JACOB, KRISTIN & COOPER

Cooper's 1-yr Picts!

2012-01-26T08:14:00.000-08:00

I know I'm a little late at posting these pictures, but here are Cooper's 1-yr pictures. Thanks Tammie, you did a great job! Thanks for all your time and work! And I don't want to brag, but we have a handsome little man!

This is Cooper and his duck call, one of his FAVORITE things!

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2012-01-01T09:12:00.000-08:00

Cooper was a lot of fun this Christmas.

Santa brought him his very first bike. He unwrapped the box then peeked inside and said "OOOOOHHHHH". He was too excited that he couldn't open any other presents until Dad was done building it and he got to ride on it. It's a little big but this spring it should be perfect size!

We also got to get together with our friends for breakfast the day after Christmas. It was so great to see everyone and catch up.

Cooper got a giant pancake. He had to have a little help eating it, but he loved it!

We had so much fun spending time with family and friends...our favorite part about the holidays! It's been amazing having Jake home from work, we are dreading Tuesday when he has to go back to school and work!

We are so grateful for all that we have. We truly are so blessed. We look forward to all that 2012 has to offer. Bring it on!

Feeding the ducks

2012-01-01T09:06:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite things to do is feed the ducks. A few weeks ago we got all bundled up to go down to Beus pond.

Once we got there Cooper of course had to pull his duck call out and talk to them. He was lovin' it!

We even saw 2 of these Mandarin ducks while we were there! They are so pretty!

Cooper's First Visit with Santa

2012-01-01T08:59:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we went to Jake's brother's ward Christmas party so Cooper could meet Santa for the first time. I wasn't sure how he would react but the progression of pictures pretty much says it all...

The visit lasted under 30 seconds. Cooper just wasn't sure what to think sitting on this stranger's lap with everyone staring at him!

Party!

2011-12-18T14:27:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we threw a family birthday party for Cooper.

I had some help from Susan, Eden and Chelsea making this onesie for him. I don't know why I even attempt things like this because it usually doesn't go as planned, but at least I can say I tried!

We had lots of yummy food...Thanks to everyone for bringing such yummy goodies!
We even had chocolate covered dog treats (or graham crackers you would have discovered if you were brave enough to try them.)

Of course Cooper got extremely spoiled and we had a blast! He was loving opening presents and seeing what was inside!

If you ever see these fists come out, then you KNOW the boy is excited! He is so funny!

Jake and I (but mostly Jake) decorated Cooper's cake. Cooper is really into dogs, so that is what we decided to do.

The BEGINNING:

He started out so clean just dipping his finger into the frosting. But it didn't take long to turn into crumbs!

The END:

I think he ate a total of 3 bites out of his cake because it was lots more fun to throw all over the floor! He didn't like the sticky mess he had all over him so we took him straight to the tub.

We are SOOOO grateful to have so much love and support from our family. Cooper has the best grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins a boy could ever ask for. We love you all!

Cooper also had his 1 year check up.

The results:

19 lbs. 15 oz (26%)
31 inches (88%)
Head Circumference: 45.2 cm (21.5%)

We are so lucky to have such a healthy boy! We love him so much!

Happy First Birthday Little Man!!!

2011-12-09T19:25:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Cooper! I can't believe it has been a whole year. It's gone by way too fast! Time definitely needs to slow down!

Jake woke up early this morning before work to make his specialty breakfast for Cooper....chocolate chip pancakes! He is seriously the best dad in the whole wide world and so creative. Don't you just love his special touch... (sorry I couldn't get the picture to flip the right way).

As you can tell, Cooper LOVED them!

After Jake got home from work we decided to let Cooper open his presents. He was pretty excited! It took him some time to figure out what to do with the paper, but once he did he had a blast!

He crawled up here all by himself to read his book.

I was trying to get a picture with him and his presents but he just couldn't stop hugging his puppy (it's actually a piggy bank) to look at the camera for a picture.

He even spent some time cuddling with Dad afterwards!

Happy Birthday buddy! We love you more than you will ever know and are so grateful that you are part of our family!

Cooper's First Haircut

2011-12-09T18:54:00.000-08:00

Last night Cooper got his first ever haircut. It had gotten to the point where it was a little (or maybe even a LOT) out of control, but Jake and I had agreed that we would wait until Cooper's first birthday to cut it. Well when it actually came down to cutting it, I was excited but sad because I just knew my little boy was going to grow up really quickly without any of that baby hair.
BEFORE:

Of course we had to play around a little bit before we cut it! Cooper was a good sport through it all.

He was such a good boy while we cut his hair and Jake did a great job!

Look at all that hair! 5 little pony tails to save for keepsakes!

