Merry Christmas

This year has been an incredible Christmas season for Mark & I.  We have enjoyed many wonderful parties with family and friends, Christmas shopping, zoo lights, going to Jazz games and just enjoying this wonderful time of year.  We are so grateful this year to have been able to help out those who are less fortunate this year.  We helped do a couple of sub-for-Santa's along with both sides of our family and help provide three families with a Thanksgiving dinner.  As one of our traditions is to attend the Festival of Trees and was able to bid on some wonderful donated items to help out the Primary Children's Hospital.  We are so grateful for this time of year where we get to be with all those we love.  We are most grateful for our Savior and the opportunity we have to reflect on all that he represents.  We have been blessed so much because of the sacrifice that our Savior made for each one of us and hope that each of you will take some time out of the hustle and bustle to reflect on all that He has given you.  We are so grateful to all our family and friends and this time of year and always.  We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Holidays

Some of my  favorite things about the Christmas season:

I love the decorations and lights and the festive fell they bring.
I love spending time with family.  We are so blessed to have wonderful family's.
I love giving to others.  Being able to help others at this time of year to make there holidays better is what brings us so much joy.
I love the beauty of the snow and how pretty beautiful it is to see a blanket of snow out the window.
I love that we have so many opportunities to serve others.
I love listening and singing all the wonderful Christmas Carols.
I love going to see all the beautiful light displays at Temple Square and the Zoo.
I love all the yummy treats.
I love to go to all the many parties and spending time with all our many friends.
I love little kids and seeing their eyes light up as they talk about Christmas and the excitement of seeing Santa.
Most of all I love that we are able to remember our savior born so many years ago in a humble stable and be reminded of the great blessing it is to each one of us.  Our Savior is the greatest gift we will ever receive.  May we never forget that that is the true meaning of Christmas and the reason we celebrate this beautiful time of year.

GRATEFUL

The Holiday Season is upon us and I felt that it was time to take a few moments and reflect on the things I am most grateful for.  This is a wonderful time of year to spend with family and friends and remind us all of how truly blessed we are.

1. I am so thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ.  He is the real reason that we celebrate at this special time of year.  I am grateful for the Atonement.  What a great sacrifice He so willing did for each one of us. 

2. I am grateful for a wonderful husband.  I was truly blessed to have met him and to be married to him for eternity.  I know that my Heavenly Father loves me to have provided me such an incredible husband and friend. 

3.  I am grateful for my wonderful family.  Even though my parents have passed from this earthly life I feel their love all around me.  I am so blessed to have such incredible sisters who are also my best friends.  It is so great to spend time with each and everyone of my family.

4.  I am grateful for my husbands family.  They have added so much to my life and I am grateful for their love and friendship.  Could not ask for anything better than to be raised in a loving family and then to marry into a loving family.

5.  I am grateful everyday for my health and all that I have been blessed with.

6.  I am so thankful for the freedoms that this great county the United States of America has provided us with.  We are truly a blessed country that was founded on God.  I am grateful to all who have sacrificed for our freedom's and those who continue to fight for our freedoms.

7.  I am grateful for good friends and their examples in my life.  They have helped me through the tough times in my life and enjoyed the good times as well.

8.  I am grateful for the restored gospel and for a living prophet to guide us, teach us and bear testimony of its truths.

I hope that each of you will take time to reflect on all that we have to be grateful for.

DISNEYLAND

On June 5 we flew out with Mark's parents, Val & Benda, to meet John, Tracy & kids in Southern California for a few days of fun in the sun. We stayed at the Marriott Hotel right next toe the convention center and about two blocks from Disneyland. It was a beautiful hotel and very convenient to all we wanted to do. We got in some pool time then enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Bubba Gumps. The next day we headed to Disneyland for two full days of fun. It was not to busy there and got to ride several rides many times. It was so much fun to be with John, Tracy, Aaron, Aidan, and Addie and Mark's parents. We loved riding rides like Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror, Screaming, Souring Over California, Space Mountain, Indiana Jones ride, and many others. We rode Tower of Terror and Splash Mountain four times in a row. Needless to say after four time on Splash Mountain we were drenched. We also got to ride one of my favorites Space Mountain two times in a row. We ate at some great restaurants and were able to have a great birthday dinner for Aidan at PF Chang's. We enjoyed our time together and were glad we was able to spend time together as a family. It was great to spend some time with Aaron before he leaves for his mission to Jackson, Mississippi in August.

