Work Christmas Party

Tonight I went to the Paris restaurant in SLC for my company party. This place was fabulous! My favorite part was their dessert they called "Drunken Strawberries". It was strawberry shortcake on steroids! So yum.

I got to sit at a table with Blake, MaryAnn, Dot, and their guests, and we had a blast yukking it up. MaryAnn and I commented that we felt a little out of place in such a fancy restaurant, and said we would meet up at McDonalds on the way home in order to keep ourselves grounded. I really love her, she is such a riot!

Greg and Time, two of the company owners from Seattle, got up to say a few words. It's always interesting to watch people who have a little alcohol in them. Greg and Tim kept cracking jokes and forgetting punch lines! I also knew that Greg had a little alcohol in him when he kissed me goodbye, 3 times! What a goof.

A lot of the people went to a piano bar afterwards, but I decided to go home. I'm a little sorry that I missed Greg and Tim, dancing on the pianos with pink boas around them, singing "I'm Too Sexy", but I was pretty tired. I was sent a pretty fabulous picture, though!


The only down side to the evening was the fact that my employees found out what their gifts were! I spent over two hours the night before, wrapping and boxing up robes for the employees' Christmas gifts, only to find out that they knew what they were! Gah! I was a little frustrated, but I just had to remember that the packages looked good. I actually did a good enough job wrapping them. It's a first, ladies and gentlemen.

Well, another year with HRA over. That makes 5, people! I'm beginning to become a staple in the company, I think.

SYTYCD is pretty much the BOMB!

This dance pretty much rocked my world! It was one of a TON of great dances during the night, but Russell and Ellenore are my two fave dancers this season. oh gosh, what a GREAT dance!

Rockin' Rudolph FHE!

Tonight Jess and I hosted FHE, and Jessie put most of it together. She planned a great activity- watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer while making scenes from the movie using sugar cookies. Mom gave us sets of cookie cutters from the movie last year, so Jess put them to good use! We weren't able to do the bottom parts so the cookies could stand up, but they still turned out great!

I have to admit, though, I was sincerely SHOCKED by how many people had not seen Rudolph! A lot of people had heard the story, but more than half had not seen the movie, and Jess and I could not believe it! We grew up with the claymation movie being a tradition in our household. Mom and Dad, thank you for educating us on the wonderful world of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer!

I was busy making frosting and cleaning up, so I didn't get to decorate cookies until almost the very end. I tried to do Yukon Cornelius, but this is how it turned out:
Yeah, not so much. But I tried. We had an Abominable Snowmonster, several Rudolph's, and Herbie the Elf. Jess even attempted a Clarice. Overall, it was just a fun night, and the cookies turned out great!

Church Christmas Program

Today was the Christmas program during Sacrament meeting. I'm not a part of the choir, but I was really impressed with some of the arrangements they used. Jessica participated in a rendition of "Silent Night" that included a harmony that was gorgeous, the choir sang an arrangement of "The First Noel" that had me getting chills (especially the tenor line!), and a guy in our ward sang one of my favorite Christmas songs, "Gesu Bambino". It's a difficult song, and singing in front of 300+ people in the ward is no easy task. But Benton did a great job, and it reminded me of how much I love Luiciano Pavarotti's version. I found the video on YouTube, and it's pretty cheesy, but listen to the actual song. SO GORGEOUS!

Merry Christmas, and enjoy!

Shout out to the Amys . . .

The Christmas dinner party was AMAZING!

Jess and I got invited to attend a formal dinner party on Saturday night, with some people in our ward. We got all snazzed up, and headed over to their place. I'm not kidding you, this was one fancy ordeal with such cute little details! Some examples:

- tags on our wineglasses with our initials all done in cute lettering
- pomegranate seeds in our drinks
- candles and a gorgeous tablecloth runner
- place settings with name cards, two cute little green flowers, a red napkin, and a black bow to tie it all together
- four course meal with peach sorbet to cleanse our palettes. No, really. A soup, an INCREDIBLE salad, main course, and dessert! Everything looked so pretty, too!
- Harry Connick Jr. music in the background
- formal dress
- they even sent us off with a little box of chocolates

We topped the evening off with a game of blind karaeoke. We were given an iPod with the volume turned way up so we couldn't hear ourselves singing (or people laughing), and had a blindfold placed over our eyes so we couldn't see. I performed "Baby, It's Cold Outside" BY MYSELF! I did both parts, and never realized how much I didn't know the lyrics. Kinda embarrassing, but it's all in the name of the game.

Jess, I'm thinking we may have to put something like this together. Too much fun!

Yay for family!

Tonight I got to babysit Braden and Addie with Jessica. Kyle & Ash haven't been on an all-night date for a loooooonnnnngggggg time, so when they asked Jess and I to babysit, we jumped on it! I headed over after work, and got to spend some real quality time with the kids. Braden watched "The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree" for the first time all the way through with us! That is a family tradition, so it was a lot of fun to pass it down to yet another generation. He was enthralled, and Jess and I even sang some of the songs for him.

Bedtime was surprisingly great! Both kids went down without too much of a fight, even though Jessie went up an hour later and Braden was just laying on his bed, and started talking to her. He's cute. Anyway, I read Caps For Sale to Braden, and he insisted that I lay down next to him as I read. It was a great feeling to have him snuggled up next to me and reading along with me. I sure do love that little guy.

