Winter Wonderland

We finally took some winter pictures up in Salt Lake-- thanks for talking them Cozette :) These are some of our out-takes...

Marcus' Bad Day

I had this voice mail from Marcus on my phone the other day:

....hi.... it's me........... i'm not having a very good day..........i ripped a huge hole in the crotch of my favorite pants, the grey ones i that wore the first time when we first hung out and for our engagement pictures, and it's in the crotch of the pants. i was just trying to get in the car, but i was wearing long underwear, and they stick to the pants and make them, like, tighter, and it ripped....and i'm really upset! and i love you, and if you get this, you should bring me treats. ....

I know that was a sad situation, but I kept laughing. I loved the whiny "i'm really upset!" part :)

This is the picture Marcus drew describing his feelings.

The poor pair of pants...

Up close and (probably too) personal

For the record, I had permission from Marcus to post this--the photos wouldn't load until I had verbal permission!

Something weird happened last night!

Ahhh- snow!

Sometime last night, I guess the clouds couldn't hold in it any longer. We woke up to the snow and it kept on comin' down... AND it won't get out of the forecast! At least we missed the first big snow when we were in Arizona last month! :)

Poor Sally- she is so cold! She didn't even know it was coming. Actually she probably noticed but couldn't get out of the way fast enough...

How sweet is he...out there scraping the snow off his car so we can get to church?!

Look how happy he is out there in that cold stuff.

This is one reason (but not all) that people on scooters can look a little ridiculous.

I won't lie, I think the snow is really pretty in the trees. Just don't tell anyone I'm admitting to liking snow of any kind.

Our church building covered in that white stuff

Don't worry, I'm only slightly traumatized. This year, I was actually ready with my winter clothes. It may seem ironic since I am not a huge fan of the snow, but I love Christmas. There's something about a nice, brown Christmas where you can go outside and walk around to see Christmas lights :)

Working for a school district is a lot of fun. This was the first Christmas present I received this year... it's from Makenzie in my orchestra :)

I'm definitely happy... and so is Marcus...

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.)