Lake Powell Trip '09

We went to Lake Powell last week, and had so much fun. It's amazing to me how much work goes into a trip like this though, especially grocery shopping for 18 people!

We spent most of the time lounging around, working on our 'tans' (or at least getting rid of the tan lines):Looking at the beautiful scenery,

(I love the clouds in this one):

Rode the jet ski:
And went down the slide:
Jer jumped off the boat, but we don't have a picture of that. I didn't post a lot of pictures because they all seem pretty similar, so this is what you get. We had a great time, it was a nice break from life.

Rodeo

July 3rd we went to Oakley for the annual rodeo, it was pretty fun, and there were some crazy animals. One of the horses tried to climb out of the stalls before anyone was even on it, it was funny to see everyone's reaction to that.

Jer took some pics of the action, so here they are....

And of course we can't forget the fireworks, though it was a shorter show this year.....
If you look closely, you can see a smiley face made out of fireworks in the top of this next picture

We're so grateful for our freedoms and all that our country's service men and women do for us, they sacrifice so much. Jer hates the song, but we really are Proud to be Americans, "where at least we know we're free", even when the world and economy are crazy, we still have our freedom!

Upcoming

Well, we don't have a lot going on at the moment, and like we always tell people, we lead a pretty boring life, but here's a little of what's been going on and our plans for July.
Jer and I went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house, and then I got to go again with the youth. It's a beautiful temple, and I'm excited to go when it's dedicated because my parents will be temple workers in it. Here's a picture of the angel Moroni since being hit by lightning, it's so crazy to see up close in person...

Lately I've been pretty down, I think it's a mixture of the weather, not having much to look forward to, and being disappointed every month. Hopefully I can pull out of it soon. My hormone pills need to be changed because of some scary side-effects they were giving me (besides all the symptoms of being pregnant, even though I'm not), so hopefully that can help too.
We do have some things to look forward to in the next couple of weeks though, and we're pretty excited about them. I'll be sure to post some pictures (if we have any of interest) when we get back. This weekend we'll be going to Oakley for the rodeo, we'll stay overnight Friday and come back for fireworks at Jer's parent's house. The rodeo is always entertaining, and if the animals aren't enough, we're always on the look out to find the most interesting looking people that show up with their mullets, etc.
Next weekend we're doing a youth conference type activity for the youth in our ward. Since most of them aren't old enough to do the actual Youth Conference, we decided to do something special for them. One of the big things we'll be doing is go up to Salt Lake to see some sights and have them learn some Church history, it'll be fun.
Right after Youth Conference, we'll be headed to Lake Powell with Jer's family. I'm so excited, I've been needing a break from things for awhile, so hopefully I can get some relaxing in and not burn to a crisp.

Jer got me some planters awhile back, and we bought some flowers for Mother's Day, so now they're hanging off our balcony. I went out to water them one day (awhile back before all the rain) and this is what was there...I was surprised it let me get so close . I really do love this picture though, I'm considering printing and framing it and hanging it up somewhere.

A Tribute to my Grandma

My last living blood grandparent passed away Saturday, June 6, 2009 after struggling with colon cancer that had spread to her liver, and eventually took her life. She'll be greatly missed, but we are so happy that she is out of her failing body and in a MUCH better place with her husband and other loved ones who have passed on before her.

She was a smart, funny, talented, loving, incredible person. Her mind was sharp till the very end. She loved her family, she loved playing games, she loved to sew. She stood up for what she believed in. She was patient and kind. She encouraged and taught when needed, but she was never overbearing. She spoiled us kids with love and generosity and guidance, and every so often she'd spoil us with treats too. As I got older, I wanted my kids to be able to know her because she was such a great Grandma, but as time has passed, that wish diminished. I asked her to tell them to hurry up and get down here when she got up there. I'm happy to know that my kids have gotten to meet her now, just not how I planned before.

She was the Best Grandma a girl could have.

I remember having sleepovers at her house when I was little, she'd let me watch movies and have junk food, or she'd read me a story and tuck me in. I used to hate the peanut butter sandwiches she'd make because she'd put a bunch of butter on the bread, and then put peanut butter on-it was weird and not so tasty, but a funny memory to have now, and a sweet quirk to remember about her. Another funny thing I should mention is that one time she was talking and Jer cut her off. She looked at him sternly, but with a twinkle in her eye, and said "Shut up, Jeremy!" We laughed so hard at that because it was so unexpected, and someone needed to call Jer on his bad manners!
She was an amazing homemaker, and has made many quilts, even won some awards for a few of them. She made the best chocolate covered marshmallow eggs at Easter, even the marshmallows were made from scratch!
She amazed me.
She led an incredible life, from living through WWII and the depression, dating and breaking many hearts (being engaged more than once), going to USO dances, to getting married and settling down and having 7 kids (raising them all to be wonderful people who are strong in the church), going on a mission to Shreveport, Louisiana, and to being a wonderful Grandmother and knowing all that we were up to and supporting us when she could.
My main regret is not spending more time with her.
I know my words cannot do her justice, but at least I've scratched the surface.
I love you Grandma, and I'll see you again some day!

