Rick and Alli

Scene of the crime...

2012-02-04T09:14:00.001-08:00

The story goes like this... I am doing my usual morning routine. I have Scout out of the kennel and we're walking to get the mail, letting him run around the yard, etc. In the mailbox I find the Boxes of checks I've been waiting for from Zions Bank that are linked to our main joint account, along with other bills and adds. I set all the mail on top of my car while I put Scout away in his kennel. I then go back in the house and forget about the mail. I drive to work (in the snow storm pictured above). I get to work, only to find the adds on top of my car. THE ADDS!!! Are you kidding me!?! Everything else has fallen off in the drive- the mail key, the bills, and most importantly all the new blank checks!!! I call Rick bawling and he gently tells me I have to go back and look for them. "I'll be late for work! I'll miss lunch!" Crying ensues. I drive home slowly- retracing my tracks in the snow. No luck. I get out and am pacing the driveway hoping they slid off at the beginning. No luck. A very guilty, suspicious looking older construction worker man drives by slowly looking at me. I immediately judge him and consider my checks already spent. He rolls down his window and tells me he found these boxes of checks and bills around the corner in the street in the snow and was looking for the address to return them to on the porch. IT'S A MIRACLE!!! Crying ensues again. I tell him I'm pregnant..I forgot... I left them on my car... I drove to work...I had to drive home... He taps my shoulder and says "Its ok, go back to work. WHAT A NICE MAN!! I drive back to work trying to wipe up my make-up when I stop on the intersection of Shepard Lane and see a glimmer of metal in the intersection- my mail key!!! I found it all.

Little baby boy White, I love you... but I think you are causing my brain some mental cramps! I'm a believer in pregnancy brain.

Christmas was a success

2011-12-30T15:37:00.001-08:00

Christmas Eve

For Christmas this year, we spent Christmas Eve at the Nehmer's house (per Carter's begging request). We have a tradition of opening one gift for our secret santa that we drew on Christmas Eve. Carter was literally counting down the hours until he could open his ONE gift. Leave it to Bill Nehmer to have a trash bag ready before any tearing open of paper starts so that no paper accumulates on the floor and makes a mess. Love your tidiness Dad!

Carter drew Rick this year, and hand wrapped his gift. He ran a little short in the middle of the box he said. Final gift: A man diaper bag from diaper dude.com- stocked and ready to go with toys, diapers, wipes, binkies, and everything a dad would need.
A candid shot of every Nehmer child. Rick noticed we have a giant couch and plenty of seating but we all want to sit right on top of each other. We are a close family :) Look how enthralled the boys are with the first NBA game of the season. Look how clever Carter is with his new head lamp (thank you Rick)- he's using the red night vision to see if he can see inside my tummy to spot the baby. Look how big my belly is. Look how comfy Zoe is.
My proudest wrapping job- a perfect tower of tiny gifts for Jordy- polaroid film for his antique camera that we finally figured out on Christmas day.
Rick ready to open his Christmas morning loot: his take home included: an upland game pheasant shirt, north face vest, browning hat, ear phones, etc.
Just what I wanted!! Thank you Santa :)

Gray Family Party

No Christmas season is complete without a white elephant exchange- Carter was thrilled with his pink snugee.

My girl cousins are all pregnant at the same time- ALL WITH BOYS!!!! I'm so excited to share this journey with them! From left to right- Sydney due in February, Me- due in March, Lindsay- due in April, Lauren- due in May (Andrea was missing, but is due in June). I can't wait to get all these little boys together for a picture.

Obviously Sydney and I wanted babies for Christmas since we were little. Here we are in about 1988- holding our new Christmas babies. Her little boy looks just about one month older than mine, don't you think? And now it's really happening!! So fun!

Dear Baby Boy White

2011-12-09T15:56:00.001-08:00

Dear Baby Boy White,

Here's what's happening with you lately:

You move all the time! You poke your head and butt out often- Rick can feel it and see it now.
You seem to like sitting on the right side of my tummy, which makes my nerve hurt all the way down my left leg.
You still don't have a name- Rick calls you Crispen because it's the ugliest name in the baby book. When you're naughty he calls you Crispy Creme. I hope we think of a better name soon!

16 Weeks

20 Weeks

26 Weeks

This is all we have for you so far: a cute baby owl hat and shoes. You will look cute for pictures, even if you have no other basic necessities.

Your nursery is in the starting phase: Grandma Jen sewed your blanket for your crib- a very cute brown and white animal print medley that Rick says is manly enough for you. I found brown minky bumper pads, a changing table pad cover, and a mirror for the wall. Rickey promises to get the white bead board up soon, and the crib is on order. So just trust us that we will have somewhere fabulous to put you when you get here. We already love you baby boy!!

Winter Wonderland

2011-12-08T21:28:00.001-08:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas- everywhere you go! I hope your Holidays are off to a good start. Here's what we've been up to:

A few Ugly Sweater Parties...

Hanging Lights in the trees outside...Well, let's clarify- mostly Rick has done this one :)

Christmas Dinner at the Little America

Fed the baby whipping cream straight out of the can while the mother's had their back turned.

BTW- don't ask Rick to babysit!

Baked a few Holiday treats

A trip to the Bear Lake Cabin for some sledding fun (no, I'm not on the sled this time with my pregnant belly. That's me on the 4-wheeler taking the pictures).

Once we realized Christmas was upon us and our trip to the mountains to hand pick a pine was slowly slipping away, we went to the tree lot with our good friends to pick out a tree.

Brought said tree home and decorated it. It's now ready for presents Santa!

Happy Holidays to you all!

It's a Boy!

2011-10-30T11:03:00.000-07:00

We are excited to welcome a little boy to the White House! He is already so loved and will be well taken care of by his mommy and daddy. Rick is so excited to have a boy! What a fun Dad Rick will be. We had a party with our families to share the good news of a boy. We decided to blow up black balloons full of boy confetti and ultrasound pictures. They were black enough that you couldn't see through them. The idea was for everyone to have their own to pop at the same time. As soon as we started pulling the balloons out of the closet to give everyone, Carter yells "Well Rick... you kind of already ruined it..... now we know it's going to be a black baby!" Oh Carter!!! He still has some learning to do. We had ourselves a good laugh, then counted to three and popped the balloons. Surprise: it's a boy!

