Jessie's 28th Birthday

We celebrated my birthday on Monday, December 21st with friends and family. My day started with having lunch with my good friends Shirley, KD, Becky, Kayla and Melanie. We went to my favorite bakery....Kneaders. (It was also where I ordered my cake from!)

At night we had everyone over for cake and icecream. I ordered a Pineapple Coconut Cream cake and it was oh so delicious! It was covered in coconut and was plain white so I had to get some cake decorating icing. I decorated it with hibiscus flowers and a turtle! It looked awesome afterwards.

Instead of blowing out 28 candles I decided to be fire safe and get the numbers. I know not as fun but easier. And besides who really wants to eat cake that has someone's spit blown all over it!

Then the presents came. Thank you so much to my parents and grandma for the money and tropical bath supplies. Thanks to Becky for Mango lotion and the shot glass! Maybe I will begin the drinking again! And Shirley thanks for the massage gift card....lets make appointments together!

Now Steve has been keeping his gift to me under webcam supervision to ensure that I wouldn't peek at all. And everyday I was reminded that there was no peeking. He brings his Christmas and birthday gifts upstairs finally the day of my birthday. And again he tells me I don't get to touch it because its fragile. Of course, I didn't touch it.

Finally I get to open the dang thing and what do I get....a computer. Disappointing. I don't want a computer. But I am married to a computer nerd that thinks you should upgrade your computer every month. So no surprise there. Well I put the computer upright on the table and there's another present wrapped inside the case.

I open this next gift and it turns out to be a Discovery Kids Aquarium. The whole time I am thinking "Theres got to be more to this than this little kids toy". I kept looking in the box for tickets to Hawaii.....fish..Hawaii, they go together! No tickets. So we plug in the aquarium and I watch as the fish go around and there's a message "Check your email". Steve tells me to read it off my phone. So I look at my phone and there's no email from him. Refresh. There it was titled "Your Birthday Prize". It read "If that first gift doesn't give you glee, grab the big one by the tree- that's your true birthday gift you see".

So the big gift by the tree was the one wrapped in Christmas paper. We had piled all of our other gifts on it earlier in the evening.

So here I had to go unbury the gift and let me tell you it was a big box. It's a good thing all the little kids helped me unwrap the thing.

I was so excited!!! It was a Nano Cube Aquarium! I have wanted to do a salt water fish tank for a very long time. And my brother in law had a Nano Cube that he sold that I was so disappointed he didn't give to me for Christmas. But here it is and now I have one. I so can't wait to get a Nemo fish!

All in all, it was a fabulous birthday! I don't feel that much older but I am pushing 30 soon!

32 years old!

Steve turned 32 on November 22. We celebrated by just hanging out all day. I think for the first time he actually really enjoyed his birthday. Steve is not the type to celebrate birthdays or holidays. It really bums me out because I like to celebrate birthdays for sure. His birthday breakfast started off with pizza and coffee. And he ate the whole thing. Steve has been talking about wanting to learn how to play the guitar for a long time so I thought that would be the perfect gift.

I checked a couple of nice guitars out online but ended up buying one from Target that turns out to be a really good brand. Yay for Target!!! I also purchased a gift box that contained a DVD and book on how to play the guitar. He really liked those gifts alot.

He also got a Denver Broncos shirt and Christmas ornaments, new PJ bottoms, and the Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen DVD. The DVD is more for me than him because I'm obsessed with the Transformers.

We went to Costco later with Steph, Nich and Dan for a few items. I swear I can't make it out of Costco for under $200 when Steve comes with me. He bought himself a kite and a K'nex set for his birthday. What an expensive birthday! Steph and Nich paid for Steve's lunch at Noodles that day.

I made Steve key lime bars for dessert since he hates cake and normal pie. Too bad he decided he didn't like the powdered sugar on top. What a waste since I don't like lime. We went to dinner with his Mom and Steven at Outback. A busy day but a good day.

We put his K'Nex set together that night. It took forever and my thumbs hurt so bad pushing all the parts together but we did it. Our friend Brem came over later on and helped Steve tune the guitar up. Maybe someday Steve will be playing me beautiful songs on it.

Happy Birthday Steve!!! I love you.

5 Years and counting!

November 6, 2004

Five years later, we still have each other and all of our friends we have kept along the way. We are still in the same house and have added a new family member, Toast. We love to travel to Maui whenever we can. Oh how time flies by.

Happy Anniversary, Steve. I love you very much.

