Merry Christmas!

I know this is a few days late, but I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. I hope you had as wonderful a day as we had. My cute sister-in-law left me a message suggesting that a do a new post now that I've decided to go private, so this is for you Jesse. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Happy Anniversary!

Today is my Mom and Dad's 31st wedding anniversary. I just wanted to wish them a Happy Anniversary and I hope they have many, many more wonderful years together. Thanks Mom and Dad for all you have done for me. I appreciate your examples. You mean so much to me and I miss you so much. I love you so much and hope you enjoy spending time together today. Dad, I hope you get feeling better soon. Love you!

A Christmas Carol

Friday evening, Dec. 5th, Jon and I went on our Christmas date. We decided that instead of giving each other a bunch of presents this year, we would go on a fun date. A sister in our stake told me how much fun it is to see the play A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, so we decided we'd do that for our date. We headed up to the cities around 3:30, so we could go out to dinner before the show. We stopped at PF Changs for dinner and we had an excellent meal. Don't you just love their lettuce wraps? Anyway, I went to use the restroom after dinner and when I came back, Jon informed me that he didn't have his wallet. He went out to the car to see if it had fallen out of his pocket, but unfortunately, it wasn't there. The only thing we could think, is that he was so busy getting other things, most importantly our tickets, that he forgot to grab his wallet. I didn't have my purse with me, because I had asked him before we left if I needed to take it with me and he said "No". Here we were sitting in PF Changs having enjoyed a wonderful meal and no way to pay for it. I've seen this happen in the movies, but I wasn't sure what would happen in real life. I finally decided to call my dad and ask him if he wanted to pay for our dinner. Luckily the manager was okay with that and thanks to my dad, we didn't have to spend our evening doing dishes. Thanks Dad! I had to chuckle, I thought it was quite hilarious. Jon didn't find it as funny, until we got home and he saw his wallet safe where he had left it. Anyway, we went to the play and again realized we didn't have any money to pay for parking. We figured we could park on the street, but of course they only have metered parking and they meter until 10pm. We didn't have any change or any other options, so we parked at a meter and took our chances. Lucky for us, it snowed all evening and no one was out metering, so we didn't get a ticket. Someone was looking out for us that night. On the way home, we laughed about our fun adventure, saying it will be a date we will always remember and always be able to laugh about. We need those kind of moments in our lives to remind us to laugh. We had a very enjoyable evening together. Thanks for the fun date, babe!

Merry Christmas

Usually I am very good about making sure we get our picture taken for our Christmas cards each year, but this year has been a little crazy. Between school, work, trips and illness, we just didn't get around to getting our pictures taken. I planned to have someone take pictures of us in the fall when the leaves were all different colors, but the few times I thought we could do it, it was too windy. We just had our first snow fall that has stayed and I am sick with a cold, so the last thing I want to do is go outside in the 16 degree weather and have someone take pictures of us for a Christmas card. Anyway, my family had pictures taken this summer and I didn't like any of the pictures of just Jon and I, so I decided to post a picture of my whole family. I hope you will all forgive me for not sending out Christmas cards this year, but know that we are thinking of each of you this holiday season.

We have had a pretty good year. Jon finished one full year of teaching here at Minnesota State University and is almost done with the fall semester of his second year. He is really enjoying teaching, though it can be frustrating at times. I decided I didn't have enough excitement in my life, so I thought it would be fun to take some classes. I loved school during the first few weeks of class, and then the assignments started. It has been a decent semester, not quite what I was hoping for, but it never is when you still have to take Gen. Ed. classes. I would like to try and get my bachelors degree in Psychology. No, I'm not planning on a career change, I've always enjoyed Psych classes and thought this would be a great time to take advantage of taking classes with free tuition. Jon and I have really enjoyed our first year in Mankato. It is a beautiful place to live, but way too cold for me in the winter. I told Jon, after last winter, when we move again, because we aren't planning to stay here forever, we are moving somewhere warmer. He told me the only place colder than here would be Alaska. I told him if he ever gets a job in Alaska I'm moving to Utah, to be close to family, without him. I hate the cold and here in Mankato it gets really windy, and it blows right through you. I just hate it! Even though I don't like the winters here, there are many positive aspects to living in Mankato. We have made many wonderful friends and we have a great ward. I am primary worker and Jon is the 1st or 2nd counselor in the Elder's Quorum presidency. We really enjoyed our first spring and summer here. The weather was beautiful and almost made up for the cold winter. We are happy and enjoying our time together. We are anxious to start our family, but we are taking advantage of the time we have together. We are hopeful that 2009 will be a promising year for us. We haven't made any decisions about what we are going to do next, but we know we will be guided by the Lord. We appreciate all of your prayers on our behalf, they mean so much to us. We know most of you are as hopeful for us as we are for ourselves. We love and appreciate all of you and all that you do for us. We hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Love, Jon and Tara

It's Christmas time!