We don't have any name ideas, or clothes or furniture- so I have plenty to get started on.

2011-10-15T09:57:00.000-07:00

Hawaii

We went to Hawaii back in August for Rick's sister's wedding- and I'm just finding the time to blog about it. It takes forever to upload this many pictures! But better late than never. It was a fun week(when I wasn't throwing up) and Victoria's wedding turned out beautiful. Here's a few of the highlights of the week:

Rick checking in with the office in the morning. If only he could work from Hawaii every day!
Both families stayed at this beach house just outside of Kona, HI. It was nice and big and spacious.
It wouldn't be Hawaii unless you woke up to find this kind of visitor has climbed in your window in the night!
The White family at a Black Sand Beach where we briefly stopped to see the turtles and have a break from the long car ride.
Rick and I took one afternoon to go to a beach by ourselves. It was so relaxing and quiet. Good job on the beach find Rick!
We found these turtles in the sand holding hands! I didn't pose them- they actually held hands for a long time! They were soul mates- in love! We took a picture to take back to the bride and groom to be. I thought it was precious. Haven't I heard somewhere that turtles mate for life?
Don't mock the flimsy straw hat- it came with the beach house. I found it in the basement as we ran out the door to the beach. But it kept my face shaded. I'm so over getting sunburned so you can check out those white legs and pregnant belly if you want to, but at least I never burned and peeled!
The happy new couple- meet Victoria and Dirk Bahoravitch. Ya, the Hawaiian sealer had a tough time with that last name.
The temple grounds were beautiful at the Kona Temple. Victoria's pictures turned out pretty from the temple.
Dinner that night was at a nice resort in a private set-up right on the edge of the beach. We watched the sun set, took more beautiful pictures, ordered fancy food with weird names, cut the cake, and enjoyed the evening. This will be my new happy place in my mind when I have to go the dentist.

It wouldn't be a complete trip for me if we didn't fit in one afternoon of shopping. There were great stores in town, and a fun sea-side restaurant where we had soup and salad. I got a new shirt, necklace, shoes, etc. I call it a success!
The last day we went on a boat ride to snorkel. The boat was tiny (inflatable with an engine), and really tested my pregnant stomach that day. By the last day I had thrown up in the plane, the car, the house, the roadside, etc. so why not the boat right? But I did manage to get out and snorkel. Rick was using his great hunting eyes and spotted this whale. Our driver took us right over to it. I could literally reach out and touch it (if I dared!). The whale was longer and bigger than our small boat. The captain got on his radio to tell his comrades, and before we knew it- it- there was quite the fuss all up and down the coast. Good spot Rick!

It was a great trip, and I hope to have pictures back soon from the wedding day/family beach portrait session. Thanks White's for including us and being patient with my less than fun stomach ;)

Fall has Come and Gone

2011-10-11T20:11:00.000-07:00

For UEA Break this Year, the girls went to St. George while the boys were golfing in California. We went to Tuachan twice and saw Grease and Thriller. We shopped plenty, and even checked out the Women's Expo- found some great treasures!

I love the outdoor theatre at Tuachan- and it was beautiful fall weather- "not too hot, not too cold: all you need is a light jacket!"

This was the first time Jordy and Carter had seen Thriller- and they really liked it. They even brought live camels out on the stage during the Egyptian dance. I had never seen that in Thriller before. Carter came out with all sorts of new dance moves to try all over the hotel room!

We also drove down to Beaver last weekend and picked up Scout from hunting school. I have sure missed him! He has grown tall, and has so much energy! But I love that he has manners now. He doesn't jump on Rick and I anymore, and doesn't tug and pull the leash when I walk him. Rick is impressed with how many pheasants he finds every night out in the fields by our house (they are out hunting as we speak..). We are also excited to have him be better around kids. For a puppy- he's doing very well. He will be so nice by the time baby boy White comes! Yesterday Rick says to me: "Scout's a boy, and we're having a boy. Won't it be great when I can say Me and the boys are going to the Hardware Store!" Ya honey... that will be great. Take them both and be gone for awhile :)

We had a good Halloween dinner with some friends, and got quite a few trick-or-treaters. This was the extent of my dressing up. My room mom ordered one of these shirts for me. She is having a baby girl (named Ali!) in January and her little skeleton baby had a bow. I got quite a few laughs out of it.

Good News...

2011-10-04T19:38:00.000-07:00

So I'm just realizing I haven't posted in two months! Ugh... I have been not feeling my best. I'm lucky to get through work and attempt to keep up on my wifely duties (thank you Rick for your help!) But the good news is: SURPRISE!!!! We are having a baby- due March 15!

This was our 12 week appointment. We go in soon to find out if we are having a cowboy or a cowgirl, or as Rick is saying: a buck or a doe? Any guesses? I just want a happy, healthy baby. This little tyke is going to have plenty of friends in the neighborhood!

Summer was fun!

2011-08-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

Summer Fun

I hate to say that it's time for me to head back to a new school year. I've been slow to post this summer- it's been quite busy! I worked a little for my Dad, taught Tennis for Farmington City kid's program, babysat friends kids for a few weeks while they were out of town, and even had time to slip in a few short trips. Here are a few of the summer highlights:

Bowling in Park City is free after 10 pm on Friday and Saturday nights! Who knew! Got to love Utah Weather- snow the first week of June.

I went with Rick on one of his business trips to Las Vegas in June- and met Spongebob (mostly I thought this picture would get me some mileage this year in kindergarten). I am so happy to lay by the pool and read until he's done at 5. Then we went out and celebrated our two year anniversary. We must be creatures of habit because we went to the same California Pizza Kitchen that we did last year in Vegas for our anniversary.

