Till we Meet Again....

The passing of our beloved Prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley has brought a flood of wonderful memories. I reiterate what one individual said on the news last night "he was so full of energy and vibrancy that he seemed invincible". At 97 years young President Hinckley truly was my hero.

Here are some of the fond memories I have of him:

As a young adult I remember sitting in the overflow area in the Orem Institute of Religion when he gave his famous Six Be's Talk. I remember having tears flow down my face as he publicly prayed for the youth of the church during that meeting. I, as well as everyone else in attendance that night, came away from that meeting knowing that our prophet loved us.

I remember as a young teenager when he gave the counsel encouraging girls to only have one set of piercings in their ears. I remember the controversy that was discussed week after week after week in my young women class. I remember being so grateful for righteous parents that taught me to follow the prophets counsel at all times.

I remember when our sweet prophet told us in General Conference about the deep loneliness he now felt as his dedicated wife and companion Marjorie Pay Hinckley departed this life for the eternities. Tears once again coursed down my face as I thought about the incredible binding power of their eternal marriage and how horrible it must be to have their love temporarily separated. I am grateful for my knowledge that marriages do last for eternity. Thank you President Hinckley for you wonderful example on what love truly is.

I will also never forget the marvelous announcement he gave to the church in the April 1999 General Conference. He said that the Nauvoo Temple was going to be rebuilt. I remember having goosebumps run from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet as he made this grand announcement. Two years earlier my family had walked for seven days in Nebraska commemorating those awesome pioneers who left their beloved temple in Nauvoo to come to the Salt Lake Valley. Nothing, nothing made me more happy then seeing the temple rebuilt.

Finally, I will never forget the way President Hinckley waved his hand over the pulpit when he was talking about something important. One institute teacher told us that if President Hickley waved it one you better take notice, if he waved it twice you better write it down, and if he waved it three times you better start repenting.

I pay tribute to President Hickley for all the wonderful things he did for me and for the church during his presidency. I will truly miss him, but I'm grateful that he is now in the loving arms of our Savior and his lovely wife. Until we meet again President Hickley, until we meet again.....

Nursery in all it's glory!

We finally had the chance to go through and organized our branch's nursery closet. Wow, who knew that much stuff could fit in one small area. It was so nice to sort through all the toys and actually find out what we have. Brandon brought home a couple of things to fix. Gotta love the beating nursery toys get.

Here are the before pictures:


Here are the after pictures:

Every day has sweet surprises

While we were doing our finances yesterday we realized a sweet surprise that the Utah State Tax Commission has given to us. This is the gist of it: Beginning January 1, 2008, the Utah individual income tax rate changes to a single 5% rate.

This means that our take home pay is larger. Yippee! Thank You Utah State Tax Commission!

I am so grateful that our State has an open tax laws that allows tax payers the ability to research tax laws. What an awesome nation we live in.

Inspirational Quote of the Day

I just received this very thought provoking quote from a friend and wanted to share it with you too.

Temple Statement for Utah South Mission April 1987
by Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone

The season of the world before us will be like no other in the history of mankind. Satan has unleashed every evil, every scheme, every blatant,vile perversion ever known to man in any generation. Just as this is the dispensation of the fullness of times,so it is also the dispensation of the fullness of evil. We and our wives and husbands, our children, and our members, must find safety. There is no safety in the world. Wealth cannot provide it, enforcement agencies cannot assure it, membership in this Church alone cannot bring it. As the evil night darkens upon this generation, we must come to the temple for light and safety. In our temples we find quiet, sacred havens where the storm cannot penetrate to us. There are hosts of unseen sentinels watching over and guarding our temples. Angels attend every door. As it was in the days of Elisha, so it will be for us. "Those that be with us are more than they that be against us. "Before the Savior comes, the world will darken. There will come a period of time when even the elect will lose hope if they do not come to the temples. The world will be so filled with evil that the righteous will only feel sure within these walls. The Saints will come here not only to do vicarious work, but to find a haven of peace. They will long to bring their children here for safety's sake. I believe we may well have living on the earth now, or very soon, the boy or babe who will be the prophet of the church when the Savior comes. Those who will sit in the Quorum of Twelve Apostles are ere. There are many in our homes and communities who will have apostolic callings. We must keep them clean, sweet, and pure in an oh, so wicked world. There will be greater hosts of unseen beings in the temple. Prophets of old, as well as those in this dispensation, will visit the temples. Those who attend well feel their strength and companionship. We will not be alone in our temples. Our garments, worn as instructed, will clothe us in a manner as protective as temple walls. The covenant sand ordinances will fill us with faith as a living fire. In a day of desolating sickness, scorched earth, barren wastes, sickening plagues, disease, destruction, and death, we as a people will rest in the shade of trees and we will drink from the cooling fountains. We will abide in places of refuge from the storm. We will mount up as on eagles' wings. We will be lifted out of an insane and evil world. We will be as fair as the sun and clear as the moon. The Savior will come and will honor His people. Those who are spared and prepared will be a temple-loving people. They will know Him. They will cry out, "Blessed be the name of He that cometh in the name of the Lord. Thou art my God and I will bless thee. Thou art my God and I will exalt thee." Our children will bow down at His feet and worship Him as the Lord of Hosts, the King of Kings. They will bathe His feet with their tears and He will weep and bless them for having suffered through the greatest trials ever known to man. His bowels will be filled with compassion and His heart will swell wide as eternity and He will love them. He will bring peace that will last a thousand years and they will receive their reward to dwell with Him. Let us prepare them with the faith to surmount every trial and every condition. We will do it in these holy, sacred temples. Come, come, oh come up to the temples of the Lord and abide in His presence.

Dollar Tree is my favorite place

My favorite store is Dollar Tree. Yes, I will admit to the entire world that I am cheap. I can't help myself though. I have found so many cute things there that I just can't pass up because they are only a smackeroo. Last night Brandon and I enjoyed a very quiet Monday evening (we counted it as FHE) shopping. Dollar Tree has just started selling Easter decorations and I couldn't pass up this darling wall hanging. Even though it's January still I've hung it up to enjoy the bright happy colors. I also found some really cute glittery shamrock window clings for St. Patty's Day. Since that's the day we got married I just couldn't pass that bargain up. I love holidays and I love cute holiday decorations. Yeah for Dollar Tree!

Ouch! I went boom, boom.

I was trying to be ever so careful last night as Brandon and I went to check the mail after coming home from a lovely shopping trip. There was ice all over the walkways of our apartment and it was not a good thing at all. I couldn't believe that the maintenance crew hadn't spread salt down because it was so slippery. Brandon had made it down all the steps safely and he had just turned to tell me the stairs were extra slippery when down I fell. Ouch! I didn't realize just how sharp those steps were until I took off my coat at home. Looks like I will be getting a new pair of jeans. Thankfully it was only the jeans that were ruined.

David & Sarah Swansons Open House

Last night my cousin David Swanson and his new bride had an open house for their Utah friends and family (both of them are from Texas). We had an absolute blast chatting with family and watching Nathan and Lanay's cute baby - Grant - play. It was a such a wonderful night and Aunt Laurie was an excellent hostess for this big celebration. Congratulations David and Sarah!

Bran's been slaving away at the computer

In order for Brandon to graduate this April he must complete a HUGE senior project related to his degree (Computer Networking). A few weeks ago he brought home these routers and he has been working non stop with them to manipulate them to do something cool. So far he hasn't been able to get them to do what he wants, but I have no doubt that he will. Holy cow, he is so smart. He uses this program called PuTTY (yes, that's the way it's spelled) to actually program the routers. The cool thing is that he takes the time to explain to me what he is attempting to do. When Brandon isn't working on the routers he is spending time playing computer games. He loves the free downloads from bigfishgames.com. His current favorite is Hot Dish.

I think I've got it figured out

Golly, it sure does take a while to get used to a new hair style - especially for me. Brandon just took this picture of me because it's a "good" hair day and this style is what I attempt to recreate every day.

VTing to my downstairs neighbor

Happiness! We have a new sister on my route and she just happens to live below me and one apartment over. We went and visited her for the first time tonight. Her husband is physical therapist for the Army and he is currently serving in Baghdad. Wow, what an adventure. He calls her twice a day when the phone lines are open. She has a six month old baby that is so happy and adorable. I really look forward to getting to know her better. She served a mission in Hong Kong, lived in Korea for a year teaching English, and wouldn't mind living over seas. Wow, what an awesome girl to get to know.

Walking outside to go VTing was freezing! Who brought all this cold weather. I feel like I'm living in Alaska. Brrrrrrr.