Addie had had a nap a little earlier, so I didn't think we would be able to get her to bed so early, but all it took was some walking and bouncing as I paced the dark hallway upstairs. It was cool to see her start to calm down, then hear her breathing slow, and her start to make those little sleep noises she makes. I wanted to make sure she was really out, so I paced another five or so minutes, and she went down without a fuss.

Now, I KNOW that it isn't always that easy to get kids to bed, but I sure think that Addie and Braden are two of the easiest kids to work with. Oh, they are angels! Thanks for letting us babysit, Kyle & Ash!

Remember the Titans

I have had two 12-hour days in a row, and it gets pretty quiet after 5 in the office. This allows for me to try and catch up on things around there, and I like to have a movie going in the background. Tonight I popped in Remember the Titans. I had forgotten how much I LOVE this movie! I got chills no less than 5 times.

Favorite part: training camp when Bertier finally calls Ray out and makes him block for Rev. Then Gerry and Julius have their "left side, strong side" moment. Oh man, that is such a great part!
I remember when I first saw this movie: Jessie suggested that for a FHE we watch it for an activity. We all got together, had a fire going, and popped some popcorn. I can remember looking around the room, and we all had smiles on our faces. It was such a great recommendation, Jess!

Me gusta mucho.

Ugly Christmas Sweater Party!

Cameron had an Ugly Christmas Sweater party tonight, and I am so glad I went! He made up a ham, a turkey, and some salad, the rest of us brought side dishes and desserts. We ended up with so much food that 12 people couldn't finish it! Cameron requested that I bring spinach and artichoke dip, and I happily obliged.

We watched Elf, and talked a ton. I had forgotten how much I love that movie. It has so many great scenes and quotes from it. "Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?" Crack me up!

I almost didn't have a sweater for the party, but my roomie Patrice pulled out one that she had gotten in Peru. It was orange with gray shoulders, and block people in a line across the front. It was made of Alpaca wool, though, so it itched like crazy!!! I think I might have had the ugliest sweater there. I have another party next Thursday, so hopefully I will remember to get a picture of the ugliness of the sweater! 'Tis the season!

Karaleigh's Birthday!

Tonight we celebrated Karaleigh's birthday, and what a blast! Jessie and I headed over to meet up with people in our ward. We played a few games of Scum (I was president for 3 of 4 rounds!), talked, laughed, and I spilled water on Rob. Oh, dear. That wasn't my finest moment.

I got to try a few new things: marshmallow popcorn, Lucky Clover sour cream & onion chips,
Scum with 12 people, and chatting with Anna. Anna truly kept us laughing with her one liners and jokes. I haven't laughed so hard in a loooong time!

Favorite quote from the evening? "Is it because on TV it's this big?!"

We also witnessed the birth of the "Ladies Neighborhood Literary Society"! We had been discussing the books we are reading right now, and Jessie suggested that we form a Facebook group to share opinions and thoughts on good books to share. We'll see if there is anything that I end up reading!

Dat Dragon is back in 3 weeks!

Today is the 3-week mark until Elder Isenbarger returns from the wastelands of Russia! He will be home a few days before Christmas, and I am SO EXCITED!

Go Red Devils!

Yesterday I got to watch my Dad truly do something for himself that he enjoys. His high school football team that he used to play for when he attended, went to the state championship game. They steamrolled the competition, and I had a blast cheering, and watching my Dad really get into the game. Some of his high school buddies were there, too, so he got to catch up with them a little, and cheer with them while his team stomped on to victory.

Dad, I'm really glad we could do this with you. I had a great time seeing you in your element. Love you!

Sarah's Big Day!

Today is Sarah's birthday, so

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SARAH!

You are one of the craziest but friendly people I know. I hear from people who know you about how nice and wonderful you are. I know they are right. I'm sad that we aren't living in the same area, Jessie talks all the time about how awesome it was to live near you. One word: JEALOUS! I'm excited that we get to talk more now that we are working on our little Christmas project. I think I may have to make up some more projects so we can keep in touch better!

I hope you have a fantastic day, girl. I miss you a lot, but am SO looking forward to Christmas! Love you!

Thaaanksgiiiiiving diiiiiiinnnnnneeer!

Today was crazy, but Jess and I made it for Thanksgiving dinner with the family! We left for the airport at 3:00 a.m., trying to make it on time for a 5:50 flight. We got on the plane and everything was fine, but then the plane was delayed because "the printer at the gate was out of paper". Jessie and I were pretty concerned because we had a half hour in Minneapolis to catch our connecting flight.

We had to book it to our gate once we got off the plane, and thankfully were able to catch our next flight. They held the plane for us! Phew!

Jenny picked us up in Indianapolis, and we headed to West Lafayette. What a long day of traveling! But when we got home, there was dinner cooking, and great hugs from everyone.

We had a ton of friends join us- Emily, Cathy, & their mom, Kit, Curt's friend James, & Vanessa rounds out the list! With only three Isenbarger kids at home, the guests certainly helped make up for the noise! We had a rousing dinner, and it was so good to see everyone. Pie came next, along with the traditional football game and Skip-bo. Oh, my family is amazing!

With the exception of not having the rest of my family around, it was a great Thanksgiving! I love the holidays. BRING ON CHRISTMAS!
,

Michael Jackson, watch OUT!

I forgot to show you my new cast. I have a glove to keep the swelling down, and a batters glove to protect the incision site! I look totally cool. So, who wants to come Bedazzle my glove with me?
Niiiiiiiccceeeeee.

HaPpY bErFdAy, JeSsIe!

