lauren update

my update: my update is a lot of the usual....chauffering kids to their various activities, and trying my best to keep up with a tidy and organized home, being a supportive wife, and being a mom that loves, teaches, and supports each kid. Now that I think a little bit about it. Some things I've done the past year are: making a cactus quilt with the Classy Quilters. I also sewed Levi a CTR quilt for his baptism.
Mom, Brooke, and I went to New Orleans for Brooke's 40th birthday. We had a lot of fun. My highlight I think was touring around at the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and walking around seeing all the neat colors of the old homes.
The beginning of the year I got released as primary chorister, which was a neat calling in that I learned to be aside my weaknesses and insecurities and bring to the table my strengths. So most Sundays, I was creative and made it fun, interesting, and engaging. My new calling is in YW as a mia maid advisor. I do love going to Sunday school to learn and watch Jeff teach and I love that i don't have to be "ON" every sunday like I was as a primary chorister.
In February I competed in my first Spartan Race. It was a "sprint" 4 miles and 25 obstacles. It was definitely challenging but a lot of fun to be pushed and physically challenged. I did it with Janet.
The past year we've slowly been updating our home. We've gotten new carpet, repainted, painted the piano, took out cabinets and put in floating shelves, new couches, and I think that's most of it. I love the changes we've made!

jeff update

I thought I would go through each person and give an update. Jeff just got home from a boy's weekend with his childhood friend Jon. They went dirt biking. Jeff got a new dirt bike/motorcycle in January. He took a class to learn how to ride a motorcycle with his boss from Pfizer. After he did go on a day trip with his boss and a guy who taught this motorcycle class. Anyway he's enjoyed having a motorcycle and hopes to do more dirt trails. Back to this trip, Jon and Jeff then flew to Catalina. They rented a 2 person plane and Jon flew them over. They camped, looked at the sunset and sunrise. Jon lost his phone the next morning and due to that the day in Catalina got cut short. Jeff then visited family and drove home the next day. Speaking of family, Katherine had a baby boy in March, Sterling Knox. He was in NICU at CHOC hospital for about a month. They discovered he has cystic fibrosis. Now they are home and Jeff went to visit them and meet Sterling.
Jeff got a new calling the beginning of the year. He is the Gospel Doctrine teacher and he's teaching from the New Testament. Although very intimidated at first, he's doing great. He a great balance of being engaging, informative, enthusiastic and many people have been complimentary about his teaching style. Best thing, is that he's learning a lot about the New Testament.
In February we flew to Lubbock for the annual Bahama Buck's meeting. Jeff was part of a panel. We also won highest inline sales and we got the platinum award. Sales above 750K in a calendar year (and we opened in March so that says a lot).
The end of February Jeff competed in his 3 marathon. It was his first one in Phoenix. He shaved off 11 minutes and got a PR 3 hours 14 minutes. He did so well! He trained consistently and gave it his all with each workout. This time he had a coach.
In February and March he did our annually hiring, interviewing, and training of new employees at Bahama Bucks. So Jeff works hard everyday, 7 days a week. Being a great dad, dedicated and involved boss with Bahama Bucks, working with Pfizer, his time with his calling, and taking care of his health staying in shape, I was happy to give him a long weekend to do something fun and take off from his typical duties.