HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHANE!

Oh wonderful talented husband of mine.  You've got some serious skills and on this special occasion I'd like to share my favorites...

Your drummer skills...

Your childcare skills...

Your gymnastic skills...

Your toe touch skills...

Your skills for trying all foods and loving the good ones!

I love you!  Have a fabulous birthday!!!

O Christmas Tree!

We love Christmas and have been having fun decorating our house for the holidays.  There's something serene to be found in the warm glow of the Christmas tree lights that speaks peace to my soul.  I hope you, too, will enjoy the occasional quiet moments during the hustle and bustle of the season and feel the true joy of this beautiful Christmas holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!  We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family, friends and fun!  We didn't actually get to spend time with our families this year, but they were in our thoughts and prayers.  We have so many good friends nearby and living away from our relatives, we consider our friends to be family.  We were grateful to spend time with them on this most thankful day of the year!  We had fun cooking, visiting, eating, and shopping together.  Yes, shopping!!!  A group us went to the outlets at 10PM Thanksgiving night and had a blast searching for great deals!  We didn't get home until 3AM, only to find Shane and our friend Patrick playing video games.  Who says only the girls can go out and have fun!!

This is our favorite jello to make for the holidays.  Shane's family calls it Joseph Jello because it is as colorful as Joseph's coat of many colors!

Which pie should I choose?

Oops!  Caught me!

The results of a successful shopping trip!

NAVY vs NIU

The Navy football team (aka my brother) has been in our neighborhood the past couple of days which is quite a treat for us!  They played Northern Illinois last night - a mere 45 minutes from our house, but even better they stayed in a hotel practically next door.  Monday night we picked Joe up from his hotel and brought him to our house to hang out and enjoy a little triple berry cobbler with us.  It was the first time he's visited us in Illinois and it was a lot of fun showing him around.  

                   

Last night was the big game so we bundled up - looking somewhat like Michelin tire men - and headed to the game.  It was a night game and pretty cold, but we were well prepared and having so much fun yelling and cheering that we had a blast!  Navy won 16-0 which made it that much more fun.  Afterward we got to go down with Joe by the locker room and hang out.  Navy is and awesome school and they really treat their people nice.  Thanks again for the tickets to the game, Joe!  It was great to see you!

Joe's the one in the middle of the huddle

Joe walking off the field

After the game the players sing the school song.  When it's over they shout,"Go Navy, beat Army!"

Flying Bananas!!!

I am currently a Scoutmaster for Troop 68 in my ward.

As we are going to be reorganizing our patrols...I came across my old patrol patch.

Behold...the Flying Bananas! This was my patrol when I was in Troop 541 in Sandy, UT. We had a patrol flag with a plastic banana on top with feathers sticking out of it.

I am proud to be an alumni of the Flying Banana Patrol, Troop 541, Great Salt Lake Council.

Utah Trip

Here are some more pictures from our visit to Utah last week.  We had so much fun being with family and friends!

Rock Band!  Gotta love it!

Another football win!  Skyline plays Bingham in the semi-finals Nov 13th at 10:30 am

Shane and my brothers talk strategy during half-time

Playing "Oink-Piggy" - the grandkids favorite game!

We were driving past the Jordan River Temple and it looked so beautiful all lit up we stopped to take a picture.  This is where we were married.

Great Football Weekend!

All of our teams won their games this weekend...it was great!  What made it even better was being in Utah and getting to go to Skyline's game instead of just hearing about it.  We get to go to another one on Friday.  Go Skyline!

Isn't my dad a cute coach?!!

My mom has a pretty strong football voice, so my sister came prepared with ear plugs!

Trunk-or-Treat

Saturday was our ward trunk-or-treat Halloween activity. We took Cheesy Potato Soup to share...yum! After dinner there were games and crafts for the kids, a costume parade, and then we all went outside for trunk-or-treating. Our friends were out of town so we got to take their kids with us.  It was a blast playing mom and dad for the night!

Shane's got some serious skills!

Sewing!

Shane was out of town a couple days last week and I was caught up with my seminary lessons and somewhat on my sleep, so I got to do some sewing.  My friend gave me this darling pattern to cross stitch (which I actually started last Sept...augh!!!).  I was able to finish it pretty quickly, pick up some Halloween fabric, and put this pillow together.  Happy October!

Fall in Bloom

I came home from work to find my beautiful husband waiting for me with flowers and dinner - "just because".  

I love you Shane!

Conference Weekend

We love conference weekend and this one was even better because we had family in town!  We had the best weekend together...Our football teams won, we shopped like crazy, we ate lots of yummy food, and we even got some exercise walking up and down the stairs with Preslee every chance she got!  But best of all we enjoyed being together!  Thanks for coming Todd, Tam, and Preslee!

Shane & Todd getting the Bacon BBQ on

Shane collects bobble head dolls from all of the baseball stadiums he visits.  Todd and Tam brought him a bobble head of one of his favorite characters - Napoleon Dynamite

Say Cheese!

