Spoiled Rotten

Dru and I had a great Christmas and were both spoiled rotten. Between new purses, new miter and table saws, clothes, DVDs, and a sweet watch we both received much more than needed. We enjoyed the morning with my parents, Lindsey and Rob, and Robbie. Then we went to Dru's parents' for some Christmas Turkey and it was so good. Dru's brothers Ryan and Brandon were there with their families as well as his sister Heather with her family. It was quite a full house. The only downside to the day was that I was so sick. Despite all of the family and things to do all I wanted to do was sleep. I spent most of the day lying down and sadly did not get to see many of the people that I was looking forward to seeing.

Dru's new table saw that I bought him

Dru's new miter saw from my parents

Dru got me a sweet Louis Vuitton purse! (He is so thoughtful. I'm impressed that he remembered!!!)

This watch is from my parents. It's a Tissot and I have wanted one forever!

Christmas Time

For some reason it has not felt like Christmas time and I have been procrastinating anything that has to do with Christmas. Dru and I finally got our tree on Monday and I just finished decorating it tonight. It feels good to have some Christmas Spirit and enjoy the holiday season a little bit. Now I just have to finish my Christmas shopping and I can relax and enjoy.

Here are some pictures of my efforts.

This is my poinsetta that Dru bought me the other night. I wanted one very bad so I was excited to finally have one!!

Since we don't have a fireplace I decided to hang our stockings on my entry table (one of my Christmas presents from Dru last year)

My Nativity Scene courtesty of my wonderful mom who has 500 of these things

My Christmas tree. This is take two. I decorated it once with different decorations and hated the way it turned out so I ripped them all off and started again.

Yeah for Christmas!!!

Layton and Boise

The last two weekends have been very eventful for Dru and I. The weekend after Thanksgiving we drove down to stay with Dru's brother and his family in Layton. We went to Temple Square and saw the beautiful light display they had there.

It was such fun to spend time with Trent and Sarah, their three boys, and their dog Cocoa (a boxer just like Maddie). Other than our trip to see the lights we spent most of our time at their house just enjoying their company. We do not get to see them as often as we would like so we took advantage of the time we had. Their boys are so cute and full of energy. They were all the entertainment we could ever need. Maddie was in heaven playing with Cocoa and the boys. I wish we had pictures but our camera ran out of batteries.

This last weekend Dru, my mom, and I headed over to Boise to watch Robbie (my brother) play basketball. Their team really struggled last year so it was nice to watch them win both of their games this weekend and their game at Hillcrest last Thrusday. Rob pointed out to us that that is half of their winning total last year (they won 6 games) and so far they are undefeated! It is still the beginning of the season, but they are looking very good and working very hard to play like a team. Rob did very well in all of the games and is quite the little rebounder. He is playing a different position than normal this year. He is used to being a guard (which he is very good at) but this year they needed him to be a forward because he is one of the bigger boys on the team. I must say he is doing a very good job with it. We are so proud of him and were glad that we got to watch him play! GO HILLCREST!!!!!!!

