Excellent pasta and company

Have you ever wanted to be in two places at once? I did on Friday night. I wanted to have fun with Jordan, Alison, Isaac, and Aaron and I wanted to be taking pictures of it. While I did have fun, I did not take one single, solitary picture of any of us. I probably made the right choice.
Earlier in the week I received an e-mail from my youngest brother informing me that he had a few days off and he and his family wanted to come down to see me. It was decided that Friday was the best day. He and Alison decided to cook dinner and I offered to buy some ingredients for the occasion. Jordan told me what to buy, which I did that very night. At work on Friday I could scarcely think of my work as I was preparing to see my family. I originally wanted to leave work at 4:30pm but didn't get away until almost 5pm (darn that busy boss of mine; I couldn't abandon him in his time of need though.) I stopped by Gloria's to pick up dessert and then raced home. On my way there I spoke to Jordan and discovered that they were running late due to rush hour traffic. They arrived at my house just a minute or two ahead of me. The whole family got the grand tour and the dinner preparations began. All in all we ended up with amazing mushroom pasta, salad, garlic bread, broccoli, and cake for dessert.
After dinner, which was excellent, Alison went shopping while Jordan and I took the boys on a walk through the park to the library. We walked around looking at books, movies, and the various pieces of art. We also ran up and down a small hill and checked a statue's ears to see if they were dirty or. (They were. Isaac told a reference librarian who promised to clean them with a Q-Tip.) We didn't leave until almost 8:30pm, which is past the bedtime of at least one little boy. The boys were changed into pajamas once we returned to my house and began jumping on couch cushions. They were then whisked away by their parents, much to the dismay and sadness of their Aunt Jess.
It is times like these that I hold precious. My one regret living down here is that I don't get to see my nieces and nephews as much as I would like. The closest one is 40 miles away. While 40 miles is nothing to someone who lives several states away from their family, I think it a very long distance. Despite the time and effort, I think I am going to make more of an effort to visit all my nieces and nephews. What a great night.

Seeing family (and a museum)

Today I got the chance to spend some time with Alison, Aaron, and Isaac at the Springville Museum of Art. To be honest, I found out that Alison and her Mom were coming down to Utah County by accident and managed to invite myself along. I'm not proud of it, but it remains a fact. After a quick trip to the library, I drove to Springville. Isaac and I spent quality time in the gift shop looking at fake ice cream magnets. It was pretty funny to see him making a joke about licking a plastic ice cream cone. He so enjoyed my laughter that he laughed himself, and then made the joke five or six more times. Isaac and I also entered a drawing to win a free quilt. (As a side note, I also entered a few of my family members into the drawing as well. If anyone gets a call saying they won a quilt from the Springville Museum of Art, it's my fault.) I wrote on the papers and folded them and Isaac put the papers in the container. Isaac was full of energy today. His zest for life is astounding and his ability to constantly move makes me jealous. As usual, Aaron was as cute as ever. He is quite the wiggle-bug.

The museum was having an exhibit on quilts. They were pretty impressive. I did notice that two quilts were made by a neighbor of my parents. I always knew that Mary Tibbitts was a quilter, but I had no idea the true talent she possessed. I spent two glorious hours in the presence of beloved family members. It ended with Issac showing us the statue of St. Francis of Assisi outside. In fact, he even sat in the statue's lap and put something in his hand for him to read. It was pretty cute.

It seems like forever since I've spent time with any of my siblings or nieces and nephews. It's only been a month since I've seen everyone but I miss them. I'm so glad that Alison and her mom let me tag along for the afternoon.

Meals with others

I will admit that sometimes I get so busy that I forget to eat. This week however, I have had the chance to eat two meals with people I love. The first one was Monday night. My friend, Jen, had a birthday. One of her roommates contacted a bunch of us and arranged for all of us to meet at Wingers to surprise her. When she rounded the corner, her face was priceless. Sadly, I didn't get a picture of it. I did, however, get a picture of her eating popcorn. We had good food and great conversation. It was fun. After dinner, we went to a great Gelato place on center street in Provo. I highly recommend it.
On Tuesday afternoon I was able to go to lunch with Jordan, Alison, Isaac, and Aaron. I had such a wonderful time. I wish all my lunches were so great. Usually I eat at my desk while I'm eating. On Tuesday I walked over to Macaroni Grill to meet everyone. Isaac drew on the table, talked up a storm, and was generally darling. I wrote his name on the table. After eat letter, he would look at me and say "more?" He also enjoyed sharing the whipped cream off my drink. Aaron slept, ate, cried, had a dirty diaper, and looked around. In an act of charity, they offered to walk me back to work. I held Aaron while Jordan held my purse, jacket, and food. (I think Jordan and Alison realized how much I love spending time with their sons.) Isaac got some of his wiggles out while walking on grass, crossing a bridge, and looking at a river. They came into my office. While Alison used the restroom, I introduced the boys to my co-workers. I gave Isaac an apple juice for the road. For the rest of the day, I had a smile on my face. Even my co-workers noticed the difference. I wish all my meals were so much fun. Speaking of fun, tomorrow night I will go to my first play at the Hale Center Theater in Orem. Thanks again Mom and Dad for the great Christmas present (the tickets.)

