Updates

Well, since we haven't posted in a few months - I guess I can update y'all. We have been keeping busy. We did buy a new house. It is right next door to our duplex, which is good, so we can keep an eye on the renters. It is bigger, but still needs a lot of work! We did re-do the living room, our bedroom and 1/2 of the kitchen (still need to paint the cabinets). So we are getting there. We are going to be putting in new flooring. Still need to paint the cabinets, bathroom and then we have a bigger project - the basement! It kinda has two bedrooms down there, so we are going to re-do those and add a little storage closet and a bathroom. That is a project that (I hope) will be done within a year. Jarem may say different.
Anyway, other than that - we haven't been up to a whole lot. Thanksgiving was nice, we were over at the Rencher's. It was a lot of fun hanging out. Did some shopping.
We are getting ready for Christmas!! It will be nice to see all our family and just hang out.
Hope everyone is doing well and I will try to be better on the updates!

Honeymoon - Dominican Republic

We had so much fun on our Honeymoon! Adrian and Brittany came with us (it was our honeymoon / annual summer trip) and it was a BLAST!! Beaches, swimming and drinks - what more do we need! It is a beautiful island and we had tons of fun!

Wedding - May 17, 2008

Well, we did it! Sorry it has been forever since I have posted. We have had quite the summer! We started it off by getting married!! It was such a beautiful wedding. It was very small and relaxing. It was perfect, if you ask me. We had it in Island Park at the Rencher's Cabin and it was decorated so amazing!! Plus having the lake as the back drop . . . I could not have asked for anything more.

Enjoy the pics from the BEST DAY EVER!!!!

Bridal Shower & I am getting married in less than a week!!!

I know I have seriously been lacking in my posts. But we have been super busy getting things ready for the wedding and going on our honeymoon!! We are getting married this coming Saturday! How cool is that! I am finished with the planning and ready for it to finally be here. Jarem's family has been a HUGE help in getting ready. They have been up to the cabin getting thing ready there. They are irreplaceable. Michelle and Karen, THANK YOU!! They are truely amazing and I couldn't do this with out them! My mom is also a huge help to me, running all my errands in IF and keeping track of all of my wedding day stuff. She ROCKS! Speaking of my mom, her sisters threw me the best bridal shower. It was so much fun. It was an open house, which was nice so I could sit and visit with people. But there were so many people there that I couldn't spend as much as I would have liked. But, here are some pics from the shower.

It was such a fun day! Thank you, Teresa, Judy and LaDawn! You guys are the best aunts EVER! It was an amazing day and I had so much fun seeing people, I haven't seen in a really long time and Jarem and I got some really cool stuff. It was fun.

What's Going On

Well, since I haven't posted in a while - this is what's going on . . . not a whole lot. Easter was pretty uneventful. I did have to work. At my job they have an Easter Brunch and since we didn't have the kids, Jarem and I were not very easter-ish. I worked, came home and relaxed. We did have a nice salmon dinner. That was about it.
The Leadership Big Band Bash is finally over. I think it was a success. We did make some money - so that is better then not. Brittany and Adrian were nice enough to join us, so that made it better. We got a case of Samoa Girl Scout cookies (which we tried to give away most of them, but did keep a couple of boxes) and Jarem got a new picture. Y'all remember the picture from "Thomas Crown Affair" with the businessman and the apple - ya - it is in my living room. It is a very nice print so I am okay with it and Jarem really liked that painting, so that makes it okay.
Wedding plans are in full effect. We did get our announcements and they look great!! We will be sending those out right after we get married - so please everyone, make sure I have your address! Everything is coming together quite nicely, so I am happy. Actually, I am VERY excited!! It is almost 1 month!!! I can't wait!
All in all, that is pretty much it! Hope all is well with everyone!

New Pics and Wedding Dress!!

Hey All! I did get some pics from my mom - but not all of them. So, I will post more later. But, more exciting news . . . . I got my wedding dress! It is very pretty and not what I had in mind but I loved it the moment I tried it on. Hopefully Jarem will like it too. I would post a picture of it, but I don't want him to see it until our wedding day. It is very simple and classy. I like it and I hope that Jarem does too. The wedding date is coming up fast! Two in a half months! I can't wait! Well, here is the picture of all of us. There is my mom and dad, Steph, Cody, Sheena and all of us! Enjoy!

