The Holidays...

We can't believe the Holidays are pretty much over! This was Greg and I's second set of holidays together.

Thanksgiving...

During the week of Thanksgiving Greg and I flew to sunny and warm California with my family and some extended family. We spent most of Wednesday in Disneyland, enjoying all the rides. Trevor even went on Splash Mountain with us. He did fine until he got wet...

Our hotel was about 10 minutes away from the park so we would ride the shuttle back and forth. Wednesday night we all went out to eat at Buca's. It was an Family Style Italian restaurant next to the hotel. the portions were meant to fed 2-3 people. Well Kevin (my 15 year old lil bro) ordered some ravioli but didn't want to share with anybody. The waiter who was hilarious, told Kevin he wouldn't be able to finish it by himself. Well Kevin (the human garbage disposal) not only finish his plate by himself, but then finished off everybody else's. The waiter couldn't believe it.

On Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) we headed straight for California Adventures. First order of business was to get our fast passes to Tower of Terror. Then we met up with the rest of the group at Soarin' over California. The rides were amazing! Our Thanksgiving dinner that night consisted of Jack in Box.

Friday we hopped onto a bus and took a tour of LA and then onto Universal Studios. We didn't see any celebrities (atleast not any that I recognized!) but had a blast. Such a fun vacation. I really did not want to return to the "Real World".

Christmas time...

This year all of our 'normal' Christmas traditions kinda got thrown out the window. We don't have children yet so we've haven't made our own traditions yet. But didn't really fully participate in our families' traditions either.

Christmas Eve we went to my parent's house and got to talk to Elder Bodily when he called and then we opened our Eve gift... always PJs.

Christmas morning Greg and I opened up our gifts to each other and then headed back up to my parent's to open gifts with them. That afternoon we headed to Salt Lake to meet up with Greg's family at his brother's house. It was fun to see my nieces and nephews open up their presents and get excited to play with their toys.

After seeing Greg's family we headed to Temple Square to see the lights. It was FREEZING but so beautiful.

The day after Christmas we did my favorite thing... SHOPPING! They have some great deals on Boxing day :) And then I made Greg Christmas Dinner. In the hustle and bustle of Christmas we didn't get to have a Christmas dinner so we made our own, a day late and it was AMAZING!

New Years...

Greg's brother and his family that are now living in PA will be in town visiting so we're headed to Price for New Years. It'll be a blast to see our niece and nephews that we don't get to see very often.

I think that's about all for now :)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYBODY!

My First Christmas In Heaven

I found this poem and thought of my amazing Grandma Dodo...

I see the countless
Christmas trees
around the world below
With tiny lights, like Heaven's stars,
reflecting on the snow

The sight is so spectacular,
please wipe away the tear
For I am spending Christmas with
Jesus Christ this year.

I hear the many Christmas songs
that people hold so dear
But the sounds of music can't compare
with the Christmas choir up here.

I have no words to tell you,
the joy their voices bring,
For it is beyond description,
to hear the angels sing.

I know how much you miss me,
I see the pain inside your heart.
But I am not so far away,
We really aren't apart.

So be happy for me, dear ones,
You know I hold you dear.
And be glad I'm spending Christmas
with Jesus Christ this year.

I sent you each a special gift,
from my heavenly home above.
I sent you each a memory
of my undying love.

After all, love is a gift more precious
than pure gold.
was always most important
the stories Jesus told.

Please love and keep each other,
my Father said to do.
I can't count the blessing or love
has for each of you.

So have a Merry Christmas and
Wipe away that tear
Remember, I am spending Christmas with
Jesus Christ this year

Our Weekend...

This past weekend we packed up and headed to Price to visit the Palmer's. Our cute little niece Kelsie Ann was born on November 2 and we hadn't see her in person... She is so adorable!

We are now counting down to our trip to Disneyland in one week :D because we will be celebrating Thanksgiving in Cali, Greg and I decided to start decorating for one of our favorite holidays... KWANZAA! Just kidding I don't even know what happens on that holiday...

So far we have our tree decorated...

Just a side note, I hosted Bunco this month and in order for sweet Amanda to not give me too much crap, we held off on decorating for Christmas until now and attempted to decorate in a "Fall" fashion... the decor lasted a whole 2 weeks :D

And to brag just a wee bit... the fabric pumpkins on my table, I MADE! Yep, my first Relief Society Craft that I started and FINISHED in the same night. I was even so ambitious that I made 2 sets, giving one set to my wonderful mother!



Well, that's all for now... Laters!

Weekend Surprise!

So to kill the suspense of everyone that has so patiently waiting to hear what the surprise was this weekend let me tell you all what it was.


IVY'S PREGNANT! Okay, not really, but since most of you were thinking that I thought that I would throw it in.

