Presents!

I didn't think I had to child proof my house for Jersey, my CAT. Today I heard something under the tree, I peeked around the corner and to my dismay Jersey was opening the presents. The funniest part is that it is for our friends. Here is the video of Jesery.

Classic Skating!

For our Wards Christmas Party we went to Classic Skating. Santa made time in his busy schedule to come skating with all the kids and find out what they wanted for Christmas.

Taking a break!
Santa even stopped for one second to take a photo with me. To bad, Cal was "working" this night so I had to skate alone.

Ugly Sweaters!

You are probably wondering why we are wearing these beautiful sweaters. Well, we went to an ugly sweater party! It took Cal and I 2hours of shopping at the DI just to find the perfect sweater for that night. Well, Cal had to have an outfit not just a sweater, he is even wearing women's shoes.
We ate good food, played games, and even had prizes for our sweaters. We got Most likely to be on "What Not To Wear".
Group photo!

Watch Party!

I'm having a Passing Time Party on Saturday, December 13, 2008 at my house from 1pm-3pm. My sister-in-law Michelle is now making and selling these CUTE interchangeable watch bracelets. She have about 100 different cute bracelets and faces. It is a buy/take home style party so if you want the best selection, arrive early. The faces are $12 and the bracelets are $20. Let me know if you are interested in coming and need my address. Please feel free to invite your friends.

Our Christmas Tree!

On Saturday we finally had enough time to run and get a tree. Yes, we got a real tree this year. It's has been 7 years since we have had a real one. The first year we were married we bought a Charle Brown tree for $40 and it was only 4 feet tall. Cal made it glow with 5 strands in it. After that, we decided to go to a fake one. I know you don't get the smell. This year we found this lady in Layton that grows them in her yard. You just walk around her yard, pick the perfect tree and then she cuts it down right in front of you. The one down fall is that its not very friendly, because its a blue spruce. The funny story is that we were looking for a big and tall tree. The one we picked didn't look very big and tall until we put in the house. Cal added his touch by adding 12 strands of lights and it sure glows.

Halloween Party!

I know Halloween is long gone but, I guess its better late then never. We had a great party! It all started out with a hayrides to the barn. Where the headless horseman followed you though the hollow. We played lots of games, we had a guitar hero competition and play Apples to apples (Tawna's rules: whoever had the best or worst card had to do a dare). You can't forget about the GREAT COSTUMES! The Addams Family! The best Costumes ever! Elizabeth Swan and Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean Referees! Gang Bangers! Bubble Gum stuck to your shoe and Twister girl!
Jason and his dark woman! Wayne and Garth! Tom Leavitt, a Witch, Elizabeth Swan and Jack Sparrow!
Popeye and Olive oil, were also there but we didn't get any pictures. Thanks, to all that came and made it a great party!

5 Years!

As of October 3rd I have worked for Retina Associates of Utah for 5 years. We had a meeting last week and Mano Swartz, MD one of our 5 doctors recognized me for being one of the greatest retinal photographers, for my great attitude and for the many accomplishments I have made over the last 5 years. To show me their gratitude, the practice gave me a video camera. Which Cal THINKS he gets to take skiing. Over my dead body.
To show you what I do all day at work. Here are a few pictures I have taken of different people. The last three pictures are taken with a dye that is injected into a vein in the arm or hand to show any leakage or swelling. The dye makes your urine fluorescent yellow.

Weezer!

Cal and I went to the Weezer concert a few weeks ago at the E-center. This was my first concert. I know lame. Tokyo Police Club and Angles and Airwaves also played. Our seats where on the side and at the very top of the lower bowl. The concert opened with Tokyo Police Club. Angles and Air Waves WEEZER! If you didn't know this is Cal's favorite band of all time. He was dancing and singing at the top of his lungs. We moved closer so the sound was better. I think Cal didn't want to hear the Grandpa that was in front of us sing.When you thought that the concert was over they brought on all these people and their musical instruments. I guess a few weeks before on X96. You could win tickets and the opportunity to play with Weezer if you could play a musical instruments.
We had a blast.

Pig Roast!

A few weeks ago, we had a neighborhood block party between Golden's and our houses on our new RV pad. It was nice to a big area to serve, sit and enjoy the sunset. We strung some lights between the houses, like we do for our wedding customers. I do have to say for myself, they looked pretty darn good. If you have ever roasted a pig, you know how much work it is. The neighbors, JC and Maureen spent the entire day with that thing. 8am and they were out in the backyard shaving the pig (you missed a spot), then it was time to get it as flat as possible so it would cook evenly, then we had to press it between two racks and wire it shut. The bar-B-Q sauce went on next and that's when it started smelling good. The oven that we used to cook it in, had to be put together the night before using cinder blocks and aluminum foil lining most of the inside. The pig rack rested on top of the blocks, then we covered the pig and rack with more aluminum foil creating a lid to hold the heat it. After four hours it was turned and had to be re-covered and new brickets put into the bottom of the oven. Believe me it was a challenge to flip the thing. This pig was a whopper, it weighed around 145lbs, and the rack was hot. In order to flip it we had to wear Golden's fireman gloves. It took the rest of day to cook. It smelled so good all around the neighborhood that entire day. about 5 p.m. we uncovered it and began to place the meat on platters. the meat was so tender and juicy it just fell off the bones. Molly enjoyed this part because every once in a while someone would drop a piece and she was on clean up patrol. Molly ate so much that it gave her a belly ache (stinky, stinky, stinky).

