Family Time!

Well Robyn and her two girls are here! They got here Tuesday afternoon. We have all been so excited for them to come! Eric will be here joining them in just a few weeks, followed by Devin and Emily and their family! How fun Christmas time is with family! We'll only be missing Tamara and David and their family. We're sad they can't come, but they've already come out twice this year--for my wedding, and then for David's sister Annie's wedding. Ethan and Julia were so excited to have some cousins here to play with though, and they have been over at Grandma's a lot playing with Mierae and Jolie.

Ethan and Julia were reading Mierae some bedtime stories

And as soon as they saw the camera they all wanted to take a turn taking a picture. Here is Mierae's picture:

And Julia's:

And then Ethan wanted to take a picture of their feet:

After this, Ethan started playing the piano and then Mierae was dancing around the living room until she hit her head on the wooden legs of the chairs in there. Then it was time for bed. :)
Here is Ethan sitting at and playing the piano. He's getting so good!

And cute little Jolie the night after--just last night. All the kids kept laughing at her when she put this "hat" on, so she kept doing it. :) Isn't she adorable?! It's so great to have family in town!!

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Well I decided that I really wanted to have a tree for Andrew and me on our first Christmas as a married couple. We don't really have anywhere to put a big tree (and I SO do not love fake trees....it has to be the real thing!) So instead I stole a little tree that we had sitting in a closet at work that I don't think has ever been used. It's just a little 3 foot tree, and Andrew and I decorated it with the lights that came with it, and then all the ornaments I've gotten through the years at the family ornament exchanges. I think it turned out very nice! So here's our first Christmas tree sitting on the desk in our room. It definitely makes it feel more like the Christmas season!

Kind of reminds me of this little tree.... :)


Merry Christmas everyone!! Just two weeks from today!!

Hospital time, again...

Sick of my new posts yet? I told you I had to catch up!! :)

Well Andrew's dad is back in the hospital again as of yesterday. He went in the day before Thanksgiving because he was feeling some pressure in his chest that had moved around to his back. They did all sorts of tests and ended up putting in two stints and sent him home the morning of Thanksgiving. We were all hoping that would be the end of it, but we got a call from Andrew's mom yesterday afternoon telling us that he was back in the hospital. He was feeling pressure in his chest again, so they kept him overnight last night and they were going to do more of the same tests on him. We went to visit him last night and he was in good spirits. He said that, of course, when he got to the hospital he wasn't in much pain at all anymore. Hopefully they can do something so this doesn't keep happening and so that he can recover fully from his heart surgery! We haven't heard any more updates today, so not sure what's going on now, but any prayers on his behalf would be greatly appreciated! I'll update this when we hear something.

Presents already?!

That's right...Andrew and I decided to buy ourselves an early Christmas present this year. We couldn't pass up the good deal on this huge tv! So we bought it...isn't it so pretty!?! :) We love it. It's a 32 inch HDTV. That's not what we watch on it, by the way...in case you were confused about that picture. We watch things that are much more entertaining than sailboat races...not that there's anything wrong with that. If you're into that sort of thing... :) So yeah...be jealous...

Salt Lake City

Andrew and I got the chance to go to my friend's sealing in the Salt Lake Temple last Saturday night. I had never been in the Salt Lake Temple before, and it just gorgeous! If you get the chance, you should definitely go sometime! We were stressed out on the way there because we left later than we had planned and of course traffic was bad in Salt Lake! There aren't any left turn arrows where we wanted to turn left, so it took forever to park! But we finally make it to the temple and weren't even late for the sealing! :) We didn't get to stay after to take any pictures cause Andrew had to get back to work, but we did take a few pictures on our way back to the car of the two of us. I just love seeing all the lights on Temple Square! We didn't get to see many since we were in such a hurry, but we decided we definitely need to go back to see the lights sometime this month. Anyone want to come? :)

You can barely make out the Salt Lake Temple behind us here

Kajsia's Wedding!!

I know it's been a long time since I last posted...I would say I've been busy, but that's not exactly true. I've just been reading instead of posting on here. :) Now it's time to do some catching up on what Andrew and I have been up to.

On Thursday, November 20th, one of my best friends, Kajsia, got married. Normally if I were going to someone's wedding and luncheon and reception, I would take at least most of the day off of work. Since it was Kajsia's wedding though, that wasn't really possible since she's really the only one that could cover for me. We're the two receptionists at Infotrax, and if one of us isn't here, the other one has to be. Now luckily Kristen has been trained to answer the phones so she could cover the desk for me so I could leave for an hour here and there to go to Kajsia's luncheon and wedding. It was a beautiful wedding at the Bungalow in PG. So now I will post some pictures of her wedding. Obviously I'm not the best photographer and had a really hard time getting a good picture during the ceremony and stuff. These are the best ones I got...

