Polar Bear Challenge

This summer Melanie and Russon dug a pool. Unfortunately, they have not added a pool heater yet. All the boys did the Christmas Eve polar bear challenge...however, only a brave few did it again on Christmas night. The first night I took still photos, however it was so funny that the second night a shot a video. As you will see...Uncle Josh is a tease, but he will always make it fair.

Christmas in Arizona pt.1

For the Christmas holiday we spent our vacation in Arizona. Melanie and Russon were great hosts always keeping us entertained. On Christmas eve we went to ASU and hiked A mountain. It was a pretty steep hike, but not very long. There was only one casualty...Melanie's shoe!

Christmas Project

So this year I took on the task of creating the family calendar. Melanie designed one over 10 years ago and every year since dad has always asked her when we were going to do another calendar. It took me so long to compile the pictures, clean them up in photo shop and group them together in a collage for each month. Although it was a super long process, I am so happy with the results. Below is the cover where I got a little carried away with the creative juices.

Finals

As many of you know, Josh has been in his first semester of college at Boise State. Being his first classes since high school and taking some advanced classes, he had to be disciplined in his studying. In this picture he is studying for his math final with his friend, Andy. They used the back sliding door as a "marker board" but as the sun set they could not see their writing so Josh had the brilliant idea to put paper on the back of the window and voila...a white board.

Thanksgiving...take two.

So, here we are in Idaho Falls for Thanksgiving...which happened to be a very fun and relaxing week. We showed up early to surprise mom and dad...like 6:30 in the morning early. We helped mom shop for food, hung out with friends and on Friday we made lasagna for the masses...four pans of it!

Thanksgiving in Boise

The weekend before Thanksgiving Brad, Kristy and their children came to Boise to spend the holiday with Jared and Crystal. We spent some time with them before we left for Idaho Falls. The kids were so happy to hang out and play with Uncle Josh.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know I have been MIA since Josh's birthday....we'll just say that we have been partying since August 12 and we just surfaced. So back to reality :) Last Wednesday I was asked to bring treats for YW. I am always excited to do this because I LOVE to bake and I don't have the opportunity to make yummy treats often. I was going to make my usual chocolate chip cookies...always a hit, but I had the biggest craving for pumpkin chocolate chip bread. I have never made pcc cookies and mom didn't have a recipe. So I logged on to my favorite site for recipes...foodnetwork.com. I got the best recipe and the cookies were so good and such a hit! I sent some to Dad for his birthday (today) and he and mom had them for breakfast. Attached is the link if you are feeling a hankering for cookies after reading this. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/george-duran/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-cookies-recipe/index.html

Happy Birthday Josh!

We have been celebrating Josh's Birthday all week. We had our weekend guests, a party on Monday, and a great day on Tuesday. Crystal, the kids, and Adam came over for dinner and Birthday cake on Monday. Josh made lasagna...yum and I made a German Chocolate cake...Josh's choice. After dinner we played Dance Dance Revolution...super fun and then we all sang happy birthday and the kids helped blow out the candles.

On Tuesday Josh and I spent the afternoon at a big water park in Boise. We had such a great time riding water slides, eating Dip-n-Dots, and trying not to drowned in the wave pool. It was Pizza Hut take out for dinner and movie night!

Busy Weekend

We had such a fun weekend....full with family and activities. Saturday morning we met Mom and Dad in Twin Falls for the Temple open house. It was absolutely amazing and wonderful to see how many people were there for the tour. Although the Twin Falls and Rexburg temples look simular from the outside, there are very different inside.

Then from Twin Falls we traveled to Nampa for a BBQ at Collette's house with Rosy's family. We spent the afternoon lazying around her beautiful backyard talking and eating desert.

That evening the four of us went for a walk in the Kathryn Albertson park. It was just comming on dusk and it was very well maintained and peaceful. After our walk we were sniffing the air for some dinner so we headed down town to the Beanery. Now, I have many memories from my childhood eating at the Brickoven Beanery. It is my parents favorite place in Boise to eat.

The next morning we went to church and both Josh and I gave talks and Josh taught gosple docturine...poor guy. Then Mom and Dad took off for home after a quick lunch. We had such a great weekend with Mom and Dad and we appreciate their support to us.

Farmers Market

Every weekend during the summer in Boise there is a farmers market downtown. There is a ton of vendors selling photos, jewelry, bags, pottery, plants and food. The whole downtown is bumping...literly...you can not take 3 steps with out bumping into other people. This morning I met Rosy and Collette for some girl time and sushi.

Own Private Idaho...

We had such a fun weekend! On Friday we saw Batman: The Dark Knight--phenomenal! On Saturday we hooked up with some friends who took us rafting on the lower Payette River. We launched at the point where the n. fork meets the s. fork. Josh and a buddy jumped into the river from a bridge that was about 20 feet above the water...the drop wasn't bad...the freezing water from the s. fork was! We rafted down approximately 10 miles and navigated our way through 8 class 2 & 3 rapids (class 6 is the biggest degree). We rode "the bull" and through some of the rapids the passengers of all the rafts would jump in and "swim" the rapids leaving their boats un-manned. It was absolutely amazing scenery and such a blast!

