Tim & Margo

the trees get smaller and smaller

2012-01-22T15:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas is Christmas, as long as there's a tree, right? Well, with a busy December we almost completely forwent a tree this year, but Christmas cheer prevailed and late in the month Tiny Tim (the tree) was purchased in the local Christmas tree lot. He was so small, he didn't even need to be watered. Better yet, he only needed one strand of lights and 10 ornaments.

Here are some more pics of the Christmas season. Santa got us a new Canon SLR camera!

Antique ornaments on our tree, slightly reminiscent of a meteor striking the sun.

The lights of the San Francisco City Building.

We caught this across the street when going to see The Nutcracker.

Who knew the books could be arranged in so many ways?

Still getting used to Christmas lights on palm trees. We'll get there someday.

cheers to the new year

2012-01-01T18:38:00.000-08:00

Christmas is best when it's cold, but New Years' is welcome to have warmth and maybe even a little sunset. Utah was great for the holidays, but coming home is still the best. And after all the hearty holiday meals, a little sushi really hit the spot. Bring on 2012!

the Thanksgiving spread

2011-11-30T22:05:00.000-08:00

This year's menu:
1. Pre-dinner Recchiuti Chocolate
2. An amazingly juicy bird (basted every 30 minutes).
3. Stuffin' Muffins
4. Homemade mashed potatoes with skins
5. Whipped yams
6. Homemade crescent rolls (with the secret ingredient: mashed potatoes)
7. Parfaits with quinoa, apples, Greek yogurt, pomegranate, and apricot yogurt.
8. "Vegetables in a cloud" dish
9. Fresh green and albino aspargus
10. Fresh green beans
11. Cherry, Apple, Pumpkin, and Banana Cream Pie

one wild summer

2011-11-06T21:14:00.000-08:00

2011 included one wild summer for the Abbotts. Sandwiched between two amazing adventures, Russia in May and Disneyland in October, was a whole lot of hoopla. 

Picking buckets of raspberries in our neighbor's yard, hiking, 

and checking out the wine country in Napa Valley. 

Camping and hiking at Sugarloaf State Park.

A real African Safari. I think the lady in back wished 

the giraffe like her as much as Margo. (no surprise) 

Margo's surprise birthday getaway for me: 

a long weekend on the Mendocino Coast. 

A few new sights in San Francisco: 

fireworks on Pier 39 on the 4th of July, 

the tiled staircase, 

and a symphony at the Davies Concert Hall.

A visit from Margo's brother Alex.

A visit from Margo's sister Maren and baby Adelaide. 

A cross country drive in a U-haul to get these two cute guys 

(and their parents) moved from Washington DC to Heber Utah.  

A trip for Margo to Seattle for her cousin Mollie's wedding. 

And a great week for Margo at girl's camp.

A day exploring San Jose, including the Winchester Mystery House, the San Jose Rose Gardens, and finally cashing in a 

3-year-old gift card to Maggiano's Little Italy. 

The last home game for the Oakland A's. I had to include the second photo to prove there were actually people at the park. 

And last, but not least: a few amazing 

discoveries and rediscoveries of incredible foods. 

1) White Chocolate Raspberry bark from here. 

2) The most AMAZING bread in the world from here. 

3) Bread, pizza, and pasta that will change your life from here. 

4) Delectable drinks from here, and

5) Classic shakes from where they do them right, here.

Whew! Can't wait until next summer. 

KYIV

2011-08-22T00:25:00.000-07:00

After attending sacrament meeting in Tuapse, we jumped on a train for the approximate 30 journey to Kyiv. We bought the cheap train tickets from Tuapse to Rostov (since this was during daylight hours and we would be sitting anyway). We sat next to a Ukrainian lady. At a train stop in Timashevck (just North of Krasnodar) this lady jumped off the train and bought 4 gigantic halves of smoked fish. She slapped the fish on the table of our little seating area and then wrapped them in newspaper, threw them under her chair, and went to sleep. Margo thought it was pretty interesting.

From Rostov to Kyiv we bought the LUX tickets, which means you're in a compartment all by yourself. As our final and longest train ride, we felt it was a wise purchase. We actually tried to buy these tickets at least 3 times, but kept getting denied because they were "ridiculously" expensive. The cashier lady would just say, "Oh no, you don't want to buy those." Well, it was worth it and they weren't that expensive.

This is the only city we visited that I hadn't been to before, so it was awesome for both Margo and I to discover on our own. Overall, we really loved Kyiv. Everything we saw was very clean and well maintained.

Once again, the Russian (or Ukrainians) know how to build a good monument. The motherland statue is amazing, the metallic version of the stone statue we saw back in Volgograd.

Some amazing ice cream was also a nice surprise. We saw a little ice cream stand outside the main train station when we came into town, so we thought we'd try it. It was so good. I don't know what they put in it, but it was some of the best ice-cream we've ever had. Luckily, there were dozens of stands selling this same ice-cream. We bought ice-cream at least 5-6 times in the 2 days we were there.

Spring was a great time to see the city with the trees blossoming and new flowers. Lot's of people were out on the streets for their National holiday.

A highlight of Kyiv was visiting the Temple. It was dedicated just last August.

This trip was pretty spectacular; truly an unforgettable time together.

Сочи и Туапсе: Sochi & Tuapse

2011-07-15T10:46:00.000-07:00

Every now and then I stop and think to myself, "Did we really go to Russia?" Honestly, I sometimes find it hard to fathom that we really went! But we did and I'm so glad we were able to go. Now to share the more of the journey with you (or really just to blog about it so we have it recorded somewhere).
Sochi and Tuapse were our last two cities in Russia. They were also two cities I was especially excited to see; I'm not sure why, maybe because of stories Tim told me from his time there.

SOCHI:

Yes, there are palm trees in Russia. And yes, Sochi will be hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics. After seeing the picture you may be skeptical, but I promise it's true. Sochi is lush, green, and about as south as you can go in Russia. However, there are tall mountains around the city were many of the events will be held (this should take care of the snow aspect of the winter games).

Sochi was just a day trip during our time in Tuapse. Make that a rainy-day trip. It is definitely a place I want explore again, but I felt good about what we did in the time we had. Especially with the rain. In all honesty, I'm afraid this was not one of my most stellar days. I felt like I complained a lot (I definitely did in my head which was not helpful) and was a bit down about things. My Toms were soaked and I was trying not to let wet feet bother me, but I was not being very successful. Looking back I remember a lot of really great things about the day.
They include:

Beautiful buildings, the voskal (train station) and sea voskal (port/ harbor)

Sochi Sea Voksal

a couch and cheesecake in a mall

McDonald's

random sculptures and beautiful parks

Taking the bus to the end of the line (it was brilliant idea, see the city and stay dry!)

Experiencing a new Russia treat: small chocolate covered mousse bars- super rich, super good.

Joking about the rain.... but seriously...

"Someday we're going somewhere like this. Minus the raincoats."

Tuapse:
I absolutely loved Tuapse. It was one of those things were I knew I was going to like and then was surprised how much I loved it in the end.

Tuapse is set on the Black Sea, with rolling hills and lots of foliage. It is incredibly beautiful. We stayed with a wonderful member, enjoyed time visiting different families, and never had a shortage of delicious food and gracious hospitality.

We mixed our exploring and visits with a bit of down time. All in all I think we ended up with a good combo and got a great feel for Tuapse.

The view from where we stayed was very beautiful. Notice the boots I'm wearing just one evidence of the hospitality we enjoyed! They were loaned to me because everyone was worried about my feet getting wet, they were definitely appreciated and I did surprisingly well walking in them.

Of course we took in some vistas of the Black Sea.

Rain or shine the market is up and running!

The most phenomenal bread! I may or may not have obsessed about this bread. I was so excited to get it and it did not fail to exceed all expectations. It is actually a type of lavash from Armenia. They slap the dough rounds on to the sides of a fire stone/cement oven, pull the cooked rounds off by poking a hole in the middle, and then hand you the fresh bread! AMAZING! I don't think this explanation does it justice, but just imagine warm, soft, and the perfect flavor. One downside was that it's not very polite to dig in as soon as your hands are on it. Tim got me to wait until we found a bench in a near by park.

I could barely stop eating to get a decent picture, but some how I managed to wait two seconds before digging in full speed.

All throughout Russia we encountered stray dogs. I feel like America and Russia have a similar number of stray cats in cities, but the number of stray dogs in Russia was nothing like I've ever seen before. This sweet guy had an owner, but acted much like a stray and joined us on a hike, looking for signs of food every second.

One of the best adventures in Tuapse was a short hike to some ruins in the hills just outside the city. The forest was beautiful and the ruins were pretty cool.

Seriously, the green of the foliage was just a bit more intense than foliage we find around here. None of these pictures have been photo shopped. It really is that bright green and it was gorgeous.

Really in the end, as with each city we visited, it was the people who added such a special and personal touch to our time in Tuapse. They are all such wonderful, giving, and loving people. They opened their homes and hearts to us. They shared of their time, resources, and selves. I am so grateful to know these amazing people and to be able to call them my friends.

The Tuapse branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Ростов-на-Дону: Rostov-na-Donu

2011-06-15T17:46:00.000-07:00

A few thoughts from  
Tim and Margo 
  
Rostov is the flagship city of my mission. Again, it was awesome to see all 
these places that I thought I may never see again. Coming back made me think, 
this is actually a pretty cool place to visit. 

Rostov was one of my favorite cities.  At this point I think the "shock" (or whatever you want to call it) had worn off. In Rostov I felt truly immersed in Russia. I loved that there were not many tourists (not many is probably an understatement, because I think the only tourists were Tim and I), so we were just seeing Russians living their lives.  We saw a lot of people outside in Rostov because they were celebrating a holiday, which in Russia means no work for a few days and some serious partying at night.

  I loved walking down streets and having Tim remember where people lived or places he had been. Here's a pic on the Don: 

Here we decided to stay in a hotel and found an excellent one. This was also the one of the first places we got to buy some of my favorite foods from the mission days. I know this sounds a little intense, but it really is the breakfast of champions: chocolate-stuffed cereal squares with caramel-filled croissants and peach nectar juice. Amazing.

What made the breakfast Tim is talking about particularly special is it was our anniversary breakfast!   And Tim's not joking, it was seriously an AMAZING breakfast.  I still crave the cereal.  Mmmm "chocolate pillows"... why oh why do they not sell this in America?  We are missing out! 

Note on the hotel: such a good decision!  We loved staying with members and everyone we stayed with treated us SO well. Still it was nice to have a bit of time to ourselves. 

Before coming to Russia, I asked Margo to look up something that she might want to see or do in Rostov. Seeing as Rostov is really not a touristy place, the only thing she could find were some ceramic tile murals on the walls of underground walkways. They show various aspects of idealized Russian life, the example below being a hospital with parents taking their new born children home. I only went to one hospital on my mission and let's just say it was not ideal. Some other highlights pictured below are a night at the opera (top right), a stop by O'Keu (bottom left) which is the new Russian Wal-mart type store, and my old apartment in Rostov (bottom right).

I didn't go to Russia with many ideas of things I knew I wanted to do. A few things did make the list: the Rostov murals, try to find a show, and try things Tim did!
The murals were surprisingly fun to run into and added a lot to the underground tunnels. They are definitely idealistic, even the depictions of war.
The show. Not a classic ballet, but instead an "opera" which ended up being much more like a musical. Let's just say, I didn't get much of the story. It was still fun and I'm glad we went, but we've both agreed next time we'll stick to something more Swan Lake or The Nutcracker-esque.
I was super impressed with how much Tim remembered from his Russian days. Tim definitely succeeded my expectations for sharing things he had experienced at each and every stop.