Thanks Leese

Last night my sis and I hung out together for a couple of hours. We had such a fun time chatting away while she did up my hair all pretty. It was so much fun to catch up and to hear about all the crazy experiences of a full time student. Way to go girl! Hang in there and you'll do great things.

Braces Check up

The Top 10 reasons why I like my orthodontist:
-He is conveniently located off 800 S and Canyon Road in Provo
-The office checks you in by computer
-My Doctor is always having drawings for cool stuff (this months prize is an IPod)
-This doctor is dedicated to timeliness. I've never, ever had to wait more then 2 minutes for them to call me back.
-Instead of having multiple patient rooms there is just one large room that has seven or eight chairs. I like this method because you can physically see the doctor helping other patients and you can see what he is doing at all times.
-The decorations in his office are luxurious. I feel like I'm walking into an elite beauty parlor instead of an orthodontic office.
-He has two computers setup with fun kid games so the younger patients have plenty of things to do while they wait.
-Every time I get to my appointment on time, have no broken brackets, and have cleanly brushed teeth I get 4 points. These points go towards BIG rewards whenever I decide to cash them in. There's nothing better then prizes to get me to floss my teeth on a regular basis.
-My orthodontist is so caring. He is being very gentle with the speed of moving my teeth because he doesn't want to have to pull any more teeth.
-My orthodontist has summing parties, Christmas parties, and who knows what else (since I've only been going for six months).

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS OFFICE AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT TO EVERYONE!

My appointment today went very well. X-rays and everything were good. They put back brackets on my very back teeth ;-( now it won't be nearly as easy to floss back there. Ah well, all for the price of beauty and they are looking very, very good.

Well, I'm off to play with my sis - Lisa. She came over to keep me company while Bran is at school this evening.

Talking in Church

The majority of our weekend was spent preparing talks for Church today. Amazingly enough we were given a very good topic - Living the Gospel. Brandon prepared a 25 minutes talk while I prepared a 14 minute talk. My favorite part from Bran's talk was:

A woman, against her better judgment, entered into a binding contract. As part of this contract she was given responsibilities. If she accomplished these tasks, she would be rewarded beyond her wildest dreams. As she went about her life she discovered that these tasks required more time and energy than she had anticipated. Yet she endured. As life presented her with bigger and better opportunities, she took them. Soon she found herself with more responsibilities. However, no matter how busy she gets, no matter what she wants to do, she always accomplishes her tasks. This woman is the love of my life. I would be truly lost without her. Never in my life have I met a woman who cares more. Never have I met a woman who can love more. Never have I known a woman who is greater than my wife. She is just an ordinary person, who does extraordinary things.

My goodness, I was totally shocked when he said that it was me. I kept thinking that 'dumb' woman she shouldn't have taken on all that responsible. haha to me. Who would have guessed he was talking about me :-) Seriously though all the work is worth it. My hubby is so good to me and I think we make a great "team".

The story I enjoyed the most in my talk is:

In my family I have two sisters and two brothers. However, my parents weren’t blessed with my brothers until they had experienced many years of heartache and sorrow as miscarriage after miscarriage occurred. My mother’s faith never dwindled though during those hard years because she had faith and knew that she would eventually be blessed with sons. Her faith, in part, was founded on a dream she had many years before. In her dream, she was shown two little boys and she knew that they were hers. It took many, many years to get them here, but my mother never lacked faith in knowing that she would eventually be blessed with sons. My first brother was born 8 years after my little sister, and my next brother was born 4 years after that. Kent and Alex have been the icing on our family’s cake and I’m so grateful for the happiness they have brought into my life and the life of my sisters. My mother’s example taught me that the Lord is aware of our needs and desires and that with him all things are possible.

Because we got a new member of the Bishopric and the Stake President also wanted to take some time we had to cut our talks down to 20 minutes total. I feel bad because Brandon had such an awesome talk and he had to cut out quite a lot :-( His dream job would be to teach Sunday School. Honestly, he is such a great speaker/teacher.

Nursery class today was quite nice. We only have 4 kids and 4 leaders which was really nice. My favorite part of Nursery is singing time. Most of the time it ends up that we as the leaders do most of the singing 'cause the kids are so little. But I enjoy it anyway.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow because I go to my braces doctor to get x-rays so that he can see how good my teeth are progressing. Just in the six months that I've had them I have seen an incredible amount of change. I'm so very happy about that.

