Kenney family update

Alex is currently in his 2nd to final semester as well as working full time so he is busy with that for the next few months. We are still figuring out where we are going to move in April after Alex graduates. Alex's job counted as an internship and since his current job is at home, we have a few options and will prayerfully consider where we choose to go.

My pregnancy has been going well. I'm getting out of the nausea stage which has been great! I have also felt the baby kick as well! We are now officially just past half way to baby time in March! We found out about 10 days ago that we are going to be having a boy! We are so excited!

Look what I found!

I sat down for an interview with US weekly recently and it hits the shelves tomorrow morning. It was even made into the feature story! So cool huh? Well, run down to your local grocery store and pick up a copy... or 5. I thought I'd give all my family and friends a little preview of what's to come!

By the way, no one can say we didn't warn you. If you look at our last 8 posts before this one then you can see a little hint we were trying to send you all. Notice the first letter of each blog heading.

Post semester wrap-up and Yellowstone!

Whew! What a semester! I'm pooped, but it was a good experience. Without boring everyone with too many details, let me just say that our company was (somewhat) successful in that I can at least say we ended the fiscal year in the black.

In other news, a couple weeks ago we had Alex's parents and his 3 oldest nieces come up to visit us. It was a short trip, but still quite fun. We took them all to Craigo's and showed them around campus, and spent a nice Sunday afternoon and evening playing games all together. Sorry no pictures, we were kinda slackers.

This weekend, Cindy's parents came up to help her sister Sharon move out of her apartment on Campus. As Friday night drew to a close we all gathered together to talk about what we could do the next day, and the lot fell upon the idea of going up to Yellowstone!

So to Yellowstone we went. It was a lot of fun. It's crazy that we're only 2 hours away from an Internationaly recognized park. We drove up and saw the Norris basin, Grand Canyon Lower Falls, and Old Faithful. Driving around was scenic enough as it was! We got some great pictures and videos of Buffalo and other sights around the park.

This is the "Green Dragon" geysur.

The whole lot of us

Here is us from the top of the lower falls

And some distance shots for perspective!

We also caught some buffalo on camera. Watch this video and you can hear him snorting at the passersby! This one is one taking up the whole road, but it sure made for some fun pictures!

We ended the day at Old Faithful. It made me feel so patriotic watching it! I know that america had nothing to do with the creation of this phenomenon. But still... we just rock! Anyway, here is a video my wife making a fool of herself waiting for the old girl to go off. If anyone can recommend a way that would let me rotate this video 90 degrees to the right gets a special thank you from me!

It was a great day! One that we hope to repeat someday in the future before we leave Rexburg for good!

Reese's S'mores

A couple notes about how to do REALLY good s'mores at home. Use Honey Maid Grahm crackers, it actually makes a difference in how enjoyable it is. Also, using Reese's P.B. cups in replacement of Chocolate squares will take your S'mores experience to a whole new level (credit of this idea goes to the Gates family cornroasts.) But don't make the same mistake I made last night. Make sure you take the black wrapper off the cup before you microwave it, it makes quite the mess when trying to do it after the fact!

Entertaining weekend

We have already had some good times this weekend. Yesterday, Cindy and I went to Idaho Falls to get some shopping done and had a good time. We went to Red Robin and picked up both CARS and WALL-E at Target. (both cheaper than advertised at Wal-Mart.) We had been meaning to get them to add to our collection and now feel like our Disney shelf of DVD's is much more complete than before.

Today we got to be in the Rexburg Parade for Cindy's work. We handed out fans with snoopy on them for metlife to spectators as we walked down mainstreet. We weren't exactly looking forward to being FORCED into staying in town for the 4th of July, but it was better than we were expecting. It was actually pretty fun.

After the parade we went to go see Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. It was AMAZING! I liked the first one well enough. It had cool cars and explosions to keep anyone's interest. But the new one was soooo much better! It had a much deeper storyline and really had some twists and turns you don't expect going into it. I feel like the characters get a lot more fleshed out and a lot more things make sense. There are some plot whole's but still a very satisfying movie.

Since we went to Thunder over Louisville we knew we wouldn't be impressed with any fireworks Idaho Falls had to offer. So now we are making S'mores and going to watch Independence Day.

Group Co-operation

So, for somewhat of an update, IBC is going.... OK... Just OK.

You have 20 guys, that all get together doing what they each individually think is best. I'm sure if nothing else, this will give me good practice for dealing with similar issues in the real world.

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow...