One of our traditions, is to put up our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. Jon and I bought a new tree this year, so it was a lot of fun to put it up. It didn't look to big at the store, but we got it put up and realized it's a little bit bigger than we had thought. Oh well, it still looks great. We need to buy a new tree skirt for it, because we threw our old one away last year, it was just a piece of red felt. We also put Christmas lights on our house, for the first time and I was the lucky one who got to get on the roof to put them up. I was a little scared at first, but once I realized I wasn't going to slip right off I was okay, especially if I didn't look directly at the ground. Here are some pictures of our Christmas decorating. We hope all of you have as much fun decorating your homes for the Christmas holiday, as we did. Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm so grateful for a loving husband.

I'm especially grateful for his patience and understanding.

Thanks for all you do for me.

I just wanted to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope all of you had a wonderful day. We spent our Thanksgiving with friends from our ward. Our friends the Jeffreys were kind enough to host us and three other families for the yummy feast. We had excellent food and great company. It was quite a relaxing day for all. I also wanted to mention a few of the things that I am most grateful for. There are many, but here are some of the important ones: a loving Savior, the gospel, my wonderful husband Jon, my family and Jon's family, good friends who have blessed our lives so much, good health, good jobs, and a beautiful comfortable home. I have so much to be thankful for and I know that it all comes from the Lord. I am so grateful that we have this wonderful holiday to give our thanks to our Heavenly Father for all that He has blessed us with.

News Update!

I wasn't sure what to call this post. I thought of calling it baby update, but then everyone would think that I'm pregnant, when in fact it's just the opposite. I am writing this entry for myself and to let all of you know what has been going on with us in the "trying to get pregnant" world. We tried IUI (Intrauterine Insemination) four different times this year, with no success. The last month we tried, was September, after our fun summer trip to Utah. I went in for an ultrasound the end of September and found out that I had a large cyst on my right ovary, so IUI wouldn't be possible for the month of October. I have had a few medical issues that I've wanted to have checked out so I dedicated October as the month to get all those appointments done. First I ended up getting laryngitis and found out that it was caused by reflux, which I had no idea I had. I ended up having a CT of my sinuses to find that my cheek sinuses are a little small and my nasal septum is crooked, nothing serious. I also saw a Gastrointestinal doctor for a check up. The end of September, I ended up having a partial or full bowel obstruction and ended up in the ER. I haven't had a GI doctor for several years, and I haven't had any tests to make sure that things are okay, so I made an appointment. I ended up having an endoscopy scope and found out that everything is just fine. When I went in for my appointment last Friday to discuss the results of the scope, my doctor gave me an article about infertility in women who have had the same surgery that I had when I was 15, due to ulcerative colitis. As I read it, I learned that women who have had this sugery have a higher rate of infertility, about 38% to 44%. You would think that after reading this, I would be even more discouraged, but I wasn't. I was actually quite relieved. Jon and I have been trying for several years to have children and have been unsuccessful. The doctors always tell us that our reports come back normal, so it's been quite frustrating not to know why, until now. We met with Sue, the nurse practitioner we've been working with and the decision was made to completely stop trying IUI. I am at peace with this decision. Jon and I have been praying for guidance and we've definitely been guided. Jon told me yesterday, it's apparent that there is a Master planner who has a specific plan for us. I can attest to that. We have been blessed so much. The Lord has guided us these past several years, and at times, the next step has just fallen in place. We feel that has happened again recently. We have the opportunity to put some money aside pre-tax that could be used for IVF, if that is the decision we choose. Receiving all this information that has lead us to the realization that we probably will never be able to have kids on our own has been a blessing. My mom related a personal story to me yesterday that was another confirmation that our situation is all part of the Lord's plan. He has always known the plan and has been guiding and blessing us along the way. Just recently I have been able to truly accept the idea of adoption or IVF. I feel good about either and I'm finally ready to go which ever route the Lord knows we should take. A year ago I wasn't ready to accept this, I had to go through all the experiences that we've had this year, and the past four years to get to this point. So many things and people have prepared both of us for this day. This weekend, Jon and I are going to fast and take a trip to the temple, to receive some guidance on the next step to take. Both of us feel very good about IVF or adoption. Jon has recently been thinking about adoption a lot. I have thought about both equally, although twice this week I've had experiences that have reassured me about adoption. I know I could be happy with either decision. I truly feel that our turn to have a baby is getting closer. I told my mom, I feel it so close, almost like I could reach out and grab it. I am full of hope and joy! I know the Lord will bless us and guide us until we are blessed to have a baby. Jon has been so strong and has never doubted that we'd ever have children. It took me a while to get to that point too, but I know we will have kids someday, and hopefully that day is coming soon.

