Happy Halloween!

My friend David is an absolute genius!  I am thoroughly impressed by people with exceptional pumpkin carving skills and this is the best I've ever seen!  I asked for his permission to post them here on our blog for all to see.  To quote David's email to me, "Each one took between two and three hours, but the result is way worth it!"  

AMEN David!  Thank you for letting me share them with my friends and family.  

Target Top 5 list

Jackie and I appreciated all of the wedding gifts that we received just a little over four months ago. We registered at Target and we received a lot of gift certificates to the store, something that very much pleased both of us. The gift certificates recently ran out and I have been reflecting on some of the stuff we got. If I would have had this much money to spend at Target in my younger years, I imagine it all would have been spent on baseball cards, video games, board games, Nerf toys, DVDs, CDs, cameras, and candy. Well, that didn't happen so I decided to make the following list.
Top 5 things we got that I never would have imagined buying with Target gift certificates.

5. Pinesol

4. Flour

3. Hair Spray

2. Miracle Whip

1. Tampons

Since the Honeymoon...

Well, it only took me about 2 months to finally put up all of the pictures from our European vacation. I figure I would put up some of the more recent photos that we have taken. I celebrated my 24th Birthday last month and to celebrate, we went up to Vivian Park, played some wiffleball and then had some burgers.

Ask Jackie if she likes her birthday gift that I gave her back in April (it's the black baseball mitt on her left hand). For my birthday, she got me a sweet map that is hanging up in our study.

Everyone thoroughly enjoying the game

Jack came to help me blow out the candles

Jackie hooked me up with strawberry shortcake for my dessert

Welcome home Matt and Teejay. We took this picture for my little bro in Denver.
Jackie and I have gone up to Midway a couple of times to hang out with my brother and his family. We tried taking a family picture but the wind wasn't having it
Jack enjoying his ride on the swings. I taught him how to say "weeee", because it's what you say when you are having fun on a swing.
My buddy Ryan invited me to play in a Provo rec softball league. We played two games every Monday night and it was a blast. Highlight of the season was my inside the park home run. The only bummer was that it came two at bats after Ryan's face was hit with the softball, breaking his cheekbone in several places.
I took my turn at playing catcher every now and then

"Yes on Prop 8" Sign Vandalism

Jackie and I are in Utah so we have missed out on a lot of the Prop 8 "fun" that is taking place in California. It doesn't mean that I haven't kept up on what is going on down there. The recent issues of vandalism have been on my mind and I wanted to give my two cents (To see what I'm talking about, read this article from the OC Register or read this blog entry that our friends wrote about their personal experience with the vandalism)

My initial thought took me to the The Family: A Proclamation to the World and the warning that the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gave:

"We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets"

What are these calamities foretold? Could this be the start?

Irvine, one of the safest cities in the United States, has reported the most sign vandalism so far. I image the people behind this are not your typical vandals. I'm sure it's your average, everyday Joe who feels justified in the breaking the law. This must be how it starts. These small steps that people are beginning to take will, without a doubt, lead to serious community consequences.

I understand that Proposition 8 is a very serious issue. A lot needs to be understood about both sides of the argument. However, when it is simply put, I support traditional marriage.

(G-rated) Videos from the Honeymoon

We stopped at a park on our Sunday drive to check out the views and almost made ourselves sick while doing it!



Jackie turns the camera on me



The Eiffel Tower would glitter every hour on the hour

A Night in Paris

This was actually my third "night in Paris", if you count my 8th graduation dance and one of my homecoming dances in High School. This one was by far was the best though (especially after our traumatizing separation). We had about 18 hours in the city so we tried to make the most of it.

When we climbed out of the metro station, right after being reunited, this was our first view in Paris.

Awesome, huh. I've always liked this monument

We took all of our bags to the hotel and got ready to go out for the evening. Our hotel was about two blocks up from the river. We walked down and this was our first clear shot of the Eiffel Tower.

Our new Italian-Parisian friend, Carolina (see previous post), recommended that we do one of the boat cruises on the Seine. She said it was the best way to see a lot of the city so we took her up on it.

Cool monuments going over the bridge

Notre Dame

I tried my best to keep the camera still, sorry

I forget the story behind the heads on this bridge

I also forget the reason this building has two clocks

The Tower lights up every hour

View from the top. While we were up there, I notice a sea of people moving across one of the bridges, followed by a couple of police vehicles. At first I thought they were runners, but then I realized they were going too fast. I then assumed cyclists, but they were going to slow. As they got closer, I realized it was a rollerblade race! I couldn't believe it! I really wish I would have known about that somehow. Peter Haglund, my little brother, and I used to have some pretty good races back in the 8 Calico days.

How far is Maputo from Paris, you ask. Well, it's 8820 Kilometers.

You can't tell in this picture but this motorcycle spooked me pretty bad

We went to bed around 3:00 am and got up around 7:00 am to pack our bags and then head over to the Louvre. We stopped on our way to have breakfast at one of the little cafes. It was good but I could have used a real, big glass of orange juice instead of the shot glass they gave me

How many cigarettes can you find?

Who is excited for next year's Tour!?

I'll admit it, I think of Tom Hanks first now whenever I hear the word "Louvre"

Check out the cutie in front of the picture of that one lady

Brrr Napoleon!

We both thought this was sweet

"You dumb, dumb, you give me gum, gum"

There were only 3 other people in the African, Oceanic, and American art section. It turned out to be our favorite part of the museum.

I studied this picture in my humanities class as well as a few others that we got to see

Hard to tell but it's a bed and it seemed like a very short bed

I thought this picture was a joke when I first saw it. It makes me laugh but kind of creeps me out at the same time

Princess Diana tribute

We loaded up our bags and hopped on the train (together) to make it to the airport to catch our plane. We flew to Chicago in about 9 hours, the sun never setting. We hung out in the airport and watched the Utah at Michigan football game. From there we finally made it back to Salt Lake and home. I apologize that it took me over a month to get all of these pictures up and posted. Hopefully you have enjoyed them. If you ever have any questions, especially about Portugal and the Azores, we would love to help.