Jeffry Marries His High School Sweetheart

Congratulations to our Son and his new Bride!

Jeffry and Holly have been together for a long time and here is a little recap of their adventures together. Jeffry and Holly started dating in High School. Had all the fun of Proms, Homecoming, Football Championships, Frostie Freeze, dating, and a lot of silliness.

Here they are at their High School Graduation in Fort Atkinson Wisconsin.

After Graduation: Jeffry left for his mission in Brazil for two years. Here they are saying goodbye at the airport.

Holly is holding his Football Jersey #55. Jeffry gave his Football Jersey to her to keep safe for him while he was gone.

Jeffry served his mission in Porto Alegre, Brazil for two years while Holly stayed in Wisconsin attending college and working. Jeffry loved his mission and gained an even stronger testimony of the Gospel and love for the people of Brazil. He learned to speak Portuguese, eat their food and live among the people. After his mission, he attended Utah State for a Semester and while he was there Holly was baptized by Jeffry's brother Marcus and became a member of the Church Of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints. When Jeffry came home from school they became engaged. Jeffry then couldn't decide what he wanted to do.....school? work? travel? He spent some time in Texas working with Brother Liufau and then spent some time in Hawaii working at a local surf shop. He couldn't stand to be away from his fiance and headed back to Wisconsin where he worked at Old Navy.

Then the Army entered the picture. As long as I can remember Jeffry talked about joining the Army even as a very young child. Even during his mission he would write home and tell us about the military that were there in Brazil. He told me that when he saw them and when he shook their hands he could see himself in them. That he could do that job someday. Joining the Army also meant that he would once again be away from Holly. He was to be stationed in El Paso, Texas. This separation was hard and Holly decided to move to Texas to be close to him there. Only a few weeks after her arrival, they were married at the City Hall building. Very exciting for our family and although we would have loved to have been there we know they did the right thing and they are happy and just beginning in building their own family together. Jeffry will be deployed to Afghanistan in November. Our prayers and thoughts will be with Holly at that time as we know it will be hard for them to be apart once again. We are also so thankful for Jeffry for his willingness to serve and protect our country and our freedom.

We couldn't be happier for our first born son and we welcome our new daughter-in-law to the family. Evie finally has a sister! So, congratulations to Jeffry and Holly. May your lives together be full of happiness, love and most of all laughter. Enjoy this time together because it is the best of times...before the Army takes you away and before the noise of kids, before the hustle and bustle of everyday life......just being together. We love you both very much.....

Stadium Of Fire

For the second year in a row we have attended the Stadium of Fire at BYU. It is such an exciting even and just the best way to spend the fourth of July. Glenn Beck was the host this year as he has been for the past three years and he does a great job. We have never seen fireworks presented in such a way that you can feel them rumble your whole body down to your bones. They have what they call a "fire tree", four to be exact, and when these fire trees light up, you can instantly feel the heat no matter where you are sitting in the stadium. It is just amazing to watch. We have a joke now that when we go to a little city type fireworks display it is so disapointing and you will always hear one of us saying, is that it??? The fireworks are so close that you have to wipe away the ash from your clothes and face. It is truely an experiance that I would highly recommend. We went this year as we did last year with our friends from San Fransisco. Yes, they come all the way from San Fran to watch our fireworks here in Utah! It is now a tradition and they will be back next year as well.
This is Emily, she is 10. We ate some yummy food while we were there and for the price, you would have thought were eating steak and lobster. Here she is enjoying our favorite, cotton candy. Just a cute girl and so smart. My favorite thing about her this weekend was during our conversation at breakfast and there was a quiet moment all of a sudden this tiny voice says, "So Jeff, when is your next meeting in San Fransisco anyway?" We all just started laughing out loud at this quiet little voice that sounded so grown up.
The Entertainment this year was the Jonas Brothers. Not too exciting for us but for the thousand screaming girls a bonus to the fireworks. I do have to say they put on a very good show and we did enjoy them very much. Evie and the girls thought it was amazing but for Mitchell not so much. It is fun to watch all the girls and some grownups screaming and dancing and for sure singing. They do know how to entertain.

I snapped this photo during the Jonas Bros performance just to show you how much Mitchell enjoyed them! He did say after the show that they weren't that bad. Hahaha.....isn't he just the cutest boy ever. I truely think he was just contemplating which girl to ask out on his first date! He turned 16 on Sunday. Happy Birthday Mitchell!




