we thank thee, o god, for a prophet

"Now I leave with words that have been spoken so often from this great assembly hall--my testimony, my blessing, and my love--with you, my dear associates in this great cause. This work is true. You know that, as do I. It is God's work. You know that also. It is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the way to happiness, the plan for peace and righteousness. God our Eternal Father lives. His Son, our Redeemer, the resurrected Savior of the world, lives. They appeared to the boy Joseph Smith to part the curtains in opening a great work of restoration, ushering in the dispensation of the fulness of times. The Book of Mormon is true. It speaks as a voice from the dust in testimony of the divinity of the Lord. The priesthood with its keys, its authority, and all of its blessings is upon the earth."

-GBH

last night for family home evening we talked about president hinckley and watched a couple of tributes to him on youtube. it is hard to believe he is gone. he has been the prophet for most of my life (well, the part i can remember the best) and he became the prophet a month before dave was baptized. he has been "our" prophet for so long. he has been an incredible example of service, diligence, faith, optimism, hope, love, hard work and so much more. while our hearts ache that he is gone, we can't help but be happy as we think of the wonderful reunion he must be having with his wife. as we watched the tributes to him, i was inspired once again by what a great man he was and it makes me want to be better; to attend the temple more, to be more kind, to be more diligent, to be a better disciple and to be just a little better and stand a little taller each day. it seems that that is the best way i can honor his memory.

"Believe in yourself. Believe in your capacity to do great and good and worthwhile things. Believe in the nature within you, the divine nature, that you are in very deed a son or daughter of the living God. There is something of divinity within you, something that stands high and tall and noble."
-GBH

we thank thee, o god, for a prophet

girls night out!

friday night i had a girls night out with carla and julie, two of my friends from my old branch. i had been looking forward to it for days and i was not disappointed. it was a great night: fun conversation and lots of laughs, old chicago pizza, a quick trip to king soopers for *discount* movie tickets, sour patch kids, swedish fish, reese's pieces and the movie "27 dresses." it was a great chick flick and totally had us laughing. i'm so grateful for good girlfriends!

freedom

monday night for family home evening we watched martin luther king jr.'s "i have a dream" speech to commemorate the day (dave had already been "commemorating" by having the day off of work...i'm not bitter that i had to work, i promise). it was inspiring to watch. we then talked about the freedom the gospel brings that is available to all as we are obedient to the commandments. it was a nice fhe.

we wrapped up the night with some guitar hero, dave's birthday present. we had so much fun (for at least an hour and a half) and i must say i really rocked "hit me with your best shot." here is dave rocking away!

calling all women!!

i just got called as the enrichment leader in my ward and i want to pick the brains of the women readers! leave a comment of an enrichment activity or group that you have heard about or attended and enjoyed. for enrichment groups we are already starting or doing a book club, cooking group, sewing group and play group. please help me and send your ideas! thanks!

dave's birthday weekend

dave turned 26 on sunday (which means we are the same age for 15 days) and we had a fun time celebrating. we kicked off the birthday celebration by going with his family to dave & buster's saturday night. we had a blast being with them and playing all the games!!

the boxing game...it is hilarious to watch

i don't know what game this was, but it meant dave got to sit in a bubble-like thing

police 911- my *favorite* game. you get to act like a police officer, going after the bad guys and you really have to move and duck so they don't shoot you. bad description, but trust me, it's fantastic!

virtual kayaking...we didn't get far but it was still fun (and entertaining to watch)

sterling and kari...they were definitely entertaining to watch... and listen to

pete and kathy having a go at it

sunday morning dave had to be at the church at 8:15 am for a meeting. so when he came home i had cinnamon rolls, sausage (and interesting combo, i know) and juice waiting for him

it was also the first time we used the "you are special today" plate my mission president and his wife gave us for our wedding!! so much fun!

