Presidential Primary

Hello friends!!

With the presidential primary election almost upon us, I thought I'd be remiss if I didn't share my opinions about Ron Paul. We are strongly supporting him. He's the only candidate who is a true constitutionalist and looks to that sacred document for every political decision he makes. I suggest reading about the issues on his website: http://www.ronpaul2008.com/ and you can also see him in an interview with John Stossel. It's about 40 minutes, I think. http://www.abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=3978940&page=1

I won't overwhelm you with information (you can check out the links on the right side of the blog for more info--the YouTube clips are great), and want you to know that I will OF COURSE respect your personal decision as to who you feel will best lead our country.

He isn't a front runner....YET! He is rapidly gaining support across the country as Americans wake up to the freedoms we've lost over the last century. We have hope that if we can get his message out to enough citizens, that *maybe* he can still win the GOP nomination.

We hope you'll check him out! If you like what you see--please spread the word!

Happy New Year!!

Love,

Jenn and Andrew

A New Camera!

Yay! For Christmas, we got a family present--a new digital camera! Andrew can, of course, use it for his photography, and I can use it to take much better pictures of Kate! I'll have to figure out how to use it, of course...We were just using auto (before Andrew read the manual) and the flash is so intense that it REALLY freaked/irritated Kate. Poor kid. The first two pictures were taken with the manual settings, so it didn't bother her!

The first two pictures were taken at Andrew's dad's house. His dad has an amazing talent--he can play the piano by ear. He's hoping Kate has the same gift. We'll see!

Merry Christmas!!

Sunday Clothes

I just love these smiles!

I'm sure I have stuff to say, but my mind is drawing a blank! And since I actually have a second to blog--I'll just quickly post a couple pictures from last Sunday. I thought Kate looked so cute in this little outfit I got her at Old Navy. Old Navy was having like a 50% off sale--so it was pretty darn cheap. I got her cute little shoes, too--but of course, they didn't stay on her for long!

Ohhh...now THAT is sweet!!

I was raised by the champion gift-wrapping mother of all time. She would always (and still does) go to great lengths to make our gifts wrapped in the most beautiful way imaginable: shimmering paper, glistening bows/ribbons, classy tags--you name it. Getting her gorgeous packages has been one of my favorite things about Christmas--it always made me feel so special. Since getting married, I have tried to carry on the tradition (even though I am no where near as good at it as my mom). Andrew, though, has never quite understood what the big deal was about the wrapping paper itself. You just take it off and throw it away, right? But to me, it is a large part of the gift! It sits glowing under the tree for days before opening. Last year, when my mom stayed with us after I had Kate, she had made the house so beautiful with Christmas decorations, treats, and presents--that Andrew really started to get a taste for it all.

Anyway, Andrew has always been just finishing with finals right before Christmas--ever since we got married. He had taken this semester off, though, in case we sold our house and had to move. So he actually had time yesterday to spend the day shopping for me! He came home and then I went out to run some errands of my own.

When I came home, there were four beautifully wrapped presents scattered in the hallway outside of our basement apartment. Andrew was upstairs trying to find tags to put on them. As I went into our apartment, I saw on the computer screen a paused video that was labeled "How to Wrap a Gift." I almost started crying. It is really one of the sweetest things Andrew could have done for me. He did a fantastic job! He's the best!

Kate's B-day Clothes

I wanted to show my mom how Kate looked in the cute oufit she got for her. The last picture is Kate's new frowny face. When she disapproves of something or if she wants something she can't have, this is the look she'll give you. Sometimes she just makes this face to be funny, I think--because a second later she will be happy as ever. It makes us laugh, though, whenever she makes it.

A Look Back at Kate's First Year

Tuckered Out

I just got done posting all her birthday stuff, when I went to see what she was up to. She was passed out cold on the floor. She is so cute!

Birthday Video

Here's another version of Kate's pig noise. There are four other people making pig noises, which is a little strange. But hers is cute--so watch for it!

Kate's FIRST Birthday!!

Kate got a chocolate chip cookie and a glass of milk for her first birthday treat.