Onaona ka hala me ka lehua,

He hale lehua no ia na ka noe,
`O ka'u no ia e `ano'i nei,
E li'a nei ho'i o ka hiki mai,
A hiki mai no `olua,
A hiki pu no me ke aloha.....
Aloha e! Aloha e! Aloha e!

The oli is a chant that offers a word of greeting. It says in part, "This is the sight for which I have longed. Now that you have come, love has come with you".
Aloha and Welcome!
Stephen and Jessie, We are gathered here to celebrate your marriage. This day you have chosen to affirm your love for each other with spoken words and with the sharing of symbols.
Marriage is a commitment to life… to the best that two people can find and bring out of each other. It offers opportunities for sharing and growth that no other human relationship can equal, a physical and emotional joining that is promised for a lifetime.
Within the circle of its love, marriage encompasses all of life’s most important relationships. A wife and husband are each other’s best friend, confidant, lover, teacher and listener. There may come times when one partner is heartbroken or ailing, and the love of the other brings healing and steadfastness to the sturdy foundation that allows the marriage covenant to be established upon.
Marriage deepens and enriches every facet of life. Happiness is fuller, memories are fresher, and commitment is stronger.
Marriage understands and forgives the mistakes that life is unable to avoid. Yet it encourages and nurtures new life, new experiences and new ways of expressing your love for each other through the seasons of life.
When two people pledge to love and care for each other in marriage they seem to create a spirit unique to themselves, which binds them closer than any spoken or written word. Marriage is a promise made in the hearts of two people who love each other, and this will take a lifetime to fulfill.

For those of us who call Hawaii our home, the flower lei is a symbol of love. It is also a symbol of things that are fragile and temporal. A flower lei will last a day or two and then it is gone. Our lives are like the lei within the span of eternity. Therefore, live with tender consideration for each other, continue to love one another and your marriage will last. May the leis you now offer each other be recognized for the love that you have for one another.
The Hawaiians have a traditional saying, "Honi Ka Waha", kiss him/her on the mouth.
Honi Ka Waha!

Big Love

So I have seen lots of episodes of Big Love in the past but since I don't have HBO I could never follow the seasons and plots. Steve and I decided to start watching the show from the very beginning so we started renting from Netflix. If anyone has ever rented from Netflix, you know you actually have to return the DVD before they send you a new one. And as exciting as Big Love is I wanted to watch the next disc NOW.

Well just so happens that today I went grocery shopping at Target and was just looking at the TV DVD's and saw that they had Big Love on sale for, get this, $18.99 each season. This is an incredible deal because every where else I ever looked were selling them for $55-60 a season. Of course I was so excited but the Target I was at didn't have both. I ended up going out to the Super Target off 10100 S and State St., which by the way, is freaking huge. I think that store is twice as large as the Fort Union store.

So for anyones curosity into the polygamy life this is the show to watch. It definitely peaks my curosity to watch the show. I am sure most people have some sort of interest in this different lifestyle.

Mineral Basin

Last Saturday, my brother invited Steve and I out for a day of 4-wheeling. We went up American Fork Canyon to Mineral Basin. It was beautiful and the clouds were out to mask the heat of the sun. It was a nice day. We sort of started a little late. The drive up the road past Tibble Reservoir was wild. Steve, my brother Brett, Cody and Bryson all drive very fast and wild on dirt roads. By the time we got up to where the boys actually got to do some rock crawling, my poor stomach was so nauseated. I decided to get out and walk. Plus I get very panicky when the truck is tilted. I walked quite a bit on the road since a lot of it makes you tilt. Bryson went over a certain part and almost tipped over. When we got to the top, the road turns into Snowbirds private property. All in all, it was a fun trip for the day. We got home at 5:45pm....just enough time for me to eat dinner and go to work for the night. No nap...:(

Wedding Bells

On August 8th, my mother in law Sue remarried. She did a small outdoor wedding in her friends beautiful backyard. Her friend did most of the planning and decoration but Sue actually made her own wedding cake. It was beautiful.

My little niece Claire has learned how to fake laugh. If you start to pretend to laugh, she will too. It's pretty funny and totally fake. Grant had a lot of fun playing with other little kids at the wedding. They had the fake guns and were running all over the yard.
Wedding vows were nice. They were performed by a Mormon bishop so of course they have to imply that these vows are only for your mortal living and that there is a more beautiful ceremony (temple). It is so hard to hear that in a ceremony when you don't believe that stuff. But other than that it was beautiful and they looked happy.

