Mele Kelikimaka!

Merry Christmas from the beautiful isles of Hawaii!

more pictures to come upon return to the mainland.....

(today we went kayaking to the Capitan Cook Monument....enjoyed spinner dolphins, snorkling, turkey fish, eels, and a few scrapes and bruises...it was pretty incredible!)

Half as cute!

My sister Ashley and her husband John welcomed baby number three earlier this week.

Ruby Louise is beautiful and perfect and so precious.



If our children (this is not an announcement) are as half as cute as our neices and nephews we are going to be set!

Congrats Ash, John, Sophie and Parker!

Ouch!

I threw out my back on Tuesday night. I think the stress that I put on my body in preparation for my show last week, was about all it could handle. I am healing slowly, but I can't help but be grateful for fantastic timing....I would have been in real trouble if this had happened a week earlier. BUT, it didn't! I got to perform, the shows were fantastic and I am really grateful to all of those who came to support me: Scott, Tracie, Kelly, Walter, Connie, Bob, Kathy, Mom, Dad, Naomi, Adrianne, Nicole, Ted, Charlotte, Ryan and Julie. Thanks it really means a lot to me that you would be there! Especially thanks to Scotty for coming twice! (and thanks to all those who wanted to come and sent the love my way!!)

Tabula Rasa

Nov. 20, 21, & 22 7:30pm Marriott Center for Dance, University of Utah




For the last year I have been working with my friend Monica Campbell as a part of her graduate thesis piece for the Modern Dance Dept at the University of Utah. I and 5 other (amazing dancers) have rehearsed for countless hours, for 52 weeks, and it all comes together this weekend.

Tabula Rasa, is a piece about 9-11. It is about the shock, collapse, the rebuild and the individual experience inside of such tragic event. The piece is a collaboration between Monica and her friend Evan Ritter (who is working on his masters degree in lighting and set design at the University of Washington). It is well choreographed as well as amazingly complimented with lighting and set pieces.

Other graduates will be showing there works also this night, ours piece is the last in the program, so even if you can't make it there on time, you could still make it to see this piece (which in my option is the best in the show).

Hope to see you there!

Skinny jeans and tall socks are not friends!

skinny jeans

tall socks


I have recently discovered that skinny jeans and tall socks are not friends. You see I usually get dressed in the following order:
1)undergarments
2)pants
3)shirt (I then pick out my shoes...which leads to...#4)
4)socks (where applicable)
5)shoes

In the case where I choose my skinny jeans for my "pants", I always get in trouble at the sock step. You see because of the tapered nature of skinny jeans I find it really difficult to pull my socks up, because I cannot pull my jeans up high enough to make it so that they feel right. I end up having to start the whole process over putting making step 2: socks, and then step 3: pants....etc. I laugh at myself everytime, because I should be smarter than my pants, but I guess not.

Thankful part 6....neices and nephews part 3

Nathan

Katie

Spencer

Hannah

Thankful Part 5.....neices and nephew part 2

Max

Catlin

Sarah

Cameron

(my pictures of Hannah and Nathan won't load so look for them tomorrow....more neices and nephews to come...schmidts & jacobsens)

Thankful part 4

Today I am thankful for......

1) a great boss (thanks dad)

2) being able to work in my sweats

3) a husband takes such good care of me while I work all day (thanks Scotty!)

4) the Office (the best show to watch after a long day)

5) Kath and Kim (my new favorite show)

Thankful part 3......nieces and nephews (part 1)

I am grateful for Annie....she has an awesome laugh, she is smart, an amazing leaper and great at turns (I am her dance teacher), she is nice and a great helper.



I am grateful for Kate....she loves animals, she is a beautiful singer and dancer, she is great at sharing, she is almost always happy, she gets excited about little things, and she loves to cuddle.



I am grateful for Meg....she makes the best faces, she makes me laugh, she can climb/reach/get into/find anything, she is always moving, loves popcorn, and she loves baths!!



I am grateful for Sophie....she is a great artist, she has a great imagination, she can skip backwards, she loves Scotty's french toast skills and she gives great hugs.


I am grateful for Parker....he likes my zucchini bread, he likes when I rub his arm and back, when his mom is not around he prefers me over Scott, he has the most awesome looking dog and blanket, and he is the best to play imaginary catch with!

(thanks to my sisters blogs for the pictures!)

Thankful part 2...

1) The robot dance (as featured on Phineas and Ferb)



2) Phineas and Ferb (my new favorite new show, thanks to Sophie and Parker)


3) Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (thanks Mom...I think I ate at least 3 if not 5 today at your house!)


4) Car Brakes (we would be in serious trouble without them....Scott had his replaced today!)


5) Scott is grateful for..... Power Tools

I am thankful for...

Lately, I have been haunted by what an awful blogger I am....I feel that I have to make some big statement or tell you all what has been going on in my life since my last post, but I get overwhelmed by both. So here is my attempt at the simple blogging life. From now until Thanksgiving. I am going to find five things that I am grateful for each day (we will see if I truly make it each day). Obvious or subtle, big or small, lasting or trivial! You should note they are in no particular order!

1) Spell Check...I am an awful speller. I am grateful that I can improve my writing skills will a click of a mouse.


2) Birthday parties (a special thanks to Ryan Sauve, Adrianne, Grandma Barbara and all you October Birthdays)


3) Monday Night Football (it gives me a chance to cuddle up next to Scott for an hour or so)


4) Our Laptop (allows me to work...while "watching" football, baseball or ESPN in general)


5) Leftovers (from birthday parties feed us for days....we love leftovers! Although they expire after about 3 days in my mind so we have to enjoy them fast!)

