Slapsgiving

I must apologize right of the bat because I don't have any pictures from Thanksgiving. So I'll let Marcus paint a picture of the great event...

"The weather was cold, and the stuffing was bold... We really gave thanks for a nice break over Thanksgiving. It was a real treat to get out of Provo for a little bit and enjoy the antics of my family (which are many) and enjoy the simple things of life."

Thanksgiving really was great! A ton of great food and great company. Definitely a successful holiday, if you ask me :) I have had a lot of time recently to realize how lucky I am to have a wonderful life and amazing family. It is pure genius that there is a holiday to celebrate the incredible blessings in our lives, especially those we don't really notice or maybe take for granted.

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There is something that I always wanted to learn to do, but I figured I'd never have the chance, mainly due to how protective Marcus is. He would probably die if anything went wrong, but somehow, his grandma helped convince him that I should be allowed to learn to cut his precious hair.

I had great teachers :)

I would bet that smile is covering up how much he wishes he hadn't agreed to let us chop his hair. I know it has to be short for work, but it seems like all Hardys really love longer hair... especially Paden a couple years ago :)

And it starts... (name that movie)

HaHa... can you imagine if I had left it like this!!! Marcus probably would've killed me.

Thank goodness for the supervision... and help every few seconds ;)

Too bad you can't see the pile of hair that was swept up at about this point!

You can tell I was extremely focused-- there was another picture where my tongue was sticking out due to the intense concentration!

Hmmm... I guess we'll see if I'm ever allowed to try to cut his hair again.

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I had to add in a little teaser, since it is my favorite time of the year.

Our Christmas decorations are not quite complete, but I LOVE this guy! And yes, if you're wondering, Marcus did insist on the nutcracker that was a drummer.

PESP Employee of the Month

Employee of the Month Night

When Erica first started "our" blog, I more or less told her that I would likely have not much to do with it simply because I'm a husband and a blog is like...well...a scrapbook that has been made digital for all to see and there just wasn't much of an interest on my part in doing that. Lo and behold, tonight I bring you the first Marcus written edition of the blog. This probably won't happen to often...so enjoy it while it lasts. Given the fact that I tend to be rather verbose, you might think it is lasting a bit too long.

In case you couldn't tell from the pictures, Erica recently was awarded employee of the month by the Provo School District. Not just out of the nutrition department but out of the whole district. Given the fact that she has only worked there since the summer, I think it's pretty impressive. Little Mrs. Modest doesn't like to tout how awesome she is. In fact, getting this award is nothing short of legen...wait for it...LEGENDARY. It's a real tribute to what an amazingly dedicated, hard, honest, worker Erica is.

Erica received the award at a board meeting, where a very detailed description of her character and accomplishments was read. She shook the hands of all the board members, and they slipped her movie passes, some cash, and a MiMi's cafe gift card. We jokingly said that the cash was all going to the Provo PD for a reason that won't be disclosed here because I'll get in trouble if I detail it...but it reality, it's gone into some recent Christmas decor acquisitions.

I've always been a bit awed by the fact that I married a Valedictorian...those traits still shine through.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm being told that I need to go do my homework now...I'll give you one guess as to who is telling me to go and do that...


The Stuff She Got!

And he's off... (Brian reporting to the MTC)

Brian flew in to Utah on Tuesday night. Marcus and I picked up my mom and him from the airport and went to Nana and Papa's for a little get-together in honor of the new missionary.

We had one of the few meals Brian actually loves for dinner... Pizza Hut Pizza :)

Family enjoying pizza, salad, fruit, and desserts

The three of us yet again :)

Playing some games on the couch with Aaron and Alex

My mom's cousin Amy and her son Max

Three little ones- Alex, Sydney, and Max

After a couple hours of spending time with family, Brian came down to Provo with Marcus and me. He spent the night with us, with included hooking up the Wii :) In the morning, my mom came down and Brian got ready.

