Thanksgiving Fun!

Sorry that this post is about a week late, but as they say, "Better late than never" AND I had too much fun over Thanksgiving not to share some of the excitement.
There are 2 reasons why I love Thanksgiving
#1 Spending time with family and
#2 The wonderful and extremely yummy food
(I had to work until 2:30 pm this year so it was about 7:00 by the time we got to Brian's parent's house. Thankfully Thanksgiving leftovers are just about as good as the actual meal.)

Friday all of Brian's family (one nephew and his wife are the only ones missing) got together for pictures. It was a little chaotic with that many people in such a small area, but everyone cooperated and the pictures turned out really well (sorry but none of those pictures are posted). I took advantage of everyone being together and took some pictures of some of Brian's nephews and nieces.

Tyler and Mckenzi (siblings) , Stephani, Ashli, Canon and Tani (siblings)Brothers: Fraser, Jason and Spencer
Cousins: Tori and Stephani

Cousins: Brennan and Spencer

Brian's parents with all of their grandchildren

Friday we also visited my brother, Troy and his family. I was hoping to get a picture of all 4 siblings together as promised in a previous post, but it didn't work out. We had a lot of fun hanging out with my nieces and nephews. We took Troy and the 3 oldest out to dinner to hopefully give Jamian and little Eliza a little bit of a rest. On the way we unexpectedly ran into Santa Claus.

Ethan, Chloe and Bennet with Santa Claus

We also had a lot of fun reading books together. There are a lot of really cute children's books.
Two of my favorites that we read are "Where's My Teddy?" by Jez Alborough and "Cinder the Bubble-Blowing Dragon" by Jessica Anderson.
Ethan, Bennett, Brian, Chloe and Me
(Bennet broke his arm falling off a chair while eating at Costco.
Hopefully he isn't going to take after his rather klutzy aunt-ME.)

We also got a few minutes to hold cute little Eliza. Brian holding Eliza

I really enjoyed spending time with both of our families this year. I am so thankful for family. I have felt their support and love too many times to count. Thank you, each and every one of you.
And for those of you reading this blog who might be thinking that you are not in my "family" classification, I have also been helped and uplifted by many friends and acquaintances over the years. Thanks to each of you as well.

Fun lab

Here is a video of something I made in my Opto-Electronics lab. It's a light emitting diode (LED) like the one by your computer monitor's power button (yours is probably green - mine is red). Really all we did in the lab was just added aluminum patches to a semiconductor wafer (GaAs) that was made specifically for LEDs. In the movie you see us increasing the voltage on the probe causing the LED to emit light.


The next task is to make a semiconductor laser, but that has not been successful at our school yet.

A New Niece

I am thrilled to announce that I have a new niece. She is absolutely beautiful, just like my other nieces and nephews (Ok, so my nephews are "handsome"). I love being an aunt and am excited that I will be able to meet Eliza the end of this week.

Chloe holding her new sister Eliza.
(I'm hoping to post a picture of all 4 siblings next week.)
She is the first of 3 new nieces and nephews that will join our family within the next 6 months. New babies are so much fun and bring so much joy! I look forward to each new addition to our families.

Family Time and Basketball

This past weekend we spent with my family. All of my brothers and sisters and their families were there except for 2: Troy, whose wife is expecting their 4th child any day now (I am so excited to meet little Eliza!) and Amy who is in Texas. I'll just say that Emilee had the biggest cheering section during her basketball game. I had a great time watching her play basketball and found myself wishing that I could don a uniform and play with them. (I'm sure I would just warm the bench, though, because it has been way too long!) I like to say that I am the one who started the girl's basketball legacy in my family. After all, I was the first girl to decide to give it a try. I definitely was not the best player but I loved it! Since then, all of my sisters have played basketball as well and I enjoy watching them!

GO EMILEE!!

Emilee (#32) during a team huddle between quarters.

GREAT JOB, EM!!

Emilee and a few members of her enthusiastic cheering section:
Aaron, Katie and Myself

AND

We celebrated Katie and Tyson's birthdays.
Tyson, Katie, Aaron (sorry we can't see your head) and my Grandma

It's always fun getting together with family, but when we are all together it's a BLAST! (We missed you Troy and Amy but look forward to Christmas when you and your families will be here as well.)
The more the merrier!

I look forward to...

As Brian mentioned in an earlier post, I went with him to one of his on-site job interviews in California. We flew into LAX and then drove 3 hours.

A view from the car as we drove to the interview.
The white lines on and at the base of the mountains at the top of the picture are all windmills.

We were a little worried about running into problems with all the fires, but all we saw was a lot of smoke and a few areas of burned brush. It was a lot of fun spending time with Brian and the interview seemed to go well because he received another job offer.

Brian and I at the LA Temple

On our way back to LAX, we went through a session at the Las Angeles Temple. I enjoy going through the different temples. It is so amazing to me that although the architecture may differ, within each one is found the same beautiful, peaceful feelings.
Brian has received a few job offers. Each has it's pros and cons, which is why we still haven't decided which one we are going to accept. So, no we don't know yet where we are going to live after Brian graduates but we can tell you it will either be in Arizona, California or Utah.

