The Birthday Boy

Today is Nate's birthday! Last night I surprised Nate with a birthday celebration because I teach a night class on Thursdays. Here he is with his presents.


This is exactly what Nate wanted for his birthday. That is why he looks so excited. He told me that he used to read Consumer Reports from cover to cover when he was a kid, kind of like how I used to read large sections of National Geographic when I was younger. I'll let you judge for yourself which is nerdier.


As many of you know, Nate is not a big lover of treats. In fact, if I ever make cookies he will only eat two, which he feels is rather generous. So, I was racking my brain to think of what we could do for a birthday cake. And then I had an inspiration ... Donuts. Nate loves donuts. They are practically the only treat that tempts him. He was really excited about the donut birthday cake.


Zephyr liked Nate's birthday too. Mostly because I let her play with the wrapping paper after he opened his presents. She was quite a pest while I was trying to wrap the presents.

Happy Birthday Nate. I love you.

Heroes

Not too much has been going on here, as evident from the lack of blog posts. The down time has given us plenty of time to catch up on season one of Heroes. Nate and I watched the whole season in the last few weeks on Netflix. We have been very entertained. However, despite all the super powers and the attempts to save the world, Heroes has an extremely high body count. So, in the tradition of the Roswell Cemetery that my roommates and I made back in 2001, I give you the Heroes Cemetery. Here lie all the dead from season one. May they rest in peace.


I can hear you now. You are thinking, "JoLee, you are a Ph.D. student. Don't you have better things to do with your time than make this silly cemetery?" The answer to that question is yes.

First Person

I look forward to getting my BYU Magazine in the mail every season. I always read the whole thing cover to cover. Sometimes this turns out to be a really interesting process. Once I knew four people in the magazine. The end of the magazine (which I always read last) is a real treat because that is where the First Person section is. For this section, BYU Magazine comes up with topics and asks their readers to send in their stories. Most of them are pretty funny. A couple months ago I wrote my very own First Person and submitted it to BYU Magazine. I awaited the next issue eagerly, but, alas, they didn't publish my blurb. I guess they didn't realize that I have been waiting for years for a topic to which I could actually respond. Anyway, they had asked their readers to write about music at BYU which I know is something that would garner A LOT of responses. Still, I think my little story is pretty funny, and I am going to post it here because I can.

Songwriters
JoLee Gillespie Stephens (BA ’01, MA ’04)
Overland Park, Kansas

My roommate Nicole and I were on BYU’s Track and Cross Country teams. During our last training camp our coach decided that one of the week’s activities would be a talent show. (Though, if truth be told, it was actually our idea.) Now, this was not just any talent show; it was a mandatory talent show, and anyone who didn’t prepare a talent beforehand had to sing their high school’s fight song. Nicole and I, however, were prepared. We sang “You’re a Grand Old Flag” and a combination of “Home on the Range” and “My Home’s in Montana.” We had such a great time practicing our songs, and we were so well received, that throughout the coming semester we continued to teach each other more songs. We specialized in songs with two intertwining melodies. As the semester progressed we had learned quite a few numbers, and one day we started talking about how funny it would be if we recorded all these silly songs and gave them to our families and friends for Christmas. One of the guys in the ward heard our conversation and offered to let us use the recording software on his computer. Our CD “Sing Along with JoLee and Nicole” included highlights such as “This Land is Your Land” and “Horsey, Horsey.” The album even included an original number written for the neglected (when it comes to songs) Thanksgiving holiday, “Oh, What Are We Thankful For.” Our families and friends were thrilled, and after that Nicole and I could proudly claim, “Oh, yeah we’re songwriters…we have an album.”

Negative 15 Degrees

What better way to celebrate sub zero temperatures than to drive up to Minneapolis? Last weekend, temperatures dropped to -15 degrees Fahrenheit (with a wind chill of -30). You know you're going to be cold when the forecast is calling for a high of -4. Having never experienced such extreme temperatures, naturally we couldn't resist. We packed up our stuff and headed north for a weekend with Uncle Jim and his family.

One of the highlights of the trip was sledding down a nearby hill. We all bundled up and braved the weather on our sleds. (It was actually much warmer that day, a balmy +9).


We had a great time racing and trying to see who could go the farthest. For some reason, JoLee kept winning.


The hill was just about the right length to make several trips.


We just had to watch out for mid sledding collisions (which were frequent). The only sledding I did growing up was with my youth group in the CA Sierra. It usually took us two hours to find a good hill, two hours of sledding until someone got hurt, and two hours until our appendages thawed out. I'm pretty sure this was the first sledding trip I've ever survived without getting injured.


The top of the hill was extremely icy, and try as we might, we just couldn't climb to the top without using a rope.


You can see by JoLee's celebration, that it really was an accomplishment to make it to the top of the hill.


As always, Jim and Peggy were great hosts. We always have a fantastic time and look forward to our next trip.

Disneyland

Nate and I just got back from a fun-filled Stephens family vacation at Disneyland! We had so much fun. I think the reason the trip was so great was that everyone was there. Now we'll always be able to all talk about that trip to Disneyland. Here's the whole crew. The park was still decorated for Christmas. It was really pretty and great for us because we had our own little Stephens family Christmas on Sunday morning.

The weathermen were predicting a less than ideal forecast. We were all geared up for rain all day, everyday, so we were pretty happy when it only rained in the evening. That being said, we still did get pretty wet. As you can see, the rain didn't deter Savannah.

Despite the cold rain, Aaron, Brooke and Nate rode the river raft ride. They said it was really fun, but Jen and I couldn't find the will to ride it because we had seen some kids get seriously soaked on the ride.