Today is J's birthday! We kind of made a weekend out of it, with us getting a bunch of people together to go to Sp^rk last night. But Jessie, I just want you to know that you are one of my favorite people in the world, and I am SO glad that we are roomies. You keep me laughing all day, with all the texts we send to each other. Even now, as I type this up, we are giggling and laughing our heads off. In addition to other things . . . ;)

And we may need a little Febreze. :)

Well, you are such a great example to me. Thank you for all your patience, love, and energy. You are so much fun to have around! Love you!

A Little Sp^rkin'!

Today was a great day! I've been complaining about my wardrobe lately, so Jess went shopping with me. We went to Lane Bryant, and I didn't see anything that really stood out to me, so I was a little disappointed, but then Jess went back to the clearance section, and we found a TON of clothes that I had been waiting to go on sale! YAY! I loaded up my arms and got some really great stuff! Jessie also helped me think outside the box, and I got a few pieces that I would normally not get. They do look great, though! I was able to get some stuff for tonight, so I felt really good!

Tonight we got a whole bunch of people together to go to Sp^rk, a restaurant/lounge/non-alcoholic bar that a guy in our ward owns. It's a big weekend hangout spot in Provo, and it was our first time there. My review:

FANTASTIC!!!!
We had the loft area, so there were tons of couches, ottomans, and low tables for us to use. Jess and I decided to get the whole experience, so we tried several drinks, appetizers, and food. Their salmon was to die for, their sushi and rosemary fries were awesome, but the drinks were the best! Between the two of us, Jess and I had four different drinks, but we tried a lot more! The verdict for the night, the double berry martini and the white grape juice were the best, but the apple martini and mango mojito were close seconds.
Well we talked and laughed the night away, and celebrated another birthday as well. Hannah, a girl in our ward, had her birthday on Thursday, so we also celebrated her as well. It was a fantastic way to celebrate Jessica's birthday! Yay!

Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad!

Today my parents celebrate 33 years of wedded (most of the time) bliss! :) They have been the most amazing examples to me, and I can't wait to be able to celebrate the same milestone with my sweetheart someday.

Mom and Dad, you are incredible people separately, so when you combine, it is one powerhouse of a couple! I'm so proud to be your daughter and be able to claim you as parents. I am so glad for the first 33 years, and am looking forward to the next 33!

The Cast Came Off!

Woo hoo! No more nasty, bulky, gross cast! The doctor took it off and I got to see my hand for the first time in awhile. It was so gross!
My hand was shrunken and had a lot of dead skin on it. And it smelled nasty! Not something I would recommend to people. Check out the incision site!
And the crazy swollen fingers!
You can even see the dead skin in between my fingers. One of the grossest sights, I can tell you!

Frickin' Freezin' Apple Pickin'!

Today was the day that I decided we needed to do some apple picking. They have a lot of "u-pick" orchards around here, so Jess and I went with Brian and AJ to pick some Fuji apples! We went to Bronson's Apple Orchard in Lehi, but it started snowing like crazy! We decided to still do it, even though there was a crazy dog, Q-tips in our apple bushel basket, freezing wind, and crazy snow. Check it out!

After collecting our apples, we decided to go to Five Guys burgers to eat some dinner. I was the only one who had been before, so it was good to se the other three's reactions. Five Guys is amazing!
The next step was going back to Brian's apartment for some football and apple pie! We made everything from scratch- crust, topping, everything! It was so good, that there was none left after a few friends dropped by! Here we are comparing Jessica's apple peels to AJ's peels. Can you tell which is which?
The pie was scrumptious and a great end to a great day!

Bus and Fish make an impression at the Pinewood derby!

Tonight was our ward Pinewood Derby! We made two different cars to race, a car shaped like a fish, and a school bus. Here is Jessie with Bus. This car didn't do so well in the long run, it didn't have enough weight to do well in the races. It seemed like it was going to be the same story with Fish, since there was no weight to the car. But then we had a few guys in our ward offered little weight from their car for us to rubberband to Fish. And Fish was off to the races! Car after car fell to Fish until it was in the semi finals! We had to race a car four times in order to come up with a final verdict, that is how close the finishes were! Fish won the first two, but the other car won the last two after adding just a little more weight. So the other car advanced. But Fish was the underdog winner of the night! Here is a far away pic of Fish (on the right), our pride & joy!

I went under the knife!

Today was the day I got my hand fixed! Jess dropped me off for surgery this morning, and I was a little nervous. I found out that I was going to be completely under during the surgery, and for some reason that made me nervous. I hate needles, and I knew that the needle they would use would be huge! On a side note, it was the first time I had to give a urine sample too, so it was a little weird!

It took me a little while to get into my hospital gown, but finally I was able to get things together and get in bed to get anesthetized. They were really great to me, and I had a FANTASTIC nurse named Janene to help me out and make sure that I was ok. She was amazing!

I got pretty sleepy after I got the anesthetic, so I closed my eyes, but I still felt it when they did a nerve block on my arm so I wouldn't feel pain later on. It was weird because I felt my arm start to twitch and jump around on the table. I also heard the anesthetician tell his nurses to back off the dosage since my arm was flailing around. After that, I just remember waking up in my room with Ashley there. It took me a little while to wake up, but I amazingly felt really good.

The rest of the day was spent in bed and on the couch, but Ash was a life saver! She made me food, got my prescriptions, made sure I was doing ok, and even gave me a whistle to use if I needed something!
Don't judge me, I just came home from surgery! Check out that cast! It was huge! Well, I get to spend the next three days in bed, but I have a feeling that I am going to be sleeping for most of it.

Post From Cole!