After the ceremony, they had some food for everyone and the cake cutting. Of course, we finally met Steve's side of the family. They were all very nice and friendly.

At the end of the night, Sue and Steve headed out to Denver, Colorado. Partly for a honeymoon and partly for a conference. I wish them the best of luck and we love them.

Silverton, Colorado July 3 - July 7, 2009

Okay so I know it has been a really long time since I last did a post....but honestly I was sort of tired of blogging. It takes a long time to upload pics and tell everyone about everything. But I finally decided I better do something.

We were invited to go to Silverton, Colorado over the 4th of July Weekend with some friends. Neither of us had ever been there and it sounded fun. The closer it got to the time we had to leave, the more I dreaded going. It was an 8 hour drive to Silverton. Well, I am sure glad Steve talked me into going still. Incredible views, beautiful mountains, Alpine Tundra, and waterfalls everywhere.

These are the beautiful mountains we saw on our way into Ouray, Colorado. There is an incredible highway that goes on the edge of this steep mountain to get over to Silverton. You would definitely be nervous in any type of storm. Miners back in the day blasted their way up this mountain to create a road for the men to bring the rocks out. It's called the Million Dollar Highway because 100+ years ago, that's how much it cost to build.

We got into Silverton around 5pm and set up our camp with the group. Chris and Tara were the hosts of this trip, along with their 2 kids Brendon and Alyssa. There were Dom and Mindi whom we drove the long drive with, Mandy and Carl and a few others that I can't remember.

The next day we cruised into Silverton to enjoy the parade. They had lots of fire engines there from back in the day. At the very end, the firefighters battled each other with the hoses. It was fun but if you were standing in the wrong or right place you were just as soaked as the rest of them.

After the Parade we headed up Minnie Gulch to check out some of the old mining homes and beauty. I was amazed at how green everything was. I fell in love with Silverton. I love exploring all these old homes and checking out how and WHERE these people lived. It's amazing where they would build their homes.
We encountered so many waterfalls. It's like going to Hawaii in the rainy season, everywhere you look you can find a waterfall.
We stopped for the men to have races up the side of the mountain that still had snow on it. Steve beat all of them, he made it the farthest up.

That night we went back into Silverton to watch the fireworks. It's supposed to be in the Top 10 (?) best fireworks in the country. It was pretty beautiful. Clear cool night and the town was dark. Good thing they don't last too long, I was freezing.
The next day we headed out for another day cruising the mountains. This is our lunchtime stop. Hanging out with everyone and the kids.
There were so many beautiful flowers and streams and mountains. I think I took the same picture a million times.
In the picture below, the building is an old boarding house. There were more little cabins above that structure. We went into the mine but it dead ends probably 500 ft into it.
Driving up and over the mountain required us to go where the snow still was. As you can see from the pictures, the snow is still quite thick. Pretty crazy having the snow melting and creating a stream from underneath it.
We made it to the top of the mountain. Imogene Pass which was 13,100 feet in elevation. I could definitely tell a difference in how I felt after climbing a small hill. My heart didn't like it!
We think this is an old outhouse. Quite the structure! Checking out this old stamp mill. When I say stamp mill, this means the rock they mined would start at the top and go down a hill and on each level there were large stamping machines that would crush the rock smaller and smaller. It is incredible how many old mines and miners homes that are left out in these mountains. This was our one group photo.
This side of the mountain must have had a thin vein of metal that the miners mined out. We drove into Telluride, Colorado that night to have dinner. These are the views and things we saw on our way in.
The next day we did more trails and visited this small little cluster of homes. It was very neat to have some history spelled out for us. They had historic signs on most of the homes and told who lived there and what they did.

A detour in the road that they chose to take.
In the picture below, you can see the tan vehicle. The front tires are not on the ground. They ran over a rock and got stuck. As they backed off it, it rolled which raised their vehicle up and off the ground. It was a little intense.
Our beautiful glacier lake! I couldn't believe how turquoise the water was. Maybe I don't need to go to the Caribbean to see the water. Only one problem, too cold to swim in.
Another pass we did but unable to read the name. The views from both sides were so beautiful. It makes you feel so small when you are up there and can't see any civilization. The vastness of the mountains is breathtaking!
This is our day of heading home. On a pass called Corkscrew Pass. It was a switchback most of the way but very pretty. The four of us....Dom, Steve, me and Mindi!

We had such a ball going. It made us want to move to Colorado just for the beauty. We already have planned to go next July 4th.