Well lets see here what have I been up to the month of November??? ok well I am in charge of the Christmas program in sacrament meeting so I held our first rehearsal on Sunday we did not have a lot of people but enough.. We need some more boys though but I am excited about it!! I get to sing a duet with one of my friends I am really excited except when we rehearsed in front of a microphone. I got a little nervous! Well winter is here again.. All my kids are sick! :( the whole month of Nov. They have been sick. We went through 2 different types of bugs in the house each kid got it and the parents including me. But we are all better now. I went downtown to stay the night at a girl friends house on Friday it was so much fun. I needed a girls night out. We went out to dinner, the movies then home and slept. It was a late night. The next morning we went had a turkey bowl. The singles wards in Chicago was having one and so we went it was fun after we went and had a turkey dinner. Then we went back to her place and played some games then it was time for me to go home. I took the train home all by myself! I brought my book to read so it was no that bad it went by fast it only takes a hour. Then I came home and went to Rebekah’s house to watch a movie. Then home and bed!!!

Sunday after church we had another rehearsal then we went over to our branch president’s house to watch the CES broadcast and they had a dinner there for the members of the branch. It was good to hang out a little bit after church! Work, work, work, work and more work!!!!! Daxton’s 3 birthday was the following Sunday. I went to church had rehearsal then we had a linger longer with food!! Then a family history fireside. So I was at church all day if felt like. Lets see....... I left my house at 10:25 and got home at 5 pm. That was a long day. My girlfriend Joy came over and we watched the Hospital visit on video and looked through pictures! He was so small. :) then we had angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream!!! YUMMY!!! mom skyped me when they were about to sing happy birthday to Dax! I thought it was really cool that they wanted me to be a part of the family. I miss them so much! Alright THANKSGIVING week!!!!! on wed night I went over to the Petersons house (CJ’s family). I ate dinner and played family games then went in the hot tub! It was sooo cold outside but it felt good. The next day was thanksgiving so I woke up and packed my things and went to play some football. It was fun to play with a big team like we had!


Then after football we went in the hot tub again then it was cookin time! Time to cook everything for dinner! I was in charge of the Yams they turned out good I thought. It was the first thanksgiving ever that there whole family has been together. They have had boys on missions for the past 6 years. And the youngest child is 5. So all 9 children were there for the first time. After dinner we all cleaned up the kitchen and then pulled out the news paper adds!! BLACK FRIDAY!! I picked out a few things I wanted. I went to bed about 1am and got up at 2:15am so not much sleep. We went to go stand in line! We hit a few stores got what we needed what was on our list then we were out of there! I got everything that was on my list and only 2 things that were not on my list so I thought I did a good job. My favorite thing that I got was a jewelry cabinet to hang in my bathroom. On the outside of it you can put pictures it is super cute and it was supposed to be $100 but I got it for $30!! Yea killer price! When we got home from shopping we packed the car and headed for Nauvoo!!! there was 16 of us going. It takes about 4 ½ hours to get there so it was not that bad. When we got there we unpacked and then went to see a play. It was so cute there was a bunch of older brothers and sisters on there missions there. Aunt Jenna’s mom was in charge of the play so I got to see her and Boyd. We were staying in this huge cabin so we all much grabbed our sleeping bags and had a pow wow!! Sat we went out a scavenger hunt! It lead us to different homes and things to look for in the homes. It was fun! I got to see a lot but not everything I cant wait to go back and see the rest! we went back to the cabin ate some pizza and headed home. 4 of the 16 drove back to Utah for school and the rest of us came back to Chicago.





The next day was soooo long. I had to be at church at 9:30am for choir rehearsal then 3 hours of church then another rehearsal after church! But it is good everybody knows the music now!!! HAPPY DAY!! Carolyn just had her 10th birthday!! So we had a party for her on Monday it was fun! Today we had our first night of Hanukkah I am learning a lot I am telling you.. 7 more nights of Hanukkah

Well guess what??? I bought a camera!! Yea and I love it. It just came out in October it is a Nikon d3100. A big camera my dad is thinking about getting one too. I bought a extra lens for it so I can zoom super far with it too. I love it.

