Sunday, March 30, 2008

Fulfilling Our Roles... :)

Here are just a few random pictures from this weekend. Mark is in the dining room working on fixing a shoe rack. Funny story actually. Vanessa and I came home and noticed the shoe rack was broken. As Mark and I looked at it, it became very obvious what exactly happened- someone (our other roommate) stepped on it...probably thinking she could use it as a step stool. It was pretty funny because it is definitely not sturdy enough for me to step on, let alone a normal-sized adult. Anyway, it made me laugh and actually made me think of Mark's roommate incident when he put a plastic pan in the oven to cook pizza. Well, Mark decided he was going to fix it. Here he is...

While Mark was doing his manly thing...I was later found in the kitchen cooking. I asked Mark to switch the paper towel and he decided to make me a chef's hat out of the packaging. We continue to be nerds. :)

Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail...

Happy Easter! Well we had a nice break from all the snow for Easter so it was an extra special treat. It was so nice to have the sun shining on such a special day. We had Easter at my place this year- Mark and his roommates, my brother Chad, and my roommate Vanessa celebrated it together. They all made fun of me because I got really excited for the day- Easter is my favorite- and had the whole day planned. :) First, we had an Easter egg hunt. Vanessa and I had to hide all the eggs before the boys got here. However, when we went out to the park to hide them there were a bunch of other guys out hiding eggs. We decided to just hide them by the cars and along the house...so it was like a little kids hunt. But it was still fun....This is Mark at the beginning of the hunt...he went right for the jackpot- the cars.
Mark and his roommate Kevin searched around the cars while the other guys went around the house. Kevin seemed to overlook most of the eggs so Mark scored on pretty much all of them in this area.
This is the hill on the side of our place. These are Mark's roommates searching.
Mark found the golden egg! .... and I didn't even tell him where it was...hehe! :)
After the hunt. It was fun to watch them. They were good sports...playing my kid's game. :)

Hanging out in the living room after the hunt. Time to start eating the really good Easter candy! We were waiting for my brother Chad to come down. Well Chad worked the night before so he was running a little late...he had just gotten off work an hour before he was supposed to head down from Salt Lake. We decided to start breakfast next- french toast with strawberries and cool whip- so good! We got a recipe from one of our friends who worked at a bakery around here...it's my favorite! (Kneader's french toast for those of you who are familiar with Provo)
Making the french toast. :)

Vanessa prepping the bread.


Chad got here during the breakfast! After breakfast everyone had to find their baskets. As tradition in my family we each get a basket every year and we have to find it first thing Easter morning- they were all hidden throughout the house. Everyone had a card that they had to match with the one in their basket. In the baskets everyone had a part of "The Living Christ" and we went around and each read our parts after. It was so much fun! :)Here are all the baskets. Everyone had candy and a book in their baskets. Mark and Chad had an Easter tie as well.Chad and I. For anyone that knows Chad...look....he had a nice tie on!!! Yipee!!!! And for those that don't know him...he has this weird thing for ugly ties. I try to help him get out of it.Mark and Jodie. Happy Easter....hope you were all able to enjoy this special day and that it was full of lots of fun, candy, and of course reflection on our Savior and his wonderful Atonement.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Big Events around BYU

Well everyone, its been awhile since we've written; midterms, work, and church has been keeping us pretty busy. But, we've had a few big events around here at BYU lately so I wanted to tell you about some of them.

First of all...

Moses saw a burning bush, here at BYU we got to see the frozen bush.

It was really cool actually. We've had tons of snow this winter and the other day the sun finally came out and melted some of the snow on the roof of Jodie's apartment. However, it was still cold enough that it refroze the water on this bush.

Ok, so it wasn't a big event, but it looked really cool.

This next event actually was pretty big, the BYU vs U of U basketball game. The security guard at Jodie's school had some extra tickets to the game, so we went. Here's a picture at the beginning when the teams were warming up.

It was a really good game and lots of fun to go see. And the best part, we won too! Below is the proof for anyone skeptical, and for BYU's bragging rights too. Go Cougs!

This last event was really, really cool. In the pre-med club, we were able to get Elder Nelson to come and talk to us. It was a really amazing experience; he did a question and answer session with us for a half an hour and then talked another half an hour. Also, since I'm in the club presidency and I had to help ushering, they reserved some seats for us. It just so happened that our seats were right behind Elder Nelson; I could have leaned forward and given him a back rub. Also, while I was ushering, Jodie was sitting in her seat and Elder Nelson turned around and asked her what she did to get to sit in the reserved seats. She said that she was just engaged to someone in the presidency. All in all, it was an amazing experience...too bad the school newspaper didn't get us in any of the shots; especially this first one because Jodie was just to the left of the picture.





