Boxing Champion!!!

It is official, Jeph is the Simmons Boxing Champion. After beating all those who attended the Simmons Boxing match, Jeph won the title. CONGRATS JEPH!! We're so proud.



Here is a small video of one of the final matches when Jeph went up against his mom. I apologize for the bad quality, I only had my cell phone and the room was darker than I thought but hopefully you can see enough to be entertained.

"It's always easier to leave, than to be left." -DM

My friend Trevor has a somewhat sick but comical joke that when someone dies, he will send a text asking, "Is so-and-so there?". That's his special way of updating people on any current celebrity deaths. Earlier this summer, while Dave Matthews Band was on tour, I received a text asking, "Is LeRoi Moore (DMB saxophonist)there?" Luckily it was just a cruel joke and he did not die but was in a terrible ATV accident and punctured his lungs. This put him out of commission for the rest of the summer tour. Tonight while enjoying myself at my brother-in-law's wedding, I got the dreaded text that I hoped I'd never have to see, "Is LeRoi Moore there? No joke"
LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of Dave Matthews Band, died unexpectedly Tuesday afternoon, August 19, 2008, at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles from sudden complications stemming from his June ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, Virginia. LeRoi had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin an intensive physical rehabilitation program.
The band has only a few weeks left on tour and were scheduled to play in L.A. tonight. To everyone's amazement, they did not cancel the show but played their hearts out and dedicated the evening to one of their best friends of 17 years.
What this news means for the rest of the tour and my 4 shows within the next few weeks is uncertain but LeRoi's passing has already been felt by the fans and his musicianship will be greatly missed. Here's to you Roi! Thanks for the good times!

One down...alot more to go!!

Today is the one year anniversary since Venita and I joined together to make the coolest family ever! Of course we have had a few rough moments here and there, but if this is the hardest year of marriage like everyone says, we are good to go!! We are still in love, make each other happy and can't imagine life without the other.
I love you, Venita and am so grateful for all that took place one year ago today. You are my everything and to know that you are mine for eternity brings me the most joy than anything else in this world. Here's to us and the countless years ahead!!!
I'd walk half way around the world,
Just to sit down by your side.
And I would do most anything girl,
To be the apple of your eye.

Troubles they may come and go,
But good times they are the gold.
And if this road gets rocky girl,
Just steady as we go.

Any place you wanna go,
Know I'll be next to you.
If it's treasure baby you're looking for,
I'll search the whole world through.

So if your heart rings dry my love,
I will fill your cup.
And if your load gets heavy girl,
I will lift you up.

Troubles they may come and go,
But good times be the gold.
So if this road gets rocky girl,
Just steady as we go.

San Diego Vacation

As many of you may remember, Jeph and I won a few free vacations and decided to see if the offer was valid, so we signed up to go over Pioneer Day. To our surprise, everything worked out great. We enjoyed a great weekend not too far from San Diego and just wanted to share a few pictures from our vacation.
Jeph enjoying the water at the beach.














Driving in our convertible PT Cruiser.














Dinner at Red Robin














Pics at the San Diego Temple. Since this was sort of like our 1 year anniversary trip, we decided to do some Sealings at the temple. It was a little different but a great experience to see such a beautiful temple inside and out! This was the 7th temple we've been to together!


























































And the awesome Pala Mesa Resort where we got to stay during our trip.














It's a good thing we won two of these free vacations so we can start planning for next year! We love those dealership prizes!

LEGOLAND

I look so excited in this picture, I think it was the kid in me coming out to enjoy a great day at Legoland!














Jeph and his new friends



















The coolest Mariachi band ever!














Enjoying a nice little boat ride through the park.














The Taj Mahal














A lifesize replica of a Volvo XC90














Here is a slideshow of some more way cool Legoland displays

San Diego Zoo

On our fun little trip to San Diego we had to stop by the famous San Diego Zoo. Gotta love the animals.

















Jeph and I looking our very best

















Giraffes

















Elephants













I'm pretty sure this was the highlight of Jeph's entire trip.













What could be more better than elephant poo paper?

CONGRATS MIKE & KIM!!!

Concerts!!

This past week we were able to hit up 2 different concerts and had a blast at each of them! For each of them we had some pretty cool couples accompanying us so we felt pretty lucky. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Laurie (my sister) and Ken. We knew this was the only way to get them to come visit us in Utah!











































Thank you Laurie for some of the pictures



Concert #2- Colbie Caillat and John Mayer!! For this concert we went with Jeph's brother Mike and his fiancee Kim (more pictures to come). With them getting married in 2 days, we figured this would be a fun wedding present for them. Congrats, guys!!

Sad News

As some of you may have heard, today the LDS church announced that effective immediately, no North American missionaries would be called to serve in Russia. Those already in Russia will finish their service but those that are currently in the MTC will be reassigned. The church reports that the Russian Government now requires humanitarian visas to be renewed every 3 months instead of the old way of once a year. With 9 Russian missions and approximately 90-100 Americans in each, this is simply too costly for the LDS church.
It is interesting to hear this announcement as just yesterday I had expressed to my family my concern that in the near future, missionaries would be pulled out of Russia. With the recent events that have happened and the official statement the Russian Government issued against the U.S. this past week, it is apparent that the mother land is still hostile and preparing to hear the Gospel.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve in Russia and meet those great friends that I was able to become acquainted with. Some of the strongest members are hidden in the smallest villages there and Satan is trying his best to keep the remnants of the lost tribes of Israel from hearing the word of God. I do not worry though, this will not stop the work. Because of the humble circumstances many members are in, the church is all they have and they will sacrifice anything for this work and its progression. The Lord has prepared many people to receive the blessings of the gospel and they will hear it one way or another! The work will prevail!

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700243183,00.html

Randomness

We had a great 4th of July this year but were dumb enough to only get these 2 pictures of the whole day. The day started off bright and early at the Murray City Parade because my friend Lacey was in it and because Jeph had never been to a parade before. Lacey was good enough to make sure we got some water and a visor when her float passed us on by. After the parade we knew that the most American breakfast would be a McDonald's breakfast so we indulged and took a nap while watching a series on the Revolution on the History channel. For lunch we had a BBQ with Jeph's family and then were off to Western Stampede rodeo with Mike and Kim! Jeph and I both tried to dress up the best we could and tried our best to fit in with the rest of the crowd.














Jeph enjoying his almonds















This is a picture of our new dining table! Mike and Kim bought the exact same table and after we saw it in their new place, we knew that we wanted something similar. Since they didn't mind us copying them, we went and got the same table for a great deal!



















Last week, was the 3rd annual Simmons Family Lagoon Day. This was the first year Jeph and I were able to attend and it was a blast! Stay tuned for the pictures coming soon!