The weather has been getting really nice lately (or at least warmer). Since we moved, there has been a whole new neighborhood for us to explore. It has been nice to walk around the roads on another side of town. We try to go at least a few times a week on walks in the summertime.

Friday night I wanted to go on a walk, despite the fact it was looking like rain was about to fall. We had not gone on a walk all week so Alex agreed we'd head out. Alex went out in shorts, and I was wearing dress pants, haha. When Alex and I left it was raining, but because of the wind, we didn't feel the rain as much as what we could see coming down. When we crossed the busier street, (Viking Drive for those who are familiar with Rexburg) the rain was coming harder and harder and then it started hailing. We were having so much fun getting all wet and noticed we were the only ones outside. As we started walking down the street, a car pulled over to ask us if we wanted a ride. We told her, "actually we are just walking to enjoy the rain." She said, "You're crazy, it's supposed to get a lot worse, but okay!"

We had so much fun playing in the rain and we encourage everyone who reads this to play in the rain the next time there is a chance. It makes you feel like a kid again!

Anybody want a churro?

I am currently in what is referred to here at BYU-Idaho as the "Integrated Business Core" or IBC.  It is a group of classes that every business student here has to take together which consist of Organizational Behavior, Finance, Supply Chain Management, and Marketing.  Throughout the entire semester we are grouped up into Companies (of around 20) and then into Teams (of 4 to 5), which are used for group assignments and project etc.  

As a company we are also responsible for running a business during the semester.  The original idea that my company was going to do was "The first annual Rexburg Film Festival" which was going to include entries from anyone that wanted to participate, and be an all around fun filled event.  But long story short, it got shot down about 24 hours before we needed to make our pitch to our "investors" to get our loan to run our business.  So in that short time, the best idea we could come up with was "Sweet Stix" Churro company!

Which is how I came to become a Churro Salesman this semester!  It has been a learning experience, but very fun.  You never know what team exercises like this or going to involve until you're already waist deep into it.  

Anyway, if any of you happen to find yourself in Rexburg on a weekday between the hours of 11 and 3, come find our booth between the Library and the Smith building and buy a churro!  It'll take you back to the good 'ol days of Disneyland!

Nice weather on Memorial Day!

Memorial Day weekend has come and gone already. Can't believe it's already almost June. We are certainly enjoying warm days. A park close by recently opened a little water park for kids (for free) and it's been fun watching them. That would have been a child's dream to be so close to one of those.

We decided to take a visit to Pocatello on Saturday to visit my cousins Carrie, Zach, and their family. It was fun spending time with them, having hotdogs/hamburgers and playing a few games. I actually played Settlers of Cataan! Carrie's oldest, Makayla, had very loose front teeth that she refused to pull out. We kept trying to coax her to do it, and got one of them out, but that ended up being such an experience that she refused to let the other one come out. (it got really late though... 1:30 so we were all tired) It is definitely only a matter of time before that dangly front tooth is out! We had a great time with them and hope to see each other more often as we're only an hour apart. (we grew up 6 hours apart)

Sunday = it rained. We invited our next door neighbors over for dinner though.

On Monday, Alex and I headed down to Idaho Falls to meet up with my dad, and our Grandma and Grandpa Olsen. My grandparents are aging so it was nice to see and spend time with them. Alex and I went to Target to pick up a few things where we randomly bumped into Carrie & Zach! What a surprise! Carrie was telling me that they had a picnic lunch over by the Snake River.
I have wanted to take Alex there and walk around the river ever since we moved up here, but everytime we think about it, it's way too cold. So, after Target, we headed over there and walked the 4 mile trail around the river. Absolulty scenic walk. Geese and ducks were everywhere, then the beautiful falls, beach sand, temple view, fishing, and then swimming. It was such a beautiful day! And of course, we forgot our camera!

Well, back to school/work. But it was a fun weekend. Happy summer! We're going to go on another walk now!

Thunder Over Louisville

We got up and went to the "Great Lawn" around 10:30 a.m.  It was already getting a bit crowded, but Jeff was nice enough to go a few hours ahead of time and stake out our groups area with ropes and tarps.  It was a huge event.  At times we wandered the venues, getting the standard carni junk food.  It obviously got even more crowded as the day went on.  By about 7 p.m. the venues were so crammed full of people that people were walking shoulder to shoulder in every single direction.