So, those are some of the big events that have been going on around here in BYU lately. Hope you've enjoyed.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

President Hinckley's Funeral

Well, Jodie and I decided that we needed to go to President Hinckley's funeral services. It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience.

Well, it was forecast to snow all weekend, so we were worried if we'd even be able to make it. We decided to drive to Sandy and then take the traks up to the conference center in case we had a really bad storm. We knew we had to be there really early because there was a several hour wait for his viewing on Thursday and Friday; I know of some people who waited over 4 hours to see him. So, Jodie and I woke up at 5 and went straight up to SLC. It took us a little longer to get there because of the delay in waiting for the traks. They had us first wait in a line that wrapped around part of Temple Square. Then, they began filing people into the Tabernacle to wait so they didn't have to do so in the freezing cold temperatures (today was the first day in several weeks that the temperature was above freezing). Now, even though miraculously we didn't get any storm what so ever Saturday morning, it was very cold standing and waiting.

These bushes looked like we felt inside, frozen and wilted.

The temple was especially pretty that morning. The church was playing music from the Choir on the loud speakers, so it was very serene.

Here we are in the Tabernacle waiting. I was really glad to not have to wait outside in the cold anymore, Jodie even more so than me. We waited in there from about 8:30 to 9:00. Then they started handing out tickets and they shuffled us al over to the Conference Center.

Here we waited at the Conference center until the funeral at 11. For those of you who didn't catch the services, it was very good. I got emotional at two points; they were more of tears of gladness than anything. One point was seeing him walking with sister Hinckley and thinking about how they must feel to be together again. And then afterwards when I told Jodie about what Elder Holland said at my parents' stake conference with his battle with colon cancer. What an amazing man he was. I'm sure we will all miss him and look forward to seeing him again.

Winter Days

Here are some random pictures that Jodie and I have taken through the winter so far.

This winter has been a very interesting one. We have gotten A LOT more snow than previously; kind of depressing if you ask me, well, either of us. We're all ready for spring. But as you can see from the picture I took today on campus, we have a lot of snow after our weekend of snow storms.

For those of you who've been to BYU, this maybe a common sight. People sleep every where and in the most random places. During the summer, its outside on the grass. During the winter, however, people have to get a little more creative. For example, this guy is sleeping in the hall of the basement of the MARB. This building is part of the science labs area, so stuff like the cadavers, lab rats and rabbits, and chemicals are passing through here; not exactly the best place to sleep if you ask me.


I was taking the trash out last week at work and I found a HUGE icicle; it made a pretty sweet sword.

Jodie and I decided to make blueberry pancakes the other day. It was snowing pretty good and we didn't have much to do that Saturday. I started out making a Mickey Mouse pancake for Jodie and one thing lead to another and eventually ended in a tragic accident. Mickey got shot and Minnie Mouse was devastated by the disaster and would stop crying.



Well, it was kind of fun to make, but were definitely a pair of nerds.

G & G Brems' Anniversary

Well, even though this is entitled G & G Brems' Anniversary, we don't have any pictures from their wedding anniversary yet. But they had their 65 wedding anniversary and a big party with all the kids to celebrate. So, Jodie and I went up to SLC to meet up with most of the Brems family. It was the first time that all of their kids had gotten together since Great Grandpa Nettleship passed away in 1993. So, here are some of the pictures we took.

Jenna found a new treat, chocolate covered strawberries. In this picture, she actually ended up taking a left over one from an abandoned plate. Oh, I don't know if you'll be able to see it very well, but Jenna is wearing a wedding ring; apparently some things are happening in Phoenix while I'm no longer around.

Jodie and I slept over in SLC with my family so we could stay with them a little longer. It was really neat because we got to go to Music and the Spoken Word that morning.

Here's a picture during the dress rehearsal right before they do the live broadcast.


And this one is at the same time just looking at the tabernacle.

Well, it was a really fun weekend and we were really glad to see the family again. It was definitely too short, but still lots of fun. Thanks for everything and congrats again to Grandma and Grandpa Brems for 65 years of being together; they are such a great example to us all.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

A Dominican Christmas

Well, we finally got the pictures up for the Dominican trip, there's quite a few of them.

We left to go to the airport WAY early, like 4 am. Ok, maybe not a big deal, but when you see how many bags we took, it was quite the challenge getting everything going. Everyone had at least 3 bags, some had 4, filled with stuff for the missionaries or donations for people in the DR and Haiti. Needless to say, it took a LONG time to get through the ticket desk.