She only had a few sips of the milk and after a few bites of cookie, she started tossing it overboard. We have never given her sweets (a few tiny bites of pie has been the most she's had), so I guess she hasn't developed her sweet tooth yet. I hope she never does!

Kate got a cute shirt and jeans from Grandma Marge and Papa Nick, a baby doll from Great Grandma and Grandpa Farnsworth, and blocks, a book, and a movie from us. She was so excited about every present that it was hard to get her attention to open the next one. She didn't like having the clothes held up to her--but she liked them all the same. :)

I tried to think of something fun for her to do during the day, but couldn't think of anything--December is a hard time of year to have a birthday. We ended up just running some errands as a family--which is fun by itself. She especially loved being at the movie store--pulling out all the candy from the stands, and ripping DVDs off the shelves as she walked up and down the aisles. I guess we really do have a toddler on our hands now!

I can't believe how fast this last year went! So much happened! I love my family!

Moving In

So it's harder than I realized--moving from a house back to an apartment. We have a LOT of STUFF. Poor Kate--I had no idea where her pants were. By the way, she looks exactly like Andrew in this picture. Weird.

Walking!

Kate's really been walking well for a couple weeks now, but I haven't been able to post anything because everything's been so CRAZY. Things are finally settling down, though there are still boxes everywhere. We can at least walk around a little bit.

In this video, I also got Kate on tape doing her piggy imitation. It's the only animal she ever tries to do. We think it is so funny.

Last post for a few days...

We are right in the middle of boxing everything up, so just wanted to let you all know that there won't be a post (probably) for a little while until we get settled again in our apartment. We're living in Andrew's grandparents' basement for five months and then will try to get into Wymount in the summer unless we find somewhere cheaper.

Things are crazy here right now. Thanks for offering your cars. We were able to borrow Andrew's grandma's car for the next few days until our Chevy Nova is fixed. We're renting a moving van on Saturday. So things should work out. Once we get everything moved out, then we will finish a few things on the house we haven't done yet (painting trim, etc.)

Have a nice week!!

Close Call: Thankful to BE ALIVE

Well, our Thanksgiving trip to Colorado to stay with Andrew's mom was great. Our trip back wasn't so much. It's about a four hour trip to Grand Junction, CO--where Andrew's mom lives. We left around 6pm and were about 3 hours into our trip--an hour from Provo. Andrew stopped at a gas station to take a break (as he had driven both ways). I felt bad and offered to drive the last hour. He, of course, took my offer and went to the back seat to play with Kate (who, by the way, did very well for her first road trip).

The last hour of this drive is mostly winding around in Price Canyon at 60 mph. I was probably only driving for 20 minutes when out of nowhere a GIANT deer was right in front of me!! I don't think I had time to even scream, but I know my foot went to the brake pedal (not sure how much I was able to slow down. Andrew said he didn't notice anything wrong until I hit the brakes). For any of you who have been in a big car accident (I had been in one when I was 16), there's this strange moment right when you realize what's about to happen and then it happens. But inside that moment is a lot of surreal slow motion and feeling like this is your last moment alive. Luckily, the deer did not go through the windshield! Thank goodness we have a Saturn with a hood that has a sharp high to low curve and not a gradual one. The windshield cracked, but didn't break.

I don't remember pulling off to the side of the road, but somehow I was there. We were all frozen in a state of shock, breathing heavily, and Kate was crying (she was fine--thank heavens!). The deer didn't make it, though. The person driving behind us stopped immediately to see if we were all okay. It took me a minute to realize that we were. Luckily, our car was still drivable and we weren't stranded in the middle of nowhere an hour from home. I switched back with Andrew and he drove the rest of the way. Our main headlights were out, but the brights on one side worked.

I'm a little sore today, but that's all. I couldn't even think about our damaged car until I got home. As I sat back with Kate in the back seat, tears filled my eyes---I was just so grateful no one was hurt. As we had left Colorado, we had forgotten to say a prayer together (Andrew, me, and Andrew's brother), so I just said a little one to myself and prayed for safety. Heavenly Father definitely answered my prayer. Not only were we unharmed, but our car was able to get us back home again.