Christmas Tag

It's been a while since I posted and really have nothing exciting to say so I thought I would do a Christmas Tag since I get tagged all of the time and never do them.
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?I love the convenience of gift bags, but at Christmas time you definetly have to wrap everything that you possibly can.
2. Real tree or Artificial?Artificial trees are very easy and last much longer, but I enjoy real ones so much more. They smell so wonderful. Dru and I had a real one last year and I think that will be a tradition that we hold on to.
3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the week after Thanksgiving, but sadly we have not put our tree up yet. We were out of town last weekend and will be again this weekend so I plan on getting it up soon. I am so excited to decorate it again.
4. When do you take the tree down? We take it down right after New Year's.
5. Do you like eggnog? I don't think so but it's one of those things I refuse to try so I guess I'll never know.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Any of my barbies. I loved when Santa brought me those.
7. Hardest person to buy for? My dad, my dad, my dad. What else can I say? You can only give one person so many books.
8. Easiest person to buy for?Dru and my brother. Dru always tells me exactly what he wants so all I have to do is go and get it. The hard part is surprising him.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? I have a beautiful one that my mom gave us last year. She has about 500 and didn't need them all so I gladly took it from her.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards?Mail them of course, all though I don't usually take the time I love to receive them.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Maybe an ugly shirt or something I don't really remember receiving anything that I didn't really want.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I love Miracle on 34th Street and of course the classic cartoons like Santa Claus is coming to town.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? usually around Thanksgiving but I'm really slacking this year. I think it's the lack of snow, it just really does not feel like Christmas time.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?Nope.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Turkey and Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Ham is good too.
16. Lights on the tree?Of course! Ours are white.
17. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night, without a doubt.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Staying home. Dru and I are so lucky that our families are so close.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?Of course! Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph (my favorite Christmas Character of all time if you can't tell by the picture of my dog).
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? I love a star, but we actually have a big Santa Claus.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Growing up we always opened 2 on Christmas Eve these included one present from the sibling of choice and Christmas Pajamas!! The rest on Christmas Day. Last year Dru got his present 2 weeks before Christmas because it was his TV and he was WAY too excited to wait. Trust me, I tried.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?The stress.
23. Favorite ornament theme or color?I just love red on a Christmas tree. I love my mom's Christmas Tree she has a candy cane theme going on and I think it's about the cutest thing in the whole world, but ours are Gold and White and I love those too (my mom's old ones I love hand me downs).
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?Turkey and Mashed potatoes and Gravy.
25. Favorite family Christmas tradition? Looking at the Lights and all of the Sweet Christmas stories we would read.
Happy Holidays!

Service

Dru and I teach a primary class and this week is was my turn to prepare and teach the lesson. The lesson was on Service. Each week I try to think of the topic as it relates to my life. I realized that this past week I was the recipient of such great service from friends and family members. I had a very bad week last week and was not feeling well at all. I received many sweet phone calls from friends and loved ones who were concerned. My mother also came over to my house and took care of me. She went to far as to do some of my laundry and my dishes. What a sweet mother! My husband took a day off of work to stay with me and take care of me. He has been very sweet about things this week and did not expect me to do anything around the house. He cooked dinner and made sure that we had something to eat every night. On Saturday Lindsie Curtis (my cousin and close friend) came over and took me out of my house for the first time all week (other than car rides and appointments). She took me to lunch at Johnny Carinos and then took me for a manicure. That meant the world to me. How lucky I am to have all of these people who love and care about me and are willing to serve without expecting anything in return. Thank you all for looking out for me! I love you!

I am thankful for the Sabbath Day

I know it is not even November yet, but I have been thinking of the many things that I have been blessed with and that I am thankful for. I am so grateful that Dru and I were able to find one another and marry in the temple. I am thankful for loving family and friends who are always there when they are needed. I am grateful for our home and our sweet little puppy, the jobs that we have and the promise of a family.

Most of all I am grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and for His Atonement. I feel so blessed to have been born with the Gospel in my life. I had the opportunity to finish reading the Book of Mormon a few weeks ago. Each time I read this amazing book I am touched by the faith of those righteous people, and I marvel at the strength of those who were persecuted or who endured much to have the Savior in their life. My favorite person in the Book of Mormon is Alma the Younger. He was so wicked that he led many away from Christ but was able to repent and to become such a great leader in the church. What a sweet example of how the Atonement can change our lives if we will just turn to Christ.

Today in our ward Dru and I had the opportunity to help our class put on the Sacrament Primary Program. As I listened to the children speak and their voices as they sang about beautiful Gospel truths I was touched and felt so blessed to be apart of that program. This is a wonderful time of year and our little family has much to be thankful for. We appreciate all of your and the love and support you have given us. We love you all.

Fall: the most wonderful time of the year!!!

Ok, so I wasn't going to post about this, but I decided to anyway. I love the fall. It is a great time of year. Perfect weather, the leaves start to change, I can start making chicken noodle soup and other warm foods, but most of all my favorite television shows start again.

The season premiere of Private Practice is tomorrow night and I am so excited, but my all time favorite next to Friends is Grey's Anatomy. The much anticipated season 5 premiere was last Thursday, and I must say that I was not disappointed. I love the show and my Thursday evenings will once again be consumed by it. Season four came out a few weeks ago but I couldn't bring myself to spend money on it so I thought that I would just have to wait until Christmas. On Friday night Dru came home and decided he wanted to buy me something, so....... I now have season four!!! I'm very excited and happy that my sweet husband decided that I needed something new. Yay for great husbands!

