Catching Up

 Hey fans!  I apologize for my extended absence from the blog here.  There really aren't any excuses.  So I'll just get you caught up on the last little while.  The weekend of Oct 14, my friend Amber was in town from Boston to celebrate her birthday.  Well, I guess "in town" isn't quite accurate.  She was at her parents house in Lyman, WY.  So Heather, Brian, and I headed up there for the evening to see Amber and celebrate her birthday.  It was great to see her and spend some time in good ol' Wyoming.  We had a fire pit, delicious food, and slept in this huge, awesome tent that her dad put up for us which was complete with a wood burning stove inside.

 

That following Wednesday (Oct. 19), Olivia and I went for a run, and then she, Deeds, and I headed to the Co's (Costco and Winco).  We came home and whipped up some dinner, and Olivia got a phone call.  I wasn't really paying much attention, just dishing up my dinner and then Olivia came over and said that she just found out her dad has passed away in a car accident.  I can't remember what I said or how I even reacted.  No one is ever prepared for something like this.  Olivia was holding it together pretty well, so I tried my best to not totally lose it.  We all know that I do not do well when people pass away...like can't even handle it.  She spent most of the evening on the phone with family and close friends.  Tricia had left that day to go visit her sister's in Minnesota, so she felt terrible about not being home.  I didn't have any idea what to do or what to say, so I just sat there with Olivia until she was ready to go to bed.  I just didn't want her to have to be alone.  Tragedies like these really put things into perspective and always overwhelm me gratitude for the gospel and my knowledge of the plan of salvation.  Olivia left the next day to be with her mom and family in Idaho.  Tricia, Raegan (Olivia's coworker and really good friend), and I drove up to Ashton last Wednesday for the funeral.  It was a beautiful service, and Olivia did so awesome on her talk.  And even though I bawled, I was very happy to be there to honor her dad and support my dear friend during this difficult time.  I had only met him once or twice, but I know he was amazing because he raised such an incredible daughter!  Here's a link to his obituary: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/rexburgstandardjournal/obituary.aspx?n=lyle-reed-oldham&pid=154230361&eid=sp_shareobit.  I was also very grateful to get the chance to get to know Raegan better on our trip to Ashton, ID.  Olivia talks about her all the time, and I've met her a couple of times before, but you really get to know someone spending 8 hours in a car together.  She is as good as they come!!

As a side note, I got pulled over on the way up there for speeding in Idaho.  I was going 80mph in a 75mph.  What Idaho?  I can show you speeding, but going 5mph over is not speeding.  Thankfully, the policeman just game me a warning.  Note to self...go the speed limit or less in Idaho!

On the 22nd, I carpooled with the Grossen's down to Provo for the BYU football game.  It was sort of a joke of a game, so thankfully, it wasn't very crowded and we could all sit together.  The kids were so good, and the weather was unbelievable!  Here is Soph and Me and Jack on the trip down, and then several pics of us all at the game.  The Cougs won 56-3.

 

 

 

 

Cougar tail...yummmm!

Buggy kept making this funniest face..haha!

 That same weekend, Ryan came into town for work, so we got to play quite a bit.  Here's us eating some dinner.

 I love these people!

Last week was also the end of Deeds internship up here in Salt Lake.  He has crashed at our house every night M-Th for the last two months.  We slept in my king size bed together, which he has named "Sherwi Island".  Notice the center console we put up between us on the bed.  This was to prevent all possible touching in the night.  It worked...except the one time I somehow ended up sleeping perpendicular on my side of the bed.  I woke up to Deeds staring at me in the middle of night trying to figure out what in the world I was doing.  Haha!  I'm glad Deeds' internship went well, but we'll sure miss having him around!

 This last Saturday, we headed downtown to Bruge's Waffles and Frites to teach Brett about these little beauties.  He was converted!  And I just drooled a little bit just thinking about it.

