Sunday, February 08, 2009

Alabama: Flying rolls, spitting guanacos, charging tigers

Dear all,
J. here. Howdy.
Well, we got back from our little jaunt to Alabama yesterday, and I thought you'd like to see the pictures:
Here we are at "Lambert's Cafe," home of "throwed rolls." Yep, they throw food at you as you eat. Hopefully, you can catch it.
In our comfy room at the Comfort Suites. (What an appropriate name.)
We ate brunch at Hazel's Nook, this little hole-in-the-wall. I liked the sign on the wall.
Even the decorative roosters were getting into Mardi Gras.
That goat was trouble.
This is a guanaco, related to the llama. In a guanaco pack, the tallest one is dominant, so this guy and I got into a power struggle--his ears and posture show that he's trying to stand as tall as he can. (I won, but I was afraid he'd spit. I'd seen him do it twice.)
Melanie and a wallaby.
...the wallaby.
This goose tried to eat Melanie's shoes.
...and we fed the donkeys with some of our Hattiesburg friends, who were also in town.
But, of course, we were there for the young tigers. Behold:
The tigers LOVED this bedsheet--it was covered in straw and tiger urine and chicken guts, and they went crazy when we'd play matador with them, charging us and biting at the sheet and crawling all over it.










Friday, February 06, 2009

The Photo That Made My Day


I got an email the other day with this photo attached. It completely made my day. Just look at these cute Ticos (Costa Ricans)! Their mom, Elena, got baptized about seven years ago while I was on my mission. The oldest girl on the left, Jazmin, was just a baby when I was there. Next is Nairobi, and then Melani. I'm still waiting to find out the little boy's name.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Five Year Wedding Anniversary

2008 in Hawaii

2007 in Roatán, Honduras

2006 in West Valley City, Utah

2005 in France

Honeymoon in San Francisco, California

January 28, 2004 at the Salt Lake Temple

Pre-wedding at Café Río


Here's to another 70 wonderful and exciting years!

Saturday, January 24, 2009

How to protect a loved one when there aren't enough seatbelts

I love this picture of Joseph. He gets double seatbelt protection!


Thursday, January 22, 2009

We went on a trip to Hawaii with a few of our closest friends...

All 31 of the Petersen crew



It looks like Jeff & I had a little too much fun this day.
I just noticed that Ryan (back row left) is a little too cool for the family t-shirt

Thanks, Kat!

Our young women's president, Kat, was just released, so last night we made goodbye cards and a special Hello Kitty cake for her. Here are some pictures so you can all see some of the amazing (not to mention cute and awesome) young ladies I get to spend time with.


Cathy, Hannah, Kat, Ariel, Melanie

Ah...to be so photogenic

California Pictures

At the Getty Museum in L.A. (one of our many day trips)

Posing by Warren's new pool (I scraped my back on the way out!)

The always wonderful Christensen family with new baby Evelyn

Jeff's Dad (Bob), Jeff, Grandpa Bauer, & Uncle David

Grandpa Bauer playing Rock Band with Courtney

Naughty Kitty Callaway

Uncle Biron & Vickie (Mom)

Jeff's New Best Friend

Our niece, Kally, really took a liking to Jeff on the trip to Hawaii. All she wanted was her "Uncle Jeff." Jeff has long held the mistaken notion that kids don't like him, so this new little amiga boosted his confidence considerably. These photos remind me of a line from one of my favorite poems by Sara Teasdale, "And children's faces looking up, holding wonder like a cup."




Monday, January 19, 2009

My Cute Sisters


Finally, Hawaii, Part I

Yes, we are still alive and kickin'. No need to worry. We spent a week in Hawaii with my family and a week in California with Jeff's family, and now we're trying to get back into the swing of things. Here are some picture favorites...























Saturday, December 13, 2008

Grading


This means the semester is finally coming to a close. Yeah!!

I don't know about y'all, but I think Jeff is the cutest thing since stuffed animals. He's my smarty pants, and I'm head-over-heels in love with that big brain of his.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Are you kidding me?

All the area schools closed today because we got a little snow last night and 2-4 inches were expected today. Youth activities at church were also cancelled last night, and so Jeff and I were left with two dozen unclaimed donuts. It's just a few flakes! Well, to be fair, it has been quite windy and rainy lately, and some people lost power because of downed trees. However, our apartment complex doesn't get tree damage, so maybe we just don't understand the full impact of the situation. This is a photo from the local newspaper of an unnamed kid having the time of his life this morning.

Sunday, December 07, 2008

The First Not-so-Annual Elder's Quorum Non-Turkey Turkey Shoot

We had a blast shooting guns in Eastabuchie, MS, with our friends the Jacksons, Scotts, and Britts.
P.S. Thank you, Bob & Vickie, for our early Christmas present. The camera is wonderful, and even I can take non-blurry pictures!