Another repeat- had my birthday lunch at Cheesecake Factory. It's just too good to branch out! And I'm so excited for the one in Farmington to open soon.

Played with my dog a lot. Walked him every morning! Rick is good to do a walk in the evening. I love when the doorbell rings and it's the neighborhood kids that say "Can Scout play?" I say: "Sure! Take him on a long walk and wear him out! Then come back and I'll give you a popsicle!" SO worth the money in a bag of popsicles!

We attended the 4th of July Parade in Park City with our good friends the Bushmans. Lots of floats and messages about "Saving the Earth" and "Going Green"- and they didn't throw any candy! Good thing the company was fun and the people watching ever entertaining.

Riding horses in Park City was so fun! I haven't been on a horse forever! Thanks to our good friends Hillary and Jake for hosting and providing the trusty steeds that were very rider friendly. Rick feels he is a cowboy at heart and had a great time!

Rick can always find time to get out the spotting scope and look for deer. We saw quite a few on this ride in the Ranger. We made sure we were back in time to watch the Park City Fireworks.

Witnessed a great fire work show in our friends neighborhood. They were nice to invite and share with us. This is my absolute favorite little buddy Lincoln and Tosh! So fun to be with you guys!

We took Scout on his first camping trip to Fish Lake. He loved every minute of it! We fished in the marina- if you look close enough Rick does have a little minnow on that hook!

We attempted to teach Scout to swim this trip, but no luck. The water was way too cold! Instead he hung out in the grass on the shore where he could watch from a safe distance:

Went to Bear Lake for a Gray Family Reunion. Enjoyed boating, beach time, games, golfing, reading, crocheting, cooking, and lots of good eating! A well organized event.

(My dog is confused- he thinks he is a lap dog. Which is becoming increasingly more uncomfortable the larger he gets. I guess the carrying him around in my shirt when he was little gave him the wrong message about what hunting dogs do. Rick wants him to lay on the ground by our feet. Scout wants to curl up in my lap on the camp chair. He goes to so much work and wiggling to get himself up there- what can I say!)

Dominican Republic Sewing Trip

2011-06-27T12:51:00.000-07:00

I just got back from the Dominican Republic on a Humanitarian Trip. We went for a week to teach ladies down there how to sew. I packed a sewing machine in my suitcase, fabric and supplies for my project, and a few clothes. No room for blow-dryers and curling irons in that suit case! So keep in mind this was a humanitarian trip when you are looking at our hair and (lack of) make-up. We had a great time and felt like we left the ladies with a skill and machine they will continue to put to good use.

Late night arrival: The Branch President showed up at the airport to pick us up. 3 women travelers, 3 large suitcases full of sewing machines, 3 small carry-on suitcases, 3 purses, 2 non-english speaking Dominican men, and 1 small Jetta. Do you see a problem?

They kept assuring me it was "no problem." So here is where I rode for an hour on top of one of the suitcases. Now just imagine 2 more women getting in this back seat with their carry-ons and you have one not-so-spacious ride.

First Days of Sewing (in the church with no Air Conditioning. Fans only):

My new Dominican Sister: Mildred. We're working on our first project: an apron. Notice how cute her yellow shirt is....

Aprons are done! What a miracle with our lack of Spanish and their lack of English.

Next project: Scripture bags. I like this project- it was mine last year because it's simple! Sew up the sides, add some handles and pin a flower on the front. Walah!

Dinner at a Beach-side restaurant that night:

When you are in the Caribbean, dining on the beach, you have to order Lobster! This was huge, delicious, and worth every Peso I paid!

My mom, me and her friend Karalee Olsen at the restaurant. What a beautiful view!

Back to sewing. Next project was a little girls halter top sundress with shorts and matching flower headband. They loved the head bands and flowers.

We also made skirts, little girl pillow case dresses, hot pads for the oven, sewing machine covers, and t-shirt dresses.

We then took a day off in the middle of the week to go to the beach and sight see a little bit. We went to a resort on the other side of the island that was very beautiful and nice. We ate at the lunch buffet, had frozen pina colada drinks and sat under our cabana. This was my favorite day!

They were shooting commercials on this beach when we were there. Some of the models were sitting in their chairs drinking the beverage of choice down there- Cola Real. Some were running through the water while the cameras followed them. The boys were in heaven.

I am by no means as attractive in my bathing suit as a model- but you need to see how clear and warm and beautiful the water is in case you are planning a beach get-a-way any time soon.

A miniature monkey on my head at the beach!

Back to sewing! On the last day my sweet Dominican sister wanted to give me a gift. She handed me a package she had wrapped up in Christmas paper (all she had, I guess). When I opened it, I found her yellow shirt from the first day. She had take it home, hand washed it with a scrub brush, hung it to dry (many of them don't have washers and dryers like we do), and then even ironed it for me before she folded it up nice and wrapped it for me. She literary gave me the shirt off her back! I was so touched that I felt like I needed to wear it that day to show her I appreciated it. I put it right on over the 3 layers I already had on. Heavenly Father blessed me not to be hot in that sweaty, humid sewing room that day. She was the sweetest sister and gave me something she knew I had commented that I liked.

The ladies worked so hard to prepare us a lunch the last day. It was many traditional dishes that I could not identify that I was positive were going to make my sensitive stomach upset. I ate everything she wanted me to, made yummy faces and hand gestures, and again I was blessed to turn out ok.

All the Dominican Sewers from this year and last, and all American teachers. What a fun group and a good time. Glad to be back home safe and with my modern comforts.

My New Buddy

2011-05-18T14:48:00.001-07:00

We got a new puppy! We have been waiting for him for awhile- and he was finally ready to come home last week. He is a German Short-hair Pointer, and has been a great puppy! I like that he keeps me company when Rick is out of town, and he definitely keeps me busy. He loves to follow you around right on your heels and curl into your lap whenever you sit down. His name is Scout... take a look.