that night i made dave stay in the bedroom while i made him a surprise birthday dinner

this was my attempt at one of his favorite dishes, chicken parmigiana. it turned out pretty good for my first try

second round of the "you are special today" plate

that night we had some friends and family over for brownie sundaes

special thanks to pete and kathy who saved the day with eggs and vegetable oil (when i realized a half hour before the party that i didn't have enough of either to make the brownies...oops!) without them their would have only been sundaes. and thanks to larry and sandy for providing some fun toppings. it was a fun night and once again i forgot to take pictures. i am really slacking as a photographer these days.

happy birthday baby! thanks for being such a kind, thoughtful, sweet, considerate, fun husband! it was wonderful to celebrate you this weekend!

baby it's cold outside

when dave left for work this morning it was -2 degrees. yikes! it has been *frigid* here lately. hopefully it will warm up a bit before i have to head out for work.

one goal for 2008

last night for fhe after getting our rings cleaned (now they are really sparkly and shiny) and having some good greek food (thanks to a $2.99 coupon for gyros), i began working on one of my goals for 2008...learning to play the guitar! it's actually been my goal for over a year and dave even taught me a few chords last year. but i wasn't the best student and forgot everything (oops), so we are starting over. last night i cut my nails (yes, i am getting serious) and dave re-taught me a couple of chords (and my finger tips are feeling it today). good thing my teacher is patient because i get frustrated with myself easily...well, mainly with my fingers because they *refuse* to curve. seriously, they have a mind of their own and i keep muting strings. but i am determined to learn, so here we go!

the serious student hard at work

mmm...breakfast!

this is just a little shout out to my favorite breakfast place. saturday i met my friend megan for breakfast at the original pancake house and it was so much fun. breakfast food is pretty much my favorite food...especially french toast and the original pancake house has some great french toast...although i haven't been to magelby's fresh for years and i remember their french toast was amazing (and all you can eat...and they have syrup that will change your life)...i still crave it. anyway, megan swears by the chocolate chip pancakes at the original pancake house. so if you ever have a chance, check this place out! thanks for a fun morning meg!

we know how to make our dinner guests feel right at home...

put them to work! saturday night we had bill and kathy daynes over for dinner and games. dave cooked a delicious pork roast and i made mashed potatoes...and that is where our problems began. i pushed a lot of potato peels down the drain (oops) and as one might guess, our garbage disposal wasn't very happy with that. so not only did they get dinner and games, bill also got to help unclog the drain.

the guys hard at work...and they were successful! now i know to put my peels in the garbage (i'm sure my mom taught me that before and i just forgot)

this was us at another party with the daynes, but i thought i would include it on this post too. we sure love them!

wrapping up 2007 in glenwood springs

dave and i decided to skip town for the weekend before new years and head to glenwood springs, a beautiful mountain town 3 hours west of denver. glenwood springs is known for its hot springs and they are amazing (and the largest in the world). it was dang cold so the hot springs felt great (we just had to sprint from the pool into the locker room so we didn't freeze). in the late 1800's people came from across the country to the hot springs because they believed they had healing powers. i don't know about the healing thing, but they sure felt great! we also visited this incredible hotel, the hotel colorado, where a bunch of famous people stayed. the only people i can remember right now are teddy roosevelt, doc holliday and molly brown, but i'm sure there were others. we couldn't afford to stay there but it was so fun to wander through.

we relaxed, walked around town (for as long as we could handle in the cold), went to some good restaurants and rode a gondola to the top of a mountain where we took a cave tour. it was totally unlike me, but i didn't have my camera with me (actually i didn't take a single picture the whole weekend...definitely unlike me). since i didn't take any pictures, enjoy a few from the internet (they're not the best, but they're something). trust me, the caves were beautiful.

we had a great weekend and almost didn't make it back to denver for new year's eve because they closed the interstate due to wind and avalanche conditions. they opened it back up at about 6:00 pm and we made it back in enough time to play some games, enjoy some good pie and ring in the new year with some martinelli and friends. thanks for a fun night guys! happy 2008! hope it is a great year for everyone!