The Porter's First Christmas Tree

This will be our first year together for Christmas. We decided to get a real tree--and from none other than...NATURE. That's right: We went and cut out tree down. It was only $10 dollars. We drove up to Idaho City and walked down into a little ravine that was about 3ft deep with snow and Jordan found and cut down the perfect tree. Then he realized we had to get it all the way back up to the truck. It was a great experience and we'll probably make it an annual tradition. Beabs probably won't go next year. She loves the snow, but not when it can cover her body x2.

Scouts

This November Landen graduated to a Wolf.

Chandler recieved his arrow of light award which makes him a Boy Scout, as compared to a Cub Scout. He's almost a man!

Halloween

This Halloween we went to Shayla's. She took the kids trick-or treating and we stayed at the house and ate candy. We also were able to do the kids' make-up as the sister missionaries were a little late. See our masterpieces:

Jordan created Chandler's gun shot wound. Chan was a dead gangster:

I did Laurel's dead clown make-up. She had a very specific drawing.

Landen was the gate keeper

Porter decided to be a dead bride! I also did his make-up and we used Laurel's Hannah Montana hair to pull it all together.

ZOMBIES!

It's a boy/girl!

Yep. That's right. We're are with child. We are preggo. We have made a person. We took two pregnancy tests to be sure. Last month we took three, and then we took a blood test and all were negative. Needless to say, we can't fake a pregnancy test. Our guess is that he/she will be due in late June or early July. Our first doctor's appointment will be on the 4th.

We have three people who think it will be a boy:

Spencer, Donna2 and Jordan (of course!)

Those who think it will be a girl:

???????

Tell us what you think: Is the first baby we're going to pop out going to be a boy or a girl?

Jordan and Chelsea are...

This past weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to have dinner with our friends, the Petersons. We made enchiladas for Adrienne's birthday and had some pear cake that Bryant had made from scratch that was to die for!

After dinner we sat and played with Connor, weighed ourselves and found our body fat percentage, then we finally talked Jordan into playing "Jordan's Self-Esteem Boosting Game". We each took a piece of paper for the three other people in the room. We had one minute to write down positive things about the other person; then, the next minute you write down things for the next person, etc. Here was the list that was compiled for each of us:

Jordan:
You can reach items on the top shelf.
You are a phenomenal public speaker.
You are French.
You are very kind & helpful.
You honor your priesthood.
You are a good husband to Chelsea.
Thoughtful.
Caring.
Loving.
Funny.
Pretty.
Smart.
Good memory.
Good under pressure.
Safe.
Good dancer.
Strong.
Righteous.
Provider.
A Real Man.
He is tall.
He is a hard worker.
He helps make really good food.

Chelsea:
Enchiladas.
Helpful.
Good friend.
Hard worker.
Spiritual.
My B.F.F.E. (Best Friend For Eternity)
Beautiful.
Inspiring.
Loving.
Perfect in every way.
Strong.
Supportive.
Caring.
You have adorable freckles.
You are beautiful.
You have a very strong testimony.
You have a gorgeous voice.
You have a very strong sense of right and wrong.
You are sweet and thoughtful.
You look cute in skinny jeans!

It was such a wonderful night and I think we all left feeling pretty dang good about ourselves. I think the game worked!

Sealing Pictures

We know it's been awhile. We FINALLY got our pictures back from the photographer. Only problem, they are all matted prints. So, Jordan is trying to figure out how to scan them and make sure they don't have white dots all over them. So let's hope it is soon!

Our only true ward friends moved away. A long, long way away. About 10 minutes. It is a gorgeous home.

That's really been the only news in our lives. Jordan had to work out of town for 3 days in Buhl.

We'll try to update sometime soon.

Primera vez a Templo de Salt Lake

Salt Lake Temple! The outside doesn't even begin to give anyone an idea of how beautiful and wonderful the inside is. Gold, white, blues and great big chandeliers. No wonder so many girls prefer this temple to be married in here!