I woke up to find this in my inbox:

Lisa,
What the heck? Why did you have to try and smuggle illegal goods into Costa Rica and be injured on your ATV escape vehicle??? When the border patrols are after you, it's a lot better to take a speedboat through the city canals. Remember that next time, okay?

That sucks though. I hope your surgery goes well. I would channel my Jedi priesthood powers to heal you from here, but my mission president discourages it. You just make sure you make use of the new abilities they'll program into your hand The sooner you master them, the better.

I love you, I hope things are going well.

-Cole

Made my day!!! Thanks for the love and concern, Cole! Love you.

This is Halloween, everybody make a scene!

Today was one of my favorite Halloweens EVER!!! I had a jam-packed day, but I'm glad of it. Jessie came with me to get my costume. I have been gone, so I didn't really have a chance o make or come up with a clever costume. Jessie made the suggestion to go to the Scera theater and see if I could rent anything from their costume department. I have a huge wrap on my hand and arm, so I was having a hard time coming up with any ideas. Jessie came up with a winner: a pirate wench. That way my arm could be part of the costume! We got everything I needed, and a tutu for Jessie's "tooth fairy" costume. Total to rent both of our things:$15. That's it! I was so excited that we got such great costumes at killer prices!
After getting the costumes settled, we headed to Kyle & Ashley's to build a haunted gingerbread house with Braden. Check it out:

Braden loved the black icing and the black jellybeans. Can you tell? (Look for the black ring around his mouth)

While we were keeping Braden occupied, Kyle and Ash tried to carve their pumpkins. Braden didn't like how slimy the pumpkins were, so he mostly stuck to decorating the house. Check out how good of a multi-tasker Ashley is. Addie needed to be rocked, but Ash kept carving!
Kyle and Ash weren't able to finish their pumpkins because the rest of the family came over with $.50 CORNDOGS! Sonic was running a holiday special. I hadn't had corndogs in so long, and they tasted so good!
After dinner, Kyle, Ash, Braden, & Addie got in their costumes so they could go trick or treating in their neighborhood. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you BYU's top athletes:
BYU football coach Kyle "Bronco Mendenhall" Isenbarger, star BYU baseball player Braden "Quick Glove" Isenbarger, track phenom Ashley "The Flash" Isenbarger, and head cheerleader Adelaide "Sweet Cheeks" Isenbarger! Who knew there was so much athletic talent in the family?

So we went out with Braden to a few homes. It was one of the best times I've had with them, it was so much fun to watch Braden go up to the doors and try to say "trick or treat!" And their neighbors really delivered- one house even put up black tarps around it so you couldn't see what was coming. They had three different teenage guys dressed up as statues and they jumped out to scare you! So fun.
Jess and I had to leave early so we could get ready for our stake dance, which was being held in a barn in Payson. We had some pretty great costumes, people! The dance was a blast, and they had hay rides for those who needed a break. Most of the time was spent gettin' down on the dance floor, but I did get a chance to go on one ride. So fun! And one of the best things about the party is that there were hardly any immodest costumes! If anything, the guys were less modest than the girls. But it was a great night and my best Halloween yet!

Diagnosis: Broken hand!

Here was my schedule for part of today:

11:45 Plane lands from LAX/ Costa Rica trip
12:15 Leave airport
1:15 Drop off luggage at my house, shower, and change REALLY quickly!
2:00 Doctor's appointment
2:15 Xray
2:30 Find out that my hand is broken in 3 places!!!

I have an inch-long diagonal break in my palm, and two broken knuckles. You know you did a good job when two different doctors call your break "gnarly". My family doctor is sending me to a hand specialist tomorrow. Unfortunately, he's thinking I will need surgery. I hope not!

Today was a good day!

Well, not really, but there were some DEFINITE highlights!
- Being able to accomplish a lot at work and get done some things that have been on the back burner for awhile.
- I found out our Costa Rica trip is going to be one day longer than we thought! YEAH!
- Jessie surprised me at work today with my favorite- A PUMPKIN SMASH JAMBA JUICE!!!! Yes, people, it really is FALL!! Woo hoo! And she is the bestest.
- So You Think You Can Dance had the Vegas auditions. It just made me SO excited for the upcoming season! (My team, Jess!)
- Glee was so much fun to watch tonight! Good music, funny jokes, awesome people over to watch it, 'nuff said.
- I'm updating my blog! I've seen a lot of my family updating their blogs lately, and I decided to get my trash in gear!
Now, it's off to bed! Let's see how tomorrow goes . . .

Meeting new people is fun to do. Fun to do. To do, to do!

Tonight was kind of crazy, but it was a lot of fun. Jess and I got some people together to go watch our ward softball team compete in the semi-finals. We all got bundled up- I pulled out my winter coat- and headed to the field for an 8 o'clock game. . . except no one was there. As it turns out, the game was an hour before, so we missed it! Dang it!

Well, we decided to get some softball in our systems anyway, so we watched another game. And had no idea who we were rooting for! It was pretty amazing with 8 people bundled under blankets, watching children run around in bare feet, or jump on bleachers, seeing people get hit with the ball, cheering for both teams, you know.

After rocking out to the radio on the way home, we decided we were too wired to go to sleep, so a bunch of us congregated at Matt's house for a showing of . . . wait for it . . . WILLOW! Being "old folk", we talked and joked through the movie about the 'good old days' and how we watched Willow all through our childhoods. I don't think I have laughed that hard for a VERY long time!

Let me leave you with a shout out to my girl, Aubrey, who came up with the quote of the night, "It takes that long to do the stupid ritual?! Oh wait, I forgot they have to MARINATE the baby!" Oh I love it!