Moved!

Dear friends,

We have moved...AND as a direct result we have been without internet for a few weeks and I cannot find out camera cord to download all the great pics we have been taking over the last few weeks! Tune in again in a couple of days for pics of our new house, Scotts race and more!

My Hero

Lotoja 2008

a man
a bike
1 day
3 states
206 miles
4 fellow Scotts
1 CD Soundtrack full of inspiring tracks
2 awesome support cars
2.5 gallons of water
30 scoops of Perpetuem
11+ hours



* the most amazing race I have ever had the privilege of supporting *

WAY TO GO SCOTTY!!!

So Good, So Good, So Good

When I was in 6th grade my brother Paul said to me "Scott, Dude, all I can say is enjoy recess while you can cause next year you wont have it and you will be like...dang! I wished I had played more at recess." (Or at least that is how I remember him saying it). That concept seems to have followed me my whole life. I was told to enjoy high school, my mission, college, single life etc. while they last cause when they are gone... The most recent version that Courtney and I hear goes as follows "Oh my gosh you guys just take advantage of the time you have without kids, because once you have kids everything changes." So to all you people who have told us this...I can say with a high degree of certainty that this summer we have heeded your council. In the name of not having the longest blog posting ever, I have broken our summer into several posts. They are as follows: President and sister Jacobsen return - Saltoev (pronounced sal-to-ev) Lotoja's shorter but stronger brother -Beach week – Courtie’s B-day - Martha's Vineyard - Boston. Feel free to nibble and read one post at a time, feast and gorge yourself on all the posts at once, sample by glancing at the posts but mostly the pictures (a very popular choice), or even fast and not read any of them. Pick your poison.

Boston -

After the Vineyard we spent a jam-packed day and a half in Boston. We did a little sight seeing - Quincy market, the freedom trail, Harvard. But most importantly we saw the Red Sox play and we saw Radiohead in concert. If I were to make up a list of the top 10 things I want to see before I die the top three of that list would include a red sox game at Fenway and seeing Radiohead in concert. AND WE DID THEM BOTH IN A DAY AND A HALF! The Red Sox game was unreal. If you haven't been to Fenway...GO! It is such an amazing park, it is chuck full of history and character from the OLD wood slat seating to singing "Sweet Caroline" in the middle of the 8th inning. Before the game we got a couple of Fenway franks and enjoyed the atmosphere of being surrounded by the most fanatical of fans. The game it self was one for the ages. The Sox played the Texas Rangers, so we got to see Josh Hamilton play, which was awesome (if you haven't heard his story you need to google him or something he is amazing). David Ortiz hit 2; 3-run home runs in the first inning! The place was going NUTS! However, even though the score was 10-0 for the Sox after one inning it turned out to be a barnburner. The rangers came back to take the lead in the 6th inning 15-14. Until Kevin Youkilis (YOUUUUUUUUUUK!) crushed a 3 run homer over the green monster to take the lead back in the bottom of the eighth. From there Jonathan Paplebon took over and that was the game. Final Score 19-17 Boston. Classic!

The World Series banners that hand outside of Fenway


Courtie and I Pregame


The view from our seats


Papi rounding the bases after the first of his two homers.


Youuuuuuk! That is the swing that sealed the game.

Papelbon showing the Rangers the international sign for Game Over!

Scoreboard! it was a crazy game


Courtie and I Post Game




Radiohead was far and away the best show I have ever been to. Thom Yorke's White-tastic trance dancing was awesome, but all humor aside they put on one heck-uv-ah show. They played two encores and I was never bored. WOW!

Thom Yorke - it may look painful but it sounds awesome


Yorke Displaying his white-tastic trance dance


Johnny Greenwood


An Awesome Green wood and Yorke Duet


Radiohead!

From there, we slept in the car for a couple of hours while we waited for the parking lot to clear, drove to Boston, hopped on a plane a wah-la we were back in SLC. What a trip.

Martha's Vineyard -

Martha's Vineyard - Three summers of Courtney's life were spent on Martha's Vineyard as a nanny for the Pertile family. Needless to say she developed a lifelong friendship with the Pertile family. This was her first trip back to "the Vineyard" since before her mission. It was a great trip. The Pertile's put us up in their home and were the best hosts anyone could ask for. The Vineyard is gorgeous. The center of the island is thick green forest dotted with lakes, while the edges are perfect sand beaches. I rented a bike while I was there and was able to ride all the way around the island. It was easily the prettiest bike ride I have ever been on. We spent our days sight seeing in the Pertile's jeep, taste testing lobster ice cream (yuck), window-shopping, and playing around with the kids. We got to watch the future Rafael Nadal and Rodger Federer (a.k.a. Jake and Grant Pertile), and Martin Sexton also happened to be playing at this awesome little bar on the vineyard so we got to see him, which was an unexpected bonus. I got to swim in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time in my life. It was great to see such a beautiful part of the world, and a place that I know means so much and hold so many fond memories for Courtney.

Courtie enjoying the windblown look in the jeep


The red cliffs of Aquinah. This beach was sooooo pretty. Unfortunatly if you venture far enough down you find out that nudists also think it is pretty.


Courtie and i at South beach. A really drunk lady took this picture so we are impressed that it turned out OK.


Martin sexton put on great show


The Gayhead light house.

After a gnarly bite of lobster ice cream we enjoyed a delicious serving of blueberry

Sarah Pertile savoring an ice cream cone.