The New and The Old

So our life has kinda been a whirlwind recently because we thought we were going to Louisville, KY for dental school until recently. But then Jason got an interview at UCLA, which was his #1 school and he got accepted, so now we are going to Los Angeles, CA. Quite the difference huh?! I am so proud of Jason for all of the hard work he's put in here at BYU. He is so dedicated and determined. We feel very blessed for this opportunity and know we could never have gotten to where we are without the Lord's help. We are a bit nervous for this big change in our lives, but are also very excited. It looks like we will be moving sometime in August or early September. We are glad we get to have one more summer here in Utah to play and be with friends and family nearby. We will miss everyone here so much!!



It has been way to long since I have posted anything on my blog. So, here's one big update on what's new...and what's not quite so new. We've done a lot of fun things and have a lot of exciting times ahead, so here's the update. :)

oops, these got a little bit out of order somehow. Oh well. Becca and Jeff threw a great Murder Mystery dinner party for Becca's bithday. We all dressed up and had a lot of fun! Thanks you guys!!
Part of our trip for Jason's interview included visiting Grandma and Grandpa Grattan. We are very excited to live closer to them and to see them more often.
me at the beach. We'll live about 10 minutes from here.
UCLA School of Dentistry!!
Victor and Jannae got Jason one of those heavenly cakes from Costco to celebrate his acceptance! Thanks you guys for being so excited with us and for the yummy cake!
We finally got a new car!! For those of you who have been in our other cars, you will be glad to I'm sure! We feel very spoiled and are so happy to have a reliable car.
Goodbye to our little blue. We were able to sell the Corolla and are sad to see it go, but we were happy someone else wanted it. :)
Jason and I ate the murder mystery dinner. Fun stuff!
Kevin and Charisa looked awesome. Kevin was the detective and Charisa was my Grandmother. lol, we had a great time. Glad you guys were there!
What cuties! Falycia was a babe and Kirks slicked back hair was stylin'!
This goes back to February when I went to Casper to watch Amy's kids for a few days. Amy and Jake had a medical conference at Jackson hole, so I went and stayed with the kids. We had so much fun and i had withdrawls when I left. They are so fun! Kade was quite the drummer!
What cute girls huh?! I love you guys!

Enjoying it While We Can

Since this is our last Christmas in Utah, Jason and I decided to try to make the most of it by going to as many of the Christmas events at Temple Square that we could. I think we did pretty well. We were able to start the season out by attending the play Savior of The World. We've seen it before, but for some reason this time was even better. For those who haven't seen it, it's wonderful. It tells the story of the Savior's birth and his Resurrection. It is well done and such a great reminder of what Christmas is all about. Following that, we went to the first presidency Christmas devotional, which was amazing, as always. The last thing we went to was the Mormon Tabernacle Christmas Concert. They sang with the Orchestra on Temple Square as well as with two guest performers. It was awesome!! There were some amazing numbers including an organ solo of "Go Tell It On The Mountain". We absolutely loved it. We truly are going to miss all the things that Utah has to offer. We are also going to miss family greatly when we move. We've been so blessed to live so close to many of our siblings and love having them near.

Better Late Than Never

I actually forgot that I took a few pictures on Thanksgiving, so here they are. A bit late, I know. I figure since it's not Christmas yet, they are still fair game. We had a great dinner with Kevin, Charisa and their family as well as Falycia and Kirk. Here's Sam enjoying his yummy roll- what a cutie!

Emma had to fight Uncle Jason for the HUGE drum stick and it looks like Emma won. She thoroughly enjoyed it! Go Emma!

The Wasson clan eating Thanksgiving dinner! Mmm mmmm.

Falycia, Kirk, Jason, Charisa and Kevin carving the turkey and making the last preparations! It was the first time Jason and I have hosted a Thanksgiving dinner and it was great! Thanks for coming everyone!

Nothin' But Love

Who would've thought that one little puppy could bring so much fun and love into our family? As most of you know, in place of children, Maya has become out little baby. She keeps us entertained, is quite funny, and gives so much love. Becca and Mae came to visit today and Mae always loves seeing Maya, so I thought I would share. Occassionally Maya gets to full of love and can't help herself from kissing Mae. At first Mae flinches, but then she giggles. She never wants Maya to leave her side when she's at our house. They're quite the pals!