After we got home, Andrew said that maybe it was a good thing because he wouldn't be able to work this week (with the car broken) and so he'd be able to work hard on us getting packed up and moved (we'll need to borrow a car to move, though...). We have to be out this Friday (assuming everything goes through). If we didn't have the money coming in from the sold house, we wouldn't even have any money to get the car fixed.

Anyway, hope everyone had safe Thanksgiving travel! I'll post a couple pictures from our trip later.

Shirt Play

Hee hee. So Kate loves putting blankets and clothing of any kind on her head. Whatever she can find, really. The funny thing is, she doesn't just do it to play "peek a boo." Most of the time, it seems, she just enjoys going about her other business with a shirt on her head. Maybe she thinks of it like a cape or something. Too cute.

By the way, we'll be in CO for the long weekend visiting Andrew's mom. So I'll blog later. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!

Our Cute Little Baby Boy??

Today, we had our heater repaired and the repairmen were really taken with Kate. I wasn't here, but Andrew said they went on and on about what a cute little boy we have. Andrew said they were so nice, he didn't have the heart to tell them. So when they came back later (and I was there), Andrew reminded me NOT to say anything about her being a girl, since he had let them believe she was a boy. I thought it was pretty funny, but played along. One of the men told me, "You have a very cute boy. And he's a REAL boy--he loved playing with my tools earlier." I just smiled and gave Andrew a look. Hee hee. The guy had asked Andrew "his" name, but Andrew somehow avoided answering. Heh, heh.

This is what she was wearing when they saw her--I'll admit it's kind of boyish. But still--I think she has such a girl face and voice. But that's just me!

SOLD!!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After biting our nails all day waiting to hear--we finally got the call at 8:30pm! They accepted our counter offer!! Woohoo!!!!!!!!!! The blog is one of the first to know! :)

So...since we just have a couple weeks to move out--anyone know of a place? Heh, heh...

Peek a boo!

One of Kate's favorite activities is to play "peek-a-boo." There have been a couple of times where she will put a blanket over her head when I'm not in the room. I'll come back several minutes later and she will still have the blanket on her head! Ha! She patiently waits for me to return. So fun.

The Smile That Keeps Growing...

Kate's smile is just the cutest thing, I think. It seems to be getting bigger and bigger each day. It doesn't just affect her lips--no way. Her entire face erupts--sometimes her body does, too. She likes to throw her arms around when she's really feeling good. What a sweetheart! It's impossible to be in a bad mood with that face around!

An Offer!

Over the weekend, Andrew and I decided to lower the price on our house a little bit more. We really just want to sell fast so Andrew can go to school full-time next semester (which is quickly approaching). So we had our agent call the people back that had come to see it, and within an hour the couple that had come most recently was at our house. After a LONG weekend, they made an offer today. They really came in pretty low, so we made a counter offer this afternoon. We won't go any lower. We'll just wait it out until next year. So, we'll see! I guess they are really in a hurry to move in because their apartment contract is up Dec. 1st. I guess they haven't even pre-qualified yet for a loan--which is kind of weird. So, we hope they accept our offer and qualify for a loan!

It's pretty exciting. It's not as much as we had hoped (in the beginning) to get, but it's still enough that we can pay off our debts (phew!), Andrew can finish school, and I can stay at home (wherever that may be now--we'll need to find a place in a hurry!) with Kate. :) I know a kid at work that just got a job as a proof reader for BYU Independent Studies. It's a part time job that he can do from home. Sounds perfect for me! If we move soon, I will probably apply. That would be nice to have a little more income.

The Music House

We had another showing tonight. It was already pitch black outside, so at least they couldn't see the neighbors. I decided to leave some classical music on (my sister said a lot of people have music on when showing their house). But when I came back, I realized the music was really loud. Oops! I had had it on while I was cleaning, so I didn't realize how loud it was. They'll probably refer to it as the "Music House." Oh well. I'm trying my best here!

