Tickle monster

So this is one of our new favorite things to do -- tickle Jake! He's so funny when he laughs! We thought we should share the joy with the rest of you... :) There's nothing quite like a baby's giggle to cheer up your day!

We're #1!

So tonight we took Jake to his second BYU basketball game...and thankfully this one turned out better than the last one (last time we lost to Wake Forest). The game tonight was WAY closer than it should have been -- the Cougs just didn't come out to play -- but they were able to pull it out for a win. That means that we've won the conference championship 3 years in a row, which is the first time we've done that since the early 1930s. Anyway, it was fun to go!

Kristy and I were talking after the game tonight and we realized that tonight was our last BYU basketball game while still living in Provo. While we're both excited to move on to the next stage of our lives and head out to California, we're going to miss living here in Happy Valley. I don't know if I would have said that a few years ago, but I really feel like that now. Both Kristy and I have had wonderful experiences here and made great memories. It has plenty of quirks, but we love how family-friendly it is, how many fun (and cheap!) things there are to do, and so on. It will be fun to come back and visit later, especially as our kids get older and we can take them to games, show them around campus, get them ice cream at the Creamery on 9th, and let them pick out a book at the BYU Bookstore. I have fond memories of doing that as a kid and I hope we can help our kids develop similar good feelings, regardless of whether they come to school here or not.

Anyway, just some nostalgic and sentimental thoughts.... Go Cougs! :)

Taking time to ponder

So today was fast and testimony meeting in our ward. Near the end, I thought I might get up and share an experience Kristy and I had about a week ago, but several people got up and the meeting went over...but I thought, 'hey, I could include it our blog!' (Side note: I've found that I've been thinking in blog-entries these days.)

As far as background goes, Kristy and I have been crazy-busy lately. Kristy works everyday from 7am to almost 5 pm, I watch the baby (which I've found to be much busier than I expected) and study for the CPA and have prep classes two nights a week. On top of that, we each have callings in the ward, family and friends to visit, etc. All good and very necessary things -- but we've been pretty tired. It's like, 'welcome to the rest of our lives!' (in a good way).

Anyway, we hadn't had the chance to go to the temple for a few weeks, so we asked some of our married friends if they could watch Jake for the evening. They could, so we ended up going on a Friday night. As it turned out, the temple was very busy (which is a good thing), but we actually ended up waiting around for a long time before we finally had to leave to pick up Jake. It would have been nice to stay and do some work, but we realized that having an hour or so to just sit in that beautiful, peaceful place and ponder was exactly what we needed. Life gets so busy -- but it's still so important to take time to be still and think about what we're grateful for, what we can do better, and how good the Lord has been to us.

So that's the thought: turn off the radio, pull out the earbuds, and be still. It's SO worth it. :)