"Christmas 2008"

Having a hard time getting my slide show to upload so here are some pic until I can get it to work.

We Wish you a Merry Christmas

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and visit us after the holiday for more Christmas photos and videos.

"And the award goes to..."

Well Laurissa has been doing very well in school. From getting a metal for a drawing she created for the "Reflections Contest" to being "Student of the month". She loves school and has a lot of talent.

WAY TO GO LAURISSA!!!

"TURKEY DAY"

Well we hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day..

This year we spent the holiday here in town, having dinner at Sarahs Aunts house. Usually every year Jon likes to attempt an experimental dish for thanks giving dinner, it started out with the occasional casserole then it went to Ham two years running, Rotisserie duck was last years project. But this year since Jon just built this new smoker of his, he just had to attempt a "Smoked Turkey". So after a lot of worrying and research he committed to it. This hobby of his is almost an obsession, Making him to stay up until 1am to have everything prepared only to wake up at 3am to stoke up the smoker. The Turkey was on the grill by 3:30am and was done by 10:00am in plenty of time to get the gravy made and get cleaned up and travel to our destination for a 12:00pm dinner (or lunch). It was an amazing Turkey and everyone said it was the best they ever tasted Whiskey Smoked Turkey with Smoked Gravy (yummy, yummy,yum). Although it is sad to say that Jon will no longer be doing his traditional Thanksgiving experiments, he will now be doing his "Traditional Smoked Turkey". We are thankful for our family for those close to us right here in beautiful Salt Lake City Utah, and those of you who are not so close. We love you all and wish you a happy holiday season. As we look back on our Thanksgiving holiday and count those many blessings we are thankful for, and as we look forward to the upcoming Christmas holiday and celebrate the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. May God bless you all and we hope you have a safe and inspirational holiday season.

"HARLEYS RULE"

Well it looks like mom and dad are in trouble. The kids got to sit on our neighbors 2008'Road King last week and thought it was the coolest thing. Especially Kason every time he hears our neighbor Jack leave his house or come home, Kason runs to the front window saying "Jack" over and over it is pretty cute to see. Our neighbor Jack said it looks like we'll have one child in Collage, one driving a Harley and, the other on the back of one.

"Winter is here"

Well winter has arrived, on November 5th Jon had to work at Snowbird on a service call and this is the view from the customers driveway. If you think that's impressive you should see the view from the living room. Anyway we had a pretty good storm and Jon and the girls made their first Snowman of the year. We are looking forward to a white Christmas, (only 6 weeks left), hope your ready...

"Happy Halloween"

Wish you all could have been with us this Halloween, we had too much fun. The house was turned into a haunted driveway that people could walk through and get scared. We had last years Dracula's Coffin that opens and closes, and the jumping skeleton that scares everyone, but then Jon decided to go further,(a little too far). We were equip with an electric chair that we made look life like with working dummy that thrashes around, a dark room that made everything glow with hanging skeletons, lasers and fog, then the laboratory with our mad doctor complete with working saw, then you pass by the crazy clown and the evil witch, and upon exiting you are attacked by the jumping skeleton. It turned out great and everyone loved it. Even the local news put it on the air but we were unable to catch it. so we hope you had a wonderful holiday and enjoy our slide show.

"A Halloween Preview"

Okay, just a peek I'll have more for you on Halloween night. It is turning out a lot better than I thought it would this year.

"PUMPKINS"

On Sunday the kids carved their pumpkins and Kason enjoyed eating the guts. here some pic of the carving good time. and also a prieview of the girls in their costumes.

"Autumn's In The Air"

Nothing says Autumn is here like the wind whisking through your legs when your not wearing any pants. Well it's our favorite time of year. Halloween is just around the corner and the decorations are being set up, we will be posting pictures of the house when they are completed. But the Question is "What will I wear?" Well as you can tell, Kason is thinking of being Tom Cruise from Risky Business, Looking good so far.

Stay tuned, More to come...

"BRING ON THE BABIES!!"

Welcome Abigail Carpenter!!! Another cousin came along on Oct. 18 2008 at 1:15am. She measured in at 6 lbs 8 oz and 18.5inches long. Kason doesn’t know what to think about the little baby but Laurissa and Alison are proud cousins and of course Sarah is one happy Aunt…

A day at the pool.

Mom and Kason enjoying the pool last Saturday.

New pet for the kidsssss..

Let’s see how long this pet lasts. Well we’ve had fish but the kids never fed them and dad got sick of cleaning the tank. Then we had mice and enjoyed them oddly enough but after Alison smothered one to death and the rest got sick and died we decided to put the whole pet thing on hold for a while. Then dad made the mistake of bringing a, you guessed it, a snake home after work one day last week. The girls had one once before but while camping left its cage unlocked and lost it in the woods. This one they named cheetah because it’s fast and hard to hold, it’s already gotten out 4 times but luckily didn’t wonder too far from the cage. Kason’s taken an interest to it and likes to touch it and then try to hit it, the girls love to hold it and think watching it eat feeder fish is cool.