John, Aidan, Addie, Tracy & Aaron. It was so much fun to be with them. We are sure glad that they were nice enough to invite us to join with them.

Val, John, Aidan, Aaron & Mark

Tracy, Addie, Benda & Myself

Aaron, Aidan, Tracy & Addie on the Matterhorn

One of our favorite rides - Tower of Terror

Addie with her favorite - Winnie the Pooh

MEMORIAL WEEKEND

Over Memorial Weekend we went camping with my family at Hobble Creek in Springville. We had a great time and it was fun to get to spend some time with my family. We had lots to eat, great weather and many good laughs. We love to be in the outdoors and be able to enjoy all the beautiful surroundings God created for us. The kids played from the time they got up until late at night. The guys all enjoyed and afternoon of golf on the beautiful Hobble Creek golf course. We played games, talked, played at the play ground, enjoyed smores around the campfire and made many more wonderful memories. A few had to work and missed having them with us but hope they can join us next time around. Here are a few fun pictures of our outing.

Lizzy, Lindsay, Krystal & Kelsie
Tyler, McKay & Lestar
Mark, John, Brandon & Treyson playing Risk. Treyson loves to play Marks army

game and loves that his Uncle Mark will play with him.

Sophie
McKenna & Lilly
Cynthia- just after she finished washing her hair. Boy did we all get a good laugh.

The Newlyweds - Spencer & Jess
Phil Bates & Rachel Teran
Dylan
Kyler
Luke
Treyson - showing off his army guys
Me and my shadow Ethan - He didn't want to look at the camera

Spencer & Jessie's Wedding

On May 4th we had the wonderful privilege of attending my nephew Spencer's wedding in the Bountiful Temple. It was a wonderful day and so happy for the happy couple. Mark and I were married in the Bountiful Almost 14 years ago so it was so great to return and witness another sealing there. It was truly special for us as they were sealed in the same sealing room as we were. Jess and Spencer met while attending BYU Hawaii and sent there courtship on the beautiful island of Oahu. We are so happy to have Jess join our family. She is so good for Spencer and we are so proud of both of them and their choice to be married in the House of the Lord.

Later that night we attended the reception held at my sister ward building. I must say that my sister, Annette did a beautiful job decorating. It was so beautiful and she transformed a cultural hall into a magical place. The reception was a lot of fun and many came in their honor. Jess's family all came from Washington, North Carolina and here in Utah. It was fun getting to know them.

Cutting the Cake - Spencer & Jess

Kelsie and KrystalSpencer's sister Rachel and here friend Mike

Krystal & Jess's Niece - They had a great time together

Brandon & Shawn - Spencer's brother & dad with a picture of Jarom who is serving a mission on Pusan, Korea

The Twins & Ava

Back in April Mark went back to help his brother day drive his little family from Florida to New Jersey. I am so happy to say that the shock treatments my wonderful sister-in-law and along with many prayers in her behalf she is doing much better. I just wanted to post a couple of pictures of the twins and their sister Ava how much they are growing. We sure wish they lived closer so that we could enjoy these adorable nieces and nephews.

This is Ava - their beautiful older sister.

Logan - looks just like his dad when he was a baby

Luke - looks like his mom

Logan & Luke - such cute little boys.

We also want to congrats Dave on his new job and hope that the move to Richmond Virginia goes smoothly.

Vegas Baby

On April 22nd we headed out of town with John and Tracy for a weekend of fun, sun, good food, golfing for the guys and to attend the Eagles concert in Las Vegas. After a busy tax season it was just what I needed. We left Thursday and headed to the condo in St George. it is so nice of Mark's parents to let us all use it as often as we want. It is our little paradise away from home. We spent Thursday and Friday and part of the day on Saturday in St George before heading to Las Vegas for the Eagles concert. Mark and John went golfing on Friday to a beautiful course on your way to Hurricane and Tracy and I spent some time shopping and then we went to see the movie "Back Up Plan". It was to cold for the pool so we had to do something while the guys were golfing. After we picked the guys up we headed to Red Lobster for a yummy dinner. That night we went back to the condo to watch the Jazz beat the Denver Nuggets to go up 2-1 in the playoff series.