As in Moscow, there are Russian Orthodox churches everywhere. Most of these are newer and not as ornate, but they are everywhere. Interestingly enough, most of the churches (Russians would call them Temples) are surrounded by markets, with people selling stuff right up to the Temple door. Kinda reminiscent of Jesus and the moneychangers? One of my for sure "to dos" was to show Margo the meat market, which she handled quite well.

The market. What to say? Definitely SO different from anything I've experienced.

Good times with old friends.

I am so grateful we were able to connect with the people we did. Although our time wasn't that long in any one place, I really feel a bond of friendship with so many of the people I met.

Lastly, McDonalds is just way better in foreign countries. The food actually looks like the picture! The locations are always super sleek and modern. Although it does
seem odd to eat the epitome of American food while in Russia,
we needed something to balance out all the borscht.

If it seems like I am in every picture of food, it's because I am. We rarely (honestly pretty much never) make a MceeDs run at home so I almost laugh to think we went twice while in Russia. For me going to McDonalds fell into the category of doing stuff Tim did on his mission. I imagined them going here all the time, come to find out they actually didn't go that much. But if we are going for honesty here, and I did promise to keep this real, the day before we went to McDonalds a major craving for the good ole' burger, fries, and ice cream hit me. So yes, I was quite happy to make a Russian MD run.

Answers to some of your most pressing questions...

2011-06-03T13:46:00.000-07:00

Is there a difference between American and Russian snickers (yes the candy bar)?

If so, what is the difference?

And, which one is better?

Since you've been dying to know the answers (which will be quite Earth shattering I'm sure), Tim and I went out of our way to do a double blind, statistically significant comparison study--- okay not really we just brought a snickers home from Russia, got one locally, and ate them. Still don't let that make you discredit our findings, because we do have the answers to your queries (or our queries).

Is there a difference? Yes, yes there is.

What is the difference- Well from the out side not much, the name is still snickers (consistent branding is important), but the other writing is in the native language... Oh beyond the writing on the wrapper? Bigger difference there- American snickers have more caramel and better chocolate. Russian snickers have a much more "nutty" flavor (and apparently come in hazelnut *see picture below- not of our snickers we just got the ordinary peanut so this did not impact our comparison.)

Now the most important question... drum roll please... Which one is better? The American snickers (for our tastes which we will extrapolate across the population and thus make this post applicable to everyone). This is good news though (at least for our friends in the States), you now don't need to book a trip to Russia to get a snickers. Yes, just stay here. Although if you are in a foreign country, you can't deny that having a snickers is like a little taste of home and you don't really taste the difference because you can't remember what another snickers tasted like any way.

Волгоград:Volgograd

2011-05-31T19:16:00.000-07:00

This was my first city in the mission. It is one of the longest cities in the world, stretching over 50 miles long and only 1-2 miles wide, all built upon the West bank of the mighty Volga River. Volgograd, which was called Stalingrad in soviet times, was completed destroyed during the German invasion of World War II. It currently has a population of just over 1 million.

The "Mother of Russia" statue stands at the highest point in the city. She is looking back to call the Russian armies on, as they battled the Germans to defend their city. This is the main statue of an entire complex of memorials, all dedicated to the Battle of Stalingrad. As with every good Russian monument, it's GIGANTIC!

Margo and I with Sister Luba

Margo and I with Brother Kamo and Sister Nadezhda

Here is what's left of the last building standing in Volgograd after World War II.

You can guess that Russians really don't like Germans.

On the banks of the Volga River

I really haven't been the best at staying up with people since I left the mission,

but it was great that even with all the time that has passed we were able to see

so many people and catch up on each others lives.

I lived in Volgograd for 6 months and hadn't been back for 6 years. Not much had really changed.
I had a great time seeing the same places and walking the same roads I did as missionary. I was surprised at how many memories came flowing back that were triggered by seeing a particular street, house, or building. I did have a great beginning to my mission in Volgograd. One of my favorite parts of the whole trip was being able to show all of these things to Margo.

Margo sitting where the babushkas usually sat outside my first apartment

Москва:Moscow

2011-05-20T10:57:00.000-07:00

Moscow is a bustling urban center of over 10 million people. While it is all things Russian, it is by far the most modern and "touristy" city on our journey. It is built of the banks of the Moscow River and dotted with dozens of Russian Orthodox Churches, all bearing the signature "onion" dome.

MAIN ATTRACTIONS

Red Square
Look at a road map of Russia and you'll see that all highways truly lead to Moscow. Red Square is where all the roads converge. As the center of this 900-year-old city, this square has seen the evolution of Russia, including the rise and fall of communism.

St. Basil's Cathedral
This is an iconic signature piece of Russian architecture. Built by Ivan the Terrible in 1561, it has withstood the test of time and narrowly escaped communist plans of demolition. Each tower is its own church, dedicated to a particular Saint.

Lenin's Tomb

Russians look at Vladimir Lenin as the one who put Russia on the map. There are still dozens of statues to Lenin throughout Russia. Even though the faults of communism have been exposed and Russia has embraced a new government, they continue to pay respect to their past leader who, in their minds, was one of their greatest. Lenin died in 1924 and his body has been on permanent display in a mausoleum on Red Square ever since. During communism, Russian citizens would stand in lines for hours to see him. Good thing he has a glass case around him because if he didn't and someone sneezed, there probably wouldn't be any Lenin left.

Note from Margo: I knew Lenin's actual body was there. I don't know when I heard about it, but I've known for a long time and always thought it was maybe a bit strange. Okay, as weird as it is when you think about Lenin's ACTUAL body being on disply, it is a billion times more weird/ creepy when you see it (or at least it was for me)... and I won't lie I had to laugh a little that he is still hanging around, hence my slightly unsure expression in the picture below.

Cathedral of Christ the Savior

This church was completed in the 1860's in gratitude to God for saving Russia from Napoleon's armies. In the 1930's, Stalin ordered that the church be demolished to make room for a Soviet Palace, which was never built. The church was rebuilt to it's original specifications in 2001. It's a good example of Soviet disregard for religion/cultural history and their pompous thinking that they were all powerful. I love that Russia's Christian roots survived well through decades of communism. This church is gigantic: 344 feet tall! In comparison, the Salt Lake Temple is 222 feet tall and the Washington DC Temple is 288 feet tall.

"The Children- Victims of Adult Vices"

This probably wouldn't make the list if you Googled "top 10 sights in Moscow," but Margo and I stumbled upon it in a city park and thought that it is actually very powerful. This is a series of statues by Mikhail Shemyakin. Thirteen figures portraying various adult and societal vices are closing in on a young boy and girl playing. It reminds us of the true innocence of children and how without proper teaching and guidance, children can become tainted and corrupted by the evils of this world. The sculptor said this monument is a call "to fight for the salvation of today and future generations." The thirteen depicted vices are drug addiction, prostitution, theft, alcoholism, ignorance, irresponsible science, indifference, propaganda, sadism, for those without memory, exploitation of child labor, poverty, and war.

Moscow Metro

The Moscow Metro is awesome. Each station has unique architecture, trains come every 1-2 minutes, and you pay a flat rate to travel as far as you want. It's also very deep, hence the ginormous escalators.

Bolshoi Theater

The famous performing arts venue for Russia. The largest of the theaters has the unique name "big" theater. Unfortunately, it was closed for remodeling.

And.... a few more pictures just for fun:

Another cool church

Monument to Peter the Great

Pinocchio!

That's a lot of locks

A funny world peace monument

20 rubles per use

Our hostel was great

Mapping the trek

2011-05-19T22:09:00.000-07:00

6 cities, 14 days

Looking at this map makes it look like we were playing "Ticket to Ride" aka "The Train Game."

Still getting there...

2011-05-18T22:48:00.000-07:00

I tried to prep Margo for some differences that she'd see in Russia. So when we found a really good deal on tickets from JFK to Moscow with the Russian airline Aeroflot, I thought it might be good for her to see what she was getting herself into:

And I'm sure that Margo, being the positive person that she is, thought, "Well, at least I can pet the puppy for 9.5 hours."

Fortunately for us, Aeroflot has really stepped it up a notch from what you can see in the photograph above and from what I remember as a missionary. Our plane was very nice, complete with good service, free movies, and food that was actually not too bad.

Something I didn't prep Margo for were lines. If you value your personal space and are standing in line, pray there aren't a lot of Russians around because you'll soon find yourself squeezed to the back. Getting on our flight in New York was absolute mayhem because they don't call out row numbers for boarding! Everyone just boards at once! I just laughed and Margo adapted as we found ourselves getting more and more up close and personal with our fellow travelers.

Another note on lines: You really do have to be aggressive to maintain your place. People will jump and bud in line like no other. My favorite was in Kyiv when an old man totally just stepped right in front of us at an ice-cream cone stand. I guess he really couldn't wait any longer for his ice cream cone. I'm thinking if it's this intense at an ice cream cone stand, what's it like at the DMV?..... I don't want to know.

There and Back Again: Our Russian Tale

2011-05-17T13:10:00.000-07:00

Dear Family, Friends, and Strangers-

I hope you enjoy excerpts from our adventure. I'll to share as much detail as possible while keeping it interesting and, despite how fun it would be to add scenes of mafia encounters or getting caught up in some foreign spy action, I'll keep it real. Some times it might turn into more of a "picture book." (We had to share the pictures somewhere! Seeing that I haven't scrap booked any of our marriage yet, it might be a while before these pictures make it!)

There and Back Again: Our Russian Tale

PART ONE: GETTING THERE

I was just thinking where to even start with sharing our epic journey.. well...

Let's start at the very beginning

A very good place to start.

When you read you begin with

A B C

We'll begin with going to

NYC

We double checked that the lights were off. Tim took out the garbage and I said another prayer in my heart that no ants would make their uniform trails again. We navigated our way to BART (yes, we were first timers...) We BARTed to SFO (note on the airport: can you say nice- it was much nicer than we expected.) There we took our red eye flight and eventually got to NYC.

Our 8 hour layover provided time for us to leave the airport and catch the best of the best- the NYC Temple.

New York Plan:
1. Go to the temple.
2. Enjoy a classic NYC dog- provided by Gray's Papya
(The papya juice was rockin! I would skip the pineapple juice next time.)
3. Treat ourselves to some awesome cookies! Levain's did not disappoint...
SO good, but milk is a must with these babies!
4. Stop by Central Park. A nap wasn't in the official plan, but it was definitely welcomed!
5. Just enjoy life.

It worked out flawlessly!

The how and where for our plan was perfected by a friend who recently lived in New York. She told us the best way to get to and from JFK and where to grab the best bites. Thanks Ruth!

Good Eats

2011-03-14T17:37:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the yummy things we've been enjoying lately.

Kid Food:

There's no fast food that says kid to me more than chicken nuggets. I swear all kids have them until parents think they are old enough to finish off a full burger... and then some children never fully transition completely burgers because they like the crispy "chicken" filled bites. I was that child, for a long time I preferred chicken nuggets over hamburgers. Tim was that child too... Only thing is now we're smart enough to realize the chicken in those nuggets just doesn't look right and really they don't usually taste that great either. This doesn't stop us from having some kid food cravings though so when Tim really wanted chicken nuggets he went on a hunt for a recipe and I was very happy when this was the result. Grown-up chicken nuggets:

So good, really easy, and not too unhealthy either!