I have already dressed up all my kids in there Halloween costumes and took there pictures as well as my friends kids that she nannies for too. They turned out really well. I took all the kids shopping for there costumes. Carolyn is Hermione Granger. Ben is Harry Potter. Liz is Jasmine from Aladdin. Beverly was a bumble bee! They all looked soo cute.

Well as you know Bev put my I touch in the toilet so I had to get a new one. Well I got a new one and less then 2 weeks later it stopped working. So I had to take it back and they just gave me another one. So now I have a up and running I touch again. It is nice to have my music and my games when ever I need them. Well I went down town some friends to a pumpkin party. Where they were carving pumpkins and had pumpkin pie, bread, cookies, etc.... it was fun I met some new people. Then I went up to lake Geneva and played with my camera some more. I am still trying to figure everything out. Monday night was girls night. I went with 3 other girls and we went out to dinner and did a little bit of shopping it was fun. But not that fun cause I was sick.. :( no fun at all. I was sick for a few days my back hurt again and my head would not stop hurting so I had to go to a chiropractor. They took a x ray and they said I had a really bad neck and some other things but I am feeling a lot better now. That is the important thing. The next week I went to FHE and we went to a haunted garage it was really good they have a contest around Chicago who has the best decorated garages. It was fun and spooky. Well on Friday Oct 29th I had a Halloween party that me and my friend put together. It took me forever to set up it looked really good. I made some chilli and cake and lots and lots of goodies. It was in his basement it looked really good. We had about 40ish people there, and everyone was in there costume and we had a costume contest. We played some games and then went on a hay ride but it was soooo cold.. My feet were about to fall off. Then people went home after that. It was super fun. On sat we cleaned up from the party then went to a YSA dance in Naperville. That is about a hour away from where I live. We got there kinda early but thats ok I kinda helped finish setting up. It was the best dance I have been to since I have lived here. Well I will have to say best dance I have ever been to I had a lot of fun. I got to meet new people and got to know some people a little better. My branch was in charge of taking down so we had to stay the whole time. But I wanted to since I was having such a good time. I got home late and went to bed. Oh I forgot to tell you!! I dyed my hair dark brown!!! yea well it is semi-permanent so it will wash out in a few washes, but it looks good!

SOme cute cupcakes a friend made for the party!

Ok so we played this game some of you might know how to play and most people play with a orange but we played with small pumpkins!! you have to pass the pumpkin without using your hands. The funniest game to watch people play! we has a blast!! :)

10-6-10
Well I have been working a lot lately. A few weeks ago I had a party at my house, we had smore’s in the backyard and chatted then had some of my homemade apple pie that my friend Chris grew the apples at his house. I was happy of how it turned out! And on that Monday I did not have to work so I went up to Lake Geneva. It is about a hour away from my house. We were getting ready for the YSA party that weekend. I was putting Christmas lights up it looked really good I think. Later I took some of the kids out on the jet ski then took a ride all by myself it was really refreshing after a long day of frustration. Lol!! That Friday night we had a big YSA party (young single adults). It was at Chris’s lake house. We had about 140 people there. On Friday night we went food shopping, Saturday morning it was raining.. :( that is no good. It was still raining when people were supposed to show up.. We thought people were not going to come but the clouds broke apart and the sun came out. People came and had a blast going boating, jet skiing and playing games on the lawn. At 6pm a tour boat came and picked us up and we went for a 3 hour tour on the lake. With a dance party!! It was lots of fun I met a lot of new people. On Sunday we finished cleaning up then went home made dinner and watched a movie.. What a great weekend! The week went on just working and hanging out with Chris after work. That weekend I went over to Chris’s house and again it was raining. But when it stopped we went out to his huge garden and picked all the pumpkins! He grew a lot. I got all muddy and there was big spiders but we got them all. After that we got ready and went downtown to Chicago to Lawry’s steakhouse. It is a really fancy place. It was Chris and me, his brother Mike and his wife Nicole, an aunt and uncle, his grandma, and his parents! We had a blast it was really good food. After Mike, Nicole, Chris and I went and walked around downtown. It was fun it was my first time just walking around. Well the next Sunday I had to speak in church my topic was Family. It was invitation Sunday. When you invite friends to church. I was scared to speak it has been awhile since I have had to speak in sacrament. It was a good talk I think well that is what everyone kept telling me. General Conference weekend. I love GC weekend because you get to stay home all weekend and listen to conference! Well I went over to Chris’s house and made monkey bread! Mine did not turn out as good as moms but I thought I did a good job. then listened to Conf. After Mike, Nicole, Chris and I went out to dinner we went to this great BBQ place. Then the boys went to Priesthood and we went shopping.. Lol!! I bought some cute stuff! Sunday I made Quiche! Yep another one of moms best on conf. Weekend. We went out and picked some apples and made fresh apple cider for breakfast. It was super good! We are going to make a lot more this weekend.

