April 2014

April flew by so fast- too fast! In April I went with friends to sunny St. George for spring break, and Brad took his U of  U students to DC for the Model Arab League competition. All professions should have a week off to welcome in spring. It was perfect to be in sunny Zions and kick off the season with hiking, biking, and pool lounging.

(this is my favorite tree in all of Utah)

We celebrated Easter with the Jefferson annual easter egg hunt and brunch, and had a delicious dinner with the Dennis family. The best thing about this time of year are the pansies and tulips- yes we are ready for sunny spring.

March 2014

Not many people know that March 15th is the Ides of March (Shakespeare) but those who work in schools and with children can feel it. It's that last push of winter and some days out of the blue spring is here, but then rain and cold and winter again- it drives you crazy. Alas, in our home we push through the Ides of March with March Madness, St. Patricks Day, and Taxes! We usually go to the St. Patricks Day parade but this year it was too hectic and so it was just our traditional Jefferson Irish dinner to celebrate. Two big crockpots of  corned beef and cabbage to feed 14 of our growing Jefferson family. Delicious. And then March Madness hit and we filled out our brackets (last year Mary's team went all the way- oh yeah!) so Brad was very careful filling out his bracket... and 1 week in and both our teams are out. This year Brad chose Wichita and Mary was going for Syracuse. No fancy dinner or bragging rights for either of us this year. Tax day is a chore but a declared holiday as well because it could easily be another downer part of the Ides of March. So we give high fives and hugs when it is all sent off. Whew no taxes to worry about till 2015. This month we also took out the kite and found the most beautiful walking park nicknamed- Walden Park, because it makes you stop and think and cherish the little things like a sunset over the Oquirrhs. An added bonus was seeing our niece and nephew at their Dad's wedding- they are growing like weeds (kids do that :). And now whether the weather cooperates or not we are bound to celebrate spring- Brad in DC coaching his Model Arab League Class- Go Utes (Team Egypt!), and Mary in St. George with her girlfriends. Hurrah! we made it through the Ides of March!

February 2014

Happy Birthday month to Mary! I feel so spoiled, a whole month of good food, parties, a spa day, lunch and shopping with friends, movies, and the best valentines gift ever. This has been a good birthday month. It started with Health! Brad is doing great with his allergy shots and they really seem to be helping. He gave me the best valentines gift ever- The Vienna Ball...

A fancy dancey benefit for the Utah Symphony. Yes we felt like part of the royal class for a night, especially with the chauffeur service and photo shoot we arranged (Thanks Angie and Ryan). I borrowed my sister in law's prom dress and Brad rented a tux and we were set. The Ball included a silent auction and Viennese sit down dinner. The symphony played traditional Viennese Waltz music and we danced till our feet hurt- Brad danced like a prince and I felt like a princess. The BYU Ballroom Dance team did a few live shows and it was like watching Dancing with the Stars live on the front row. Brad shocked me when he started a bidding war for a hot air balloon ride- he must have felt we really were the royal class thinking we should spend all that money... but at least he got more money for the Utah Symphony, and who knows maybe next year I will be in a hot air balloon for my birthday. The entire night was a delight and definitely something we would want to do again. Other Birthday delights included: my favorite salmon dinner from Mom Dennis, birthday purse shopping with girlfriends, movie night with Angie, movie afternoon with Mom, Dinner and Dueling Pianos with friends, and a lovely Old Spaghetti factory dinner- like usual. It was a fun birthday month!

January 2014

January has brought a few interesting events to the Dennis household. 1- Brad became very ill and after the millionth visit to his ENT, was tested for Allergies. Interestingly enough we found out he is allergic to everything so that is why future children (see it's in writing) we will not ever have a cat or dog but we can have a horse. Horses are one of the only "pets" Brad is not allergic to. So Brad has started the shot therapy as a prevention against further allergy issues. And Mary is just loving this inversion month in Salt Lake as it makes her asthma flair up! So more so that normal we have cozied up inside this month and looked longingly at our mountains waiting for health so we can go snow hiking again. 

But thankfully we both had a health reprieve in time for Sundance, and this year we even went to a movie and did the waitlist thing for 2 other movies. It was fun to meet film enthusiasts from all over the country. We were able to see a darling french animated film- Ernest & Celestine (which is actually up for an academy ward this year) and we waitlisted but didn't get it to Mitt, and Dear White People. It was such a blast to try to find our way around Park City with all the tourists and of course we had to get lunch at Flanagans (our favorite Irish Pub.  

And for some reason this ended up being an Asian food experience month for us as we went for the first time with our friends to a Japanese restaurant and had sushi and tempora- yum! And then to celebrate Chinese New Year we did "hot pot" with our friends and it was an experience- in fact Karla kept saying "just think you are in China- ha! It was definitely an experience.

December 2013

December flew by with lots of concerts, parties, events and too much good food! We started off the season taking Mom and Dad J to the Handels Messiah sing in at Symphony Hall. I love the words "wonderful, counselor, the mighty god, the prince of peace." It was a perfect way to start the Christmas Season. We took Mom and Dad D to go see A Christmas Carol and the dancing and music was lovely. This year our Jefferson family went to The Candlelight Christmas at This is the Place park, and our Dennis family met up at Temple Square to see the lights and the candy windows at City Creek. We bought some Christmas gifts together for each other which we usually do each year but this year Brad was Santa Clause and surprised me with a beautiful sapphire necklace that he said "makes my eyes sparkle/" I gave him (and myself) the gift of dry cleaning his shirts from here on out. I can handle most household chores but ironing- I detest! It is time to accept it and no longer fight it and Brad will have lovely crisp shirts in his closet.  At the end of the season we had our friends over to celebrate Three Kings Day and had an actual Rosca de Reyes from Mexico that our friends brought back on the plane the day before. It was our first Three Kings Day party and was fun for everyone, and Brad got the baby Jesus so Feb. 2nd we are supposed to be responsible for tamales for everyone- which in Latin America is when the Christmas season officially ends. Though we kept our tree up longer than usual by the middle of January it seems time to get excited for Valentines- we are true Americans, but why not have more reasons to celebrate?