Doing what puppies do best- Chew! Beware of your shoes around him. We are learning not to leave things sitting out.
Rick can't wait for his hunting buddy to mature and go to hunting school. He's already teaching him commands. Scout did his first official "point" the other day. Too bad he was locked into the soccer ball and not a bird, but at least Rick feels like he has that hunting instinct.
Carter is so excited about him. He always calls to see if "I need any help with the puppy?!" Carter has been off track so he came up for a sleep over and to play with Scout while I played my morning tennis.
When it gets cold he gets pretty whiney. With all this lovely rain and cold lately, he has been spending some time in my sweatshirt. He crawled in there on his own one morning when I was out weeding the flower beds, and made himself quite comfortable. I"m going to miss this young sleepy stage when he's too big to fit in my jacket! For now, we're just enjoying him.

Spring Break: Family Cruise

2011-04-18T20:45:00.001-07:00

The Nehmer family had a great Spring Break. We went on a cruise to: the Bahamas, St. Marteen, and St. Thomas. We had great weather, fantastic food, fun excursions, and good company. Thanks Dad for a wonderful time! My favorite vacation to date!

Day 1: Ft. Lauderdale Florida

It was fun to have some beach time before we even got on the boat. The hotel was fantastic here, and my dad found a great restaurant right on the beach. The fun has begun!

1st stop: Bahamas!

Riding the boat out to the island where we swam with the sting-rays. (those picts and video coming soon from the underwater camera). Poor Billy was sick with a cold on the ship this day. He stayed back and ordered room service and slept.

Telling Dad about our Adventures for the day. Luckily his rest and recovery paid off and he rejoined the festivities that night.

We lunched on the beach, relaxed in the chairs, and enjoyed the Bahamas.

We shopped in town before returning to the ship.

2nd stop: St. Thomas

We started the morning off with a little shopping in town, lunch at a local Mexican restaurant, and then headed to our SNUBA diving excursion. (Again, those pictures on the other camera.. I'll post those later).

3rd stop: St. Marteen- My Favorite!

Lunch was at a great cabana in the sand- Best bacon cheeseburger and fruit shake I've had in a long time!

This is truly my happy place: on the beach, in the sun (hat for shade of course!), with a good book and a cold Sprite! Ahh..

Dinners/ At Sea Days:

Carter got tired of going to dress-up, sit down dinners after the second night. With five more nights to go, we had to find a solution. Turns out he loves Kids Club way more than hanging with his old brothers and sisters at the Adagio Dining Room. He would beg to stay late every time we went to pick him up. His only request: deliver some of that sherbet from dinner half way through the dodge ball tournament! Sure thing Carter.

This ship had so many things to do! Our favorites: the Flowrider surfing wave, rock climbing, laying by the pool, ping-pong, mini-golf, basketball, etc. We didn't have time to try everything! Next time we will have to ice-skate and ride the carousel, and the zip line on the ship.

It took us three days to talk Carter into finally trying it! Good coaxing Rick! Carter's favorite trick: the "Superman." Throw your board out, surf on your stomach, catch it and keep going! You are super Carter!

Thanks Mom and Dad for a great vacation full of sun, laughs and adventure!

In the re-building phase... again..

2011-02-25T19:50:00.000-08:00

I went to the Jazz Game with my mom one night while the guys were both out of town working. I didn't know it then, but it was Jerry's last game.

When you sit so close to the bench and watch the dynamics, it becomes obvious that certain players are calling all the shots.

You wonder what this deep discussion was about. For all we know he was saying.. "where should I trade to?"

You jump for that rebound Jefferson. I think you need a few more guys crowding you?!

I am so upset about all the turn-over in the Utah Jazz. We will never be the same without our fearless leader and coach. Who will yell at the refs for us? And then we loose our superstar. Even is he was stubborn- he had some serious game. In my mind, ticket values are plummeting. We find ourselves with young, new players. Once again... in the rebuilding phase. Ahh.. my loyalty is being tested. May the wins start piling up!

Discovery Fair

2011-02-25T19:40:00.000-08:00

I don't remember 100's day being a big deal when I was in school. But it's big now! We count the days, and celebrate with quite the party when we hit 100 days of school. This year, our school did a discovery fair. For the older grades, this meant science and history fair projects. The younger kids displayed their 100's day projects. I was so amazed with the creativity. Parent's put a lot of work into these cool projects. This is my most favorite project, and my most favorite kindergartner (my neighbor):

The best part of her project- she framed it cute so that she could display her butterflies in her room after the fair. If you have kids- start collecting 100 of something so you're prepared for 100's day!

Valentines!

2011-02-25T19:32:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful Valentines Day. Rick bought me beautiful flowers, and he got a nice bouquet of "man balloons" (black and white zebra stripe, red and black polka dot balloons- no pink!) delivered to his work. We had a scrumptious, over-priced, fine dining experience at Sundance with our good pals the Thomas's. We all ordered the lamb, which turned out pretty good. My least favorite- oysters. Rick's least favorite- scallops. If you go- eat plenty of the "sundance rolls"- a multi-grain warm roll with a white grape baked in the middle. A new found favorite. Hope your V-Day was extra special!

My Encounter

2011-02-02T08:58:00.001-08:00

We went to the Jazz Game Monday night, and sitting right in front of us was Jimmer Fredette! Rick was smart enough to run up to the Fanz store, buy an Official NBA ball and a sharpie, and Jimmer signed right across the front of our ball. He was very nice to all the fans around him, took tons of pictures, signed dollar bills, and didn't turn anyone away. We were the only ones that got a basketball though! Rick wants to sell it. I want to keep it. Bridger keeps offering to buy it. What to do...

Christmas in a nutshell

2011-01-19T20:21:00.000-08:00

Christmas was a great one this year.

I had so many pictures piling up, that I thought it best to

create a slide show and just highlight a few of my favorites:

Rick did a great job on our Christmas lights at our house this year. It's going to be a tough act to follow next year!
Santa was good to me, and brought me a new digital camera that I was very much in need of. No more borrowing everyone else's! I plan to enroll in camera classes soon to learn how to use this thing!
My Gray family cousin side had a great Christmas/Grandpa's birthday party with all the cousins. We participated in the classic white elephant game. I bequeathed the Superman underwear to Kelsey, and my mom won back her own Olympic Sweater vest she didn't know had been donated!
Rick won "Snapshot of the Week" on Roughin it Outdoors- which aired Christmas night. He now owns his own dutch oven cooker and bragging rights to being on TV.

