New Blog

Hey everyone. I finally made the move. Visit us now at:

http://parksadventure.blogspot.com/

I make no promises, but I will try to be better about updating this.

Voting Time

I have decided the time has come to rename the blog. "Doha Digest" worked while we were gone...but now it just feels like living in the past. (Like a homecoming queen that never gets over high school.)

I know I haven't been very good in the past year about posting, so I don't know how many people even check our blog regularly anymore. But for those few faithful followers out there, I want you to vote on the next name. I would like it to be something somewhat generic so that we won't have to change it for every new phase in our life. Here are the possibilities my sister and I came up with tonight:

Park and Jet parkandjet.blogspot.com
Park N Jet parknjet.blogspot.com
(Both of these are also available if I use “parks” instead of “park”)
Short Term Parking shorttermparking.blogspot.com
(Long term parking was taken.)
Parks City parkscity.blogspot.com
"To Park" topark.blogspot.com
Parks Department parksdepartment.blogspot.com
Parks Division parksdivision.blogspot.com
Dept. of Parks and Rec deptofparksandrec.blogspot.com
Recreation and Parks recreationandparks.blogspot.com
(“Parks and Recreation” was taken)
Central Parks centralparks.blogspot.com
Boldly Going. Somewhere. boldlygoingsomewhere.blogspot.com

Vote on one or two of your favorites by posting a comment. You can also suggest your own. By the way, "Parks Place" and "Park Place" are already taken. And before anyone thinks they are too funny, "Trailer Parks" is taken too. :)

Lillebarn

I wanted to give a plug for my old roommate April. She and a friend have started an online business selling baby accessories that they make. Their stuff is really cute. You can check it out at: www.lillebarn.etsy.com

Here are some of my favorites:

FINALLY! Some news...

Jon will enter officer training school on September 17 at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. OTS is 12 weeks long and Emily will stay in Utah while he goes. After that it is on to navigator school (probably Texas) for 8 or so months. We will update more as we get more info!

In case anyone ever doubted my love for Jon...

After five years of discussion and over the loud objections of his mom and mom-in-law, Jon finally got his motorcycle.

He really loves it.

I am getting use to the idea.

Jon's riding buddy: Baby Zane Shaeffer

Coulam Family Visit

This picture was too cute not to share.  Mel and her family came to visit me the other day and her kids had a great time playing in the hammock in our backyard.  I can not believe how big they have gotten and how much little Em is just like her mom. :)

It's Spring!

After a LONG COLD winter in Utah, we are starting to see signs of spring.  Last weekend we started getting our garden ready. Jon did most of the work as a surprise for my birthday last month.  Neither one of us has much of a green thumb...so we will see how it goes.

Our seed starters

This nest is on the wreath on our front door.  I knew we had a nest nearby somewhere, but I was so confused for a couple of weeks until I actually saw them flying out from the door.  The nest is well hidden.  We are trying to be careful every time we open and close the front door so as not to "wake" our little birds too early. :)

Sactown visit

We drove to California to visit Jon's family and to celebrate Easter with them.  It was a lot of fun and was really great to see everyone.

Mom and Grandma Bette

Easter egg hunt at Chris'

Jon with is nephew and great-niece

Our "great-niece" Monroe.  That's right! We are Great Uncle Jon and Great Aunt Em

A sad sad day for American education...

Are you frickin' kidding me?!?!?!?! It makes you wonder how some people survive in this world. She may be able to sing, but hopefully she isn't reproducing or voting!

(This is Kelly Pickler--a finalist from American Idol who is now a country singer. To be honest, I had no idea who she was until I watched this. I had to look her up on wiki.)

Here we are again...

Hi All! As many of you know, I have been on a computer/internet hiatus since we have been home. I am working now to go back and update some things from my journal and other events from our life of the past six months. Keep checking back in the next few days for updates.

I hope to be more regular after this, but I make no promises :)

Stand a Little Taller

It has been sad to watch President Hinckley get older in the last couple of years. He has always been so full of life, humor and energy. I thought it was going to be a really hard transition for me when he passed away. To be honest, I mostly feel peace and happiness that he is reunited with his wife again.

He changed so many lives--including mine. Watching all the tributes of his life the last few days has reminded me what an incredible man he was. I am amazed at how much energy he had and how much he accomplished. It makes me feel like a slacker and has motivated me to be just a little better and stand just a little taller.

My New Niece: Hailey Ann Hansen

Congratulations to Sarah and Eric!

Hailey Ann Hansen
Born: January 26, 2008
6 lbs. 3 oz.
19 1/2 inches

Congratulations Alexis and Zane!

