Fox Haven

 Remember my flashback post about Fox Haven? Well... I got sick of trying to describe it to Jerry all the time and we decided that we would take a drive up there and take a look around. It looked like it had never been used since the last time I was there. It brought back so many good memories and I caught myself describing stories and pointing out different places on the property. "This is where we buried our dog, Jazz." "This is where we would always see the Mama Moose and the baby Moose." "This is where my Grandpa taught us how to make a walking stick." I wish so badly that I could create even more memories at Fox Haven with my little family, but I am so grateful for the times that I had there and the memories that were made. We took a walk around the cabins, took a drive into Oakley and ate at the Summit Inn and even grabbed a shake at the Polar King. It was a great way to spend an afternoon and I was so glad to be able to show Jerry and Grady the place I love so much.



{this picture cracks me up! I don't know why but it just does.  Like father like son I guess}



Flashback Friday: Oldschool Videos

Thought I would bring back Flashback Friday.... here are a couple old videos from a road trip a couple years ago.  Good times... good times.

Ridiculously Good Looking

"I'm pretty sure there's a lot more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking. And I plan on finding out what that is. "

I am pretty sure that this little guy is going to be ridiculously good looking... especially if he looks anything like his handsome papa. I was NOT... I repeat... NOT a cute baby. My parents called me Yoda and Mr. Magoo... not the cutest names for a little baby girl. Jerry on the other hand, was a darling little baby with the cutest little ears and bright red lips! I can't wait to see who our little one looks like. Let's hope for cute ears and lips instead of magoo style wrinkled face. Here is a little sneak peak of what our babe could look like...

25

This post is months late, but better late than never.
I am 25. What the.....??!!??

How did this happen? I don't feel much older than this....
But now I am 25 and pregnant. It is pretty surreal to think about where I have come in just a few short years. I am married to the coolest guy ever, we have two of the coolest dogs on the block and we are now adding another pretty cool guy to our family. I couldn't be happier with where my life is at 25, and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us. It has been a pretty awesome 25 years. Thanks to everyone who made it so great!

Flashback Friday: Jazz

Growing up I had three sisters, a brother and a dog. She was more than just a dog, more than a family pet... She was like a sister, a friend, a true companion. We got Jazz (or Jasmine) when I was only four years old, and we grew up together. She spent many nights sleeping at the foot of my bed, or laying by my feet while we watched TV in the living room. I remember on cold winter nights we would all curl up around our fireplace to warm our feet, and Jazz would be right there with us. I can still picture Jazz galloping around in the snow in the winter, and chasing after us down the hill while we were sledding. In the summertime we would be swimming in the pool and we liked to play a prank on Jazz. We would swim down to the very bottom of the deep end and hold on to the drain and watch as Jazz started to freak out. She would eventually jump in to rescue us and we would all pop up from the water and crack up laughing! My parents didn't like this joke very much, but we thought it was great! She was incredibly smart as well. If we made a bark sign with our hand (kinda like a hand puppet opening and closing its mouth) she would bark. If you held your hand up above your head and said dance she would jump up on her back legs and jump around. You could put a treat on her nose and she would not eat it until you said she could. She was the sweetest and most gentle dog I have ever known. Even though she was a powerhouse breed she was amazingly kind and loyal. The neighbor kids called her "Jaws", but everyone knew her as a gentle giant. As I grew up she was right there with me, going on runs, bike rides and many hours at the park. She was a constant in my life... something that never changed in an ever changing environment. Then one day when I was fifteen years old my Dad picked me up from school and I knew immediately something was wrong. The day I found out that Jazz had died is still, to this day, one of the hardest days of my life. We took her up to our cabin that night and did a small burial for our beloved dog. I still miss her, and I don't think any dog could ever live up to how great she was.

Now that I am "grown up" and have a dog of my own I can't help but compare Desi to my good old Jazz. I can only hope that Desi will be as great of a friend and companion to our future children as Jazz was to me.

{the lady herself in all her glory}

{hayley playing with some of Jazz's puppies}

Sorry about all the dog posts... I can't help it!

Seven months...

All this wedding bliss really got me thinking back to seven months ago today. On February 21, 2009 Jerry and I were sealed together for time and all eternity. It was one of the happiest days of my life and the promises we made to each other that day are priceless. I am so in love with Jerry... I really don't know how I got so lucky. Going to weddings in the temple and being able to hear those words again is such a good way to think back to that happy day seven months ago. I loves you, Jer.

{I realized I never posted any pictures of us from the temple that day... so here they are}

Flashback Friday: 9/11

I was sixteen years old and a junior in high school. I was talking to my best friend, Lauren, at her locker when her boyfriend at the time walked up to us and said "a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center." We laughed. We thought it was a joke. I walked to my first period class, gym, and there was a note on the locker room door that we would be meeting in the cafeteria for class that morning. When I walked into the room it was silent. I looked up at the TV just in time to see the second plane hit the other tower. There were gasps, words of shock and even screams. We were helpless. We huddled together with our eyes glued to the TV. People were on their cell phones checking on family members who lived in New York, calling friends to spread the news and there were even a few tears. It was a moment of shock and fear. Wondering who would do this? Why they would do this? Then we saw the rescue efforts begin. Amazing men and women who would risk their lives to save another. It was an incredible sight to witness the selflessness of these individuals. Throughout the day we continued to watch as the chaos progressed {surprisingly enough... the only class we were not allowed to watch was US History}. We saw the towers collapse. We saw the people running from the dust. We saw it all fold out right in front of our eyes. It was a moment in history that I will never forget. It is one of those moments where you remember every detail of where you were when it happened. It has crippled our country, but for a moment, brought us together as one nation under God... united. My heart goes out to those families still suffering the effects from this tragedy. I hope that one day our country can be again united and peace can be the uniting message.

