Shanur-day is a special day

Hey everybody! We have had an AWESOME week. Derrik has been working for the Parks and Recreation Department coaching Youth Cross Country, and I have been going to practice with him. It is wonderful because not only does it mean more Derrik time (my favorite!), but it is great exercise for me. 

We went to the temple after practice on Wednesday night, which was a lot of fun. We have been so busy, it was our first time back to the temple since our sealing. On Thursday night we got to "teen-sit" my little brother Grant! My parents were taking my sis up to Idaho to start school, and so we got to play Mom and Dad for the night. We had a great time! We took Grant to the Quarry and all went rock-climbing together.

And my most important news:

 I really like Derrik. I mean, a lot. And I enjoy spending time with him. So sometimes I don't like when we barely get to see each other all week. With school, work, coaching, and piano lessons, we are pretty busy. I decided that I need a day where Derrik just spends time with me.

Therefore, I instituted "Shan-urday". It is just like Saturday (in that it is the sixth day of the week), except that Derrik has to hang out with me the whole day. This Shan-urday, we celebrated by going hiking! Actually we started the day off by Derrik having a work meeting and doing HOURS of homework and work while I worked on Thank You notes from the wedding. Then, I finally dragged Derrik away and into the great outdoors.

We had a great time on our hike exploring the Slate Canyon area, and afterwards we went to the little shaved ice place by our casita and got shaved ice! Then, we had the adult session of our Stake Conference. It was the best stake conference we have ever attended! First off, we were married which just makes everything better. And second, we sat next to our friends Clark and Julie and got to play with their son, the CUTEST BABY IN THE WHOLE WORLD! Seriously this boy is adorable. We love him. He makes us want a baby very badly. 

After Stake Conference, we used a gift card that Derrik got for his birthday and went to my favorite restaurant, the Olive Garden! We got our favorite soup, salad, and bread sticks combo. After our first round of soups, our waiter came over, knelt next to our table, and gave us horrible news. The Olive Garden was out of all three soups, AND their salad! We asked for some more bread sticks while we waited, and then were informed they were ALSO OUT OF BREAD STICKS! Luckily, it was a less than ten minute wait for the food to be finished. 

We had Stake Conference this morning in the Marriott Center. It was a regional broadcast, and Carole M. Stevens, Elder Richard G. Scott, Wendy Nelson, and Elder Russell M. Nelson all spoke! It was absolutely fantastic, and I felt like I learned so much. Then, we went over to Clark and Julie's to eat lunch and hang out. We watched this movie:

It was really good! I liked it a lot, you should all see it. Also, any movie is better with a baby to snuggle. Then, we went over to my family's house for dessert and game night.

All in all, it was a pretty wonderful week.

-Shannon Earnshaw Jenkins