Air Force Judge Advocate General

I am excited to announce that I have been accepted into the Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corps. The Air Force JAG Corps typically only hires about 100 new attorneys every year and is the most highly sought after JAG Corps in the military. I feel very grateful that I was accepted. Before I am officially committed to the Air Force, I will have to pass a physical and a background check and pass the bar. At that point, the Air Force will give me two different assignment locations and after committing to one of those, by officially joining, I incur a four-year service commitment. I will then go through a five-week officer training course and a nine-week JAG military legal course. JAG officers begin as a first lieutenant and after six months are promoted to captain. Holly and I are excited to see where we will be and are looking forward to a new adventure.

Family Pictures

A couple of weeks ago, we were able to go have our annual family pictures taken. It has been a fun tradition that we hope to keep up every year. This year, we had our picture taken by a good friend Jaqui who has her own photography company. As you can see from this year's picture, she does a great job. To see her web site click here. Here is a little stroll down memory lane to see how our family has changed and grown over the past four plus years.
July 2004


















August 2005


















November 2006












November 2007












October 2008

OH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY!

Today has been fabulous! Holly went to the doctor and was told she didn't have to be on bed-rest anymore! Yipee! She still has to take it really easy for the next 3 months, but doesn't have to be confined to her bed or couch! Soooooo wonderful! Josh took a 3 hour nap, which Holly always loves so she can have some mommy time to do stuff and take a nap herself. We hope he keeps this up when Maggie comes! Dan had his interview with the Air Force Jag today and turned in his application. We're hoping to hear back from them by November, so then we'll know where we'll be moving to after Dan takes the bar next summer. For dinner we celebrated Lizzie's birthday by going to Cheesecake factory, always a favorite! Josh did exceptionally well at the restaurant and to top it all of when we got home he asked to use the potty and went #1 & #2 (which he thought looked like a snake)!!! This is the second day in a row that he has asked to go to the potty! He's on his way to being potty trained! HALLELUJAH!!! Lots of great things happened today!
P.S. that's not what Josh's toilet really looked like, we wish!

Ahh Books!

I can honestly say that during this pregnancy I have read more books than I think I have ever in a 6 month period of my life before. Books and having awesome friends and family have helped me keep my sanity through the oh so toasty summer months and this past week of being on modified bed-rest. So here are some of the books that I have read:

The complete Harry Potter septology. Yep, I finally had enough time to read all 7 books for the first time back to back. All I can say is "Wow." I think that series was one of the most engaging, compelling and fascinating that I have ever read. I absolutely loved it! Especially the 6th & 7th books, mostly because I had seen the movies of all the other books first so it kind of spoiled it for me because I already knew what was going to happen.
The cutest thing happened when I was reading the 7th book, there is this really sad part and being extremely emotional due to hormones and having my mother's over-reactive tear ducts I started crying a lot. Josh went over to his diaper wipes and got one out and then came over and said "Mommy sad?" and then wiped my cheeks and nose with the wet wipe. How cute is that! Josh has such a sweet side to him, it is so cute to watch, he's going to be such a great big-brother!
Jane Austen's "Pride & Prejudice," "Sense & Sensibility," & "Mansfield Park." I enjoyed all of them immensely, but my favorite was "Pride & Prejudice"
I read the final chapter in the twilight series, "Breaking Dawn." It started out really good and was very enthrawling but I have to say the ending was a little anti-climatic.
Today I just finished "The Proper Care & Feeding of Men." It's a great book about how to treat your man right, I would recommend it to anyone who is dating or married to a man!
I'm currently reading "The Holy Secret" which is complimentary to one of the most influential books I've ever read, "The Peacegiver." I'm about half way through and would recommend this to any LDS person. It is really easy to read, very quick and very insightful.
I would love to have some recommendations for more books to read.

In the past month...

The past month has been eventful. I'll try to sum it up. After Dan finished his clerkships we were able to go on a wonderful cruise with Holly's parents, brother, and sister to the beautiful Mexican Rivera (Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas) . Josh was the hit of the ship with the staff and all of the other guests.


He had a blast playing on the beach and soaking up the sun.


After we returned from the cruise, Dan started is final year of law school! It is a wonderful feeling knowing that the end is in sight. Additionally, Dan turned 28 last week so we had a fun get together at Dave and Julie's house to celebrate.

Holly is keeping busy chasing Josh while getting ready for Maggie to join us in December. She is also preparing the primary kids for their Primary Program coming up in October.

Here are a couple more pictures for your enjoyment. The first is a demonstration of how Josh eats a doughnut and the second is just a cute picture of Josh being Josh. Notice that he insisted on wearing his socks and slippers to church yesterday. Although he may not always match, it sure is fun to see what he comes up with to wear.

Thank you for your help

I am rather hesitant as I sit down to type this because I am not one who likes to ask for help. However, recently something has occurred in my life that I feel impressed to share in hopes that I might be able to make a difference in the lives of others. Some of you may know that about two years ago, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. She did some initial treatments and the doctors thought that everything was looking good. This week, however, we found out that the cancer has returned. I did not know much about breast cancer prior to this week, but I have certainly done my research over the past few days. That being said, I have a renewed desire to do my part to help my mom and to help anyone who may find themselves fighting the same battle. While my mom is the true fighter in this story, my sisters (and Holly and I in spirit) are teaming up with her to raise awareness and money toward finding a cure. In November, my mom, Mauri, and Jenna will walk 60 miles in three days to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a group that raises money and provides support for victims and survivors of breast cancer. As part of their efforts my mom and sisters have committed to raise $6,000. I encourage you to do some research on breast cancer and you will see why it is so important that continuing efforts are made to find a cure, a cure that will bless the lives of mothers, grandmothers, daughters, sisters, and aunts all over the world. Please click here or click on the link in the top right corner of this page to donate even a little bit to help my mom and my sisters with their goal. Thank you in advance on behalf of my mom, my sisters, and women throughout the world for your generosity.

More pictures of Maggie!

Yep, it's still a girl! We had another ultrasound and everything looks great! We even got some cute pictures of her in 3D! I love the one with her arms crossed and the next with her tongue sticking out!