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2/3 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

We ground up cereal similar to wheat Chex instead of bread crumbs and then added herbs and spices to the mix (Italian seasoning OR oregano, rosemary, pepper, etc.)

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons dried basil
1/3 cup butter, melted

We added minced garlic to the butter. I think it added great flavor!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Cut chicken breasts into 1 1/2-inch sized pieces. In a medium bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, cheese, salt, thyme and basil. Mix well. Put melted butter in a bowl or dish for dipping.
Dip chicken pieces into the melted butter first, then coat with the breadcrumb mixture. Place the well-coated chicken pieces on a lightly greased cookie sheet in a single layer, and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Makes 3-4 adult servings.

Soups:

I really like soups, especially soups like tomato soup. On our first anniversary Tim took me to Chef's Table where our luncheon was held. It was so good and one of the best dishes was a butternut squash soup Tim ordered. This turned me on to soups with a beautiful orange color and creamy texture. I've tried to recreate the recipe before, but didn't work out the first time. Then this year I had two successful soups. One very close to the Chef's Table and one completely different.

First, was a carrot soup. Orange and creamy! Nothing like the CT squash soup in terms of flavor, but oh so good!

Go to recipe is here: Stone Soup

I use 5-6 large carrots instead of the mini carrots. I think the soy sauce is key to the great flavor so don't skip it!

The second was close to the butternut squash soup was actually had no squash in it either, but tasted so much like the CT soup. It was a carrot yam soup. Once again beyond easy, very satisfying, and delicious.

2 medium yams
1-2 long carrots
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
4 cups warm water
1 boullion cube (chicken or vegetable)
Shredded parmesan cheese (fresh) (optional)

 Peeled and cube vegetables. Put in a 9x13 pan, drizzle with olive oil, salt & pepper to taste. Cover with aluminum foil Roast at 400 degrees for 45 minutes or until tender. 

Mix the boullion with water.  Next, put half of the cooled, roasted veggies in a blender.  Add 2 cups of  water and "Liquify" the  mixture.  Pour this a large soup pan.  Put the second half of the roasted yams in the blender with 2 cups of  water and blend  again.  Pour it into the soup pot as well. Let the soup come to an  initial boil, then reduce the heat to Medium-Low and let it simmer for  10-20 minutes before serving (for me this depends on what time dinner is or how hungry I am).  Shredded parmesan cheese (fresh) is a great  topping for this soup.  Serves 4 as a main dish. 

Breads:

A friend and I have been working on making bread. So far are 2/2 in successful attempts.. well I don't know if the first one really counts as completely ours because we had another friend (we use her recipe) basically make it for us and then we just shaped the loaves. Still it turned out great! In other good bread news. I'm getting a Bosch! So excited about that... and I think once we have it Tim will be more excited than me because it should mean fresh bread more often.

Another "bread" we made recently was homemade tortillas. Honestly not too hard. I use this recipe from my friends' cooking blog (Better Than Burgers)! The only thing was for the life of me I couldn't make a round tortilla this time. I decided it would be okay and we'll just open a restaurant "La Funky Tortilla" and wala branding will turn my oddly shaped creations into a money machine.

Hello March

2011-03-04T10:10:00.000-08:00

Well hello March.

Honestly, March 1st came and all I could think was- Hello March! Are you seriously here already?

Not that it's a bad thing, in fact I'm loving the idea of spring officially moving in, followed by the beautiful early summer in Alameda... some of my favorite times last year were the early summer months when I just couldn't get enough of the perfect temperatures and all the green! (You all really should come experience a bit of spring/ summer here... or any time of year, we'd be happy to see you.) This year has another thing making me look forward to March's arrival...
To say it straight forward-
March leads to April.....
and at the end of April....
We're going to put these to use:

GOING TO RUSSIA! wahoo!

I am so SO excited for this trip. It's going to be incredible.
Why, you ask, is it going to be so great? First, I have a passport and have to use it for this trip (already makes it super cool). Second, it's going to be just us for two full weeks, backpacking and training across a place we've talked for years about going to. We are going to a place my man loves and has wanted to go back to for a long time. Mostly it's going to be wonderful because I'm going with the best guide and husband I could have ever asked for.

Now that I think about it, it seems like I'm getting the best end of the deal. Let's face reality, I have no language skills or knowledge of the area to boost our experience... and Tim has both of those covered. The only thing I offer is a 100% willingness to go anywhere and see anything.

February was Fickle

2011-02-25T14:05:00.000-08:00

Most of you need no convincing when I say "February was fickle!" For those of you who do see please see the remainder of the post:

February 5th we enjoyed a day at Stinson Beach. Incredible. It was fun to be like a kid squishing sand in my toes, finding ladybugs (they were all over the beach, probably thousands of them so it wasn't hard), and treasures. However, not actually being a kid has it's advantages... as an adult you are really just a kid who gets to decide what you want to do... Like get ice cream and cheesecake in the same day! Pretty sure parents don't let kids decide that.

Stinson Beach is such a beautiful place, it definitely makes our "places to frequent while we can" list.

Yes February started off with days like this:

Temperatures- high 60's low 70's. Sun, blue skies, all around glorious days.

And then it went to days like this:

and colder!

We were FREEZING (especially because we had turned our heater off). And not only were we cold we spent a few weeks making piles of tissue by the bed and couch. Glad that's over.

All With Love

2011-02-18T16:43:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Valentine's Day with the classics:

Hearts, candle-lit dinner, chocolate, flowers, and for us Disney movies!

While we did have our traditional V-day breakfast, it didn't include any hearts this year. Instead the hearts went into a surprise for my man.

His favorite: cherry pie full of love!

I pulled the fast one this year and made Tim's pie three days early.

We had an early candle-lit dinner

and chilled watching a new Disney flick...

(I love our movie tradition!)

The chocolates were reserved for Valentine's day.

Burnt Caramel chocolates from Recchiuti- absolutely AMAZING! Not only is the chocolate heavenly, they had these super cool designs for the holiday. Love them!

These beauties were saved for Lover's Day too....

One of the sweetest bouquets ever! Tim skipped the lines and inflated prices at the regular stores for flowers from a local artist, Red Poppy, whose arrangements I've drooled over for a while.

To conclude the celebration we added a second Disney movie to our collection and enjoyed homemade chocolate souffles...

In my opinion Valentine's Day is what you make of it. Yes, it is super commercialized (but what holiday isn't?) and we can choose to focus on that or we can choose to focus on the people we love the most and incorporating our own traditions to make this a special day.

to entice you

2011-02-12T15:49:00.000-08:00

This post is meant to entice you...

The conditions of today:

current temperature

A beautiful day

trees blooming

             green grass growing 

                                sunny blue skies! 

Today is one of those days. 

Were you enticed? Admit it you were.

If you're someone we love and are somewhere cold this is your official invitation: Come enjoy this with us! (If you're not in a cold spot- we'll see if we can make an exception... if we don't know you- enjoy the blog and we still recommend the Bay area so feel free to stay at a hotel)

The truth is I can't get over how warm it is and that spring basically came at the end of January!

Last Call... ... ... twenty ten

2011-02-10T09:25:00.000-08:00

completing the twenty ten recap with a few pics of Christmas time at the abbott abode

Jingle all the way, back in twenty ten

2011-02-10T08:53:00.000-08:00

After miles and miles of this...

We were met with this...

Which equaled this...

This place is so good. Never disappoints. Admittedly part of its greatness is that you have to drive hours to get there (Beaver Utah) and if you're there, you know you still have hours to go. #1 recommendation: FRIED ICE CREAM!!!

One sad stop on our trek home:

One happy stop on the trek home (combined with many more happy, un-pictured stops):

All to spend time with some super cute little people:

Christmas gifts looked as if we hired an Amish family to wrap them (except for the gift in the back that was outsourced to Anthropologie):

We had some time to play in the snow:

And last of all, we ushered in 2011 with these fun people over a delectable meal from here:

Back in twenty ten- November edition

2011-02-09T14:37:00.000-08:00

November: To start the month off Erica! (a high school bff of mine) came to visit! (And yes her name will always be followed by an exclamation point in this post because it really was that exciting and that's pretty much how I said her name every time I talked about her visit!) It had been quite a while since I got to spend quality time with Erica! She's been at BYU-Hawaii and globe trotting since high school. Our San Fran adventures included: baptisms for the dead at the Oakland Temple, Alcatraz Island, Harry Potter #7- midnight showing, Half Moon Bay beach, California Academy of Sciences, shopping, House of Nanking (super yummy Chinese food... we'd love to take you sometime), and SF MOMA. We had a blast while she was here... pictures to prove it:

The next much anticipated visit we had was from Tim's mom and dad! They came on the train, which took some extra time, but was a great adventure and something Tim and I will need to do while we live here. It was so good to have them here and to get to share time and more adventures with them. We had a lot of fun showing them sights, from the Golden Gate Bridge to the de Young and the Oakland temple it's always great to show places we've come to love to the people we love the most.

We also enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner with Mom, Dad, and our friends Jason and Emylee and their sweet little ones (Boston- 2 and Story-3 months).

It was my first Thanksgiving to plan and prepare... let me tell you I'm grateful for Tim and his willingness to help (especially with the turkey).

In the end the meal was pretty good, but it also made me more grateful for our moms and the work that goes into a meal like Thanksgiving! Some of the food highlights:

Red quinoa parfaits

Apple onion stuffin muffins

(More crispy stuffing that everyone loves! Definitely going to be a tradition)

Whipped yams (oh so good!)

Let me tell you I was basically in heaven once it all came together!

Pumpkin pie from a real pumpkin with the help from this cute guy...

Who could not love this face? Especially with the touches of flour!

what we did back in twenty ten

2011-02-05T16:55:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's a new year... and yes it's that post. You know the one I'm talking about the "Quick blog the last three months of last year because this year is already taking off!" post. SO here are some of the highlights of what we did at the end of 2010.

October:
Started off with a visit back East for me... to meet this sweet little girl

and see these incredible people!

Although fall colors were few and far between on the trees we still got into the fall festivities starting with the pumpkin festival at Half Moon Bay. We enjoyed good company, miles of craft booths, delicious pumpkin ice cream, and picking our own pumpkin!

The fun continued with BYOP- bring your own pumpkin. The night of carving featured Edward the vampire pumpkin, super happy jack, the mummy ninja, emo boy (so sad even Monica and Brad couldn't smile), and the incredibly detailed werewolf/pigman!
(see photo montage for both events)

October ended with good friends to share in caramel apples and a "Halloween movie" (in this case I Am Legend which was definitely intense enough for my taste). Caramel pears, inspired by our caramel apple night. The apples take the cake, but these were not too shabby. And walking around Alameda to see the houses decorated. I've never seen so many elaborate decorations for Halloween. One of the best houses had a carnival theme with a lot of moving parts including a functioning jack-in-the-box. Oooo spooky!

She felt it...

2011-01-08T08:19:00.000-08:00

Margo felt her first earthquake yesterday afternoon. Since I didn't feel it, the score has been leveled 1 to 1.

Quick addition and Tag

2011-01-03T13:51:00.000-08:00

So this post isn't much just a few thoughts I wanted to share about THE birthday month brought to us by a guy who's alright in my book-
1. He pulled it all off as a complete surprise.
2. He offered to make my cake and proceeded to make it from scratch- yes he rocks my world. 
3. Having a birthday Month was not my idea, but I completely approve of it!

