And the Crowd Goes WiLd!

GO UTES!

Brock and I had season tickets to the Utah games this year, and therefore were able to go to the game on Saturday. It was so much fun. We left the munchkins with Brock's parents (thanks again)and were able to just enjoy the game and not worry that they might not be warm enough, etc. I haven't said anything about the games and how well Utah was doing this season up until now because I was afraid of jinxing them, but WOW! What a fun year it has been! I was a little worried going in, that I might witness a fight or two (including my sweet husband) since there are usually a lot of BYU fans intermingled with the Ute fans, but there was only one lone BYU fan about 10 rows up from us. Poor guy. Everyone was giving him a hard time. I guess he deserved it though. I was surprised at how few there were. Anyway, the game was mostly enjoyable, a little stressful the first half, but then we pulled away and we were able to just have fun. There was one Utah fan right behind me that had WAAAAAYYYYY to much to drink before the game and just sat there with his eyes barely open while everyone around him stood the whole time. Then he thought he had better stand up and cheer at one point, but he lost his balance and fell on me! I screamed and tried to get out of the way while Brock pushed him back into his own row and his buddys got him sitting down again. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little freaked out. I looked back at him a few times to make sure he wasn't going to puke on me and one time he was just sitting there with his eyes closed, his face upward, and a smile on his face. I just wonder what the heck is the point of coming to the game like that? Idiot. His friends finally decided he was too drunk to be there, and left with him.
I got to work this morning to find out that I had won the contest from last week, and had guessed the closest final score of the game! Woo Hoo! I got a gift card to Gap Kids. Excellent. I guessed that it would be 34-24 for Utah, and thought for sure I was guessing way too high, but I guess not!

GO UTES!

House Tag

I was tagged by the cute Jill (Porter) Harkness about a month ago, and I took the pictures then, but finally got around to posting about it!
This is a tag that you have to do right NOW! No cleaning, or fixing anything, including your makeup or hair! Go around your house and take pics of the following as they appear RIGHT NOW and then post them! NO CHEATING!

LIVING ROOM:
This is where you will find us most of the time. Our couches are so big, and practically take up the whole room, but they are definitely comfortable. Many a nap has been had in this room. And yes, Brock painted that wall himself. Well, I helped a little bit.



YOUR KIDS OR ANIMALS:

I forgot to take a picture of them when I actually did this tag a month ago, so here is a cute one of my two favorite munchkins loving each other.



YOUR KITCHEN:
The flowers on the counter were a gift from Brock when I got back from my first day of work. Gotta love that man!



A PICTURE OF YOU RIGHT NOW:
About to leave for work. I still have tired eyes.



FAVORITE ROOM:
This is where all the magic happens! Ha Ha! I always wanted to be on MTV's CRIBS, and that's what they always say right?
This is the view from the door:


And this is into the bathroom:



CLOSET:
Note to self: Next house, bigger closet!



LAUNDRY ROOM:
'Nuff said.



FRIDGE:
This is where you can find Jace most of the time. He loves to open the doors and just look around. And he's thirsty all the time, he always needs a drink.




This is a fun way for me to see the homes of others! I tag Jenny Bonham, Jenny Goff, Ali Berrett, Melanie Phillips, Ashley Aoki, and anyone else who's house I have never seen, or anyone who wants to!

Thank You

I just want to thank everyone who posted on my last crazy post. Sorry to have been so serious. I really love listening to everything you have to say. I learn a lot by questioning why things are the way they are. You know, sometimes I wish I could be "better" about just having faith in the Lord and His prophets and apostles. Just take what they say and not question them, or need to know the exact reasoning behind certain things, and know that in the end things will "all work out for our good". But I just don't... yet, at least. That is something that I am working towards, but in the mean time, I will keep asking questions about everything and learn along the way. Perhaps one day I will have that kind of faith. Thank you all, and keep helping me endure to the end.

On a Serious Note, Here Goes Nothing...

