Our Trip To Utah - Part Two

Ok, here is part 2! (I'm really sad that I didn't have my camera out more around my family... but we did have a great time together!)
So, we left Wadsworth around 10:00 Tuesday morning (June 29th) and drove about 13 hours! We made it to Omaha, Nebraska and stayed the night, and were on the road again by 6:00 the next morning! We pulled into Morgan around 7:30 Wednesday night! WHAT A LONG DRIVE! But, my sweet mom and sister JoDee, and my adorable nephew Brody were there to meet us!!! I haven't seen Brody since he was born, and now he's almost 9 months old! He is SOOOOOO stinking cute!

We kind of just relaxed and got readjusted to the time change on Thursday. Friday, my cousin Jennifer and her new husband Jake got married in the Salt Lake Temple! It was a great ceremony! I think it was Jake's Bishop, at the time, that helped him get on a mission, that was their sealer! The reception was that night in my Aunt and Uncle's back yard! The whole day was awesome!
This is the best picture I could get of them! Jen's got quite the smile.... but you could really see how happy they both were!
Tom and I waiting for Jen and Jake to come out of the Temple!
My dad and Brody waiting!
Jen was the last of the three of us (cousins that are the same age) to get married! And we took a similar picture at mine and Shae's weddings too! Jen's wedding 7/02/2010 Salt Lake Temple
Shae's wedding 12/03/2004 Bountiful Temple
My wedding 8/20/2008

Saturday, the 3rd, Tom and Savana and I went on a really fun 4-wheeler ride with my aunt Ann and her two girls, Sydney and Jackalynn! Then that night we watch Morgan's Fireworks and did a few of our own!
On Sunday the 4th of July, we had dinner with my brother's in-laws, the Orr family! It was really fun! They have a pool and we swam the night away!
Jason, Tom, and Savana!
Savana's feet pruned SO badly while we were in the water!
All of our feet in the hot tub!

Then, Tom and I went to Wolf Creek Resort in Huntsville and stayed there from Sunday to Wedsnesday! Matt (Ann's husband)'s mom had a time share there that needed to be used, so it was offered to us! Our condo was awesome! We had a great time there! During the time we were there, we had my family pictures taken and we made a trip to Logan to try and deliver a wedding gift (didn't happen), do a session in the Logan Temple (didn't happen - it was closed for cleaning), drop off a box of stuff to Sister Grimnes' family (she is serving here in Ohio), and get my wedding ring fixed! It was a good couple of days!
Then from Thursday morning to Saturday night we spent it with Tom's family in Sandy! We had a really great time! We did so much fun stuff! We went to Seven Peaks, The Bean Museum, Herriman Lake, ate yummy food together and played lots of games! What a great time! Almost Tom's entire family was able to be there the whole time! Then we went back down Sunday night to try and get a family picture taken.... we were never able to get EVERYONE together at the same time to take a picture of the WHOLE family, but we did get a nice one of Wendell and Kathy with all their kids. What a fun weekend!

Sunday night after being at Tom's parents, we met my family at Weber State and watched their annual fireworks display! It was really fun! Brody ABSOLUTELY LOVED the fireworks! They were pretty loud, but he was totally in awe!

The last week we were there... wasn't quite as exciting! I enjoyed spending lots of time with my family, but Tom did homework ALL week. Poor guy! He had like 6 papers to write and several little assignments and quizzes to do. But, Friday night and Saturday we did have a really fun campout at the Campground with my family and Peter & Kaity Dixon came with Kaity's little sister! (I'm really sad that I didn't take any pictures.)
Sunday night, ALL of my family came to my parents' house and we had a yummy dutchoven dinner and played and games and laughed and talked! Something that I've really missed being away for so many years! Thanks Guys!
Then on Monday, our last day there, my Grandpa and Grandma Mecham had a big family dinner/FHE, and almost my WHOLE extend Mecham family was there! Grandma's FHEs are ALWAYS so fun and spiritual! Then after that, my parents, Tom and I, and my three sisters piled in the back of the truck at a drive-in movie to see "Eclipse"!!! It was awesome fun!
We so enjoyed all the time we were able to spend with our families and for all the wonderful memories made! We can't wait till next year to do it again!
We headed out on Tuesday morning, drove to Lincoln, stayed the night, got up Wednesday morning and drove all day! We got back to Wadsworth around 11:30 that night!
What a great summer it has been so far! Hopefully there are still a few more adventures to come before summer is over!