And this one is for Sarah... "Tag I'm It"  [Short and sweet so why not :) ]

4 Shows I watch:

[with no t.v. everything has to be online...]

1. HGTV- Design Star, Color Splash, Sarah's House

2. Lost- I know it's over, but I have yet to replace it.

3. Monk

4. The Whole Truth

4 Things I am Passionate About

1. The Gospel.

2. Timothy John -My One and Only-

3. My Family

4. Getting a puppy- when we live where we can have one

4 Phrases I Say a Lot

1. "You're grand" or "That's grand!" [probably won't last long]

2. Amen [and not just to prayers and testimonies... really any time I absolutely agree with something]

3. Really I don't have many frequent phrases... what can I say I'm pretty original.. you can ask Tim

4 Things I've Learned from the Past

1. Heavenly Father knows and loves me. He wants what's best for me and is always there, I just need to trust in Him.

2. Having a passion for something in life is good, but having a passion for life is better.

3. It's okay to grow up as long as you keep a little bit of kid in you.

4. A lot of things in life are what you make of them.

4 Things I did Yesterday:

1. Drove 6 of the 11 hour drive home (well really Tim drove and let me sleep as much as I wanted... he's amazing)

2. Followed General Timothy Abbott on a full scale attack against the ant invasion... we won the battle, but the war is still raging.

3. Enjoyed hot chocolate and toast by the light of our Christmas tree one last time.

4. Wrote down what most would call New Year's resolutions, but what I like to think of as lifestyle adjustments.

4 Places I Want to Visit:

1. Russia

2. Alaska

3. Mediterranean: Greece, Turkey, Italy, and Spain

4. Disney Land- with Tim [he's never been]

4 Things I Look Forward To:

1. Eternity with Timothy John

2. The new year- full of hope and new things to do

3. Our babies

4. Going back to school

4 Things I Love About Winter:

1. The focus on Christ.

2. A warm blanket, twinkling Christmas tree, and my guy- all together.

3. Canadian cookies- So bad for you, but OH so good!

4. Snow... I really do miss it

4 People to Tag:

1. Dayna Ady

2. McKell Heap

3. Monica Packer

4. Whitney Baker

The Southern Getaway, B-month P4

2010-12-08T11:38:00.000-08:00

With the end of the month drawing near, I knew I would have to act quickly to fit in one more celebration weekend with my beautiful wife. Having spent time basking in the beauty of nature, I wanted to spend some time showing Margo some of the urban beauty of the LA area. While the beauty of nature is unsurpassed, we both can see the beauty in a city skyline. Again, I had taken off work, unknowingly to Margo, packed our stuff up and we headed south, telling her that we needed "a getaway". She knew I was serious when I got on the freeway, set the cruise-control, and didn't stop for 6 hours.

First up, an architectural masterpiece: The Walt Disney Concert Hall. We let ourselves in for a "self-guided" tour and got to hear someone rehearsing on the amazing organ.

Photo from rogerbourland.com

Followed by Grauman's Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd, location of handprints, footprints, and signatures of movie celebrities. Margo's true personality is showing through as you look at the "star-prints" she chose to be photographed with.

Photo by Carol Highs

A trip to So Cal would not be complete without a trip to the beach. The water is a lot warmer after driving 6 hours south.

A surprise within a surprise! Tickets to the opening weekend of Phantom of the Opera at Pantages Theater.

Then and Now ("Then" photo by LA Daily News)

The definite highlight of the trip was visiting the gorgeous Los Angeles Temple. While visiting different sites of urban beauty, it is inspiring to see a true house of the Lord, built and dedicated to glorifying God.

Photo from kendalldavenport.com

We chose to take the coastal highway for our return trip home. It added about 2 hours to the trip, but was definitely worth it. The scenery is beautiful as the road meanders along the coast and the expanse of ocean goes on forever in the west. After seeing one dolphin, Margo's eyes remained glued to the ocean for the rest of the trip. Her efforts were rewarded as she saw several more during the drive.

Celebrating Margo's birthday has been a blast. I'm even beginning to believe in this whole birth-month celebration concept! Happy Birthday Margo!

The Countryside Blossoms, B-month P3

2010-12-08T10:15:00.000-08:00

A friend passed along some tickets for a members-only event held at a large estate called Filoli, located in the mountains south of San Francisco. The estate includes a large, historic mansion and sprawling gardens in every direction.

Photo by Filoli Gardens

Photo by Karl Gercens

Margo loved the immaculately kept gardens, but I must admit that my favorite part was sampling the amazing food that was brought around on large platters as we wandered through the gardens. Not a bad addition to Margo's birth-month festivities.

The Celebratory Nourishment, B-month P2

2010-12-08T09:14:00.000-08:00

There's no way I was making this thing up on the mountain, and furthermore Margo is convinced that birthday celebrations should really be birth-month celebrations. Step 1 to the birth-month celebration: execute an awesome camping trip. Step 2: make a birthday cake that is worthy to have its picture sized "x-large" on our blog.

The Forest Marvels, B-month P1

2010-12-08T08:59:00.000-08:00

Calaveras Big Trees State Park

There is something adorable and cute about miniature things, and I suppose there is an equal feeling of grandeur and impressiveness for gigantic things. From the smallest pine-cone seedlings to the fully matured redwoods, these trees did not fail to impress. I managed to give Margo a pretty good surprise for her birthday this year: a few unexpected days off work and a magnificent camping trip in the great outdoors. We trekked eastward, navigating through the smog of California's central valley (not our favorite part of Cali), and finally found ourselves at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

View from our camping site

There's nothing like the fresh mountain air and viewing the endless expanse of forest in every direction. Our camping site was an "environmental site," which meant that it was isolated, set back 1/4 mile from the road, and didn't have a water tap. Shouldn't that be what all camping is like?

We spent a few days exploring the hiking trails of the North and South groves, admiring the colossal scale of the trees. These trees are absolutely amazing! And to think what they've lived through, some being over a thousand years old.

Searching for gold... I really found some!

One gigantic stump.

Other highlights of the park were the beautiful streams and rivers, and of course, some good ol' fashioned cooking on the fire. All in all an awesome trip. Can't wait until Margo's birthday next year.

Helping at Home

2010-10-25T10:04:00.000-07:00

One August afternoon I was talking with Mom... we got talking about doing things around the house and I mentioned how ironic it is that when you're a kid it's like pulling teeth to help out around. Now that I'm older and hundreds of miles away I would be so glad to come and help around the house! This conversation led to me flying to Utah for an extended weekend. I may not have gotten a lot done around the house, but I got to see a few of my favorite and most important people!

Another reason for the trip was Dad's birthday! It was wonderful to be there to celebrate with him!
We went fishing (I had two on the line, but didn't bring any all the way in) and just enjoyed the outdoors. I have to thank Alex who was so patient and helped me untangle my line... I messed it up pretty bad at one point! Love you all it was so good to see you! And just remember I really would come help around the house anytime!

And apparently I had a thing with tilting my head....

16,000 words

2010-10-21T19:23:00.000-07:00

A picture is worth a thousand words....

Point Reyes National Seashore in 16,000 words....

We'll be back again!

Sweet Summer

2010-10-19T12:56:00.000-07:00

Great views of San Fran

Diving tigers

Rough roller coasters

Before... and after!

Nights under the stars... (Movie night in the park: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark... oh yeah!)

Just a few naps... (Tim always made sure I was nice and warm!)

Ice cream... at Fentons! YUMM YUMMM! (see Pixar's UP for details)

Camping at Brannan Island... (Nothing quite like the sound of the freeway to lull you to sleep amid the dead grass. I know you're all dying to go back! The good things: Friends, having a fire, amazing food... basically nothing pertaining specifically to Brannan Island.)

So long sweet summer!

Vacation vs. Mosquitoes

2010-10-01T17:19:00.000-07:00

The air was swarming with the little buggers. The heat and humidity were so far from our breezy, 70 degree home.... And the battle was on Vacation vs. Mosquitoes

This equation sums things up: (Family > Mosquitoes + Humidity)= Great Vacation

The mosquitoes had no chance against the family factor... Family= Great Vacation no matter what!

Where? You may ask was this vacation (and the mosquitoes so you can avoid them)... It all went down in America's heartland- the great state of South Dakota.

We enjoyed:

A good old fashion Midwest 4th of July including: our own fireworks (the kind you can't find on either coast), a hometown parade, a festival in the park, and lots of this:

Some of the things I had during childhood vacations in Huron. Walking the dogs, paddle boats, and ice cream at Zesto.

Grandma and Grandpa's 60th Anniversary including: A sweet limo ride!

Their marriage is a great example of love and commitment.

HAPPY 60th ANNIVERSARY!

Partyin' in the limo! We'll get a limo when we celebrate 60 years too!

Visiting the Winter Quarters Temple and visitors center.

Two layovers in Phoenix with this to look at:

Makes my heart yearn for AZ sunsets... they're hard to beat, even without a cloud in the sky.

And now we're missing these faces!

Not Pictured- Still Missed: Ben and Elaine, Perry, Joseph, Grandma and Grandpa, and all the Burnison relatives.

We love you all! It was great to see lots of you this summer. Hopefully we can see you again soon.

Loving you always,

Margo

2-5

2010-09-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

The BIG 2-5

Quarter of a century

Half way UP the Hill

Tim's "golden" birthday was this year and my man is now a quarter century! 25 is really not that old, but it's fun to make this birthday a big deal.

On Tim's actual birthday we had the opportunity to go to some really cool gardens for free. It wasn't the original plan, but it was really nice. Perfect weather, an incredible old house, and beautiful landscaping. It turned out to be a very relaxing and enjoyable morning.

Then we stopped at In-N-Out for lunch (pretty sure that was Tim's favorite part).

Tim had to work in the evening, but I joined him at the temple for dinner and brought chocolate souffle, our favorite treat from the local bakery- honestly out of this world good!

Instead of birthday cake (which the birthday boy doesn't love) I made a cherry pie (which he does love) from scratch.

I was pleased with how it turned out. I know Tim enjoyed it, but he said filling from the can was still his favorite (good to know since canned filling will save a lot of time the next go around.)

Make a wish!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVE!

Funny note about the candles. We invited a friend over to share the pie, but were not making a big deal of the birthday part so I figured we'd do candles really fast. (In my opinion the best of birthdays have candles!) The pie had only been out of the oven a 10 min or so, by the third candle the first had fallen over because the pie melted it! Hence only five candles, a very rushed Happy Birthday to You, and some residual wax in the birthday pie! Oh well live and learn!

Another World

2010-09-28T07:35:00.000-07:00

The sea is as near as we come to another world

-Anne Stevenson

Looking through the glass at the Monterey Bay Aquarium was really like looking into another world. Here are a few of the lifeforms we saw!

We had tons of fun looking at all the different animals. The sea otters were our favorite because they seemed so playful. We made it just in time for a feeding which was a lot of fun to watch. Sometimes I feel bad for animals that should be out in the wild, but it seemed like they took good care of the otters and from what they said each otter had a reason they couldn't be released again.

Really every thing was amazing. It is incredible to think we share a world with such fascinating animals. And so many more we haven't even discovered! Our beautiful earth is truly a gift from our loving Father in Heaven. I know we hear it a lot and sometimes get tired of hearing it, but it really is important to consider the impact we are having on the world, this world that is home to so much more than just you and me. As our Heavenly Father's children we have been given this earth to enjoy, but we also have been given it to take care of.

In Monterey we also enjoyed some beach time.

