all i can to reject these coins and the underlying message they carry... if i am given change and this happens to be with the change i will ask for a dollar bill, this may sound silly but i believe every little bit will count.

Viva Las Vegas!!!

Ry and i decided we needed a mini vacation just to get away, so we thought Vegas would be a fun option. We invited our good friend, Greg, and i attempted to find one of my girlfriends to go, but obviously did not succeed. I worked a twelve hour day on Friday and we didn't leave until ten at night, which meant i slept the entire way, good thing Greg was there to keep Ry awake, thanks Greg! I am the worst person to road trip with because i always fall asleep. On our way down we stopped at the point of the mountain to say hi to one of my bestfriends, Steph, it was great to see her, and i was so tempted to just stop there and stay there for the weekend, but we drove on and on and on into the night. We arrived in Mesquite early in the morning and decided to try our luck gambling, i played black jack with forty dollars that Ry gave me, and guess what?! I got up $42.50, wha whooo!!! I was the only one to come up that stop and decided i would just keep my money for shopping.

We finally got to Vegas around nine in the morning on Saturday, but we couldn't check into our hotel until noon, so we parked our car at our hotel and wandered the strip for a few hours. I looked dead, since i slept the whole way down (that would be why there are no pics of me this day). As i was checking in i asked the girl working about all the perks that were online when we booked our room, she acted totally bugged that i even said anything, but she knew exactly what i was talking about. After her rolling eyes and much huffing and puffing we got two free tickets to the show ICE, it's a Russian skating troupe, and two free breakfast vouchers, along with a $250 gas card. I highly recommend checking any perks if your are planning on going down there, every hotel has something to offer!!

Outside our hotel waiting for the ICE shoe to start...

The classic picture of the boys and 'Crazy Girls'... I know the boys would have loved to see that show if i would have let them, apparently it has the seven hottest girls in Vegas.. yeah right.

So excited for ICE!!!!
ICE was such an amazing show full of acrobatics, some of the strongest guys i have ever seen, awesome skating, and you know that skating move that the guy swings the girl around by her feet and her head comes centimeters from the ice?? They totally did that...and TONS more!!!

Sunday was definitely my favorite day,i got an hour massage at our hotel while the boys played craps, and then my cousin Nikki that lives in Vegas came to hang out with us. We had lunch with the boys at this place (i forget the name,) very similar to Tucanos, it was delish!!! After that the boys went to wander back to the hotel and Nikki and i shopped and shopped, it was SO fun!!! Once we were satisfied with all of our purchases we went back to the hotel to get the boys and play on the strip for the night.

Us going down the escalator at TI, formerly known as Treasure Island, they are trying to appeal to the "more adult" audience or something like that.
As we were waiting for the pirate show to start there were these little Asian ladies that were quite pushy, so when they took a pic Nikki and i popped our cute faces into the back of their picture not thinking they would look at it as soon as they were done, our bad, they were talking angry Asian and gave us little evil looks---bah ha but it was so worth it. And the "TI" show, is not a pirate show at all, we had heard it had changed, but were still expecting pirate fights and yo ho yo ho type pirates.... to our surprise a bunch of girls in underwear and big belts came out parading around a ship, yelling at the boys on the other ship a bunch of sexual things, and on top of that they were awful dancers!! I couldn't believe all the kids that were watching, it is not even close to a kid show, i would recommend the Mirage show over this times a million.

Seconds after the volcano show at the Mirage, much better than the pirate show

Nikki and i in front of the MGM

The only pole dancing the boys got to see on our trip;-)

The boys giving it a whirl...

Viva Las Vegas!!!!!!!!!

Happy Love Day

Valentines isn't really a favorite holiday for either of us but we actually had a really great day. I made orange rolls for breakfast, Ry had to go to work for a while so i just relaxed at home and got ready for the rest of the day. Ry brought home a long stemmed rose, a cute photo album, and Madagascar2, it was sooo funny, i highly recommend it!! After we watched our movie we went furniture shopping, i found lots of things that i wanted:-) but no, we didn't buy anything... Ry had to go to work again so i went home and started dinner, we had yummy chicken, tortellini and tuxedo cake for dessert followed by cuddling while watching Fools Gold, also a pretty good flick.

So hilarious!!!

Our cozy Valentine set up...

Chicken, tortellini, and bok choy---yummy!!

This movie will make you want to go live on a yacht and be a professional treasure hunter!

Happenings Lately

Grandma Sheppard's funeral, it was a beautiful, peaceful, snowy day. Her funeral was in Pocatello in the morning, the service was amazing, then we pummeled through the snow to Ashton where she was buried. After the burial we drove to Twin Falls for Kaid's game, they won and Kaid played great! The next day Ry and I spoke in church, which went surprisingly well, and i pray that it will be a very long time until we have to speak again.

Kaid and Ry freezing in the snow.

Nikki also freezing in the snow...

Ween and Mom, good thing we brought umbrellas.

OUR BABY'S NEW BED

The cuddly kitties in their new beds, aren't they cute??


MORE BASKETBALL GAMES

Kaid's basketball games...

Watching Century/Poky game from the top of the palace. Poky won!!

Crazy Eights

I have obviously been slightly bored lately, because this is the second thing like this that i have done in the past week.

How it works, fill it out and tag some more ppl, keep the eights up.