Happy Birthday to ME :)

Technically, it's no longer my birthday and logically, I should be in bed right now--but the birthday fun must live on (well, for a few more minutes anyway--I really am tired).

Phew. 28. Huh. That's old. A friend at worked teased me about being 30--but let's face it--I might as well be. On the other hand, the night before my birthday I was overwhelmed with a feeling of gratitude for how long I've had so far. I've been able to do and see a lot already and look forward to a lot more when people way back in the day would be wrapping things up right about now.

Anywho, today was pretty great. Work gave me the day off and Andrew had the day off, too. So we went up to SLC and saw the Joseph Smith Restoration movie at the Legacy theater. I've been wanting to see that for a while now. It was kind of tough with Kate, but we were able to see most of it. We really enjoyed it. Then our friends, Stephanie and Mike, were sweet enough to watch Kate while Andrew and I went out on a date. Our dates are few and far between--so we really appreciated it! Such good people.

We went to Shoots (a really yummy Chinese restaurant in Provo) and then saw Dan in Real Life (pretty predictable, but still enjoyable and funny). Andrew and I laughed harder in that movie than we have in a movie for a long time. And to top it all off--Andrew gave me Seinfeld Season 9 (the final season--sniff sniff). It actually came out today! Perfect timing.

Thanks to everyone's calls and cards (Paul--your message really made us laugh). You're the best!

WATCH OUT!! Jenn's on the CRACKdown!

I made my first 911 call today (on purpose--I have called them on accident before). There were some gang bangers right in front of my house passing a joint around (it wasn't a cigarette--I guess there are other possibilities). I was slightly perturbed by this (we have someone coming to look at the house in a few hours) as they were looking all around all suspicious (uh, one hint to ya fellas is to not stand in front of a house with open windows in the middle of the street--but whatever) and decided to call 911. I felt kind of stupid as I was talking to the operator--as it's not really an emergency...but I figured if they had a cop car nearby--which they usually do--then they could drop by. Ha--as I'm writing this the cop car has just arrived. Sadly, I already saw the 6 guys drive away in their hooptie. Oh well. I tried!

We want to sell our house--so if I have clean this neighborhood up by myself--that's what I'm going to do. This could just be the start of a beautiful relationship (between me and the cops). :)

Nostalgia

Kate and I went on a fun Fall walk yesterday. The Provo River Trail is such a gorgeous place! Fall has always been my favorite time of year: the crisp afternoon air, the thick smell of fallen leaves, the satisfying crunch beneath my feet, and the rich colors swirling whimsically with every breath of wind. Wow. Does life get any better than that?

For Kate, the experience was sweetened by prolonged sucking on a stick (I knew she had a stick--I didn't realize for a while that she was eating it...).

Halloween Fun!

I got a pumpkin at last minute yesterday thinking that Kate might enjoy playing with all the gooey insides. I was way off. She barely touched the stuff and was pretty much really freaked out by it. I carved it in like 3 minutes because she was not happy. I mean, I've never been that great at carving pumpkins--but this one was terrible!

So here's Kate's costume...any guesses as to what she is? Well, I'll just tell you. She's a friendly Target employee! :) Heh, heh, heh. She was going to be a Pizza deliverer, but Andrew got home too late (I was going to give her a tiny pizza box and his hat)--so Target employee. :) I should have gotten her a pumpkin costume--she would have made a great Jack-O-Lantern with those teeth!

We finally had Trick-or-Treaters this year. We've been here two years and no one has ever come. But a Mia Maid in my class said she was going trick or treating--so I made her promise to come to my house with the kids she baby sits. Yay! Kate snickered the whole time they were at the door.

Andrew's Photo Blog!

Andrew has created a blog to display his large format photography. He doesn't have a website yet (no time and not enough pictures just yet), so I convinced him to do a blog--similar to the format of my dad's art blog and another artist we know in our ward. So check it out! http://www.andrewmorrillphoto.blogspot.com/.

