Cute Husband

I just wanted to write a quick little note about my cute husband. When we were living in North Ogden I had alphabet magnets on the fridge. One day I took some letters and spelled out "Austin". Later I noticed he had added some words. This is what it said....

The best part was he spelled my name with one e.

But that is what makes it so dang cute. Plus we had a good laugh about.

Grandpa, Tell Me 'Bout the Good Old Days.......

Remember that song by the Judds......remember the Judds? Anyways since I am using this blog as a way to keep a kind of journal I decided to write down this little story. I was on my way to Salt Lake on my second day of work at the discovery gateway children's museum. I got off frontrunner and onto trax. As soon as I sat down a man came and sat on the bench across the isle from me. He looked like he might be homeless, and that would have made sense since I was riding the free trax line. As he sat down he looked over so I smiled and went back to what I was doing. He immediately stood up and asked if he could come over and sit in the bench next to me. I told him that was all right, it seemed like he probably had some sort of learning disability or had been affected by lots of drug abuse or something. He started talking to me asking questions like where I lived, where I was going etc. I tried to be polite but soon began to just ignore him. I took my cell phone out and tried to call Austin, but he didn't answer. Soon he began to sing to me and ask if I liked Coors and what kinds of beer I liked. I told him I didn't drink and then continued trying to politely ignore him. I was starting to feel very uncomfortable and nervous. When we were finally (I say finally because the 2 1/2 blocks seemed like forever) were approaching the Planetarium station where I would get off he asked me if this was my stop. I told him to go ahead thinking he would get off before me and I could avoid any other situations. When we finally came to a stop I had to get off. I thought I was good, but as I approached the cross walk I realized he was right behind me still talking and asking questions. As I was crossing the street I started looking around for other people in the area. I also tried to call Austin once again, but again he didn't answer, so I called my mom. I was getting more nervous he asked me if he could use my phone for the second time, when I told him no he started saying, "please don't call the cops." I saw a man crossing the street and decided I would follow him. I was very grateful I did because on the other side of the street I saw a police officer on a bike. I crossed the street and turned down the block (only one block to go...). By now I was talking to my mom on the phone and had told her that someone was following me. She could hear him still talking to me and was surprised when I told her that was the man who was following me, she thought someone had been walking next to me and was talking on a cell phone. About half way down the block the police officer rode up and the man started talking to him saying the police officer should be careful where he parked his bike or he was going to steel it. I was still on the phone with my mom at this point and was turning the corner to got into the building. I cut behind the man thinking I could just quickly go in. He turned to follow me and the police officer asked if we were together. As the man said, "yes" I turned around and shook my head at the police officer and told him, "no". He then told the man he needed to leave me alone. By the time I got up the first couple stairs in the building and turned around the man and the police officer were both gone.

I write this because when I was little I was incredibly shy. My mom always used to tell me, "You don't have to talk to anybody, but make sure you smile." She would tell me this because I pretty much would walk around with a scowl on my face all the time. I still can hear my mom telling me that in my head and have tried to make a conscious effort to "at least smile at people". I think the world is getting more crazy all the time. It is hard to know when and around what people you need to be incredibly cautious. I know I have tried to be more aware of my surroundings as I get off the train and head towards trax I look for a larger group of people getting on the same car and will follow them. I don't think I was in any grave danger or anything, but this was a good eye opener experience for me to realize there is a big world outside of Eden, Utah. I am very grateful for the salt lake police officer who obviously saw the situation that may not have looked like to co-workers heading down the sidewalk and that he came over.....now I just wish I had been thinking clearly enough to say thanks to him before I went into the building.

I used the Judds song for my title because I remember my mom telling us that they used to ride the bus all the time when they were young. They'd got to the mall or to deseret gym to swim. But these days you just don't send your younger kids out on public transportation. I think things are way different from when I was a kid.

Family Addition.......We're Expecting...........

We're expecting that all the weeds around our house will soon be gone!

We have been wanting to get a goat for sometime now to eat all the weeds around the house down. Our friends Cayley and Colby moved and didn't really have room to take Penelope, their goat with them. So a couple of weeks a go Austin brought her home. Meet Penelope.....

