Last Weekend!

Jarred and I had a great weekend! My family came to town and we had a great visit! Here are some highlights!

1. Friday night we went on a DATE before my parents arrived! Jarred took me to Panera Bread (one of my all time favorites and a place I don't get to very often b/c we live so far away now!!) then to Orange Leaf for frozen yogurt! YUM!

2. Mom and Dad arrived and we planned our Saturday (heading to the HOGS game!)

3. We pulled out of the driveway at 7:15 AM and hit the road for Fayetteville...we got to watch the basketball team scrimmage, then went to tailgate w/ some folks from Jarred's work. They teamed up with some other businesses from Sheridan and had it catered! We had fajitas and chips and salsa, YUM!!

4. The HOGS played great and had the lead for MOST of the game...the crowd was FANTASTIC...loudest I've ever heard the crowd at that stadium. We were on our feet the ENTIRE game. When we scored on our first drive of the game the place went NUTS!! I truly thought we were gonna pull it out but we threw it away during the last minutes (literally!!). It was heartbreaking! Jarred and I stood frozen in place after it was over- in SHOCK! We almost beat the #1 team in the nation...way to go HOGS for putting up a good fight...I'm SO SAD we couldn't pull it out!!

5. The drive home we stuck GLEE into the DVD player and Mom and I watched (she needed to catch up from last season) and made the drive home go faster! I wasn't feeling GREAT so I fell asleep in Mom's lap and that made the drive go even FASTER!

6. My brothers and my sister in law came over Saturday night to spend the night and go to church with us on Sunday. I LOVE having my entire family together. We missed having Sierra with us but had a great time. We went to Moe's after class and then back to the house to play with the dogs, relax, look at houses (for my brother and his wife), and finish up some projects around my house (new air filters, sealing the door frames, replacing light bulbs, etc.). Mom and Dad had to head home around 3:00.

7. After church last night we all went to Wal-Mart to buy some meat to grill for dinner. My youngest brother, Jay, grilled us all some fabulous steaks and we had a GREAT healthy meal! I made mashed sweet potatoes and Kaitlin made a big salad to go with the steaks! It was a fun time. Jay spent the night with us again b/c my brothers are starting their first job today. They have started a business (Skinner Brothers) and hopefully it's going to take off for them. They can do landscaping, sprinkler systems, home repairs and projects, decks, etc...they do GREAT work and they are HARD workers!! You should give them a call if you're interested in hiring them! They've both been doing landscaping/sprinkler systems since they were little! Call 501-593-9844 for a quote today!!

Well, that's all for now! Have a fun week!

~Jennifer

Labor Day 2010

This past Labor Day we had our first Butterworth Family Reunion! This is my mom's side of the family and for some reason we've just never had a big family trip or anything on that side of the family. My Dad's side goes to the beach EVERY summer. So, we decided it was time for a change and that we'd all like to start getting together every year! This year my mom took the lead on picking the place and making all the arrangements! She did an excellent job. We went to Smith Lake in Cullman, AL (or maybe outside of Cullman, AL) and stayed at a Lake House that is owned by a family from Mom and Dad's church. It's called A Slough of Fun if you ever want to check it out for yourselves! See the pictures below. It was really nice and sleeps about 12-14 comfortably...My Mimi (mom's mom) graciously paid for the accommodations and told us that her only requirement would be that we had to do some Good Eatin!! SO...my uncle Chris & aunt Susie took breakfast and dinner on Saturday and I took lunch and my Mom took breakfast and dinner on Sunday and my cousin, Annie took lunch. Let me tell ya...we did some GOOD EATIN! My uncle Chris and my Mom know how to do it! They learned from the best, my Mimi!! The house was right on the lake so we played in the water, some of us went canoeing, we had our church service on Sunday out of the dock (best worship service EVER!!), we read, sat around and solved all the world's problems, played games, and had a fabulous time! We've already decided we'd like to make this a tradition and plan a trip next year! The ball was handed off to Aunt Susie and she's gonna make it happen! All in all it was a great trip and here are some pictures for you too all the fun we had!

My beautiful MimiUncle Chris & Aunt Susie My Dad acting silly as usual! :)Annie doing what she loves most!
Jay & Sierra
Mom & Dad
Uncle Chris & Aunt SusieAll the women, except Mom (she's taking the picture)Butterworth crew minus Chet plus Jordan! Butterworth kids with their momma! Me & Jarred
Skinner crew minus Michael, Kaitlin, Jay, & Sierra plus Mimi!!Butterworth women!All the Butterworth womenButterworth crew!

Mom & Dad
Jones's (Joneses???) No clue- Annie help me out...
Cousins!!!
As you can see I FINALLY remembered my camera and went a little crazy! This isn't even all of my pictures! Enjoy!

~Jennifer

Love My Family

For the past couple months my brother (Michael) and his wife (Kaitlin) have been living with us on the weekdays because my sister in law is working in Little Rock and they haven't been able to sell their house in Searcy. I have LOVED having them around. My brother isn't around as much as Kaitlin (b/c of his job he's gone for a week then home for a week, gone for a week, home a week, etc.- you get the point!). This has been so much fun for me because of several reasons but one because it's given Kaitlin and I a chance to get to know each other better. Kaitlin is extremely sweet and can sometimes be quiet (however, this COULD be because previous times I was with her was when my entire family was together and we pretty much DOMINATE all the talking- Kaitlin- we're very sorry!). Because of the loudness of my family I really didn't have the chance to get to know her on a very personal level! Having her at my house has been fantastic for our relationship. I just adore her and think she's hilarious! It's funny because the more I learn about her the more I realize how much she are Jarred are alike. They are both extremely generous, patient, loving, and never, ever want to be a burden on anyone, so much so that they will go out of their way, inconveniencing themselves just so that no one else is inconvenienced! Not sure if that makes sense but I'm telling you, they are JUST ALIKE!
Having them with us has also been great for Mine and Michael's relationship. As we grow older we get closer and closer and that just warms my heart! I love both of my brothers very much and it's always been my prayer that we'd be great friends as we became adults and have families of our own. So far, that's working out just great! My youngest brother, Jay, is dating a girl (pretty seriously) and I think she's fantastic as well. Kaitlin and I have even planned to have a girls night with her soon. I feel so blessed that my brothers and their significant others want to hang out with me & Jarred. I guess I'm just feeling sentimental today or something but it really is the best thing ever! Jarred and I have wonderful siblings and we are blessed to have great relationships with all of them! Michael and Kaitlin want to eventually move out to Little Rock and I'm SO excited they are going to be close to us! I'm secretly praying Jay will eventually do the same! Sorry Mom! Mom and Dad just need to move out this way too! :)