Obviously this one was after the ceremony...Cesily, Tom, Crista, and Emily

Kajsia and me--isn't she a beautiful bride?!

And here are some pictures from the reception, held at the same place:

Cutting the cake...my favorite is Andrew and and my friend, Tom, standing in the background both smiling big. We're all happy for you Kajsia and Mike! :)
Throwing the bouquet
I love this picture--Tom just hanging out with Kajsia's grandma. I don't think they had met before this and they became good friends during the reception. :)

Congratulations Kajsia and Mike!! I'm so excited for you and the start of your life together!!

Applesauce!

Saturday was a very busy day at the Hendriksen household! Grandma Hill and I went over to my parents to help make applesauce. I think we ended up being there working on it all for about 10 hours!

Here is Mom and Grandma doing the hardest part of cutting up all the apples!

Kristen and me doing the fun part of making the applesauce

Here's Dad standing in the storage room which we also organized that day in order to make room for all the new applesauce and organize all the other bottled stuff Mom has. What a chore that was!

Even Andrew got in on the fun after a school project he had to do.

The hallway after we had cleared all these boxes out of the storage room

And all the boxes neatly stacked in the storage room. So much more organized!

Doing dishes after we had finished

Kristen really didn't want her picture taken, but I told her too bad. :)

Kristen and I also organized the shelves in the storage room. She really is very good at getting rid of things and packing all those cans in! Mom and Dad sure have lots of food storage!

And our spoils for the day. Lots of applesauce, right? Mom had even made more before this night and there are still LOTS more apples on the trees and the ground...but I think I've had enough applesauce making for the year... :)

'Twilight': The Lost Script

I know that most of you reading this absolutely LOVE 'Twilight' and all those other books after it. But my friend showed me this 'Twilight': The Lost Script, and I thought it was hilarious!! I just had to share with you all. So don't be offended at this spoof; it's all in good jest. :) Read this speculation on what the movie will be like! Make sure you read all ten pages! I hope you laugh a lot, out loud...cause that's what I did sitting here at the front desk at work. Love it!

Puppies!

A friend from work showed me this live video feed of these puppies. Someone just posted a video camera on a basket of a bunch of puppies and they have become quite the celebrities overnight! There are over 13 thousand people watching these puppies right now. They're not doing anything out of the ordinary either--they're just puppies in a basket! They are very cute puppies...but still, I think it's funny how many people would waste their time just watching these puppies do nothing. But then...I'm blogging about these puppies who are doing nothing...anyway, watch and enjoy! :) Just don't get hooked on watching them and forget to live your life. :)

Tagged

again by my sister, Rosie!

I am: a wife, a sister, a daughter, a friend, a receptionist, a book keeper, a pianist, a cellist...

I want: chocolate...always...

I have: an amazing husband

I dislike: mornings, annoying people, nuts, and stupid drivers

I miss: my family I don't get to see much

I fear: getting a migraine and driving in the snow

I feel: happy and excited

I hear: my fabulous music and the fountain at work

I crave: chocolate shakes and sleep!

I cry: a lot more than I used to

I usually: work a lot and don't get to see my husband much...tv is my friend :)

I search: for things that got lost when my sister moved my things...

I wonder: how people don't get my sense of humor

I regret: not having more pictures of Andrew and me when we were dating

I love: my husband and family...and fireworks...and holidays...and not having to work

I care: about my family and friends. They are everything to me.

I worry: about the state of the world today

I am not: tall...or thin...or out-going.

I remember: as much as I can of the important things

I believe: that I get to be with my family forever

I dance: with the kids in nursery, and very rarely with Andrew

I sing: my music out loud sometimes...sorry Kajsia! :) but also in the car.

I don't always: make dinner. Sometimes I'm just too tired!

I argue: with Andrew occasionally, but mostly I like to not fight with people.

I write: no more papers! Hooray for being done with school! But I did help Kristen write one of her papers a few weeks ago...besides that, just on here. I like blogs. :)

I win: stupid arguments, cause I just know I am right! :)

I lose: my cell phone, and then when I realize it I freak out for a second until I find it. Talk about being addicted!! I need to calm down.

I wish: for a better world to raise a family in

I listen: to whatever people want to tell me

I don't understand: people who are so selfish!! You're not the only person in the world, you know! Think of someone else sometime!

I can usually be found: at work or on my bed watching tv

I need: a vacation!

I forget: a lot of things. I have such a bad memory!

I am happy: most of the time.

I tag: Whoever wants to fill this out...I want to know more about you! :)

Kristen's B-day and Halloween

It's fun having a sibling with a birthday on Halloween. That means that for sure we always have a family party and get-together on Halloween. I love the traditions that we've had. We always used to have soup and breadsticks, and we'd have to eat dinner before we could go trick-or-treating. Dad would always play Ray Bradbury's The Halloween Tree all night for us to listen to. I still only really know the beginning of that story....This past Halloween was no exception; all of us that live close got together and we had a dinner for Kristen. It was a fun night with everyone. Happy Birthday Kristen!!