Hope your Holidays were Merry and Bright!

Ugly Sweater Party

2010-12-29T11:34:00.000-08:00

You have all heard of them, I'm sure. A Christmas "Ugly Sweater Party." Rick and I searched high and low, and finally found these gems in his parents basement. Carolyn purchased these in Ireland (how authentic!) for family pictures, and was willing to lend them to us for the evening. She was even kind enough to send me with the original family portrait. Wasn't Rickey cute even then?!

Here are the gentlemen- trying to look as Classy as possible. Rickey's turtleneck takes me back to the early 90's! We had to borrow that wardrobe piece as well.

We had a good time with our friends- the best part is seeing what everyone comes up with.
Hope your Holiday parties were classy as well.

A Very Thankful Thanksgiving

2010-11-30T19:41:00.000-08:00

Bear Lake

We spent this Thanksgiving at the Bear Lake Family Cabin- with food, fun, friends and family. Here's a list of a few of the things I am thankful for this Holiday:

1. A Very nice husband who drove both ways in the "Snow Apocolyps Storm of the Year." He is a great driver, and a great husband to hang out with all the family and cousins all weekends.

2. Very good food! So what if the turkey wasn't cooking all day when we thought the roaster was plugged in? Good thing we had a back-up cooked (Jenny!), and we could let this giant beast take it's sweet time. When that golden bird emerged from the oven at 9pm- we were hungry and ready for round two. Way to dig in Dylan!

3. Being 20 below at the cabin gave us the opportunity to stay indoors. Thus number three I am thankful for "good old fashioned fun." You know... things we used to do when we were kids.

Like build a house of cards,

Nap in the middle of the day (notice I chose to show Rick-

pictures of me sleeping aren't pretty),

Eat even when we don't feel hungry,

Bench press the skinny teenagers so we feel like we worked off some of the day's calories.

And a well-planned gingerbread house making contest. Only at the cabin can you turn this into an entire morning affair, including: announcing team captains, drafting team members, drawing plans, strategizing, hiding, whispering, planning, stealing items, and creating. My team won "most cabin like" (pictured above).

Ricks team turned theirs into a "Swedish Hunting Chalet" with Sven out front in the fur hat. Quite funny that a team of all boys would choose pink frosting for their Hunting Chalet. Rick is pointing too, and most proud of the pretzel wood pile he thought to add for his hunters.

We chose a judge that we knew would stand by his decision with gusto- Grandpa! This could become a new tradition. All that participated enjoyed the festivities.

4. I am thankful for a Grandpa that made the Bear Lake Cabin possible and continues to be a great joy in our home.

Why I love teaching Kindergarten

2010-11-30T19:21:00.000-08:00

Kindergartners Self Portraits are hilarious! Some are still in the phase where they seem themselves as a head with legs directly under (see top right). Others have arms the size of Goliath (top left). Others think they have the height of Yao Ming (second poster- bottom center). All that matters is that they all draw themselves smiling!

Because it's a brand new school- everything is new and fancy. I ask for 4 computers for my class for kids to use in a center. Sure! Let us bring you 4 brand new flat screen computers in the wrapping. My last schools would laugh at me, promise to look around in the storage closet, and bring me some ancient microwave size beast that booted up in 30 minutes- on a good day. Now that I am a Davis County Tax Payer- I do not grumble when I see the Public School portion on our property tax- it's worth it!

Everything is colorful and bright. You can tell the kindergartners to make their work "colorful, fancy and beautiful," and they all jut giggle. They work so hard that you walk by little boys sticking their tongue out to the side while they work ever so hard on that picture. You can decorate the room bright and colorful and the parents are just as excited about it as their kids.

The furniture barely hits my knees- it makes me feel tall! This picture doesn't do it justice- but these counters and sink are actually about 2 1/2 feet tall.We still get to plan "Dramatic Play Centers" where we incorporate the house. Sometimes they just play house (and yes the little boys play too!), and sometimes we trick-or-treat for glass ABC tiles. Anything to make play educational.

And last, I have really enjoyed the half day schedule. Any child can be cute for 2 1/2 hours. Finally- a job I love and am excited to go to everyday!

Fall and Friends

2010-10-25T18:15:00.001-07:00

Thriller!

For Natasha's birthday she wanted to see Thriller, so we went on a double date. The boys enjoyed most of it- they got a little antsy at the end. Rick and I have a few favorites- the Frankenstein Dance is always a hit, and the skeleton with the glow in the dark feet is still entertaining to me. It was fun to get out and celebrate Tosh's "golden birthday." Thanks for the invite!

My good friend Brooke was in the States, visiting from Peru to deliver her baby- the cute little boy with a crazy head of hair that I'm holding. She brought her family over for dinner and to catch up. Her girls are so funny! Kennady picked these pants out all by herself- I love them!

Finally.... Washington D.C.

2010-10-20T18:57:00.001-07:00

Washington D.C.

This summer the Nehmer family went to Washington D.C. We had a great time seeing the sites, eating non-stop, and learning a little more about the history of our country and the nation's capitol. I haven't been able to share these until now because they have been trapped on Rick's Macbook that took an accidental tumble from the Ford pickup. Oops! Glad to have retrieved the pictures.

Thanks Dad for taking us on a great trip. We had an awesome time, and I felt more educated after returning home. If only I returned to a bed as nice as that one there!

I must start out with this one so that you get the full affect of the blazing sun, 100 degrees with 100 percent humidity every day. I have never felt a heat like this. Kelsey has had enough of it in this picture- her face says it all!

Iwo Jima Memorial. We went to a live Military concert here one night that was very cool.

You could spend days here. We did a few hours and didn't see nearly everything that is available. So many sights, so little time.