{this is me standing on the top of the world trade center in 2001. Can you see how small the empire state building is compared? Unless you have seen those towers in person, I don't know if you could imagine the shear magnitude of these buildings.}

Happy Birthday Lindsay

It was my older sister Lindsay's birthday last week. She is the big 26... or as she says... the one year anniversary of her 25th birthday. I can't believe that she is 26, married and with a baby! It seems like just yesterday we were sending her off on her mission, or just yesterday that we were playing in the Utah Philharmonic together. We have had some great times together, and she has been a good big sister to me..... most of the time! Just kidding Linds, Love ya! I am so glad that she gave me a cute little niece to love as well! Thanks for being a great big sister! And what would a birthday post be without some old pictures? Happy birthday Lindsay!

Graduated and Growing Up

{I am a TAD bit late on this post}
My little brother has graduated from high school. It is such a wierd thing seeing your younger siblings growing up so fast. I feel like it was just yesterday that he was this....

and now he is this.... where did the time go? I am so incredibly proud of my little "brudda" and I know he will do amazing things with his future! Congrats and good luck! We love you!

Flashback Friday Fireworks

Lets flash back to the year 2005.

It was the fourth of July and there were fireworks galore! I was with my best friends and we were on the Eagle Gate Plaza hill in Holladay overlooking the valley and all the awesome fireworks. And there were boys. Very cute boys in fact. Boys.... flirting.... and fireworks... does it get any better? One boy that caught my eye was very cute indeed.... he had dark spiked hair, clean shaven, tall and oh so handsome. We did a little wrestling on the hill and a lot of flirting. Apparently I impressed him with my wrestling skills because we decided to go back to my friends apartment and watch a movie and do some more wrestling. He was a total gentleman, because he let me win every wrestling match we had. We talked and got to know each other and we had a great time laughing and flirting.

This guy was Jerry.

That fourth of July changed my life. And I am so glad that it did. I couldn't be happier and more grateful that I met that clean shaven boy that night! Happy four years and fourth babe!

{this is a picture from that night, and can you see Jerry's cheek in the upper left corner? haha. That is all I have of us to document our first meeting.}

Now... that's what I call a flashback Friday!

Flashback Friday: Heaven on Earth

I think I saw this somewhere... maybe a blog, maybe somewhere else on the web.... but I really liked the idea. So I think I am going to copy it. What is it? Every Friday you post something from your past... a picture, a story, a memory etc. and you blog about it. I thought that since this is my new way of journal keeping that it would be fun to document some items from the past as well. So I am starting today... with Flashback Friday. I don't know how often I am going to do this, but I am going to try and keep up with it. So.... here goes.

Foxhaven

I have always loved the summertime. Looking back at the summers of my childhood some of the best memories are the times spent at Foxhaven. What is Foxhaven you ask? It is pure Heaven on Earth. It is a quaint little cabin near Kamas that my Grandpa built when my Dad was just a kid. My Dad spent his summers up there, and it turn we spent our summers there as well. It was a getaway... a getaway from reality. No phones, no television... just us and the great outdoors. I remember taking long walks down the many dirt roads, always leading us to great adventures. We would go down the "lane" and pet the horses, pick a bouquet of wildflowers, go fishing under the bridge, have horse shoe tournaments, look for wild animals and play on the neighbors rope swing (I still don't think they knew we did that!). Not only did we get in touch with nature up there, but it was also a great time to spend some quality time with family. When I was really young I remember going up there with my Grandma and Grandpa... how could I forget my Grandma's pies and "hot cakes"? Grandma had a special way with the animals up there... she would set out bird feeders and the hummingbirds would come every time! She also loved the little squirrels up there... she would crack open a peanut and set it on her knee.... sure enough, the little creatures would come crawling up her leg and eat that little peanut. We could never get it to work for us, but we got a kick out her doing it! One summer my Grandpa made the mistake of teaching us grand kids how to widdle a walking stick... I think we had at least fifty walking sticks up there! We would also sit around the fire pit and tell stories or sit on the back porch and swing our worries away. It was also a great time for us kids to bond. We would play hide and seek, and I think I hid Garrett in one of our suitcases and he kept ridiculously still for a really long time! Nobody had any idea where he was (I still laugh about it)! We would also attend the Oakley Rodeo every summer, and boy do I miss that! On the fourth of July we would head out early in the morning and head into town for the Kamas Parade... It was a little strange with farm animals and rodeo queens, but hey... they threw out free candy, so how could we complain? I miss Foxhaven... I miss it's smell, it's love and warming feeling, and I miss how it brought our family together. I can't help but think how much Jerry would have loved it up there. I will always cherish the memories we made at our own little Heaven on Earth. I hope to one day revisit Foxhaven and share with Jerry all the great times we had there.

{My Dad and Grandma in the loft while it was still being built}

{Me as a kid roasting "mallows" by the pit}

{Taking walks through the fields and roads}

{Grandpa through the years taking walks with the kids... and don't forget the walking sticks!}

That is my Flashback Friday First! What's yours?

Time Flies

Wow... time really does fly. The last time Jerry and I were in Arizona was when we got engaged. It seems like only yesterday!

Here we are then (November, 2007) and now (May, 2009)..... things haven't changed much have they?