On Saturday we cleaned up the condo then headed over the the Bear Paw for a delicious breakfast. I must say that I have never eaten that much food but it was to good not to. The crepes were my favorite. After a late breakfast we headed down to Las Vegas. We stayed at the South Pointe hotel & casino on the far south of the strip. It was a newer hotel but really nice with a great pool where we spent part of the afternoon before heading up to get ready for the concert. Before the concert we went to dinner at a restaurant called Don Vito at our hotel. The service was a little slow but the food was amazing. I will differently eat there again.

The concert was at the MGM and the arena was great. We were just a little late so we missed meeting up with Phil and Emily before the concert but got to see them after. The concert was better than I expected and it was amazing to see at their age to be able to preform at such a high level. It was nice of Mark to get us the tickets. After the concert we met up with Phil and Emily and had some ice cream and visited for a few minutes. They didn't stay long because they needed to get home to their kids. We all had a great time at the concert.


On Sunday we got up about 8:30 and headed home. It was fun to be able to spend time with John and Tracy and look forward to the next trip to Disneyland with them and there family.

Spring

Well I made it through another tax season and am sure glad it is over so I can begin to enjoy a little of this fantastic spring weather. We had had a few things happen in our lives the past few weeks. Mark made a trip to Orlando, Florida to meet his brother to help him drive his three kids back to New Jersey while his brothers wife received some need help for her post pardum depression. We are all praying for her and hope that she is back on her feet quickly and able to rejoin her cute family. Mark had an amazing time with his brother and helping with the cute kids. It was quite an experience for him helping to take care of 2 baby twins and a 4 year old girl. It is always nice to be able to help others out. Mark has always be a caring and helpful person and that is one of the many things I love about him.

A Quick Update

Smack dab in the busy season at my work and will be glad to see April 15th arrive, but we have been able to get a little bit of fun in during this long tax season. Mark went with his brothers, Paul & John to the Mountain West basketball tournament where they met up with their brother Phil and were able to enjoy great games, good food and each others company. While they were all in Las Vegas I was able to put in more time at work but was also able to catch a little enjoyment myself. I was able to meet up with Catherine and Hallie, my sister in-law and niece for a yummy dinner at Wingers, catch a basketball game my nephew, Caleb, played in and a movie with my friend Lithia and some of her children.

Our big happenings is we are now proud owners of a new furnace. We had a crack in the old one and the circuit board went out so it was cheaper to get a new one. It was not what we wanted to do but it needed to be done as the old one put us at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Hope you have all filed you taxes and have seen lots of money coming back to you. May you all enjoy this beautiful Easter season.

Get Down With Scrapbooking

Cute Trinkets for all who attended.

Last weekend, Jan 22-23, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a charity scrap booking event for the Down Syndrome Foundation of Utah. My wonderful niece started this event a few years ago because her husband Karson has three amazing siblings who have Downs and this is a way that they felt they could give back . I even was able to get a few layouts done - it is always nice to accomplish something to! My niece Marlene

This year she had the help of others which - my sister Annette, my niece Angela and her two friends Anisa & Cami. They did a super job with all the raffles, giveaways and classes. Way to go ladies. I was so great getting together with so many awesome women, many who have made a great impact on my life. It is always great to be with so many people but most important that it was to help out such a worthy cause. Thanks again for making such a wonderful event happen.

A group picture - minus a few

AMAZING JAZZ

Last night Mark and I attended the Utah Jazz - Cleveland Cavaliers basketball game. It was a great game but when the Jazz got down by 5 point with 35 seconds to go Mark decided we should leave that it was over. However I ran in to a guy I used to work with at Granite Furniture so upon stopping to visit we heard the Jazz start the come back so we went back in to finish watching the game. I must say it was one of the most amazing endings I have ever seen live. Kyle Kover made an amazing shot over the backboard to put the Jazz within one point. They then fouled and the Cav's missed the first free throw and made the second which put them up by two. Then the magic happened - with 5.7 seconds the Jazz inbounded the ball to Kyle Korver who did not have a shot so he passed to Ronnie Price who the passed to Sundiata Gaines, a rookie signed to only a 10 day contract, who put in the winning three pint shot. The team and fans went crazy. It was such and awesome ending. We would have missed it had it not been stopping to talk to a former co-worker.