Couldn't resist a free haircut

A few months ago I helped one of our clients in getting her hair salon up and running. We filled out loan documents, I typed her business plan (only for this woman would I do that much work), we estimated startup costs, and even projected financial statements for her. She became one of our "regulars" at the center.

On her last visit to us she gave me a coupon for a free cut and style. So, I finally took her up on the offer and got my hair chopped. I absolutely love it and I can't wait to try the curling iron on it in the morning. What do you all think?

Black eye or Insomnia?

"Do you have a black eye?" my amanuesis said.
"No," I replied, "Why do you ask.?"
"You look like you've been punched."
Sure enough. After a quick inspection of my reflection, I did indeed look like I had been punched in eye. Apparently my lack of sleep shows up in my eyes. Though they don't look as bad as they did (see the picture on the left), they still don't look like they should.
Work has been incredibly busy since I have returned from the holiday break. I can't seem to clear off my desk. This week has been really hard on me. It started with a crazy time tending the scions of the members of our branch and receiving the invitation to give a 20 minute allocution next Sunday. Then work has been busier then normal. School has also started to take its toll.
My lecture series course is combination of 4 different majors. This means that many of the lectures that I will have to attend will have nothing to do with my major. I have also heard that a lot of them end up being 'sales pitches'. My VoIP class is taught by CIO of a local company. The course should be interesting if I can stay awake. He has a strong accent and speaks really quietly. I am changing gears for my senior project and heading in a different direction. I meet with my adviser tomorrow to discuss it. I have applied for graduation and am looking forward to being done with this part of my schooling.
That pretty much sums up my life. Lar and I had a great holiday break and looking forward to a wonderful year.

A Promotion at Work - kinda

Today, my boss and I started the process of hiring a part time person to help me out with the phones and misc. paperwork around the office. My boss would like me to start consulting with the very basic clients who come into the center. Mostly just the ones that need help with a basic business plan, registering their business with the State of Utah and the Feds, plus basic proforma (projected) income statements and cash flows. I hope that it all works out smoothly. I'm already wondering what the best way to arrange our office is to accommodate two counselors meeting with clients. Wow, can't believe I've come this far in a year.

The Pictures from yesterday

My two crazy brothers


Yep, we're weird


What a Wacky Family!


The B-Day Boy


Our Happy Davis/Thomas Family


My Awesome Parents

Happy B-Day Alex

Yesterday my youngest brother Alexander turned 14 years old. Wow, how fast time has flown by. I'll never forget the night he was born. All six of us packed into our car and drove from Payson to American Fork and waited hours and hours for him to be born. What a great experience it was to be in the delivery room when that awesome little dude quite literally came "popping" out. I'll never forget our excitement.

We drove down tonight to Payson with my sis's and spent a couple hours enjoying my family. The best part of the night was seeing him open his presents (Mom & Dad gave him a pedometer and the rest of us chipped in for 2 sleds) and playing Apples to Apples. Mom made us all laugh so hard when she couldn't remember if she had played a card for the word insane. What a BLAST! Thanks Mom, Dad, Amy, Lisa, Kent, and especially Alex for such a fun evening. I'll post the pictures tomorrow.

A snowy bus ride

Brandon and I had a Grand Adventure yesterday morning. We decided to go to the Provo Mall bacause Brandon is going to have to get new lenses in his glasses. He has been getting headaches and we think it's becuase his prescription is no longer correct.

Anyway, on the way down there it was snowing like crazy - even the freeway was snow packed. After we did what we needed to at the mall I wanted to go down to the BYU Bookstore because we had received a coupon for free fudge there. So, I convinced Brandon that it would be so fun for us to ride the bus over to BYU instead of taking our car (which I knew would slip and slide all over those snowy roads). We'll, my bright idea turned into the scenic view of Provo as we took the bus that didn't directly take us to the Wilkinson Center. Ah well, the fudge was worth the long ride and it was bunches of fun riding the bus with my sweetie. It's always been a secret desire of mine to ride the bus with Bran and today that wish was fulfilled.

We've Joined the Crowd

Brandon and I spent hours and hours yesterday designing and customizing our new website. We hope to share with you, our friends and family, many interesting and happy postings through this new site.