***Wedding Bells for Joanna?***

I suppose the biggest news for our family is Joanna's wedding plans! The date is set for March 14, 2009, here in Las Vegas.

Here are the details as I know them. (Remember, I got this information from Joanna, who is not exactly famous for her communication skills.)

The lucky groom is Shayler White. He is 28 years old and is originally from the Denver area. He served a mission in Brazil (or somewhere like that, according to Joanna) and graduated from UNLV with his master's degree in Communications. He is currently teaching part time at a small college in the SLC area and is general manager of a Honey Baked Ham store.

Joanna met him sometime last summer at a Young Adult lake trip of some sort. They were "friends" for a while, but at some point things changed. The rest, they say, is history.

Nobody in the family has met Shayler yet, except for perhaps Jeanette and Jeff, who I hear had a double date with them (any thoughts, Jeanette? Joanna's rapturous descriptions might be a bit biased). I must admit that I had the opportunity to meet him, but I missed it. Several months ago, Joanna hitched a ride to Vegas with him and his grandmother, but Joanna insisted that he was just a good friend. Not knowing that he was a "contender," I didn't bother getting dressed or even putting on a robe to meet him the early Sunday morning he picked her up for the ride home. So I missed my big chance. Hopefully another opportunity will come along before March 14. (Just kidding; Joanna and Shayler are supposed to come here in a few weeks.) More info will be posted as soon as I get some!

It's been a while since I was involved with planning a wedding, so if anybody has any helpful hints and discount web sites, be sure to send them my way!

Holiday Fun

We had the best holiday season ever, with lots of family and plenty of good eats (too bad that part stays with you for a while).

For Thanksgiving, we decided to "break in" our new house and have Thanksgiving dinner here with as many people as could make it: Dad (Grandpa) and Gina; LR, Rhonda, and Angela (from Arizona); Loren, Carolyn, Bradley, Jocelyn, and Caleb (from Salt Lake City); Joanna (also from the SLC area), Jill, Jared, Jacob and Kadence (also now from Arizona, although they didn't stay at our house this time); and of course Jenny joined us for the day and Jimmy was here, too. Both Jenny and Jimmy had to work early on "Black Friday" so the partying didn't last into the night, at least for them! Sadly, I don't have pictures of our celebrations. I have mislaid my camera, but I'm sure it will show up eventually. It's like that when you move. I should know!

These are the only pictures I got from that weekend.

Joanna doing the "why are my feet so heavy" thing with Bradley, Jacob, and Kadence in the kitchen with Grandpa in the background.

Joanna playing with Kadence.

All of my kids were here for Christmas, which was wonderful. Grandpa and Gina were supposed to come, too, but sadly he came down with a cold and couldn't make it. He's supposed to come this weekend for a day or two, at least to pick up all of the See's Candy I got for him to hand out to all of his lady friends. Don't get too excited; they're his business contacts at the courthouse and various places like that (at least that's what he says).

I also didn't get many pictures from Christmas (same excuse as before), but Jimmy got a new camera for Christmas, so I have a few from his camera. Here they are:

Our Christmas tradition of frosting sugar cookies (Jill made the cookies and brought them here for decorating fun).

Jenny with her award-winning, self-portrait cookie (I was the cookie judge, naturally).

All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas season, and I am so very grateful for all of the friends and family that bless my life every day. I love you all!

Snow! We had snow in Las Vegas!

I know that a lot of you have had lots of snow this winter and it's no big deal to you, but it's pretty amazing here in Las Vegas! They even had a snow day from school, although unfortunately I still had to go to work (and Jimmy's school at CSN was already over for the semester). We DID get to go home early, which is always a plus. Got to get something out of it!

Here are a few pictures of our amazing event.

This is Jimmy on our balcony.

Here he is in our front yard.

We're just livin' in a Winter Wonderland! (Well, we were for a few days, anyway.)

Must Start Somewhere!

I have been reading my other family members' blogs and I'm starting to feel a bit left out, so I guess I'll jump in and give this a try, too! It also helps to let other people know what's happening in my life and (hopefully) might alleviate my guilt in not writing to anyone anymore! I do have a My Space page, but I have never done anything with it and to be honest, I only got it so that I could spy on what my kids were doing. Hey, a mom's gotta do what mom's gotta do, right?

The first thing I have to report is that I have moved again, this time where I will live forever, I hope! At least I'm hoping that if I ever have to move again, my mind will be so far gone that I won't notice the pain and agony of it all. Anyway, I thought my new house was fairly large until I went visiting teaching last week and saw my partner's house and the houses of the three ladies we visit. Now I consider my new home to be on the smaller edge of middle-sized, but it's all good! At least I have a little extra room for guests, so come see us!

There's lots more news to report, but I'll post that in separate sections so your eyes don't get too tired the first time out. Take care!

Love to all --
Karen