Thanksgiving 2011

This Thanksgiving had dinner with Aubrey, Jex, and Jentry! Jex wanted to make the turkey (which was great) so we brought dessert and rolls and headed over to their place. It was a really relaxed thanksgiving. We ate turkey, talked,and watched a little cowboy football! I think it is great to have good friends to spend holidays with when family is not available!

Still hard to think about Wesley.....

4 years ago today I was at my mother in laws house getting ready to go out. I had been in the shower and then Derek took his. This was before we were engaged. When I had finished getting ready my mom called me and asked if I had talked to Shay. I had told her "No, why?". She then told me that Wes had died. I hung up with my mom and saw that I had missed about 10 calls from Shay, I felt like a horrible best friend!  I called Shay and we had figure out a plan. After the next day (thanksgiving) Derek and I would drive up to Utah and spend time with Shay and her family and attend the funeral for my best friend's older brother. Wes was 25 yrs. old when he passed of an enlarged heart. I was in shock after hearing this! I could not believe it and it was one of those things that just couldn't be possible.

Well it was possible. I feel that it is all part of Heavenly Father's plan, and it was proof to me more then ever that we are on the Lord's time.

Wesley was a great older brother. He and my brother Sam were the same age and best friends. So of course Sam and Wes would always pick on Shay and I. They would tease us and make fun of us,  but they still loved us and took care of us. As we all got older it was a blast to be around these boys!

I just wanted to say today that I am grateful for the Anderson Family (my second family) and all of the love and joy they all bring to my life. I am so grateful for the time we did have with Wesley here on Earth. Some of my favorite times....Capture the flag, 4th of July fireworks (especially the  bombs WEsley would bring), Hanging out at Thousand Trails in the summer, breaking into the Jr. high on New Years eve to play basketball till the New Year (Still one of my favorite New Years), beach trips, and off roading over Ave. V. What fun we had!

It is crazy to me that it has been 4 years since Wesley has passed away, and yet it is still hard for me to write this!

I know we will see Wesley again and I know he is busy doing the lord's work!

Grateful for Sundays

Of course with Thanksgiving comes the "be grateful" on face book time. I sit there and read everything that everyone else is thankful for, but I am yet to post anything.... Why? No reason really I just am kind of facebook sick and don't like posting stuff on there anymore.


I thought today would be a perfect day to say something that I am grateful for. Truly, and deeply grateful for.

Well for the past 6 months I have been ward hopping at church. With working at Costco I had to work every Sunday so I was unable to go to my ward from 1pm-4pm. Which was hard for both Derek and I. I didn't want to go to church by myself at 9am and he had to fulfill his calling at 1pm. So my amazing husband would go to two different wards just for me!

When I got my new position in the photo lab my manager asked me if there were any days that I really would love to have off. My response "Sundays". Since that talk my wonderful manager Janet has given me EVERY Sunday off. For the past 3 Sundays I have been able to go to church, and not just church but my own ward! It has been great. I know I might have to still work some Sundays, but today I am so grateful to have this day off. To get up, get ready, go to church, and then come home and eat dinner with my husband. I could not ask for much more then this on the Sunday before Thanksgiving!

Going home for Christmas..Seriously just for Christmas

Derek came up to me last week and said.."I think I need to go see my dad for Christmas. I haven't seen him in a while."

My response was "Seriously?" I am always the one who wants to go visit family and though he likes visits he never is the one to bring it up that he wants to go. 

Derek then suggested that we go home for Christmas... only one problem. I have to work the day before and the day after. Derek said that he checked it out and he found a flight for Christmas Eve after I get off work and then a flight the day after Christmas before the store opens. 

How could I possible say no to spending Christmas with my Morgan. Here we go for another crazy trip to California! I am only staying for 24hrs, but Derek will be able to stay for a week and spend some quality time with his dad. 

I just can't wait for the day when we might be closer to family again so it isn't such a pain in the butt, and expensive to go visit. I seriously feel like half of our income goes to all the trips we make home through out the year! 

Working on the Christmas gifts.

Every year my mom gives each grandchild a photo book of the year's adventures with Nana and Papa. And of course since I take the majority of the pictures I make the books and get them shipped to my mom. I love doing this every year. It is amazing to sit down and look at all of the fun times and blessings that have come this year!

I love all of my nieces and it is great to put together a book about the fun they had with my mom and dad. Of course right now it is just a book with pictures of them, but I hope that in the future the books will mean so much more to them. I love the holidays and this is by far one of my favorite things to do to prepare for the holidays.

Getting in the full swing of the Holidays

Today I felt a little homesick. My mom had mentioned that this past friday she stayed home from work to decorate the house for Christmas....so yeah I got homesick! I got up at 8:30am and we don't have church till 1pm. What was I doing? I laid on the couch and decided to watch a movie and just relax. I went through my movies and decided on The Polar Express (one of my new Christmas favs! ). I laid there, watched the movie and just loved the holiday spirit it brought to me.

Then we went to church knowing that we were going to go take pictures after church for our Christmas cards. It was funny. I had on a red dress and decided to wear red lipstick. You would not believe how many comments I got on wearing red lipstick! I really think red lipstick is a thing now used for stage make-up or costumes, not everyday attire!

After church we headed over to the Mesa Temple to take pictures of our friends family and had them take a few pictures of us. We also got there before them so Derek and I experimented with the lighting and the pictures so the ones of us individually are taken by us and the togethers a friend took! It had been a very festive day for me and I have loved every minute of it!

Not to much going on, but a free turkey...

Derek and I have been super busy lately, but yet not very busy at all!

I have been working in the photo lab which is absolutely fantastic! Also I have been working about 40 hours a week. Work has been consuming my life!

