New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR (almost)! I can not believe it's going to be 2007 in a few days. CRAZY!!! I don't know if we really have any plans yet, but i'd rather be sleeping...i'm not big fan in trying to stay up to say i was awake at 12:01 am Jan 1st. LOL.

Whatever you all do, please do so in safety!

See you in the new year!

Books for sale

My sister Natalie is now a consultant for a book company. My 2 year old nephew Sam LOVES the books. Check out the website and make sure you order through Natalie Pederson's website. That way she gets credit for the sale.

Usborne Books Online
www.ubah.com/M2366

THANKS!!!!

Totally White Christmas

Well, Christmas Eve morning we woke up to get ready for church and looked outside to see about 5 inches of beautiful snow freshly on the ground. So we totally had a white Christmas! It was alot of fun. Jeff & Kevin got in some good snow ball fights and they also built a 7 foot snow bear. But it didn't stay too cold that night so he partially melted. So good thing we got some pictures with his parents new digital camera. Hopefully we will get copies. Jeff also "white washed" their mom in the snow.We forgot our camera AGAIN! We forgot over Thanksgiving and then we forgot for Christmas. We are slackers! The roads weren't too bad heading out to Kevin's parents on Christmas Eve. Coming home on the 26th they were beautiful! We totally got spoiled this Christmas. We used some of of Christmas money to go towards bills and then the rest we used to purchase "winter wear". We are now fully equipted to play in the snow. We've got boots, snow pants, and gloves (for me, Kevin already had some). We just need to get Kevin a hat/ear muffs. We woke up this morning to about 1-2 inches of new snow after most of Christmas' snow melted due to rain pretty much all day yesterday.

Kevin enjoyed his day off yesterday. He got some stuff done he wanted and we also made a trip to Idaho Falls in the afternoon (i took the afternoon off). We had our treadmill looked at yesterday because ever since the move we haven't been able to use it. Well a baring is going out in the front roller and the belt was loose. So he tightened up the belt, but we said not to fix the baring because it's gonna be about $300 (parts/labor) to fix it. So we'll use it till it starts to go bad and then give it to DI or somewhere and let someone else buy it & fix it. Still cost $79 to have someone come out to look at it and tighten the belt. What a rip off!

Work is SO quiet this week. I should be able to get alot done, if i could get motivated. :)

White Christmas?!?

OH PLEASE! OH PLEASE! It started lightly snowing last night around 8:30pm. Seems to have lightly snowed all night. We have a nice little layer of snow. It's still trying to snow all day so far. Luckily its below freezing outside, so the snow is like dust. Easily just brushed off the cars, etc... I've been looking on line at the weather checking to see if we will have a white Christmas...looks like we have a good chance we'll have something. YEAH!!! But like everyone keeps telling me "Wait 5 minutes and the weather will change". So, i guess we won't really know until Monday if it will be white.

I hope you all have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you get to spend plenty of time with Family and Friends. I miss my family in CA very much. But i hope to see them soon. Please everyone travel safe, as we will try to do on our way to Kevin's parent's house.

Clean Up Begins!

So last night after everything (my part of graduation) was done, i dropped off everything at the office in one big pile. So now the clean up begins. FUN FUN. But i wore jeans today! YEAH!!!

Everything went fairly smooth yesterday, though there were TONS of kids picking up their caps & gowns right was they were lining up to walk in to commencment. So i think our numbers might be off. Which scares me.

The luncheon about killed me yesterday. There were people not on the RSVP list that should have been and so i didn't make placecards for some people, cause i didn't know they were coming. I seriously thought i was going to be sick! Which i didn't eat much yesterday anyway. No breakfast, maybe 1/3 my lunch and then a plain waffle for dinner. I fell asleep around 8pm last night! I was worn out!

Today i'm feeling much better, though i still haven't eaten that much. But i've lost 5 lbs. LOL.

4 Days till Christmas...are you ready?!?! I think i am. For the most part. Gotta get the food we need to bring to Kevin's parent's house. But other than that. I'm good to go.

Just a few more hours...