Halloween

Jack Parker, the little blue monster.
Kaylee Jeffrey, the snow princess.
Ada Anderson, a cute orange fairy.

Emma Jeffrey, a 70's girl.

Tanner Jeffrey, my buddy as a cute cowboy.

It's hard to see, but he had a beard and mustache painted on him.

It was so cute!

We had a fun week this week. We carved pumpkins with our friends the Jeffreys on Monday. It was a little messy, but we sure had fun. I appreciated the help we got on drawing a face for our pumpkin. I haven't been very good about taking pictures this year, so I don't have a picture of our cute Jack-o-lantern. Wednesday evening was our wards Trunk-or-Treat. Jon and I decided we'd go for the first time. We usually don't go, because we don't have kids, but we thought it might be fun this year, plus it wasn't very cold. Jon handed out candy and I took my little buddy Tanner, who is the cute cowboy up above, around to get candy while his mom handed out candy. I don't know where his dad was, but I had fun with Tanner. Friday, we were invited to a Halloween party. We dressed up as a king and queen. Thanks Carrie for letting us borrow costumes. Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of us. I wanted to wait until after we took the kids trick-or-treating and by the time I got in the house, Jon had already changed. There were four other families, who all have kids and all of us went out with the kids trick-or-treating. It was kind of fun. Again, I had Tanner and by the last house, I kind of got him to say trick-or-treat. He's just learning to talk and it sounded close enough for me. We had a fun Halloween week. We hope all of you had a fun holiday also. I didn't get pictures of all the kids. I'm sure all of you know what it's like to get kids to cooperate for pictures, especially when they have a sack full of candy.

Girls on the Run

The first night we went out for dessert and I got the most amazing peach cobbler.

Doesn't it make your mouth water? It was wonderful!
The gals we trained with, what an amazing group of ladies.
Rebecca, Me, Molly, Carrie and Sheri

The four of us will be starting the program here in Mankato.

This week I got to go to Charlotte, NC for a few days. I was at a Girls on the Run training meeting for two days and I had a great time. Girls on the Run is a wonderful program that was started by Molly Barker. I had the privilege of meeting Molly and what a wonderful, fun person she is. The program is for young girls ages 8 to 13 to teach them how to have a positive self image of themselves and others. Throughout the program we also train with the girls, so that they are able to run a 5k at the end of the 12 week program. I have volunteered to be a coach and I'm also helping to get the program started here in Mankato. I was very inspired after the two day training. It was wonderful to hear Molly's story of what inspired her to start this amazing program. I am looking forward to starting our first season, which will hopefully start sometime after the first of the year. We got to know many of the ladies in our group and the first night after training about ten of us went out to dinner. It was fun to get to know these ladies and to hear some of the stories they had to share. For more information about GOTR, go to their official website at http://girlsontherun.org

Happy Birthday Jon!