Here is our fun group.

Kristen doesn't really like cake all that much, so instead we had a birthday pie for her. Here she is with her birthday pumpkin pie.

And opening some of her presents.



And here's Ethan and Julia in their cute Spider Man and Pilot costumes.


Mr. Incredible



And Mr. Incredible again with his Lady Bug...(thanks for the costume Kajsia! :) )

Cold Stone

I LOVE Cold Stone. It's just the most delightful ice cream shop ever made! Andrew and I went there yesterday to celebrate our 7 months and also because we have a gift card and a Take 5 card (which is buy one get one free)! Score!! So we only used a little portion of our gift card and we both got our own ice creams! It is so yummy!! And just in case you're wondering, the peanut butter cup perfection is amazing! I don't know why I had never tried this creation before, but if you like chocolate and you like peanut butter, this is the creation for you! I even liked it better (dare I say?) than chocolate devotion. I know, crazy! :) Just wanted to remind you all how good ice cream is, especially Cold Stone. Now...go eat some!! :)

Spoiled at Work

So I just wanted everyone to know that I really am so spoiled at work! Besides the fact that we have the best perks there are for an employee of any company (drinks/snacks, massages, office lunch on Friday, Lagoon company summer party, nice Christmas party/dinner, Costco membership, now a Gold's gym membership for Andrew and me, and lots of down time to watch tv shows and do whatever I want...) Kajsia and I now have new computers at the receptionist desk! They are HUGE and really really nice with a wireless keyboard and mouse. So here's a picture (that doesn't even do it justice), for you all to see and drool over. I know, I have the coolest job ever. Be jealous. :)

Makeover Time!

So my sister, Kristen, told me it was time to change my picture as well as my background on my blog. I guess I've had the old one for too long...even though it really has only been a few months. :) So here's my new one. What do you think? I thought it was so cute! I got it from http://www.aquapoppydesigns2.blogspot.com/. Kristen shared the site with me, and she has a very cute new background too on her blog. They really have lots of cute backgrounds on there, including some cute Halloween ones. So if you want to change your blog to have a Halloween background for the season, you should check it out! Hooray for new backgrounds!

Dove Quote of the Day

I realize that this is my second post about chocolate since starting this blog which is odd since I haven't been blogging very long. I might be a little obsessed...:) I just really liked the quote in the Dove chocolate that I ate today and wanted to share. It says,

"Life may change us, but we start and end with family."

So there is your uplifting quote for the day. So go eat some chocolate and enjoy your family! I love my family lots--the one I grew up in, the one I married into, and the friends that have become family over the years-- and I'm so grateful for all of your good examples to me and everything you all do for me! I look forward to the time when Andrew and I will start our own family and I have more family to love. A little sappy...sorry, but I love you all!! :) Anyway...here's another fun Dove chocolate quote that I totally live my life by. I hope you all do too cause it is so true!!

Update

Andrew and I went to see his parents yesterday. His dad actually came home last Thursday afternoon, but this is the first that we've been able to go see him together. (Andrew's been at least once to visit by himself.) His dad is doing much better now. He has to go see his doctor in Murray for a follow-up visit sometime soon, but besides that he gets to do all of his recovery at home and with a physical therapist at Utah Valley Hospital. Great news since that is SO much closer to home than the other hospital! They have to keep a log of lots of different things like his blood pressure to show his doctor and chart his recovery. One thing not expected is that his neck muscles get really tired now just from holding his head up. I guess his muscles got used to him laying down in a bed and not being used, so he'll have to build up those muscles again. He said he'll probably return to work at the beginning of November as long as his recovery keeps going well. So yea! He's got a few weeks to just relax and recuperate from his surgery. We're so grateful that he's doing so well now! Thanks everyone for your prayers and support!

Tagged

By Rosie!

Here are the rules: I have to answer the following questions with one word answers and one word only! Then I must pass it on to seven others.The questions are as follows:

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Where is your significant other? Swimming
3. Your hair color? Brown
4. Your mother? Ruth
5. Your father? Mike
6. Your favorite thing? movieschocolateicecreamsleeping (all one word, right? :) )
7. Your dream last night? None
8. Your dream/goal? Family
9. The room you're in? Work
10. Your hobby? Reading
11. Your fear? Heights
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Family
13. Where were you last night? Home
14. What you're not? Old
15. One of your wish-list items? Raise
16. Where you grew up? Orem
17. The last thing you did? Work
18. What are you wearing? Jacket
19. Your TV? Home
20. Your pet? No
21. Your computer? Frustrating!
22.Your mood? Tired
23.Missing someone? Husband
24. Your car? Civic
25. Something you're not wearing? Socks
26. Favorite store? Target
27. Your summer? Over :(
28. Love someone? Andrew
29. Your favorite color? Green
30. When is the last time you laughed? Morning
31. Last time you cried? Weeks