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

Happy Valentine's Day

I know I am a bit late on this posting and I haven't kept up on it. But, I have to tell you all what a wonderful Valentine's Day we had and what an amazing future husband I have. Jarem had the idea for the two of us to each find 2 recipes that we have never made before, and then when we got home we decided what sounded the best and went grocery shopping. We ended up making crab legs for an appetizer and rack of lamb with caramelized shallots and roasted potatoes with spinach. It was so good! I thought that was a really good idea and was very impressed. And for a Valentine's Day present . . . . (drum roll) . . . . I got .50 carat solitaire diamond earrings!! WOW!! I was so surprised! I love them! He is amazing!! I got Jarem a professional bbq set with a digital thermometer and grill light. We grill a ton in the summer, practically every night and I thought he would enjoy that. So, it was a very nice Valentine's Day. Thank you, honey! I love you so much! I can't wait to get married. It is coming up pretty fast and I am so glad! I wouldn't be able to stand it if it didn't. Wedding plans are coming together. I still haven't found a dress, and that is kind of a stressor. I have been really busy at work and haven't had a Saturday off to go look. Pocatello is kind of lacking in the wedding dress arena and I am going to try IF, but if I can't find anything there I will go to SLC. So, I need to hurry and find something. I am worried that they will have to order it and then I will have to get it altered, UGH. Last Saturday I had to work all day, the bridal show was at the hotel and I had to represent (that is my street coming out, thx jarem). They had some dresses there, but I really couldn't try anything on - working and all. Anyway, enough about wedding stuff. This past weekend we had the kids. Bray had hockey all weekend so Jarem stayed in IF until Sunday morning. Last weekend of hockey! Brayden had a tournament and rocked the house (from what I hear - I had to work). He got a medal and everything. He has become quite the little hockey player and has so much fun. They did get home on Sunday morning and we went out bowling. I won the 1st game (yeah, me!!) the 2nd game we played teams (Jarem & Bray, Trish & Jade) Jarem & Bray won and the 3rd game (yes, 3 games) Jarem got warmed up and kicked our butts! He got a 172 or something ridiculous like that! My Bowling King!! Then we went out for ice cream at Cold Stone (yum, my fav) and went home to watch a movie. We watched The Game Plan with "The Rock". It was pretty cute.Well, that sums up what we have been up too. I was thinking of starting a "Recipe Blog" and we could all share recipes. Jarem and I (ok, Jarem) like trying new recipes and we have some pretty good ones that you all might like. Let me know if you all would post some of your family favs and if it is something you would like.

I am turning into a FREAK!!

So, do you ever watch regular TV and your mind starts going crazy? I'm not sure I can watch Law & Order SVU when it involves kids anymore. It freaks me out. Last time I watched it I turned on the parent locks on our TV and thought that Madonna's idea of not letting her children watch TV is a good idea, or maybe it is better that they play video games than watch TV. I don't know - and then to top it off - I am a part of a Service Group in Pocatello called Leadership Pocatello. Mostly what we do is go around to businesses in Pocatello and learn about the history and such. It is pretty interesting, in December we had a Service Day and went to the Food Bank and helped out and we are having a fund raiser in April. Anyway, for January it was Law & Order day. So, we got to go to the Women's Prison (it stunk, and it was a little freaky being around those people - they were locked in their rooms when we went through. Still, knowing they were there . . . . ) Most of the women there were in for Drug related charges, I guess there is quite a bit of meth in Pocatello - who knew?? I would think a deterrant of the drug is that it makes you ugly, like, physically ugly. That right there is enough for me to never do it. Whatever - to each their own. Then we were off to the Juvenile Detention Center. That freaked me out worse than the Women's Prison. The youngest kid they had ever had in there was 8! Brayden is 8! How . . . . ? What . . . . .? Who . . . . . . ? I guess most of the kids are in there because of alcohol or breaking probation. It made me sad. I tell you what, the first time Jade or Bray get in a bit of trouble, I am taking them for a little tour of the facility so they can see what happens. They wake up at 6am, school from 8-3, then study or homework, and bedtime is at 8 or 9 and they are locked in their rooms.
So, maybe I should not watch TV or leave my house EVER, because I now want to move to the mountains and shelter the children from outside evils.
What do you do? You can't shelter them from everything and you can't watch their every move and hear everything they say. They are good kids and I trust them, it is the other kids I don't trust, it is the wrong place and the wrong time I don't trust. Something bad could happen just being at the mall or even school!! My sister-in-law (soon-to-be) worked at a Juvi for sexual offenders - that would suck so bad!! I would cry every day!! How sad. Anyway, that is my rambling for the day. Any advice would be appreciated.

Our Family

So I thought that the people reading this might get confused when I talk about people so I will lay it all out for you.

There is, of course, our family!
Jarem
Me
Jade (11 yrs old)
Brayden (8 yrs old)
AHH! I had to get used to the whole boy thing, all the sports and boy things. It has been fun and interesting. Jade and Bray both play hockey, so that keeps us SUPER busy in the winter. They also both play baseball and football. Jade was on the travel baseball team last year so we went to Utah a lot! They are the best kids and I love them so much. We have a lot of fun when they are here. We love playing games and just hanging out (although, Halo 3 has taken over my family!!)

Now, we have my family. We are not very big, but pretty fun people!