Yesterday was Jon's 31st birthday. Being that it was General Conference weekend, we had a relaxing day. After the morning session, we went to some friends the Camps, for brunch. They had invited Jon and I and four other friends. We had french toast, breakfast casserole, fruit and juice. It was perfect! We left the Camp's house to join the Andersons to watch conference at their home. We ended up spending the rest of the evening at the Andersons eating, playing games, visiting and watching a movie.
I also surprised Jon with a birthday party Friday night. Four other couples met us at Olive Garden for dinner, which was a surprise to Jon. We had a great time at dinner, and then we all went to our house for dessert and games. Rita Anderson came up with a matching game using pictures of Jon at different ages. Once a match was made, Jon had to tell us a memory from that time in his life. I also did a slideshow with memories about Jon. I emailed family and friends and asked them to respond with a memory they had of Jon. I then put the memories in to a slideshow and we watched it at the party. It made for some good laughs and everyone got to know Jon a little bit better. Thanks to Carrie and Shannon, we had two wonderful desserts cheese cake and chocolate cake to indulge in, as if we hadn't had enough to eat at dinner. All in all it was a great weekend and Jon had a good time. He got to open his presents at midnight on his birthday October 5th. He just couldn't wait until he woke up, he had to open them before he went to bed. He may be 31, but he's still a kid at heart, when it comes to presents.

Seven Wodnerful Years!

The roses Jon gave me for our anniversary.

Today is our seventh anniversary. I can't believe it's been that long. We've had some wonderful times and some hard times too, but all in all the past seven years together have been wonderful. We have lived in three different states during that time and have made life long friends. We have been so blessed throughout our marriage. We look forward to many, many more years together. Jon surprised me yesterday with 25 beautiful roses. He knows me pretty well by now. I gave him a movie and an MSU hat with a box of Reese's Pieces. We really wanted to do something fun for our anniversary, but the past few weeks have been so busy with work and school for both of us. We didn't get anything planned in time and this past week, Jon has been fighting a cold. It turned out for the better that we didn't plan anything. Jon was able to rest and get over his cold and I spent several hours studying yesterday, which was much needed study time. We did celebrate Friday evening by going to dinner at The Neighbors, a local Italian restaurant that has amazing food. We splurged a little and I left overly stuffed, but it was worth every bite. I just want Jon to know how much I love him and how much I look forward to being with him forever. I love you!

Happiness

I have been in such a great mood today. I just feel so happy and so alive. As I was sitting here eating my breakfast, I thought I'd check my email and then read a few blogs before getting ready. I happened to read my sisters blog this morning and she had a post entitled "Happiness" she wrote exactly what I am feeling, so I am stealing her idea and going to write a few of the small things that are making me so happy today.
-the sun shining and blue skies
-the feel of fall in the air
-a great visit with my nurse practitioner
-a wonderful husband
-just being alive
-the smell of the apple cider candle in my house, it smells wonderful!
-the beautiful view out our sliding glass door
-the cool fall breeze
-my family
Like my sister, I've been reading about other's who have had some tragic losses in their lives lately and yet, they seem to remain so positive. They continue to look for the good in their lives, to look for what still makes them happy. I have been strengthened by their testimonies of the gospel. I have been feeling much closer to the spirit lately, and it has brought me such happiness. I have much to be thankful for. I live in this amazing country, even with all of its problems, we are blessed. I have a wonderful husband who loves and supports me and a family I love so much. We have wonderful friends who make life fun, and the knowledge of a loving Heavenly Father and Savior. What more could I ask for? I hope each of you have a wonderful day too, and can find the little things that make you happy. Thanks Nicole for the idea.

First week of school

As some of you may know, and many of you may not know, I have started going to school again. I have decided I'd like to get my bachelors degree, and with Jon's benefits, I can go without paying for tuition. I was a little nervous about what it would be like, since it's been five years since I graduated with my AAS degree. It's been a pretty good week. I don't think it will be too difficult, but I haven't started my Psych Stats class yet either. As Jon put it, I have my "secret weapon" to get me through the class. I don't know that I would be all that anxious to take the class if I didn't have Jon to help me through. It's been even longer than five years since I took my last math class. Well, wish me luck!

My flowers

Pretty roses

The flaux I thought would die.

Aren't they beautfiul?

After I trimmed the rose bush.

Before I trimmed it.

Can you believe how long that is?

Now that we have our own house, its been fun planting plants and flowers around the house. I planted 3 rose bushes and they have been doing so well. We also transplanted some flaux from our friends and I was sure they wouldn't make it. They were pulling through before we went to Utah, but what a surprise when we got back, to see them in full bloom, covered with purple flowers. I had to take pictures to show my green thumb. Thanks to Shannon for keeping my plants and flowers watered while we were gone, otherwise they probably would have died. Maybe next year I'll try planting a vegetable garden. One of my rose bushes had a new growth that just kept on growing and by the time we got home, it was a little too long. I cut it after I took the picture, but I had to show how well it was growing. Miracle Grow is great stuff. Thanks for the suggestion Dad!