Derek had midterms, then more papers, and then golf. One of his classes right now is supposed to get him through the first part of his thesis if he does it correctly. So he has been working really hard on all of his papers due for this class so that hopefully it will be the beginning of his thesis and make life easier for him next school year!

Then he goes on his days off golfing, which has become his new hobby.

I have also been doing lots of photo shoots....tis the season right!

I am now getting super excited and sad for the holidays! Excited because....On Thursday night I was leaving work and a lady asked me if I got my turkey yet. I told her no. She then said "well get your voucher and your free turkey before you leave".

I was so excited...seriously working for Costco just keeps getting better and better. I went up front and got my voucher, went to a back freezer and got my free butterball turkey! It was great! I love my job and all of the wonderful perks that come along with it! Costco seriously just made my Thanksgiving and saved us about $20.00!

I also love how it takes up our whole freezer! Don't judge our freezer either I need to go shopping =)

I just love my job at costco and love, love, love being in the photolab!

Now for the sad news of the Holidays.....This will be my first Christmas not going to my parents house!!!!! Oh my goodness it breaks my heart! Unfortunately Costco doesn't allow time off before Christmas and then one of the girls in the photolab already took off from the 26th to the 2nd of January. And since there is only 4 of us girls in the lab that leaves no time off for anyone else!!!! Bummer! But on a happier note it looks like just after Christmas my family is going to come out here to visit with us so that will be super nice. I just think it will be odd to not walk into my parents house this year and see it decorated for Christmas! I love my parents house and especially when it is all "dressed-up" for the holidays!

I guess this is all part of being an adult and growing up!

Weather change...

We don't really get much of a shift in weather here in Arizona, but tonight has been amazing! It is finally fall (or at least it will be for the next couple of days). We have still been in T-shirt and shorts weather here in MEsa, but tonight Derek and I decided to journey out at 1:00am to go to Walmart to get some ice cream!

I was so excited, because not only did we get to go to Walmart in the rain, which is always fun, but we got a free carwash!

Seriously it was super fun walking under my umbrella. I even made Derek join me. What a good night!

Halloween 2011

So this is how our Halloween went this year.....

Saturday night we went to the Pumpkin Patch then we went to Walmart and got some pretty sad looking pumpkins. We went there with our friends because on Halloweeen night we were planning on carving the pumpkins with them. After that Walmart Derek and I got invited to go carve pumpkins at another friends house on Sunday night. So we went to a different Walmart on our side of town to get two more pumpkins. Over the next hour and a half Derek and I drove to 3 Walmarts on our side of town who were all sold out and it was two days before Halloween. We finally gave up and decided that we would carve the pumpkins that we had on Sunday night and then on Monday I would go shopping and get two new pumpkins.

Sunday night we went over to Mallory (a friend from work) and Todd's house, which was a blast. We carved pumpkins and just got to know each other since this was the first time we hung out with them. They are both great and we hope to hang out with them more often! Mallory and I have been talking off and on at work and every time we talk we find out we have more and more in common. One day at work I wore a Panchos sweatshirt. Now that probably means nothing to everyone else in the world, but Mallory came up to me and said "Pismo beach, I love pismo beach". Yes, she knew the store I got it from in Pismo beach, California. Both her and I have grown up going there every year for summer vacations!

Any ways back to Halloween. So Then came Monday the actual Halloween day! I took Derek to school in the morning (Monday's he is at school all day this semester) then I was off to Gilbert to do some hair. After hair I drove all over the place looking for two decent pumpkins to carve at Eric and Alexis house that evening. I went to two Walmarts on the other side of town, a fry's, and finally a Safeway. At Safeway I found the saddest pumpkins but at that point I did not care!!!!

After my pumpkin hunt I went to the gym, worked out ,and then went home. Of course what would Halloween be to me without Michael Jackson, big hair , and red lipstick. I took the next hour and some of my day getting ready at home to some very loud thriller music! It was one of the best points to my day!!!!

I made my hair really big and put on my red lipstick (wish I would have taken pictures but I didn't) then was off to Costco for my first night in the photo lab! It was of course slow as can be, but I was able to learn a ton so that was good.

I got off work at 8:45pm and took my two costco pizzas over to Eric and Alexis's house. There us three couples just sat around talked and ate some dinner. It was so nice! Eric, Alexis, Jex, Aubrey, Derek, and I used to hang out all the time last year. Since the beginning of this year Jex and Aubrey had a baby, they both work, and Jex has been working on his thesis so they are always busy. Eric and Alexis had their little man oliver, found out they are pregnant again, and they both work and have school so they are always busy. And Derek and I have both have work and school, and work outside of work (hair and pictures), so by the time we try to work out everyones schedules we never all get together! So it was extremely nice to just sit and talk and catch up on our lives and see how everyone is doing. Plus it is always fun to get all of our husbands together because they are such goons! Oh and the funniest part of the night.... Aubrey and JEx did not bring pumpkins and we were all so tired and just talking that after like 8 stores of hunting pumpkins we didn't even carve them! Just my luck!

Last night was not my typical Halloween. I love halloween. My Morgan and I celebrate it to the fullest every year and it is such a blast. I completely missed that and her last night, but this is where our life is right now and it was a great night with friends!

I called Morgan to see how her night was and she said it was good. She went to the carnival at the community center all night. She had told me the night before Halloween one of her teeth came out and it was not nice and she wished I would have been there to help. (My mom said she cried all night for me). But it was a special tooth that came out. It was a silver one....hahahaha! I love that little girl so very much and miss her a ton! I am grateful for our friends, but can't wait to be home again for Holidays some time in the future!