My First Grill

I was excited a week ago to get my birthday/fathers day gift a little early. You guessed it! a new grill! This is actually the first I've ever owned so I was rather excited about it. Tera was even nice enough to take some pictures of me while I assembled it and as I cooked the first food on it (nothing like burgers and dogs!). We had a good crew come over and sample our good eats off the grill and they didn't seem to complain too much, so we must have done a good job. I have all sorts of grilling ventures that I'm planning on trying out, so keep yourselves tuned in for the next grilling event.

Yard Transformation

My amazing cousin Alisa, asked me a while back what she and her family could do for Kevin and I as we deal with yet another battle with cancer and chemo. There is obviously tons to do with a new house, but we thought it would be nice to have some help with our yard. Originally we were going to start a garden and plant trees and flowers. It ended up being more work for our loved ones than they bargained for, but we are sure enjoying the life in our yard now. I wish I had taken before and after pictures, so you will just have to picture the "before" yourself. We had sandstone rocks in the space in front of our yard and along the driveway. In the grow box in front of our window we had a few bushes. Now we have the best yard on the block thanks to my fabulous family! Enjoy the pictures of our truly selfless helpers!

Cousin's Matt and Jon working hard!

Dad, Cousin Josh (Alisa's husband), and Brock (brother-in-law)

Alisa (cousin), and Kim (sister) planting beautiful flowers!

Aunt Denise and Keegan (brother)--the tree planters

Thanks everyone, for making our yard look so lovely! Sorry to those that I don't have pictures of, just know your help was appreciated! Sorry about the quality of the pictures. I am not the family photographer. I will post pictures of the "after" when I take them!

Mother's Day

I love that we have a day to celebrate mothers. I know this is a week + late, but I am so blessed to have a wonderful mother. She is so kind, and loving, and takes such good care of all of us even though we are all married. I am so grateful for her concern and love. Not only am I lucky to have the best mom, but I have the best sisters that are such wonderful examples to me of what a mother should be. And for Kelsi and I who are not mothers yet, we sure have fun with the nieces and nephews and kids we "take care" of on a daily basis. Thanks to you, the wonderful women in my life, for your examples! My only regret is that I don't have a picture of my mom and all of my sisters all together. This picture, taken on Mother's Day with mom, Kim and me will have to suffice!

The Good Things in Life (Right Now)

I need to focus more on the good things in life, rather than all the stress and negativity I feel right now. So here is my attempt...
* Only 17 more days of school (but who is counting?).
* Milly hasn't barked at the neighbors for 2 whole days (I think she knows about the mean note and the shock collar!).
* I only had to make dinner 2 times last week.
* I got to sit down and read a book for enjoyment!
* A real waffle iron--that's all I have to say!
* 70 degree weather for 2 days in a row.
* Chocolate Costco cake-YUM!
* 2 quiet days to spend with Kevin.
* A second set of wheels--even if it isn't the prettiest truck (thanks dad!).
* Blooming tulips-FINALLY!
But the best thing I have heard in a long time, and which Kevin nonchalantly shared with me today is...
* Dropping tumor markers!!! (We don't know how much, but they are dropping.)

Tagged-A few things about me!

Four places I go to over and over:
Walmart, Rite Aid, Provo, Costco (it's my new favorite place!)

Four people who email me regularly:
Staff at Sunset View, snapfish, Bath and Body Works, Target

Four places I like to eat:
Mom's, The Blake's, Brick Oven, let's get honest--I like to eat anyplace in which I have not made the food!

Four places I would like to be right now:
Disneyland, a cruise (maybe someday soon!), my house, my parent's house

Four people who will respond:
Allie, Kim, and then it is really a toss up!

Four TV shows:
American Idol, the news (boring, I know!), whatever Kevin is watching on the Food Network, most anything on TLC.

Sarah, Jen, and anyone else who needs something to blog about, you're tagged!

Home Sweet Home

We have been our our house for a month and a half now! Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

This is the front of our house--in case you couldn't tell. Even though it was move in ready, there are still some things we would like to do. For example, the orange rocks (you can see them at the end of the driveway). They aren't our favorite choice for landscaping. I love that we have a garage! No more scraping the windows, or getting into a hot car!


To the right you will see a view of our yard--yes, lots to do back here--as well as a picture of the back of the house. I think it is fun to have a shed as well. Not much in there right now, and for a while it was just a noise maker. A lady in our ward said, "welcome to the Chicago of Utah." It is true that Lehi is a very windy place, so when we first moved, the shed doors would swing open and bang all night. You can just imagine what Milly did all night with that noise.

When you walk into our house, you find the more "formal" living room. Someday we will be able to afford furniture for this room. We have actually ended up spending more time here than we thought we would, so we are hoping to get some new furniture sooner than later!

When you walk in the door and look straight ahead, you see the dining area. Shown on the right. The house came with a convenient little tv in the kitchen. It has been fun using it while preparing dinner. Here are some more pictures of the kitchen. The kitchen is one of my favorite parts of the house because it is just right for us, and there is a lot of counter and cupboard space.

Let me explain the picture with the vinyl lettering. The previous owner left it there, so we decided to put a rod up and pictures below it. It is very popular around here these days. Now we need ribbon to make it look like the pictures are hanging, and some pictures in the frames. When it is actually finished, it will look better.

So when you head downstairs from the kitchen, you see a big, blank wall. We are still working on decorating it. I love that it is "downstairs" yet so bright and sunny during the day. And you can also see out the windows to the backyard.
Here are a few more pictures of our family room. We love the furniture we found. The couch and loveseat together were a steal! We love to just sink into the couches! We also just purchased a large wall clock. All we have had is trouble because the hands are so big. Maybe it will end up back at the store.

From the kitchen, if you decide to go upstairs you will find the bedrooms. Not much to say about those, so I will just post the pictures. Someday we will have children to fill the rooms, instead of all of our junk. Right now they make great guest bedrooms though! So if anyone wants to visit Utah and needs a place to stay, The Jeffs' Bed & Breakfast is open--as long as you don't mind a crazy yellow lab running around!

Well, now that I have spent 2 hours (literally) trying to get the pictures the way I want them, without much success, I think it is a good thing it is spring break and I don't have much else to do! Seriously, we would love to have anyone come and stay with us--you are always invited!

Chemo again...

Kevin starts chemo again tomorrow. Things went quickly when he met with the doctor on Friday. They gave him the option of Monday or Tuesday, but why not ruin the entire work week with a Monday?! We are grateful that things have happened this "quickly". It wasn't "quickly" for some, but we think that we got through all the insurance business rather fast. Thanks, as always, for your prayers. We feel much added strength because of them!