Happy Birthday Brett

Today we woke up early and went to church. After church I got a short nap and then Brett and I went over to a park that is full of different sculptures. It was really cold so we just walked around for a bit and then went into the art gallery which was kinda creepy. Brett watched a lot of football today and we had cake and ice cream. We also played another Settlers of Catan game which Trevor won...

To my Sweetie:

I love you so so much. Thank you for always putting up with me and helping me be a better person. You are always here for me when I need you and you have helped me become who I am today. I couldnt ask for a more loving husband. You always try to do your best at everything and the way you treat me is amazing. Thank you for being you and for sticking with crazy ol' me all these years. I am excited to continue to grow old with you and one day start a family. I love you always and forever. Happy 25th birthday sweetheart. I hope you had a great day. XOXO

Love, Cali

Beer and Turtles

Today was a really fun day. We all went over the the Anheuser- Busch Brewery.. that's where they make all the Budweiser. We went on a tour of the grounds and to see some of the machines that they use. After the tour we all got terribly drunk... wait... no we didn't. But we did get free soft drinks and pretzels... yummy. Then Brett and I split off from the others and went to dinner... Brett's birthday dinner. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe. Before we went into the restaurant there was a fudge making shop in the mall and we stopped to watch the show... He had a whole crowd there chanting with him... if you didn't he would call you out and embarrass you in front of everyone.. it was pretty entertaining. After we had finished our dinner I asked the waitress if they did anything for birthdays. She soon came back with an ice cream sundae. She asked Brett to stand up on a chair and she announced to everyone that he was turning a quarter of a century old. Then she made everyone sing "I'm a little tea pot" while Brett did all the actions. Watching all of this was very entertaining to me.

We decided that we might want to go ice skating after dinner but Brett was too sore from playing in his turkey bowl football game and it was a bit too expensive so we drove around Forest Park. We ended up finding this Turtle Park which was awesome.

Zoo part 2

Today we went back to the zoo to finish seeing everything. The zoo is free, so at least we didnt have to pay twice. Brett and Adrienne were once again zoo buddies-- (he carried her in the front pack) After the zoo we went to a place called Fitz's for dinner. The have really good homemade Root Beer and a bottling room where we could watch them bottling soda.

The battle of the game playing against Brett & I and Trevor & Elise is now at 4-4. We have been playing games all week and keeping score... Sadly Brett and Elise have not won a single game... so basically it is a battle between Trevor and I... So we will see how that turns out..


Only 3 more days here in St Louis.... Im really going to miss my girls... :(

Day of Thanks

Thanksgiving is a great day. We ate a great dinner that Elise made most of-- It was amazing. After dinner Adrienne and I wanted to take a nap... We were so tired. Its good to be able to be with family on Thanksgiving even if it isnt the same with out my own family. We are so thankful to be able to spend this time with Trevor and Elise and the girls. It will be something that we will always remember.

The St Louis Zoo--- part 1

Today we went to the Zoo. Anyone that knows me knows that the zoo is one of my favorite places in the world... I love to see the animals. We got going a little late so we only had about 2 hours to be there so we didnt get to see alot but we are going back on Friday to see the rest. Today we saw the Hippos and the Elephants, Then we saw all of the bugs-- there was a butterfly house that we got to walk through and it was amazing- I love butterfls and there were hundreds of them.. I got some really cool pictures. Then we went over to the petting zoo where we got to pet a sheep and a goat. Tori has been so cute with me the last couple of days... She just comes right up to , gives me a hug and says "Oh I love you Cali." I just melt. We had a lot of fun. We also found our turtle-- ( every vacation that we take we find a turtle of some kind to add to our collection. We found ours at the zoo this time. It is made out of a kind of nut that is really hard. Brown on the outside and white on the inside. It is really pretty. Last of all, I want to wih all of my family a Happy Thanksgiving. I will miss them very much. This will be my first Thanksgiving away from my family in a long time if ever.. So to all of you... I will be thinking of you and I love you.... Also, Kick some butt shopping on the day after for me. XOXO

The Gateway Arch and Old Courthouse

Yesterday we all went over to the Gateway Arch. It was really cool. Brett and I went up to the top to see the view while the others waited for us. It was really cool and the view of the city was awesome. You can see the courthouse in the middle on the right. Its a pretty building. There was a museum under the Arch and Tori and I were walking around an we saw this guy. She looked up at me and said "Who is this guy? Can I hold his hand?" I just laughed.