Happy Birthday Dru!!!

Today is my sweet husband's 28th Birthday. We are going to dinner tonight to celebrate. I hope he enjoys his day! Since he will probably not let me take any pictures of him tonight I thought I would post pictures of him at random ages. Enjoy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DRU, I LOVE YOU!!!!

This is Dru on our wedding day just coming out of the temple! This is one of my favorite's. (taken by my talented aunt Terri)

I think he's at a picnic but not for sure. It's just a cute pic

I love this picture of Dru and his kitty BJ (stands for Blackie Jr.)

Dru and his sweet mullet!!!

Dru on the mish! I think he looks like a babe!

LA here we come!!!

This last weekend Dru and I were able to take a much needed getaway to none other than Los Angeles, California! One of Dru's mission buddies was getting married and he came to ours so we figured we'd repay the favor. It was a short weekend, but quite adventure filled. We left Idaho Falls on Thursday night and stayed with Dru's brother in Layton because our flight left at 8:30 am on Friday morning. When we arrived in LA we headed straight for our hotel to drop off our things and make a game plan.

We stayed at the lovely Westin Inn where our California King-sized bed was the best thing I have ever slept on in my life!! It was so comfortable and even had a down comforter on the bed! I felt like I was livin the good life except for the fact that we were about 2 blocks from Inglewood. This is a very scary part of town and we accidently drove through it a couple of times. Everyone had iron fences around their entire yard. We locked our doors and got out of there as fast as we could!!!

That afternoon we decided to hit up In N Out Burger for Lunch! It is so yummy there. Then we went and saw the Dark Knight at the IMAX because I had never been to one before (weird I know). The theater that was showing it was huge and amazing I wish I had taken pictures because I have never seen anything like it. After the show we decided to take a drive down RODEO drive in Beverly Hills. I only took one picture there because we did not stop. (I was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and felt extremely underdressed).

That evening we decided to eat at In N Out Burger again because we did not know where anything else was. We did have a GPS that saved our lives many times on the trip, but In N Out was just so close!

Saturday was filled with Wedding things. We woke up bright and early and decided to catch the 7:30 temple session. It is such a beautiful temple and did I mention that it is HUGE!!! The Idaho Falls Temple is around 90,000 sq feet give or take and the LA Temple was around 190,000 sq feet. I was awestruck. After the session we were able to watch Dru's friend Doug be sealed to his wife Kelsey for time and all eternity. It was a great experience. That evening we drove out to Santa Clarita/Valencia area for the reception where Dru ran into some more of his mission buddies. It was neat to meet them and to hear some of the good times that they had in Virginia.

After the reception we got some dinner and Dru of course got In N Out Burger again. I opted for a chicken burger at Wendy's but it was a burger none the less.

Sunday we went to tourist attraction called the 3rd Street Promenade that was filled with shops and musical entertainment on the streets. Dru and I enjoyed the atmosphere although it was very dirty. We took a walk down Ocean Avenue and I was so sad to see how many homeless people there were in a park by the beach. Dru and I had a fun time on our trip, but when it was time to go home we were glad because LA is so dirty and there is too much traffic.

Our plane was also delayed 1 1/2 hours so it made for a really long day. We arrived in SLC at 11:00 pm last night and are still trying to recover from our vacation!

Poor Puppy!!! (and HOUSE)

Today when I came home from work I was greeted by my furry friend as usual. She is always full of energy when we first see her because she has missed us so much. Once she calmed down I saw what appeared to be dirt on her face. This meant she had been digging in our back yard again so I was preparing to find a hole in our backyard and this made me upset. When I WAS able to get a closer look I realized that she had somehow managed to rub some of the skin on her face raw.

I could not figure out what in the world she had done, until I walked into my front room. I went to put all of the throw pillows back on my couch (because Maddie takes them off while we are at work) and noticed blood all over my cushions. I guess Maddie was trying to get something between them and rubbed her face raw in the process, but I can't for the life of me figure out what she wanted. She must have really wanted whatever it was if she was willing to hurt herself in the process. Poor little puppy!