Carter had to find a way to keep himself entertained after a few hours in each museum. He kept saying- take a picture of me!

Ford Theatre, where President Lincoln was assassinated. It's amazing that they let you get so close in this museum. This was one of my favorites, just because of the history here. They still use it as a live playhouse to this day. I did learn that he didn't actually die here- he was carried across the street to someone's house, laid in their bed, and died there the next morning. You can also tour that house.

Changing of the guards. I have a new respect for these soldiers. I thought I was dying of heat- they stand out there in their wool suits for an hour at a time, keeping exact time as they march back and forth. This is more precise than the Bingham's Minerettes!

Lincoln Memorial at nighttime. It looks so awesome when it's lit up, if only my camera did it justice!

"Segs in the City" tour. Possibly the highlight of the trip! These are so fun, and worth every penny to rent for an hour tour. You instantly feel just like Paul Blart in Mall cop. Only Kelsey would be able to actually push the seg to it's limit, flip it over, skid across memorial way in the gravel, scrape up her legs, and deactivate the segway scooter. I couldn't get it to stop this emergency beeping! Our tour guide was still chatting away, continuing on, completely unaware that every tourist in D.C. had stopped to see the best crash ever. Kelsey's pride was pretty hurt, but our guide made her feel better by saying "You are the only one to actually put the helmet to use! Now I know why we make everyone wear them!" Did Bill Nehmer opt to purchase the damage insurance? Nope!

The segway tour stopped at all the major monuments- a great way to see the city in an hour.

Mount Vernon- a recommendation by a friend that turned out to be very worthwhile. It's amazing how nice this house is for it's time period. It sits up on a beautiful hill overlooking the river. They let you tour the entire house, but no pictures inside.

Museum of Natural History- Carter's favorite.

Sunday Brunch at an outdoor Cafe, with cooling misters, that's why we're all smiling!

Hunting Season is Upon Us

2010-10-10T12:15:00.000-07:00

Rick is having a great hunting season. He drew a once in a lifetime mountain goat tag, archery deer, and archery elk tag. He accompanied friends on their guided Bull Elk hunts, his brother's antelope hunt, and a first timer ATF buddy on a deer hunt. This has meant a lot of time away, and I have to say- when it comes to the amount of complaining, I think this is my best hunting season ever too! I've stayed busy, called friends, shopped, and tried to keep the complaints to a minimum.

The man who stared at goats

The man who killed a record book Pope and Young goat.

Soon the official measurement will be in, and we will know where he will be placed in the Pope and Young Record Book. Rick's once in a lifetime goat hunt turned out great for him.

One of the bulls from the Guided Elk Hunt. I especially liked this hunt because they had all the wives up for a dinner at a beautiful cabin the last night- good grub!

Rick's archery deer hunt this year. I liked that this hunt started and ended in one day- Opening Day find.

Bridge's muzzleloader deer this year. What good buds to pack each other's deer out. I love the fall colors in this one.

This is his Hooded Merganzor from last season, finally back from the taxidermist. He's excited to put it on his new desk that's coming soon. (Story of the free desk coming later..)

Impromptu Family Pictures

2010-09-10T19:18:00.000-07:00

My mom got this crazy idea on Saturday morning to make us all do family pictures. Just what Rick wanted to do on his birthday. We didn't have matching clothes, we were dressed for the beach, some of us were still in bed (Jared!), but mom prevailed. And I must say, these "come-as-you-are" pictures turned out pretty cute. I give credit to the talented photographer (Lindsay Driggs), and our spunky mother who ran around and found everyone something to wear. What a cute family I have:

Ricks Birthday at Bear Lake

2010-09-10T18:47:00.001-07:00

Happy 28th Birthday Rickey!

Rick celebrated his birthday at the Bear Lake Cabin with the Driggs and the Nehmers. Notice how all the kids flock around when a cake is on fire. All wishing it was their birthday- and Rick would be happy to let someone else turn one year older.

A fishing cake for a man who loves the great outdoors.

We had a great Labor Day Weekend at the Bear Lake Beach, hiking to Bloomington Lake, playing games at the cabin, and eating non-stop. Thanks Dad for the wonderful cabin and the newly finished basement that worked great for the BYU Game.

Bloomington Lake was so gorgeous- a must see at Bear Lake. Yup, Jordy is holding a Red Vines Costco size bucket. Yup, we hiked in with that in our arms, took turns carrying it, and the whole bucket was gone by the time we hiked out. Does that defeat the purpose of a hike?

I tried a new game called Aquire- a stock market/economics version of Monopoly. I never quite understood the game. I just paid people money when they told me it was my turn. Maybe that's why I lost?

And a raspberry shake to top it off!

I have a job that I love!

2010-08-21T10:07:00.000-07:00

Yes, after much searching and deliberation over the summer- I have taken a job that I am so excited about! It was a tough choice, and I had quite a few to choose from there in the end. Every day I learn something new about the other options that confirms I made the right decision. I'm so excited to be teaching kindergarten at the brand new Endeavour Elementary.

For safety reasons I won't post specific pictures of my class, but KSL news covered it very well with pictures, video and an explanation on our Space themed school. Go to KSL.com and search for "Davis County Elementary School is out of this world." It aired Friday night.

I lay in bed at night and tell Rick I can't wait to get back to school and make name tags, open all the boxes of new toys, and organize my awesome room. Everything is so new and nice! I hope these cute kindergarteners appreciate how nice everything in our "galaxy" is. I have a class list, survived back-to-school night/ribbon cutting ceremony. Now school starts on Monday. I'm excited to be an Endeavour Explorer!

4th of July

2010-08-06T10:06:00.000-07:00

We spent the 4th of the July with Rick's family at the cabin. My favorite part of the weekend is the Oakley Rodeo. Rick's cousins were visiting from Egypt and this was their first rodeo. Oakley put on a good show.

Rick's favorite part of the weekend was the fishing. I went along, sat on the banks, read an entire book and took pictures of his catches. It was a cold day for July.

