Utah Auto Expo

Tol's very favorite time of year finally came... and went: THE UTAH AUTO EXPO!!!
Tol literally looks forward to this ALL year long. He asks about it at least once a week for an entire year.
The auto's of the VAN variety always seem to be Tol's favorite. Great taste, Tol! They're probably his favorite because there is so much room to play in. This years top 3:
-Dodge Sprinter (AWESOME 12 passenger van)
-Hyundai Entourage (SWEET mini van)
-GMC cargo van (not sure what it was called)

We spent 90% of our time there in those 3 substantial vehicles.




Tol was lucky enough to go 4 times (2x in one day) while it was here.
He is so obsessed with cars and LOVED every second spent there.
Everyone was so impressed by Tol's car knowledge!!

He wore himself out and fell asleep in no time on our way home, with his Range Rover in his lap.


Stay tuned for the RV Expo (Tol says he's going to drive an RV when he's 16! Haha) and Boat Expo!

Until next year...

Interview Update

The interviewing process is FINALLY coming to a close and, to put it bluntly, I couldn't be more thrilled.
It has been quite the process. The last 2 months it seems Dave has been gone more than he's been home. Some trips have been over-nighters (like the one he is currently on), and some have been over a week long!
He is in Spokane, WA right now and thanks to Jury Duty, this could be his last trip. WOO HOO!!!! He was supposed to go to AZ at the beginning of next week, but the dreaded (or not) jury summons came. Let's face it, Dave has covered his bases a few times over, and since the programs in AZ aren't at the top of his list (sorry Rach), this jury duty thing could be saving us $500+.

Anyway, so here is the the UNREVISED top 5:

1. U of U
2. Dartmouth
3. Harvard
4. Mayo
5. Michigan


Like I said, it is unrevised. For example, it might be impossible to afford to live in Boston for 4 years for our little family. We need to do our research.
If it were completely up to me, this is what I'd want to do:
So the Anesthesiology residency has what they call a 'transitional year'. That basically means you can do the 1st year somewhere different than the next, and last 3 years. So I would choose to do the transitional year here and the next 3 at Dartmouth. I love the thought of living in New Hampshire. I have only been there once, but it was beautiful and Dave said the city we'd live in is small & quaint. I've always been a big-city gal, but the older I get the nicer a small city sounds, especially for only 3 years. We definitely want to end up back here in Utah when all is said and done, so I feel like this is our chance to branch out for a while. Plus, it will give all of you a GREAT vacationing spot.
Dave & I have a lot to figure out. His ranking needs to be in by the 15th of Feb (O good- I just figured out our VALENTINES plans! heehee). It is out of our hands at that point, so we'll hope and pray we go somewhere good. We find out our fate around the 15th of March.

I'll keep you all posted.

New Toy- come & gone

I decided to tackle the HUGE project of cleaning out my filing cabinet (a little overdue). The kids were bummed when I had to shred their new toy and throw it away.

Zada Post-Christmas Party

This year we had our salon post-Christmas bash at The Spaghetti Factory. Everything was great- except for the service. We had a 'white elephant' exchange and I was pleased to go home with my Singing and Dancing Douglas Fir.

Jen & Christeena with their Hubbies and Dana, Me, Candice & Burt

Jim & Deb with Jager being a funny man and Kathy & Liz

Karen, Lindsey and Dana

It looks like I missed some people... sorry about that.

I just have to add that I absolutely LOVE my job! I LOVE doing hair and I especially love working with all these fabulous people. I've known most of them for my whole life and I have really grown to love these people and think of them as family. Work is my home away from home and I wouldn't have it any other way. LOVE ALL YOU GUYS!

Grammy Jean

3 years ago to the day, one of my very most favorite and influential people died. My Grammy Jean was such an amazing person and today I want to honor her with a tribute.
First of all, death is an interesting thing. It is the thing that my Gram feared more than anything. Her mind and soul didn't want to go , but her body did, and her body won. I have always LOVED my Gram and absolutely loved to be around her. My love and appreciation for her has grown so much in the last three years since she's been gone and have since been longing to be around her and attend one of her AMAZING parties, just one more time.
I could write a book about my Gram. She was devoted to EVERY calling she had here on this earth as a wife, mother, mother-in-law, grandma, great-grandma, sister, aunt, school teacher, church member, neighbor, traveler, lover of beauty & fashion, party thrower, tradition maker and the list goes on and on.
I have so many great memories with my Gram and the rest of my family. I would say that my Gram found the most joy in having her family all together. She was always finding an excuse for a family party, from festive holiday parties to an "Oprah's Chocolate Cookbook" tasting party. Everything was always perfect and put together so well. The decadent food (she was a FABULOUS cook), the decorations and centerpieces (that she especially ordered for each gathering) to the games and entertainment.
Like I said, I could go on forever and ever. Instead, I'm going to make a list. Some of you might understand, some might not. This is mainly just for me, so I never forget, and for my posterity, so they'll all know what an amazing woman helped pave the way for them.
1. Beach
2. Tuna fish on toast with peas(YUCK!)
3. Midway
4. Cards
5. Nutcracker
6. Pinata
7. 'Court'
8. Lagoon
9. Candy jar
10. Vacuum lines in carpet
11. Movies
12. Books
13. Ice cream
14. Speeding tickets
15. Cascade Springs incident
16. Bright Pink Lipstick (on teeth)
17. HUGE watches
18. Birthday Shopping
19. "What's new?"
20. Easter egg hunt
and FINALLY: "Thanks for taking me shopping, Gram./(CRASH) Jennie, pick up the potatoes!/They're not potatoes, they're french fries./Then pick up the french-fried potatoes!"
I love my Grammy Jean so much and miss her more and more everyday. She was truly an inspiration to all who knew her. I am so blessed to have her as my Gram and to have been able to be apart of her exquisite-ness. She made everything so great and so special and because of that I will always be grateful and never forget the legacy she left.
Love you, Gram!

Venting

I am so frustrated with this crazy Electrical world we live in. My BRAND NEW digital camera that I got for Christmas BROKE. My previously raved about iPod BROKE and I cannot, for the life of me, figure out this "intuitive" digital scrapbooking software I bought a while back.
I am not meant for digital or electronic, or whatever you want to call it, stuff. I'm an official IDIOT when it comes to that crap. I'm starting to really dislike all of the 21st centuryish stuff. What happened to thinking that 35mm cameras were the thing to have? Or walkmans? Or scissors, paper and stickers. I've been told so many times that digital scrapbooking is sooooo much better and FASTER. Well I'm here to tell you that's a LIE. I've been sitting at my computer for 2.5 hours and I have done ONE UGLY PAGE. I could have done at least 4 or 5 fairly cute traditional pages in that time. UGH! (I had to throw that in).

Nelson Fiesta

The Nelson Christmas Party is always a season highlight! This year we went to Park City to Eric and Mindy's house and had a ball.

Ellie and Jennie

Erika & Chel and Tol, Preston & Claire

My Mom & Mindy with the kids

My Dad, Mike & Eric and Jane & Simon

Pat & Jame and Jen, Jules & Lucy

Love all you guys... and missed everyone who couldn't come!

'ICE'

Addison is amazed by all the snow and LOVES walking in the "ICE."

We've learned not to call it 'snow' in front of her to prevent a meltdown.