Valentines Day 2008

This year Anna and I decided that we were going to make homemade Valentines Day gifts and I decided that I would post the wonderful results on our blog. Normally we just buy gifts, but this year it would be fun to make things ourselves and be all crafty, which took some imagination from both of us but I think that the results were pretty awesome! So I also have to mention that I decided to be a little mean and make a fake and ugly gift to give to Anna, and then see what her reaction would be and let me tell you - it was most entertaining. The picture below was my fake gift and I ask you - could it be uglier!

I guess it shows how much Anna loves me as she was very gracious in her response and told me how much she loved it and thought it was really nice. So after about 30 seconds of Anna trying to be positive about the ugliyness with which I had presented her, I decided to give her the real gifts - one is the 'HOME' sign (above) and the other is the little framed thing below (which from the picture it seems that Georgie wanted to get some Valentines kisses in too). The only problem with this little trick was that now I don't know if Anna actually does like what I made as she is so good a faking! Oh well - that'll teach me!

Anna also gave me a lovely gift - which you can see below. I love what she made for me, especially as I know how long it took her to make. It is so cute and now has pride of place on my nightstand.
All in all I had a wonderful Valentines day, as not only did we exchange gifts but Anna also took me out for dinner (it was her year - we switch off planning). We went to the same restaurant where we had our wedding dinner and then came home and ate tonnes of treats and watched a movie - what could be better! I had the best Valentines Day and that's because I have Anna - the sweetest, cutest, loveliest, funnest, most beautiful Valentine ever! And just to prove it - here is a really cute picture of my two girls.

My Fun Job!

So I thought that I would post some local media stories about the program that I work on. The program is called the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) initiative and this is such a busy time of year for me. There are over 50 places statewide that low/moderate income households ($40,000 or less) can go and file there taxes for free with an certified IRS certified volunteer. Anywho it's very exciting and a little busy right now so I will leave you to enjoy the stories linked below:

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=2652952

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=2583193

Don't read the comments on this one - people are crazy!

http://www.sltrib.com//ci_8209059?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com

This one even mentions me by name - fancy!

President Hinckley's Viewing

I had the opportunity a few minutes ago to walk over to the conference center from work to go to President Hinckley's viewing. It was amazing. I'm not usually a huge fan of viewings, and Paul already told me he didn't want to go, so I decided to go with a co-worker. It was like being in the temple: everyone was so reverent and respectful. When we finally got up to see him, he looked so peaceful. The Spirit was so strong. It kind of felt like the times when President Hinckly would enter a building and immediately the whole congregation would stand up and watch in respect and silence. There were hymns playing in the background softly, and there were beautiful bouquets and cards from the quorums, his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I was glad that I could be there. It was truly magnificent.

President Gordon B Hinckley - June 23, 1910 – January 27, 2008

20 Years ago....

I was about to turn 11 years old and in love with Kylie Minogue, she played the lovely Charlene Mitchell (above, as she was in 1987) on the TV show 'Neighbours', I watched the show everyday to see what her and Scott (her husband) were getting up to. Then, much to my intial surprise, she released a record - the mighty, and only slightly annoying, 'I Should Be So Lucky'. Who would have thought that 20 years later I would still be following the antics of Kylie. So in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Kylie hitting the Number 1 spot in the UK with I Should Be So Lucky (the first record I ever bought), I thought that I would post her new music videos. She has two songs coming out simultaneously - one in the US and UK, 'Wow' - and the other in Europe and Australia, 'In My Arms'. They are both taken from her, frankly poptastic, album 'X '(due for release in the US in Feb). If you fancy a little bit of fun and a happy little ditty, play the videos below. Enjoy! Hasn't she changed!
Update - the videos stopped working and are thus removed.

Baby Dennis (sorry - Edison)

I just wanted to post this cute picture of when we were looking after Edison a few weeks ago. FYI - Georgie could not have been more jealous - she wouldn't get off of Anna for bones nor the opportunity to go outside and search for the black cat that frequents our yard and leaves little 'gifts' for us (that Georgie tries to eat).

P.S. the title of this post refers to the fact that when Edison was blessed the other week, Darren and Alison's Bishop thought that Edison's name was in fact Dennis (which if i'm being honest I prefer - but don't tell Alison :)

It snowed!!!!

So we got a little snow at our house the other day and, although I generally hate shoveling snow we actually had fun clearing the driveway this time - mostly down to the fact that Georgie was being very funny. She has quite short legs and as such, she had a hard time walking around (because the snow was so deep) which ultimately was very funny to watch. Anyways here's some pictures of us and monkey girl enjoying the snow! One interesting fact about snow shoveling - my very first snow shoveling experience was live on TV! I know very cool eh? I was working at the Utah Food Bank and KSL (TV station) wanted to do a story about how the Food Bank recruits volunteers to shovel driveways for seniors and people with disabilities, anywho when KSL wanted to do the story we couldn't get any actual volunteers to go, so I went. So if you happened to be watching KSL news about 2 years ago and thought you saw me in behind the reporter (I believe Susan was, probably still is, her name) shoveling snow - then you did - it was me. Anyways that was quite a dull story so I apologize - enjoy the pics!!!