Photos!

Guess who is getting a new camera?! Yay! and in honor of this great news I will be hold a fall extravaganza-Saturday the 15th and 22nd 30 minute family photoshoots for only $50!!! Cd of all images. Just in time for Christmas cards! Email me to reserve your time slot KjoEsplin@gmail.com or call 801.860.0338

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!

HE DID IT!!! Derek is officially a graduated and I couldn't be more proud! It was a very fun day with family and friends. Pictures to come soon.

Surgery

Just after Valentines day, our work had a big basketball tournament. Derek played with some friends from his branch. During the first game he jumped and some kid kicked his knee in a way it was not suppose to bend! He went down! He couldn't stand on it. Every time he tried to go back in it would give out on him. So for the next week he limped around thinking he had twisted it. Finally nearly a week later when the swelling wasn't going away I convinced him to go see a doctor. Her first reaction as soon as she came in the room was "Wow! That looks painful! What'd you do?" Not a good sign. Anyway an MRI later and we found out he had a complete tear to his ACL and needed surgery. All went well and he's in physical therapy a couple times a week but recovering well.

The battle wounds...

(a week or 2 after the surgery)

Where's your kneecap?

And then a couple weeks ago I woke up with pink eye! In both eyes, and then I managed to scratch my left eye so it wasn't getting better. I looked like those cartoon red evil eyes for a couple weeks.

We were quite the pair, him limping around and me with red eyes.

This was after a week of drops when it was supposed to be better. It had been worse...

I know, I know, he wins the pitty party .

Welcome to the family!

We would like to introduce all of you to the newest member of our family! Balloo! He is our blue beta fish. He's the happiest fish ever. He will even dance for his food when you go to feed him. We are such proud parents.

Once there was a snowman!

Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman....

Once there was a snowman...

Tall, Tall, Tall!

In the sun he melted, melted, melted, in the sun he melted....

Small, small, small!

Seriously we made this awesome snowman and less than 3 hours later he had already fallen over and started to melt. :(

St. George trip

For conference weekend we went with the family to St. George. It was great break from school and work and we got some MUCH needed sun! I seriously believe my Vitamin D levels were depleted. Thanks Allen and Heather for letting us all come use your home.

So we didn't even coordinate this, but when we got there my Uncle Mark and Aunt Jeanette were in town. And Uncle David, Aunt Rebecca, and Rachel were driving through on their way to drop Rachel in SLC. So we saw lots of out of state cousins as well.

This is the beautiful sunset that greeted us on our way down....I could already tell it was going to be a fabulous trip.

See how excited we were?

Colby and Brody got some Grandma lovin'

Porter and Brody sure love each other, I have the cutest nephews.

Brody and me goofing around in the car, that kid seriously cracks me up!

We headed to the St. George Temple to take some photos

And we got to go see Uncle Marks GIANT horse. Seriously that thing is massive. Looks huge in the photos (compare it to the 6ft tall men in the photo)but is even larger in real life.

Uncle Mark's pride and joy.

You see the hat in the back? Barely peeking over the horses back? Allen is 6' tall and he barely came to the horses back.

Where have they been?

You all, I'm sure, have been asking yourselves..."Where are Kandis and Derek? And why don't they update their blog?" Well its your lucky day! I finally took the time to download a few pictures and here are a few highlights since last fall when I last did a real post (oops!) They are out of order so sorry but that's just how it's going to be!

P.S. HopeKids project is still happening but we're holding off til Easter so I can capture those families in their Easter best. Plus less sickness going around and hopefully a better turnout. So donations are appreciated ;)

My wonderful Grandpa gave us tickets to go see a Jazz game! So much fun to actually be in the stadium rather then watching on TV. And of course they won!

Go Jazz!

Enjoying the halftime show (ok half-time was lame but a good chance to take a pic)

Our seats we basically next to Ryan Seacrest! Awesome I know!! We are now BFF's with him and he says I have a great chance of being the next American Idol!

See there he is-the one the arrow is pointing at. I tell you we were right next to him.
(ok maybe not but that really is him. He was on a date with some girl from Utah that I hear is on dancing with the stars, I forget her name.)

A couple of the pics from Christmas morning...

Derek's sister Kathrina gave him this totally awesome Xterra mouse pad! Isn't it great?!

Here we are (Don't judge us!! We had just woken up and hadn't finished getting ready and weren't in our own beds/bathroom)

Check out our amazing gingerbread houses!

Amazing?! I know!

This is Derek's ^^^ You'll notice there are 3 stories and a balcony and covered porch it has an underground garage (ok only in theory) and a rooftop pool ;) He had way too much fun there was even some sanding of the graham crackers to get pieces exactly right. But it truly was a masterpiece.
This is mine^^ I went with the cute smaller charming cottage look.
Can you tell our tastes? This is the ongoing argument...a nice new home or an older one with charm oozing out the front door. One day when we actually get a home this may be a real issue :)

We went bowling with my old roomates and their spouses...