I have just a few more hours and graduation will be over...until April. But still it's a break! I have alot of nerves today about the Luncheon and getting everything ready for the convocation's tonight. I am feeling totally sick to my stomach. I hate getting nervous! I couldn't even eat my breakfast this morning, but i've had two glasses of 7-up.

I was talking to Natalie on Monday and thanked her for the pictures and i told her how much i think Dallin looks like her. And she told me that our mom pulled out her & my baby pictures and it was a toss up between us who he looks like. My neice Madison looked a bit like my pictures too when she was born, but now she looks SO much like my sister Carolyn. I hope my own kids will look like me, since my sisters kids look like me. :)

We got a package yesterday from my parents and then i picked up our package from my sister Carolyn this morning before they tried to bring it to the apartment again, when we aren' there. I was there just before they opened at 9am, and i was 6th in line and then more people came in after me. The post office has to hate this time of year!

Well, wish me luck in making it through today.

busy busy

I had Cap & Gown pick up for the Graduates today and i have it tomorrow and then we have the Banquet (Luncheon) on wednesday because graduation is all that evening (20th). Man i can't wait till Thursday! Natalie sent me more pictures of the boys. Sam loves to say "CHEESE" now when taking pictures. Dallin is getting much more mobile and can now get toys out of the toy basket. So cute! I hate that i'm missing them. Hopefully i'll see them soon!!! These were taken this morning.

Dallin
Sam

New Pictures

I received some pictures of two of my cute little nephews. So i had to share.

Dallin sure loves to eat his yummy toes! I'm sure we could find some pictures of his mom doing the same thing when she was his age. hee hee. :)
Sam & Dallin sitting cozy in the recliner. Look like good buddies to me. :)

YEAH...ERIK WON!!!!

So, Erik from NY won biggest loser season 3. He started out at 407 and lost 214 pounds!!! He looks AMAZING!!!!! So many people this time around lost more than 100 pounds. It was insane. And we knew that one of the contestants wasn't going to "come back to compete" as one of the final four, and we pretty much thought it wasn't going to be UT, and it was. She ended up getting pregnant like right when she got home, because she announced she was 5 months pregnant! You can check it all out right here... http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/

CONGRATULATIONS ERIK!!!

Final Show of the Season

Tonight is the last night for the "Biggest Loser" I am SO looking forward to this! I know I will totally cry, I always do. LOL. I've gotten much more sensitive as I've gotten older. I SO hope that Erik from NY wins. I've liked him from the beginning. So lets keep our fingers crossed for him.

I wrapped presents last night & this morning for our niece's and nephew's. I'm going to pick up my sister Carolyn's present tomorrow (Thursday) when I am down in Idaho Falls. I need to get their package in the mail. I want it to be early/on time. So, I'll mail it first thing Friday morning.

I can't believe it's 12 days till Christmas. CRAZY!

OH! HAPPY HAPPY 8th BIRTHDAY MISS MADISON!!!! So sorry we aren't here to celebrate your birthday and attend your baptism. I can't believe my niece is 8 today. Where has the time gone!

Christmas from the Rupps

Well, Monett was the first person i received a Christmas Picture & "letter" (in an email) from for Christmas. I look forward to getting them every year. I haven't seen Chris & Monett in ages, i can not believe how fast the kids are growing up.

Chris, Monett, Blake (5) & Aubri (3)

Making Changes

While Kevin & I were on our walk last night i told him that i think i just needed to go to the gym right after work. Since i don't seem to be getting up in the morning, plus all the snow/cold and having to warm up the car and scrap off ice i wasn't making it to the gym. So, he said that was fine and he'd go to the gym at another time. I can still go with him, but i think the bulk of my workout will be right after work. I noticed this morning i've gain about 2 more pounds. UGH!!! I am going to see if i can work with a trainer and get a good workout schedule so i'm not always doing the same thing every day.

This weekend we went to see "The Holiday" with Jack Black, Jude Law, Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz. I liked it alot. It about killed Kevin to watch it. But he made it through it. He survived. Such the chick flick. We went to eat a late lunch at Bajio Mexican resturant by the theater. We won't be eating there again. We both didn't feel well after eating there and kevin said that there food is going downhill in taste.