April birthdays

This weekend, along with being Conference weekend, was the family celebration of three birthdays. Wyatt turned one years old and Brooke and Alison became a year older as well. (It has always been my opinion that once you hit 25, your age doesn't really matter that much.) I went over to Wyatt's house on Sunday afternoon to see Wyatt eat his cake. His parents had a small celebration that included Britnie's parents, brother, and his wife and son. We sang "Happy Birthday" to a confused Wyatt and then he was able to dive into his own cake, which he soon demolished. It was so cute to see him approach the cake, lick it a few times, then figure out that he could eat it. After a quick bath, he was able to open his many presents. My parents, Alison, Isaac and I left soon afterwards to catch the afternoon session on conference. At 5 pm on Sunday night, the whole family, with the exception of Jen, John, and Lauren, came over for dinner.

It was another good meal by Mom and afterwards we had ice cream cake. Alison and Brooke opened their presents, as did Wyatt. It is so nice to get together with family. Moving down to Orem has been fun, but I will admit that the hardest thing is being away from my family. Everyone else lives within a half an hour drive to Mom and Dad's house. But I guess an hour and fifteen minutes isn't so bad. I was the last to leave. On my way home, I talked to a new friend of mine, Brian. Because we celebrated Brooke and Alison's birthdays early, I would like to wish them a happy birthday for this coming week.

Friday

I awoke on Friday with a stuffy nose and slightly sore throat. I got ready for my interview in Orem and drove down while listening to music. After what seemed like a rather short interview, I stopped at the apartment that I will be living in after February 4th. I measured my room and tried to decided what to take from my current room and what to leave. When I left Orem, I called Mom to discuss the interview and Alison answered her phone. It turns out that Mom and Sidney were still at the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. They had been joined by Alison, Isaac, Jen, and Lauren. I stopped by for some fun at the museum. I did my best not to touch the babies, although I did hold Lauren for a little while. I was careful not to kiss either of them or their hands. I spent most of the time running around with Sidney.

By late afternoon, I was exhausted and my throat hurt more than it had in the morning. I decided to not go out and play and stayed home, packing up books and some clothes. After watching an episode of Greys Anatomy and taking some cold medicine, I went to bed.

Old siblings and friends

On Friday night I went over to Jordan and Alison's house to have some fun. Jordan fed us some wonderful pasta, we watched Practical Magic, and then were joined by Josh and Brooke. We played a fun game called Abstract. Brooke is getting that cute pregnant belly and Isaac was adorable (except for the brief moment that he spit up on me.)

On Saturday I got together with some old friends. In my first years of college I belonged to a sorority. Lamda Delta Sigma was a big part of my life. This group of people that also belonged are still important to me even though I don't get to see them very often. We met at Dave and Suzie's house. In attendance were the following: Dave, Suz, Jen (and her date Dan), Ryan, Jacq and Travis, Brit, Toffer and Michelle (and their two girls). We were hoping to see Hali and Marc but they were out of town. We ate, talked, played games, and had fun. While most people left by 11 pm, a couple of us ended up staying until 2 am. It was nice to see everyone.

Thursday and Friday

On my way to visit a friend in West Kaysville, I noticed a lot of smoke coming from the mountainside to the north. I pulled over and took a picture. It turned out that a woman had decided to burn some dead debris and it got out of control. 400 acres and an arrest later, the fire was put out by firefighters and a lot of help from buckets of rain. I went to work on Thursday night and did homework after coming home.On Friday, I went to school amongst rain. Literary Criticism was its usual excitement. The discussion of "Jane Eyre" was finished in my Victorian Literature class. I love my teacher, Dr. Rogers. He has good insights and a good sense of humor. In my History of Christianity class we discussed the popular rise of hermits and the first monastery. For those interested, St. Anthony was the first famous hermit. The first man to build the first monastery was Pachomius, who lived from 292 - 348 AD.
After school I came home and did some reading for school. Alison dropped by with her darling son. She and Jordan left Isaac with Mom and I while they went to see a movie. Isaac and I read the paper together before he fell asleep. Mom made chicken pot pie (yummy) and Josh, Brooke, Jordan, Alison, and Emily (Alison's sister) joined us for dinner. I only ate a little since I knew that I would be going out to dinner with friends. Still raining, Ryan and I ventured out to Paces DairyAnn for food, then to John's to eat. Then John, Lawyer Ryan, Best Friend Ryan, and I went down to Bryan and Bald Ryan's house in John's car. (I think I know too many people named Ryan :) We stayed until a little after midnight but took a long time getting home because of the weather. There's nothing like hyroplaning on the Interstate to really get your blood pumping. I was glad that I wasn't driving. Ryan really kept his cool and got us home safe. All in all; a good night.