9-1-10
Well I had an amazing weekend!! Oh Friday I got off of work early and got on the train and went down to the White Sox game!! It was vs. the Yankees!! And yea we won! It was a fun game I am learning so much about baseball now it is kinda fun. On Saturday I got to sleep in a little I woke up a few times to the kids up stairs banging on the floor. But I did not get to sleep much. Becky came down stairs and brought me baby bev so she could take her nap with me. Everyone else was helping set up for bens birthday party. When she woke up I made lunch for the kids and got ready for my concert then helped with the party! They had a tie die station so you could do your own shirt!! I did my own and it turned out really good! Chris came and picked me up and we went to the Rascal Flatts concert!! My favorite band by the way incase you did not know! Well we got there but we had not bought tickets yet we were just going to get lawn seats so it was not that big of deal. And there were a bunch of people selling extra tickets so instead of paying $30 for a ticket we paid $10! It was awesome!! :0) then we get inside and the lawn was already covered with people we got there to late and they were selling upgraded tickets for only $10 more. So we bought those! We had good seats. Not ast good as Tim McGraw but still good. The only bad thing was there was this giant man standing in front of me and I could not see the stage! I hate being short! So I was on my toes for most of the night my calves hurt so bad! There were a few songs that everyone was sitting down and I could see. It was the best concert I have ever been too. Even better then last year when I saw them in Hershey PA! The lights were amazing they had some really cool effects I don’t know how to explain it but it was really cool! Well we got out of the parking lot a lot sooner then last time.. Last time it took over a hour! Ugh! But this time only 15 min not to bad! Got home and went to bed!! Sunday I woke up at 6:30am to get ready for stake conf. We had a special YSA meeting at 8:30am and it takes 35 min to get to church and we were asked to be there 15 min early. How long do you have to drive to get to church? Well it was really good I am glad I went we had 2 Brothers from the Quorum of the seventy there. Our meeting lasted a hour then everyone else joined us at 10 for stake conf. It was just as good. After we had donuts as a YSA we love food!! Lol!! Then I went back home and got ready for the Carrie Underwood concert. I went with the family I work for. Then invited me and Chris came along too! It was good but we got there to late and we did not get that good of seats. Now we got lawn seats but it was at a different place and you cant even see the stage from there. It kinda sucked but it was fun hanging out with the kids. I kinda go to see her. Chris let me go on his back so I was tall enough to see over the crowd of people and I saw her! Then we came home once it was over and I went to bed!! Long weekend! And the week so far has been ok. I finished the Book of Mormon in less then 2 months.!! yea for me!! The RS challenged us to read it by Sept 1st and I did it!! I have learned so much I cant wait to read it again. Well Bev was walking around with my ipod touch and... one of the kids left the bathroom door open... and yea can you guess what happened next!! Yea she was playing with my ipod in the toilet! Ugh.. So far it does not work I put it in rice but I think it is a goner! I am going to take it in to the apple store this weekend and see what they can do if they can do anything.