We also had Kevin's work party Saturday night. That was fun. Ate dinner, played a few short holiday games, did a white elephant gift game, then had dessert, chatted and left.

Woke up this morning to a light covering of snow. We had pretty much melted everything we had prior. but it looks like we should get some sort of snow all week. It would be nice to have a White Christmas.

Get Moving Lazy!

Kevin & I decided that the Monday after Thanksgiving we'd start going to the gym on Campus. With it being about 10 degrees average in the mornings, we haven't been getting up to go. We haven't even gone in the evenings after work. Plus Kevin's never home at a regular time. I guess i need to go by myself. Which defeats the purpose of working out "together". I have been feeling pretty down lately about my apperance and some promises i made to myself & Kevin. I was getting ready for work this morning and put on some jeans that i wore in CA before our move up here and when we first got here and they are tighter then i remember them being. DANG IT!!! So, i guess i just need to be determined to go to the gym every moment i have free and Kevin can join me when he has time. He has gained his cruise weight back that he lost. LOL. I'm glad i'm not the only one gaining.

"Big" plans

Yeah, i have BIG plans for tonight. Making dinner, doing laundry and watching the 2 hour special of "Biggest Loser". I am totally looking forward to it. :)

FUN weekend of trees & visitors

Well we did end up watching our friend's kids for a little bit on Saturday while they attended a concert on campus. It was alot of fun. First they played with toys, then we started a movie and then they were starting to loose interest in it, so i got out the stuff to decorate Sugar Cookies. That was alot of fun. Their oldest Hannah was great by herself. Kevin helped Landon, and then i pretty much did Gracie's for her...seeing how she will be 18 months old at the end of the month. So we got them all nice and sugared up for their drive home. LOL. We chatted for a few minutes and then we drove over to see their house they are purchasing. It's way nice and it will give them plenty of room for the kids to run around and play. We are looking forward to having them around.

Then Jeff & Barbara showed up. We had to run to Walmart to get a medicine dropper thingy for Karter's medicine. Then we ate dinner, decorated cookies, and started some cards, but we noticed that Karter was running a bit of a fever so we ended that so they could take care of him. So off to bed it was. Got up and kevin & I went to church on Sunday. We ate lunch and then off to the woods to cut down our Christmas trees. What an adventure. Kevin & I will need to invest in some true "winter wear". We were in jeans & hiking boots. LOL. Not the best gear to be walking around in knee high plus snow. We had a great time, Karter did fantastic! A little bit of a meltdown near the end, but he is a real trooper! So, i've posted tons of pictures below, so make sure you scroll down. Oh yeah, Barbara got the car stuck a little bit, that was fun doing some pushing to get it free. My friend said without fail they got stuck every year, i didn't think it would happen to us. We were stuck for a whole 15-20 mins maybe. So it was a true adventure. :)

Our tree in our house! We have trimmed a few branches, but we will decorate it tonight.
A happy Karter (with mom Barbara) in a nice warm car after cutting down our trees. The boys were still tying the trees on the car when i took this photo.

Strapping down the trees

Here are some pictures of the guys strapping down our Christmas tree's onto Jeff & Barbara's truck. Once again they are not in the same order as i "asked" them to be. UGH!

Christmas Tree Hunting Cont.

Dang i hate how it puts the pictures in a different order than how i tell them to upload. Well, sorry they are not in order.

Kevin hauling our tree to the car.
Kevin triming a bit off our tree before hauling it.
Kevin hauling the tree.
Kevin just before cutting our tree.
Our tree freshly cut.

Christmas Tree Hunting

Jeff & Karter - Karter was a heavy load to haul in the knee high(plus) snow. Jeff had to sit down for a moment.
Jeff, Barbara & Karter trekking through the snow.
Barbara on the hunt for a Christmas tree.
Another of Jeff sitting in the snow with a very bundled Karter.

Ornaments

So, i said i would post pictures of what we made for Kevin's parents. I finally downloaded the images yesterday. We made ornaments of ALL the family members. Kevin & I had alot of fun doing these!