Jen and Will on the Jungle Cruise.

Val and Savannah on the Matterhorn.

Brooke and Aaron on the swings at California Adventure.

Dorothy and Savannah on Dumbo. Jen and Will are in the background.

Val and Savannah on Buzz Lightyear. Savannah looks focused.

Jen and I on Buzz Lightyear. We were very focused and determined galactic fighters.

Savannah & Will on the pirate's treasure on Tom Sawyer's Island (or whatever it's called now.)

Val, Savannah, Dorothy and Will on Tom Sawyer's Island.

Nate and JoLee in a Disneyland Shop - how's that for a ride shot! This photo was taken at the 11th hour. We were about to leave the park for good, but first Nate asked the clerk to take our photo.

This next shot is for all the runners that read my blog. Look who I ran into at Disneyland. Courtney Pugmire Meldrum. Favorite Courtney memory: Freshman year when Coach made her run while carrying a cone because she ran her repeats faster than pace.

I bet most of you don't know that Zephyr has her very own ride at California Adventure, but we didn't ride it because it is a spinny ride and because it was closed.

My favorite ride at Disneyland is Thunder Mountain. Look how happy I am. The ride is best at night, but that is not the best time for pictures. Also, never fear family, I made sure to yell about all our Thunder Mountain allergies. This trip Nate also realized the joys of Thunder Mountain.

Happy 2008!

The trip was a great way to dive into the New Year!

Thanks for such a fun trip everyone!

Gramma Scurr's Birthday Party

Another fun thing that we did in Colorado was celebrate my Gramma's 80th birthday. We all trooped up to my Aunt Patti's house and had lunch, cake, and games. We gave my Gramma a book with a whole bunch of handwritten inside jokes that was a big hit. Since everyone was there we took a bunch of family photos. First, here's the whole crew - my Dad and his kids and my Aunt and her kids, only my Uncle Todd was missing.

The Hales: Lincoln and his wife Anna and their son Lincoln, Aunt Patti, Nicholas, Emily, David and his wife Jaylene. (from left to right)

The Gillespies: Taggart, Mom, Dad, Paige and Peter and Me and Nate.


And here we are with Gramma. Taggart makes all of us 5'8" women look like shorties.

We also had cake. It took four people to light all the candles.


Gramma blew out all the candles by herself and here's my Mom showing them off.


Well, Gramma, I know that you will never read this because you don't use the internet, but we loved sharing your birthday with you, and we love you too!

Christmas Morning in Colorado

Nate and I spent Christmas in Colorado. Here are some pictures of Christmas morning. After breakfast (thanks Dad!) we all lined up on the stairs in our new pajamas, as tradition dictates.

We had a really fun time with our stockings. My mom can fit an amazing amount of stuff into each sock. Here's Nate with his pocket kite.


The boys all got a tiny puzzle. They took turns posing with the pieces once they were solved. Peter solved his first.

Taggart's puzzle was really hard. No one solved it until later that day. So Taggart solved Peter's puzzle to prove that he could solve one quickly.

Paige

JoLee and Nate

Dad with awesome hair

Mom took the pictures so she doesn't star in any. Mom also wrapped the presents in tape that was impossible to tear. We had to use scissors to open our presents. Consequently, Christmas morning lasted longer than expected.


The reindeer tells Taggart a secret. I think what he said was that it was a great Christmas morning, and he was glad that everyone could be there together.

Ice Days

We've been having some pretty exciting weather out here in Kansas City. We had about 4 days of freezing rain. Everything is coated in ice. The rain started on Saturday evening. Nate and I were supposed to go to Lawrence to hang out with our friends, Abby and Mark, but that plan was thwarted by the weather. Then church was canceled the next morning. All week long I've been getting emails from KU and the community college telling everyone what to do in case school and finals have to be canceled because of the weather. School at JCCC was canceled yesterday. Luckily, that didn't affect me or my class because the plans for rescheduling finals sound like a real pain. Nate and a bunch of other Hallmark employees worked from home yesterday. I think most of these cancellations were slight overreactions, but there have been some upsides to all of this as well. For example, Nate and I went to the mall on Monday evening to do some Christmas shopping, and the place was blissfully empty.

The Hallmark Band

If you weren't familiar with the Hallmark company culture, you might be surprised to find out that we have a company sanctioned band. We perform at least 4 times a year. Our biggest concerts include the fourth of July concert and the two Christmas concerts. Hallmark holds a family night every year where employees can bring there families in to eat, shop, and listen to the band. Oh yeah, Santa comes to visit the children.

As you might imagine, Hallmark is very good about decorating the premises for the holidays. This tree, one of many, stands in the cafeteria where we hold most of our concerts.

Kansas city is all about crowns. The KC Royals use a crown, the KC Kings used a crown (before moving to Sacramento), and Hallmark uses a crown (e.g. Hallmark Gold Crown Stores). This a picture of the light fixtures in the cafeteria (officially known as the crown room).
Our band conductor comes in once a week to lead our group. He does a great job. We've had several conductors over the years. The founder of the band (pictured here with a Dr Seuss Santa hat) doubled as Santa this year.


I played trumpet for several years as a kid before I got braces. Here I am with the rest of the awesome trumpet section playing a Christmas jingle. To my left is my fellow friend and coworker, Bruce. He used to play in the BYU marching band. We're distantly related, by the way--his niece married my cousin. That makes us...?
The band is fun, and that's why I play. I have to work it into my weekly work routine, but it's definitely worth it. Several band members are excellent musicians, so I count myself lucky to be a part of this group.