Meet Lexi

On Saturday we ventured to the local animal shelter "just to look" at the dogs.  When we found Lexi, we couldn't leave without her!

She is a three-year old boxer - house-trained, crate-trained, and just about the most well-behaved dog we have ever met.  We took her to the park on Saturday afternoon.  As we were walking down a path, two yappy dogs went nuts when they saw her.  They were barking like crazy and even overturned the cooler they were chained to as they tried to get closer to Lexi.  Lexi wasn't phased a bit!  She simply looked at them as she walked right on by. 

She will be a great addition to the family!

Summer o' Fun

Summer time in Vegas is definitely the time to get out of town, so that is what we did every chance we could! From Memorial Day to Labor Day we used every excuse in the book to get out of the HEAT!! Here is the run down...

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND IN BOISE

We started off the summer with a trip to Boise to visit family. Events included a summer kick-off BBQ and a tour of Idaho's capital building along with other downtown Boise sites. But the most exciting part of the trip was Jake's 10,000 ft free fall!! 

He made the jump with my brother-in-law Mark and thankfully, his chute did open so he could enjoy the rest of the summer.

JILL'S WEDDING DAY

Then, in early June, we headed up to Salt Lake to welcome Cameron as the newest member of the Jensen family. Jill and Cameron's wedding was beautiful!

 

4TH OF JULY AT THE CABIN

For the 4th of July we headed up to Island Park to spend the holiday with the ENTIRE Williams clan!! With almost 50 of us in one cabin we spent most of our time enjoying the great outdoors.

This trip included the best fireworks west of the Mississippi (Idaho Falls Melaleuca celebration), spelunking in Lewis and Clark Caverns, jet skiing and water skiing, and yet another summer BBQ!

We also spent a day in Old Virginia City. 

WEEKEND IN MINNEAPOLIS

In mid-July we spent the weekend in Minneapolis with Bill and lil' Jake. It was a quick trip but we made sure to fit in a visit to The Mall of America and of course a Twin's baseball game in the new Target Field.

What's more American than baseball? And what's baseball without a hot dog and a Coke?! YUM, YUM!!

LABOR DAY IN L.A.

For Labor Day we decided to take advantage of the long weekend and make a trip to L.A. We stayed in Pasadena and enjoyed shopping, a cold day at the beach and of course good food - which included a new favorite find, DOTS CUPCAKES! Honestly, the best cupcakes I've EVER had!

We also took the chance to cross off yet another Major League baseball stadium from Jake's list (see side bar) as we watched the Dodgers play in Dodger Stadium. 

Last, but not least...

GARTH BROOKS CONCERT!!

We celebrated my birthday with a night on the town here in Las Vegas. It was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! The security at this concert was unlike anything I have ever seen. Before we could even get our tickets at the gate we had to show our I.D. to make sure it matched our names on the tickets. Then we got a stamp and a wrist band in order to ensure we would not be selling the tickets once received. Inside, the security continued... pictures were NOT allowed and anyone attempting to sneak a pic was immediately escorted from the concert!!

The concert itself was incredible. There was no band, just Garth and his guitar. The venue was small, thus providing a very intimate setting. Let me just say, BEST BIRTHDAY GIFT EVER!!

This summer was SOOO FUN! And I got to spend it all with my best friend!! Now, bring on the "Fall o' Fun"!!

Bed Intruder Song

I had a friend send this to me a couple weeks ago and I honestly can not get enough of it! You have to watch the original news report and then watch the remix song. It is hilarious. Well, I think it's hilarious, you might just find it annoying.:) Either way, the song will be stuck in your head all day!

My Birthday Surprise!!

Sunday's are always a bit lazy, and with the restlessness of the day Jake decided he couldn't wait any longer and wanted to give me my birthday surprise a day early!! He sent me on a "treasure hunt" around our house with the ending surprise being...

 ...tickets to go see Garth Brooks at the Wynn!!! This is something I have been talking about probably as long as I've known Jake, but with the cost of the tickets and how quickly his shows get sold out, I thought this would be something I would only be able to dream about. 

Lucky for me, I got the best husband in the world, who spoils me rotten, and will be making this dream become a reality!!  And the best part is, I get to take my HOT husband as my date!!

                                                                 I LOVE THIS MAN!

A new wall

Since the first pictures Candice saw of our house (before we even bought the house), she ademately HATED the recessed arches in our living room wall.  I promise her that we would fix the wall eventually.  Well... I finally kept my promise.  Here is the finished product:

Before

After

Before

After

The beadboard/wood paneling covered up the arches nicely!  We also painted the walls a darker color - we were not a fan of the pink/beige/peach-colored walls.  With the bedrooms, bathroom, and now the main living area painted, we only have the broom closet and laundry room to paint and we will be done with that color!

*Candice gets credit for the decor.

Utah Man Am I.... GO UTES!!!

That is a great pairing!!!

Do we all realize the significance of this event?!  I don't think so. 

Instead of shooting for a Mountain West title every year - and a trip to the Las Vegas Bowl... we are now shooting for a trip to the Rose Bowl (The Granddaddy of Them All) in Pasadena, California!  If we don't make it there, we have a nice consolation prize with the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. 

We will no longer be chastened by our lowly Cougar brethren who tell us, "you HAVE to cheer for BYU for the good of the conference."

We will no longer be watching the Utes blow out the Wyoming Cowboys, New Mexico Lobos, San Diego State Aztecs, or the Colorado State Rams.  Instead, we will watch intense competition with the Cal Bears, Stanford Cardinal, USC Trojans, Oregon Ducks, and UCLA Bruins. 

Instead of scrambling to find the Utah game on a hidden, grainy, mostly-unknown cable TV station, with homer announcers, we can now watch the utes in HD on national television.


Utah in the PAC 12.  Utah athletics will never be the same!

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I am sitting at the airport waiting for my flight to Boise. I thought now is a good time to update the blog....

My real motivation for updating is that I am going skydiving tomorrow. This might be my last contact with the world ;)

Candice and I finally received our wedding photos back. It thought I would post the good ones/funny ones that some of you might be interested. Here they are (I may need to do several posts to get them all up):

Pics