The Sweet Bookshelf Blog

If you LOVE reading books, check out my friend's blog at: http://thesweetbookshelf.blogspot.com/

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Our Game of Life

Every Christmas, the Tice kids make a scrapbook page for Mom and Dad Tice commemorating the previous year. This year I wanted to do a scrapbook page that looked like the "Game of Life." So, I thought I'd cut out all the little orange, red, green, and yellow squares and glue them all onto some paper....maybe add some pictures.....but the more I thought about it the more I convinced myself it would take too much time and cost more money than I wanted to spend. I decided instead to put my computer skills to work and created this picture in Photoshop. It was so much fun to create this and Andrew was duly impressed (every year I usually have to come up with the idea and create it and he just nods and says looks great!). It was a really fun to look back and remember all the things that happened to us this year and think about the "journey" that we took from DE to UT during the year.

Boys Night Out

Ok...I just don't get it! Monster Trucks???
Someone please explain the appeal to me 'cause I seriously would be so bored if I had to sit through one of those shows.......

Andrew and Jesse had a "boys night out" last night. They went out to eat and pigged out on spaghetti (Jesse) and lasagna (Andrew). Then they went to a monster truck rally with a group of Dads and sons from church. From what I've heard of the night, Jesse loved the fist-size meatball he got with his spaghetti, went to the bathroom 4 times, ate a gigantic bucket of popcorn all by himself at the rally and then fell asleep on the drive home at 11PM!!!!

Jesse thinks he's going back again tonight......(sigh)

Eight Years and Counting!

I first met Andrew when I was 13 years old. I can remember his family marching down the hallway in the Parkersburg Ward building. All the young women were impressed that a family with so many boys had moved into the ward. I noticed Andrew and decided then and there that he was going to be my boyfriend and I went about (the way young teenage girls do) trying to achieve that goal. See what a good little girl I was??....I made a goal and I worked towards fulfilling it!!!

A few years later, and lots of flirting, we were "boyfriend and girlfriend." We went to his (he went to the rival high school) senior prom together when I was 16. Not the greatest experience....We ended up breaking up right after that.














After prom, Andrew moved out west to work and as I completed high school we lost touch. Then, in 1996 Andrew came back to WV for his mission farewell. We wrote each other while he was in the MTC and I started college at BYU. We planned on starting a relationship again when he got home in 2 years. However, things didn't go the way we planned.









When Andrew returned from his mission we both were in different places in our lives and so we decided to go "our separate ways" again. Nothing official, we just lost contact with each other. I finished college and Andrew ended up moving to CA to work again. I never forgot Andrew though. I knew what was going on with him through his sister. When I heard that he was getting married I was devastated, but what can you do? After college I went back to WV to work and unbeknownst to me, Andrew had called off his wedding and moved to DE where his parents were living.









Around April or May of 2001, Andrew said he felt this need to contact me. So, he called up my parents and got the phone number of the family that I was babysitting for at the time. I NEVER answer the phone when I'm babysitting, so even I was surprised when I felt like I should answer it that time. I didn't recognize his voice at first. We spent a while on the phone while the kids I was babysitting watched a movie.

When I got home that night, my mom said that she was confused.... She thought I'd moved on and didn't want anything to do with Andrew anymore, but I explained to her that I'd always thought of Andrew. In fact, no one at BYU had ever looked as good to me as he did. After a few more months of talking on the phone and getting to know one another again, we met again and I think we both knew by then that we wanted to get married. Every weekend we visited each other - I went to his place and then he came to mine. On September 1, 2001 he proposed and then on December 28, 2001 we were married.

A long-time dream come true!

And it still continues......

Christmas 2009

We had a really great Christmas this year. Of course, it helped that this year we were all together in the same home again. The kids were so excited counting down the days and making lists of all the things they wanted. They were really worried about how Santa would get in our house because we don't have a chimney. So, we told them that Santa would probably come through the attic. Christmas morning, there was a "torn piece" of Santa's suit hanging from the attic cover......They were so excited!!!

Enjoying watching a movie with Daddy. This is how they usually sit with us on the couch. No need for blankets.

Going to church the Sunday after Christmas!!

Aurora and Jesse got new snow bibs and boots from Santa for Christmas and they couldn't wait to go out and play in the ton of snow we have sitting around. Now, we just need to get the sleds....maybe next year!

Regan on Christmas morning sitting on top of Jesse's new train table.

Here was what our living room looked like after Santa visited!!

Thanks to all those who sent cards, money, gifts, etc. our way during the holidays! We really appreciated it and loved hearing from all of our friends and family....... May 2010 be a happy and healthy year for all of us!