6 years!

Well, tomorrow is our 6 year anniversary! I can't believe it's already been 6 years! It's been so wonderful so far and I look forward to many more years to come. We're celebrating tomorrow by starting off the day serving over at Boone Park Elementary school. Boone Park has become such a special school to me and Jarred. It truly has a place in both of our hearts! Boone Park is made up of practically 100% of kids that are on free or reduced lunches. We're told that the small percentage that aren't on the free lunches aren't on them only because they didn't complete the paperwork. Jarred and I, along w/ a good friend, Holly, have been in charge of our church's partnership with this school for the last 2 years. Our church is the school's Official Partner in Education. We help with several events throughout the year but the Back to School Bash (the event tomorrow) is by far the biggest. We provide school supplies for EVERY child that will attend BP in the Fall. We put on this event and invite all the prospective students and their families to come out, play games with our members/volunteers, sign up for school, eat some lunch, and fellowship. It's AMAZING! So, we'll start our day with that and we'll probably end it by having a nice dinner and relaxing at the house. Our present to ourselves was The Complete First Season of Glee!! We love it- actually was I supposed to say WE??? I guess I did though, didn't I??? Haha, Jarred likes it to but if you ever asked him about it he'd deny it, I'm sure! I'll leave you with some pictures of Jarred and I through the years!!

Happy 6 year Anniversary Jarred!! I love you more today than I ever thought possible! I can't wait to see what the next 60 years have in store for us! It's so wonderful to spend my life w/ my best friend. You're my favorite!

A couple of years ago at New Year's Eve at the Tappe's. The picture cracks me up so I had to use it!
This was at our 5 year anniversary trip to Belize last year! We were just about to repel down the mountain...LONG hike to the top, I was wasted! So much fun!

This was this year's beach trip with my family back in June. It's the most recent picture I have of me & Jarred. My aunt is such a good photographer!

What's Been Going On at The Crow's?

Well...Lots of things!!

1st- WE'RE MOVING!!! We sold our house on April 15th and we'll be moving to BENTON in less than 2 weeks! We've been packing (correction- I've been packing!) like crazy! Unfortunately the deal worked out where we're closing on BOTH houses (the sell and the buy) on the same day so we're moving into a U-Haul Truck and a storage facility for less than 24 hours and THEN into the new house. Don't ask how that happened! :) I can't wait to move. I have LOVED our 1st home...it's been a great place for us but now that there are no pictures on the wall and it's starting to look empty I'm ready for the New Place! I'm ready to have a "home" again. The place we're leaving doesn't seem like "home" anymore b/c everything's gone! :)

2nd- BOONE PARK! I've been working (with the help of Jarred and Holly) on planning a Boone Park teachers/staff/students appreciation reception at our church! Luckily the process has been smooth so far. I think it's going to be a fun night, we're having finger foods, showing a slideshow of the events our church has participated in this past school year, and giving out outstanding teacher/student awards! I'm praying that we have LOTS of support from our PV members and that the students and teachers feel VERY special! Please make plans to attend if you are a PV member...I know the Boone Park folks would really appreciate it and I will too!!!

3rd- TRIPS! We have some fun trips that are coming up soon! We're traveling w/ the Casey's this weekend, going to Texas Memorial Day Weekend for a Crow-side Family Reunion, and going to the beach w/ my family in June (for an ENTIRE WEEK!)!! I am ready for vacation and I'm sure after the move I'll be VERY ready for vacation!

Needless to say we've been super busy but it's been very good at the Crow Home the past couple months. Hopefully I'll have house pictures to post soon!

MARCH MADNESS

I'm so excited! March Madness is here and Jarred and I are pumped. Especially Jarred. We both filled out a bracket and we compete every year! I'll let you know how it turns out. I was winning after the games last night! Probably won't be after today though, Stupid UTEP!!!

Great Friends

I just want to give a shout out to some great friends of ours...Chris and Carissa! Since they got married and are living so close to us, we have been able to hang out with them A BUNCH. They are the type of friends that you don't have to put on a show for. They are the type of friends that you can call at the last minute to make plans. They are the type of friends that I want to be for others. I don't feel like I have to look my best when they come over (or when I go over there) b/c they've become like family to us. We can be "real" together and that's something that I appreciate so much!

I've been hanging out at their house a lot lately (b/c of open houses or b/c Jarred's working late or coaching Upward, etc. etc. etc.). I just want to say that I LOVE it. They make me feel like family. When we get together it's usually to eat, cook, or watch some LOST, The Office, or Community! It's relaxing and I'm thankful for friends like that.

I don't have much else to say today...just that I'm thankful for ALL of our friends. We've been very blessed to make all the friends that we have out here. I just wanted to give Chris & Carissa a shout out and let them know that we love them and will be very sad to leave them when we move! I pray we stay close and continue to hang out as much as we can.

LOVE YOU GUYS!!