8 T.V. Shows that I Love:
1. The biggest loser
2. Beverly Hills 90210 (the new and the old seasons)
3. Keeping up with the Kardashians
5. Dateline
6. Degrassi
7. Squawk on the Street (only because ry is obsessed with it)
8. Mystery Diagnosis

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Cafe Rio
2. Changs
3. Senior Iguana's
4. Winger's
5. Ruby Tuesday
6. Carrabas
7. Costa Vida (i feel like that would be almost the same as cafe rio)
8. Mandarine House

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Watched 2 episodes of the old 90210
2. Cleaned my house
3. Visited my grandpa in the hospital, then visited my great grandmother in the long term care, and witnessed an episode of echlalia, (she got a new roommate, who literally needs to be over in the psych ward) so sad:-(
4. read about embryology for my online anatomy class
5. hung out with my mom at ate leftover super bowl food--yummy!
6. went to Ruby Tuesdays with my girlfriend Emma, Ry and Greg, IT was a blast
7. Went to my little brothers basketball game against Ry's alma mater
8. snuggled with Ry and my kitties by the fire

8 Things on my Wish List:
1. To get into PA school soon
2. To get a gun metal grey car or suv, i have a few different cars on my wish list:-)
3. Go to Europe and speak the language (i want to fluently speak french and danish)
4. Get our yard and rest of our house done this summer.
5. A house in the mountains
6. A baby girl (or boy, i know ry would love a boy), i think i am ready
7. To live closer to my bestfriends
8. An l-shaped desk for our office, i can't seem to find one i love.

8 Things I Like About This Season:
1. When it dumps snow and i can cuddle up by the fire and just watch the huge flakes fall.
2. Making footprints in the freshly fallen snow
3. It makes me appreciate summer sooo much!
4. One word: Layering
5. Spinning cookies
6. Superbowl, I LOVE the superbowl!
7. The excitement of spring and summer, mainly summer, i don't really like spring
8. All the sales that the stores have!

8 Weird Things About Me:
1. I like driving stick alot better than automatic, i get so bored driving automatics.
2. I like stargazer lilies ten times more than roses, although i do still love roses.
3. If i see, smell, or hear throw up i WILL throw up.
4. I am a total list freak, i have a list of everything i need to do everyday.
5. One of my nervous habits is pulling out my eyebrows, (maybe that's why i didn't even think about plucking them until college---thanks Randi!)
6. I can't workout wearing glasses, it is such an annoying feeling.
7. i wash my hands so much they crack and bleed:-(
8. I have to have at least three pillows when i sleep.

Tag 8 people: I tag whoever reads this!!

Heaven Just Took One of Our Angels

Ryan and I were driving back from Idaho Falls when i got a text from Kaid that made my heart sink and stomach turn. My Daddy's mom past away around 9:30 Friday night, Ry and i rushed to the ICU as fast as we could, she was still warm when i kissed her, i just wanted her to wake up so bad. My dad offered a beautiful family prayer that was so comforting and really helped lighten the heavy mood. Grandama (or Grawma as most of my family says,) was an incredible woman and the other side is going to be so lucky to have such a happy soul join them. My grandma has been sick for quite a while, stuck in bed, and in so much pain and i know she is happier where she is now it is just hard to lose someone so special so fast. I have so many memories from when i was younger, Marcus and i used to play on the big rocks in her yard while she would make us yummy lunches, sing us silly songs, make our self sick on cherries, and expand our creativity with our "notebooks" (we had spiral notebooks that we drew pictures and wrote stories in). She was always doing little service projects too, an amazing example of selfless love for her fellow men even if she didn't know them. She was a fantastic cook, teacher, friend, mother, grandma... I just pray that i will take her example and be more like her,she will always hold a special place in my life and in my heart.
I know she's in a better place now and i am so grateful to know that this isn't goodbye, just a short time of absence. I love the gospel and the comfort it gives at times like this, although it won't take away all of the sadness and tears, it does give some relief. We love you Grawma!!!

Christmas 2008

We had an amazing Christmas surrounded by family, delicious food, and lots a beautiful snow!! Christmas Eve we had a progressive dinner starting at my parents house for appetizers, then to Wood's for salad and fruit, then to Judy's for drinks, and ending at my grandparents for the main course and yummy desserts and our Danish traditions. Ry surprised me with a new camera that i absolutely LOVE and got tons of use out of Christmas eve and day!!! He gave it to me the day before Christmas Eve and said "you need this present before tomorrow" he was right, i used it a ton!

We finally got a microwave!!! I can't believe we survived that long without one, we have used it almost every day since we got it.

Lizzy loving her Santa outfit.

Poo loved playing in all of the wrapping paper!

Maddie loved all of the love and attention.

Grandpa reading the nativity story..

The nativity actors, they were so cute!

Ry playing with the kids magnetic games, i think he liked it more than they did:-)

CHRISTMAS MORNING

Our first Christmas morning together was so fun, Ry set the alarm for WAY too early, but we had a great morning full of lots of great surprises.

The fam surrounding the ottoman talking to Marky, of course my mom recording Marcus' phone call, (yep camera on the phone the entire time). It was sooo fun to hear his cute little voice and to hear he hasn't lost his sense of humor. He is doing so well out there and he is being such a great missionary.

Opening presents at Ry's house...

We needed a new season now that we've finished King of Queens.

Phone call number two, we got to talk to him four times, the last call was the hardest, we could tell he did not want to hang up.

SOOO much snow!!! We LOVED it!

Except the digging out part, my car is horrible in the snow, we had to dig out at least five times.