Some of our bags while we were getting everything set. These two in front were by far the two heaviest carry-ons that I've had. They were full of candy for 35 missionaries, at least 40 lbs each.
The rest of the bags
We arrived in the DR on Saturday night and then the next day we went for a walk around a park. We found a pretty cool tree to swing from.
Jodie swinging from the tree too.
Later that afternoon, the missionaries watched a devotional that had been recorded in the Provo MTC. We caught Presidente taking a quick little nap; with how much Grandma and Grandpa do for the missionaries, it didn't surprise me at all.
Sunday night we got together and began to prepare all the missionaries' Christmas stockings. We filled it up with little toys and trinkets, candy, Dominican flag pin, and other treats. We got quite the assembly line going too.
On Monday, we went to the historic area of Santo Domingo, or the colonial zone. This church was built in the early 1500's shortly after Christopher Columbus landed. It was very beautiful; to me it rivals any other cathedral I've seen in Europe in beauty and eloquence.
It had beautiful stained glass windows and very impressive arch structure for the roof.
After leaving the cathedral, we went to visit an old colonial fort. It was built by a contemporary of Christopher Columbus and later Columbus' lived in the fort for his private residence.
It had a great view of the area. It over looked the main river running through the DR and its outlet into the ocean.
They also had different weapons of war from different ages, including a few tanks and armored vehicles. It was neat to get inside and see just how cramped they are inside.
I don't think anyone would want to mess with a girl like this.
They also had some artillery guns that you could move around. On my side you controlled the lateral movements of the gun, on Jason's side you controlled the vertical movements. With both of us at the gears, you could move that sucker pretty quick.
After leaving the fort, we went to go see Christopher Columbus' house. It was cool to see the old governor's mansion.
When we got home that afternoon, we started making dinner for all the missionaries. We have a tradition of having breakfast for dinner on Christmas Eve- so we did the same thing for the missionaries. It was pretty intense and required everyone's help to cook.
Jodie and I pause for a picture.
Here's the line of missionaries starting to eat dinner.
After dinner, we had a Nativity. The Jamaicans were the wise men, Jenna was Mary, and we had some North Americans fill in the other positions. Over all, it was very nice.
Again, following tradition, we got to do a musical talent if we had one. Many of the missionaries sang, including these Jamaicans. They sang a few Christmas songs in a very tropical, caribbean way; it was amazing.
We were then Santa's helpers in getting the stockings to all the missionaries; we got to hand them all out.

Here they are just opening some of the gifts.

We also set up some games that we could play with the missionaries. With toys they they received, they would compete within his branch and then have a final showdown with the 3 other districts to become champion of the MTC
The old paddle board.

Flying the little straw helicopters.

The husband of a lady who works for my Dad, just retired. In order to keep busy, he started taking up sewing and made little botties for all the missionaries.
The next day, we went to go spend some time at a resort nearby. It was so much fun. But here's Mom, Jenna, Angie and Jason running into the water..
Jason was able to throw Jenna into the water, pretty impressive actually.
Jodie and I spent some time building a dream house instead of a sand castle; It was pretty cool
The first scuba trip that we all went together on. Jodie and I missed the first day that everyone else went on because Jodie was getting certified and I was taking the course with her as a refresher course. But once we went out into the ocean, it was so much fun. We saw all different types of fish, coral, and other sea life.
Jodie and I
The beach in front of the resort. It was so nice to go walking down the beach and just relax, especially since Utah was getting tons and tons of snow.
Sitting on the steps of the Faro de Colon. Its a memorial light house built in honor of Columbus. It has a museum that has a room for every country in the Americas a few others. It was pretty cool to see the early history of the area.

This was taken outside of Christopher Columus' tomb. 4 places around the world claim that they have his body. The DR claims that they have his skull and femur. Either way, very cool building.
Down the hallway of the museum. Off to each side is the rooms devoted to each American country.

After seeing the Faro de Colon, we went to a place called tres ojos, or the three eyes. It was really cool because it was like three eyes were just poking out. It was a series of caves that you could go through. It was very, very cool to see.
In this pool there were a bunch of turtles and fishes; it was really cool.
Grandma and Grandpa with Angie and Jason.



Here's a really good shot of the caves.


Most of the family taking a pictures.
We were right across from temple when we were staying at the MTC, so it was very cool.
Here's down the hallway at the MTC. It was so much fun to be around the missionaries again.


Later, we went up to the north end of the island so we could take a tram up the mountain. It was really cool because it was really high, right next to the ocean, and had a Christ statue like Brazil on top.

Just a picture from on top.
The statue
Jodie and I- Jenna had both told us that she wanted us to pose diferrently because in all of my pictures
Grandpa and Grandpa and Jenna on top of the mountains

Mom Dad and Jenna on top


Mom, Dad,and Jenna along the path around the mountain
Jenna at another fort The donkey is a fun little touch.

Well, those were the big main pictures that we got from everyone's camera. Hope that you enjoyed them and everything is going well for everyone.