Keith & Colonel Sanders (our owl)
Lynn, Shauna, Charlee
Doug & Linda
Jeff, Barbara, Karter
Kevin & Jackie (Me)

Party Weekend...maybe

Well Jeff, Barb & Karter may not be coming out after all this weekend. Karter has gotten a bit sick, so i think Barbara was going to take him to the Drs. this afternoon. Hopefully they can still come out, even if we don't go get a tree. Cause it's FREAKIN' FREEZIN'.

I also just found out that our friends Calvin & family will be in Rexburg tomorrow. I was asked if we can watch the kids while they go to a concert at the University because the sitter & back up sitters have all decided to be out of town this weekend. So, i'm waiting to hear from Jeffrey what their plans are so i know what to tell Calvin.

Calvin also told me that their "move in" date will be on Dec 21st! We are SO excited to have more friends moving (back) to Rexburg. Who would have thought we'd all meet back here where we all met in the first place all those years ago. FUN FUN!!! Megan, his wife, will be finishing school here at BYU-Idaho.

I got some cleaning to do either way. Whoever will be at my house this weekend, it will need to be cleaned up. I'm thinking of using some comp time to leave early. I've got a few hours left i can use.

Anywhos...Have a great weekend...and for most of us...try to stay warm!!!

Girls Night Out

Last night Taryn & I went down to Idaho Falls. She needed to get some batting for a quilt she is making for her boyfriend. And I always love an excuse to go to Joann's. Kevin gave me a $15 gift card to Joann's not to long ago, so I was more than happy to drive down in the snow. Taryn was a little freaked of the snowy roads because last time I guess she got in a horrible accident, so I was trying to be extra careful & cautious. Joann's is in the same parking lot as Fred Meyer, another favorite store of mine, and she has never been in it, so we went over there too. I got some earrings I had been looking for, for only $10 (half price)!!! I was way excited. They are having some good sales right now. Too bad I don't have a lot of money to spend. LOL. Kevin stayed home and cleaned up the apartment, and worked on our Yellowstone slide show from when my parents were up here over Labor Day.

This morning it was -2 degrees (Negative two) when I got into work. Our high today is supposed to be 16! Oh the joys of winter. LOL. Why did we leave CA?? LOL.

Jeff, Barbara & Karter are coming up this weekend. We are going to go cut down our own Christmas trees! I have always wanted to do that. Hopefully it won't be too bitterly cold. They will REALLY have to bundle up Karter.

Counter

So I found this on my friend Kerri's site, so I added it to mine. It's a counter to see how many people have viewed your website. It's your state license plate. You can see mine under all my links. I hope I won't be disappointed about how few people look at my site.

http://www.modelcars.com/freetools.php

snow snow...

...GO AWAY!!! We are totally getting snow right now. I was hoping it would skip us again today like it did yesterday, but no such luck. I heard it's suppose to be like 19 degrees outside, but feels like 8. Yikes! I guess I'll find out for myself here in a few. I'm taking one of our student workers to her apartment on my way up to campus. She wore open toe shoes today! She's gonna change before heading to class. LOL.

Thanksgiving was good. More low key then I thought it would be. Kevin & I beat Jeff, Barbara, Doug & Linda in Cranium. We were running away with the game and came close to losing it near the end. (Everyone almost caught up to us). We forgot our camera, I was pretty bummed, but I don't know how many pictures I would have really taken anyway. So I guess it wasn't too big of a deal. But I'll have to remember it for Christmas when we head out there again.

* Just some updated news I received from my friend Jackie O'Day. Something happened and one of the babies didn't develop, so they are no longer having twins. Just one beautiful baby.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to take a moment to tell you all HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We have so much to be thankful for this year. But mostly I am so thankful for our Family & Friends. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful husband. I could never have asked for a better man to spend Eternity with. I am so sad to be so far away from my family in California, but I talk to them alot and know that they love us and support us in all we do. We are thankful to be in Idaho and spend so much time with Kevin's family. They were deprived of our presence for 6 years, other than our once a year weekly visits. I am so thankful for friends that I have made this past year, friends I have reconnected with and friends that I have stayed connected with. What a great support group I have! I am thankful for our calling in our ward. We learn so much from our little sunbeam boys. They keep us laughing, entertained, frustrated at times and busy for the 2 hours we are with them on Sundays. I will be truly sad to not be their teachers next year when we get a new crop of Sunbeams. I hope we all take some time this long holiday weekend and really think about all that we have and how blessed we have been.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

WOW!!!

