Getting Ready for Christmas!

Christmas is almost here.  Jon and I have had fun getting ready for Christmas and meshing our different traditions. We decided to buy a new Christmas ornament to put on our tree to mark our 1st year together.  It is of course a "bell."  -- a jingle bell.  I wrote our names and the date on the bottom of it.  I think it is a tradition we will make, to buy a bell for the tree each year.  Jon has been like a little boy at Christmas.  He is so excited about buying gifts, but he has a hard time keeping them a secret.  I am afraid that by the time Christmas morning comes I will either already have all of the things he bought me or at least know what they are.  It worries me about how he going to keep Christmas secrets from our kids some day.  I am doing the 12 days of Christmas for him.  It has been fun to watch him open a little thing each day.  They are cheap and corny, but it has been fun.

Nieces and Nephews

Jon has quickly become one of the favorite Uncles in our family.  He loves to play with the kids.  If we don't get asked to babysit he is asking or planning a time to go over and play.  They love him!  I think its because he is part kid.  He rough houses with them.  We spent some time with Jorgen and Ahli at Leo's Place for Ahli's friend's birthday party.  I think Jon had just as much fun as the kids.  We've had Cole, Kyle, and Breanna over and played in the leaves.  Their favorite thing to do is to use Jon as a Jungle Gym.  If Breanna is crying Jon can get her to calm down much faster than I can.  Jon and I took Haylee, Jorgen, and Ahli to the school carnival.  Afterwards we came back to the house and the girls and I made crafts while Jon and Jorgen watched Cars 2.  It used to be when I would walk into the house my nieces and nephews would yell "AUNT JEN" like they were excited to see me.  Now they yell Jon's name, or if he isn't with me they ask, "Where's Jon?"  Aunt Jen comes in second place now!

Owning a Home is WORK!

Tree limbs hanging above garage.

Jon has taken on a big project.  We didn't realize what a big project our trees would be when we bought our house.  The south side of our home has a beautiful Elm Tree that hasn't been very well maintained.  Some of the branches were hanging over our garage and scratching the roof when the wind blew.  Jon borrowed Wayne's chain saw and with help from Randy, Wayne, and Jon's Dad they successfully cut down the intruding branches.  It turned into a project that we thought would take a couple of hours on a Saturday to a 3-4 day job with lots of enlisted help.  We are so grateful to our supportive family who stepped in to help us out.  I am especially grateful that there were no major injuries as a chainsaw was used, ladders were climbed, and huge branches fell from the sky!

Emotion Bowl

September 30, 2011- Jon and I went to the Emotion Bowl this year.  Neither of us had been since our Senior year 12 years ago.  Since we live so close and hear all of the games we decided that we would either be part of the game by hearing it from our house or actually being there to enjoy it.  We didn't think to go early because we were within walking distance.  By the time we got there the only seat available was in the student section.  This meant a night of standing to watch the game.  It was well worth it.  It was fun to see all of the excitement and cheer for the obviously superior Skyline Team.  They didn't let us down.  We won 50 to 34.  The goal posts are a beautiful blue!

Beginning a Blog

This blog thing is new to me.  I've heard a lot about them, but never had much success in creating one.  So if there are any suggestions, I'll take them.  Jon and I have been married for 6 weeks now.  We are loving it and thank Heavenly Father everyday for making us a family.  I'm excited to record some of our memories together as we are learning to blend our lives together.