New Restaurant!

I just wanted to give a little shout out for a new restaurant that one of my best friends and her brother in law are involved in. It is called POUNDCAKES and is located in Trolley Square in downtown SLC, it is also a Wiseguys Comedy Club. If you live in the area and want to try a new restaurant give this place a try! I have been there a couple of times already and it is good! The prices are reasonable and the food is great! Especially the Chocolate Ganache Cake, it was simply marvelous!!!! They have comedy on Fri and Saturday nights at 8pm and 10pm. Give it a try, I promise you won't be disappointed!

Way to Go....

This weekend Kylie and Jake tested for the next level in Karate. They both did a great job! Thanks for inviting me!!

Kylie testing for her recommended black belt

Kylie doing her board breaks!!! Awesome!

Kylie getting her recommended black belt! In a couple months she will test for her black belt...watch out!!!

Good Job!!!!

Jake testing for his purple belt!

Jake in his gear!

Jake getting his purple belt!

Finished Product....

Here are the photos of my condo! Everything is done that is until I decide to do another project!

Front Room


Front Room


Dining Area

Kitchen

Kitchen

Bedroom

Happy Birthday Nana!!!

Today was my Nana's birthday. Audrie May McCashland Kennington, she is my dad's mom. I have so many memories of Nana that it is hard to pick just a few. She died when I was in the 7th grade so most of my memories are from my childhood. I really wish that I would have know her as an adult, but am grateful for her influence in my life even today. We spent many a night sleeping over at their house on the orange fold out couch. She was always a great hostess and took great care of us. She often took us shopping after a slumber party and the most often bought items were shoes and underwear, super exciting! Nana was a woman of great faith, she had a testimony that was rock solid!!! I learned a lot from her dedication to the gospel and her teaching us in her little subtle ways. Singing songs on car rides or as we played in the yard. Many of the hymns bring tears to my eyes when I sing them because they hold memories of time spent with Nana. My first memories and exposure to Relief Society were in her ward, she asked us to sing for a lesson and I recall the love and sisterhood that we felt there. I knew that that is somewhere that I belonged, that has only increased as the years have past.

Snowbird every year as a family in the summer over my birthday are also great memories. She and Poppy sacrificed so that we could be there and have a good time. She could often be found yelling over the balcony to Poppy at the pool that we needed to come in cause your lips were blue! My sister Mandy and I went with Nana and Poppy one summer to visit our cousins in New Mexico. We drove down there and it was a lot of fun! We spent time in hotels and ate yummy food! She let us get Ohs cereal which our mother never let us do! And we really had a good time talking, playing, and building memories!

Nana was a spit fire. She was very strong willed and told you like it was, at times this was a bit scary but she was also a very loving woman. She loved us so much and did many things for us, I never questioned her love for me. You never argued with Nana cause she was ALWAYS right!!! I recall one time that I tried to trick her into thinking that I had eaten my cooked carrots, which I HATED, and she discovered that I was lying and made me eat them cold...even worse!!! To this day I can't eat them without thinking of her! Sunday dinners were frequent at their home and it was always very yummy! She was a great cook, although she used a lot of fat!! But I learned to love peaches/pears with cottage cheese at her dinner table! She made Poppy vacuum the back porch and this was one of the funniest things that I had ever seen. They had carpet on the back porch and she kept it super clean, or I guess she made Poppy do so!!

In their retirement years she and Poppy worked in the temple. They were very dedicated to this calling and often got up early to make it to the temple by 6am!! I could never do that!! She taught my dad a lot and I am thankful for that for he has in turn taught me. She had hardships in her life trying to have children and she never complained that I heard about loosing children or anything associated with that. I look up to her for that and am thankful for her example of faith. I really wish that I could have shared more years with her, I know that she would be proud of the things that I have done in my life. But I know that her time on earth was what it needed to be and am thankful that she lives on in her posterity. After all her great-granddaughter Audrie is named after her and is just as much a spite fire as she was!!!

Happy Birthday Nana!! May you be proud of your posterity!!!

Happy Birthday Joshua!!!!!

Happy Birthday Josh!!! I can hardly believe that you are 9 today!!! It seems like just yesterday I was getting a letter on my mission telling me Josh was born! I didn't get to meet him officially for over a year but I loved getting photos and letters in the mail telling me all about him! I am very proud to be his aunt! He is a great kid! Josh loves to play any kind of sports and is VERY active, he excels at anything he puts his mind to! He adores his dad and looks up to him so much. One time while I was tending he decided to touch the stove after I had turned the burner off from making dinner, while it was still hot mind you. He got a burn on his hand but it wasn't anything too bad (we didn't need to go to the hospital).....I told him to put it under cold water and I would get his some Tylenol for the pain. He would not listen to me at all!!! He insisted that I call his dad and have him tell us what to do. I obliged since I didn't want a hurt unhappy kid on my hands......and lo and behold his dad told him exactly what I had told him! SURPRISE!!! I had to laugh because it wasn't until his dad gave the instructions that he realized I knew something!