Welcome Baby Zane!

Born January 1st 2008
6lbs. 3 oz.
19 inches long


Thanks to Alexis for this photo. I think Jon kind of likes baby Zane! :)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2007 was a great year for us. We returned to the US this August. It was a wonderful experience to live in Qatar, but we are happy to be home. We had some great adventures, lots of learning experiences, and made many wonderful friends. We are so glad we had the opportunity to be there. (For more info, check our past blog entries.)

As many of you know, Jon has applied to be an officer in the US Air Force. We were hoping to have some official news by now, but we are still waiting to hear back from them. Living in Doha taught us patience, so we are willing to wait. For now, we are enjoying the flexibility of our “in between stage” and the time with family and friends.

We both have used this as an excuse to work our “dream jobs” part-time: Jon at REI and Emily at Barnes & Noble. We pretty much just love it for the discounts, but it has been a lot of fun. Jon is also working for UPS. Emily will be looking for a different job after the holidays.

At this time of year, we are most grateful for our wonderful friends and family. We hope you are doing well and wish you the best for 2008.

With love, Jon & Emily

(This was our Christmas card insert this year. If you didn't get a Christmas card from us, it probably means that we don't have your address. Please email it to me!)

Happy Day!

The wait is finally over! Today Emma was sealed to Jeremy and Leslie (my cousins.) This was the first sealing I was able to be a part of. It was a really amazing to be part of it. The day could not have been more beautiful.

Hampton Family

My sister had me take some family photos for her up American Fork Canyon. They turned out so cute I had to share them. I love my nieces and nephews. They crack me up!

Happy 28th Birthday! WE LOVE YOU JON!

Jon was excited that we were able to celebrate his birthday while we were in California. His sister's birthday is a couple days later, so we had a double celebration with the whole family. It was really nice. We also had a post-birthday party for him for family in Utah.

My 10 Year High School Reunion

I am not sure why I decided to go to my 10 year high school reunion. There probably were a lot of factors of why I wanted to go. However, if you had asked me if I needed any type of closure from high school...I would have said "no way!" I have some regrets and embarrassing moments from high school (who doesn't?), but I had some wonderful friends and some really good experiences too. I have to admit though, that going to the reunion was really therapeutic (for lack of a better word) for me. It was wonderful to see old friends that I had lost touch with, but it was also really nice to take measure of my life. Being back in my old school and around my old classmates, gave me a great mirror to see just how much I have changed in the past 10 years. For the most part, we change little by little, day by day, and we really don't notice the drastic changes that are taking place. It felt good to realize that I was really doing pretty well and was very happy with the way my life has turned out. I am glad I went....but as my good friend, Mike, said: It is great motivation to stay in touch with the people you really care about so that you never have to go again.

Coming Home!!!!!

We are back safe from our trip to Israel and Jordan. It was such a great trip. We are really glad we did it.

We are in "pack up and move" mode now....so I don't have time to post pictures and info on the trip right now. I will add stuff once I get back to Utah.

We should be back by August 7th if all goes well. We are excited to be back!!!! More info to come...

Wild Weekend--Dubai, UAE

We cashed in some frequent flyer miles and went to Dubai last weekend. Dubai is the "Las Vegas" of the Middle East. It is only about a 45 minute flight from Doha. It felt like being in Doha...if we went through a time warp 10 years into the future. It is just a lot more developed and "Western."

We had a GREAT time. We stayed at a hotel connected to The Mall of the Emirates. It is one of the largest malls in the world. It also has an indoor ski resort. We had to check it out. As soon as we got settled we hit the slopes. We got a two hour pass--which was plenty--the "resort" has two runs. It was pretty crazy skiing indoors, but a lot of fun.

Our friends, Rich and Amy Bangerter, have lived there the last two years. We had dinner with them and then went to the Gold Souq. It was good to see them.


The next day we slept in, had breakfast and did some shopping. Jon surprised me by making reservations at a seafood restaurant at the Burj Al Arab hotel. You have probably seen pictures of it before--it is shaped like a sail boat. It is suppose to be one of the nicest hotels in the world. We thought about splurging and staying there for one night....until we found that it was at least $1500 a night!!! Lunch there was splurge enough for us. It was incredible. The restaurant had a huge aquarium in the center.

We spent another hour just walking around the hotel and watching the water fountains. It was nice to pretend we lived this life for a little while.

After a long day of shopping, Jon finally found something to get excited about...

We had a really great time in Dubai. We are so grateful for all our blessings and all the opportunities we have had.