YW Campout

The YW near the waterfall.

Jon standing on the "hiking" path.

Not much of a hike.

Another view of the "hiking" path.

The four young women we "hiked" with.

Friday night, Jon and I got the opportunity to campout with some of the young women in our ward. The girls needed to do some certification and for an overnighter two priesthood holders are needed, so Jon was asked to go and I got to come along. Unfortunately a lot of the girls weren't able to be there, but we had fun with the few that were. We had a yummy dinner, roasted marshmallows for S'mores and played games. I wasn't quite sure what camping in Minnesota would be like, I'm used to camping in the mountains where its quite a bit cooler than in the valley. It was very pleasant at night, but it was a little cold the next morning. After breakfast we drove to the water fall and then we went on a 3 mile "hike". In comparison to the hike we went on in Utah, you can see the pictures on a previous post, this was a nice prairie walk. It was a good walk though. The older I get the more I find things that I don't like about camping. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy it, but the bugs are the number one thing I hate about camping, and there are lots of bugs in Minnesota. All in all we had a good time.

Our prayers are with you

Nathan Belcher

Madalyn Fletcher

While we were in Utah, we received some sad news. First, my cousin Trishelle's little girl was diagnosed with brain cancer just a few days after we got to Utah. We found out the night we got to Utah, that Madalyn was going in for surgery the next day at Primary Childrens hospital. The surgery went well and the surgeon was very hopeful that the tumor was non cancerous. Unfortunately, the report wasn't so positive, she has a rare form of brain cancer. The doctors were hopeful that she would go home after a week to two weeks. It has now been three weeks and Madalyn is still in the hospital. We continue praying each day that she will improve and get better, so she can start chemotherapy treatments. We love you Trish and Terrell and pray that Madalyn will be healed.

I also found out that my good friend Julie, lost her husband to cancer. Nathan was diagnosed in February with stage 4 melanoma cancer and has been fighting it ever since. We were hoping to see Nathan and Julie while we were in Utah, but it just wasn't possible. He passed away on Wed. August 6th. I was saddened by the fact, that I wasn't aware that he had passed away, until after the funeral had occured. I wanted to be there to give Julie my love and support and to tell her how much I care about her. She has two little boys McKay is 2 and Aidan is 5 months old. I pray for her each day that she will have the strength to make it through this difficult time and also, so she can be a strength and support to her sweet boys. I didn't know Nathan well, but the few times I was privileged to meet him, he was so kind. Julie I love you and think about you every day. Our prayers are with you.


I just don't understand why things like this have to happen. I can say that my testimony has been strengthened through knowing that our lives are in the Lord's hands. He truly has a plan for each and every one of us. We may not always understand or agree with His plan, but He truly knows whats best for each of us. I have learned that through not being able to have kids. I don't know why it was Nathan's time to leave this earth, but I know it was the Lord's will. I also know that if it's His will, Madalyn can be healed and one day we can have a baby. In comparison, our trial of not having kids seems minute. I am so grateful for the gospel in my life. It gives me the hope I need to continue on in life and to get through the tough times. I do know that our Savior atoned for each and everyone of us and that He suffered for our pains and afflictions then and He suffers with us now. Trish and Julie, I know the Savior is aware of you and the pain and suffering you are feeling at this time. He feels your pain and suffers with you. I know if we look to our Savior, He will heal our wounds. He loves us and wants us to be happy, but sometimes we have to suffer before we can truly have joy.

Family & Friends

Camille, Macy and Kate
Jon with Macy and Kate. Kate had to sit on Jon's lap.
Mom at her birthday celebration.
Nicole and Scott