2009 Year in Review

2009 was a great year. We had success in our jobs and enjoyed many good times with our familes and friends. Here are some of the higlights:

January

On Januay 2nd we got together with some of my family to cheer the University of Utah football time to victory in the Sugar Bowl - BCS game. They beat the Alabama Crimson Tide. The finally score was 31-17. What a great year to be a Ute fan.

Later that month I attended the charity scrapbook event - Get Down with Scrapbooking hosted my my neice Marlene. It is a great event and all the proceeds go to the Down Syndrome foundation of Utah. I had a great time and even got some pages completed.

February

We had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Draper LDS Temple open house with my inlaws and had a wonderful experience. It is such a blessing to have another wonderful Temple dot the Salt Lake Valley. What an amazing experience.

March

We headed to Las Vegas to the Mountain West basketball tournament to see both the Utah Utes and BYU Cougars play. BYU played San Diego State which they lost and Utah played Wyoming and advanced toe the championship game which they won. Phil, Natalie and Nicole attended the games with us. On Saturday we headed up to St. George to spend the remainder of the weekend with Paul, Catherine, Hallie, John Tracy, Aaron, Aidan, and Addi. It was a nice little get away.

April

Made it through another tax season of working lots of hours but the day after Mark and I joined his parents in Maui for a much needed vacation. We spent a week of relaxing and enjoying the sunshine and Mark got some golf it at the Kapalula golf course. We took a ride on the road to Hana, shopped, ate a great restuarants and relaxed by the pool and at the beach.

May




We had new wood floors installed and boy did it make a difference and began work painting the bedrooms.






For Memorial weekend we headed to Jeff Maynes family cabin were we spent the time with many of my family. It rained to whole weekend so we spent the time indoors. It was nice to be together.

June

We had the privledge of attending the wedding of my nephew Phil and his beautiful wife Nichelle. We are so excited to have Nichelle and her darling daughter Haley in our family.

We also got to attend to open house of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. What a beautiful temple.

July

Mark, his dad and two of his brothers, John and Paul, went to San Francisco to meetings for work. They also went to a the San Francisco Giants base ball game where they got to see a no hitter. Then they met up with their Uncles & Aunts, Lavor & Barbara and Doyle & Karen, who live in Livermore for a day of golf and b-bque. For the 24th of July holiday we headed to the condo in St George where we spent time with the Neuenswander from vegas, saw Footloose and the Tuachan theater, attended the Ivans town carnival and spent time catching some rays by the pool.

August

Our amazing Grandpa Benjamin Gunn Evans passed away at 98 years old. The whloe family minus, Kelly, Ava, Luke & Logan made the trip to Helena, Montana to pay or respects to a wonderful man and example to us all. We love him and will miss him but look forward to being with him for eternity

Later Mark had some business meeting in Phildelphia so I flew out and met him so we could spend some time with Dave, Kelly, Ava & their new twin boys, Luke and Logan. We had a great time with them. We were able to attend the Phillies - Atlanta baseball game, dinner at Cheescake factory, play with Ava and feed and hold the two boys. It was a great time.

September

Mark headed to Boston for business and the Neuenswander form New Jersery came out for a visit. It was great to have them here. The best part is that I got to spend two nights babysitting the adorable Luke and Logan.Logan & Luke

Ocotober

We headed down to the BYU-UNLV game in Las Vegas with John, Tracy, Aidan, Addie, Paul, Catherine, Val & Benda, Ron & Kerma, Doyle & Karen and Phil, Natalie & Nicole. We had a great time and ate lots of yummy food and spent time enjoying being together.

November

We celebrated our 13th anniversary and can say it has been an amazing journey. I love you more everyday. Could not have asked for a better husband and enternal companion.

December

What a wonderful time of year. We got to do so many wonderful things this month but most of all we ere able to celeberate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Without him none of this would have been possible. Look for to many more blessing in 2010.