Just chasing some waves...

and putting our feet in the sand...

Life is truly grand!

Love from the land of wind, waves, and sand

- Margo

Vacation Destination: San Fran

2010-09-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

With the beautiful area, fun city, and the Golden Gate Bridge the Bay area is a place worth visiting! I love this aspect of where we live. People want to come here... I like to think people would want to come see us no matter our location, but let's be honest the idea of some Cal sun and riding cute little trolley cars might help draw people to our door. And even if that is your real reason for coming, please don't feel guilty (I completely understand the draw to a fun destination) and come see us any time (we enjoy the trolley rides too)!

At the end of May, Mom paid us a visit and we had a grand time!
Some highlights:

Ole's Waffles- Just a couple block from home... it''s lick your plate good! (Just ask my Mom!)


Conservatory of Flowers

Golden Gate Park

These were the funniest turtles. They were sunbathing on the log, but as one would get off or try to get on the log would get a little unbalanced and all the other turtles would scramble to adjust. Every now and then a few would get in a pushing war trying to get comfortable and one would end up falling in. Turtles and ducklings were just some of the animals we enjoyed watching as we explored San Fran.

Boudin Bakery- Rock your world sourdough bread bowl with clam chowder!

Chocolate anyone? YES please!

No words can explain! It's really that good!

Louis' Diner- Good food.. and oh what a view!

The newest members. Super good deal and now we can take you when you come to visit too!

Our porch beautified. (Thanks for the upgrade mom!)

Mom, We love you. Thanks for being our first house guest! We'd love a repeat anytime! (And I'm sure we will have no trouble finding new things to do too.)

Really it could not have been a better time. Lots of conversation and laughter, incredible sights, yummy food, and the best of company to enjoy everything with! We loved showing off our new stomping ground and would be glad to do it again anytime! So now it is your turn to make San Fran your vacation destination.

Awaiting your arrival,

Margo

Before becoming a resident...

2010-08-27T11:56:00.000-07:00

This week I officially became a resident of the great state of California. You're suppose to do that within ten days of moving... and well it's been a few more days than that. You may be wondering what we have spent the last four months doing... and then again you may not. Either way I'm going to let you in on the happenings since we moved.

Where to begin? How about with moving in! We have a great little apartment (actually it is a very nice size with plenty of space.... can you say parties?!) in Alameda, CA. It's in an old Victorian house and has some great features: high ceilings, great molding and architectural details, wood floors, a sweet claw-foot tub! We have had a blast putting our place together. There are still projects left to finish, but all in all it has come together well. I promise pictures to come. (I know some of you have heard that for three months now!)
The apartment took a little cleaning before unpacking, but putting in a little elbow grease just makes you love a place that much more. Nothing was broken in the move! Thank you movers for carefully driving your "big mac" truck! The only damage was our wedding cake...

It almost made it two years!

We have an AMAZING ward! I honestly can say that we have met some of the most incredible people at church and are SO blessed to be in this ward. I love this ward and the instant extended family church provided for us! This is a ward full of people willing to welcome anyone and anxiously serving in any way. We've made some great friends, many of whom are in our same place in life (i.e. married without children).

Our first real activity after arriving was the Oakland Greek Festival at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral next to the Oakland Temple.

We had a great time watching dancers, eating food, touring the cathedral, eating food, looking at art, and yes eating food. I LOVE Greek food!

Here are some pictures of the dancers. I don't remember what type of dance they were doing, but it was fun to watch.

There was a lady across from us with pompoms... I couldn't decide if she was their instructor or just a really excited spectator.

I'll leave you with this movie of the dancers, enjoy!

Until next time,
Margo

reunited, 97, and today ...

2010-08-25T15:09:00.000-07:00

The perfect reasons for having frozen yogurt every day!

I took a long weekend in Utah. It was great to see our families. Coming home was wonderful! Especially coming home to frozen yogurt... oh and my AMAZING husband! (oh yeah and a totally clean house- thanks Love!)

97 degrees = hottest day of the year = must have more frozen yogurt.... I know some of you are not sympathizing right now, but that is REALLY hot when you don't have AC and have become accustomed to 60-70 degree temperatures.... More frozen yogurt? ABSOLUTELY! And no way was I turning on the oven! Dinner out, a walk on the beach, and drinks from 7-11 got us through the heat wave yesterday.

Today: 88 degrees... and I'm feeling like it's time for more fro yo! YUMMY!

Disappointed.

2010-08-17T09:30:00.000-07:00

We've been in CA for almost four months and I have yet to feel an earthquake.... I'm disappointed. On Saturday we even went hiking at Point Reyes, pretty much on the San Andreas fault, and nothing.

Some suspect that California will someday fall into the ocean. My four months of earthquake free living seem to say maybe not. However there was a sign at the visitors center that was titled "California is Falling into the Ocean".... suspicions confirmed. (I'll take a picture of the sign next time we're there.)

And watch now that I've posted this we'll get a big one. Let's hope not.... but I wouldn't mind a little bump.

Love to you all from earthquake free Cali!

(To be perfectly honest there was an earthquake a little while ago and Tim felt it, but I slept through it.)

Oh yeah... and we graduated

2010-08-03T11:33:00.000-07:00

That's about how I feel about posting this now.

Really it actually was more like....

WE GRADUATED!

Yahoo! Hallelujah! Yippee! Hooray!

Graduation events went as follows:

April 22:

The Big Shabang (aka BYU Commencement or graduation with the entire university)

Dinner with just the grads and parentals- enjoyed at Magleby's at Travani in Springville.

Home to finish packing.

April 23:

7:00 AM Moving commences..... 12:00 PM Movers ship out. Please take our stuff safely to CA in your "Big Mac" truck.

Lunch... Yes it was a big enough deal to mention on the blog, after a morning of cleaning I was HUNGRY... Tim and I got a super good paninin (turkey artichoke-heart... highly recommended) from Kneaders.. I miss Kneaders and PJ breakfasts with dear friends.
Marriott School Reception- Just good to see friends and thank professors. I am blessed to have associated with so many amazing people!
Marriott School Convocation (aka graduation with just the Business School)

Dinner with the Farnsworth Fam- Fabulous! Conversation and dinning at PF Changs

April 24

Cleaning... cleaning... cleaning.... and yep more cleaning. Thanks to all our helpers!
9:00 PM- Goodbye Provo... Hello open road to California!

Important notes:

Dear PF Changs,

Thank you for really great food and a fun atmosphere. Most of all thank you for the Great Wall of Chocolate.

Dear USU,

Thank you for the perfect start to college. Thank you for life-long friends and incredible mentors.

Dear BYU,

Thanks for some great years, increased knowledge, fun memories, and invaluable friendships.

Dear Friends,

Thank you for being amazing and just being you. You are exactly who we needed at the time we first met and who we are blessed to always call friends. We are excited to see where life takes each of you and to share the journey with you in any way.

Dear Family, 

Thank you all for coming to be with us. Thank you for loving and supporting us. We are glad we get you for forever!

Dear Timothy John,

Thank you for supporting me in everything, including finishing school.

Thanks Mom and Dad

2010-07-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

The day of graduation we invited our parents to spend the morning with us at Thanksgiving Point's tulip festival. The flowers were a little hammered from a recent hail storm. We were a little frazzled (okay so when I say we I mean I) with packing, graduation, arranging schedules, running on little to no sleep... and you know the whole closure thing with a major chapter of life.

But still it was beautiful.

And being together was the most beautiful part of it all.

I am so glad we took this time to be with our parents because they deserve so much more time, gratitude, and love. Thanks Moms and Dads for everything you do for us! We love you!

Love, Your baby girl and boy

(Probably not how Tim would sign it, but it's the truth.)

FINAL Finals: the end of my undergrad

2010-07-14T18:23:00.000-07:00

Final days of school went as follows:

Tuesday April 20-
   Spent time with Megs and Parker
   Went with Megan to get our hair done at Modifi
      (Love that place... miss trusting someone with my hair)
   Tim arrived earlier than expected, bearing gifts of cookies and milk...
          LOVE that boy!
   Gave my final presentation
     (3+ hours on campus after Tim just got home... not cool)
   Went to dinner with Mark and Amanda at Spark
         (good friends+good food= a combination that can't be beat).
   Hoped to be done with finals... not the case (boo).
   Worked on a paper and studied until late.

Wednesday April 21-
Woke up ridiculously early to study.
Took my last test in the testing center!
          (SO glad to walk out of there).
Drove to Duchesne to collect more of our stuff
     (Studied while we drove)
Tim gathered things while I:
     finished an entire simulation (not fun or particularly easy)
     completed some quizzes (my fault for procrastinating)
   sent in my final paper at the last minute... literally.

I sat in disbelief as we drove home- I was done with college.
I felt such joy- WE WERE TOGETHER!

Dialogue and Dancing

2010-07-09T21:42:00.000-07:00

I love being around my family

Listening to their thoughts

Watching them interact

Witnessing joy as Umpa and the little ones dance

I am blessed to simply know them and be in their company

Cramming and Company Combined

2010-06-17T15:01:00.000-07:00

Cramming- not so fun.

Company- absolutely wonderful!

Combined- Busy, but WONDERFUL! * See below for details.

* Megs and Parker came for a visit at the start of finals and it was grand to have them.

Other company that week included Megan's friend Kevin, Ben, Elaine, Lorna, Ethan, and Dad.

It was a full time between visitors, preparing for my FINAL finals, and packing. I only wish I had been able to spend more time with everyone who came, they were all great to give me the time and space I needed to study. And honestly it was great to have them around, I focused better during my study time knowing that after a good session I would get to chat with Megs or play at the park with Dad and Parker.

Seriously how could this adorable face not alleviate stress?

A few highlights of Megan and Parker's visit:

Parker as orator and artist

This boy can talk up a storm! He knows so many words and is a great conversationalist.
When Little P came to visit he knew basic colors (orange, blue, red, green, yellow, purple and pink),
could count to 10,
always was asking for Tim,
would talk about trucks, cars, tractors, and diggers (backhoes).

Parker also practiced his artistic skills on our packing paper...

Parker Picasso

It was fun because the paper was bigger than him!

Every great artist has a supportive mentor

Playing at the park with Umpa (Dad) and Parker

After Parker went down the slide he asked for my help off and I complied. As I took his little hand a little shock got both of us. Parker pulled his hand back and looked at me in surprise and pain. I reached for him again, but he wouldn't take my hand again. I explained I didn't mean to hurt him and that it was a "shock" from the slide... Every time he went down the slide after that he would say "shock, shock" and he was very leery of being assisted after coming down. It's hard to explain how awfully cute and funny (and a little sad) this was.

(Umpa and Parker talking about "shock")

We enjoyed slides, finding new friends

and a picnic of PB&J with veggies

and milk (of course).

Thanks for a fun visit! We can't wait to see you again soon!

We're alive and TOGETHER!

2010-05-20T20:14:00.000-07:00

It's true we are officially in Cali!

So much has happened since THE boxes arrived that I have been a bit scared to post.

However, I decided I better take the plunge and post.

(Having reminded myself that the longer I wait, the more things will happen, and so the cycle would start.)

Before I jump in to where we left off I have to tell my man that I love him! We’ve been married two years! The BEST two years to date!

I love you Timothy John. You're my best friend and the best husband. You’re INCREDIBLE and our life is more than I could have dreamed of. You are my one and only. I'm forever yours.

I’ll post (with pictures) in chronological order (which means official anniversary post to come) over the next few days and bring you all to where we are now!