General Conference

This is the best weekend of the whole year. Well, the two of them since Conference is semi-annual. Anyway, I had an amazing time watching Conference this weekend. There were a lot of talks given with the power of the Holy Ghost, with love, with blunt language . . . in short, it was PERFECT! Elder Holland's boldness especially floored me. He is an amazing man and is not afraid to take on difficult topics, or speak candidly! Love him.

I had to run the Conference lunch at Branbury, so I missed most of the morning session on Saturday, but Jessie recommended that I check out the MoTab singing "Come, Come Ye Saints" when I got a chance. Oh. My. Gosh. Tears streaming down my face by the time I was done watching. Mack Wilberg certainly knows how to work a choir. He knows their strengths, their weaknesses, and how to manipulate the music to make them tug at your heart! What a blessed man. If you haven't watched it or can't remember it, they have a video streaming on lds.org. So great!

I have to say that my most favorite part of the weekend was not actually related to a specific talk or song, it was the surprise I got when I looked in my email before the Saturday afternoon session and saw the sweetest note from my Mom. I once again teared up and cried a little. It was so wonderful. Thanks, Mom. I love you so much!

What an amazingly uplifting weekend. :)

I just fell in love . . .

. . . with the Masterpiece Theatre version of "Sense & Sensibility"! No joke! Jessie had the great idea of putting together a Jane Austen Night during the Priesthood session, and we invited some ladies over for desserts and a flick. It is three hours long, but the whole time I was mesmerized! You have to check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxXffditEgA

LOVE IT!

And, yes, I have already ordered it on Amazon.com!

BYU vs. USU

Jessie and I scored tix to the BYU game tonight! Jessie's friend, Carly, and her husband, John, invited us to watch the game with them, and they had two extra tickets. Unfortunately they weren't together, so Jess and I had to move seats three times before we found a space in the bleachers near them where no one was sitting. We ended up in the top of the stands, but the view was great! BYU won 35-17. We were in the season ticket-holder section, so all the fans were very vocal about the game. Oh wow.

Thanks Carly & John for a GREAT time!

Oh my dear, how I miss you!

Girl, it has been WAY too long!

Today was an "I miss Lindz SO much!" day. I was looking back over my England pics and just started to cry! She's just too busy because she's all grown up and dating a boy!!!!

Love you, Bug.

WE DID IT, WE DID IT!!!!

WE HIT 100% TODAY! Which means we are going on a trip! Jenn and Loren kept us in suspense until they booked our airfare, but we are headed to . . .

COSTA RICA!!!!!!!

I'm still in shock a little bit, but we are headed to Costa Rica from October 23rd-28th. Check out the house that we will be staying in http://www.casaoceanocostarica.com/ it is INCREDIBLE!

WAHOO!!!

WHAT A DAY!

This has to be one of the busiest and craziest days I have had in a while. Got ready for church and found out that I would be going to a different Sunday School than normal. I learned how to index names in a church database, and started doing that. After the class, the counselor of the bishopric that was there asked us to put down our names for being in the class, and I thought nothing of it . . . until he announced that as my calling in Sacrament! All the people who had written down their names were apparently called as indexers. Wow. Jessie and I looked at each other and were pretty surprised. At least I know it will be fun!

After church was choir practice, which was pretty fun. There were a lot of people there this week, so it didn't seem like Jess and I were singing solos. :) Right after choir I jetted to Anne's so I could give her a birthday gift. We chatted for a while, then went to the Break the Fast for my old ward and said hello to a lot of my friends who are still there.

BUT WAIT!!! It's not over!

I said goodbye to Anne and the crew, and headed over to our new RS president's house for dinner. It was a great pasta and salad combo. We tried to make ice cream with this new gadget she had, but it didn't really turn out. So we shipped it up and had some great Grecian desserts with it! Right after that we had our new home teachers come over for a visit to get to know us, and it turns out that they both had lived in past wards of mine- SMALL world!

Right after their visit it was time for ward prayer. And after that came Jessie and my weekly walk around the neighborhood. Only this time we were joined by one of our new friends, Bryan. He wanted to show us his house, so we headed over there and just chatted for awhile.
WHEW! It makes me tired just looking at this post. I'm going to bed. :)

Tailgating & RS broadcast

Today was pretty busy- Jess and I had a ward activity where they brought in barbecued beef from a local restaurant, and then played volleyball and bocci ball. It was great because we started to really meet a lot more people in our ward. Because our ward is so huge, its kind of hard to get to know people. Jessie has been saying that we need to go to smaller activities so people aren't just thrown together, and it is easier to get to know more about them. I really felt like I got to know a few people so it was great! And it's never a bad thing to eat some good food!

We watched part of the BYU game, and were assured by halftime that BYU was going to be fine, so we got ready to go to campus to watch the Relief Society broadcast. After a quick room change, we settled in to learn some awesome lessons. I was especially touched by Sister Thompson's remarks about how life did not go as she planned. I often feel really frustrated that things never go the way I plan. It just taught me to have a little more patience.

Our stake had a brownie bar set up in one of the rooms of the Wilk, so Jess and I had a great time gorging ourselves on mint brownies with fudge and vanilla ice cream with caramel on top. YUM!!!

Into the Woods!

Jess and I have been talking about how we wanted to go to some local theater, and we saw that the Scera was doing a production of Into the Woods. Jessie loves this show, so she wanted to go. I had seen a movie of it a long time ago, and had forgotten most of the music and plot. So I was excited too!