Rick would like the record set straight that this was not the biggest catch of the day. Ha, ha!

A quarter of a century

2010-07-15T13:15:00.000-07:00

I celebrated my 25th birthday this June. Wow, this birthday made me feel really old. We had "cousins and cheesecake" at the Cheesecake factory. I was so impressed that our waitress wrote a birthday message including the correct spelling of my name in chocolate around my cheesecake dish. It even had confetti polka dots on the letters.

I had a great day with

family and friends, and even a hot date that night with Ricky. I was very surprised when Rick brought

my presents out of the truck.

I have already put these fancy pink golf clubs to good use in the Monday morning golfing group. I can hit a good far drive off the tee, but we're still working on my chipping skills :) I'm glad I can golf with Rick now instead of just riding in the cart. It's actually been a fun sport to pick up, and I have enjoyed golfing around here, in St. George and Vegas so far this summer.

Update: 1 year anniversary!

2010-07-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

Rick and I celebrated our one year anniversary in Las Vegas June 18. We both kept saying I can't believe it's been a whole year! Time flies when you are having fun :) We went out to dinner and the waiter brought this great brownie/ ice cream with a candle in it for 1 year. We shopped around Vegas, watched the NBA Finals game in the bookie room (wa

y loud and crazy and fun, only boo hoo the Lakers won), and had a great evening. I love being married to Rick- he is so good to me, and makes life fun. Love you honey!

Eating our wedding cake! 1 year old cake is so good when it's been in the freezer with frozen Mallard Ducks on top of it since Duck Hunting Season. Mmm mmm.

Ranger Rick: Bird Advocate

2010-07-01T11:18:00.000-07:00

I have not posted for a few months because we moved, and had to disconnect our old internet. Then it was a task to get the internet set up at our new house- but finally I am re-connected to the digital world and ready to catch up. Expect posts to catch up on the last few months:

buying our first house and moving- what an adventure!
Our one year anniversary in June- time flies when you're having fun :)
My birthday- I'm one quarter of a century old. Ouch.
Finishing the hardest school year yet and job searching for a better fit.

Until I can download pictures and catch up, here's what we are doing this week- babysitting the Nehmers while the parentals explore New York. Last night Rick had to perform a miraculous bird rescue on a fallen starling to appease Carter. Carter found a tiny baby bird in the ivy in the back yard that had fallen out of his nest. Carter started freaking out and got all teary-eyed that we needed to do something now! "Hurry and call Eileen- she's a nurse- she will know what to do!" We decided Rick could handle it without a medical degree. Here he is climbing the big ladder to put the darling starling back in it's nest:

My New Hobby

2010-05-12T16:22:00.001-07:00

I have a new hobby. I love the store The Wood Connection. I wander around here for hours, look at all the project possibilities, finally pick 1, 2, or 3 projects to take home. The fun part is painting all the fresh wood, choosing the scrapbook paper and the gem stones, adding glitter and dreaming up the whole idea.

Then I start calling for Rick to come help! Help me sand the edges, find his saw to shorten this piece, get out his wire cutters to twirl this wire around here, find the staple gun to staple through this wood piece. Ah, Rick loves my new hobby!

A few of my projects this month are as pictured:

To use for baby showers. No announcement here.

I gave my mom this pot for mother's day with Wheat Grass potted inside. This required careful lining of the pot with plastic (more Engineering from Rick). But it turned out great!

Spring Break (a month ago!)

2010-05-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

I'm finally finding time to post a few pictures of my Spring Break. I was lucky to accompany Rick to Las Vegas. I hung out at the pool while he worked in the day, then we went out at night.

One day we went to the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop, as seen on TV. This is one of Rick's most favorite shows on the History Channel- Pawn Stars. I know the picture is very blurry, but it's my claim to fame- this is actually Chum Lee himself! Pretty crazy how people line up to get in here. It's actually quite small and anti-climatic. I think they hide all the cool stuff in the back!

Towards the end of our trip, we met some friends in St. George. Rick had fun golfing at Sky Mountain- beautiful scenery. And the wives rode along in the cart. I could get used to this warm weather for sure!

Once-In-a-Lifetime Tag!

2010-04-25T16:00:00.000-07:00

Rick's Hit the Lottery!

2010-04-25T15:53:00.000-07:00

Rick has never been more excited! A little background info for all non-hunters:

Every year you have to put into a statewide drawing for the hunting tags you wish to "draw for."
Each year your name is not drawn, you earn a bonus point
Some hunts are more rare, and require more bonus points. Meaning you would put in for 15 + years before they would ever draw your name

Rick went out on a limb, entered for a very rare, coveted tag for the Beaver Area Mountain Goat. Most people draw this "once in a lifetime" tag with 15+ points. Rick had 4 points and drew the tag. He is so excited for his upcoming hunt. All I hear these days is "It's a once-in-a-lifetime tag!" He cannot ever draw this again. The boys are already plotting. It's all they talk about. I think this equates to a once-in-a-lifetime vacation for me? Anyone agree?! He gets to play for two whole weeks, so do I right :) Hawaii, Cruise, I'm not sure yet! Ha ha

Weekend Fun

2010-03-03T18:26:00.000-08:00

It's official- I attended my first ever duck hunting banquet! It was a one of a kind date. They served dutch oven chicken, potatoes, and cobbler (of course). Rick was the lucky winner of not one, but two camo hats- something he has very little of! At least I had good company, another fun couple and a cute baby to play with. If you look closely in the background of this picture is a couple who took this date very seriously- he had on his best camo, and she had on a black sparkly evening gown with black high heels. Someone forgot to tell her they don't heat this barn, and it was a cold evening for her! (that's why her black jacket finally covered the evening gown, darn it!)
This last week, Rick and I were lucky enough to go to the Jazz Game. They played well, and won by 10! Wahoo. The most entertaining part was this 5 year old boy in the seat right in front of us that danced like crazy the whole game! He made me tired just watching him. He was hilarious though- no fear. Busting out moves like the robot; and he knew all the words to Lady GaGa- Bad Romance. His nice moves landed Rick and I unsuspectedly on tv- rick was chewing his program, and I was watching the jumbo screen. Texts started flying in- smile you're on tv! Let's imagine we looked like this pict.