Red Butte Gardens

After I got out of class today, Mom called to invite me to go to Red Butte Gardens with the family. Since Dad had the day off, he and Mom had invited Alison and Isaac, and Jen and Lauren to go out to lunch and to Red Butte Gardens with them. I drove to Alison's house in South Weber where Mom and Dad picked the three of us up. We then drove into Salt Lake to pick up Jen and Lauren. Both babies were as cute as can be. Although it got a little hot, the five adults had fun strolling around with two cute babies. Isaac ended up sleeping almost the whole time we were there. Lauren only took a short nap but was in good spirits. I included some shots of Red Butte Gardens. If you have never been there, I would highly encourage it. It is a nice place to walk around and talk. By the end of the day, we were all pretty tired (as evidence of a yawn by Isaac that I managed to get a picture of.) For more pictures, see our Johnsen flickr sight.

Tomorrow, we are hosting a bridal shower for a friend of ours. Trisha is getting married in October to a nice man named Kim. Tomorrow night I hope to go to a farewell party for Curtis.Jen and Alison by the Pond

Some scenery pictures of Red Butte Gardens

Cedar City

On Wednesday, Jordan, Alison, Isaac, and I left for Cedar City to go to the Utah Shakespearean Festival. After four hours in the car, we barely made it in time for Jordan and Alison to see their afternoon performance of "The Merry Wives of Windsor." Isaac and I lay on the grass. While he caught up on his beauty sleep, I crocheted a blanket and read from a book of short stories by Garrison Keillor. Isaac woke up with a messy diaper and a need to wander. (Ok, it was my need to wander.) We walked through the gift shop and then Isaac decided to have yet another dirty diaper that happened to leak on his shorts and my shirt. While changing him I made a colossal mistake of leaving his diaper open while I searched for a wipe. He proceeded to create a small fountain all his own, some of which made my pants wet. After these trying situations, I was rewarded with a wide smile which reminded me how cute he was and that I shouldn't drop him off with the closest group of traveling gypsies. He started to get hungry and tired just as his parents exited their play.
We checked into the motel and Alison and I placed our sandwich orders with Jordan. While Jordan did his familial duty and hunted for food, Alison washed out Caleb's soiled shorts and I entertained the now very tired little boy. After eating an ok meal, J & A went to see "Hamlet" and I tried to get a very tired little boy to sleep. He wanted to stay up and play. Being a wonderful aunt, I gave in. Eventually I gave him a bottle and he went to sleep. This was the first time that Isaac had ever had formula. Although he made protesting noises and funny faces, he drank and was relatively happy. I watched tv and read until Jordan and Alison returned after 10:30. They brought some excellent chocolate cake with them which I dove right into. By 12 we were all in bed.
The next morning, Jordan went for a swim in the motel's pool and returned tired and nauseous. Alison and I remained in bed and we barely made our 11 am checkout. A friend of Alison, Melissa, managed to get us free tickets for a Thursday afternoon showing of "Room Service," so we decided to stay instead of going home. After an interesting barbecue with Melissa's family, we went to see "Room Service" at the Randall L. Jones Theatre while Melissa babysat Isaac. The Randall Theatre has an awesome bench with a seated statue of William Shakespeare on it. I ended up taking a picture of Jordan, Alison, and Isaac on it. Before we took the picture, Isaac required a diaper change and then was changed into his "Got Shakespeare?" onesie that Melissa had purchased for him. I managed to take a picture of Jordan and Isaac before his diaper was changed (the diaper of Isaac, not Jordan.) The Randall L. Jones Theatre has some very interesting statues around it. "Room Service" was a comedy set in the 1920's. and I highly recommend it. I saw a former co-worker, Kim, there and we exchanged brief hugs and hellos. After the play, we left for the four-hour drive home. We stopped in Provo for dinner at The Pizza Company. Jordan still wasn't feeling well so we didn't linger. We arrived home after 11pm. Despite the drive, I had fun. It was nice to spend time with Jordan, Alison, and Isaac.