Michael, Aubry & Jada

5.22.2012

Elise

This past Sunday I was lucky enough to have a visitor . . . and not just any visitor. One of my best friends, Elise, came into town for her brothers sealing and was able to take some time to see me too! I can't even tell you how excited I was.

Elise is currently pregnant with their first (hooray!) and is due in October - she is 18 weeks along. I am currently 23 weeks. Our little ones will only be 5 weeks apart:) I can't wait to hear what she is having!! If its a boy, then our boys can be BFs like us. If its a girl, who knows, maybe they will get married. Ha;)

Thanks Elise for stopping by! I am so glad we were able to see each other and that we could take this awesome picture. Who knows if this will ever happen again. (I hope it does)

5.21.2012

Mother's Day Weekend

The weekend before last, Michael, Jada, and I headed up to Syracuse to spend Mother's day weekend with my mom and dad, and to see Lindsey and Kenny on their way up to Idaho.

We had the best time! On Friday we had a delicious dinner at Maddox (near Brigham City for those of you from Utah). They have the best steak and rolls ever! I got a filet mignon and Michael got some weird shrimp patty thing (he wishes he had mine). Michael said his was good, but mine was heavenly. Best choice! (My mouth is watering just thinking about it . . . )

On Saturday, Michael and my dad started the day off with a game of golf, which they both loved. When they got back, we all headed to "Baby Animal Days" that was currently happening that weekend. While it didn't go as well as I hoped, it was still fun. It was relatively small, and there were a lot of people there . . . so naturally Jada was a bit apprehensive. I thought she would love seeing all the different animals and being able to pet them, but she didn't. She liked to look at them, but didn't care to touch them at all. I think the best part for her, and us, was a little section they had were you could actually hold baby ducks, rabbits, and chicks. While Jada didn't want to hold any of them, and only touched one (see cute photo), she loved being so close to all the baby ducks.

After the "petting zoo", we ran some errands, went home and took a nap, then headed out to grab some dinner with a restaurant.com coupon that my mom and gotten. Unfortunately, the place has closed. Ha. I think this is the second time this has happened to my parents. So beware restaurant.com coupon buyers . . . make sure the place is still open when you purchase:) Luckily we all were able to have a good laugh about it and make the best out of the situation. Instead we had a yummy dinner at Taco Time and followed it up with some delightful Nielsen's frozen custard. All in all, a great day.

Sunday, Mothers Day, was a great day too. Lindsey and Kenny arrived around 4am, so they were able to spend the day with us (minus a little snoozin' time), which was nice. Church was good, as usual, and dinner was delicious too. Since it was Mother's Day, we also got to Skype with Ryan which was the best.

Michael and I talked all the way home about how awesome our weekend was. We loved every minute! I can't wait to go up again this Friday for Memorial weekend. (To bad Michael has to stay home and study for his next CPA:( He will be missed!)

Pictures from the "Baby Animal Days"

Checking out the sheep with Poppi

Checking out the geese with Daddy

Playing a little bean bag toss . . . though I'm pretty sure she just placed them all in the holes:)

Inside the gates where you could hold the baby animals. This is the only time Jada actually touched one of the animals.

Checking out the baby ducks

She is thinking about it . . .

I want to pet them . . . but I don't . . . but I do . . . but I don't . . .

Ok maybe just one . . . (psych!)

Bucket List 2: Kennecott Copper Mine

This item on our bucket list was a family one. Michael, Jada, & I, along with Jared, Bri, & Becca, all took a morning to head up to the Kennecott Copper Mine in Bingham Canyon to check it out.

It was a fun site to see. Jada loved seeing all the trucks (truck is one of her favorite words to say) and especially loved their collection of toy trucks in the visitors center (see picture below). We had a fun time walking around, listening to fun facts, and later having a fun picnic in the park.

Pointing out the trucks with Daddy

The awesome HUGE truck tire. They are over 12 feet in diameter

Fun Fact: Each of these tires cost from $18,000 - $26,000 and last only 9 months!

This is the pose/attitude I got when I asked Jada to turn around so I could take her picture with the tire

The main Copper Mine

Looking out with Becca

Bri, Jared, Jada, Michael & I on the outlook

Jada checking out their truck collection (This really isn't a good picture to show the trucks, there are TONS more . . . but this was the best of Jada:))

Getting a closer look

Kennecott Copper Mine

(For those who have not been, and for a little perspective: Remember the huge tire from above . . . those little trucks in the picture have 4 of those on it)

The Jensen's (Jada, Michael, Becca & I)

Getting ready to get back into the car . . . can you tell Jada is stoked!? jk

Fun Facts:
* Kennecott's Bingham Canyon Mine has produced more copper than any mine in history - more that 19 million tons
* The mine is 2-3/4 miles across at the top and 3/4 of a mile deep. You could stack 2 Sears Towers (now known as the Willis Building) on top of each other and still not reach the top of the mine
* If you stretched out all the roads in the open pit mine, you'd have 500 miles of roadway - enough to reach from Salt Lake City to Denver

Bucket List: Manti Temple (It starts...)

Last month, Michael and I sat down and made a bucket list of things that we wanted to do/see before leaving Utah and moving to Georgia. To my surprise we have been doing really well so far. We have managed to check off three things in just a few weeks. I hope we can keep it up!

I thought about writing our list on here, but decided against it. That way you will have to check back to see what adventures we have been on and what places we have visited:)

Our first stop (and check on our list) was the Manti Temple. Since we live so close to so many beautiful temples, and will probably never have this opportunity again, we decided that we needed to make an extra effort to attend as many different temples as we could before September. (I kind of wish we started this sooner, time is limited, but oh well.) Luckily it doesn't really matter how many temples you have been to, the temple work is the same no matter where you go. But we still think it would be fun to see/attend some of them while we are here. So we are! We have made a priority list of our top temples to visit.

Two weeks ago we began. Michael & I, accompanied by our friends Jared & Bri, were able to drive down to Manti one morning to do a session. We had such a great experience, not only going through a session, but just being at that specific temple. As I was able to look at the temple outside and in, I found myself awestruck by its beauty and all of the detail and work (by hand) that went in to building and furnishing that miraculous temple. I am still so amazed. Everything from the ceilings, to the doors, to the chairs, is simple, beautiful, and perfect. We even got to see the amazing spiral staircase. It made me think of all the sacrifice and love that went into building that temple so many years ago. Those people had nothing, yet look what they built! They truly gave of their time and talents to the Lord and the church by constructing such a marvelous temple. It really made me think about myself and what talents and time I need to give more freely of.

We are so grateful for the chance we had to go to the Manti Temple. Thank you Becca for watching Jada and making it possible for us to go. We are lucky to have you close, and lucky that Jada loves her Aunt Becca! We never have to worry when we leave her with you.

The Manti Temple

Jared & Bri in front of the Temple

Michael & I

Enjoying the view and eating lunch before heading back . . . :)

The beautiful Temple

5.01.2012

Graduation

After years of hard work, Michael received his Bachelors degree in Accountancy AND his Masters of Accountancy. I am so grateful for all of his hard work and all that he does for our family. You are the best babe! Way to rock your last semester!

Luckily for us, Michael's parents were able to fly in from Michigan to be there for his big day, and my parents were able to come down as well. We had a few fun filled days of celebration! It was so great to have our parents both here and to celebrate Michael's accomplishments with family and friends. Thank you everyone for coming!!

Entertaining Jada during the graduation ceremonies

Our tired little girl:)