She seemed so sad the first couple of days. And then seemed to not really be eating very well. She would only really eat if one of us was standing outside where she could see us. The second night after Austin brought her home he came home from work, but I couldn't find him anywhere in the house or garage. After thinking about it for a couple of minutes I thought I knew where he was. I walked out back and sure enough he was sitting on the fence next to Penelope. At Cayley and Colby's house she was in the same pasture as their donkey and wasn't chained up, we thought that might be part of the problem. After two days we decided to look for another goat. We looked online at ksl.com and found some goats for sale in Eden, how convenient. Then after looking closely we realized these goats for sale were in our next door neighbor's field. We knew they had goats and Austin had talked several times about going over to see if they had any for sale. So we walked down the driveway, introduced ourselves, and asked if we could look at their goats. They had three for sale and of the three they showed us this little goat they called Lonesome because everytime they left it it started bleating like crazy. We decided to take Lonesome home with us. I wondered if we should change her name, it would have been easy since she is so young. But Austin said he liked Lonesome and it is still appropriate since any time one of us walks away from her she starts bleating like crazy. (She acutally lost her voice after the first nigh of being at our house.)
They are both very funny and like to be close to one another. They will also follow Austin around the yard when he lets them off their chains. We just have to make sure they stay clear of the garden.

Extra, Extra....Read All About It!

So for a brief 2-3 days Austin and I were talking a lot about the "Cash for Clunkers" program the federal government it offering. During that time we thought it might be a good idea to have a nice little commuter car we can easily travel to Montana in and save money on gas. So Austin went to a couple of dealerships after work to test drive a couple of cars we were thinking about. When he was walking into Tony Divino a lady followed him in. After he started talking with a salesman she approached them and asked if she could follow them around. The next morning we had several people contact us about Austin being in the paper. Then the next day at church everyone seemed to know he had been at Tony Divino's. I will admit I was surprised at how many people actually read that much of the newsapaper. I, myself usually skim the front page for any catchy titles, find the ads looking for sales and coupons, and on Sundays will look in the life section to see who got married....but that is the extent of my newspaper reading.

We finally decided that it was just not a deal we were interested in making....kind of seemed like one of those "too good to be true" weird things you think you just can't pass up, but at the same time can't talk yourself completely into. After watching some of the Glenn Beck show with Scott (Austin's dad) we definitely felt better about our decision. Scott has always told Austin, "If it's a good deal today, it'll be a good deal tomorrow." And coincidentally the money for the program ran out.....good deal? You decide.

New Job

I got a new job....or I guess I should say "I finally got a job". Ever since I quit Staker & Parsons I haven't had a real full time job and it was so weird not having one. But I decided to just hurry and get school over with, and now that it's all over I found out I will now be employed at Discovery Gateway. My new job title is Early Childhood Educator. I will mainly be working in the Curiosity Shop where little half hour classes are taught all day long My job will be to plan curriculum and to help establish a new program for under privileged families in the Salt Lake community. I will also be teaching the classes several days a week.

Austin and I were trying to figure out if it would be more cost efficient to drive to Salt Lake every day or to ride front runner. We decided on Saturday night to take our first ride and see how long it would take and if it would even be worth it. We called a couple of friends to go with us .

Jared & Laurie Lattin riding down with us on the train.

Austin & I on our way down to Salt Lake.

Once we got to the station in Salt Lake we jumped on the Free Trax line and found out it will drop me off right across the street from the Discovery Gateway. I am very excited and will start next Monday.

So if anyone is ever going to the Discovery Gateway make sure to call me so I can make sure I see you there!

The Honeymooners....in Island Park, ID. and Jackson Hole, WY.

The Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center in
West Yellowstone, MT.

Austin in front of the Bear Exibit . I was actually very surprised with how fascinated he was with how big the bears were, we were actually there most of the day.

Inside Johnny Sack's Cabin at Big Springs in Island Park, ID.

Austin standing outside Johnny Sack's Cabin.


After we stayed in Island Park for a couple of days we drove though Yellowstone National Park and down into Jackson, WY. We stopped on our way through the park to look at a couple sites.

Austin had never been to see Old Faithful before and could not understand why we were waiting for 45 minutes in a huge crowd.....then he understood.