I award the following 7 people with the "I love your blog award" and in so doing tag them to complete the above questions: (But only if you want to. :) I'm just bored at work...)
Jordan, Kajsia, Kimmy, Melanie, Laurel, Chelsea and Elise

Columbus Day

Random thought...I don't really get what the purpose of Columbus Day is. I know it's to celebrate the person who we give credit to for "discovering" America. Still though, just feels like another excuse for people to have another day off from work. Like the bank people and the mail people. I'm probably just bitter cause there are parts of my job I have to wait for the mail to do, and since we don't get the mail today, I can't do them...or maybe it's cause I don't get the day off...

Rocky Balboa!

I just want to remind everyone of how great Rocky IV really is. I spent probably about a month in the summer during high school when I would watch it almost every night--after everyone else had gone to bed of course :). Andrew and I started watching the Rocky movies from the beginning and got to the fourth movie just a little bit ago. It had been a long time since I had seen it and I just remembered how much I love that movie. So go watch Rocky IV! Such a great movie! And remember...."there's no easy way out..."

Heart Attack

Well I'm a little late in posting this as it happened almost a week ago, but it is mostly for my own benefit to remember this last week. So feel free to skip this post if you wish :) ...

Last Thursday Andrew was visiting me at work and we were getting ready to leave when he got a call from his brother, Aaron. Apparently Andrew's dad was in the hospital because of chest pain. He had gone to work that morning but was experiencing pain in his chest, arms and neck, so the receptionist at his work drove him to the hospital. As soon as we could we left to pick up his brother and head up to the hospital in Murray. Of course we were headed up right at rush hour and before we had the chance to get on the freeway after taking back roads up to PG, we got a call from Andrew's mom. We were asked to return home to get some overnight things for her as they had just found out that Andrew's dad would be having bypass surgery the next morning. About two hours from the time Aaron had first called Andrew, we finally arrived at the hospital. We found out that he had indeed had a heart attack on his way to work that morning. We were able to visit with Andrew's dad for a little while after they completed some testing and we met the doctor who would be performing his surgery. He explained what would be happening during the surgery and why it was needed. Before leaving, their family bishop and Andrew were able to give him a blessing. We left that night feeling a little apprehensive and exhausted. Andrew went up the next morning to be with his mom and his sister, Jordan during the surgery. They had expected it to be a quadruple bypass surgery, but they ended up doing a triple bypass. The surgery went very well, and at first he was doing better than they had expected, but his recovery slowed down and he was behind schedule. We went to visit again on Saturday and on Sunday. It was hard to see him hooked up to so many different tubes and machines! He is now out of the ICU, however, and expected to be out of the hospital this weekend. If there are any updates to his condition, I'll post them here. Any prayers in his behalf would be greatly appreciated!

Six Months Down...

Andrew and I reached our 1/2 year mark this past Saturday. Hooray for us! It's been six whole months since we got married and we couldn't be happier! I know I just wrote about our 5 month mark....but we actually got to go do something for our 6 months! So I'm writing about that too. :)We went the weekend before last because of a mix-up in scheduling, but it was still lots of fun! Even better that way too cause we got to celebrate twice! The weekend before and then the actual day of. So the weekend before last we went up to the condo that Infotrax owns - where we actually went for the first half of our honeymoon. It's so nice and peaceful up there! We got to go to Park City and we walked around for a little bit. Not quite as long as we were expecting to be there cause it started raining pretty hardon us. But up there we found a cute little shop called the Java Cow Cafe and Bakery. And since I am crazy for cow things, we had to go look! Inside we found a treasure trove of all different sorts of cow things! It was so fun to see! And, of course, we took some pictures.

An assortment of cow stuffed animals and cow mugs with sayings

A MooCoo Clock. I thought it was so cute! :)

They also had an Ice Cream-opoly game. I totally wanted to buy this, but I decided to not buy anything this time.

My crazy husband

On the streets of Park City

And of course we had to end the whole thing with a trip back down to Heber for some of their yummy shakes!

We didn't get to celebrate too much on our actual six months as it was a busy day! We went to the temple that morning with my cousin who went through for the first time since he's getting married this weekend, then we had a luncheon following that. Afterwards we went home and watched a movie, then went and got food with my mom and Kristen as is our tradition before watching Women's Conference. Andrew was at work during the conference, and then we got to go to a movie together. That was pretty much the extent of our date on our actual anniversary. At least we got to take a trip the weekend before! And Andrew got me two very pretty necklaces! What a guy! :)