Then we headed over to the Old Courthouse. That was pretty cool too. We watched a movie about Dred Scott and how he purchased his freedom and had to take the case all the way to the US Supreme Court. This picture is from the steps of the courthouse. We had a nice day out yesterday.

Today we are going to the Zoo. That will be fun.

My Nieces are the cutest!

It is so nice to be able to spend time with Trevor, Elise and the Girls in St Louis. I have loved every second I have had to bond with Tori... we are good friends. Today we hung out for most of the day and then we went over to the mall for a bit. Here are a few pictures I took today.


This morning, Tori got dressed up in her fairy costume and had Brett read Alice the Fairy to her.

Tori fell in love with my turtle neckace named Penny.... So she wanted to pose for the camera with it. Thats all for today.... More fun to come!

Idaho to Ogden to St Louis and Twilight!

This weekend Brett and I went with my family up to Pocatello to see Macy play against Idaho State on Friday night. When we got there, my mom and I went to see Twilight. I really liked it a lot. She played the whole game and she was amazing. I am proud of her. It was so good to see her-- I miss her so so much. They took the game to 5 games but lost. Then on Saturday night she had another game against Weber State in Ogden. We stopped in Logan to watch the first half of the BYU/U of U game at Gramma and Grandpa Jewkes house-- (that game didn't end well) Then we all went over to the game. We had about 25 people from our extended family at that game. They lost in 3 games but Macy did good. We got to take her out after-- we went to Chilli's for dinner. She is coming home for Thanksgiving but we will be in St Louis still so I wont see her till Christmas. We drove home late last night and got home about 12 or so.

I didn't sleep very well last night. We woke up this morning and finished packing for our trip to St Louis. Our plane left around 1:45. It was a small plane.. I thought it would have been a big one. I havent been on a plane that little since I played volleyball in college. We were always on planes that small. We got here about 5:30 St Louis time and Trevor, Tori and Adrienne were there to pick us up. We are happy to be here. I will update again soon ( and I will post pictures tomorrow for Debbie) :)

moving on up

So a lot of people have been asking if we are moving... and the short answer is yes but also no at the same time. My parents are struggling financially right now and so it was decided that since we were only paying partial rent for the basement- that it would really help them if they could get someone in there that could pay full rent. They also have 2 bedrooms and a bigger bathroom upstairs on the top floor that are unoccupied. So what we are doing is closing off those 2 rooms and the bathroom upstairs with a door and there you have it-- a little apartment for us... and since we are not planning on being there much longer until we get a house of our own we decided that it would be good for both of us. We will have to share the kitchen with my mom which will be nice-- we can cook together and stuff so it will be kinda nice.. Hopefully we will be able to move out of there in February which is exciting... So this last weekend was spend packing and cleaning--- we did a dump run and a DI run and we also got a small storage unit to rent for all of our misc stuff that has accumulated. My mom was down in our house for about 5 hours yesterday cleaning like a mad woman while we finished packing and the place looks beautiful!! We are having a mass showing tonight-- there are like 9 or 10 people that have called and said they will be coming tonight to see it.

On another note-- Only 4 more days till I see my sister Macy. She has 2 games that I am going to this weekend-- One at Idaho State and the second one at Weber State. This will be the only time to see her till Christmas. She will be in Utah for a week but we will be gone by then and she will be gone when we come home.

We are leaving to go to St Louis on Sunday to see Brett's brother Trevor and his family. We are really excited to get to spend time with them.. We will make sure to take pictures of our trip and post them when we are there.

I think that is all for now...

I don't feel discouraged... not today

reasons why I DON'T feel discouraged today.


