Almost a Century!

Today Grandpa Blocker turned 90!

A few facts about my Grandpa:

He was born in Georgia and is a good ol southern boy full of

kindness and hospitality

He was married to the most amazing and influential woman for over 60 years

Together they had 10 children- all 7 boys and 1 girl served missions and

all of their children were married in the temple.

He has an amazing posterity with over 50 grandchildren and

over 30 great-grandchildren

He always has a smile and a joke to share

He truly is a disciple of Christ and is full of love and charity

a source of strength and peace

Happy Birthday Grandpa- we love you!

That's Amor

I told Nick all I wanted for Valentine's Day this year was the gift of time, we've both been so busy with work and Nick with school that we hardly spend any time together. So Nick planned an entire Saturday together with NO work and NO school- first V-day together as a married couple and it was WONDERFUL. He surprised me with flowers even though I told him not to buy any but what girl can resist beautiful roses?

Saturday morning we slept in (which we don't get to do very often) then he took me out to breakfast. We spent the day running a few errands and mostly just enjoying each others company, it was like we were dating again and it was GREAT we had so much fun together.

We got all dressed up for dinner at Magleby's (thanks Mom & Dad for the gift card from Christmas)

What night is complete without a romantic chic flick? We saw "Dear John"..... Yes I cried, BUT we don't recommend it- really didn't like the ending.

And of course the exchanging of our V-day gifts, my favorite candy- peanut M&Ms and red vines plus a chocolate wiener dog which is my favorite puppy- I want one....one day (but a real one not a chocolate one). Nick got a pound of chocolate from Sees (again thanks Mom & Dad for the gift cards- good Christmas) and Michael Jackson's movie "This is It" because what says "I love you" better than some sweet moves by the king of pop himself?

How did I get so lucky and marry such an INCREDIBLE man? I must have done something right, this was the perfect way to spend the day with my PERFECT man!

As if the intense sugar overload wasn't enough.....I made a PEANUT BUTTER CUP TRIFLE for dessert on Sunday. The perfect marriage of chocolate and peanut butter- be still my beating heart (or please keep beating and don't stop even though my arteries are clogged)

You too may also enjoy this most delicious dessert. Here is the link for the recipe:

http://sisterscafe.blogspot.com/search?q=peanut+butter+cup+trifle

twenty-ten

We started the year off with a BANG...more like a CRASH...several crashes and a few choice words by me. Nick went where no man has gone before (and survived) he took me skiing! This was the third time in my life that I've ever been skiing. The previous times were TOTAL disasters! Last time I went was about 4 years ago, a guy took me on a date and I never heard from him again. Nick loves to ski and used to go all the time and for some odd reason he thought it would be fun to take me. This isn't a surprise to family and close friends but I'm a HUGE sissy! I gave Nick fair warning that the day would be full of me whining and crying but he was determined to go. Nick was an EXCELLENT teacher, he was so patient and encouraging. After an hour I made it down the first run (the bunny hill) and I was EXHAUSTED! I told Nick that I wanted to take a break and he could go down some runs by himself. After he ski a little he told me I had to go down again. I almost started to cry (my butt was cold from sitting in the snow, I was hungry and tired and sore) but my tears and whining didn't work and I found myself on the ski lift headed up the mountain again. This time down I did A LOT better, I was finally getting the hang of it and even starting to enjoy it, I wanted to go again. It was a fun day, I learned once again that I married the perfect man for me- he endured to the end and after a day on the slopes with me he still loves me. In case you're wondering Nick says he had a lot of fun too, he was happy to see me enjoy doing something that he loves to do.

This is the run Nick went down:

All that Jazz!!

This year was indeed a very MERRY Christmas! It was our first Christmas together, the day started when we both woke up a 5:00 am, I couldn't sleep and Nick was super excited that it was Christmas morning. At 6:00 am we figured out that the other was awake and decided to get up and open presents. There was the usual gifts of clothes, movies, CDs, socks.... I surprised Nick with a pair of Air Jordan Basketball shoes (now he can run faster AND jump higher) Nick did a really good job this year and TOTALLY surprised me with Michael Buble's new CD-Crazy Love AND tickets to his concert!!! BEST GIFT EVER! I heart Michael Buble his voice melts my heart like butter! The concert isn't until March-- I told Nick this counts as Valentines and Anniversary gift . After we were done we journeyed over the river and through the woods to his family's house. It was a lot of fun to see his niece and nephews all excited that Santa came. His youngest nephew- Hugh is only 18 months and wasn't sure what was going on but because everyone else was excited so was he.