When we go to Utah, we stay at my parent's house, so we usually get a lot more time with my family. When we went to Logan, we also got to spend some time with my cousin Camille and her two girls, Macy and Kate. They were so cute, especially Kate. It took her a little while to warm up to us, but once she did, she was Jon's little friend. She even had to sit by him during dinner. It was so fun to see them. They used to live in Las Vegas so we rarely got to see one another. As I said, we spent a lot of time with my family. We had family pictures taken, much to everyone's shagrin. We spent a day at Lagoon, we celebrated mom's birthday, which isn't until the 28th, we watched a lot of the olympics, and we spent a lot of time hanging out and visiting. It was so fun for me to spend so much time with my family. I miss them so much when we are away. I hope someday we will be able to move closer. We did a lot of our visiting others and traveling the first week or so we were in Utah, because Nick, Nicole and Scott were still in school taking night classes. I think Nick and Scott were very grateful Jon was around, because he was able to help each of them study for their Math final. We got to see some of our good friends while we were in Utah also. Our friends, Scott and Melissa were in Utah visiting their family, so we spent an afternoon visiting them and playing games. We also got to see the McMillan's, friends of our who moved from Mankato back to Utah. We miss them a lot and wish they were still here in Mankato. We had a great trip. We were busy most of the time running here and there visiting family and friends and it was worth it. We love you all and enjoyed seeing you!

The hike

Jon & Heather

What a beautiful waterfall!

It was worth all the hard work getting there.

Jon's sister Heather invited us to go on a hike up Bell Canyon. She told us it was a mediocre hike. Boy was she wrong! I guess if you are as in as good a shape as she is, it's not too bad. We aren't in the greatest shape and we certainly aren't used to hiking anymore. We don't have mountains in Mankato. We do easier things like walking on trails or biking on trails, we have small hills, but that's it. Needless to say, we weren't the best hikers. We made it to the beautiful waterfall, but that was after many, many stops along the way. The hike had quite an incline, but it was well worth it. Once we finished, we were starving and sweating. We went to Cafe Rio for lunch and then we went swimming at the pool at my sister's condo. Thanks Nicole for letting us cool off in the pool.

Grandparents

Grandma & Grandpa Stuart with Nick, Nicole and me.
Grandma Reed at Nicole's wedding last year.

Adriana, Me and Dawn are with her.

Abuelita at Nicole's wedding last year.
Grandma Tolman all dressed up for a skit. I'm sure she'd love this picture!

One of the greatest things we got to do, was visit all of our grandparents. Not all of them are in Utah, and they don't all live in the same town either, so we got to travel a little to see each of them. Between Jon and I, we have five sets of grandparents. Jon's grandma Tolman is the only one of his grandparents still living. All three of my grandmothers are alive, but Grandpa Stuart is the only grandpa I have still living. Since we don't get to see them very often, we thought we would make the effort to see each of them this trip. We had such a great time visiting them. We first drove to Pocatello to spend a day with Grandma Tolman, then the following week we drove to Logan to see Grandma Reed and Abuelita (my mom's mom). The day after we got back from Logan, Grandma and Grandpa Stuart came over for dinner and spent the evening with us. We love you all very much! It was so fun to see you.

Harper family

Ashley tuckered out from chasing dragonflies.
Kenzie pretending to play the Wii.

Dustin, my little buddy!
Junior trying to read the paper.
Aidan looking so innocent.
Austin cute as can be.
The two trouble makers, Braden and Asa.

We spent a full weekend with Jon's family. It was a lot of fun, and we got to bounce from house to house spending the night at two of his brother's homes and his sister Jenn's house. We, I say we, but mostly the boys had a great time playing the Wii that Amber requested we bring. We ate, played games until way too late and enjoyed being together. Thanks everyone for letting us stay with you. We had a fun time seeing everyone, especially all of the kids. We love seeing our nieces and nephews, because we don't get the chance to see them very often. They sure love playing with their uncle Jon, especially when he has fun video games to play.

Girls craft day

Look at all the fun!
All of the girls, minus Amber who is taking the picture.
The finished products. My tin pail and the cute card Amy made.

My sweet sister-in-law Amber organized a craft day just for the girls. All of the guys got to spend the day with the kids. We had such a great time, knitting, scrapbooking, making cards, decorating pails and of course eating. We had wonderful food and great company. I think some would have liked to accomplish more than they did, but we still had a great time. I decorated a tin pail and I got to take home a cute card that Jon's cousin Amy made for me. I also spent some of the time teaching my sister-in-law Heather how to knit. How is your hat coming along? Thanks Amber for organizing such a fun afternoon. We'll have to do it again another time when we are in Utah. Seeing all of the cute scrapbooks that my sisters-in-law have done, really got me wanting to start scrapbooking too, so I bought an album and I'm going to start with our wedding pictures. We'll see how it turns out.