August 4, 2010
Then mom came to visit!! That was so much fun. Chris and I picked her up from the airport. So get this I called her and went in to the terminal talking to her on the phone. I snuck up behind her and scared her.. She slapped me across the face! Well kinda she kinda realized it was me in mid-air. It was mean of me to sneak up on her but it was so funny. She met the family that night and the next day we took all 4 kids to the Field Museum (its like the one in NYC that they filmed Night at the Museum) it was fun we were there all day. Then we saw this really cool fountain then went home. It was a really long day with all the kids and my back still hurt really bad. On wed it was Beverly’s 1st birthday so we celebrated it. We had everyone over for dinner the whole family it was fun. On Thursday we cleaned up the house and then took the kids to Bama’s house (gma) then we went up to Lake Geneva for the afternoon. We had dinner up there and then went on a boat ride and saw the sun set. It was beautiful. Then we came home and packed and went to the city that night. We spent the night at my friends apt. we got there late but it was better then sitting in traffic all morning. We woke up and went to the Shedd Aquarium it was sooooo cool I loved it. I could go there again. We saw lots of cool animals. We spent most of the day there. But we also had to go to the Planetarium that was not as cool just all about planets so did not spend to much time there. Then I had a surprise for mom. So we went back to the car and changed our clothes. Then we walked down to the pier and she figured out that we were going sailing!!! We went for a 2 hour sailing ride. We saw the skyline of Chicago from the lake it was really cool. We went to sleep after then on sat morning we went to the museum of Science and Industry. It was way cool. There was so much to see there. I would go back. Then we went to Sears Tower. They have this really cool part that you stand on glass and you can see everything under you. It was really cool but mom was scared that it was going to break and we would fall to our death. Lol!! It was funny :) we saw the sun set up there it was beautiful. After that we went to White Castles it is a burger joint that Grandpa took mom to when she was a kid. Well I just put the address into the GPS and it took us to this really scary part of town. We were the only white people that we could see for a long time. We got our burgers and got out of there. Mom was freaking out the whole time. She was so funny to watch. I guess you had to be there but I almost peed my pants!! Then we drove home! Sunday we went to church. Then we went to the temple but it was closed for maintenance but one of the locks on the gate was unlocked. So we walked around the temple!! Oops!! Lol!! :) it was really fun! Then we went over to the Peterson’s house for Brunch. They always make Brunch for some people in there ward she invited us to come. On Monday we stuck around the house and that night Chris made us dinner it was really good. And Tue I had to take mom to the airport. I did not want her to go home but she had to.

July 11, 2010
So Last time I wrote you I told you I was going to Lady A and Tim McGraw. Well it was amazing!! But I forgot the tickets so Chris and I got all the way to the concert and that is about a 1 ½ hr away and remembered and it was to late to turn around. So I called my boss and they were at there own concerts. So I called the grandpa and he was able to get the ticket and fax it to me at a place down the street! It was crazy we totally missed Lady A we heard there last song while we were running toward the stage. We saw them walk off stage. But on the bright side Tim McGraw was amazing!! We were so close to him I could have tossed a baseball and hit him!! It was the best concert ever!

For the 4th of July I saw fireworks 3 nights in a row! It was way fun! I went to the park with some friends, then drove up to Lake Geneva on the 3rd and 4th and saw them on the lake. We sat in the boat watching them it was fun. On Sunday night I stayed up at the lake house and in the morning we went out to eat breakfast then went for a boat ride did some yard work and then came home. I took Cj’s little sister Amanda Peterson shopping. I stayed for dinner and FHE. They have a family of 9 kids only 7 were there at the time CJ was not there and one is on a mission. But it felt like home. To be in a house with a family that shares the same religion as I do it felt really good. We sang lots of hymns and primary songs but it was fun!


I went to a White Sox baseball game with Chris we had really good seats it was a really good game. We won and there were fireworks right after the game. Oh guess what they are filming Transformers 3 in downtown Chicago!! Crazy yea! I hear on the radio or have friends who see them filming it! We had a YSA conference that weekend and it was really good to have lots of LDS singles all in one place. It was a combo of 8 stakes. We played games in the morning then a service project we cleaned up a park. Then water games then a dance that night. It was good I met a lot of new friends. On Sunday I sang in the choir it was good to sing again. And of corse church. We had a lunch after church so we got to spend more time with our new friends. The next weekend I went back up to Lake Geneva with Chris but this time we brought some friends. We all spent the night and went boating and had fun the next day. Chris’s family has taken me in and they are kinda like my family while I am out here. I know all of his siblings and there kids it is fun. And I have my favorite’s of corse!! Lol but I love them all.