Some of the things that I am looking forward to after Brian graduates:
1) Buying a home! I've enjoyed our apartment but it will be fun to put some color on the walls and to decorate however I like. It will also be nice to fit everything in our home rather than storing a lot of our belongings with family. (Thanks Holly and Mom!)
2) With a home comes a backyard and hopefully a porch! I love spending time, relaxing outside. Our apartment's parking lot just isn't the same.
3) With a backyard comes a dog! Both Brian and I agree that the dog will have to live outside. What we don't agree on is the breed of the dog.

I grew up with Australian Shepherds and enjoy their personalities.

Brian would prefer a black lab.

What do you think?

Job Hunt

Wahoo!! I got a job offer! That is a big relief for me. This was from my first on site interview; I've managed to set up 3 on site interviews within a week and a half. Hopefully they all want to make me offers so that I will have a choice of jobs and so that they will bump the starting salary up. Tomorrow I go to my 3rd on site interview and this time Jenny is going to go with me!

We're flying into LAX and noticed that our directions to the site puts us traveling through the fires on our 2 main routes. I'm so glad that Jenny will be with me to help me navigate through LA with possible freeway closures.

Birthdays and Heroes

I love BIRTHDAYS because it is a time to honor and shower with love the people who are so dear to my heart. It is a time of laughter, of getting together with family and eating cake and ice cream.

The honorary birthday boys this week: Brian and his dad.

His parents came up this week and we went out to dinner with them, Holly's family and his niece Ashley. It was a lot of fun spending time together and celebrating.

Holly (Brian's sister) and her family, Lizzy, Lauren, Greg and Jackson
Brian's Mom and niece Ashley

As I was looking for an appropriate birthday card for Brian, I found the perfect one. Perhaps it wasn't really a birthday card, but it said how I feel about him. The front of the card had a superman-like figure on it with the word "You...". The inside of the card was plain except for 3 words: "are my hero." I've been thinking a lot about heroes since then. I don't think the definition of a true hero is someone who is "faster than a speeding bullet", or who has spider-like characteristics, or who can lift a semi-truck with his little finger. I believe that true heroes are ordinary people who inspire others to be more than they believe they can be.

One of my heroes!

Brian is one of those ordinary people who has the extraordinary ability to love others. He genuinely cares for everyone and is sincerely interested in their individual lives and life history. He is constantly placing everyone else's needs above his own and is always on the lookout for ways that he can help others. I am one of the main recipients of his love and concern which inspires me to try to be a more loving and caring person. I am truly blessed to be married to Brian. He is the love of my life!Brian, Myself and my Dad

Another hero in my life is my Dad. He had an extraordinary work ethic. While growing up, he was always working on one project or another. It was rare to find him just sitting around. He was usually working in one of his gardens (His flower garden was one of the most beautiful in the town we lived in and his vegetable garden was always very productive. Makes me wonder how I got a semi-black thumb.), building something with wood in the basement (Two of my most prized possessions are the head board and entertainment center that he made me.), or adding on to our house. Even when he was extremely ill with cancer, he worked as long as his body would allow. He enjoyed doing a lot of these projects with his children and he instilled in each of us the ability, if not the love of work. This isn't to say that he didn't enjoy playing. He enjoyed riding motorbikes or horses with us as well as camping and hiking, but he also enjoyed good old fashioned work. Although he died two years ago, his love and example live forever in my heart.

Bertha Rosa Furhrer

My Great-Grandmother Bertha Rosa Fuhrer had extraordinary faith. In the 1890's she, her sister Mary and her father were introduced to and accepted the gospel in Switzerland. Soon afterward, both Mary and her father died. The rest of her family were bitterly opposed to the LDS Church and told her that she would either have to stop her association with the church or leave her childhood home, for they would have nothing to do with a "Mormon". Her continued faith supported her in many trials and hardships in Switzerland and then in Utah. Whenever I am discouraged, or think that my trials are too difficult, I try to think of this wonderful ancestor; and I am buoyed up by her example of faith and determination.
I have many heroes in my life, people who are wonderful examples and inspire me continually to be the best that I can. I would like to share just one more. Actually this time my hero is not just one person, but a group of very special people. As some of you know, Brian and I are hoping for the miracle of adopting a child soon. Each birthparent is a hero in my eyes. I am inspired by their extraordinary strength and courage. I am awed by the love that I feel for each of them, although individually I do not know them. I know that for some of you that might not make any sense, but I believe that this love in inspired by the pure and selfless decision of each of these amazing parents. My heart aches for each of them and I wish that I could do something to ease the monstrous weight upon their shoulders. I have realized, though, that the only thing I can do is to plead for help from the one who helps us all, our Heavenly Father.
Who are your heroes?

A ticket!

I got a traffic ticket on Saturday. This breaks my 10 year no ticket record. I was ticketed for sliding through a stop sign. The last time I was pulled over (about 5 years ago) I got off with just a warning for sliding through a stop sign. - I guess now I can identify a pattern that I can change.

It has been a source of pride for Jenny and I that we have not been pulled over and we have not been in any traffic accidents since we've been married (over 4 years). I think I'm going to do traffic school just so that I can at least have bragging rights that I have a clean record since my no tickets bragging rights are gone now.