COMING HOME FOR A VISIT!!!

Hey ladies. My husband - the best guy in the world - has worked it out so that I can come home for a visit. Since we don't have the benefit of a yearly trip home in our package from the company we originally thought we would just stay the whole time here in Australia. However, I think that he wants to keep me happy for the next year and a half so he has figured it all out. He is going to work from home for three weeks so he can get the two older kids to school and stuff. The baby, Rylee, is coming with me. I am so excited. I will be in Utah Oct 2-21. I was just wondering if anyone in Utah wanted to get together and do lunch or something since I missed the Oakcrest reunion. Let me know!!

Howdy from the great state of TX! Like Fuzzball, this is my first-ever blog. I have a myspace page but only so I can keep tabs on the YW in our ward. Think I'll take a page out of Cascade's book and do a year-by-year update of life after Oakcrest.

1995-You might remember that I had my mission call by the middle of the summer and was in the MTC just after Labor Day, on my way to Marilia, Brazil. So that's where I was for all of 1996 as well. I have to say that experience was the foundation of everything else to come.

1997-Returned from Brazil in March and within a week, had already had my first date with Christian, the handsome guy pictured as Mr. Incredible here. (This was at a ward "Fall Festival" in 2006.) Since I had was at USU and he was at the U, we did a lot of long-distance dating, which was fine since we grew up only 2 blocks from each other. We were engaged by Father's Day and married 2 days after Christmas.

1998-Student taught at Skyline HS and then started teaching math at Kennedy JHS.

1999-Chris was accepted to Baylor Law School in Waco, TX, so I got a job teaching at a great 3A high school there. Despite anything you may have heard about Branch Davidians, Waco is a great place. We loved our 3 1/2 years there as he earned his JD and MBA.

2000-2001-Got involved as a sponsor of the student council, which led to lots of conventions and after school fun such as planning Homecoming and Red Ribbon Week.

2002-Our daughter was born. I only had to finish out 7 weeks as a working mom. We headed to Dallas and Houston for summer law clerk positions.

2003-Chris graduated, passed the bar, and we moved to the Dallas area. Our first son was born 5 days before we moved into our brand-new home. If you're ever traveling I-30 through Dallas, you'll pass within a mile of our house.

2004-We settled into our current life, learning about the ups and downs of homeownership. I served as the HFPE leader, which enabled me to quickly get acquainted with people at church.

2005-Same old thing....except now I'm in the RS presidency over HFPE. Had fun doing Joy School for my daughter and other preschoolers in the ward.

2006-Second son was born and I get called to Primary. What a blast! Chris got a new job as in-house counsel at a regional bank headquartered in Dallas.

2007-I question the wisdom of our bishop in calling me to be YW President. It consumes my life. A definite love-hate calling. It was a blast to go to Girls Camp and I caught myself thinking frequently about Oakcrest. Did the Joy School thing again for son #1.

2008-Here we are. Adore my family, hate the housework. Love spring and fall in Texas, loathe these humid, triple-digit days of summer. It only snows about once a year, which is fine. Hate the ice storms, though. Enjoy jog/walking with the boys after we do the daily school carpool. Lately we spend a lot of time at the neighborhood pool, which is where we're headed in 6 1/2 hours, so I'd better get some sleep.

--Jen "Indigo"

This is for you, Ace

I found my picture of Ace imitating a very memorable camp "incident". Ahh, good times.

On a side note, I LOVE being a stay-at-home Mom, but there are days when this picture pretty much sums up how I'm feeling. Ha Ha