The show was a lot of fun, and most of the singers were very good. Their witch absolutely KILLED the show! She was so fantastic, and it is a really difficult role to sing. Lots of quick dialogue and acting. I also found out that one of my friends that used to live in Branbury was one of the actors. He did a great job and it was good to see him on the stage.

If you are in Provo, I would recommend going to see this production! It's a lot of fun and has great dialogue. Jess and I had a blast!

It really is a small world!

Today while I was watching the front desk an older man came in and asked to see one of our residents. I told him I was going to call the resident, and when I asked for his name, the man said he was Bob Turney. He had an English accent, so I knew he was from out of town. I also knew that I had met one of Lindsay's friends in England who was named Roo Turney. So I asked if Bob knew her, and as it turned out, he was her FATHER! I had even visited their home for a few minutes, since we stopped there before going to the London temple. Who would have thunk?!

Steak & Salmon BBQ At Branbury!

Tonight was the Steak & Salmon BBQ that Branbury holds annually. I have been planning this event for weeks, and it finally came to fruition! We had a huge grill for the steak, and a smoker for the salmon. Surprisingly, the salmon went first! 200 lbs of steak, and 80 lbs. of salmon. Can you believe it?! That is two peoples' weight in meat.

The inflatable toys were great, only one injury to report! A girl was hit in the nose while she was racing against her friend on the bungee run, and it became really swollen. There was a little bit of blood, but I was pretty sure she hadn't broken it. Thankfully my friend Rachel was there- the poor girl that was hurt was deaf, and so it was hard to communicate. Rachel knows sign language and was able to help me talk to the girl. THANKS RACH!
So I took a break from serving food and went to see how the games were going. I was challenged by a few people on the bungee run, so I gave it a go. The best part of the run is that you get thrown backward after you place your beanbag. It really is fun getting tossed backward! It does get exhausting though, and is pretty tough on your body. My abs are so sore!

Here are a few pics of me running the bungee run. I rocked the guy in the run, but then Aimmie took me out! We ran the game a few times and it just wore me out! I was too tired to do the joust or the sumo suits, but I had a ton of fun watching people play. It seemed to be a huge success! I was there for an incredibly long day, but it was worth it to see so many people having fun and smiling. It just reminded me why I do my job the way I do. Making the residents happy makes me happy. Now I just have to get started on the October activities!

Game and Birthdays!

We had a ton of people over here to watch the BYU vs. FSU game today. I expected it to be a great game, but it turned out to be a walloping! FSU snapped our 18 game home winning streak, and handed us a bad loss. For some reason the guys just couldn't deliver today. Oh well. We still had a lot of fun having people over. And I think people had a good time despite the loss.

We celebrated three birthdays during halftime, and then celebrated another one after the game! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ADAM! We went to a huge house in the foothills and sat on the back porch and talked. It was a gorgeous night out, too, until it started raining. I laughed so hard that my ridges hurt! It was great. I'm exhausted, but it's the good kind- it means I had a great day.

Email from Grandma

Today I got an email from Granny Slash updating me on how she is doing. I cannot even say how excited I was to see that email in my inbox! It's so great hearing from her, even though she is SUCH a busy lady! Even though she is supposed to be retired, she has a lot to keep her busy.

Thanks for emailing, Grandma. I love you! And remember this one? "Hi diddly dee! We have the best Grammy!" Still so true.

Baby announcement

Today was kind of a bittersweet day. I found out that my boss is pregnant (YAY!) but that she is also leaving to take over another property in North Carolina (BOO!). And she leaves in a month (DOUBLE BOO!). I think I will just try and focus on the positive and FORGET the negative!

INDIA FEST!

This was such a crazy but fun day! Jessie wanted to see the Hare Krishna temple down in Spanish Fork and visit, so when she saw there would be an India Fest held there, she had to go. I got pretty excited too, and brought Angela and Shauntelle along for the ride!

We drove up to the temple, took a few wrong turns, and waited in a looooonnnnnnggggggg line to park, but when we got up to the temple the first thing we did was rent sari's. There was a woman named Nemo who got us all dressed with the help of her daughter. SO GREAT! She picked out fabulous colors for us, and even sold us some bindi's (the jewels that go on your forehead) to complete the outfit!
We looked so great and were having such a great time that an event photographer asked to take a picture of us! All of us were kind of getting into the mood. It was all so exciting! WE decided to try and tackle everything that was happening in a little bit of methodical way- going around and looking at all the different things in sections. After we got our sari's we watched some of the dancing that was going on. Man, some of the positions those girls moved themselves into were UNBELIEVABLE! I was just watching with my jaw hanging open the entire time!

We decided to head into the temple and see what was going on in there as well. We removed our shoes and thankfully convinced Angela to do the same, and went inside. I'm not going to lie, the smell was kind of bad: spicy food, feet, sweat, and lots of bodies. But, we listened to some rad chanting and got to watch people dance around. The chanting was musical, so it was fun to listen to.

After we slipped downstairs to the gift shop and cafeteria, we headed back outside to the llama pens. On the way we saw the effigy that was to be burned at the end of the evening. Wow. Ten heads and twenty feet tall. Pretty impressive! But we were a little nervous about him. Can you tell? :)

The llama pens were fun- we made friends with one. I christened him "Osama Bin Llama, Jr.". That's for you, Lindz! We also saw albino peacocks, blue peacocks, macaw's, some weird looking mini-cows, and a cockatoo that was a little cranky.