For those of you who don't know Andrew, he got really interested in large format photography (the film is 4 x 5) when we visited a photography gallery in Southern Utah a few years ago. It blew us away--the detail you can get with large prints is incredible. A 4x5 camera is equilavent to about a 200 mega pixel camera. Unfortunately, the one he has (a cheaper model) is very heavy and doesn't lend itself to easy picture taking (like digital cameras). It's also expensive to have the slide film scanned and printed--so he doesn't have very many just yet. We had one printed (but not framed) and he just ordered two more prints (one for my sister and one for his grandpa). Photography has really become his passion--I've been very impressed and amazed at how much he has taught himself in such a short period of time. He's improved a lot--very quickly. He eventually would like to be able to do photography full-time. I love his pictures and look forward to when we can actually afford to frame them! :)

"Hukilau"

Ellen will be happy to see this. We got out the Dog Train book/CD by Sandra Boynton tonight. Sandra wrote the songs and illustrated the pictures. Kate especially loved this song--as you can see. Andy (Andrew's dad) was over tonight helping us with the house again. He calls her his little "Hukilau" because of the way she uses her arms when she dances. He thinks it's very Hawaiian. :) I don't know about that, but it is a cute nickname.

(In case you were wondering, she is holding on to a Brinks lock.)

Kate's First EVER Hair Clipper...Thinger.

Kids are so precious when they're sleeping (they're always precious--but you know what I mean).

I decided to put a hair thingy on Kate today. I have to start practicing this girly stuff--I guess. I don't want her to look like a ragamuffin by the time she's in pre-school. I had to fight the urge to pick it out of her hair--like a piece of dried food. It just didn't seem to belong in her cute little hair--but I'm sure I just need to get used to it. I went almost an entire year without decorating her head. That's somethin', right?

Our HOA's Going to be DOA if They Don't Fess Up

So, we've always been a little annoyed with our HOA. They've left really rude (and horribly misspelled--which is what really gets me) letters on everyone's doors and they charge us $175/year for general maintenance (fence repair, roads, clubhouse upkeep), but we've never seen them keep anything up. We should have gone to their meetings--but we haven't. Well, now comes the real irritation. Comcast just doubled their prices on us, so we decide we're going to switch to iProvo that was installed here not long ago (it's cheaper now than Comcast and the internet is 3x as fast--yay!). Andrew found out from iProvo today that we can't get it because our HOA has told them they can't install it in our neighborhood. What the ?? Shouldn't they notify us of something like that? It just doesn't make any sense why they wouldn't want it here. Something's fishy...

Anyway, we're irritated. So Andrew marched down (with Kate in her pajamas) to an old lady's house that collects our annual fee. She said she didn't know anything about it. But he told me over the phone, "She seemed nervous, though." Yeah--we're on to them! She gave him the name of the president, so Andrew's going to give him a talking to on Wednesday. It's time to get involved. We could persuade some really scary druggies to go to those meetings (just tell them their precious drug money is lining the pockets of the HOA president--:) )! Picture Girls Just Want to Have Fun when all the freaks bust in on the fancy birthday party. Heh, heh, heh.

Kate's Cousins

Trying to get in on the reading action
The oldest cousin in the family (Kimber) was excited when she realized Kate's hair was long enough to put into "pony tails." She looked more like an alien with antennas. She seemed fascinated by Kimber and sat dutifully on her lap while she did her hair. There's no chance she would do that for me (if I wanted to do her hair). Kimber thought we should dress her up as an alien for Halloween.

Hunter liked to get right in Kate's face--she did her best to escape. Conner did the same thing--she kept scooting away until her head bumped into the wall and she realized there was no way out. Poor thing. She didn't cry at all, though. She loves being around other kids.

Another Transformation

I should NOT be blogging right now. I haven't prepared my lesson for tomorrow yet, but I just needed to take a little break first. Today has been NUTS. We had another showing. This time it was a cute young family--two little kids. We really hope this is the one! It was kind of funny--an hour before they were supposed to come, I put a frozen pumpkin pie in the oven. So by the time they came there was a nice pumpkin pie aroma. Heh, heh, heh. However, it was mixed with the smell of cleaning supplies and bleach. So it might not have had the desired effect.