Mom (Rexann)
Dad (Pat)
Stephanie, my sister
Cody, my brother
Sheena, Cody's wife

And that is it! They are a wonderful family I love them all. Stephanie keeps us laughing constantly!! I love Sheena dearly, I couldn't ask for a better sister-in-law! Cody started dating her when they were in high school and they just got married a year ago in March. She is hilarious!

Now, get ready for this one. This might take awhile for Jarem's family.

Dad (Mark)
Mom (Karen)
Kevin, brother
Marianne, Kevin's wife
Their kids are James, Katherine and Seth
They live in Helena so we don't see them as much as we'd like too
Jenae, sister
Wyatt, Jenae's husband
Their kids are Jordyn, Alex and Damien
They live in Utah, but we usually see them about once a month so it is okay. We love hanging out with them. The kids have so much fun when their cousins are in town.
Janelle, sister
Dave, Janelle's husband
They live in Kentucky so we really don't see them very often. But I talk to Janelle every couple of weeks and they are planning on attending our wedding, so I am very excited about that!!
Nate, brother
Megan, Nate's wife
Nate is in Medical school in Iowa and, again, don't see them very often, but talk on the phone and read their blog. They are expecting their 1st baby in June!!! And it's a girl!!!! Yeah, Megan! I have to say I am a bit jealous living in a house ruled by boys!!
Michelle, sister
Adrian, Michelle's husband
They just got married in August in San Diego, that was a fun wedding!! They live in IF, so we get to see them and hang out. Jarem plays ALOT of Halo 3 with Adrian (sometimes it drives me crazy, but what can you do??) They are fun and we love living so close to them.
Mindy, sister
She is in her 1st year of college in Seattle! We got to see her and hang out when we went to the Seahawks game. It was so much fun! Mindy is my shopping partner, I need someone young to help me out sometimes!
Kenny, brother
The last one at home. Kenny is a junior in high school. We like having Kenny around, he keeps things fun!! The kids love hanging out with him!!

I can't believe how I lucked out on the whole in-law thing!! I honestly could not have imagine having such incredible in-laws!! They are so much fun and laid back. Jarem has a great family and I love every single one of them!!

Christmas & New Year's

So, when I was posting about last year - I did not put in what fun we had during our holiday's. It started with Christmas Eve. I did have to go in to work for two hours (which was a little pointless, I might add). So, we headed to Idaho Falls - and about 1/2 way there we remembered that we forgot the camera, so no Christmas pics :(. Anyway, it was snowing pretty bad, but Christmas Eve is my family's Christmas party. Everyone else got snowed in so that got cancelled when we got to IF. So, we went to my parent's house anyway and hung out. It was nice and mellow. Then Christmas morning we headed back up there to make my family breakfast. The kids joined us around 1pm Christmas then we were off to Island Park. The kids had a blast. They both got Zune's so they now honestly can't hear us when we are speaking to them. I think Jarem was happy with his Christmas - he got a gift certificate to Harbor Freight which he loves, I got him a tool box, Call of Duty 4 (XBox 360 game), and the Star Wars Trilogy. Now, myself, lucked out as always - I got a beautiful necklace from my soon-to-be-in-law's and Jarem got my the coolest hair straightener EVER!! That thing rocks!!
Our New Year's was really fun - it was really nice to hang out with family. And Jarem has a ton of it (it does take some getting used to coming from such a small family - but fun nonetheless)!! We had cousins and aunts and uncles, even grandma and grandpa showed up to rock in the new year!!
Well, I hope you all had as kickin new year as we did!!

What A Year!!

What a great year we had!!
The car business is doing great, I got a job as the Catering Manager for the Red Lion Hotel. Jarem and I got engaged in June (in Cancun, how romantic!!)
Thanks to Michelle and Adrian getting married we got to take a cool trip to San Diego, Cali. Spent lots of time on the beach and, of course, went to Sea World!! The kids had so much fun - it was the 1st time to the ocean. It was cute to watch them playing in the water!
Then to round out the year got to see the Seahawks play in Seattle!! Went to the top of the Space Needle and hung out with Mindy and did some kick butt shopping.
So now how do we top that year??
I KNOW!! We get married!!
Now we have a wedding to plan - it is going to be very simple. Jarem's parent's have graciously offered to let us be married in their cabin in Island Park. Then we will have a nice dinner at Lakeside Lodge with our immediate family. We have the cake, we have the menu, now we need to plan flowers and find a dress. Should be simple and nice. I can't wait!!
My mom and her sisters are planning my bridal shower, that will be so much fun. Since we aren't having a big wedding, I am having a big shower. Then we will be off on our honeymoon!! We are still trying to decide between Jamaica and Dominican Republic, I think. We know we want to stay on the Caribbean side and something different from Mexico. So any suggestions would be appreciated.
Well, that is what I have for now.
Til next time . . . . . . .