The 2nd annual Burgener pumpkin carving fest was a complete success! Landon did most of the work, since he is the artist of the family. We were pretty pleased with the results - unique and scary! We had so much fun, we might do another one tonight!
Before (notice the random assortment of knives on the table, none of which are sharp.)
After!
Yesterday could have been the worst day ever. Seriously. Our car broke down over the weekend (more about that adventure to come). Luckily, I carpool with two other people. Unfortunately, Monday morning I got a text message from Karina (one of my carpool buddies), saying that she had to go in early to work, so wasn't planning on carpooling. I was still feeling ok, until 5 minutes later when I got a message from Jon (other carpool buddy), saying that he had to leave work early, so he wouldn't be carpooling either! I panicked. I arranged with some effort to ride in with Jon, and home with Karina. The plan went well until around 6:30 p.m., when I finished up my work. Karina has been completely swamped lately, and she ended up working really late. By the time I got home, it was 9:30 p.m.! Wow. I had put something in the crockpot for dinner, but it was still going to take me an hour to get it ready to eat. Needless to say, I was starving and completely exhausted when I finally walked in the door. There was Landon, the picture of perfection, holding a pizza (and cheezy bread!) and ready with a movie. Wow.
I just want to say that I am compleletly in love with my husband, and I have no clue what I would do without him. Lately, commuting and juggling with schedules and cars has gotten a little grueling, but I can always count on him to help me with anything; dinner, laundry, dishes, cleaning, anything he can do to make my life a little easier.
Taking a leaf out of Kyle's book, here are 10 things I love about Landon:
1. He always does the laundry, most of the time without me even asking.
2. He never complains when I take a break after work, even though he's hungry and the house is usually a mess.
3. He likes to go on dates to Barnes and Noble and Taco Time with me.
4. He gives really good hugs!
5. He makes time to do the things he loves to do (writing, drawing, etc).
6. He is constantly making me laugh - really hard.
7. He reads out loud with me and doesn't think it's weird.
8. He knows how all of the mountains got there, and he loves to explain it to people.
9. He's really good at the piano - even though he'll tell you he's not
10. He has a strong testimony of Heavenly Father, and he lives his life in a way that you never have to ask. He makes goals to bring himself closer to the spirit, and he always treats me like a princess!
I love you Landon!
We had a perfect weekend. I love it when everything goes exactly as you planned. Or even close. When something actually turns out to be as good (or better) than you imagined it. So it was with this weekend.
My cousin asked me to take her family portraits this year. Since I've spent the last three years wishing that I could have been a photographer, this was beyond exciting for me. So, Landon being the supportive and wonderful husband that he is, we made plans to go to Rexburg. As a bonus, my sister heard about the trip and decided to join us.
We left late Friday evening and drove straight there, then managed to stay up even later talking with our parents, eating Oreos, and being entertained by Stella.
Saturday morning, we made our way to campus, where my mom gave us a tour of the brand new bookstore (it's HUGE!), and we saw an amazing exhibit by Landon's dad in the Spori gallery. He is so talented, and we hardly ever get to see his work, since his life is now filled up with 6 kids and being Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Landon then went off with his family and I got to have lunch with my my mom, sister, grandpa, aunts and cousins:
After lunch, I went with my cousins and took some photos of the Bronson family grandkids. It was difficult, since it was raining outside and we had to take pictures in the basement. My poor little point-and-shoot camera really wasn't made to be used in someone's basement on a stormy day with no light and very wiggly toddlers, but I think it went well anyway. I am working on the pictures this week, hoping to have them lightened and color-corrected soon so that everyone can see them!
After that, I had Tara drop me off at Landon's house and we spent the afternoon with his family. It was a blast! I am always amazed at how much energy his little brothers have, while still maintaining the attention span necessary to play a full game of RISK! It's fun for me to continue to get to know his family, and to be around kids. I have always been the youngest everything, it's weird to be the oldest!
That night, we had a party with many of our good friends from high school and college. So many times when we go home, there are way too many family functions between the two of us to even call our friends, so we wanted to take this opportunity to see as many as we could. I couldn't believe so many people came! Old roommates and friends we hadn't seen in years! I couldn't believe how great it was to be together again. Living so far away from both my work and Landon's school makes it hard to have a lot of friends in Utah. We really missed Preston and Erica, some of my best friends from high school, and hope we'll catch you guys next time! I'm mad I didn't think to take pictures.
Sunday morning we went to shoot Tara's photos (we meant to go Saturday, but her husband was unexpectedly called away for work so, given the emergency situation, we went Sunday). I was really nervous. Landon was really supportive and calmed me down and wished me luck. We were lucky. The weather was FREEZING but not windy or snowing, and the pictures turned out good! Tara hasn't seen the finished product yet, but I am pretty happy with them. You can view a few of them on my photo blog.