Anyway, I just wanted to post a picture of our bedroom. Obviously, just a snap shot--Andrew will take a better one to post on the realtor's site. It's not really an accurate depiction of the color--but you get the idea. We are getting really close to done now. It still needs quite a few finishing touches. The bathrooms still need trim--then DONE.

Once again...TAGGED

Best thing you cooked last week: A Jenn concoction--cut up chicken, red and green peppers cut into strips, and mushrooms cooked on the stove in olive oil. With a bit of garlic salt on top, served over rice with soy sauce. I made it one day when I was trying to come up with stuff to eat that didn't have milk. It's one of my favorites now and super easy to make. Also good with salmon.

If money, time, and babysitting were no object, where would you go and with who: That's a toughie. Probably mainland China with Andrew. I would love to go exploring in the back country.

When was the last time you cried: During last period. It's almost a guaranteed monthly ritual.

Five things I was doing ten years ago:

1. Finishing up my senior year of high school (thank goodness)

2. Dating a junior kid

3. Working a telemarketing job, I'm sure

4. Figuring out where the heck I was going to college since I didn't get accepted to BYU Hawaii

5. Driving a 1986 Ford Bronco--yeehaw!

Five things on your to do list today:

1. Go GROCERY SHOPPING (it has been much too long)

2. Drive to my sister's in Riverton to show her the proof of a picture Andrew took for her of the SLC temple.

3. Spend some quality time with Andrew and Kate

4. Prepare my lesson for Mia Maids on Sunday

5. CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN

Five favorite snacks:

1.Pretzels and M&M's (salty and sweet--mm mmmm)

2.Twizzlers

3.Popcorn and hot chocolate (or Saltines and hot Chocolate)

4. Strawberries and Chocolate

5. Toast

Five bad habits:

1. Not hanging up my clothes when I take them off

2. Sometimes interrupt people when they're talking (I don't know why I do this! It bugs even me when I do it. I noticed I do it sometimes when I'm nervous and I'm worried the conversation is going to die off.)

3.Leaving clean laundry on the couch to be folded (then not folding it)

4. Leaving piles of dishes in my sink (for days)

5. Not reading my scriptures every day!

Five favorite foods:

1. Lasagna that my mom makes

2. Cafe Rio salad

3. Andrew and I tried to invent our own Cafe Rio salad--it's pretty yummy

4. Mashed potatoes

5. Any food that I don't have to cook!

Top five places I've been:

1. Hong Kong

2. Norway

3. Denmark

4. Paris

5. Any National park in UTAH

Five favorite memories: (this is really hard and just the ones I could come up with)

1. Holding Kate for the first time--it was surreal

2. Wedding day

3. The MTC--what an amazing place. One of my favorite things about it was going to devotionals on Sunday nights and getting to listen to the apostles speak. There were so many good memories there--I loved it all.

4. When I was pretty little my mom and dad would come back from their dates, and my mom would come in to say good night and sing a song. I still remember the way she smelled--fresh from outside. It was so comforting to know that she was inside again.

5. A few months before I got pregnant, Andrew and I went camping at Kodachrome Basin State Park in Southern Utah--in JANUARY. Even though it was southern Utah, it was still freezing. At night, we took HOT showers and then put our tent right by the fire (not very smart, probably...) and opened up the tent doors to let the heat come right in. We were snuggled up in sleeping bags and just chatted. It was very toasty. We woke up with frost covering us--but that night was sure fun!

Andrew took this at Kodachrome

I tag Sabrina, Misty, and ELLEN (Ellen, you could put yours on the Farnsworth site) and whoever else wants to play.

A Walk with Kate

Kate is getting what appears to be a "Baby Mullet." You can kind of see it in this one.
She's wearing a much too large BYU sweatshirt. I just wanted to see how it looked! It's rolled up to her elbows. I was sporting a BYU shirt and blue sweatshirt myself--we were matching.

Trying to touch the moon. ;)

Just being cute Kate listening to the scary ducks quacking nearby.