Shanni's Back!

YAY! So on Friday I got a call from my mom saying that Shannon was flying back to Utah for school on Saturday and she was wondering if we could pick her up. I was so excited to see her so of course we agreed! Then on Saturday Joe and I went shooting with his dad, brother and our friends London and Kayle. When we were done, there was a message from my mother saying that Shannon's plane was coming in around 8:30, and that she didn't have a place to stay until Wednesday...so could she please stay with us. This got me even more excited, despite the fact that it was a little sudden:) So Shanni is here and tomorrow she is "auditioning" for BYU's Theatre Ballet group again. This picture is of her sewing her pointe shoes in preparation. I say "auditioning" because they would be crazy not to take her back. She was in it last year and she was absolutely incredible. Here are some pictures of her from last year: Isn't she beautiful?




Anyway, so we are super excited to have her back here with us.

We also went shooting and that was a ton of fun. Joe's baby is his .44 mag. It is way fun to shoot, but it takes a little bit to get used to it because of all the kickback it delivers. We also shot shotguns and .22 rifles. It definitely gets your heart pumping.

Howdy all, this is Joe. Giddyup it gets your heart pumping! Taking Jenn shooting when we were dating was about my only "marriage test" for Jenn, and she passed. You got to make sure your honey can keep you honest. Anyway, we had fun shooting with Jenn, my Pa, Jake, London and Kayle, and Dave Mecham. Fun times!

Here are some pictures from the gun fun.

It was fun to see Joe, his dad and his brother having some guy time. I almost felt bad that I was intruding (but not too much...we had a really good time!). They've all named their guns and it is hillarious to hear the three of them talk about them. Joe's .44 is named Helga and the shotgun is named Big Bertha. As is obvious from the pictures the three of them are pretty much sharpshooters while I am still learning. I was determined not to be a sissy and get some good practice in. I will say that by the end I was actually hitting the targets I was aiming at. I blew a water jug away and it was awesome! The wierdest part for me was going from the .44 and the shotgun to a .22 rifle and not having to adjust because of kickback. It threw me off for my first couple shots with the .22. All in all it was a great weekend, one of the last one's we've got before school starts up again. Can't wait for BYU football next Saturday!

Anniversary Weekend, Bear Lake, the Olympics!

We've been married for a year! Can I just say that we have the coolest anniversary EVER?! Here is why: first of all, we both got to marry our best friend...it doesn't get any better than that; second, the opening ceremony of the Olympics took place on our anniversary 8/8/08; and third, in China 8 is considered a number of good fortune (at least that is what we've heard...maybe that is why Michael Phelps got those 8 gold medals...crazy huh?!).

Anyway, we got to go to the temple the morning of our anniversary and it was amazing to remember everything about our wedding last year.
Here are some fun pictures from the day. At the temple, an overcast day. Gorgeous, but different from the incredible weather we had last year.The contrast to the beautiful weather we had on our wedding day.
The gorgeous little place called the Blue Boar Inn that we stayed in up in Midway. We loved it!

They left balloons, roses and chocolates in our room for us to say Happy Anniversary!

Then, after our little anniversary celebration we went to meet Joe's family up at Bear Lake for a family reunion. Joey came up there with us too (Joe's sister Liz was kind enough to take him up with her family). The water was so gorgeous, and even though there was some crazy rain and wind storms while we were there we had a wonderful time.

Gorgeous Bear Lake and the scenery that we enjoyed!Playing with the nieces and nephews that were at the family reunion.Joe and his sister Liz...can you tell they are related?Joe and his dad re-enacting how excited they were after they watched The Hulk.

My cute little (well not really) Joey, enjoying the amazing Bear Lake shakes.Joey went home about a week ago and we miss McKay and him so much! It was great to have them here. My brothers are so stinkin' cool! Shannon is arriving from New Jersey tomorrow though, so I can't complain too much! We (well probably mostly me) are counting down the days until Christmas when we can meet the entire family out in California!

We are also slowly realizing that school is creeping up on us faster than we anticipated. We really only have a week left before we are back into the full swing of academic madness. The one true thing to look forward to is football season! Go Cougs!

Bowling and Little Brothers

So you know when you start something, but you just have to take the time to sit down and finish? That is kind of what it has been like trying to get around to a second entry. It probably sounds lame, but whenever I sat down, something else that I was supposed to be doing popped into my head. That's just how things work I guess.

The most recent fun going on in the Ellis household had to do with a double date we went on about a week and a half ago and my little brothers. Joe and I got to go on a double date with a friend of mine and a guy that she's been dating for the last couple months. Christy and I planned the date and we decided that the four of us were going bowling.

Just in case you were wondering, this is not my forte. So, I am thrilled to announce that for the second time in my life I made it into triple digits. I was so excited that I took a picture. (Yes, Joe is the one right above me who got 140 as his total score; and yes that is pretty regular for him.) All in all it was a wonderful evening. Pizza, bowling, dessert and card games. I was content.

Then, right after our wonderful double date last Saturday, my two little brothers (well, relatively speaking) arrived on Sunday night to stay with us for about two weeks. They both have grown so much. The last time Joe and I saw them was at our wedding last summer and since then, McKay has grown about two inches (making him a grand total of 6'4") and Joey has grown about five (reaching somewhere right around 5'11")! I feel like a shrimp walking around my house (which is kind of ironic considering the ceilings in our apartment aren't too much taller than 7'). We have really enjoyed having the two of then here with us though. McKay headed off to Volleyball camp at BYU on Monday, but we ended up driving down to see him 4 out of the 5 days he was there anyway. Joey got a little spout of the 24 hour flu bug, but surprisingly no one else got it and he is doing much better now. When we picked up McKay on Friday we decided to go camping up in American Fork canyon. They loved it. We had this gorgeous little camp site right next to the river a little north of Tibble Fork Reservoir. We only stayed overnight, but then drove the Alpine loop to show off a little bit of Utah that we enjoy a great deal.

This was McKay and Joe trying to get a fire started so we could eat breakfast.

Here is my hot hubbie sitting next to the river that ran right by our camp.

McKay decided to get "artistic" and take some cool pictures.

I thought this one that he took was really pretty.

And this one....

This is by far my favorite picture of the entire trip. It is awesome.