We stopped in IF on the way home, to visit my Grandma Jackson, who has recently relocated to an assisted living center. She seemed happy to see us and in pretty good shape, which was nice to know. We had a small hitch with a windshield wiper and were just wondering if we would ever get home when Landon and my wonderful, amazing Dad were able to fix it and we were on our way. So we got home extremely late, but it was completely worth it.
Thanks to Tara, Landon, our families, Abby, and all of our great friends who came for making this a weekend to remember! We love you all!
The benefits of the farmer's market have been yielding themselves all week! We've had fried eggplant with tomato sauce (yes, Landon did make it by himself, and it was tasty!), zucchini pasta, fresh green beans and corn with every meal, and last Sunday, the culmination....
Friday night was Landon's 3rd mission reunion since he returned home from Peru approximately 2 years ago. He missed the first one, but we've been able to go to the last two. It is always special to go to the reunions; you can feel the love that President and Sister Weston have for the Elders and Sisters that served under them. Kylie always has fun meeting some of the missionaries she heard about for two years - and Landon has a blast seeing all of his old friends! It was especially fun to see Sister Weston, as she couldn't attend last year. This is not the greatest picture - unfortunately we forgot our camera! So we had to rely on a friend to provide the photo. Thanks Cory, for the picture! And thanks President and Sister Weston, for coming out from California to be with us, it was awesome.
(Jacob) Phillips! We all went to a Peruvian restaurant together and had a great time. Phillips was probably Landon's best friend on the mission, and they hadn't seen each other since Landon went home. They talked up a storm and ate Cebiche together (Cebiche is this Peruvian dish that consists of raw fish "cooked" in lemon juice, serve with some kind of exotic corn and the Peruvian version of corn nuts). It was really great to see him again, and fun for Kylie to meet him. Thanks for playin' with us Jake, hope to see you soon!I know I disappointed a lot of people by not posting about the previous debates. Unfortunately, I didn't see much of the vice-presidential debate because we had a crazy night (unless you count the SNL recap). I was watching tonight, however, and here are a few notes/thoughts. Keep in mind that these are not all the questions, just a few that I thought were interesting:
Treasury Secretary Appointment Ideas:
McCain – Meg Whitman (Former CEO of Ebay)
Obama – Warren Buffett (Richest man in the world…I’m not sure what other credentials you really need…)
How is the bailout going to help average Americans?
McCain –Stabilize markets, shore up institutions, but “it’s not enough.”
Obama – free up credit so small businesses and large businesses alike can get loans and make payroll to avoid layoffs. “We shouldn’t have been there in the first place.”
What Sacrifices do you Expect Americans to Make?
McCain – Understanding as the government eliminates programs
Obama – Save energy in their own homes
Obama Doctrine: We have a moral obligation to intercede in cases of genocide and ethnic cleansing
McCain Doctrine: We should only interfere if we are able to benefit the situation
How can we apply pressure to Russia?
McCain – Show moral support for Georgia and Ukraine, advocate for NATO membership, make Putin understand that there are penalties for their actions.
Obama – Must provide moral support to Poland, Latvia, etc., but we must also provide them with financial and concrete assistance to rebuild their economies. We also have to reduce petro dollars by being energy independent.
What don’t you know, and how will you learn it?
Obama – The presidency is never about the challenges that you expect. I know that I wouldn’t be standing here if it weren’t for the fact that this country gave me opportunity. So what I don’t know if how to pass on the American dream to the next generation of people.
McCain – What I don’t know it what is going to happen, both here and abroad. But I know what it’s like in dark times. I know what it’s like to fight to keep one’s hope going in tough times…
My first impression of the debate is that Obama won it, hands down. McCain seemed to be dodging a lot of the questions. I
wanted more substance on the issues, and although Obama’s plans don’t always make sense to me (for nstance…how are
you going to invest $15 billion/year for the next ten years in energy, plus pass a $3 billion tax break, and still cut
spending?), but at least his plans were laid out on the table tonight in most issues (the subject of Pakistan perhaps being
one exception).
Prediction: SNL this week will feature Tom Brokaw ranting about time overages and no one listening to a word he
says…McCain talking WAY overtime, and Obama having a really goofy look on his face during McCain’s speeches. You just
wait and see.
Kylie has been dying to go to the Farmer's Market all summer, but the one in West Jordan is on Tuesday nights, which has just never worked out for us, since I have been known to get home form work at 7:30. Yuck.
Landon with Brother Anderson. This corn is soooo delicious! I wish we'd known about it sooner!
Brother Anderson showing off his wares. I think his father owns a farm. I teach his adorable daughter in my Sunbeams class! We really love their family.
Our spoils included fresh corn, half a box of peaches, zuchini, orange peppers, a red onion, fresh green beans, and an eggplant (Landon really wanted the eggplant...so he is now in charge of finding out how to cook it)!