We decided the day wouldn't be complete unless we had henna tattoo's and some authentic Indian food, so while we waited in line for hennas, Jessie went and got us a meal to share. It was a big step for Angela, Shauntelle, and I because we hadn't ever tried real Indian food. We sucked it up, and most of it wasn't half bad! But it still was not my favorite. I am glad I tried it though!
Here is the product of waiting a half hour in line! Angela and I got hennas on our hands, and Shauntelle got one on her foot. They all turned out really well! They lasted a week and I really liked it. I would never get anything permanent, but it was fun to have for the time being. It reminded me of an amazing night capped off with . . . . .

BURNING THE EFFIGY!!!! It exploded into a shower of fireworks and flames all of a sudden! I just barely kept the "oooohhhh!" from flying out of my mouth when it happened! The fireworks show was pretty impressive!

I tell you what, Indians sure know how to fest it up! Nemo, our sari expert, even got our contact information. She wants us to come up and dance at the temple in Sandy. She offered to teach us the dance and dress us up so we would be "true Indians". She was so nice! It just made me realize how fun it can be learning about other cultures and religions. Props to JI, she found the festival and made it fun! Thanks, girl!

BRADEN TURNS 2!!!

Today is Braden's 2nd birthday and we celebrated with some of his favorites. Ashley is so friggin' good at doing stuff like this and incorporating people's favorite things into important days. Example: Braden loves Sesame Street, so Ash made him a Cookie Monster cake. And it was SO good! It looked just like Cookie and must have taken hours to make! Also, Braden has gotten into counting a lot these days. So his table with his cake had little decorations on it that were foam numbers. So cute. And lastly, Braden ADORES the Wii! So as a special treat, he and all his guests (family of course) played Wii games! It was a great party.

Braden, you are one special little guy. I love you so much and am so blessed to be living so close to you. You are always ready to play and run around with me. I get tired sometimes, but I have SO much fun with you! Here are some of my favorite memories of you so far:

1. I had a large purple purse that I decided you would fit quite nicely into. So I had you step into it, and I picked you up and carried you around in my purse. In revenge, you got into my wallet while we weren't looking, and pulled out all my pictures, cards, and money. Nice.
2. You had a bouncer that you absolutely ADORED! Kyle and Ash caught you falling asleep in it, but then waking up suddenly just so you could bounce some more. Oh, it was so cute!
3. When I would come over, you would answer the door. The first thing I would see was a big smile on your face and a "Ilsa!" I loved that!
4. My favorite thing right now is how excited you get when you go potty. I love the happy exclamation of "pee pee!!!" and the high fives given to anyone in the room. You are so cute.

Elder Isenbarger's Release Date!

In today's email that we get weekly from Cole, who is serving a mission in Russia, he told us his release date! He is coming home on December 23, JUST before Christmas! Woo hoo!!!! I really am ridiculously excited. It has been a long time, and it will be good to have all the family home for the holiday. Now I need to find a countdown widget to add to my blog!

Tribute to Curt Dawg

Today is Curt's berfday. And I wanted to write down some of my favorite memories of him from over the years.

1. Last Thanksgiving Curt decided to do some impromptu choreography to Trinity's constant playing of Jingle Bells on the player piano at Grammy's house. It. Was. Hilarious. I have not laughed that hard for a very long time! Check out this to see what I mean:


2. Curt used to have this weird need to mark his territory. If you went in his room, you would see Curt's name on everything. Folders, pencils, books, the carpet, carved into the desk, the dresser, etc. I can remember watching him trying to get his name that he had written in green marker out of the carpet before Mom saw it. Oh beautiful.

3. Curt and I only had one year of high school together, but I can remember being so happy to see him in the halls. He would still say hello to me, even though I was his annoying older sister!

4. Curt dancing around Kyle and Ashley's kitchen with his brand new nephew, Braden. He and Cole decided that Braden needed to start working on his dance moves at an early age.

5. Curt & Cole are the best of buds. They didn't do anything without the other during the years they were in high school together. AT ALL! Inseparable. And they fed off each other too when it came to humor. It made for some incredible family dinners and get-togethers.

6. Curt and I used to grab hot chocolate a lot of mornings before seminary. We would stop at the gas station and load up our refillable plastic mugs that we bought. It was great!

7. Curt used to get bored while waiting for nap time to be over. So he got creative and started going out on the roof to play around. Too bad Maxine Bell was a good neighbor and let Mom know.

There are too many to mention, but Curt, I hope you know how much I love you! You are fantastic and I am very privileged to be related to such a great person.

BYU vs. Oklahoma

Tonight Jessie and I decided to have friends over for a combination house warming, football season opener party. BYU had all the odds against them, and it was an absolute FANTASTIC game! The final score was 14-13, and it was a nail-biter to the very finish!

We had a lot of great friends over for tons of food and lots of loud cheering. I think we might have raised the roof off the house a few times, but it was worth it! We even taught Braden to make the touchdown signal, and do a touchdown dance!

2 Down, 11 To Go!

Jess texted me yesterday and suggested we knock off another Utah temple on our list tonight, so we headed to Mt. Timpanogos for a session. It was awesome! We got a little lost on the way, but we could still see the temple from a distance, so we kept saying, "You're never lost if you see the temple!" Loved that Conference talk. Anyways, we got there in time for the 7:00 session, but it was PACKED! There were two guys going through for the first time, and they brought along around 50-60 people with them! It was pretty crazy. But we got in the session and I had a really neat experience.

Through the session I just kept thinking about how much I love the temple and the ordinances performed there. The Celestial Room was especially beautiful, and it was really nice to be with family so I get a taste of what heaven is like.