The chicas...

Cute us!

The dudes!

We had tons of fun hanging out with the old gang. We seriously need to do it more often!

Sharing time...

I made this "Gratitude Turkey" with my Primary kids for sharing time.

Each hand represents a service they were going to do that week to show gratitude in the spirit of thanksgiving!
Such an amazing holiday!

Derek turned 28!!!

And what 28 year old wouldn't want a Lightning McQueen cake?!?!!?

Made it myself-aren't your proud?!

Kandis is 27!!!

We had a joint birthday party with my besties!
(Adam's b-day is just 2 days after mine)
So we headed to the Brickoven for some delicious pizza

Steve REALLY liked his M&M cookie!
What a goof!

Don't mind the pasty whiteness Derek just makes me look whiter then I actually am-I swear!
I guess I better get used to it since our children are bound to be darker then me. No I am not making an announcement just sometime in the distant future.

Sam and Me

Jess and Carson-sorry its blurry

Steve and Adam-now that's true bro-love

Went to my Family's for Thanksgiving dessert and more birthday fun!
Here is me with Porter-He loves me! I could kiss those cheeks all night!

Rocky got a new bumper!! Now he rides down the road saying "check out that nice back side!"

Halloween night we had Chyanne and Cory over for scary movies
(So I Married an Axe Murderer...hehehe)

Check out my Halloween 80's Kandis! Awesome! Like totally!! Oh how I would have rocked as an 80's teen!

And we ate scary treats!

I know they look so real you may be asking yourself "Kandis what have you done!"
But have no fear they are only Oreo Balls of Goodness. And if you have never had one you have to try it! To-die-for!

For Halloween we were invited to a masquerade party by my friend Stephanie...

Meggan, Stephanie and Me

Derek being the good sport that he is (hates this holiday!) even got all dressed up.

Doesn't he look sexy as a mysterious musketeer?!

New Blog

We set up a new blog that we hope you will check out and participate in. We are testing the versatility of the ever famous Snuggie, a blanket with arms. We're trying to get people to send in pictures of them doing various activities in a Snuggie. Check it out!

Peace On Earth / Little Drummer Boy 2010 with Jack Black and Jason Segel

Provo, UT Girls - BYU Divine Comedy

Hope Kids

So, 'tis the season for giving right?! Well I started wondering what I could do to make a difference this year? I wanted to make a difference in whatever small way I could.

I am a photographer, I have my BFA in Photography, I love to take pictures. I want my art to make a difference too. How could I, little ol' me, make a difference with my photos? Well Derek and I came up with this great plan! I want to take photos free-of-charge for families which, due to medical expenses, maybe can't afford professional portraits. I have a friend, Lindsay, who has been very involved with the organization HopeKids, and we have teamed up to do just that - take pictures for these families.

HopeKids is a fabulous organization!

HopeKids provides ongoing events & activities and a powerful, unique support community for children with cancer and other life-threatening medical conditions. We surround these remarkable children and their families with the message that hope can be a powerful medicine.

What a wonderful organization! I am volunteering with them to create a portrait day for these families. On January 15th we are going to get as many portraits done for these families as possible. These families have so much going on, some of them have exhausted all finances on medical bills, and spend countless hours in hospitals. This project makes me thankful each and every day for my health and countless blessings!

Why am I sharing this with you? This organization gives so much over and over again to these children and their families. Along with this Portrait Day, I am also looking to raise donations for HopeKids. I know this is the time of year where we spend all of our money and every charity is looking for extra support, but I hope you will support this cause and donate. Whether it is just a few dollars (or more :) ) I know it will make a great difference to this organization. I don't want to give out my address to the world of the internet so if you are interested you can donate online at Hopekids.org, or email or call me and I will get you my address to send me a check and I will give them all donations at the event in January.

Kjoesplin@gmail.com

Fall is in the air...

So I'm a total blog slacker but wanted to share a few pictures of a couple things we've been doing, for anyone that hasn't given up on us eventually updating.

We at work participated in "Paint the town red" for the U of U football season. This is the mural Stephanie and I painted. Tons of fun! (this years theme was Home of the Utes)

We also went on a few Xterra off roading ventures, with Chyanne and Cory...

Krissy and Greg came to join us for pumpkin carving. And I must say we are carving pros! Check out how awesome they all turned out...


The process...

Our masterpieces....

Greg and Krissy's beauty...

The spooky results...

We went for a Sunday drive to see the leaves last week. It was absolutely the perfect time for them. Beautiful colors in every direction. Maybe its just me but the colors this year are so much richer then we've had the last couple years. Maybe because we didn't get snow yet and actually had autumn temperatures.

And my BFF Sam is having a baby-this is her with the adorable bedding she got for her nursery. Congrats Samantha!

And nothing completes a blog post better than a pic of us being goofy!

Thanks to all who still check up on our blog!