Happy {Early} Birthday Bryant!

It's Bryant's Birthday!!!...on June 30th.


So what better way to celebrate him turning 26 then by throwing him a surprise party at his parents house 26 days early? (I really didn't plan for it to be 26 days, it just happened to be the only time we could both go up to Logan on a Saturday and have his family all be there.)

While Bryant was golfing with his brother and my brother, I hurried and bought his favorite cake (Sam's Club- White cake with white frosting) and the other party supplies and ran back to the house to set everything up.

In order to get him outside to see everything, I had to tell him that his parents cat, Kramer, had been digging a huge hold in the back that he needed to see. He walked right past the decorations, his mind focused on finding the hole I was talking about.

A week or two before this, I told Bryant that I had purchased his birthday present. He kept pestering me to try and get any information he could. I finally told him that I bought him tickets. That wasn't enough information. He wanted to know dates, locations, if I was going to be with him or not...(I think he really wanted the Miami vs Ohio State football tickets). The following picture is Bryant opening up the decoy present with two tickets that said, "Cache Valley Center for the Arts Presents: Couples Pottery, June 24th, 6:00 PM". He kind of stared at them for a second and tried to think of a tactful way to say, "Seriously??"

I actually held my smile off for around 45 seconds, long enough to make him think I was offended he didn't like his "Couples Pottery" tickets. (Couples Pottery? Seriously?! I impressed myself, coming up with something that Bryant AND I would absolutely hate!)

So then I told Bryant his real present was somewhere in the house and he had to go find it.

After a few minutes of searching, I basically pointed it out to him.

Bryant is now officially the proud owner of an iPad 2

Happy 26th Birthday...in 26 days

His dad picked out a lovely birthday card that resembles Willis

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYANT!!

The Great Escape

The day I’ve dreaded has finally arrived: Edgar has figured out how to jump the fence in our backyard. While this may not seem that catastrophic to most, to me…it’s just awful.

I’ve completely taken for granted the fact that I could just throw Edgar in the back and go about my business while he frolicked around chasing bugs. Now he just sits by the door and constantly meows his irritating, obnoxious, Siamese meow.

When Edgar is allowed outside, (supervised now, dumb cat) Willis has to stay in. He's not a fan.

This is a perfect example of what I deal with on a daily basis: Edgar taunts Willis-Willis chases Edgar-Edgar jumps to higher ground-Willis waits patiently for the cycle to start again.

When we lived in Logan I would put a harness on Edgar and stake him out in the backyard with a 20 ft radius to roam, since the yard wasn’t fenced. When we moved to Springville I didn’t think I would have to use the harness again, but low and behold…stupid Edgar just HAD to figure out that he could jump the fence.

So now, Edgar gets to revert back to his beloved harness.

They're Best Friends...

This is the area that he's been escaping to. The house in the middle belongs to a sweet old widow who has been very good to let me into her backyard to fetch Edgar. A few mornings ago Edgar escaped out of the house at 6:30 AM so I was running around the neighborhood in my pj's, slippers, and robe trying to catch the stupid flea bag.

This is to the west of our house, where he made his first escape.

Bryant and I have been brainstorming ways to prevent him from jumping. Bryant suggested spraying cooking spray along the top of the fence so he can't get a good grip. Sadly, didn't really work. In the picture below you can see how gross the fence looks now.

Now my question for everyone:

What do you think we should do to stop the blasted cat from escaping?

-Obviously the harness thing works, but its a pain and Edgar doesn't really like it.

-I'd like to get a remote controlled shock-collar, but they start around $150.

-They have contraptions that you can install on the top of the fence that acts as a horizontal block, but those are super pricey.

And the final option: Leave the dumb cat inside.

Willis Jensen

On April 27, 2011 Bryant and I were pleased to welcome "Willis" into our little family. In case you're curious, Willis's name comes from the former Miami Hurricane football player, Willis McGahee.

If you want to be grossed out, watch this video:

Bryant insisted that the puppy's name be a former Miami player's name. I love Jeremy Shockey, but that didn't seem to fit. Neither did Ray Lewis, Ken Dorsey, Ed Reed, Andre Johnson, Vinny Tesaverde, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.........etc. So Willis it was!