June 24, 2010
Well everything is going well here. Over mothers day weekend I went to moms house. I worked all day on Wednesday then I got on a plane and landed in Vegas at 11:40 and that is 1:40am my time so I was tired. Nick Barnum picked me up and we drove home we got home late. Mom came up to say hi to me it was like 3 am I missed her a lot. Thursday morning I got up and got my drivers licences and went to the dentist and I had to get a cavity filled that was no fun. I saw Canada and melissa and there new baby she was 3 weeks old. It was really good to see them. Then Bundy came over to moms house and we talked. Friday morning I got up early and drove to Cedar to I could help set up for the wedding reception. I was there all day long except for when I had my hair apt. everything went really well! On sat Lisa got married and we had her lunch in thing!

Then I saw some more friends and on Sunday I spent the day with mom! We had a nice dinner and just hung out at the house. Then we called my Brother Paul that is on a mission. I was so sad that they could talk to him longer then I could but I could not miss my plane! I cried I just really missed my brother.

April 15, 2010
On Tuesday I went to the Bulls vs. Celtics game with Chris. We were on the 5th row right behind the hoop it was so much fun. I was hoping for the Celtics to win but they didn’t. The game was rigged it was stupid every call they made was on us and so the Bulls won 101 to 90 or something like that. It was a really close game but now the Bulls can go to the play-offs. The Celtics were already in the play-offs so it was ok. On Wednesday Bamma (grandma) took me to get a pedicure with the baby. It felt so good. And today I took the girls bev and lizzy to the park with the neighbor kids it was way fun. I might do it more often the girls played so well together there better then at home they don’t fight as much!

HAPPY EASTER!!! I was kinda all by myself out here but I got to call home and I talked to everyone.. The family I live with are Jewish so they don’t celebrate Easter so we went over to Bammas house ( grandmas house). I watched conference here then drove over there. The family spent the night at Bamma’s house so the Easter bunny could come visit them in the morning. After the first session was over I got ready and went over to the house for the Easter egg hunt. It was fun! We had a big dinner with lots of family. I am still trying to meet everyone Becky has a very big family her mom has 7 or 8 brothers and sisters! And they all live near here. Anyway I came home and worked on my scrapbook. I am not sure if I told you or not I am making a scrapbook online of my east coast experience. It is almost done just the cover and then I can get it printed off!! I am very excited to be finished!!