The air show was awesome.  The last air show I remember was one with some of my cousins and my Grampa, and I don't remember it very well.  This one was amazing.  They had some really cool formation group planes doing a bunch of stunts making it look like they were going to crash into eachother.  The 2nd half of the air show was pretty much a bunch of show-boating pilots from the aired forced strutting their stuff.  They had F-14's, F-16's, A-10's, F-22's etc.  They even flew in some Apache and Chinook Helicopters doing some crazy stuff!

Then came the moment that Cindy and I flew out to Kentucky for.  It was the BIGGESGT FIREWORKS SHOW IN NORTH AMERICA.  (I've been to the 4th of July fireworks in Washington DC ... this was bigger.)  It went for about 30 minutes, and at times you could feel the ground shaking with each explosion.  It literally rocked!

After about 2 hours of sitting in next to dead traffic, we finally got home in time to sleep for almost 4 hours before we got up and flew home to Salt Lake, then drove back up to Rexburg. 

It was definitely the experience of a lifetime.  You just can't describe how cool it really is, it's just something you have to see for yourself.

Our Kentucky Trip (pt.2)

After our trip from Nauvoo, Craig and Danielle flew into town as well, so we set out to see the sights of the Louisville area.

We toured the Louisville slugger factory, where they make all the bats.  They showed us these cool machines where they take the best blocks of wood and shave them down to all sorts of different kinds of bats.  Who knew it was such a process?  They also have very specific computerized machines there that take the exact specifications from baseball players and make them customized for each one.  

They also had a neat museum of how bats have come to be what they are today in the baseball world, as well as some fun bat trivia.  Matthew had a great time looking at all the cool stuff and saying "bat" about 1,437 times in one afternoon.

The next day we drove to a state park called "My Old Kentucky Home" which is apparently what the name of the State Song is, which song is about this really really old house.

  It was a neat park, but the best part was just being able to walk through some nice gardens with the kids and just enjoy the beautiful afternoon.

Next stop for the day was Lincoln's birthplace.  The funny thing was that the ranger in the visitor's center told us that even though the log cabin was moved and rebuilt, it was the logs from the original cabin itself.  Later on, when actually viewing the cabin, the ranger there told us the opposite, that it was a replica of the original.  I don't know, but it was still cool to see this piece of American history.

We ended the day by driving down one of the most picturesque drives I've ever seen.  Rolling grassy hills with trees dotting the landscape.  I wish I took a picture to show, but I didn't, so I just got this one off of the internet, but it gives you an idea.

The drive was on the way to some authentic southern cookin at a nice restaurant called Claudia Sanders.

Alright, class is about to start, so I'll have to save "Thunder Over Louisville" for the next post.

Our Kentucky Trip (pt.1)

Since Cindy already told you all about our adventures in moving, I'll pick up the next part of our story and tell you about some of our trip to Kentucky.

We flew out on April 12, with a layover in the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport.  This may seem lame for me to say so, but that was a pretty cool frickin airport.  If you're making flight arrangements, and have the opportunity to have a layover there, I'd recommend it.  It's big, but not as overwhelmingly large as some other airports out there, like Houston.

It was great to be able to spend time with Jeff, Cheryl and the kids.  Personally, I feel like I was able to get to know my wife's side of the family SO much better by spending just that one week with them.  They are a great family and I'm excited to be part of it.  

Monday morning we woke up and went to Jeff's Office, where Cindy worked for about 6 months.  It was neat to be able to see all of the places she spent her time during the time we were dating.  We then hit the road for our 8 hour (or so we thought, let's just say it ended up being about 9 on the way there and more on the way back) drive to Nauvoo, IL.  Now that's almost the same drive from Rexburg to Las Vegas, and this was just an overnight trip!  But considering I've never been there before, and we had no idea when we would have another opportunity, we just decided to give it a whirl.

It was great!  I would definitely recommend the trip to anyone who is interested in a little Church History.  They had restored a lot of the original buildings and had furniture and items in them dated from the original Nauvoo Era.  We also went to Carthage for the tour there.  It was very powerful, and spiritual.  It was all around a wonderful trip!

Winter Catch Up

So I intend to get a good amount of Blogging done tonight.  So I must start with saying what's been happening thus far.

Since I've had time off of school, I've been working almost full time from home.  It's been fine, but after a few months, I'm now ready to get back into school.

I did really good during the break to go to the Gym 3 times a week.  Between that and being on an official diet, I have lost 30 lbs from when we first moved to Rexburg!  Hooray for being somewhat less fat!  It has felt good and been good for my self-image.

When I would go to the Gym, I would always bring a book.  Man, you'd be surprised how much reading a person could do when trying to take their mind off sweating themselves into madness!  In the past 6 months, I have read the following books.