The beginning of the transformation to Elder Page... getting ready at our apartment. (be prepared for a lot of Brian pictures!) We did go to lunch at Cafe Rio between here and the MTC drop off with Nana, Papa, Jonne, Corie, and Jana; however, I'm not posting pictures because photography is technically not allowed in Cafe Rio. Trust me, it was fun, and the food was great!

Brian and Mom...before the teary eyes

Marcus, Brian, me-- the trio of "awesome"!

Definitely a personal favorite- haha.

In front of the Provo Temple

Brothers-in-law :)

Gotta have those cliche MTC sign pictures!

And then I tried to do something new with the traditional photo

Brian made fun of me for taking this picture, but I think it's pretty cool.

How crazy is this- Brian's randomly assigned escort ended up being Elder Alex Page. It's definitely a small world when cousins find each other within five seconds of being at the MTC.

Brian and Alex, excuse me, Elder Page and Elder Page... just a couple Pages- haha.

Getting all his stuff together to enter the MTC

And he's off. ...I'd like to thank Alex for carting off Brian's luggage :)

After dropping off Brian at the MTC, my mom and I went to see This Is It. Just like when I went with the Hardys after dropping off Paden at the MTC, we were the first people there (at the same exact screen in the same theater) and got to pick what we thought would be the best seats.

but this time, we were the ONLY people in the theater. :)

I thought this was a cool picture. Go MJ ;)

I know, pictures of a movie screen are lame, but it was a fun documentary!

Later that night, I had a concert with the Utah Valley Symphony. It was pretty intense because my stand partner was given our music as we walked out on stage. That could've been interesting! But it was a good concert-- and a great day. Hopefully Brian is enjoying the MTC. (Write him letters! or emails.)

A Weekend of Sunshine

Marcus and I made a quick trip to Phoenix this past weekend. Brian was giving a talk, formerly known as a farewell, so we flew down for probably 48 hours. These three were probably the most excited to see us:

Charlie. I know he looks calm here, but he loved more people around. Just don't tell my dad he's on the couch in this picture :)

my mom-- it's been a big year for her. her oldest got married, the second is going on a mission, and her baby got his drivers license. wow!

my little ol' guy- Allegro. isn't he cute?! he always loves more attention.

We had a fun and eventful couple days, including going to Nello's for pizza and the dog park with Charlie. There was a lot of family in town to support Brian, which was awesome. We also had some great family games on the Wii!!! Lucky for Marcus and me, Brian is having us babysit the game system for the next two years ;) But that's not where the elder's generosity ended.

My lap top died a couple weeks ago, so Brian decided to give us his... since he obviously won't be needing it for awhile. Marcus spent his free time upgrading it to Windows 7 and deleting Brian's crazy games :) This was before church-- he was on a roll getting it ready for its big move up north.

All ready for church. Trevor tried to convince all the guys to wear bow ties. G-Daddy did, as well as...

Marcus trying to perfect his bow tie-- Trevor had to teach him how to tie it!


my family outside the church building right after Brian was set-apart as a missionary.

the kids... too bad I'm not as tall as everyone else :)

the big man himself, Elder Brian Gardner Page of the Russia Moscow Mission

After church, family went to Mimi & G-Daddy's house for lunch and some hang-out-with-Brian time...

Mimi getting food ready before people came over

The new Russian elder with cousin Jake

Brian, Papa, G-Daddy, and Ada chillin' on the couch

some family out by the pool-- it was a beautiful, sunny day outside. Loved it!

the nerdy twins grabbing some more food-- Brian finding sandwiches, Marcus searching for shrimp

some relatives on the Page side having lunch

and some Gardners (I thought about making a joke using the last picture's caption and this being the other side of the Page... good thing I didn't!)

Uncle Brad and his four week old baby girl, Ada Rae Gardner

The two Gardner granddaughters... we're only 22 years apart ;)

I had to include this picture-- Trevor was so afraid of hurting Ada that it took him two days to build the courage to hold her. Here's proof he made it :)

Our fun weekend in the sunshine quickly came to an end, and Marcus and I were headed back to Utah... at least we missed the storm over the weekend.