I don't remember the name of this waterfall, and you actually can't see the whole thing....you'll just have to trust me when I say it was pretty.

We actually didn't see very many animals driving through the park. We figured it was way to hot. I think we saw one deer and a couple of buffalo, but they were to far away to even bother getting the camera out.

We pulled over to get a picture of Jackson Lake on our way into Jackson. We found out the man who took this picture for us was a foreigner, we guessed from Europe, but he and Austin signed everything out and he took our picture.

This picture was Austin's idea. He thought it would be fun for us to take a picture at the Montana state line, frame it, and give it to my parents who were moving with my two youngest sisters (Emma & Kelsee) soon after we got back from our honeymoon. The first time we drove by the sign there was no one else at the pullout. We figured we would try to catch some one on our way back out. Luckily a family was pulled over and could take our picture. We had almost run out of light.

The Reception.....Lomond View Gardens

We had our reception at Lomond View Gardens in Pleasant View. It was such a nice place to have a reception and we finally got to stand in some shade after being out in the sun all day with pictures and everything at the temple.

Marrying into the Jenkins' family made me an insta-aunt, I was so excited. One of the very first things that impressed me about Austin on our first date was that he went through his nieces and nephews and told me how old each one was.

Maybe in this picture Becky and I should have traded places. Then we would have been in descending order height wise.

We had to add both of these pictures because when the photographer asked my parents to switch sides my dad asked if she wanted him to put his hand on Austin's arm like he had in the first picture with me. Anyone who knows my dad well will not be surprised.

All of our grandparents are so amazing! They all teach us different things and are such great examples. We love each and everyone of them!

Grammy Davis


Grandma & Grandma Tanner

Grandpa and Grandma Green

At the time the Green family was considerably smaller than the Jenkins family.

One of these things is not like the other.....
Can you tell what is different in these two pictures?

Erik and Kelli couldn't believe Hannah stuck her tongue out like that for the picture, but Austin and I thought it was hilarious and it's one of our favorite pictures. I still laugh out loud when I look at it.

We loved having our reception at Lomond View Gardens. It was especially nice since it was such a hot day, they have such big trees and there was plenty of shade.

7-11-2007......From Here to Eternity

Austin and I were married on July 11, 2007 in the Ogden Temple. What an awesome day it was. We are so grateful to have found each other, even if Austin thinks it could have happened a couple of years sooner.....in my opinion that is all speculation. But either way I am so happy it all happened when it did and I truly got the man of my dreams.

Even though it may seem like all our wedding pictures are here....they're not. If I had more time I could have added a lot more. But anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE weddings....it could have been a lot worse with twice the pictures.

The big exit.

I don't know why, but I think this picture of Jordan and Steve is so funny.

Everybody.....

The Green people.

All of our amazing grandparents on my side. They are all so awesome and we love all of them so much.
(Left to right: Grandpa Green, Denise, Austin, Me, Grammy, Grandma Tanner, Grandpa Tanner)
We're sad I never got to meet any of Austin's grandparents. His grandma Jenkins passed away right as we were beginning to date, but I never got to meet her. I do love hearing stories about them, and am excited I will get to meet them someday.

Chelsie, Jessica, Me, Bruce, Lindsey
This is a picture of Bruce Hall with his girls (minus Amy). Bruce was pretty much my "North Ogden Dad" all through high school. Larry Overman, Chelsie's dad was always checking up on me while I worked at Staker & Parson Companies. He helped keep me in line there. Jessica's dad Ron taught both my parents seminary at Weber High and taught all of us institute at Weber State. I am so grateful for these girls and their families.

The Jenkins Side

A lot of people tell Austin he looks a lot like his dad.

This picture is my mom's favorite
(above).

I thought these shots with the fountain were way neat. They said the Ogden Temple is the only temple where they can actually shoot through the fountain.

The day was so beautiful....but extremely hot at the same time. Jordie and I joke about the fact that she and Steve were married on the coldest day of the year and that Austin and I were married on the hottest. Those statistics only lasted for about a week and a half until Whitney and Aaron got married in what seemed like 100* weather. I think they beat us with the thermometer.