The girls are on their way to Broadway!!

On Sept. 20th the girls performed in their first play, “Hansel and Gretel” they had a lot of fun preparing for the play and they both did a wonderful job in their performance. Honestly, we feel they were the best on stage. Alison played a “Wally bird” and Laurissa was one of the witches “Nasties”. They performed on Saturday at 3:00 and at 7:30 at the Midvale arts center. They now are asking when the next play is so they can audition. Oh boy here we go…

Veggies Anyone?

Well as you can tell, the garden is doing wonders and we are now officially sick of vegetables (just kidding) Kason has been eating all the small tomatoes single handed. The girls love the garden but are getting tired of harvesting the fields.

Movie Under The Stars!

Well dad Promised and outdoor movie night and the girls finally called him on it. Last week we Watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the Game Plan under the stars. It was a hoot and we'll probably do it once more before the snow flies.

Kasons Bath Toy!

Another Surgery In The Family..

Well on September 5th, Sarah went in for surgery.
Although she could name dozens of other things she would have rather have been doing, she was a trooper and went through with the doctors recommendations. The plan was to go in for a Bilateral Nasal Septum Reconstruction, Sinus Turbinoplasty Reconstruction with a Bilateral Ethmoidectomy (don’t ask me what that means I call it the Roto-Rooter treatment). So after over 3 hrs of surgery, and 3-1/2 hours of recovery she was able to go home. She is doing well now it’s been a slower recovery than she had hoped but she is doing well. Way to go Sarah!!
Yes, I Have Photos.
No, I will not put then up.(I cherish my marriage)

Back To School!!

On Monday August 25th Laurissa and Alison returned to school and met their new teachers for the next year. With Laurissa now in the 4th grade she is looking forward to a year of new friends and fun. She has always loved school and she enjoys learning new things so far she is loving the opportunity she has to learn. Alison is excited to start the 2nd grade. At first she was nervous, but with the encouragement of her sister she quickly became excited. In her first week at school she scored a 100% on her first spelling test, what a champ. Kason is having a hard time getting used to the fact that his sisters are no longer around during the day time, but he still gets to enjoy the time he gets to spend with his mom Sarah. Although we think his favorite part or the day is when dad comes home with his big 100 ounce mug of some kind of drink, Kason loves to plunge right in as you can tell.

Smoking is an addiction

“Well I’ve started smoking”. Starting on August 9th Jon Built a homemade smoker for his fire pit and smoked his first batch of ribs for our BBQ we held. We hold a BBQ every August and we provide the meat. We cook our usual ribs and then Jon always has to try something new, this year it was smoked ribs. This year we had about thirty people and bought $130.00 worth of ribs. Needless to say we had plenty of meat and everything turned out great, this will defiantly be a returning feature. I guess if you’re going to be a smoker this is the kind to be.

Garden has turned out great!

Well our garden is flourishing with Green Zucchini, Yellow Zucchini, Sweet Chilies, Banana Peppers, Bell Peppers, Cucumbers, Lettuce, Cabbage, and Tomato plants almost a foot taller than me (which isn’t very hard). All our tomatoes haven’t ripened yet but when they do we will have more than we will know what to do with. We also have Strawberries, Peas, Leaks, Basil, Sage, Rosemary, and Mint. Jon recently added a water feature in the corner of the garden with a waterfall to help relax you while sitting near the campfire pit located in the middle of the garden. Jon enjoys it and calls it his therapy. He loves being in the garden and witnessing the vegetables of his labor. Last year that was all weeds.

Our Vacation in San Francisco

Sarah and Jon flew out with Kason to visit San Francisco on the 24th and met up with Laurissa and Alison. It was nice to get away and visit with family. We returned home on July 28th, the trip was amazing and we had a blast, we wish we could have been able to stay longer. Here is a little video of the pictures that we took and the things we did.

Girls are off to visit Grandparents

On July 19, 2008 Laurissa and Alison boarded an airplane for their first trip alone to California to visit Grandma and Grandpa Shafer. They have been so excited to take this trip for weeks. With constant inquiries to ensure the trip has not been postponed, the day finally came the took off on Saturday at 10:00 am and reached their destination safely and have been having a blast since they got there. Grandma and Grandpa are loving the time with them so far. Sarah and I will fly out with Kason on July 24, 2008 and we will all be returning on Monday the 28th. The girls were lucky enough to get to ride on a plane with the California State flag on it. We call it the flying bear......