I couldn't help but include this picture of Jeff and Mike during the concert. Complete opposite of Mitchells reaction to the Jonas Bros. They both love this holiday and can hardly wait for the firework show to begin. They are like little boys and each time a firework goes off they both throw their fists up and shout.

Let me just sum it all up for you. Independance Day celebrated at Stadium of fire. There is a lot to see and a lot to take in. The fly by of the F-14 jets and the Blackhawk Hellicopters, the tribute to the military, the retireing of a huge American flag that had the whole stadium standing in respect and awe. Love of our country and respect for those that give us the freedom we have. It is a good place to live and a wonderful tribute and it makes me proud to be an American.

We are Painters!

So, we have been busy making our house a home. Evie decided she wanted to brighten up her room with some bright sunshine colors. As you can see by the pictures, it is a very bright and a very busy room. Sometimes when I walk by her door, I automatically reach in and try to turn off the light switch and its not even on. We joke with her that we don't know how she can sleep in there but she manages just fine. Now if I could only get her to keep it clean!

The boys room.....well, its been Mitchell's room for the past two years and in 40 more days he will be joined by his brother Marcus. Marcus, as most of you know, has been serving his mission in Phoenix Arizona. So, we decided to paint their room and make it ready for two instead of one border. The surfboard and Aloha beads are Marcus'....we purchased the old tin signs at an antique store. I was worried the colors Mitchell picked out would be a little dark but once it was all done, it looked great. Makes you feel like you want to be at the beach..... Check out the ceiling fan too. It is the best part of the room but if you ask Marcus, he would say his surfboard is the best part.....

Hell of The North

Jeff's first race of the season! Exactly six months after his surgery. The race was 25 miles long and consisted of a 5 mile loop around that had a 1 mile patch of gravel, dirt, and mud. It snowed and rained and blew the whole time...not to mention we were all freezing cold too! Jeff hasn't raced his bike in over 15 years. Since experiencing his scare with tumors in his spine he has set some huge goals for himself and racing his bike is one of them. Our goals we set for the first year of cycling are to finish every race he enters.....no matter where he places, or how long he takes to finish. Since the race was so cold, rainy, and snowy they shortened his race by one lap. He only had to ride for 4, but since the goal was to finish he decided to ride all 5 laps. We are proud of him and his goals! GOOOO DAD!!!!

Meet Pearl, My new car !

As long as I can remember I have wanted a cool VW Bus. So, after we sold our Yukon, I decided it was the perfect time. So, I searched through the web, craigs list, etc.... And low and behold I found her. Living in Salt Lake and a beauty in her own right. She is a 1969 with all original parts inside and out. I just fell in love with her at first sight. Her name is Pearl ! We have taken her to a few bike races this summer and Jeff along with Mitchell introduced her to the Father and Sons campout. They had a great time in her but when Mitchell went to climb in the hammock in the pop up, it tore through and he fell half way out before Jeff could catch him. What do you expect from a 40 year old hammock? We plan on taking her to as many bike races as we can and do some camping up in the canyon. She is a lot of fun to drive around town and we sure get a lot of peace signs and shakas thrown our way. She is not fast, that is for sure but who cares when you are driving a VW bus. When I told Jeffry that I bought her, he told me that my cool factor just went way up.....

Elder Marcus R Bruce

Marcus entered the MTC on August 8th. Jeff and I along with Evie and Mitchell drove out to Utah from Wisconsin to drop him off and to do some house hunting. We were able to spend some time with Family and Friends and just have a great time. Marcus was so excited to get going on his mission. There are some pictures of him getting his name tag and some outside of the MTC. The orange sticker on his name tag means that he has to speak spanish!! It was a bittersweet moment for us to leave him there but know he is doing well and loving every minute of it. He left the MTC on October 9th and is working hard to teach the people in Spanish. He has to wrap his bike in saran wrap and duct tape to make it look old so no one will steal it. He is happy and doing well and just living the dream!

Yep these are our two funny kids at home. They both just bulked up on some steroids!!!!!! Just kidding, they are just blow up muscle man suits. But Evie was worried about being naked, sooo we had her put on a bikini!!

This is our cute Evie. She dressed up for halloween as the Easter Bunny!!! Kinda funny--- just trying to mix up the holidays!!! Jeff got hungry and tried to eat her carrot! She didn't mind one bit.