April 2012

Well, what more can I say about this month other than I turned 26 years old and had a fabulous French-themed birthday celebration.

This Eiffel Tower is the handiwork of Jason and Russell.  Impressive, eh?  I sure thought so.  We ate delicious crepes and fresh berry tart...

Jason made a ridiculously difficult French trivia game and nobody knew any of the answers.  It was awesome.  

Easter was also wonderful this year.  I made a little Easter garland to hang and we attended an Easter music celebration at the Stake Center and brought along a nonmember friend we have.  There couldn't have been a better way to celebrate.

March 2012

After a 6 month hiatus, I decided it's time to repent and make up for lost time.  March was truly a wonderful month.  Unfortunately, it was also the month that threw me off!  We had an early spring in Iowa this year and my family was able to visit during their spring break.  Mom, Dad, Chloe and Hayden all came to spend 4 1/2 wonderful days with Jason and I.  We took lots of pictures, all of which are stuck on Chloe's camera.  Hence the lack of postings.

We did lots while they were here though.  We visited the Amana colonies, where Dad greatly enjoyed the furniture and clock shop, and we enjoyed a nice German meal.  We visited Nauvoo and Carthage.  We flew kites and hung shelves.  We ate frozen yogurt and looked at dead animals in the museum.  We strolled around Menard's and concluded it was better than Home Depot, even Dad agreed.  All in all, it was fantastic and was so fun to finally have some visitors in Iowa!

February 2012

February was full of celebrations.  We had Valentine's Day with some dinner and homemade raspberry sorbet heart sandwhiches...

And we had Jason's 26th birthday.  We threw Jason a party this year and it was a great success.  At least we thought so.  The Wall Street theme went over better than I expected and it seemed like everyone had a good time.  We decked our house with Wall Street-y things such as the Wall Street bull on the door and a crepe paper stock chart on a wall...

Also green streamers and a collage wall of investing and business articles, ads, charts, and pictures from Jason's collection of magazines and newspapers...

The guests dressed up in business attire...

Or as the poor 99%...ha!

We've got great friends.  The apartment was jam packed and everyone was kind enough to roll with the small space and have a good time.  

We invented a stock game that everyone really enjoyed.  We picked about 15 companies that existed in 1986, the year of Jason's birth, and everyone got to "buy" shares of up to 3 of those stocks.  Throughout the evening Jason gave quarterly updates on the stocks as to how they did in the year of 1986.  When the 4th quarter was announced everyone calculated their earnings and we had a winner.  It was fun to see people's reactions and get into the game. Here's the list of companies, you can't see it that well (click to see larger) but a few of the companies were Microsoft, McDonald's, Exxon, Apple, and Nike.

Which do you think did the best?  I know I guessed wrong!

On Jason's real birthday he got to relax and have some fun playing Zelda with some snacks.

And what did I give him this year for his birthday you may ask?  

A calculator watch!  Now he can calculate stock prices/earnings anytime, anywhere.  Do I know Jason or what?!  Boom baby!

PS - Want to know the company? Put your guess in a comment below and I'll let you know!

December 2011/January 2012

Holidays!!  Jason and I were fortunate enough to be able to go to both Utah and Arizona over the break.  We spent all our time with family and friends and had an absolutely wonderful time.  We met our new niece, Adelle, and were able to hang out with Gabe, Avah, Noah and Ember.  Those kids are a blast.

Noah really liked the game where you throw pillows at each other and fall down.  Jason played with him doing that for quite a while.  Luckily, Jason was able to convince them to take a rest after a while.

And here's adorable Ember...

And the quilt I made for Adelle that I was finally able to give Avah.

After everyone had gotten over the flu bug in Centerville, we were able to head up there and be with Jason's family.  Christmas day was wonderful.  I think Christmas should always be on Sunday.  It just feels more special somehow.

While in Centerville we spent lots of time with Jason's family mostly at his parent's house, but were also able to go to Tom and Heidi's.  It was fun to see Lily in her own element.  We also enjoyed visiting Grandpa and Grandma Crandall as well as a going for a hike with Dex, Becky, Britt, and Ash.  I'm so glad the weather allowed for that!

After Utah, we flew to Arizona and were able to do lots of things with my family there.

An outing at the park was just about perfect in that Arizona winter weather.  Late afternoon, sunny, frisbees, snacks, and family.  Great combo.

Dad had two successful takeoffs and landings of his remote controlled airplane.  That is a pretty big deal actually.  He's a stud.

Cole and I played with the climbing bears Jason gave Jarom for Christmas.  He's pretty good competition!

Another must for when we are in Arizona, is going to In 'N Out.  We don't care what all our Utah family says, we think it is delicious!  So much so, we went twice.  

We were also fortunate enough to be able to go to the temple with mama and Jessica followed by a delicious lunch at the Landmark.  

We did many other things, including lots of playing with new toys (Zelda, ahem), watching People's Court, and exchanging homemade gifts.

We loved our trip, we love family, and we look forward to future visits.