The real surprise was something that Christi, Lorin's wife, did for all of us. Christi called the Palmer parental units on Monday and told us all that she was flying Nathan in from Pennsylvania to be at Lorin's baptism. Lorin had no idea that Nathan was going to be there, but had been hoping that Nate could somehow be there. My family is not known for pulling off surprises very well, but somehow we all kept our mouths shut. Ivy and I volunteered to pick Nate up from the airport and so he called us Saturday afternoon and told us that he had another surprise for the rest of the family. Nate told us that he would be bringing his 18-month old son, Washington, to see us too. Sunday morning Ivy and I headed to the airport to pick Nate up and take him to Lorin's house. Lorin got a little suspicious when my family showed up at 10:30 in the morning to go to church with him at 1:00. If you know the Palmer family you know that we are never on time when we have to travel to places. Shortly after they arrived at Lorin's place we left the airport and drove to Lorin's house with Nate. Ivy and I walked into the house holding Washington and Nathan walked in right behind us. It took Lorin a while, but once he realized who the third person to walk in with us was he ran to Nate to give him a hug. It was such an amazing moment. It was just another wonderful example of our wonderful family can really be. Eventhough we fought a lot as kids we still love each other very much. You've got to love family.

Now onto the main event of the weekend. Lorin's baptism was amazing. He chose Todd to baptize him and my father to confirm him. Needless to say there were a great many tears shed last night. Tears of joy and relief. As a missionary I saw the Atonement change peoples' lives all the time, but seeing your brother go through the pain and struggling that sin brings is harder than anything I had ever experienced. However, the joy and ecstasy that I felt seeing him enter the waters of baptism to start a new chapter in his life was down right amazing. I know that the Atonement is real, I have felt it in my life many times, but it took on a new, more personal meaning for me last night. Once again my family is complete and will be that way for all of time and eternity. I now understand the story of the Prodigal Son more than I ever imagined would be possible. It is difficult to describe the joy that was felt in that room last night, but it proved to me that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true and that the Atonement is real. Lorin is now clean from any of his past mistakes. We all learned a great deal from this trial; I don't think that anyone would wish to repeat it, but none of us would give up the lessons learned from it.

Anyway, sorry to disappoint anyone that was hoping that we would be having a baby, but this was still a very neat surprise for all of us. Thanks everyone for helping Lorin come back to the Gospel and be baptized again.

Exciting News!

To continue with our great weekend and exciting news...

On Sunday we got word that Greg's oldest brother is getting rebaptized this coming Sunday. He went through some crazy times, but has now married an amazing girl and turned his life around. We're so excited for him and Christi! One step closer to having an eternal family.

Then on Monday November 2, 2009 Kelsie Ann Palmer was born into our family :) she is Keith and Steph's second.

Above: Kara Ann and Kelsie Ann

Isn't she beautiful?! Greg and I haven't actually seen her... but hopefully we'll make it down to Price very soon to meet our newest niece.

There is word floating in the air that a surprise is in the works for this weekend... we'll see how it turns out :)

What a week!

This past week has been so crazy... yet exciting! On Friday, Greg and I took my youngest brother, Trevor, to the Halloween Carnival at my work. It was hilarious watching all the residents, staff and families dress up. Trevor was a werewolf, unfortunately his costume was an adult's size... the mask lasted a whole five minutes! My friend (basically my sister...) brought her kids to the carnival too...

Above: Austin and Trevor

Greg and Trevor

Nattie B and Seth

Greg and me

On Saturday (Halloween) Greg and I took Trevor trick-or-treating with Leslie and her kids. My parents tease us that Trevor is our practice child... I'm getting GREAT practice!

Ghost Towns...

With Greg being a history buff, we end up going on crazy adventures. Lately we've been searching for ghost towns. Carbon County (where Greg grew up) is FULL of ghost towns due to the coal mining towns. I guess we dream about finding a ghost town with buried treasure... Hopefully that day will come soon! Until then, we're having fun searching.

Unfortunately, a lot of the ghost towns are now on private property and the remains have been ruined. In one such case, there is a legend about "White Lady" that haunts an old mining town. In 1972, a teenage boy was so freaked out by the thought that he had seen the ghost that he destroyed part of the building.


Whether the buildings are destroyed or partially intact, it's always a grand adventure learning the history of the towns and the people who lived there. Did you know that there was once a hot spring called Castilla up Spanish Fork Canyon (before the Thistle turn off). The numerous times we've driven that canyon, and had no idea what once stood just off the highway. The history of it is fascinating, a hobo burned the hotel down trying to stay warm years after it was shut down.

Well that's it for our adventures thus far. We're hoping to make it back down towards Price before we get too much more snow. Maybe we'll find some old coins and strike it big :) Laters!

Getting in the Halloween Spirit....

In an attempt to get into the Halloween spirit (one of Greg's favorite holidays...) we walked around the Halloween USA store. What an interesting place! Here are just a few of our pictures...

We also got in the spirit of Halloween by carving pumpkins with Brennen and Ashlee...

General Conference Weekend

A couple of weeks ago I attended Time Out for Women with my mom and sister Leslie. One of the speakers was Mark Mabry - the AMAZING photographer of the Reflections of Christ.

He has just finished up Reflections of Christ Another Testament. They shot the photos in Central America and he said that they dressed the natives up and just let them go with the flow.