Josh is great with the little kids in the family.....especially with his younger brother and cousins. He plays well with them and makes them laugh! He brings a smile to so many people's faces, he is a great people person and makes friends easily. I am impressed by his example to friends at school. He has on many occasions not been afraid to tell his friends about the church or share with them what he believes, he has invited others to activities and he is a great example and good friend to many. I enjoy being able to attend his football and karate on occasion and am proud of the efforts that he makes! It is a blessing to have him in my life!

Have a great day Josh!!! Lots of love!!!

People come into our lives for a reason.....

I have had this song on my mind for the last couple of days! And for good reason, although I hate to say goodbye to good people! We said goodbye last night to The Abu family......which is actually an extension of my family. They are moving to Ghana this week! Stephen became our "adopted" brother back in 2001. He was in my little sister Sarah's ward in Logan and when my parents (dad mostly) told her to get to know him, she listened and they became friends, and we welcomed him into our family with open arms. As the years have passed that relationship has expanded, he since married, had 2 kids (miracle children) and brought many of his family members from all over the world to stay at my parents home. I love and cherish my visits with his extended family! You can tell that he was taught well!

He quickly became the brother that we never had in so many ways! He has been a wonderful example to me in many ways, but the most significant is his faith! He has a huge amount of faith that I hope to one day have a small sliver of! His testimony is strong and he is a good person! People flock to him because he radiates The Saviors light! He has had a huge impact on many people! He married a wonderful woman, Sonya! She fits right into our family of girls! She loves many things we do and it has been fun to spend time with her! She too has a wonderful spirit about her! They are made out of the same mold! They have had an interesting year, one filled with miracles! They adopted a beautiful girl at the beginning of 2008, who looks just like them and is a doll! And shortly thereafter found out they were pregnant with a boy! These children are gorgeous and fit right in the family! I love being an aunt to them.....they bring joy to my life!

The Abu family holds a special place in my heart! I will surely miss them, but know that we will see each other again! I am going to Ghana to visit if I have to eat Ramon for a year! And they will be back to visit someday! Stephen has a desire to be the president of Ghana one day and I have no doubt that he will aspire to that and make a difference for good!

As I reflect upon all that we have shared I simply am grateful for The Lord in allowing us to rub shoulders and learn from one another. This family is on a long list of good people that have touched my life for the better. I have interacted with many great people in my short life who have brought joy, happiness, example, love, and most important The Savior's light. I have been blessed with good family and friends. Many who have come and gone but all have left their mark-marks that have made me a better person. For this I am grateful! Who knew that the Sunday that I sat in my sisters ward listening to Stephen bear his testimony, feeling of his goodness, my life would be changed for the better! Love you all!!! Hubba, Hubba!!!!

Happy Birthday Mandy!!!!

Happy Birthday Mandy!!! I am not kidding, today is her actual birthday! Mandy and I are only a couple of years apart in age and so we spent a lot of time together growing up. We went to school together for a good part of our lives. As a result we shared a lot of the same friends, which was nice cause she was much more popular then I was!!! Mandy and I shared a room growing up and it was always an adventure! Lets just say that I had different ideas on cleanliness then she did. At one point it got so bad that we had to put a piece of tape down the middle of the room so that she knew what she needed to clean and I felt much better about the room being half messy on her half!!! I think she has gotten over a lot of the arguments that we had on cleaning up cause her house is clean!!

Mandy is a brain!! She is very smart and always got good grades in school! Many times I HATED to bring home the report card cause she has 4.0's and mine were less and I didn't want to be compared to Ms. Brains!! She has excelled in all of the jobs that she has had and done great work and gotten many promotions! She is still very smart and that is something that I admire!

She also loves to run.....which has rubbed off a little on me but I am nowhere near like her. She trained for and ran the St.George marathon a few years ago and it was a lot of fun to cheer her on! She has a good focus that helped her to do a good job! She is a great mother to her daughter and works had to make time for her. And I must say her daughter is a doll!!!

Mandy isn't all about work....she does have fun and we have had a lot of fun together. One time I caught her sneaking back into her bedroom window!! She had been out doing pep club stuff in the middle of the night and I went down to tell her it was time to get up as she was climbing back in the window! It was fun to see the look on her face, but it was even more fun to see her having a good time!

Happy Birthday Mandy!!! Have a great day!!!