A Colorful Family Night

Daniel and I are pretty serious about our Family Home Evenings. All talk, no play. We always have very serious gospel discussions that last for 2 hours on Monday evenings, and we rarely have treats or activities to go along with it. I mean, that's just the sort of couple we are. No laughing or fun in this house!

Well, no that's not true. Often, it's a short spiritual thought and a grand ole' activity. This particular night, however, I really wanted to color. I had recently bought some crayons (recently because I realized that we didn't have any, and, honestly, what household doesn't have crayons?), and I was so excited about all of the colors. So, for our activity, we found coloring pages on the internet, printed them off, and colored. It was delightful!

It just happened to be the 2nd anniversary of the night we got engaged, February 7th. Daniel colored me this adorable and fuzzy-looking teddy bear for that special occasion.

And as for myself, I just love Hercules!

Love ... Is a Beautiful Thing

Valentine's Day was a few weeks ago, but it was so fun, and Daniel did such cute things, I had to post it!

I woke up Valentine's morning, and I ran into this in the bathroom:


Daniel taped children's Shrek Valentines all over the house. The biggest display was in the bathroom. But he stuck them on the computer screen, by the kitchen sink, on the front door... He even left little surprises in my purse (conversation hearts and more valentines, stickers, etc. I think I ate all the conversation hearts the same day I found them. So much for cutting back on sweets). I still haven't cleaned them up yet. The bathroom mirror still looks like ↑ that. They're still strewn about the house.

We went to Applebee's for dinner, using a giftcard my parents gave Daniel for his birthday (thanks Mom and Dad, for our Valentine's Date!!). And, of course, we had to make sugar cookies. We kind of cheated, though, and bought cookie dough ready-made from the grocery store. Trust me, they were still delicious.

Daniel, decorating his Valentine's Day Cookies.

A Tribute to the Old Man Himself

Last weekend, Daniel and I took a short trip down to California so that we could attend my Grandpa Fernandez' funeral. He passed away peacefully January 24th. The funeral was wonderful. My Dad and his two sisters did the life sketch for Grandpa, and they told all sorts of fun stories. We'll all miss Grandpa, and it was sad to say good-bye, but the funeral was more of a joyful occasion.

Grandpa was so funny! He has a great sense of humor; he made such funny comments. He would always stick his finger in everyone's ear and call it a finger holder. He loved playing games with us and taking his family out for dinners. The last time Daniel and I visited Grandpa, we spent all day with him, and he took us out for lunch and dinner, and we played games in the time in between. It was always fun to hang out with him!

He also loved treats. It's been hard on him, these last few years; with his health problems, he hasn't been able to eat the things he loves. Ice Cream. Cookies. Lemony desserts. When my dad and Aunt Lynn went out to his apartment to start sorting through things, they found the freezer full of ice cream and the cupboards and drawers full of all kinds of cookies and sweets! How delightful!

Well, we are going to miss him. But we are all glad that he's in a better place, and I think he's probably happy to have moved on. We'll miss you, Grandpa!!

Got a job, headed to Burbank!

After a tiresome search I (Daniel) found a job. And it's actually a really good one. I will be going to work with an accounting firm called King, King, Alleman, and Jensen (KKAJ).

The firm is located in Burbank, CA which is really close to where Leslie was born and where some of her extended family still live. For those of you who aren't familiar with the area, it's just north of L.A..

We are really excited! I start during mid-August so we'll be headed down there about then.

It will be really nice to get away from the cold cold cold Utah weather. In fact this morning I was thinking about how nice the weather will be so I looked it up and the high for tomorrow in Burbank is supposed to be 74 degrees Fahrenheit! Doesn't that sound awesome. Burbank is also right by Hollywood, and the headquarters for Disney is there too.

Family Pictures!

We did family pictures while in Medford with the Fernandez during Christmas break. Didn't they turn out super awesome!!
I couldn't leave out this picture of Drew.

2011

A new year! YEAY! You know, when I was growing up, I was always so sad when the end of a year came. It meant the end of all the holiday joys, along with some really good stuff that happened during the year.

But this year, something new happened. This year, I'm not very sad at all. In fact, I'm excited for the coming year. Of course, some really great things happened in 2010: Dan and my 1 year anniversary; I graduated from BYU; Dan and I had an amazing experience in Washington, D.C., to name a few. But I am excited for all of the things that will happen, planned or unplanned, this coming year of 2011. I am excited for the things that I will do and work on, and I'm excited for another chance.

How many of our friends (that means you) make New Year's Resolutions? Any good ones for 2011?

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The month of December went by way too quickly, as it usually does. I was busy with my two jobs and training for my second job, and Daniel was finishing up a rough semester. I almost feel like we missed some of the season.

We went to Oregon for Christmas and had a very wonderful, relaxing time! We watched movies and ate a lot of good food, sang Christmas songs and enjoyed buying presents for each other. I'm a little sad that it's all over, but fortunately, Christmas comes every year!

This is our little fakey Christmas tree. We got it free on KSL and then spent a little money to decorate it thus.

In the spirit of the past season, we want all of our friends and family to know how happy we are that Jesus came to this earth! What a marvelous gift God has given us for Christmas, a gift in the form of His Only Begotten Son! We know that He lived and died for us all. Daniel and I would also like to tell you that we love you. Our lives are greatly enriched by having YOU in them!