We got lost *again* while driving home, but we had a lot of fun doing it. There were a few goofy moments and a few moments where we did or said the exact same thing at the exact same moment. Creepy . . . But we stopped at Denny's for dinner and had a great time swapping memories from our childhood. It just reminded us once again how amazing our family, especially our parents, is.

Provo and Mt. Timp down, TONS left to go!!! :)

The Mayan

Tonight I went to a work dinner at the Mayan, which is a Mexican restaurant that features a huge waterfall and pool in the middle, and every half hour people dive off into the pool for entertainment. It's a lot of fun. Tonight, however, I was reminded of a funny story . . .

I was eating my dinner when one of the divers from the restaurant came up behind us and started messing with my coworker. You know, putting pepper on her arm and pretending she was going to eat it, only grunting instead of talking, she was playing the part of a "jungle native" I guess. This started some of my coworkers on a trip down memory lane of the last time an entertainer startled me.

We were in Vegas for a work retreat and they took us to the Cirqu du Soliel show, Kaa. The show hadn't even started and there were people zooming across the theater above us on zip lines. To get us all into the setting of an Amazonian jungle, they had actors running around in loincloths, body paint, and spears. I turned to talk to a coworker, and one of these actors came up from behind me, perched on the arm of the chair, leaned forward, and grunted right in my ear. Without thinking I screamed and swung around and flailed my arm- he got smacked off the chair, and fell into the aisle and just looked at me with a dazed look on his face. The people around me were laughing uproariously, but all I could do was go beet red. Oh geez. The actor winked at me as he was getting up, but he sure as heck didn't mess with me any more!

Maybe I should have smacked the girl at the Mayan. Would make for a funny story. :)

What a CraZY day!

Today Becky moved out of the apartment so Jess and I don't have to share anymore. Weird! The carpets are being cleaned on Monday so I can't move any furniture in, but I have started on my closet. By the way, my closet is ridiculously huge!!! The land lady was telling us about a guy who used to rent from her that actually moved his bed into the closet, and made his actual bedroom into another living room for hanging out and entertaining. Too funny!

Errands came next- Target, Costco, Best Buy, Wells Fargo, and the RC Willey Outlet. It was so crazy! We got our internet router though and with a little help (thanks, Levi!) we have wireless in our apartment now! Woo hoo!!!

Jess and I also went bed shopping today. I have no idea what I'm looking for, so it was nice to have J around to help. She's bought a bed before. Anyone know of any relatively inexpensive bed places around Provo where I can get a good bed? Any help or advice would be great!

Pics to be posted when I finally get my stuff situated. We will see what happens!

Happy Birthday to my Mama!

This is one important lady to me. Jessie and I went to have ice cream with a guy from our new ward, and all we could talk about was our parents and how cool they were. It got me thinking about some of my favorite memories and attributes of my Mom. Here we go:

- Mom went to all the Nadiator swim meets for the younger kids in our family. Through blistering heat and high humidity, she cheered us on the whole time.
- For a Young Women's evening at church, Mom wrote a letter to me telling me how proud she was of me and how great of a daughter I was. This came at a time when our relationship wasn't the strongest, and I remember thinking that was a turning point. I also still have the lovely crystal snowflake ornament that came with the letter. It goes on my Christmas tree each year. And I remember that night each year.
- When I was delivering papers one day, a neighborhood kid threatened me. I ran home to Mom, told her what happened, and she bulled right out the door and straight to where he was and straightened him out. He lied and told her that I was making things up, but she never wavered in her support of me. She told him that she believed me 100%.
- Mom loves to have fun. Here we are messing around on one of our million air mattresses at home. I was launching her up into the air. This is just before we got yelled at by Dad. He couldn't hear the phone conversation he was having. Mom and I just collapsed into a fit of giggles!
- Mom welcomes all her kids' friends in her home. We have had tons of holiday meals, weekend trips, and fun nights in our parents house with "temporary" members of the family. It is so great!
- Mom made our house a true home. We had a sanctuary where we could be around our family and feel the love and support of great parents.

These are just a few instances, Mom. You are so wonderful and I am truly blessed beyond measure to be your daughter. I love you so much!!!

Temple dedication

Today was the dedication of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. It was amazing! Jessie and I got tickets from my bishop in my last ward and we have been looking forward to this dedication for a long time! We ended up going to a local church building that was the Polynesians stake- we were the only white people there! :) The music numbers were so amazing since the men had no fear and really sang out. Jess and I both were amazed at hearing all the parts being sung so beautifully.

President Uchtdorf commented in his remarks that we should all go home and write in our journals about our experience the day. Some of the feelings I had are a little to personal to share on a blog, but what I can say is that I was so moved at the progression of the Lord's work. There is another House of the Lord on this earth that we can go to for worship and learning. I love the temple and am so glad that I have made and kept those sacred covenants. I have so much to learn still, but I am so excited to have a lifetime to discover that knowledge!

Miss Adelaide is here!

The little lady is here at last! I got a call at 4:07 a.m. after just arriving back in town from Grandpa Jack's funeral at 1 a.m. Ash was going into labor! Woo hoo!

She was born *relatively* quickly, and we were all very excited! I took off from work on my lunch break and was able to sneak some Arby's to Kyle and Ash for lunch. In return, I got some pretty amazing pics!

Later that evening, I came to the hospital again to get an update and the whole fam was there. I got to hang out with everyone and even hold Miss Addy. Oh, she is going to be spoiled . . .