Moving ... back

Our lives have been crazy for about 6 months... but the good news is that we're getting back to normal. Back in October we packed up our entire lives and put everything in storage in Denver with the intention of moving out there in January and starting a new job out there.

But after months and months of waiting for the job to come through (which Comcast said would happen quickly) we decided last week that we were done putting our lives on hold. Jon found a job as the IT administrator for a charter school here in Utah. I, consequently, am going to be working there next year as well. Hallelujah! No more Denver! So last week we flew out to Denver, packed up a U-haul, and drove back through Wyoming and into "Zion". :) Now we're house hunting and loving every minute of it!

We didn't document the trip very well... the only picture we got was of a nasty no-tell motel in Wyoming. Ew...

Dogs and First Graders

Every week we do a "Student of the Week" where the kids bring in a poster and take a few minutes at the end of the day to tell the class all about themselves. It's pretty cute what they come up with. Last week was Dax's turn. This kid is hilarious - so hyper and crazy. He was so excited to tell about his poster that I pretty much just stood aside and let him go for it.

His favorite part was telling about his puppy Buster. Someone asked what kind of dog it was, and Dax told them it was a Shih-tzu. "A WHAT?" they all asked. Several kids tried to say it: "Shut-sit?" "Shoe-zit?" "Shut-zoo?" Dax was getting frustrated, so he yelled "SHIT - ZOO! SHIT - ZOO! SHIT - ZOO!" with a definite pause between the syllables. And all the kids were repeating it at the top of their lungs in pure first grade style.

Not one of them realized they were swearing - that's how sweet my little babies are. But I was dying. I had to pretend I was writing on the board and bite my finger so I didn't die laughing right in front of them.

The best part? My door was open and a third grade class was walking by. :) I'm so getting fired!

Seattle Pics

Sorry to any of you who were actually interested in seeing some pics from Seattle. I think I worked out the kinks and a smaller version of our web gallery is finally up. Cross your fingers and spin around twice while patting your head and rubbing your stomach ... and it may work. Go to gallery.mac.com/bon.jon

Thanks!

Happy Birthday to Bonnie!

I just have to tell you how cute Jon is. He made my birthday so special! We went to the gym in the morning and ran three miles, which I felt was an awesome way to start my 27th year of life!!! (Crazy, now I'm in my upper twenties - ahhhhhh!)

Then we were off to do something, but the only hints he gave me were that I should wear kind of grubby clothes and not put on makeup because we were going to do a service project. He also told me that it was downtown by the Gateway Mall. So, as we ate lunch at a place called "The Soup Kitchen" I thought I was very smart in figuring out that we were going to feed the homeless. It all made sense because we had talked about going to do that anyway, and it's right next to the mall. So Jon let me believe that and I tried to convince myself that it was a cool idea for a birthday.

Anyway, we drove downtown and right past the shelter. Huh? It turned out that Jon and scheduled a couple's massage for us in the mall. He even made Creme brulee, my favorite, for them to bring in to us afterward. It was the perfect way to enjoy my day. Then we had dinner with my family and called it a night... not too eventful, but absolutely perfect!

Seattle Rocks!

We decided to get away for the weekend, and since we didn't know where we wanted to go, we just searched where the airlines flew for pretty cheap. As soon as we saw Seattle on the list, we knew it was a winner!
The trip was amazing. We ate the most expensive meal of our lives (accidentally) at Morton's Steakhouse, because we didn't know what it was and felt stupid leaving after the prices were given to us in the "Verbal Menu Presentation". So funny! (Go to www.mortons.com for an idea of what we paid!)
We fell in love with the people, the scenery, the seafood, and the artsy feel of the city. Even church was fun there! Here are some of our favorite finds:
1. The Crab Pot - a place where they throw your seafood feast on the table and you just dig in!
2. Pike Place Market - so many fun things to do and see that we went back three times.
3. The Seattle Aquarium - it would have been more fun with kids, but we loved it anyway!
4. Smith Tower - A way cheaper way to see Seattle than the Space Needle, though that was awesome, too.
5. The Underground Tour - a bizarre little tour that shows how crazy and inventive the early Seattle-ites were to solve a fire and toilet flushing problem in their little marsh city. Basically there's a city under the city and we go to see it!

6. The Wexley School for Girls - though it's not actually a school, it gave us lots of fun photo ops and their website is awesome. www.wexley.com

7. Todai - the BEST sushi buffet we've ever seen. Good sushi, plus desserts, a hot food bar, and a killer view of the commercial district. SWEET!
8. The Aurora Bridge Troll - a glob of concrete shaped into a troll that was actually commissioned by Seattle City Council to "encourage a bond and artistic feel in the city" or something like that. It was pretty awesome.

I can't wait to go back. There is so much to do and see, plus my skin has never felt softer. Utah is so dang dry! For more pics of our trip, go to gallery.mac.com/bon.jon and you can see our favorites.

Christmas!!! ( I know i'm a little late!)

It may be January something (I don't even know the date today!!) but I just have to put in a few pictures to share with you the joy we felt during the holidays. We spent time with Jon's family, my family, my extended family, and lots of friends. We are definitely blessed with great people in our lives.
Here are some highlights of the season -
a. An ugly sweater party where I took home the ugliest sweater prize (thanks Bob and Caity!)
b. A Scrollie lunch at Paradise Bakery - it's a miracle that we all still get together!

c. Helping our friend Emily move into her first home - yay!
d. My class Christmas party that included snowman ornaments, cookies and games - they were SO excited they couldn't even sit still.
e. Christmas eve with my family - new jammies, dancing, and silliness... Oh, and the reading of the Nativity. We don't act it out anymore! (Darn.)

f. Opening gifts with both of our families. It is way more fun when babies are involved.

g. Snowmobiling, games and GUITAR HERO the day after Christmas. Good way to come down slowly from the Christmas high
.
h. New Years Eve with Caity, Bob, and Eric. We got pretty good at Guitar Hero since we played it with these guys ALL NIGHT on their big screen. Awesome!
Happy Holidays!

My new hobby

So I decided I finally wanted to try something new to be domestic. I figure I should at least try. So I bought a little sewing machine that is for like 12 year olds or middle school home ec classes. It's not fabulous, but it did its job. I made three pairs of baby shoes. They're not fabulous, but my neice Saige seems to like them! One small drawback... the Christmas ones are slippery AND sticky so she slides around and stops really fast. Kinda funny, but kinda scary. At least she'll grow out of them soon! The flower pair has a vinyl bottom so they are easier to walk in. Yay for sewing! (see babytidbitz.blogspot.com for my friend Lisa's page. She's the one who showed me how to sew these ... hers are DARLING!)