* because I have the best husband who loves me so much.
* because I have great plans for my future.
* because Brett works really hard so that we will soon be financially stable.
* because we get to go see Trevor and Elise and the girls for Thanksgiving.
* because I have found a forever best friend in my sister Alyssa.
* because we have a nice place to live and food to eat.
* because the sky is blue today and not gray.
* because I am finally content with my children less life (at least for a couple of years)
* because Brett takes care of all the bills and I trust that they will get paid.
* because I still have my Nana against all the odds.
* because I was born into the best extended family that anyone could ask for.
* because I have the greatest friends that support me in everything I do.
* because the Twilight movie comes out next week.
* because I get to see my sister Macy next Friday for the first time in months.
* because we are doing a major DI run this Saturday that will clear out all of our junk.
* because I got a huge box of new scrapbooking stuff from a friend that works at a different company.
* because we have 2 cars again and it is so much easier that way.
* because I really like my job and it is flexible.
* because I have 8 of the cutest nieces and nephews in the whole world...
* because tomorrow is Friday!
* because Brett is doing all the laundry today while I'm at work.
* because I feel like my health has improved this month. (next week is my doctors attp.)
* because I love my therapist and I feel like such a better, happier person these days.
* because I have a smile on my face.


Thanks Carrie for the encouragement... I get a lot of it from you.

Cali + Brett

1. Where and when did you meet? In high school-- I was about 15
2. How long did you date before you got married? 7 months
3. How long have you been married? coming up on 3 years next month
4. What is your favorite feature of his? His smile... it makes me melt
5. What is your favorite quality of his? The way he treats me... like his princess
6. Does he have a nickname for you? Cal, Honey Peaches.... don't ask me why..
7. What is his favorite color? Green
8. What is his favorite food? He likes a lot of things... I think he likes Steak the most
9. What is his favorite sport? He loves to watch football
10. When and where was your first kiss? It was the beginning of May 2005-- night time, At Rock Canyon Park.
11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Watch movies, Play games and talk.
12. Do you have any children? no
13. Does he have a hidden talent? He is the smartest person I know.... and he almost always has the answer to any question I have.... even useless trivia.
14. How old is he? He will be 25 in a couple of weeks.
15. How tall is he? 6'3 ish
16. Who said "I love you" first? I did... he was being such a chicken.
17. What is his favorite type of music? alternative.

18. What do you admire most about him? He would do anything for me and he works really hard to take care of me. I really admire that he always follows his dreams and he has passion for the things that he wants to do and he has the determination to make it happen. No matter how hard it gets, I always want him to follow dreams.


I love you Brett!

Quick Trip to the OC

This weekend, Brett and I flew down to Orange County to pick up our new car. Greg and Elaine had read that we were having trouble with Brett's Pathfinder. They have recently gotten a new car and had no need for their old one so they offered it to us. So, We flew down there on Thursday morning and were able to spend a few days with their family and drove back Saturday afternoon.

I didn't take too many pictures but here are a few that I did take.

Taylor and Samantha were giving the dog Sunny a bath.. It was fun to watch.

Samantha is one of the cutest little girls ever. She really liked us and we had a lot of fun watching her and playing with her during the weekend.


We went down to Laguna Beach to watch the sunset. I really like that beach a lot and the sunset was beautiful.




This is a sunset on the drive home that was so pretty.

We had a lot of fun and are so grateful for Greg and Elaine letting us come stay with them and for offering us their car...

Hee Haw!

Last night was Halloween. After work, we went over to Nana's house for a little get together. We decorated cookies, and had dinner. After that, Me and Brett adn my sister Alyssa and her boyfriend Kellen decided that we wanted to go to a haunted corn maze. The one at Thanksgiving Point was closed so we went to Hee Haw's corn maze n Pleasant Grove. There was a farm with animals and a corn maze and then there was another maze that was hanted. We had so much fun with the animals.

On Another note, we closed down the kiosk at the malls yesterday. Rent for the christmas season is just too much for us, so we will be taking a small break but our website will still be up and running. It is bittersweet for Brett. On one hand he wont have to go in there everytday but he will miss it.