Well his photos were on display down at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building during conference weekend. Greg knew that I just loved his work so Friday we escaped from Logan and went and saw Mark's exhibit.

Lets just say that I was so touched and felt the spirit so strongly that I of course shed some tears. One of the photos is of Christ on some large steps with the natives and children all around. Fading into the scene are beautiful Angels from heaven.

Then listening to the Prophet and the Apostles was so inspiring. I feel like I can take on any trial that comes our way!

More US World Cup Qualifying Pictures...

More crazy pictures...

Kevin and Greg's crazy hair...

Keith and Greg getting pumped!

Dad and Kevin didn't know what they were getting into...

Greg getting pumped!

US World Cup Qualifying Match

Well, here it goes for my first post. Ivy is letting me do this because it is my area of expertise. Saturday September 5th we were lucky enough to attend the first ever World Cup Qualifying Match in Rio Tinto Stadium. The US played El Salvador and although it should have been a home game for the Gringos the crowd was definitely pro El Salvador. I had no idea that so many people from such a small country lived in the United States. To get into the spirit of the game we all dressed up, but nothing like Todd did. Todd actually had people stop and ask to take pictures with him. Well, the US conceded the first goal to El Salvador, but before the end of the first half the US had scored twice, both on headers. The US ended up winning 2-1 and inched a little closer to qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The good thing is that the US has proved they can play well in South Africa after taking 2nd in the Confederation's Cup after beating Spain (who was the #1 best team in the World at the time) and then falling to Brazil (the current #1 team in the World). Even though we enjoyed ourselves at the game we were more than elated (or I was) to hear that BYU had upset #3 Oklahoma. I can now say that I have completely converted my wife to soccer-ism and am getting close to converting her younger brother too. Even my father-in-law wants to attend another game, he hopes that he will be able to understand the game better this time.

First Day of Fall Semester...

Today was the day. I attended my first day of classes for fall semester 2009. Okay okay, my only class for this semester. I was nervous at first, not knowing what my professor would be like but my butterflies were redirected to wig out about something else after Les almost killed us driving to class. We made it safe tho, no worries and no tickets!

Our professor, Jessica Habashi, is really nice. She seems like she'll be good and makes the material understandable. Jessica wants to learn everybody's name (all 60+ just in the Brigham City class) so she took a picture of us holding a little white board with our names. Cleaver, huh? She learned my name right off. I guess that's what happens when you have an unusual name unlike the 3 Melissa's in our lab.

Greg is taking this year off from school to work and prepare for the master's program. He'll apply for USU's master's program at the end of the year (or begining of next year... I can never remember). He is enjoying working at Bridger Elem again. The teachers all seem to like having him around, especially his mother-in-law ;) and brother-in-law who is in second grade this year.

We're off to continue with our busy schedules until, well Christmas in 4 months!

Moving a Piano...

Since Gma Dodo passed away, Greg and I have taken an inventory of our apartment and have decided to 'downsize'. We want it to be our apartment, not a storage place facility... The first thing to go was my grandma's baby grand piano.

I loved playing the piano for her (that was the only time I would sit down and play it) but I haven't played for 2 and half years. Sad to say but I felt I could only play for her. I asked (okay... told) my parents if they would take it. In a few years when Greg and I move, they'd have to take it anyways.

Well, in order to safely move the piano and other various heavy objects out of our apartment and up to my parents house, my father hired professional movers. They came and got started. First, they removed the foot pedals and the left front leg and tilted the piano onto it's side. Then removed the other legs and strapped the piano to what looked like a body board. They then shimmied the piano through the front door onto the porch. The next obstacle came when trying to turn onto the stairs...

What an ordeal! But our apartment is so much bigger now with more space to scrapbook :)

Trevor's Teeth...

So a couple of months ago Trey and I were goofing around at my parental's house. He had a loose tooth and his mouth ran into my hand... honest, that's what happened! Well, long story short, I knocked his tooth out. He wouldn't let me forget it either.

With his next loose tooth, he wouldn't let me near his mouth. I even offered to knock it out so he could get money from the tooth fairy.

Fast forward to lastnight... Greg and I stopped into my mom's classroom to chit chat (my mom, dad and trey were there). Trey started goofing around and before we knew it, I had knocked another one of Trey's loose teeth out! I don't know how it happened this time. I had picked him up and gently placed him in the large garbage bin. Upon trying to get him out of the bin, Greg came over to help. Then all of a sudden, his tooth had come out.

I'm never going to live it down... I hope the toothfairy brought him lots of moola :D

The First Year...

WOW! It has been one whole year since Greg and I were married August 9, 2008 in the Logan LDS Temple. What an amazing year it has been. Elder Justin Bodily left for his mission in Sept of 08. In the spring of 09 Greg graduated from USU with his BA in history. I continue to study nursing - someday :D I'll be able to apply to the programs. Greg works at Bridger Elementary (where we met). I am working at Legacy House Assisted Living.

Well, that is about it for our first post :D more to come later...