Something to hold on to/hold us over

This is just something I felt like sharing. I don't know who wrote it, but Jer's sister, Jenny, sent it to me to help us get through our difficult days.

Dear Mom and Dad,

I know you think I'll never come
But it's just that my work here's not done
There's just so much I need to know
Before I come to earth to grow
So don't give up, I'm on my way
Even though it may not be today
I cannot wait to be loved by you
For you to teach me all that's true
And although I am anxious
I'll patiently wait
'Cause I'm promised to you
And I think that's GREAT!

Love,
Me

Here's to 'some day'

Hiatus

Well, some of you may have noticed that we haven't posted anything for awhile. I thought I should just put up this post to announce our break from blogging. Jer has banned me from reading other blogs as well (most, not all) as some of them are really hard for me/us to read, so we won't be in the blogosphere for awhile.
We'll be back someday, we're just not sure when exactly.

Have a good next few months!

Catch Up

It was brought to my attention, by my lovely friend and old roommate Becky, that I haven't blogged for awhile, and that I'd better get on it. I had no idea what to blog about, but after looking through the camera, I realized I had a little catching up to do, so here you go Becky, and any other fans I may have out there.

So awhile back I promised you a picture of my first attempt at a decorated cake, so here it is. It was winter themed, and I made a lot of really cute little intricate snowflakes and trees, but sadly most of them broke when I tried to move them, so I ended up with dots, star snowflakes, and swirls and a few little extras. Jer's family thought it looked great though, so that was enough for me. It was fun to make, and even more importantly, it tasted delicious.

Next up is the lunch I had with 2 of my old roommates from my first year at Snow College, Becky and FayLyn. FayLyn was in town from Michigan for the holidays and to bless her newest baby, so we hung out at her parent's house and had soup, crackers, Christmas goodies, and we chatted, and played with FayLyn's 2 cute little girls. Sadly our other roomies couldn't make it, one had just had a baby, one lives in Washington state, and the other one-well I think she might be back in Japan? Anyway, it was so fun to get together, even if it was just half of us. Here are a couple of old college pictures, and then the picture we took at the lunch more recently!
Cinnamon Roll Hug- Christal, Becky, Courtney, FayLyn, me, Melissa, Tarah and Ribekah


Becky pretending to be scary, and me pretending to be scared

me, FayLyn, and Becky

There's not any easy way to bring this next one up, and it's a very sad subject for us. The end of January we found out I was pregnant (yes, we took pictures, no, I'm not going to post them), we were so excited that the insemination had worked, but extremely nervous and cautious too. We wanted to keep it a secret til we got to 12 weeks, but we did tell a few people. It seemed things were going fine up until a couple weeks ago when I started spotting. We know this is a normal thing, but it made me nervous, so I had Jer give me a blessing (which left me waiting for something to happen), and did the 48 hr blood test to make sure my hcg levels were still rising. We found out that they were, and that they were high enough to check the heart. We went in for an ultrasound, but we weren't able to see anything. The Dr. wanted to see me a few days later to make sure the heart was actually there, so we went in Feb. 9 for another ultrasound where we found out the baby had stopped growing. I had a blighted ovum, meaning everything else was still growing (which is why my hcg levels were still rising), but the baby had essentially died. I was distraught at this news, but at the same time we were both expecting this to happen. The next day I went in for a D&C so the passing wouldn't become a problem. Jer's been really good about consoling me, but it's still been really difficult. That's now 2 miscarriages and 3 surgeries, I'm really hoping this is it for the heartache part because I can't handle any more. It's been hard enough trying to get back to normal from the surgeries, then not being able to get pregnant at all. Then we do get pregnant and this happens, I'm afraid this is the only ending I'll have whenever I'm pregnant. Anyway, we're ok, I'm just trying to get through this and lie low till I'm all healed up. Hopefully our next one will be successful (cross your fingers/pray for us). We're lucky to live where we do where we're surrounded by family and good friends to help us through. My beautiful flowers from my friend Denice are still blooming, and my cousin and his wife, Matt and Kate, brought us dinner and cookies the night of the D&C and helped cheer me up.

Sorry to end on a depressing note, but that's it for now. We hope you all had a good Valentine's day.