Our Trip To Utah - Part One

Tom and I were lucky enought to spend 3 weeks in Utah with our families!!! We had SOOOOOO much fun! We got to spend a lot of time with our families and we are so grateful for them!
I'll post more a little later about the whole trip, but I wanted to post the family pictures that we had taken while we were in Utah!!!
This is a picture of my family!
Here is a slide show of the rest of the fun pictures that we had taken!!!!

More pictures and details to come!!!

Recent Events

We love living in our new home! And we are having so much fun making it OUR home! Not much else exciting has happened lately... Tom's still plugging away at work and school, and he did just find out yesterday that his affiliation for BYU-Idaho and Summa is FINALLY done so he should be able to get his last semester clinical hours done in the next few weeks!!! Yeah! And this semester's clinical hours are going to be done with a Nurse Leader that he works with! Things are finally working out in that area!
I had my first little Piano Recital last sunday and it went really well! I've been teaching 8 students and they are all awesome!!! (I actually decided to start teaching full-time in August and have already added 8 or 9 new students already.... hopefully more in the next few weeks!) I'm so proud of these kids! There were so many people there to support them at their recital! The whole Relief Society room was packed!
(Morgan, Jacob, Maddie, Braxton, Brianne, Derek, Jewel, and Ella)
We had to say "Goodbye" to one of the Sister Missionaries, Sister Haycock! =( We really got close to Sister Haycock and Sister Grimnes, and it was hard to see her go, but we are excited that she gets to begin a new journey somewhere else in Ohio! This is a picture of the day before she left! We now have Sister Dabro and she is great too! (All three of them are from Utah! What a small world!)
(Tom, Me, Sister Grimnes, and Sister Haycock)
On our way home from the Temple a few weeks ago, we stopped in Ashland, Ohio at Grandpa's Cheesebarn!!! It was so fun! Lots of candy and fudge and cheese dips to taste-test! It was really fun!
And.... we finally got our chimney fixed! The previous owner had a lining put in to vent the furnace, but they didn't fix the outside of the chimney, which was all falling apart. So our friend came over and replaced the yucky bricks and then covered the entire chimney with stone! We are very happy with the outcome!
(Old Chimney)
(New Chimney)
Well, that's a little of what has been going on in our lives. My last day of work as a nanny was last thursday. I had fun taking care of Jacob and Nathan, and I'm going to miss them. Glad I get to see them once a week for piano, still.
We leave in a few weeks for our trip to Utah! We are SOOO excited to see our families again! The time can't go by quick enough!

Our New House!

Ok... I know we moved in over a month ago, but we've been really busy! Plus, I wanted to get some stuff done and decorated before I took pictures! We still have a LONG way to go, but we are having SO MUCH FUN making it our very own! I (since Tom was working) spent several hours on saturday planting such shrubs in the front of the house! We really love it! Hope you enjoy these pictures!
(Our New House!)
(Front Porch with new hanging plants!)
(Driveway)
(Garage)
(Backyard)
(Living Room)

(TV and Piano)
(Dining Room)
(Over Entryway from Dining room to Living room)
(Kitchen)
(The Wall in the Kitchen)
(Stairs)
(Bathroom)

(Our Bedroom)
(My Craft room)

(The Office)
(Outside side door, leading to Kitchen and Basement)
(Laundry Room)
(Basement)
(Home Gym!)

Tom's Birthday - The Big 31!

