So I thought since I was such a horrible blogger the last half of 2008 that I would share a few things that happened and I never wrote about. Hope you enjoy the catchup.
JULY 15, 2008 - AMERICAN IDOL CONCERT
Jessie, Kristin and I had so much fun at the American Idol concert. It was incredible! I was pleasantly suprised by how much I really enjoyed all of the acts. The most amazing part was the screams that came from all the 14 year old girls when David Archuleta came onstage. I have never heard such shrieks! He was awesome though!! And David Cook wasn't too shabby either. :) I'm glad I got to enjoy this night with such great friends.
AUGUST 15, 2008 - TIM'S GRADUATION
Big Tim and Cara were able to receive Tim's diploma from Brigham Young University since he was so close to graduation when he passed away. What a blessing for them! I felt very lucky to be invited to join them for the commencement ceremonies. The School of International Studies had a very nice video of pictures of Tim that they showed before presenting Big Tim and Cara with his diploma. It was a great moment. Tim was so looking forward to graduating so we were excited to be able to celebrate this for him. After Uncle Clint treated us all to breakfast at Magleby's. Such a great day!
BYU FOOTBALL
As most of you know, my family are very big BYU football fans. BYU had a great season (if you don't count the last 2 games) and we loved going to all the home games. I love spending Saturday afternoons in Lavell Edwards Stadium with my family and the Cougars! This year we inagurated another Cougar fan...Easton! We took him to a few games and he absolutely loved them! He loves watching the Cougars and especially loves searching for Cosmo the Cougar with his binoculars. It was so fun to have him at the games and by the end of the season he was proficient in the Cougar fight song. Or at least the "ra-ra-ra" part. And he's really good at yelling "go Cougars"!! Now that the football season is over, we can enjoy basketball season!
OCTOBER 11, 2008 - TRACY'S WEDDING
In October I went to Las Vegas to attend Tracy Murtishaw's wedding. Tracy is like my little sister and I am so happy that she and Frank have started their family. I haven't seen most of the Murtishaw family for a couple years and it was so good to spend this happy day with them. I also had never met Tracy's son Trey. He is almost 2 and is such a cutie. He kept himself entertained through the ceremony playing with Lightning McQueen. Adorable. It was also so great to spend time with Andrew and his roommates Jessica and Katy. They are such fun girls and I am excited that they are coming up to Sundance in a couple weeks and I'll get to hang out with them again!! Congratulations Tracy & Frank!
OCTOBER 12-14, 2008 - MESA
Since I was going to Las Vegas for the wedding I decided to make it a long weekend and spend a couple days in Mesa, Arizona. The Filichia's have wanted me to come down and visit for a while so it seemed like the perfect opportunity. The hard part was that the day I got there was the exact one year mark of the day that I arrived in Mesa for Tim's funeral. In fact, it was much harder than I ever expected it to be. The first thing I did when I got to Mesa was going to the cemetary. This is a picture of Tim's headstone, it is beautiful.
The best part of my trip to Mesa though was spending time with the Filichia family. I got to just hang out with Cara and shoot hoops with Matt and sing with Big Tim. We also had dinner at Heather's house and went to the park and shopping with Liz. I got to play with the kids and just enjoy being with this incredible family. It was so much fun! (I was having so much fun that I forgot to take any pictures. I know Heather and Liz have some, so I'll have to get them.) It was hard to be there without Timmy, but it was actually really good closure for me. I think of him everyday, but the pain isn't as sharp anymore. I loved every minute of my time in Mesa and am so grateful for the Filichia's.
OCTOBER 31-NOVEMBER 2, 2008 - REXBURG
I got to spend a weekend in Rexburg with Michelle and it was so fun! We hung out with her friends and roommates, went to a Halloween party, walked around campus (this is a picture of us in front of the Taylor building) and the best part was doing a session in the new Rexburg temple. It was wonderful! It was really weird to be there since it was 7 years ago that I left Rexburg, but it was so much fun. Thanks Shell for letting me visit. I'm going to miss you when you have to go back to school next week!!
NOVEMBER 15, 2008 - NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK CONCERT
THE GREATEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE! (quote from Sarah Bohe)
I need to get all of the pictures from Sarah from that night, but here are a few. It was seriously AMAZING!! I was obsessed with NKOTB as a kid and I love them even more now! We had such a blast at the concert and actually had pretty incredible seats. They did so many of their old songs and even their old dance moves. Every woman (which was 99% of the crowd) in the whole audience was singing along and screaming. I about melted when Joey sang "Please Don't Go Girl". That was my favorite song growing up and it was so awesome to hear him perform it again. He is still my favorite. :) And seriously, who knew Donny Wahlberg was so good looking!!
DECEMBER 8, 2008 - MY 27TH BIRTHDAY
Wow, I'm getting old! I did have a wonderful birthday though and spent it with many wonderful friends and then the weekend after spent it with my family. Thank you everyone for making it a great birthday!
So now that I have bored you all to tears I will stop and wait to update about Christmas. Seriously, looking back on 2008 it was an amazing year and so much fun! Can't wait to see what 2009 holds!!!!!!
Tonight I got a wonderful phone call from this adorable kid! He called just to say hi and we chatted for about 10 minutes. He is so funny! Easton absolutely brightens my day! He is such a good boy and he loves to have fun with all of his buddies. And he especially loves to have sleepovers at Aunt Jen's house! (hint hint :) I love Easton so much and am so grateful that he is my nephew! Our family just woudn't be complete without him. I love you East!!
Easton also has a pretty stinking cute sister!! We love having her in our family too. I can't believe that she is 6 months old now! She is so sweet and I love listening to her laugh and talk. This picture is of Shell, Averie and I on Christmas morning. For our family gift, my parents are taking all of us to Disneyland in April. We are going during Michelle's spring break and over my Dad's 50th birthday. I am so excited to take the kids! But I'm excited for the big kid stuff too! Space Mountain here we come!! 