In August our baby nephew Cooper was born so I went out to Maryland this week to help Monica and spend time with the kids.  Things are pretty busy when you've got 6 kids - especially with a newborn - and I was more than happy to step in as the designated baby holder for the week.  Baby Cooper is such a little angel, and everyone else is so cute and growing up so fast!  We had a great time playing games (Sorry and Marbles), going miniature golfing and just being together.  Navy invited the football coaches wives to go to the game with them in North Carolina and I was able to watch the kids for a couple of days so that Monica could go with Joe.  I just love these kids so much and had so much fun being with them!  And to top off the weekend Navy beat Wake Forest (who were ranked 16) - it was an awesome game! 

Who loves Cub Scouts?

I just had to take this picture of our nephew TJ who fell asleep with his Cub Scout neckerchief tied around his head. Priceless!

Football Snack of the Week

This weekend all three of our football teams won.  YEAH!!!  We watched the games while enjoying one of our favorite "special occasion" snacks - Garrett's Chicago Mix popcorn.  It's a combination of cheese and caramel popcorn - I know it sounds strange but it is so good.  We usually reserve this treat for special occasions like company coming to visit, but Shane was in South Carolina for a few days and picked some up at the airport on Saturday when he got off the plane.  What a great snack!

Fall = Football

We love football season and have 3 teams that we follow faithfully: Skyline High School (my dad's the coach), Navy (my brother's a coach), and BYU (doesn't every mormon household support BYU?) This year we're pretty excited because we're able to watch our 2 favorite college teams courtesy of the direct TV sports pack (most games, anyway).  Saturday was an especially rainy day - the perfect excuse for cozying up in front of the TV to watch a little football and nosh on some chips with a little 7 layer dip.  Skyline and Navy didn't fare so well, but BYU, as Shane put it,"gave UCLA a good shlackin'!"  Is that even a word?

Rock On!

We've spent the last few weekends staying up way too late and having way too much fun playing Rock Band with our friends.  Keep your eyes opened - our world wide tour will soon be stopping at a city near you!

Hershey Park

If you ever get the chance to go to Hershey park you've got to check out their new ride Fahrenheit.  One word - AWESOME!  And so flippin' scary I thought I was going to die.

And to make it all the more thrilling we sat in the front row....AUGHHHHH!

Not only did we go straight up, but we took a 97 degree dive on the way down.  I know you can't really tell, but those two little heads at the front of the cart are ours!

A Weekend for Grandma

This past weekend we flew out to Pennsylvania for Grandma Jacobs funeral.  Losing someone is always bitter sweet.  It's hard to see them go and yet knowing that we will see them again is such a comfort.  When we talked about the plan of salvation in seminary this morning, having so recently lost a loved one, my testimony of God's wonderful plan was reaffirmed.

During the funeral Shane and his dad were able to share some thoughts and memories along with their testimonies and it brought such a sweet spirit to the gathering.  After the funeral and luncheon we went back to the graveside with Shane's parents and sister and Shane's dad dedicated the grave.  We then proceeded to spend the entire weekend doing things that reminded us of Grandma.  We went to the Green Dragon, a giant Amish flea market and bought whoopie pies, we spent the next day at Hershey's Park, and we topped off the trip with a ice cream from Mack's (Grandma always ordered a scoop of peanut butter ice cream).  It was a wonderful way to spend the weekend and remember some of the memories that we've made with Grandma Jacobs.

Whoopie Pies!

Beginnings...

Today was the first day of seminary for the new school year.   This summer has been such a whirlwind of events that I was kind of dreading the start of seminary- not the teaching part, but the part where my alarm clock goes off at 4:30 AM.  Yeah, that part!  Crazy as it sounds, now that it's here I'm actually feeling a sense of relief.  I'm looking forward to establishing a normal routine, getting organized, and feeling grounded.  It reminds me of the scripture found in Doctrine and Covenants 88:119 "Organize yourselves; Prepare every needful thing; and establish a house...a house of order, a house of God;"  

I guess that's why I like beginnings, they force me to get organized and when I'm organized I feel a sense of peace and a closeness to Heavenly Father.  I'm thankful for beginnings- without them my life would be a mess!!

Goodbye to Grandma Jacobs

Yesterday, my Mom and Dad called to inform us that Grandma Jacobs passed away in York, Pennsylvania on Sunday, August 17th. We were visiting my brother Todd and his family (Tamara and Preslee) in Missouri when they called. It was a very sad call and we are praying for my Dad now that both Grandma and Grandpa Jacobs have both passed on. Since we have lived in Chicago, we have been able to visit her 3 times, most recently in April. We always love to visit with her, take walks through her nursing home and get spoiled by her snacks that she wins during bingo. She liked to save them up for us when we would come and visit. We will miss her constant smile, giggles and generosity.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEREDITH!!!!

Happy Birthday Meredith!!! As many of you can agree, Meredith is one of the truly special people in the world. I am so lucky to actually have her as my wife. She has brought so much happiness and joy to my life and I can't wait when we can share that with our children.

I love you Meredith!

Double Decker Bus Tour

We've had so much fun spending time with Shane's parents this week. Our favorite activity was doing the double decker bus tour in downtown Chicago. Although we go into Chicago all the time, we'd never done the bus tour. It was a blast! We were afraid the rain would get in the way, but it just added to the experience. Plus we got to wear cool ponchos that basically screamed "tourist" to everyone we saw. It was great!