For some reason, I have always had a hard time discussing gay people. I have been taught that to be gay is wrong and we do not tolerate it. I have always had a problem with this. As proposition 8 has passed, (I’m supposed to be thrilled) this issue has been on a lot of people’s minds, and our church has been at the forefront of several discussions. I have been reading this month’s Ensign, and found a talk to be especially interesting. I really like a most of them, but this one fits this subject. It is the talk by Elder Robert D. Hales titled, “Christian Courage: The Price of Discipleship”. I have had many talks with friends and family about why it’s wrong to be gay, and every explanation given to me doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t even have any close relationships with gay people, I know several, but I have never discussed any of this with them. I just feel so bad for them. I try to put myself in their shoes, and can’t imagine anyone telling me who I can or cannot love. I have said this to my closest friends and family before, but, for those of you who are not gay, try to imagine if someone tried to tell you that it was wrong for you to love your spouse, or date who you’re dating, or, in my case, love a man. What would you do? Can you imagine how hard that would be? Your body and mind are attracted to one thing, but supposedly, you are supposed to love another. I just don’t feel it’s anyones’ place to tell us who we should love. I know I am going against everything the church teaches. That this is their particular trial, and as hard as it may be, they are to endure this and if they are strong enough they will find a way to marry in the temple, have children, and live a happy “normal” life. Those gay people that I do know have to deal with this every day. It is not something that you get over. That you get used to and move on. It is a daily struggle for their entire lives. Trust me when I say that I am so grateful that this is not my trial. To those of you who don’t feel the way I do, may I just say that I am not trying to start an argument, or say that we, as a church, should change our position on this. I am just trying to get those of you who are quick to judge, and call them bad, or wrong, or dirty, or gross, or whatever you may think of them to not judge. To love them, and be grateful that you are not struggling with what they are. In this talk it states that “Some people mistakenly think responses such as silence, meekness, forgiveness, and bearing humble testimony are passive or weak. But to “love our enemies, bless them that curse us, do good to them which despitefully use us, and persecute us” takes faith, strength, and most of all, Christian courage.” It says “As true disciples, our primary concern must be others’ welfare, not personal vindication.”
“True disciples avoid being unduly judgmental of others’ views.” President Monson has taught, “Let us learn respect for others…None of us lives alone—in our city, our nation, or our world.” “We are always better staying on the higher ground of mutual respect and love.” “Whatever someone’s race, creed, religion, political persuasion, (and I will add sexuality) if we follow Christ and show forth His courage, we must love them. We do not feel we are better than they are.”
I know that this is quite a post, and I do not usually post about anything but my kids, but this is something that has been on my mind a lot lately, and I just wanted to share my thoughts on it. I get really bugged when people jump at the chance to bag on other people. And the next time this issue comes up in your conversation, take a moment to put yourself in their shoes and think carefully about what you are saying.
Let me know what you think. Good or bad. And who knows, we didn’t used to let black men hold the priesthood because “the world wasn’t ready for it” so maybe one day, when the world is ready, this won’t be an issue anymore either.

The Weather Outside is FRIGHTFUL!

It's always around this time of year that Brock and I have a conversation about how we can get ourselves out of Utah, and somewhere that snow has never been seen. Our conversation usually goes something like this:
Jennie- I HATE being cold!
Brock- I know, so do I.
Jennie- I HATE the snow!
Brock- I know, so do I.
Jennie- I HATE Utah!
Brock- I know, so do I.
Jennie- Lets move to Hawaii.
Brock- Okay.
Jennie- No seriously, lets move to Hawaii!
Then Brock has to bring me back to reality, and remind me that its just not going to happen.
There are just not enough reasons to make me like winter in Utah. I love a white Christmas, but even if it just snows during the night so we have snow on the ground in the morning, and then it melts by afternoon, that would be great. Skiing, snowboarding, sledding, they're okay, but the majority of my time is not spent doing those fun things. I just wish I could live in Hawaii every winter, and here every summer. Of course, since I'm wishing, I wish everyone I knew lived in Hawaii, then I wouldn't have to ever come back to Utah!

Happy Halloween!

This year we had so much fun for Halloween. I'm always grateful that we have several events to go to. It makes me feel like the money I spent on costumes was worth it. Or at least a little more worth it. We missed our ward trunk-or-treat since we were in California, but went to my mom and dad's ward. Everyone thought it was so fun to see the boys since they haven't seen me in years. Jace visited every car twice, and Nixon even got to get his own bag full. Thanks Nixon! Daddy and I will really enjoy all that candy!
The daycare that Jace and Nixon go to is the Woods Cross High School day care, run by Brock's mom Shauna, and every year they go around to all the classrooms and go trick-or-treating. This was the first year I couldn't go with them, since I had to work. But I hear that they had fun without me. Shocking. More candy for mom and dad.
Friday Aunt Natalie took the boys to Brock's work Halloween party, and then Brock brought them to mine. They got to do more trick-or-treating, and we got a chance to show off our cute boys. Something I really hate doing ;) Then it was off to Grandma and Grandpa K's, Aunt Brenda's, and then Granny and Grandpa Sanders. Needless to say, we are all a little sick today.
I really look forward to Halloween every year, but even more now that I have children. They just seem to make everything a lot more fun!

P.S. If you look below, there are finally pictures from our California trip. I knew it would take forever for me to post them! Sorry.

WARNING: A ton of pictures from California