After all the fun at the Whiting house we journeyed over to my parents house. My youngest sister Jamie was super excited that Santa came and anxious for us to arrive so we could open presents. My sister Emily had us for secret Santa and gave us this really nice basket full of candy and sparkling apple cider and gift cards to the movies and dinner- it was AWESOME and she paid for all it from babysitting.

The rest of the day was spent hanging out, playing on the Wii, and munching on so much junk that out blood sugar was at critical levels.

Nick's sister Lisa and her husband Darren had us for secret Santa and they gave us tickets to the Jazz game. Darren's family has special season tickets- basically we sat right behind the Jazz during the first half and then sat on the floor for the second half--it was pretty much the COOLEST EVER! The players were so close that I could reach out and touch them (if it wasn't for the security guard standing right in front of us). Excuse me? Coach Sloan can you sit down I can't see the game, thanks. I learned that Okur is HUGE, Carlos Boozer is a very sweaty man, Ronnie Price looks tiny next to 6'9 Andrea Kirilenko and I didn't have to read Deron Williams lips as he was arguing with the ref, I could just hear him. Of course I look funny in all the pictures so please ignore me but check out our AMAZING experience at the Jazz game! PS I didn't even have to use the zoom on the camera

TV, Turkey and Tree

I thought it was time to post a little update about life in the Whiting house. To start out, Nick got an early Christmas present, he is the proud daddy of a new 40' LCD TV. As mentioned in a prior post he has wanted this TV for a very long time. I must say that I am really impressed with the quality of the picture and enjoy watching movies on it a lot more than our previous 20' junker. The high def is SO intense we can see the sweat on Deron Williams face (player for the Utah Jazz)

This year Thanksgiving was wonderful- mostly due to the fact that I didn't have to work all weekend. We were planning on having dinner with my family... but long story short, I ended up inviting Nick's family to join my family for dinner, it was a Demke/Whiting festival of feasting. The day was a little crazy and stressful but as always, my Mom's culinary skills provided us with another delicious Thanksgiving dinner. It was a nice opportunity to cook in the kitchen next to my Mom, I aways learn something new from her.

Now that Thanksgiving was over, I was finally able to put up my Christmas decorations! Apparently there is some sort of rule that Christmas can't start until AFTER Thanksgiving (I broke that rule beginning of November when FM 100 started playing Christmas music). With a little love and some discounted items from Roberts Craft and Target, I was able to turn my sad little Charlie Brown tree into something decent. I'm rather proud of our first Christmas tree.

Finally, we decided that we wanted to send out a Christmas card this year and what Christmas card isn't complete without the perfect family picture.

A little help from Saver's throw in some major bang curl and a big bow and you have a very merry 1990 flashback Christmas!

Quote of the Day

Quote of the Day:

"The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache. If we can't laugh at life, we are in big trouble."

Sis. Marjorie Hinckley

SURPRISE!

Last Saturday, Nick and I went furniture shopping (I know really boring, it's like we're an old married couple) it's something we enjoy doing together, we mostly just look around and try to imagine ourselves at a point in our lives when we have money and can afford to buy new matching furniture. We found this really nice entertainment center and cute wall table- it was love at first sight! Nick, being the frugal minded man that I married, was a little hesitant about the price. I told him that if I worked an extra shift we could afford to buy them AND we would have something to put his TV on, Nick has been dreaming about owning a new 40' LCD TV since I've met him--we also go TV shopping and he lusts after the TV's (our TV right now I found in my Grandpa's basement-it kind of works). "We" decided to walk away and "think about it" (again see above mention of frugal minded husband).

All day Sunday I talked about how much better our apartment would look with the table and entertainment center (It was real love, not just a fling!). Monday I worked an extra shift and of course being an extra shift it was a lousy day but my dreams of one day owning matching furniture kept me going. Today I came home from work and to my surprise, sitting in our front room was the cute table and entertainment center!! Nick got off work a little early yesterday bought them and had them delivered today. He had successfully surprised me and was so cute to see how excited I was. Another confirmation that I married the right man! Now I'll have to surprise him...maybe with a new LCD TV :)