Bishop Howe

A surprise came to the whole family when Dave was called as bishop of our ward near the end of October. He had been serving as the EQ President, and we figured his new calling would likely be a counselor, so bishop came as a bit of a shock. Our ward is small and everyone is needed, but this was still not on our radar! We know the ensuing years will be full of many challenges and blessings related to this new role, but as a family we are ready to answer the call. 

Reference photo so we can see how many grey hairs this gives him over the next 5 years

Dave's parents came down for the weekend to witness Dave get called and sustained as bishop. We were so grateful for their support! The night before our Big Sunday we went to the WT football game, which turned out to be extremely boring. It was 5-0 at the half, so we didn't feel bad leaving early. 

Sophie somehow snuck a paper doll kit into the game, which kept her very entertained

Fluffy Bunny

Whenever we go to the beach in North Carolina it's tradition to play fluffy bunny (also known as chubby bunny). In case you are not familiar with this game, the goal is basically to put as many marshmallows as possible in your mouth and the last one standing wins.

Dave is amazingly at this - it's one of his hidden talents. I am astonished and nauseated every time I watch him. To even the playing field a bit the rule is for every 1 marshmallow the rest of the family puts in their mouth, Dave has to do 3 marshmallows and somehow with this handicap he still wins. Crazy!

Dave at 21 marshmallows - he finished with 33

This video contains marshmallow regurgitation - watch at your own risk!!

In lieu of a cake...

It was Dave's birthday this weekend and instead of a birthday cake, I made him some homemade macaroni. Dave was more than happy with the switch, but still wanted to blow out a candle so we stuck one in, sang real quick, and then took it out before it melted into the dish. It doesn't look that appetizing in the picture, but trust me, it was delicious. Mmmm!

First Day of School

Dave is officially a Ute! He started his business PhD program at the University of Utah this week and so far everything is going great. For the first year of his program he will be doing coursework, assisting a couple different professors with research projects, and T.A.-ing a class. He was also excited to find out that all first year PhD students will be receiving iPads from the university!

Dave has been taking trax to campus from a park-n-ride near our house, which has worked out really well so far. This Saturday I went down to campus with him to deliver a mini fridge and a microwave to his office that he shares with one other student. We walked around campus a bit and he showed me where some of his classes are. I have to say that after BYU, everything was a little red for my taste...

P.S.

Jack - if you're wondering what happened to your five dollar bill, Dave put it in a safe place for you before we left.

Breaking an Unbreakable Vow

About 5 years ago we went to a Denny's, looked at the breakfast menu, saw the basic plate of pancakes cost about $8 and walked out. On that day, Dave vowed that he would never eat at Denny's again.

Then Denny's came out with their $2 $ 4$ 6 $8 menu and Dave could not resist. This morning he ate his words, and we walked into Denny's and got 4 pancakes, 2 eggs, 2 pieces of bacon, 2 biscuits with gravy, and hashbrowns for 8 bucks. It wasn't the best breakfast ever, but it was tasty, and this time the price was right!!

A Passionate Sixth Grade Boy Speaks to His Love

On our most recent trip back to Texas, Dave's mom brought out boxes of old school work that she had saved for each of her kids. It was hilarious to look the at grade reports (Dave rocked at kindergarten), the artwork, and read through stories they had written.

In Dave's box we found these two gems, and since Valentine's day is just around the corner I thought I'd share:

 

 

We googled the first line and found that the assignment must have been to write a poem based off The Passionate Shepherd to His Love, but I personally like this version better.  I still can't decide what my favorite part is - the hike/bike date, the famous picture of a dove, playing in a meadow, or the 20 lb bag of gummi bears. What a funny kid, and what lucky girl I am that he's mine :)

Return to the 'Bird

When we moved back to Provo for MBA school there were several things in Washington we were sad to leave behind, but also some "Utah" things we were excited to return to - family, the dollar theater, BYU, intramurals, cheap apartments, and Snowbird - our favorite ski resort!

No room on the bench - but Dave was able to pick out a comfy little spot of concrete to call his own while waiting for the tram

Nat and I at the top of Hidden Peak, and we were lucky to get this picture! It was actually only sunny and clear for one run; The rest of the day the mountain tops were covered in fog and you could barely see a thing.

Dave at the top of the tram with ALL skiers. He has put a lot of work into learning to snowboard over the past few years and it has really paid off. With just a few exceptions, Dave can now follow me down any run on the mountain - this probably is one of our favorite things to do together!

 

Sweet smell of victory

Last night Dave and I were glued to the TV, watching the Sunday night football matchup between the Jets and the Bengals. Although the Jets won 37-0, it was actually one of the most intense games we've watched all year...

As a special treat last fall, Dave and I agreed we could each spend $50 on whatever we wanted. The only stipulation was we couldn't complain, nag, etc... about how the other person spent their money (this rule was mostly invented for me).

I got some clothes; Dave bought his way into the office Fantasy Football league. Based on past performance I thought this was going to be money down the drain, but I did my best to hold my tongue in accordance with the rule.

Dave's team, the "Sea Cows" got off to a rough start, but soon turned around and stormed their way to the top seed in the playoffs. Last night was the championship game. The Sea Cows were down by 7 with only the Jets defense left to play. The Jets have done us good all year, but every Cincinnati score againts New York's defense would take points away from the Sea Cows.

Well, the Jets held them scoreless, and the Sea Cows sailed on to victory. First place out of 12 teams - yeah Dave! I hope you'll let me help spend the prize money :)

One of these boys is not like the others...

Dave was invited by a work friend to play flag football in a Korean church league! Today was their first set of games and the team did great - 3 wins and 1 tie.

Dave was the MVP of rushing and blocking  - way to go! He was also the only non-Korean player on the field; I was the only non-Korean person cheering on the sideline - fun times :)

Post-edit: my sister pointed out that Dave is also the only one not wearing a hat, coat, gloves or long pants!