When we reached our take out point, we weren't quite finished with the water. There was a bend by us and the water picked up speed, rushed by about 30 feet and then got washed back up stream creating a small race track for "swimmers." We strapped on our life jackets and swam into the current. There were many whirlpools that would suck us under for a second the pop us back up before the upstream current would take us back upstream to do it all over again (are you picturing this yet?) The purpose of this was to get sucked under the deepest and to spin the fastest in the whirlpool... as my mom faints on her study floor reading this! The fun lasted almost an hour and if your thinking that we are a bunch of irresponsible children...our 50+ year old guides (parents of our friends) Vance and Elizabeth have been doing this for the last 10 years. It was a great time and it is so fun to enjoy the eastern side of this beautiful state.

Happy 4th of July!!

Our July 4th weekend was very "Purcell Family" traditional. We had the WHOLE clan there which was so much fun. We had a BBQ, volley ball tournament, we ate at the Iona Lions Club breakfast, played tennis, rode the train, floated down Big Springs, went shooting and, of course, had an amazing firework show. It was so much fun to spend time with family!

"Would you like turn-down service?"

Last weekend we had our first overnight guests...dad & mom! Dad was planning to sell in Sun Valley on Monday so they decited to set off for Boise on Sunday afternoon and spend the evening with their Boise kids and head to work Monday morning. They arrived to a impromptu BBQ of beef shish kebabs at our house with Rosy's family and then we headed to the "splash pad" in Meridian where we met Collette and her dogs. Monday morning we met for a quick breakfast at McDonalds then off they were off to work. It was a quick visit, but it was packed with fun!

Our First Guests

Tonight we had our first dinner guests...Bruce, Rosy and their family. Josh and I made chicken fajitas that were absolutely delicious. The kids put together a great family night lesson (because it was Monday night) and I whipped together some rice krispies treats.

We love having family so close!!

Going West!

We have moved to Boise! It has been hard getting things to fit going from a 7 bedroom, 3 bath, 2 car garage and huge yard house to a 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath, 1 car garage and tinny patio condo. Needless to say, we are not parking the car in the garage yet. We have had so much fun and many late nights getting everything situated.

Day-trippin'

Before we move from Idaho Falls, we wanted to go to work with dad. He and mom took us to West Yellowstone. We wondered the town as he made some sales calls, then off to the IMAX to see the Lewis and Clark movie. We had lunch at a quaint country diner and took a detour on the way home through Mesa Falls.

All By Myself....

Melanie and Russon are doing an addition to their Mesa home and they hired Josh for the week to frame it with Russon. They had a great time working in the hot sun. Me, on the other hand, missed my new husband terribly, but luckily, Josh's brother Daniel had time for a movie or two!

Our Wedding Day

March 8, 2008

The day started very differently for the both of us. Josh had a sleep over the night before with his brothers, friends and cousin. I slept at my parents house and when I woke up, the sisters, Abby, and I had a fun bridal shower...with lots of giggling.

I got my hair done at the Root Forest by Christy Hendrian and then headed to my home to do my make-up. While putting together the finishing touches guess who shows up...Josh! Yes, he saw the bride before the wedding....isn't that bad luck?

Josh headed up to Rexburg with his parents, but not before running back home because he forgot to do his hair...honestly!! I picked mom up and we drove to Rexburg in the bug.

We met at the temple and was sent to the recorder's office to make sure we were all ready with our marriage license and recommends for living ordinances.

We reserved the sealing room that seats 60 people not sure if we would have lots of empty chairs or lots of people standing and when Josh and I came in and sat down there was only one empty chair! The room was very spacious with tall windows and high ceilings. I remember how white and bright the room was, it was spectacular. After our sealing it was so wonderful to say hello and hug all of our guests.

Although it was March, it was absolutely freezing outside and during the photos we kept warm by goofing around which yielded some very amazing photos taken by John Hobbler. My bouquet and the boutonnieres were done at Floral Arts and they turned out beautiful! My bouquet had white Amazon lilies, cattleya orchids, sweet peas and white lilac. It smelled wonderful! My wedding gown was designed by the European company Casablanca. It was the most amazing dress. Mom put together the table bouquets and buffet table arrangements which turned out great...just one more of her many talents!

At the reception we had a non-stop line for over two hours! It was so amazing to see so many friends and family. Mom and Dad put together a delicious feast served by my amazing family. We had BBQ pork sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches (thanks Uncle Matt & Uncle Dave), veggies, salads, and the most amazing desert bar with an absolutely delicious wedding cake made by mom. She made a short cake, stacked in layers, covered in whipped cream and topped with sugar coated strawberries.

After the line we did the bouquet toss and guarder chase. Abby won the bouquet and cousin Brian caught the guarder...although we stole it back :) We were able to get some food and desert and mingle with friends and family. It was an amazing night that wouldn't have been successful without the amazing help and preparations from our family!

Wedding Slide Show....Enjoy!

The Announcement

Our announcement was created and designed by Graham Whipple (with our help, of-course) at The Backroom Press in Idaho Falls. It was printed using a 150 year-old press that currently resides in the Museum of Idaho. The final computer image was sent to New York where they had plates made. Those plates are put on the printing press, inked (we used chocolate brown) and hand pressed. They all turned out beautiful and unique only to us.

Hawaiian Luau Shower

Poor Katie!

My roommates and the girls from the branch threw me a bridal shower (coordinated by Katie)--Hawaiian theme. When Katie went to Hawaii she brought us back sarongs and coconut bras. We had a great night eating chicken salad sandwiches and Italian Sodas. The girls made sure Josh wasn't left out and got him some boxers.

Engagement Photos

Our photographer was John Hobbler from the Blue Studio in Idaho Falls. These were taken in late January. The outside shoot was so cold...my nose was red in those photos....thank heavens for Photo Shop.

John said Josh was his best fiancée...most men won't smile.