California Kisses- Margo

Something arrived...

2010-03-28T21:07:00.000-07:00

...these BOXES!

I know what you are thinking... "Wow boxes... how exciting... or not." But the arrival of these practically made me giddy because they mean I really get to start packing and we really are getting close to the next step- TOGETHER in California!

Aren't they beautiful? (Okay saying they're beautiful might be going a little too far.)

The arrival of the boxes also brought a moment of stress- I realized that they mean I really HAVE to start packing... and I REALLY don't have that much time! Suddenly I feel like we have WAY too much stuff! My moms helped relieve me of this stress by both offering to come to Provo and help me start packing. Thanks to both of you and I look forward to seeing you!

I've realized Tim and I mostly post about our trips. Those times are THE most important and the most fun to share. Now some of you may be wondering what we doing between flights from SLC to OAK... or maybe you haven't, but I'm going to share a snippet anyway.

For me there has been WAY too many of these:

and these:

(my favorite Easter candy that will be gone all too soon...)

Too much of this:

and this:

And A LOT of this:

I think that gives you a pretty good picture.
Well I better go... after all there is packing to do (well maybe not tonight).

Ben and Elaine's Spring Break

2010-03-20T10:17:00.000-07:00

Ben and Elaine and Lorna and Ethan decided to spend their Spring Break down in sunny California. Margo also came down and spent most of the week as well. It was great. These are pictures of their room at the Todd House. They're not intended to make you jealous, just to cause you to check your schedule and book a trip soon! Notice the Temple outside the window.

Early on in the week Ben and Elaine got to visit the beach at Point Reyes National Seashore and experience some whale watching. They also spent some time with us in Alameda, seeing an apartment we hope to rent, as well as eating dinner at Ole's Waffle Shop. The main activities involving Margo and I kicked off Wednesday with going to see the play WICKED at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco. Once again, it was spectacular.

Next up, on Thursday, was a full day of activities in San Francisco. First, a stop by Lombard Street, the curviest section of road in the United States.

We then took one of the old-fashioned cable cars from the wharf over to china town. I wasn't terribly excited about the cable car, but it actually was pretty cool. The best part is you feel like a movie star because everyone is taking pictures of you (or the cable car) as you go down the street.

China Town was definitely like walking into China or at least another world. We wanted to try some food so we chose a restaurant. The waiters and waitresses were really pushy (definitely authentic) and the food was really good.

We stopped at Ghirardelli Square for free chocolate samples and bought some ice cream. Definitely a high point for Lorna.We then walked down along the wharf, stopping to see interesting street vendors, on our way to Pier 39.

Lorna loved the carousel on the pier. There were also some good views from the end of the pier. You can see Alcatraz Island in the background.

We had to stop for sourdough bread. The Boudin bakery is amazing, selling all types of bread. Ben and I agreed it's the closest bread to bakeries in Eastern Europe that we've had. In addition to the taste, they also had all sorts of shapes.

As evening approached, we headed over to Golden Gate National Park, which is located along the wharf just below the bridge. Beautiful views to be had all around.

Margo and I enjoyed some parks around the Temple on Friday. The area is so beautiful and so many great places are nearby.

It was a great week with Ben, Elaine, Lorna and Ethan.

Ben's Birthday

2010-03-20T09:15:00.000-07:00

We got to celebrate Ben's birthday while I was home for an extended weekend for Valentine's. Great to see the little guy Ethan. He likes me a lot, despite the fact he make look a little freaked out in some of these pictures.

This last picture is a pretty happy Tim and Margo. At the end of the weekend, Margo dropped me off at the Airport on Monday evening. I walked in to check into my flight and found out it had been delayed 4 hours. BEST DELAY EVER! So I ran back out and caught Margo and we got another 4 hours together. Pretty awesome.

Are you ready?

2010-03-13T10:43:00.000-08:00

You know you are ready to be done with school when...

You go to study for/take an EXAM and...

This is your first time in the library all semester...

You don't have any paper.

You don't have a pencil to take the test.

In fact you don't have ANY writing utensils.

You consider not taking the exam and...

Instead of studying... you blog about studying.

I am READY!

(Mom and Dad will be happy to know I'm not "done enough" that I actually wouldn't take my exam.)

One Week!

2010-03-09T21:07:00.000-08:00

My Love- I'll be with you in a one week!

Waiting anxiously,
Me

Fauxhawk... or maybe not

2010-03-08T07:30:00.000-08:00

Okay some back tracking... because I never get around to downloading pictures.

Back in January I enjoyed a visit from Megan and Little P. Oh how I love them and loved spending time with them! Parker is such a cool little guy and is always a joy to have around! One morning while Megs was getting ready I decided to dress Parker and do his hair… I thought oh a fauxhawk would be fun...
Let’s just sat there was NO faux in this hawk!

Yep it’s the real deal!

And we had a party going on in the back!

Really quite the rocking style!

Party in the front and back!

Even if I am biased everyone has to agree this little guy is the cutest thing!

He is so sweet, smart, handsome, and funny. I sure do love Parker P.

Megs and Perry- Thanks for sharing your little guy with me! I love you all and can hardly wait to see you again. Come play with me... we’ll go bowling at Fat Cats… or better yet we’ll get a bite at Spark!

Missing

2010-03-01T10:19:00.000-08:00

I miss this face.

and this one too...

I'M MISSING HIM!

He's there,

I'm here,

and we don't like it.

Yes, it stinks. No, the phone is not the same or as good as sitting on the couch together. Yes, there is such a thing as video chat... and it does help, but it is also not the same and could never be as good. No, weekends are not as fun, exciting, relaxing, or worthwhile without him. Yes, I love him and want to be with him. Yes, I'm counting the days until I see him again... Yes, I'm trying not to count the days until April 20th- when I will be with him and
never part again.

And...
Yes, we are learning and growing from this. Yes, we are blessed. Yes, we talk to each other every day. Yes, he supports me beyond my own strength. Yes, I couldn't do this without him... because he is still there for me. No, we don't want to do this again. No, we're not going to give up. Yes, we watch movies and Lost together. Yes, it's going to be okay... and YES it is going to end!

Valentine's Day

2010-02-20T09:01:00.000-08:00

Valentine's was extra special this year, seeing as it was during one of our monthly trips to see each other. Margo always goes all out with breakfast. I never knew so many things could be in the shape of hearts. As you might guess, breakfast was absolutely fabulous. And the tradition continues, gifting a favorite Disney movie.

Spring is here... in some places

2010-02-17T17:30:00.000-08:00

This isn't a post meant to brag, simply to show that in some places it's spring already!!! These pictures were taken today, February 17th.

I left my heart in San Francisco...

2010-02-09T19:53:00.000-08:00

I left my heart in San Francisco wearing these super cool glasses:

It's okay though because the good lookin guy on the right is taking care of it!

AH! I can hardly wait to get to San Francisco and just be there! We've already had such a great time exploring our new home. This is going to be another exciting chapter in our life! Here are some of the adventures we had during our second week in San Fran...

Surprise Alameda Date:
I planned a surprise date for Timothy John in Alameda. I had some help from on of my marketing professors who used to live in Alameda. I gave Tim tickets to the following events:

Two Tickets: Tucker's Ice Cream- Amazing ice cream... we'd love to take you some day.
One Ticket: Dinner for two at Asena- Mediterranean fine dining
Two Tickets: AVATAR (3D) at the historic Alameda Theater! Super cool!

Tim asked why we were going to get ice cream first and well it was because we had the movie to go to, but that was a surprise for later. Luckily for me Tucker's has a fabulous motto: Life is Uncertain, Eat Dessert First! So that was my excuse for going for ice cream first, what a perfect reason.

Next on the agenda was dinner at a recommended restaurant- Asena... I love sitting with Tim and talking about anything! I love looking in his eyes. I love after dinner when he goes through the details of the restaurant- everything from food to decor- and tells me what he liked and what he would change.

The main event was going to AVATAR.
We really enjoyed the movie and definitely recommend watching it. I think it is made for the theater and would say it is worth seeing it there. What added to the entire evening was the Alameda theater itself- awesome! We just don't make movie
theaters like this any more.

Other explorations took us to the pier where we got sourdough bread... yummy!
San Francisco shopping district- Crate & Barrel, Anthropologie, Bloomingdales, Martin & Osa.
Ghirardelli Square... just for the chocolate! Who can pass up chocolate? I can't!
Fun shopping area in Emeryville, with new found home design store: West Elm. New favorite? Possibly.

What's there to love in San Francisco?
Timothy John

Green, green, green (in January!)

Warm weather

Sourdough bread

Red woods

Anthropologie

My Love

Golden Gate Bridge

Tim

Chocolate

Wicked

Timothy John Abbott!

And that's why I left my heart.

I left my heart in San Francisco
High on a hill, it calls to me
To be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars
The morning fog may chill the air, I don't care

My love waits there in San Francisco
Above the blue and windy sea
When I come home to you, San Francisco
Your golden sun will shine for me

I want you for forever!

2010-02-01T23:10:00.000-08:00

Two years ago today the most incredible man asked if I wanted him for forever... and now I'm with him for forever! Remembering that night brings smiles, butterflies, and giggles- it was perfect!

All dressed up for dinner at the Melting Pot, the surprise symphony (I really just wanted to look at the sculpture!), going to get his credit card (someone had his mind on a ring and left the card at dinner), talking at our spot overlooking the city, being completely sure I would marry him (but not sure when he would ask), driving home- just happy to be in his life, taking the scenic route (something we often do), being on top of the world when he asked if I would be his for forever, absolute giddiness when told me to look in my pocket, the perfect ring he picked out himself, the incredible feeling when he got on one knee and asked me to marry him, driving to the temple where we would be sealed for time and all eternity, getting lost in his eyes!Love- It's incredible to be married to you and to share our journey that will last for forever! That night I knew this adventure would be amazing, but I had no idea it would be this wonderful! Two years ago I thought I couldn't be happier, but it only gets better!

I love you Timothy John and will always want you for forever!

Oakland Temple Hill Tour

2010-01-10T20:55:00.000-08:00

I hope you enjoy this post about the Oakland Temple. I've always loved Temples and I'm grateful to work at one as beautiful and unique as this one. Following are pictures and videos of the Temple Hill area.

Here's some pertinent data, courtesy of ldschurchtemples.com:

And now for a bunch of really cool pictures (no, I didn't take these shots):

Here's a few pictures from Christmas time:

Lastly, some views from the Temple property:

The far bridge in this lower photograph is the Golden Gate Bridge. The two closer bridges are the bay bridges linking Oakland and San Francisco.

Overall, it really is a great place to come to work each day. I don't think I'd ever be able to switch to going to work at an office building. I'm grateful that everything has worked out so well for me to come here to work.

California

2010-01-10T20:04:00.000-08:00

Well, we're moving to the Bay area! I accepted a job at the Oakland CA Temple as an Assistant Engineer, building upon the work I've been doing as an Intern for the past year. I'm really excited for the opportunity. Margo and I has a great first week here after our drive down last weekend. Margo will be going back and forth until she graduates in April, so we'll both be very grateful when things get settled down then. Highlights of our first week here together include lot's of driving. Believe it or not it's actually been a lot of fun driving around and seeing areas that we may soon call home. The purpose of all the driving was really to see where we want to live. We found a lot of good options and lots of places where we definitely won't live. On one afternoon we drove through a farming community called Clayton, which is only about a 35 minute drive from the Temple. We were amazed there was such a place so close to the metropolis of the Bay area. Margo immediately started dreaming about buying a farm with cows. I told her that it's probably not going to happen. It's good to know there is such a place though so close. Here is a picture of Clayton.