March 24, 2010
Well where to start.. Thursday night I put on a surprise birthday party for my friend chris it was just at a restaurant down the street from me. We had about 10 people there. It was good! My vacation!!! I had a BLAST!!! :0) Friday morning I got to the airport at 5am. Ugh so early!! But its ok. I had a layover in Houston Texas ya I kinda back tracked. I got to Fort Lauderdale at about 2 and Steve landed about 20 min before me so it worked out perfect. It was so good to see Steve again it has been a long time. We got to our hotel and then went out to see the town. Near Ft. Lauderdale there is a town called Hollywood. We went there to this famous casino called Hard Rock Café and Casino or something they had a mall kinda attached to it so we walked around. We had dinner at this really cool old diner they served endless fries!! They had huge guitars every where I took a pic next to everyone I found, Steve thought I took a lot of pics! Lol!!! We left for our boat really early in the morning it was kinda chilly outside but it was beautiful the sun was shining and there was no snow on the ground (still snow in Chicago) I love being on a big cruise ship. It was so much fun! We watched a movie in there theater and then it got kinda stormy so when you walked in a straight line you would walk side to side. I looked like I was a drunk person. I told Steve this is the closest I will ever be to understanding how drunk people feel! On the back of the deck they were having a party for all the spring breakers. It was fun to watch people play games and stuff. It was so beautiful just looking out in the ocean and see nothing on all sides of you. I liked the front of the ship the wind in your face and nothing ahead of you I felt free! We will have to go on a cruise when you get back it was a blast! The cruise was 8 hours we got to the Bahamas at about 2pm. It was beautiful!! The water was so clear and the beaches were amazing! We got to port and got in a taxi and went to our hotel. They drive on the wrong side of the road.. That is crazy it was weird having the cars pass on the right side instead of the left. Some cars have the steering wheel on the right and some on the left like we do so it is kinda weird! We got to our hotel it was in town but they said that they were shut down and that they were going to let us stay at there sister hotel for free and it is right on the beach!!! We got so excited!!! We could see the ocean from our room. It was right on the shore it opened up to the beach it was crazy! We were super lucky. We also had a kitchen and everything so it worked out really well cause we wanted to save money and cook instead of go out. Well we went to this little place it is kinda like a mini outside mall but there are a bunch of little shops with homemade stuff inside. They made some really cool things. We went to this little grocery store and bought mac and cheese, milk , cereal and a few other things to hold us over for the next few days! We went back and made dinner and then walked on the beach!! It is so beautiful there! I want to go back. The next day Sunday!! We slept in!!! we kinda just hung out around the hotel went exploring it was fun went swimming a little bit. I got some cool shells! On Monday we went kayaking it was fun it was in this national park they have there. Our tour guide was like a human dictionary he knew everything about the island. He has been living there since he was 6 years old he came from Spain I think. It was about a hour drive to the park so he talked to us the whole time about the island. I got the front of the kayak and we went out into the ocean it was fun!! There are no waves like there is in California just flat and smooth. Then we went in this little stream river thing for about 2 hours. I just relaxed and Steve did all the work cause we were not going that fast. I took a lot of pictures it was a perfect day! When we got to the end we pulled up our kayaks up and then all got on this raft that had a rope attached to it that ran along to the other side. So we pulled ourselves over to the other side. We walked through some trees and it opened up to this beautiful beach. You could not hear any cars or see any buildings it was so cool it was like we were the only ones on the island. Next we went on this tour he told us all about the trees and the plants and birds and wildlife. Then we went down in these caves!! They were way cool most of them are underneath the water and they had underwater tunnels that lead to another cave. They have them all over the island. They mapped it all out if you scuba dive then you can go from cave to cave! We went back to our hotel and went exploring again. I found these really cool conk shells they were big they are the ones that you put your ear up to them when you were a kid and you could hear the ocean. They were just laying there. They had some holes in them and I guess they could not sell them at there stores so I picked the 2 coolest ones. The next day (tue) was our last day we just went swimming and did more exploring. We got back on the cruise ship we left at about 4pm and they had dinner on the boat and we just watched the sun set and then you could see the lights from the Bahamas it was really cool. It was so dark outside and you could see the stars! I loved sitting on the front of the boat with the wind in my hair sailing nowhere!! We got back to our hotel at 1am! We were switching hotels the next morning we rented a car for the next few days our hotel had a kitchen in it too so we went grocery shopping again! Our hotel is right next to the biggest outlet mall in the world so we went to go check it out. It took 4 ½ hours to walk the whole thing. The next day we had to sit through this 90 min thing to try to get us to buy into a time share that is how we could stay there for free. Then we went down to the beach! It was more like Cali but the beach part was not as dirty. We looked in all the surf shops and had some ice cream. It started to rain so I got in the ocean! It stopped but we kept on swimming the currant was so strong I could not stay in one place Steve had to hold me so I would not float away. We went back to our hotel and went hot tubbing. We met some interesting people some were from Canada that was cool to talk to them. On Friday it was raining so we did not do a lot we went out to lunch at applebees then went back to the mall. Steve had to drag me out cause I kept on buying things!! LoL!!! we went country dancing that night at this really cool place he is a really good swing dancer so it was good to dance again. People came up to us and asked if we were professional? It was really funny! We are just that good!! Lol!! We got back to our hotel at about 1 and we had to wake up at 3:30 am. We only got about 45 min of sleep! Ya we were tired at the airport. I had to leave first and Steve left about 30 min after me so it was not to bad. He walked me up to my gate and waited for me to board. It was a long flight home cause I was so tired I kept falling asleep then waking up. I had a lay over in Atlanta and my plane was late and I did not know where I was supposed to go! I almost missed my plane I would have not been happy if I missed my plane! I was in the front row of my plane so I was happy about that cause I had extra leg room to sleep! Well that was my trip I made it home safe and I had a blast!