Hello Ladies!

I haven't written on here for awhile so I thought that now is a great time. Well, Giff and I are having a great time being parents. Jaden is so fun to be around. He has been smiling and cooing to us for quite some time now. I added on some of his recent bath time pictures. I put them on the newsletter too...I think. Anyways, Giff and I might be coming down for conference as well. He has a ticket for the priesthood session and Giff and I have tickets for the Sunday afternoon session. We aren't quite sure if we are going because Jaden can't be in the conference center and we're not sure what to do there, but if we end up coming I would definitely love to see any one who down there. Keep me posted. I love y'all lots.

Love,
Amanda

General Confrence

Hey Girls-
Jen gave me a call the otherday and she and Josh are going to be in town Confrence Weekend (October 5-7). She would love to see who ever will be in town the same time. So were trying to get something together, so let either Jen and I know and we'll figure out a good time and place! Talk to you all soon!

Hey Girls!!! I have been meaning to post my happenings on here for a while, but I was kinda lost in how to do so. Luckily I saved the first email Jenna sent out about the blog and was able to follow her meticulous instructions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All is well with Shannon. I have been doing good and keeping busy. This summer has been spent mostly working (which I hate…but we’ll get to that later), volunteering at This Is The Place, catching up on some reading and just doing nothing!!! Nothing too exciting in the way of traveling this summer but hopefully I will find someplace great to go for Fall break. I am still working at the hospital, which I don’t like. The management recently changed and they are making life pretty miserable and to be honest I just want a normal job where I don’t have to work nights, weekends, or holidays. If you hear of anything in Utah that you think I might like let me know! This Is The Place was a lot fun but I was glad when it was done, spending the day in two petti-coats, a dress, and a bonnet all day it sure does get hot! Here are a few pictures from my summer…

The Little Pioneer

This is the open prairie of This is the Place

Just a little Looming..(Bring back any memories?)

Some Bread anyone?

So as summer ends, school begins, I’m taking my last few classes to finally graduate with my associates, its been a long road but I guess it dosen’t matter how long it takes you to get there, but that you get there. So after that who knows what, I am thinking about going to either the U or USU for my bachelors in Sociology. What about Nursing you ask? Well after doing allot of soul searching and praying I've decided that Nursing isn't for me. It has taken me a long time to come to this point cause its what I've wanted to do ever since I can remember! But I know that Heavenly Father has a plan and I am doing my best to put my trust in him and have faith that everything will work out. Its no secret that I LOVE Church History It would be my dream to work in the church history department for the church so I have decided to go in to Sociology. I talked with someone in the Church History Department and they said that Sociology or History is there recommended major for someone who wanted to pursue that kind of field. Then they told me that they have internships for students in between their graduation and starting graduate school. You have to have a Masters in Library Science to work there, basically what a Masters in Library Science is learning how to Archive, Catalog and Research methods. So that's the road I'm on. As exciting as it is, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the thought of it all so I’m just taking it one step at a time.
So I have been thinking that it’s about time for another edition of the Nauvoo Nine Newsletter. So If I could have your updates and pictures by September 14th that would be great! I love you all and can’t wait to hear from ya!

Jen,
That's really cool about your move! I hope everything works out for you guys. I can now relate to being married and having to make a big move...it's quite intimidating, but it always turns out well! Love ya!
-Jena

Boise

Hey Girls! Josh and I have moved to Boise. I was actually really sad to leave Pocatello but I am hoping we will have some good experiences here. We are only planning on being here for a year. Josh will (hopefully) graduate in May. Our plan is to then move back to Pocatello so I can finish my school. I guess time will tell. We moved into an apartment and it was hard to move from your own house with lots of space to an apartment with all your neighbors really, really close. However, there seems to be a lot more to do here and a lot more places to go. So, if any of you are near Boise anytime soon (which I doubt you will be) you are welcome to stop by. I got a job with the school district here and I am excited about that. I guess I will be Josh's sugar momma for the next year. Hahaha. I hope all is well with each of you. I love you all.

Hello?

Where are all the updates Nauvoo Nine?!?!?!

Oh me, oh my! Life in Portland.

Where do I even begin? Life has been quite hectic for us the past few days. We are finally in Portland and almost completely moved into the Nike house. Let me share with you a few of our...dilemas or experiences, whichever you will. First off, this house was trashed!! We were under the impression that no one lived here and that by the time we got here it would have been cleaned (that is what we were told); however, it turns out that there were people living here and that they were college boys. Therefore, this place was a complete wreck. To add to this- they STILL LIVE HERE! I'm sort of venting if you can't tell! One of the guys was supposed to move out at least by yesterday and he's still here and the other guy, as far as we know, has no plans to move out! Josh's coach is the one who is in charge of this house (we get to live here for free...so it's not like we own the place or something), and Alberto would certainly be freaking out like we are, but as nature would have it he had a heart attack the day we moved here and so he obviously can't do anything to help us get rid of these guys, nor do we want to bother him with minor details while he is recovering from his almost fatal heart attack. I am sounding all too negative and I don't mean to, I say it more or less because hopefully we will soon be able to laugh at this experience, but we have spent days cleaning this place up.

Funny story- the guys were actually planning on throwing us a "Welcome Home" party, so there was a keg in our living room and the fridge was full of beer. Did they not know we were moving from Utah? We had to explain that one right away. They don't drink around us anymore.

As for the good news- the house is cleaning up really nicely. Alberto is hiring some people to come in and paint the place, take the trash away, etc....so once all of that is done too it will look much better! We are loving it here and are so happy to be in a bigger place. We were living in a 550 sq ft apartment in Provo, and so it's nice to have windows, space, a yard, a kitchen, etc...I am really grateful for all of these things. We are getting used to all the traffic and congested down town areas, but it will still take some adjusting. I come from Klamath where town is a 15-25 minute drive and now I live 2 blocks from the heart of Portland. It's a little strange. I hope this doesn't sound so negative because we really do love it here and things are realy starting to look good. Josh is actually working outside right now, so I had better run and help him!! I will post pictures soon and tell you more about our house and experiences!! It's a hoot. Love you all.