It was Tom's 31st Birthday on Saturday, April 24th, and we had a great weekend! He works in Cleveland and he had to work on Friday night, so after I got off work on Friday, I drove to Cleveland, found my way to his car, left a note and the GPS in his car, and surprised him with a night at a cute little Bed and Breakfast! It was all working out so well, until.... I left the GPS in his car and tried to get myself back to the B & B! I totally got lost! Tom called me when he found the note and I told him where I was at and he came and found me! Haha! Not quite how I'd planned it, but it was still a surprise to him!
We stayed at the J Palen House! It was so cute! We were the only guests there, so we kind of got pampered! We stayed in the Webster Room and we were served a yummy breakfast in the morning!
(J Palen House in Cleveland)
(The Webster Room)
Then we spent the afternoon driving around Ohio City in Cleveland and seeing all the cool buildings and bridges, and we went to the Cleveland Zoo! We had such a fun day! We felt kind of like a couple of kids, spending the day at the Zoo! Haha! But it was really fun!





After we got home, we made him a Lemon Birthday Cake and we watched "Hachi" Happy Birthday Tom! I sure do love you!

Broadcast and Conference Weekend!

Ok, so I know I'm not a Young Woman any more and I don't have a calling with them either, but I did watch the General Young Women's Broadcast online and LOVED it! What a great message: "BE STRONG AND OF A GOOD COURAGE" I forgot how much I miss having such powerful inspiration given to the Young Women! I especially loved President Uchtdorf's talk, about "Once Upon A Time" and "Happily Ever After"!!!! Oh my goodness! That was just the talk I needed to hear right now! Opposition is a part of life, and we all have to overcome it... We just need to do it the right way! Withe help of our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ, through prayer and faith.... we most definitely can overcome anything that comes our way! If you haven't watched this broadcast.... YOU MUST WATCH IT!
(WATCH YOUNG WOMEN'S BROADCAST)
In preparation for this weekend and General Conference, I have decided to re-read all of the talks from October's Conference! I've been under a lot of stress lately and I have let a lot of the "little/simple things".... you know the ... "a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm in the time of a storm..."(D&C 123:16) types of things, and I don't like the way it makes me feel. It is so amazing how just by striving to pray and study the Scriptures each day can make a whole world of difference! I have all the help I need.... I just can't let it slip again. Anyway, I want to be totally SPIRITUALLY and MENTALLY prepared for Conference this weekend. I am "STARVING" for the words that are going to be spoken! So, I'm going to attempt to read all the talks! And, Tom and I are going to the Temple of Friday, to do Endowments and Sealings! I love this Gospel, the Scriptures, the Prophets, the Temple, and most importantly.... My Father in Heaven and my Savior Jesus Christ!
What a great weekend it is going to be.... We get to hear from the Prophet of God and celebrate Easter and remember the INFINITE Atonement of our Savior and His TRIUMPHANT victory over death! Does it get any better than this? I think not!
P.S. We moved into our house this last weekend! We absolutely LOVE it! Pictures are coming, I promise! I just need to get everything unpacked and then they will be posted! Be very excited.... I know you can hardly wait to see them!!!! =)

House Update

Well... after a little bit of stress last week, everything seems to be in order for us to still get this amazing, cute, little house! We have the BEST agent that we are working with and she is helping us out so much! So, if all continues to go well... we'll close on the loan on the 23rd and have possession by the 25th! And then several men from the ward are going to come help us move that weekend! I'm going to order blinds today so we can have them up by the time we move in! We are really excited! Now, I just need to find the motivation to pack! Oh, after this move, I don't want to have to pack up my house for several years! It's not my favorite thing to do!
Tom and I are both sick and trying to get over these silly colds. Tom has almost completely lost his voice. Poor thing! And I'm starting to feel a little better, except I can't hear out of my left ear and haven't been able to for almost a week. Not fun at all!
Well, life is going pretty well and we are happy!