The Reason for our trip:Our great friends (who are above the list) were sealed to their little baby boy, Connor. They adopted him in January and we were lucky enough to be counted as close friends and able to attend their sealing. Forever family!

They are so lucky to have such an adorable baby!
After the sealing we had enough time before the BBQ, that we were able to see some of the sights on Temple Square. There were Sister Missionaries from every country you can think of. We were able to go into the old tabernacle. Jordan's great, great grandpa built the organ. It has over 11,000 pipes. We also found that because the early saints had no money, they painted the wood pillars to look like marble. AND they painted the pine benches to look like oak. How industrious!


We had lunch in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. This building used to be the Hotel Utah. (Jordan's parents happened to stay here before The Church bought it back in the 80s) The guides said that every president, up until it was converted, stayed here. Also, many world leaders, including Queen Elizabeth stayed here.

This is the chapel. It used to be a ballroom. Now there are 3 wards that gather here weekly. We were told this is where the Prophet attends church, when he's in town. When President Hinkley was still living, he attended church here. When the sacrament was over, he went home. Guess he all ready knew what they were going to teach in Sunday School!


Looking down at the temple from the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.
Another something we learned: President Monson is staying in the condo right now. The only reason for that is because the plumbing in his house (which he bought in the 1960's) is having the plumbing re-done. :)

Nate, Julie, Cicily and Chase were all able to join us on the tours that afternoon. It was nice to finally spend some one-on-one time with them. Off to the visitors center:

As Jordan points, he says, "And there's Kolob!!!"

Too cute! (I think it's because he's smiling!)

This is the organ in the conference center. It has 7,500 pipes. The conference center is the largest building of its kind, seating 21,000 people who all face the same direction. Fun Fact: Look at the top of the organ: see the gold circle? That's about street level. Also, there are 4 levels of parking underneath the conference center!

On top of the Conference Center: The temple was not photo shopped in.

Cicily and Chase really liked the water. :)

When you are standing in front of this wall, you can see your refection in the mural. It seems like you are pictured with your ancestors!

Back in 1901, when this mansion was built it cost over 1 million dollars.

This is the fountain on top of the conference center. The roof was made to look like a hillside. There is wild grasses growing along with the pine trees you see and running water. The church wanted the apartments that looked onto the roof to see something pretty, not just an ugly roof.

After being tourists for the afternoon, we were able to go to the BBQ hosted by the Peterson's. We then drove back to Logan to spend the night at Steve and Carla's house.

The next day we had a family friend work on the truck and then drove back to Boise with Porter. He slept and drooled for about 2 hours. :)

Two minds think too much alike

Today...Jordan and I "bonked" heads. We both leaned over to pet the Beabs at the same time, and BONK!

Whoever invented this word should be slapped.

The Actual Colorado Trip--Part 2

Disclaimer: This is a VERY long posting, with a ton of pictures!

On Sunday morning, Jordan and I went to church (the newest church I've ever been in, it even still smelled like new carpet.). That afternoon we went to Estes Park. We arrived in time to eat lunch at Big Horn--I had the pulled pork sandwich. It was amazing. After lunch we walked around Estes. It is a very touristy type of town. Lots of little knick-knack shops as well as burger joints. The Scandinavian Festival was also going on. The performers re-enacted viking fights, danced and sold Scandinavian things.

Mom and Warren at Big Horn.

Dudo.


This picture is for Adrienne. (Because you like food.) This was Jordan's Philly cheese steak sandwich.

The Scandinavian dancers of Boulder.

The shadows don't show our best features.

Yes...that is right. THE STANLEY HOTEL. For those of you who aren't up on your Shining movie trivia, this is where the movie was filmed.

B.A.

Then we headed up into Rocky Mountain National Park.
We drove on the highest paved road in American.