This was the day I brought him home. He was super excited to get out of Edgar's Cat Carrier.

Edgar and Willis still aren't sure what to think of each other

This was his first bath. He wasn't a fan...especially once I turned the hair dryer on him.

Bryant loves him though!

So does Wayne (Bryant's dad)

The first couple days that we had Willis, I switched his food on him too suddenly, which supposedly is really bad for dogs. On top of that, he's a little glutton who doesn't want to waste anytime chewing his food before it hits his stomach; he prefers to swallow it whole. Needless to say, Willis was one sick puppy. I ended up staying up with the poor little guy all night. The next morning I took him to the vet and when I got home, I took him downstairs and he crawled up on the back of the couch and went to sleep by Bryant and Edgar. I'm a little bias, but this is probably the cutest picture ever. :)

This is his massive crate. Obviously it's a little big now, but its so nice to be able to put him in the spare bedroom at night and not worry about him, rather than outside.

But during the day when I'm at work and with Bryant just starting his 5 week externship with a firm in downtown Salt Lake, leaving him outside was inevitable. And so I went to Walmart and bought him this Fisher-Price inspired dog house. I felt sooooooo guilty when I left this morning and it was pouring rain outside. At least this way he has shelter.

He doesn't completely hate going for rides in the car. In fact, his latest thing he enjoys doing is sliming my back windows.

He also enjoys lounging on his back under the bar in the kitchen.

After almost 2 weeks together, he's learned to sit and lay down on command and we can now go on walks around the neighborhood without him refusing to walk with me.

I love my baby Willis!

Coming Soon...

Paul McCartney (#3!!)

Paul McCartney announced this morning that his tour is coming to Las Vegas at the MGM Grand on June 10, 2011.

Guess who already has their tickets......?

MEEEEEEE!! (and Bryant and Garrett)

In honor of this momentous occasion, I decided to post some pictures from the previous "MACCA" Concerts we went to:

The Inaugural Concert: March 28, 2010, Glendale Arizona.

Our seats were amazing!

Concert #2 was July 13, 2010 at Rio Tinto in Sandy, Utah. It was fun to have my parents and Bryant's parents there to experience it too.

Again, we had great seats! (It was SUPER hot that day, but it was still great!) They had an amazing firework show during "Live and Let Die".

So now the Third (and probably final) Paul McCartney concert that we will go to will be in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand!

This summer is looking to be the BEST EVER!

Washington, D.C.

So...I'm pretty excited.

Bryant, Garrett (his brother), and I are going to Washington, D.C. in July!

Maybe all my excitement comes from the 7 SEASONS of "The West Wing" that I've consumed lately. (I love you, Aaron Sorkin...and Rob Lowe)

Maybe it's because I recently watched "All The President's Men".

Maybe it's because I was in D.C.for a day in July of 2006 and loved every second of it (minus the awful humidity and temperatures in the high 90's. Bleh).

Maybe it's because my sweet little husband is totally and completely obsessed with history and politics and it's been his dream to visit all the sites D.C. has to offer.........Pretty sure it's a combination of EVERYTHING.

Another awesome perk to visiting D.C. is we will be able to hang out with the cutest couple ever: DAVE & BECCA!Dave is a high-rolla, working for Senator Bennett's office at the Capitol Building, while attending law school at the same time. (Incredibly impressive!)

So far we've applied for tours at The While House, Library of Congress, U.S. Capitol, and the U.S. Supreme Court. We have our conformation for the Library of Congress and we're keeping our fingers crossed on the other three.

Bottom line: I'M EXCITED!!

Addendum to "Dewey Dog"

I FOUND IT!!!

I actually found the picture of Dewey and I that I was positive I had lost!

Look how ADORABLE he was!!

(Ignore how hot I was. I was 11, give me a break!)

Here is the picture demonstrating how he earned his name.

(Also pictured is "Daisy", our Red Bone Hound. Still not sure what happened to her. There are conspiracy theories floating around that my dad "took her for a ride" in the back of his truck. I'm not pointing any fingers.........*cough*)

I thought this last picture was cute.

Growing up, my mom was notorious for bringing in the cats from the garage and letting them curl up on her feet while she took a nap on the love-seat. Dewey wanted in on the action!

Ok. I'm officially done with Dewey pictures.

:)