We had a good turn out, not quite as many as we had planned on, but the quality of the people that came was exceptional. With homemade root beer and Golden's famous death by chocolate dutch oven dessert, everyone walked away with a full belly. This block party goes into the record books as one of the greatest we've ever had. We had amazing food, games and people to share it with. What more could anyone ask for?
We are so grateful for the wonderful neighbors and friends that we have for taking the time out of their busy schedules and making this a great success. Thank you all very much.

Cal & Gena

Summer Fun!

July ended with a get together with my family. We went camping at Lake Cleveland in Idaho. It was so pretty and peaceful. We played in the lake and went four wheeling. Molly played fetch for hours in the Lake. As you can see the kids LOVED the four wheelers. After, we went to the Twin Falls Temple open house. It was so pretty and neat to see how excited the kids where. My sister Amie and her family of three boys live in Twin.Our fun filled August started with Cal's Family party up at Pine View Reservoir. The theme this year was Super Heroes. Cal's mom made each of us our own Super Hero capes. Each day was filled with fun. We had a lot of appearances from many Super Heroes; Popeye and Olive Oil (Cal's Parents), Heman and Shera (Cal & I), and Super man (Brian). Then it was off to Lake Powell for a week. With my uncle, his family and many of great friends. That first day we where able to see the beautiful waterfalls that only come when in rains. But this did make it hard to find a spot to stay. We had the opportunity to relax, go for boat rides, hike, get a tan, and play until our hearts content.
While we where at Lake Powell Cal and I had our 7th year Anniversary(August 9th). The last 7 years have been the greatest. Because of who I have gotten to share it with; my best friend Cal. I know what you are thinking we look so YOUNG in this picture. The end of August our Stake was realigned; so Cal and I are in a whole different ward. We are in the 9th ward. Our new ward consist of 4 different wards put into one. We call it the Melting Pot and our ward is the shape of a gun. Cal is now the 1st counselor in the Young Men's. Which has been hard for him not to take control since he was the Young Men's President before. I'm the Mia Maid Advisor. So yes, Cal and I are both gone on Wednesday nights and we get to work with the same age group.

Shopping Spree!

Today was the semi-annual sale for Layers Clothing in Salt Lake City. I made Cal come with me because I love to get his opinion on my clothes and he owed me big for all the skiing he did this past winter. :) What a good guy. When we got there it was a madhouse with a gazillion people crammed into a small warehouse. Half of the people were standing in line and the other half were digging through piles of clothes, some of which were rejects from the people standing in line. After searching through nearly all of the bins in the entire place, we had our own bin of clothes to try on. In the begining Cal gave me a budget so we picked out only the cutest things; which forced us to put back most of the clothes that we had collected. We were running on Taylor time, so we were way behind schedule, so we went and stood in line. While standing in line for no longer than 10 minutes, this lady comes up to me and said "You are the Winner! Your number 65, come with me". So we followed her to the front of the line to the checkout stand and she then told me that I get everything in my bin for FREE. I didn't know quite what to do and neither did Cal, but the excitement of not having to pay for anything made me wish that I hadn't put most of my clothes back. We thought of all the what if's; grab this, or that, or man, I should have kept that other shirt. Then as we walked out (because we were running late) we started counting our blessings and thought that if we would have kept more stuff we might have been in a different spot in line and then we would have been even more off our budget. We ended up leaving with all of our money in our pockets.

Vacation to New York and Ohio

Cal and I had the opportunity to go on a church history tour of New York and Ohio with my parents. Each day was very eventful. We took the red eye flight to Rochester, New York. Then drove over to Niagara Falls and spent two days there. We saw the falls at night, we did the Caves of the Winds, Maid of the Mist, and walked over to Canada. We Next stop was Palmyra, NY. We saw Peter Whitmers Home, the Hill Cumorah Pageant, Smith Farm and The Sacred Grove. Then off to Ohio. In Kirtland, Ohio we saw Historic Kirtland (Newel K Whitney Store), Kirtland Temple, and the John Johnson Farm. Well this trip wasn't just church sites. I have a big thing for light houses. So we stopped a lot along the way to look at lighthouses.

Niagara Falls at Night
Caves of the Winds

They provided souvenir sandals and poncho so that you could get up close to the falls.
Maid of the Mist

They provided souvenir poncho so you could enjoy your boat ride up close to the American Falls and Houseshoe Falls.
Peter Whitmer Home

We were able to see my cousin Sister Harris on her mission. She gave us a personal tour.

Publication of the Book of Mormon
The Smith House
The Sacred Grove
Newel K Whitney Store
Kirtland Temple