Starting off the Holidays!

There is nothing more beautiful than the Salt Lake Temple when it is lit up with Christmas lights. We have made an annual trip to see the lights the weekend of Thanksgiving, for many years. It starts off our holiday season with the right tone and helps us get in the right spirit.


Jensen hasn't been in the Conference Center before and so we decided we would go into the Assembly Hall first, then the Tabernacle and then we went on a tour of the Conference Center. Those three buildings were proof of how the Church is growing and how important it is that the members are able to attend Conference and other important meetings of the Church. We went into the Hall of the Prophets and saw the oil paintings of the Apostles and other prophets and leaders of the Church. It was very interesting. I was glad that we were able to do this.
We always park at the Gateway and ride Trax to Temple Square. It always makes for great pictures.



We ate at Rumbi. Its all the about the food.....


So glad that we have this tradition, that we can spend together as a family and start the Christmas season! We are so blessed to live so close to so many temples and blessed that we are able to have so many great experiences, especially together.

Black Friday Shopping!

This is the third time that we have done Black Friday Shopping. This year we finally talked Shea into going with us. Which is a hard task since she doesn't really like shopping and definitely doesn't like crowds. Jordy begged her and convinced her she needs to go just to be with us. I think she had a great time and will go with us again next year. This year was our best year yet....we went at 11pm and didn't get back home until 7:30am.

Shea decided to take a nap while the rest of us went to the bathroom. She was pretty tired.
We saw Tanner at one of our first stops and it was fun to visit with him and his girlfriend Stephanie. Jordy and Tanner were pretty crazy.....they made us laugh.
My girls......
Our friend Kim couldn't go shopping with us this year and we missed her so we decided to name our blow-up minion friend "Kim" so we wouldn't miss her quite so much. Kim went everywhere we did. It made for a very fun filled adventure.
Jordy won a $100 gift card at Shoe Carnival at 5am....she was a lucky girl....4 new pairs of shoes for her.

A small and simple Thanksgiving!

This years Thanksgiving dinner was at our house. It was a small and simple group this year. It was with the Bogh side of the family, but the "Todd Bogh's" were racing in Mesquite. Shea and Kyle were with the Henrie's so we were a small group this year. It was a good day!

We have much to be thankful for....each other! We have been blessed with a great marriage, health and strength, amazing children that love the Lord, employment, and a roof over our heads, and the list goes on...
Parents, and grandparents that support and love us.
Opportunities to spend time together and laughing is a blessing we take for granted! Have to have laughs and giggles.
Jensen thinks it is so funny to mimic my serious eyes. He always knows he is in trouble if I am wearing my serious eyes.
We ate a great meal, went to a movie (which is tradition), came back for pie and to play games. It was a very nice day and we enjoyed being together, we thought much of those we were without, and look forward to another year full of blessings and much happiness!

Only in Moroni.....

About a week before Thanksgiving, Gege, Pop and I decided to make the trip to Moroni to buy us a fresh turkey for Thanksgiving Dinner. On the way through Moroni, all traffic was stopped and this is the reason why....

Pretty amazing....not everyday you get to look a flock of sheep, eye to eye.
We weren't the only ones stopped for the great crossing.

We went to lunch with Mandy in Ephraim as well. We made a day out of it.

Time Out for Women 2011

How blessed I am to have these amazing women in my life. We decided to spend the weekend together at "Time Out for Women". This is a conference just for women, to help them understand their full potential and to help the "Become" all that they aspire to be. A better wife, or mother, friend, or person. It was very motivational and something that I really needed to help me focus on me. Sometimes as a wife and mother, the me for all of us gets pushed to the end of the line. I have always believed that if we don't take care of the "me", our lamps can't be full and we can't take care of those around us. After this weekend, my lamp was full and I know I can be a better wife, mother, friend, and ME!

We rode the Trax from Sandy to SLC. When we would get close to a stop, Gege would do this funny look and point her finger. This became the joke of the weekend. We had many laughs, some even to the point of crying. So much fun!
We ate at the Blue Lemon in Salt Lake for lunch. We were standing in line and 2 sister missionaries were behind us. We weren't ready to order, so we let them go ahead. I was prompted to pay for their lunch, so we gathered all our cash and did just that. It was an amazing part of my day. Of course, I was emotional, but whats new. It just made me realize how important it was for me to serve these two missionaries, because I can only hope that someone in Costa Rica is serving my missionary son too!
We will definitely go to "Time Out for Women" again! It was well worth it.
Thought this was an amazing picture! The Tabernacle, Assembly Hall, Temple and Church Office Building all in one shot! The Church is truly amazing!

Service at the Storehouse

On Thursday, we went to do service at the Bishops Storehouse with the Whittaker clan. I was unaware that we could go to the Storehouse and provide service there. It was an amazing experience and one that we will for sure do again. We were amazed at how much the Church does for those in need. This is just another amazing example of how the Lord works and that His church is indeed the only true Church on the earth today. Did you know that 80% of the commodities that are provided by the Storehouse are made from factories, canneries, ranches and farms owned by the Church. The Church owns and operates a soap factory in Salt Lake City, a peanut farm that makes peanut butter in Texas, the largest beef ranch in Texas, and they have a pasta factory too. There are technically over 140+ storehouses throughout the Church and 38 of them are from Salt Lake to St. George. The following picture hangs in the Storehouse and is the picture used throughout the welfare and storehouse programs. This picture doesn't do the painting justice. However, you do get the picture.

We were short a few Whittakers and we missed them. Those of us that did go, enjoyed each other and serving the Lord together.
Behind us is the freezers that store many perishables that serve the 140+ orders that are filled at the Storehouse everyday.
Boomer, Tessa and Easton.....
Of course there was fun to be had. The missionaries that helped us said we were a great group that worked hard and obeyed the rules.........until the end, and they didn't catch us.
We missed Kyle who was working hard at school.
We took these carts to the back warehouse to load the canned goods on to fill the shelves.
The guys cut down the boxes and smashed them in this box and cardboard smasher.
The guys stocked the refrigerators with milk and ice cream as well.
Bringing the boxes to get smashed.
The girls stocked the shelves with canned goods.
Cathy and I decided we would make excellent stockers and should work the night crew at Maceys for extra Christmas money. Hahaha! We had a great time together.
The warehouse was stocked with 4000 coats coats to help the needy throughout the winter season.
Don't our shelves look awesome? We really enjoyed the time we spent at the warehouse. Everyone worked VERY hard and not one complaint was heard. We are truly blessed because 1. We have sooo much 2. Because we have an amazing family 3. Because we belong to the only true Church on the earth that allows us sooo much 4. Because we too must give.