 Last night, Tricia and I went on a covert operation.  This picture was too funny not to include.  My friend, Brian, was getting engaged.  So Tricia and I retrieved a dozen roses and a bunch of rose petals from his house and then went over to his soon-to-be fiancee's house to leave the flowers and rose petals so they would be there when she got home last night.  So happy for Brian and Amber!  T and I are thinking of a career change to some sort of covert ops.  We are pretty dang good at it.

And lastly, I swung by Amy's after work today to see Jack and Sophie in their Halloween costumes.  Definitely the cutest t-rex and ladybug out on the streets trick-o-treating tonight!

Roaring like a t-rex!

 

Happy Halloweener!

Buggy On the Move

This post is mostly for the grandparentals and Kara.  Deeds and I babysat Jack and Sophie last week, and I took a little video of her walking.  And there are of course some funny antics by Jack as well!  Enjoy!

Dang...work it, girl!

This picture cracks me up for some reason.  What a ham!

My Little Iz is 1 Today

 It is hard to believe that Isaac turns 1 today.  It seems like yesterday that I was cruising down the I-15 all sweaty after some volleyball headed down to Provo to meet the little guy!  I remember I stopped at In-N-Out to take to the hospital for Ryan to celebrate the big day.  What a joy and blessing this kid is to us all!  Happy Birthday, little buddy!  Wish I was there to attack you hugs and kisses!
These pics are all from my trip to Boise about a month ago so they are probably all in that post, but repeat pics of this little cutie never hurt anyone!

 

 

 

I love you my little Izzy!

The Jack Attack is 3!

The purpose of this post is to celebrate Jack's 3rd birthday, but let me just do a bit of clean up on a couple of other events of the last couple of weeks. 
On Sept. 22, Jimmer Fredette put together a little All Star game at the Marriott Center which featured several NBA rookies and few undrafted players (like Jackson Emery).  When Olivia and I heard about this, we knew we had to be in attendance.  It was a little on the spendy side, but all the proceeds went to charity.  We had great seats, and the game was pretty entertaining.  Deeds joined us.  He concluded that there were more dunks in that single game than in all basketball game in the Marriott Center in combined.  He is probably right.  It was awesome to see the Jimmer play again and lots of other up-and-coming stars like Kemba Walker, Nolan Smith, and Kawhi Leonard.

I know...I should probably be a photographer for Sports Illustrated! :)

Sheri L. Dew in the house!!  Love her!

There are my boys!

On Sept. 23, Olivia and I headed down to Provo for the second home football game.  Luckily, this one ended in a victory (just barely and it was still ugly).  Before the game, we went to the Brick Oven, and Cosmo just happened to be there.  What up, Cosmo?!

On Sept. 24, I attended my former coworker's wedding up in Park City.  Doug was my very first coworker at NAVTEQ here in the Salt Lake City office.  He left NAVTEQ in 2007 to go get his master's degree, but we have kept in touch ever since.  It was a beautiful wedding and reception.  So happy for him and Natalie!

 Ok, and now to my Jack Attack.  He turned 3 on Sept. 29.  Deeds and I went down to the Grossen's after work.  We played outside on the swing and went to Cafe Rio for dinner and then had a little birthday party when Dan got home from work. 

 He loved all his present!  This kid loves to be the center of attention. 

 Jack doesn't love cake, so Amy wasn't going to make one.  But he insisted that he had to have a cake, so she made a delicious chocolate bundt cake.  Jack blew out his candles, and then had nothing to do with the cake.  I think he only thinks he needs a cake so that he can blow out the candles.  Next year, we'll stick his candles in a scoop of ice cream!

 

Words cannot express how much I love this kid!  He's so smart, cute, hilarious, and clever.  It is nonstop entertainment when he's around.  It probably hadn't even been 5 minutes after I got to their house that he said, "Hey, Ker, wanna go outside in 5 minutes (holding up the number 5 on his hand)?"  I just laughed and said, "Of course, buddy!"  The last time I had been over, he wanted me to go outside, and I asked him to give me 5 minutes.  A few minute later, he came over and grabbed my hand..."ok, it has been 5 minutes!".

 Happy Birthday, Jack!  I love. love, love you!!