Here are some of our favorite pictures from the drive:

When we got to the top, 12,090 ft, there was a little trail you could hike (and I do mean hike. At that high of an elevation you have to stop to catch your breath every 20ft or so) that went even higher. We think at the top we were about 12,300 ft.

I just love this picture.

I climbed up on top of the rocks. This woman, was demanding to one of her boys, "Come here. Come here and read thith sthign and tell me why it looksth like a mushroom."

Up there, you can see for miles.

Jordan thought it was really cool how close we were to the clouds.

Where's Waldo?

It was really bright up there.

There were signs all around stating "Don't park on the tundra." But people were doing it anyway. Mom made a few comments about how rude they were being, such as "I can't believe they aren't following the rules, there are signs everywhere...even though...I'm not a regular keeper of the rules."
Dudo decided to take it upon himself to shout at the people parked on the tundra.
"HEY!! Get off the tundra. One, two three thousand years!"
(Thats how long it takes to grow back after just one foot print.)

I thought that the elk were pretty neat, Jordan only wanted me to post one picture of them.

Carla: you never thought you'd see the day that you son was thrown in jail.
Well, it happened and you missed it. He walked on the tundra.

I was an accomplice.

The highlight of the entire trip was seeing the Masonville Jail. :)

Fort Collins.

On Sunday night, we were all a little too tired to do anything but watch "The Rundown." It is a pretty funny movie, with everyone's favorite: Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson.

On Monday we went and ran some errands. Dad and Mom needed some things for Mexico. So we went to a few clothing stores and Dad bought a couple of swimsuits and some new shirts.

That night we went to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Sing at Red Rocks Amphitheater. We stopped to get some sandwiches first from Silver Mine Subs (The best sandwich place on the planet). As you turn into the parking lot there is a round about. There were two lanes, and in the lane next to us was a mini van and a biker right behind him. The biker must not have been paying close attention, because the van didn't move. The biker started going and hit the back of the truck. He flew over his bike and landed flat on his back. His shoes flew off his feet. We were all a little startled and as soon as we were out of "hearing distance" (Even though our windows were rolled up) we couldn't hold the laughter in anymore. Every time Dad said, "And his shoes fell off" he would start cracking up, and we couldn't help but laugh along.

On the way to MoTab.

Red Rocks

It was a pretty good hike up to the amphitheater from the parking lot. They asked if all of us were ok to walk. Next time we'll remember to say no so they'll let us park in the higher parking lot.

Kodak moment anyone?

We thought it was going to rain. It sprinkled on the way down there. But...we were lucky, the prophet showed up last minute (Well, last minute to us, he probably knew months in advance) and to our "surprise" no rain! The governor of Colorado and the governor of Wyoming were also in attendance. When they were introducing them, everyone clapped a little. Then, when they announced that President Monson was in the audience, you could hear a "Whoosh!" About 2/3 of the audience stood to cheer. Jordan said it was a little weird because the usual way to greet the General Authorities is to stand and be reverent.
Hopefully it was ok we clapped (and maybe whistled).

Dad and I.

While we were waiting for the show to start, Dad wanted to take a picture of our heads with the Red Rocks behind us. Please disregard my double chin.

I think this picture is just a little bright, but in the white, is acutally the Denver skyline.

There's the skyline.

During the middle of the performace, Lloyd Newell (the announcer) said that we would get to meet all of the MoTab that night (he was joking of course, because there are about 360 people in the Choir). He started with the back row of men. Jordan knew the first guy that was announced, Art. He is a bass/baratone. He also installs in-floor radiant heating.
It is nice to know that even the MoTab, with their angelic voices, are just regular people.

Maybe one day I'll be singing with the MoTab, and Jordan will be one of the

Security guards to the Prophet.
(They even were wearing the little ear pieces and packing heat.)

The camera isn't very good at taking night shots. But they light the Red Rocks up at night. Gorgeous.

Our first Porter Family Vacation was a hit. Hopefully on our next trip we won't be thrown in jail.