We went to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie at the Historic Orinda Movie Theater. It was awesome, both the theater and the movie. The great part is that it's only 10 minutes away.

On Saturday morning, before Margo had to fly home, we spent the morning in San Francisco. We both love the city because of it's beauty. We drove down to the piers and got out and walked around the Golden Gate National Park. We're definitely excited to live here because we'll never run out of things to do.

Christmas

2010-01-10T19:36:00.000-08:00

It was great to get out our Christmas decorations and see them again. Margo surprised me with a new circular mirror that she bought on sale at the BYU bookstore. It looked great behind the trees. I told her that although a surprise like a new mirror is great, next a surprise like power tools would be even better. The Christmas color was purple, so that's what all the presents were. Parker enjoyed them the most perhaps.

After driving home from Ethan's baby blessing on Sunday I surprised Margo by stopping in and seeing the Christmas lights and Temple Square. We didn't get to see them last year, so I was glad we got to this year.

Christmas was a very special time to be with both of our families. We got to spend a lot of time with both. I surprised Margo with a set of antique Christmas ornaments. I think this may be one of the best presents that I've ever given her because there's more than just the initial surprise when she opened the package. The excitement went on for another thirty minutes as she unwrapped each ornament individually to inspect their unique beauty. Margo got me a beautiful set of blue cuff links and a really nice blue cuff link shirt. I also received an awesome watch from Perry (my assigned sibling). He matched my wish list description perfectly.

One of the highlights of the break was spending 3 days, 2 nights up at a cabin near Flaming Gorge with Margo's family. The setting was absolutely perfect. We spent a good amount of time enjoying each others company, playing games, cross-country skiing, and playing with Parker. Perry took Parker for a little rendezvous on sled. If you look closely you can see that Parker is strapped into his booster chair which is strapped to the sled. He was pretty unsure of what was going on. I think the look on his face was saying "I'm pretty sure this booster seat is for indoor use only." Cross-country skiing is a pastime event for the Farnsworths. We had a good time forging trails and also taking the trail that wraps around the rim overlooking the reservoir.

Provo dining at its best!

2010-01-10T19:22:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite things to do is to try new restaurants. While in Provo we've tried many different restaurants and definitely have our favorites. When Maren and Joseph were out for Thanksgiving we took them to one of our favorite restaurants called The Communal. This is must for Provo dining. The food is excellent and the Pear Pandowdy from the dessert menu is supreme.

Over the Christmas holiday we took Megan and Perry to Spark, another great dining establishment in Provo. It's in the style of a night club, but since it's in Provo everything is non-alcoholic. Our recommendations here are the specialty drinks and any of the entrees. The chocolate mousse dessert comes with fresh grapefruit with a creme brulee top. Amazing. The banana strudel is also superb.

New Baby Ethan!!!

2010-01-10T16:50:00.000-08:00

Ben and Elaine had their new baby Ethan on December 22nd. Mona, Margo, and I traveled up to Asher and Erin's wedding in South Jordan. From there we continued northward to Logan through the snow and got to see Ethan just a few hours after he was born. We're so happy for Ben and Elaine.

We got to spend some time with Lorna. We helped her make some welcome home decorations for Mommy and Baby Ethan.

Nana showing Lorna her the first pictures of her baby brother.

Old Taurus, New Taurus

2010-01-10T15:52:00.000-08:00

November saw some interesting happenings. First, some 16-year-olds ran a red light and caused a truck to hit into our car and scrape the side pretty bad. I was on my way home from work at 11:30PM. I'm glad Margo wasn't there. We got to drive around a rental car for a few weeks until we settled the insurance claim, which we got some money to put towards a new car.

We ended up getting Goober, the Duchesne auto mechanic, to put some new doors on it so the car would still be drivable.

Even though the blue doors were pretty smashing, we wanted to something a little more reliable. As we were looking the car started to have a few more problems, such as the engine misfiring, so the hunt for a new car intensified. Amidst car selling scams on Craigslist and other classifieds, we actually found a good deal posted on a 3x5 card in the Wilkinson Center on BYU campus. Margo was not into it at all, mainly because the car was a.....any guesses? Another red ford taurus. We looked into it further and it actually was a really good deal. It's newer, 200,000 less miles on it, and we were able to get it that day. Getting this car really turned out to be a blessing because we got it right when we needed it, it's reliable, and we were able to pay for it with money we had saved up.

Last Day of School!

2009-12-11T19:15:00.000-08:00

Margo was so nice to wake up early and make me breakfast for my last day of school. It was soooo good. Stuffed french toast and bacon. I'm definitely glad to be done with school.

November Happenings

2009-12-05T16:24:00.000-08:00

Over Thanksgiving Break Margo put on a baby shower for Elaine, who is expecting our new baby nephew Ethan in December. When Margo gets going on something, she always does it....shall we say....to infinity and beyond!!! I had no ideas one person could think up so many cute things in such short time. I've been educated on many new items such as onesies and burp clothes and lot's of other things I didn't know existed. The opus of the baby shower was the diaper cake, again something I didn't know existed. It was pretty cool I admit. Just so everyone knows, the central core is tubes of butt paste (again, something I didn't know existed). Overall, I guess you could say this has been a very educational experience. The picture of Lorna and Parker at the shower is great. They both are so cute!!!

Margo's sister Megan spent the end of November and December in Duchesne working on her Masters Degree final paper. Accordinly, we've been able to see a lot more of our adorable nephew Parker. He is awesome! I taught him how to say my name and he likes me a lot. He loves electronic stuff, especially cell phones. As you can see, he loves Margo's cell phone.

Over Thanksgiving Margo and I spent time helping my dad with his log cabin kit that he's building at our farm. It's really a pretty cool project. After it's done we're going to take it up the mountains. My mother is already taking reservations so get in line.

At the end of the break we also had our annual Christmas Tree chopping down event up at my family's property in Argyle Canyon. We decided to have two trees at our apartment this year, after having three last year. We thought it might be good to downsize year by year, especially since next year we might only be able to have one. There's really nothing like chopping down your own Christmas tree.

Halloween Festivities

2009-11-07T14:54:00.000-08:00

We purchased several pumpkins at the Farmers' Market. We were so busy around that time that we actually didn't even have time to carve them all. The big hit this year was the white pumpkins. We got a cool affect by carving into the pumpkin, rather than cutting all the way through. The best part of the white pumpkins is that the entire pumpkin glows when they are lit.

Margo and I hosted a Halloween Party at Noah's in Lindon Utah. It's a great event center with all sorts of rooms, from theaters, to racket ball courts, to ice skating. We rented a smaller room with a big screen TV and pool table and invited several friends. Margo loved thinking up all kinds of crazy food to make.

The food showpiece was the brain carved from a small watermelon. Margo carved it up in about 15 minutes as if she'd had plenty of practice doing such things. Other food hits were the deviled eggs with spiders, finger carrot sticks, and the main dish: blood and guts (spaghetti) with finger breadsticks.

Margo made an excellent flapper girl, complete with a costume which she made herself. I had the honor of being the flapper girl's husband. Also in attendance were Fred and Wilma Flintstone (Matt and Rachel), Barney and Betty Rubble with Bamm-Bamm (Casey and McKelle and Brigden) , some hippies (Mark and Amanda), “swine flu” and his nurse (Jeff and Holly), and some martial artists (Jason and Shandra).

After food and pool we played a game I made up called unwrap the mummy! Unfortunately the mummy turned out looking a lot more like a dirty diaper. People were a little suspicious at first, but they caught on soon. Inside the wrapping were questions that had to be answered in order to continue on unwrapping. We completed the evening by watching Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock with Jimmy Stewart. It's a classic. It's also fun to watch an older "scary" movie to see how far movies have come.

Happy Birthday Little P!

2009-09-20T18:31:00.001-07:00

One year!

Happy, HAPPY BIRTHDAY handsome boy!

Our nephew Parker Morgan was born a year ago yesterday! It has been a thrill to watch him grow.

Father and son on a special birthday, September 19, 2008.

Beautiful Mother's bundle of JOY!

He has grown up so much since then!

Happy 1st Birthday Little P!

End of Summer Vacation!!!

2009-09-10T17:09:00.000-07:00

Margo has been a trooper going to school all summer long, and now she'll again putting her nose to the grindstone as she goes right into Fall semester. To give her a break, I promised that we'd go on a vacation at the end of the summer, before we had to go back to school. It also worked out great because we had a friends getting married in Portland and he needed to get his truck there, but didn't want to drive it. We offered to drive it there for him and then we could fly back. We started the trip going across Nevada. Along the way Margo made be a sandwich. Just to be funny I asked for 3/4 of a sandwich. To my surprise... and just to be funny... she made just that, as you can see from the picture.

Margo and I have always enjoyed stopping and seeing LDS Temples whenever we're on the road and so we made a point to do it while on this trip. Our first temple stop was at the Reno NV Temple. It's a smaller Temple, but still pretty cool. Instead on being adjacent to a Stake Center is located on the top of a hill overlooking the city. I thought the site was fabulous. As we neared the California border we were a little leery. Half way across Nevada I remembered that you can't take fresh produce into California and Margo had packed a cooler full of fresh produce. So the entire day were both eating cherries, grapes, apples, and all kinds of vegetables. We even stopped in to see my brother Eric in Elko to give him a bunch of stuff. By the time we got to California we had ridded our vehicle of everything but half a head of lettuce. When we got to the border they asked us if we had any fresh fruits or vegetables, to which I answered "We have half a wed of hettuce." The inspector dude didn't say anything and just flagged us on by. We both burst out laughing. It was pretty funny.

We forged ahead making a quick stop at the Sacramento CA Temple. Again, this temple is set up on a beautiful hill. I really like the architecture of this temple. The portico and grounds are exquisite. We actually saw a herd of turkeys walking around the grounds. We continued on, stopping in Stockton to see my brother Nathan. He treated us to dinner at a great restaurant called Dave Wong's. We really enjoyed it and it had been a long time since we spent time with Nathan. That night we stayed at a Motel 6 in Livermore. Awful experience. We'll know not to do that again. We got up early the next morning to attend a session at the Oakland CA Temple. I had been there once before and was very excited to show it to Margo. It sits on a beautiful hill overlooking the entire Bay area.

After the Temple we spent the day in San Francisco. Highlights included The California Academy of the Sciences, the shopping district which included a stop at Anthropology (Margo's favorite clothing store), and the main event: tickets to see the show Wicked at the Orpheum Theater. We absolutely loved seeing Wicked. There's nothing that beats seeing a live show, performed at its best. Overall, San Francisco is a great city to visit because there is so much to do and see. It's truly an amazing city.

That night we drove north after the show and just pulled over and found a nice residential area where we could stop and sleep. In the morning when I got out to stand up I found that the night before I had spilled a package of junior mint candies on the seat and had sat on them all night. That was a little mess to clean up. Sorry Chase! We gradually worked our way over to the coast where we traveled all the way up to Yachats, Oregon, where Megan and Perry were vacationing with Perry's family. The drive was absolutely beautiful. We passed through an area with giant redwood trees. They were amazing.

Driving along the coast was slow but definitely worth it. That night we spent some time with Megan and Perry and stayed at a nice motel that was pretty close to the beach. The next morning we went for a walk down the beach.