Porter Rockwell Chronicles (The entire set of 4)

Night of the Dragon

Angels and Demons

Ender's Game Saga

 -Ender's Game

 -Speaker for the Dead

 -Xenocide

 -Children of the Mind

Ender's Shadow

Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy

I am currently working on reading the entire Hitch Hikers set, but with school starting we'll see how far I get.  I liked all of these books well enough.  Depending on what you enjoy to read, I would recommend some over others, but rather than rambling on about my personal critique's about each one, you can ask me and I'll just tell you what I think.

It's been a while

I don't write in this enough so thought while I have a few minutes before 24 starts up, I would write on this. So, we are moving across town. We are about 75% done, and I will post pictures later, (I promise I'll be better about writing on this). I have moved quite a bit in the past 6 years, but I guess that's just part of the college experience. The apartment I am moving from is the longest apartment I have lived in consecutively in that time, (I've been here 12 months). It will be nice to get all moved over and settled in. Hopefully we will be in that apartment the rest of our time in Rexburg.

It is still cold here in Idaho, (I know quite the shock ha). Spring weather keeps messing with me. It starts to get warm for a few days and then it turns around it gets cold and snows. I am very much looking forward to the summer.

We are heading to Kentucky in about 2 weeks to spend time with my brothers. It will be fun to see them as well as two of our nieces and nephews.

The moments of feeling 2" tall...

I work with a few girls and about 2 months ago I thought I heard one of my co-workers say that one of our other co-workers is pregnant again. What fun news!

So today at work, I instant messaged this co-worker who is 'expecting' asking her when she finds out what she's having. She wrote back and said, "What I am having for what?" I realized that she couldn't possibly be expecting with that kind of response. So, not knowing what to say, I just wrote back, "Nevermind." She then writes back, "What are you talking about?" I didn't know what else to say so I just wrote "Nevermind" again. So then she writes back and says, "I'm fat, not pregnant." Oh the moments of digging that hole seemed to keep feeling deeper. I then told her that I thought I heard something like that, and must be mistaken for someone else and that I was sorry, etc. She's not mad at me or anything, but I felt so embarrassed!

I cannot believe I did that! I will never talk to anyone about being pregnant unless I hear it FROM THEIR OWN MOUTHS or someone closely related!

Vegas!

Last month we went to Las Vegas spur of the moment for the long weekend.  No, really. . . like. . . as in Thursday morning we thought to ourselves, "wouldn't it be nice if we could spend this weekend in Las Vegas?" and then that afternoon we were packing up and leaving that night to drive to Salt Lake.  The Friday morning, we got up from Salt Lake and headed for the warmer climate.  It was very nice to escape the frozen tundra that is Rexburg and even writing this blog is making me wish we could have gone down this last 3 day weekend too!

Friday night we spent time at Vern and Lynda's (Uncle and Aunt) in Logandale, (45 minutes Northeast of Las Vegas) and just relaxed from the car ride.  Saturday we got up and drove over to Las Vegas and spent the day at Delray and Debi's (Uncle and Aunt)  and just having fun.  Cindy finally had the experience of going to In-N-Out Burger for the first time in her life.  That night we went down to the strip and hung out with the cousins, then spent the night at Dale and Jill (Cousin).  We got up and went to church with Dale and Jill as well as Grandma and Grandpa Olsen.  After spending the afternoon in town, we drove back to Lynda's for our last night, and woke up early to visit Daniel's (Cousin) grave before leaving Logandale.  We stopped for a couple hours that night in SLC to have dinner with both our parents at Cindy's parents house, then hit the road again all the way up to Rexburg.

Holiday updates

So, here is our holiday catch up blog.

We were very happy to have David and Cristina come visit us in November.  Other than my parents, they were the first members of my side of the family to come visit us here.  We had a blast!  

Thanksgiving was nice, I had a Turkey dinner with my family on Thanksgiving for the first time since before my mission, so it was kinda special to me.  There ended up being over 50 people there for it, kinda crowded but fun.  We also went out to dinner with my family for my birthday dinner at Red Robin on the day after thanksgiving.

I finished my semester pretty well, and I'm relieved to be done until April.  I found myself more excited about this break from school than I ever was for summer break in Highschool or anything.

Christmas was fun, but short.  We spent the weekend in Utah with our families and really enjoyed all the fun new toys and games.  

This blog post was mainly meant for the saking of saying everything we've been meaning to say over the past couple months, maybe now it will flow more freely and we'll keep more on top of things.  

Happy New year Everybody!