WOW, a big CONGRATULATIONS goes out to my good friend Jackie O'Day. Jackie just told me she is pregnant...with TWINS!!! I am SO very excited for her and Don. They are due June 15th, but will most likely be a bit early...hopefully not too early, we want them good and healthy. Here is what she had to say in an email to me...

We knew we were pregnant but then my OB did blood work at my first appointment and they called me in a week later for an ultrasound because my hormone levels were so high! Sure enough we saw two little heartbeats. They are fraternal twins, so we can have a boy and a girl....which would be my dream come true! Only pregnant once! We are due on June 15th but they will most likely be early. We will find out in January their genders. So far no sickness at all, just a few headaches and some sleepiness, no food is safe around me, I eat everything!

CONGRATULATIONS JACKIE & DON!!!

good weekend

We had a good weekend. It was pretty decent weather. I think we hit 50 on Saturday and then about 45-47 on Sunday. Saturday we ran some errands in the morning and then worked on our special project for Kevin's parents the rest of the day. Well really his mom. I'll post pics next week of it. I can't have them finding out what we've done for them until they get it on Thanksgiving. We are looking forward to a fun weekend with the Browns. We will head out Weds night after work and then probably come back on Sat. Depends on how well we are sleeping there. They have a full bed in the "guest" room and it's very uncomfortable and old. If i had the $$ i would buy a new bed for in there, because we are the ones that use it the most. So, we might just try using the air mattress instead. I'll let you know what happens.

Well, yesterday we decided we are out of food. Not literally, but it seems like we have NOTHING. So, we will head to Winco on our way home Saturday and stock up. We made a pretty "big" lunch yesterday after church so we weren't too hungry for dinner. Which was probably a good thing. We were snacky though, so we had Hot Chocolate, popcorn & sugar free jello. Good thing we have no kids to feed, that would have been a fantastic dinner for them. LOL.

Well i guess i should really get back to work. My desk is a MESS! It's really horrible. So, that is one of my goals today, GET ORGANIZED! Wish me luck! :)

Myself

So this is what i looked like Sunday when i went to take pictures in the FREEZING wind and cold. I had on a long sleeved shirt, hooded sweatshirt, and a fleece jacket w/ scarf. I was still pretty cold. Stupid wind. LOL.

* I have posted ALOT of things today. So make sure you scroll down.

Sunday Photos

Sunday morning we woke up to some snow and alot of ice. So i went walking around taking some pictures before we left for Twin Falls. Here are some of the pictures i took.

boys, parents & keith

Brown Boys - Keith(#2), Kevin(#1), Lynn(#3), Jeff(#4), Doug holding Karter (Jeff's son)
Keith (and his mullet - hee hee)
Linda & Doug

Jeff, Barbara & Karter

Karter
Barbara
Jeff, Barbara & Karter
Jeff

Lynn, Shauna & Charlee

Shauna
Charlee
Charlee
Lynn

it's good to be back

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been out of the office and I just returned today (Friday). I have posted quite a few pictures below. So please make sure you scroll down till you've last "read" on my blog.

The services for Grandma Shupe were good. Kevin's mom, Linda, had to do the Eulogy (sp?). She did a really good job. Kevin's brother Keith played a piano piece, which was beautiful. Kevin, Lynn & Jeff were paulbearers (sp?) - they helped carry the casket. I met alot of family that I have not ever seen/met before since marrying into the family almost 6.5 years ago. So that was nice. Sad that it takes a funeral to bring the family together.

Enjoy the pictures below. I'll try to post more pictures this afternoon.

Alec, Madison & Derek

Madison posing like a model
Model Madison Madison in front of the new pool table
Alec
Derek with a mohawk
Gangster Derek
Gangster Derek