World Cup=30 days of international eye candy :)

It's World Cup time!!! I'm so excited to see the display of athleticism, skill, teamwork, etc... and let's be honest, to see this:

Happy Belated Mother's Day.....

I know Mother’s Day is long past, but just wanted to share a tiny part of what I love about my mom!

She is the most upbeat person I’ve ever met and it is 100% sincere
My mom has a game for everything. Turkey bowling, check, open the chocolate with the gloves on, check, sack relay races, check, never a dull moment and I love it!

My mom’s telephone voice (family, you know what I’m talking about) the happy one and the down to business one

She would do absolutely anything/everything for her family

She loves to read and learn new things

My mom is so incredibly humble, her automatic thought is always to those around her

She always makes me feel loved and is my #1 fan

She makes me excited to be a mom in the way she talks about how much she loves it

I love my mom so much and feel so lucky that she’s mine!! Happy Mother’s Day mom!!

here comes the bride....

looks like weddings are in the air and me and amber are hoping the tradition carries right on this year :)

mind and mike are engaged!! congrats you guys! i'm so happy for you guys and it couldn't have happened to 2 more deserving people!!

amazing race lds style

last weekend we had one of the most fun singles activities i've been to, and that's saying a lot :) we all met up at the ballfield behind the temple in westwood and divided up into teams of 8 or 9. then after receiving our 1st clue, went on a little footrace around westwood to find different "stations" where we would have to complete challenges before receiving our next clue. some of these including: wearing pantyhose on top of the head weighed down w/tennis balls, trying to knock over water bottles, using a tennis racket to bounce a tiny marble into a center target, bouncing a cookie from the forehead into the mouth without dropping it on the floor, etc... after sweat pouring down and lots and lots of weird looks from passers by, i'm proud to say our team won!! not much of a prize, but still worth it :)

Jen and Ron's Wedding Weekend!

Here's a sampling of some of the fun we had at the wedding this weekend:

Fuerza Chile!!

So, Chile has been on my mind lately. I wish I could say if only for it being one of the higlighted stops on The Amazing Race (shout out to Puerto Varas, which was in my mission) :), but primarily for the terrible 8.8 earthquake that took place there Sat. morning. As many of you know, I served a mission for my Church in southern Chile and had the opportunity to live there for a year and a half. It will always be a special place to me, not just for the amazing scenery, but the amazing people who make it the country it is. Thank goodness, since Chile is an earthquake zone, they were prepared, yet I don't think anyone can be fully prepared for the severity of an earthquake like that. Even though, I haven't quite caught the Facebook/Twitter craze, it has made me grateful as a means to contact a lot of my friends and get updates. As far as I can tell, most of my friends are o.k., just shaken up. However, the daughter of one of the families I lived with who was working in Santiago hasn't been heard from and one of my good mission friend's brother in law is also missing, so please keep them in your prayers.

Christmas in February!

So, I realize this post is a wee bit delayed, but I figured better late than never. Just wanted to share all the details of Christmas break along w/some pics. After Am and I flew home, we woke up early the next morning (Christmas Eve) and flew home. We made it just in time for our family Christmas Eve dinner. Because of our large numbers, we've moved past the dining room to the cultural hall at the ward. It ended up being so fun because the kids had plenty of room to run around and play and everyone could squeeze into the kitchen to help out. We had a yummy dinner followed by fun games, our annual nativity play including a cameo by my dad as the donkey :) and the highlight of the night: a visit from Santa.

It was so fun being home!! I had such a great time spending time with friends, family and relaxing. Plus, such a bonus to be home for Chaser's farewell.