Now my big issue at hand is finding out how to get the blood stains out of my couch. If anyone has any ideas please let me know.

After examining the rest of my house I realize that my front couch was not the only thing to suffer this fate. My other two couches, throw pillows, and a priceless quilt that my grandmother made me were also covered in blood! So far most of this mess is coming out of my furniture, etc. but it has been alot of scrubbing on my part.

A Weekend Away

This last Saturday after Dru finished work, he and I joined my family up at our Cabin in Island Park. That night, my dad, Dru, and I set off to our special fishin spot to kick off our adventures. It is quite a little hike down to our spot but it is not bad because it is downhill, but the way back is a different story.

We enjoyed the evening on the water though the guys didn't have much luck with the fish. My dad caught two little guys and Dru didn't catch anything.

When it was time to leave I decided to get a head start because I am a lot slower than they are. Shortly after I began my walk back to the truck I heard Dru yelling for me. I decided to keep walking and told him that I was not going to turn around so he needed to come to me. He came running after me and I soon found out that there was a black bear not far from where I was and it had just torn up the seats on a couple of four wheelers! I am one lucky duck. I almost had a run in with what sounds like a fiesty bear.

The next day we decided to drive through Yellowstone Park. Dru and I drove ahead with my brother and his friend Nick so that we could stop in West Yellowstone and walk through the shops. Rob and Nick found these Ninja stars and decided that they had to buy them. Rob bought one that was shaped like Batman and the entire time we drove through Yellowstone we were cracking up as they talked about their ninja stars.

On the way back they had to stop back in West and buy a dagger and a spikey ball with a chain attached to it. I'm sure the man in the shop thought they were some crazy, but it was hilarious. We enjoyed our time with them!

I was so excited because we got to see a bighorn sheep while we were in the park. We go through Yellowstone so much that I have seen many animals and my goal is always to see something new. I had never seen a bighorn before so that was neat. Dru and I had a really eventful weekend but we were glad to return home so that we could get some much needed rest.

Dru and Colin Farrell?

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Me & Jennifer Garner?

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Anniversary

This last Monday, August 4th. Dru and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary. It is crazy to think that we have been married for over a year now. In that short amount of time our lives have changed tremendously and there have been many growing experiences along the way. I am looking forward to the next year and feel blessed that I can honestly say that I love my husband more now than I did the day I married him.

Twilight Series

So, for my birthday a couple of weeks ago my little brother bought me the first three books in the Twilight Series (Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse).

I reluctantly started reading them hoping that they would keep my interest enough to get through all three.

I have to say that these books are awesome. I am completely addicted to them. I read all three of the books from my brother and then decided to go buy the last book (Breaking Dawn).

Yep, finished that too. These just might be my favorite books ever. I have a feeling that they are Dru's favorite too because I didn't bother him about doing things all the time, instead I was content to read my books.

If you haven't read these books I suggest that you do because they rocked my world. But, I must warn you that you need to have a fair amount of time set aside to read because you won't want to put them down. I had a very hard time doing anything but read until I finished them.

More Cabin Memories

Maddie and Dru trying to figure out exactly what is out in the woods.

Dru's mom, his brother Trent and wife Sarah, their three boys Nate, Christian and Jameson, our nieces Taitum and Beth, our puppy Maddie, Trent's dog Cocoa, and of course Dru and I.

My brother Rob enjoying himself in a game of LIFE more than words can describe!

Cabin Memories

Dru and I love spending time at my parent's cabin in Island Park. It is such a nice place to get away from reality for a couple of days. There is so much to do there. We enjoy fishing, four wheeling, boatin, snow machining, campfires with smore's and hotdogs, and going through Yellowstone National Park. Here are some pictures from our various trips.

Bitter Sweet

(My Grandmother and I when I was a baby)

My sweet grandmother Carolyn Grimaud passed away Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 7:37 pm. She was only 72 years old. This is a bitter sweet time for all in our family because for the past seven years my grandmother has suffered from Alzheimer's disease. She was an amazing lady who loved everyone she met. She is an angel and I am so sad that she has left this earthly life. However, I am comforted to know that she is in Heaven without pain and with a sound mind. I know that she will be with us always and that someday I will get to see her smiling face again. I love you Grandma and I will miss you very much!