A Quick Visit

We were so excited to have Emily and Ryan come for a quick visit yesterday. Unfortunately the circumstances weren't the best, being here for Ryan's Grandmother's funeral tomorrow. However, we loved having Emily, Ryan, Carter, and Brandon here for a night. They drove from Seattle and we had a great visit. The boys are getting so big and are so much fun. We just wish they lived closer!! Maybe some day huh?! On the other hand, we are so grateful for the family we do live by!! Thanks for coming Emily and Ryan, hopefully we can see you guys again for New Years!

Happy Hauntings!!

Last night we had our Second Annual Halloween party. It was fun to see everyone's creative costumes! We had a good turn out and enjoyed seeing everyone! We had lots of treats and enjoyed just having fun! Eric and Miriam looked pretty tough...or something like that. ;)

Jason and Castro a.k.a Joey hanging out in between eating chili and donuts.

Miss Hotty Marilyn Monroe and Little Miss Pumpkin Pie!! Aren't they adorable.

It was so fun to see Amber, Glenn, and their little guy Tyce (the targeted deer). Amber and I were roommates about 4 years ago and haven't seen each other for a long time. It was so good to see her and catch up a bit!! Thanks for surprising us Amber!

Isn't Jason a hot cowboy? I think he needs to wear the hat and boots more often! Maya was a good sport too and wore the bandana all night. She was so excited to see the trick or treaters that she made two little ones cry. She's just so full of love, but they don't realize that. It was fun to have trick or treaters this year too.

What do you think? Classy Marilyn with her white trash husband?

Farmer Jeff with his beautiful wife and cute little pumpkin!

What do you think of these sexy men? Lookin' hot Kirk, but not quite as hot as my little cowboy in the middle.

Cinderella (Alyssa), Maya, and Mickey (Kyler) hangin' out at the party after trick or treating. They looked really cute and loved all the candy and goodies!! (Maya especially liked all of the donut crumbs and frosting drippings.)

Jason being taken hostage by his crazy brother Joey and his fiance Jess! They took us all by surprise, but only made Kyler cry. ;) We're glad they made it!

The Rest of My New York Trip

So here's the rest of the New York pictures. There were so many to choose from, as you can probably tell. Aren't Melanie's kids so cute? We had fun playing together. I miss you Owen, Tyler, and Halle! The crazy caterpillar bug that Halle found outside. Kinda crazy huh?
Tyler's 5th b-day party. We worked pretty hard on the monster pinata one night, but they held up pretty well for the kids to smash with light sabers!
Melanie's apartment. I loved it! I loved that everywhere in Ithaca (and NY for that matter) is surrounded by trees. You always feel like you are out in the middle of no where... which I love. We went the perfect time of year too. The leaves were changing color and the weather was perfect. I want to go back.
One day Gary watched all the kids, including Logan, so that we could go see the church history sites. This is the Whitmer Farm, where the church was first organized. I want a peice of land like that someday!

Ok, so I fell in love with the Amish people. I love their farms and seeing their horses and equipment. There were quite a few of them in NY. We stopped at this one and got some yummy homemade baked goods.
Bread and Strawberry Ruhbarb jam. mmmmm
Yup, pumpkin whoopies. They were alright, but the name was quite entertaining to us. They were pumpkin cookies with about 2 inches of frosting in the middle.
Mel and I at Hill Cumorah. It was such a beautiful view.

Here we are in front of the Sacred Grove. The Smith farm was very fun and interesting to see. I learned so much and gained a new love and appreciation for the Smith family.
The Palmyra Temple. It overlooks the Sacred Grove. Aren't the trees just amazing?
The Sacred Grove. We were so lucky because there were no other tourist that day, so we had the grove to ourselves. The Granden Press, where the Book of Mormon was first printed. I didn't know Palmyra was such a cute, small little town. I loved it.


Taking a walk through the Sapsucker woods. This is pretty much Mel's backyard. We saw tons of deer in there.

Owen having fun with his sticks... I mean swords and wands.
Here we are at Taughannock Falls. It was a gorgeous walk and once again, beautiful fall weather. One of my favorite things about or trip. :)