The next day we traveled into Portland. We both really liked the feel of a city in a forest. We looked around the sites in Portland which included the riverfront, where we tried steamed mussels and shark for lunch, and the famous Powell's Bookstore. We bought an old copy of the Wizard of Oz and the book Wicked in memory of the trip. That night we stayed at a beautiful bed and breakfast called the Briar Rose just across the river to the north in
Vancouver Washington. We stayed in
the Hemingway Room.

The next day we attended our friends wedding at the Portland Temple and their reception that evening. It was a great trip. We both saw so many new and exciting things, most of which we'd never seen before. It was just what we needs before starting a very busy semester.

Summer adventures… had us a blast!

2009-08-30T16:24:00.000-07:00

Summer adventures... happened so fast!
(quick name the musical! I know the words are exactly the same, but you should still be able to get it)

To me it seemed summer came and went quickly. But as quick as the days could come we planned adventures... let me share some of them with you!

June '09

May ended and June began with a special treat-- Megan, Perry, and Parker came to visit! We had a fun time going bowling, having dinner with friends, and watching Parker! One of the highlights for us was getting to go with them and our friend Eugene on a tour of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.

Megan, Perry, and Little P at the temple!

Touring the Oquirrh Mountain Temple with friends and family was our somewhat regular summer adventure. We went in large groups and small groups, but no matter the number of people who were with us they were all people we love. And each time it was a blessing to be at this special and sacred place with those we love.

We got to tour the temple with Sarah and Trevor the same day we went with Megan and Perry. It was fun to make this a frequent activity.

I love to see the temple and be there with my eternal companion.

We enjoyed the cooler weather in June and celebrated TIM’S BIRTHDAY!

For Tim's birthday this year we went singing in the rain... well not literally, but we went to Singing in the Rain at Hale Center Theater in Orem!
It was an amazing show and we both thought the cast did a great job! I blindfolded Tim and tried to confuse him by driving around, but he was not fooled and repeatedly figured out where we were... and soon guessed where we were going... Oh well I tried. I have to say I am blessed to be married to such a wonderful, intelligent, and caring man! (Even if he is hard to surprise)

July ‘09

God Bless America… Land that I love!
To celebrate the Fourth of July we went on a grand adventure with my family. We went to the Black Hills in South Dakota or in other words to Mt. Rushmore! Neither of us had been there in a long time and it was great to go again, especially for this most patriotic holiday!

We spent the weekend camping with my Mom’s brothers and sisters and some of my cousins. There was great conversation, food, bike rides, and games.

One of the coolest things was our colored campfire for the 4th. Uncle Billy turned our campfire amazing colors with various items- for example copper pipes.

There are a few places in our nation that I think are special to be at for the 4th and Mt. Rushmore is one of them. #1 would be our nations capital; in really close 2nd is Philadelphia; I don't really have an order for the others, but they are Mt. Rushmore, Gettysburg and Boston. I have been to DC twice during the Fourth and in Philly once. To be at Mt. Rushmore was really neat.

It was a great firework show… from what we could tell. We stayed up all night before the show to get tickets into the park, we arrived and got great seats really close with the trees just below the faces, we talked and played card games, it was getting close to show time… and then the fog came…

So we saw Mt. Rushmore, heard fireworks, and watch the sky turn colors, but didn’t see fireworks at Mt. Rushmore!

We like to say it was the most expensive firework show we have been to... that went off, that we didn’t get to see. The video explains it all.

We loved our vacation!

And yes we did take people to see the Oquirrh Mountain Temple in July too!

Dad, Mom, Alex, and us at the Temple.

Aug ‘09

We started the last month of summer out with a visit from Billy (my friend from New Jersey)! Probably the most amazing things for him were the mountains! I love the mountains so we made sure to get a “hike” in when we went to Duchesne. We tried to show him the best of Utah and even got him up to Wyoming so he could cross another western state off his list.

Other activities included a tour of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple and Temple Square,

watching a small town parade, going to a rodeo for the first time, going to a county fair for the first time (they don’t have county fairs in Jersey)
a daring kayaking trip through the waves (Billy did great for his first time!),

Billy’s first smore, and close encounters with the wildlife (or tame pack horses and the cows at Tim’s ranch)!

You and me go pickin' wild flowers...

2009-06-01T08:26:00.000-07:00

We love the outdoors! There is so much beauty in every season and once spring did come… it came with splendor! One evening in May we got a way from our busy schedules and spent time together at the base of the mountains. We are so blessed to live so close to the mountains and enjoyed watching the beauty of spring unfold there. We walked along and couldn’t get enough of the wild flowers so we brought a few home...

It was the perfect way to welcome spring!

Other May activities included camping (Memorial Day) in the rain! We bought our first Dutch oven and were determined to use it. We barely got a fire going, but we managed to get dinner cooked and took it to the tent to eat! It was delicious!

Tim found a great deal on some bedside tables and made it his project to get them fixed up. He is so wonderful at helping me with projects and finding ways to improve our home. I love it!

May 2009: To Life, Love, and Marriage!

2009-05-20T17:29:00.000-07:00

Celebrating a year of blissful adventure as Mr. and Mrs. Abbott!

May 3, 2009- ONE YEAR!!! It was AMAZING and it is THRILLING to be together for ETERNITY!
My Love- It's been grand to share this adventure with you. I loved our first year and can't wait for more. With you the adventure never ends... each moment brings something new. Thanks for the joy and the memories... and the anticipation of what's to come. Being with you makes my soul rejoice! You're the love of my life..

My Love for eternity!

I LOVE YOU!

I can hardly believe it has been a year! Before we got married people kept telling me the first year is the hardest. Well if that is true we're going to have one breezy life! Really our first year of marriage has been as perfect as I could imagine! Not to say we didn't have any tough times. I know we have been blessed and are blessed to have each other. Focusing on each other and the good times helped make this year a happy one! We have had so many good times and our anniversary was another one.

Tim planned our anniversary and it was wonderful! The day before we went to Thanksgiving Point to the tulip festival.

The flowers were beautiful, it was fun to play like little kids in the maze, and the waterfalls were one of our favorite parts!

That night Tim had another surprise...

He took me to dinner at Chef's Table! (The restaurant where we had our wedding luncheon.) It was a romantic end to an INCREDIBLE day!

On our actual anniversary we had a quiet candlelit dinner at home, with our wedding cake for dessert, and a toast to love and life!

2009: New Year, New Adventures!

2009-04-13T19:51:00.000-07:00

Hello one and all! I know I have been slacking at blogging (as many of you, including, Tim, have let me know). My slacking hasn't slowed our life down and I do want to share our adventures (so we have a record, but also for those who are interested). This blog is going to be a catch up blog... I hope you enjoy a little of our history from 2009!

January '09

The start of 2009 brought some changes into our day-to-day life. Tim had a change with his job. He started working at the Oquirrh Mountain LDS Temple in South Jordan, Ut.He enjoyed his internship in the facility department at Church headquarters, but this new internship was an even better fit! I loved having him come home excited to share about his day. Tim started before the construction was finished and we both have loved seeing the temple come together. It is a beautiful temple and I know it is truly the Lord's house.

I also started working in January. Sometimes it is hard for me to think of what I do as a "job." I take care of a sweet little girl who has cerebral palsy and help her family by doing some cooking and cleaning too. She is an amazing little girl, her family is wonderful, and I am blessed to be connected to them. I love reading stories with her, painting, and singing songs. It has been the perfect addition for us.

And of course we started new classes. I plunged into one of the most difficult semesters of my college career. On my first day of class I was looking over my weekly schedule, when I guy behind me tapped me on the shoulder. He asked if I the paper was my schedule, and when I told him it was he took one more look at my class list and said,"Wow! Good luck with that!" I took all of the Core 1 classes at the same time, when most people break them up over a couple semesters. And while I am not the only one who did that, I now know why most people don't. In the end it worked out and I am glad to be this much closer to graduation.

In my last blog I mentioned the exciting Christmas surprise Tim gave me... a trip to Vegas to see Phantom of the Opera! Well January 30th was the date and it was a grand adventure! We drove like crazy down to Vegas after my class on Friday. We got there thinking we were cutting it close because we planned on dinner before the show, and the forgotten time change was a relief to us. The extra hour gave us plenty of time to wander around the Venetian, get dinner, and be early to the show!

The Venetian was fun to see with its Italian city streets, painted sky, and real canal.

The highlight of the trip was the show at the Venetian theater designed specifically for Phantom of the Opera!

(Sadly no photography is allowed in the theater.)

We loved every minute of the performance and would highly recommend it to anyone. One of the best things of the night was being moved from the balcony level to orchestra seating, in the "Golden Circle"... right under the chandelier! We had an amazing view of everything and really did feel like we were part of the show!

Another part of the trip we enjoyed was seeing the Bellagio again. This was our first time back since our honeymoon. We liked seeing the changes they had made to the botanical gardens. January 26, 2009, was the Chinese New Year so everything was decorated with cool lanterns, oxen (2009 is the year of the ox), and pandas! I loved the baby panda in the botanical garden.

The hardest part was bringing ourselves to go home and leave the warm sun!

February '09

Of course this year has a lot of firsts for us (obviously because it is our first year of marriage).... One of my favorite firsts happened this month.

On February 3, 2009, Tim made his first dinner!
I had a long day of school and work, it was amazing to come home to a warm dinner! Tim did a great job too! He cooked potatoes and chicken in Cafe Rio ranch I had made the night before, it was delicious! Needless to say it was a happy night for me and I think it was an adventure for Tim.

Cupid came early for me this year. Tim wanted make sure I was surprised so he gave me my valentine on Thursday (the 12th)! The flowers and "train game" (aka Ticket to Ride) were a perfect surprise! As many of you know this game has become one of our favorites! If you haven't played before we would love to introduce you to the fun! When I first heard how to play it seemed a bit intense, but after playing once everything fits makes sense. It's a fun strategy, mixed with luck sort of game!

Valentine's Day was my turn to surprise my love.
Breakfast "in bed" (or the couch because he got up before I was ready) followed by a Disney classic Sleeping Beauty. We have a tradition (started this year) that I get Tim a Disney movie each V-Day... I thought my favorite was a good place to start.

That night we had a candle lit dinner and played...

you guessed it... the Train Game!

My Love- I just wanted to take a second and tell you I love you! I'm your valentine for eternity and am blessed to call you mine!

We had another fun evening in February... I don't know if the entire evening classifies as an "adventure", but the getting ready did. Tim's program held a formal dinner/ dance at the Hinckley Alumni Center on campus. I had work the same evening and got off only 30 min before the dinner started. After getting home I was down to 20 and in a rush to choose an outfit and find something to do with my hair! Tim was actually a huge help and in the end I had him finish my hair... he was a good sport putting the bobbypins where I told him to as I held my hair in place. Sadly we didn't get a picture of the back, he helped me do it in a twist thing I had never tried before. It turned out better than I expected, Tim would describe it as simple yet sophisticated. The night was great, we enjoyed mingling with Tim's classmates and I managed to get Tim on the floor for one dance!

We don't have many pictures from March so it is on to April...

April '09

Welcome to a Utah spring!
April showers bring May flowers... but what does April snow bring?

(Photo take April 16, 2009)

During April we hit the books hard and finished off the winter semester. We decided to stay in Provo for the summer. I took classes spring and summer terms and Tim worked full-time at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.

By the end of April we were ready for summer sun, but it proved to be a cooler summer. (Which was actually a blessing for us with a 3rd floor apartment and no central air.)
I think we'll end there tonight and finish the review to date another day.