Catch Up

2010-02-23T12:23:00.000-08:00

It has come to my attention that I am not updating my blog enough, thus making it not interesting to potential viewers. Poor marketing on my part. I love to get on other people's blogs on Sunday afternoon and get all caught up. I'll sum up our last few months quickly:

December was a fun month with family and the holidays. Right before Christmas Rick's sister graduated from BYU-Idaho, so we made the journey. Highlight: we forgot all our luggage for the weekend trip! I was not a happy camper. Christmas we spent at the Bear Lake Cabin with my family, and New Years in Brigham City with our ole pal Jay (back from PT school in Vegas).
Rick started a new job working for Great Dane of Utah (sound familiar.. it's the family business). He likes it so far, especially the new company car and the chance to have a 9-5 job without being stuck to an office. Learning lots about semi-trailers! Dislikes: that he has to leave me to travel :(
I'm still working away at my 1-2 grade split, nearing the end of the school year. Trying to decide what to do for a job next year? So many options... what we have learned?- choose wisely!
We have loved watching the Olympics and even became inspired to go ice skating this last weekend. We strapped up our laces and Rick took off at top speed; I cautiously slid about the ice. I honestly thought I knew everything about Rick after all these years, but that night I discovered he was in childhood ice skating classes, earning snowflake badges for each new trick he mastered. He even recognized the harnesss hanging from the ceiling to practice the jumps. I want picture proof of our little snowflake, so I'll ask Carolyn for that. What was a comical fun date night has turned into two days of soar leg muscles for Rick. Guess we're not as spry as when we were earning snowflake badges!

Rick is an uncle!

2010-02-23T12:13:00.000-08:00

Rick's best friend Bridger's baby was born in December, making Rick an "uncle," as he likes to call himself. We love hanging out with Bridger, Natasha and little baby Lincoln. Rick is the best babysitter I've ever seen. The best part about Lincoln: he comes to visit and we play with him and have so much fun, and then he goes home to wake somebody else up in the middle of the night! This night he came over to watch the Olympics with us so Mommy and Daddy to could go to dinner. This cute guy is always welcome at our house.

2010-01-03T18:34:00.001-08:00

2009-12-28T16:26:00.000-08:00

I know it's a little late, but better late than never. Rick and I started a tradition this year, and we plan to continue it on: We hiked into the snowy mountains and cut down our own Christmas tree. I like the tall skinny Christmas trees, so it took me awhile to find just the right skinny specimen. Rick got a little antsy with the chain saw in the process and had to "practice" on the tallest tree he could find. Tear... (yes you have to tilt your head to watch.. sorry!)

2009-12-12T20:52:00.001-08:00

We enjoyed Thanksgiving in our swim suits on a Mexican Riviera Cruise this year with the White family. We visited a beach house in Mazatlan, shopped the mall in Cabo San Lucas, and zip-lined in Puerta Vallarta. It was a fun-filled week, and much warmer than the snowy Utah weather! If only I could lay out in my swim suit, have room-service and maid cleaning every day.. ah the life :)

2009-11-08T16:06:00.000-08:00

For graduation, I gave Rick the book, Oh the Places You'll Go- Dr. Suess. On the page that has a hot air balloon, I put tickets for a hot air balloon ride in Park City. After our busy summer finally slowed down, we went up to Park City early one morning for our hot air balloon ride.

Preparing to launch:

The most memorable part was our crash landing. Just as our balloon pilot was preparing to gently set us down in the field, a gust of wind came up and tossed our basket across the fence and through a field we weren't intended to land in. Our basket was completely sideways, people were screaming and we were skipping like a pebble. Rick was laughing of course! We wish we had video of that mayhem, and of the unhappy patrons. Our balloon man even called us later that night to apologize for the rough ride. Rick assured him it added to our adventure.

2009-11-08T15:39:00.000-08:00

We loved the "flow-rider" surf simulator on the top deck of the cruise ship. Whenever we had a free minute, we would head up there to watch people. Rick tried the stand up surfing and stayed up longer than most! I was only brave enough to try the boogy board version. Rick came home wanting to build one of these at his house!

2009-10-28T15:44:00.000-07:00

Rick commandeered our own Jeep to tour the island of Cozumel- we stopped at Playa Bonita, or "Nacho Beach," as Rick remembered, it to relax and have some great Nachos.
The zip-line in Jamaica was probably my favorite adventure. It had 15 different zip-lines that took you all through the tree tops of the Jungle. I was a little scared to let go on the first one, but it was a lot of fun! One zip line went straight down, and I got the award for the best shriek out of the whole group. The Jamaicans were laughing at me!
Our honeymoon was a fun cruise to Haiti, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. This Jamaican hotty seems to be giving Rick a little of the booty shake :)

2009-10-11T14:43:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone in our line that spent the day with us, showed up for tux and dress fittings, smiled for endless pictures, and made our day wonderful!

2009-10-11T14:30:00.000-07:00

The food turned out amazing! I would highly recommend Culinary Crafts to anyone planning a wedding.

2009-10-11T14:20:00.001-07:00

We finally got our wedding pictures back this week! I've been wanting to put some on here, but was waiting on our "not-so-speedy" photographer. They turned out great! I look at our reception pictures and think- I don't even remember that part! I would love to have my wedding again and be a spectator. Maybe then I'd get to sample some food :)

2009-08-13T15:23:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our blog! I finally had the time to sit down and make a blog. I've been telling you all I would get to it someday.

We've had a great summer, full of big events. Here's what we have been up to:

Rick graduated from Utah State in May- yea!
We were married in the Bountiful Temple in June. Our day turned out great. We appreciate all the family and friends that spent the day with us. We were overwhelmed with how much support we had, and how generous people were. We're still writing thank you cards to this day!
We moved into a townhouse in Farmington Crossing. We are finally settled and enjoying having our own place.