The FINAL results! What a handsome boy!

Definitely a memory worth documenting!

Cooper's First Thanksgiving

2011-12-08T08:23:00.000-08:00

Cooper got to experience his first Thanksgiving this year. However, he was more excited about visiting with everyone than eating. He loved the rolls and the sweet potato suffle, but he just kind of picked at the rest of the food. He had his first taste of turkey and seemed to enjoy it as much as he could with just 2 teeth!

We love spending time with family!

Jake's mom had stuff to make turkeys with the grandkids. Here is Jake's masterpiece:

Pretty impressive if you ask me! He has SO much patience!

It was a fun weekend with lots of time with family, lots of yummy food, shopping, hunting and being grateful for all that we have!

Last weekend our friends Jeff and Trina were here with their boys from D.C. so we got together with them and Stacy and Jeremy for dinner. We had to take a picture of all of our boys!

I had to post this next one, because this is a little more like what it was like when we were trying to get the picture. I had multiple that were all blurry and no one looking, but I had to post this one because Xander is being so helpful in trying to get Cooper to stay put. Love it!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T07:17:00.000-07:00

Weedend at Grandma's

2011-10-31T06:50:00.000-07:00

Jake spent some time Saturday duck hunting with Connor. Unfortunately their "make-up" didn't work as good as they hoped and they came up empty handed!

Cooper LOVED playing Grandma's clavinova. He has so much fun with his cousins.

Cooper and I spent some time in the leaves with Grandma, Carter, Aubrey and Koda.

He wasn't loving laying in the leaves as you can tell...

We also got to spend a little bit of time with my Grandpa Halversen.

The highlight of the weekend was Cooper playing with this bus and shopping cart. It was amazing to watch him first push it around on his hands and knees, then stand up, then take off walking behind them! He was also lovin' getting pushed around in or on them! He just couldn't get enough!

I think it's only a matter of time before he's walking without the shopping cart! (such a bittersweet thing....he's growing up too fast!)

St. George

2011-10-28T09:57:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago we took a trip to St. George.

We stopped at Cabella's on the way down. Cooper LOVED it!

The rest of the drive was FOREVER long!!! We had left our house at 11:30 that morning. We were stopped for lunch and Cabella's for about an hour and a half, then were on the road again. We didn't get there until after 7:30 due to all the traffic and road construction. It was miserable but Cooper was a really good sport about it and did really well for being in the car that long!

We FINALLY made it to Grandma and Grandpa Jensen's house in St. George! It was so fun to spend a few days with them and we are really grateful for their hospitality!

We also got to visit my cousin Crystal and her family while we were down there. We had to get a picture of her youngest, Jerik, and Cooper. There is 6 months between them and they both weigh about 20 lbs!

My highlight of the trip (besides just being able to spend a few days with Cooper and Jake) was Little Mermaid at Tuacahn! I absolutely LOVED it! I went with Jake's brother and his family. Jake's not really into this kind of thing so he offered to stay home with Cooper.

After the show Carter and Aubrey wanted to stick around and get some pictures with the cast.

I can't wait to see Alladin next year!

The drive home was a lot better. There wasn't any construction and traffic flowed much better! We didn't even have to stop between St. George and Centerville, Cooper was sooooo good just sleeping and hangin out! We are so lucky to have such a great kid!

2011-10-28T09:47:00.000-07:00

Cooper is growing so fast!

Here he is in Jake's cowboy boots.

He is now willing to try a lot more foods, but ONLY if he can feed himself! He refuses to eat baby food anymore! You can see from the picture above if you look close that he loves to get it all over in his hair!

He is so much fun! Such a happy boy! He got his 2nd tooth just under a week ago!

Fun Weekend!!

2011-09-25T19:45:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Jake had Friday off because earlier in the week he had parent-teacher conferences. We decided to enjoy the day by hiking up Waterfall Canyon and then having a picnic afterwards. Cooper had a blast and loved to try to reach out and grab the leaves! It was a good work out for Jake to pack Cooper all the way up on his back!

On Saturday we went up to the Xterra Triathlon National Championships at Snow Basin. It was a really cool event to be able to watch with some amazing athletes.

We mostly went to see the one and only LANCE ARMSTRONG! Lance has been a long-time hero of Jake's so he was stoked! The coolest part is that we got to be within only a few feet of Lance to cheer him on in the last part of the biking and both the start and finish of the run.

Cooper even had his bell to cheer on the racers!

Lance at the beginning of the 6 mile run

and Lance at the end of the run:

We are LOVING being able to spend our Saturdays together!

Jake is very overwhelmed with school and work, but he is handling it very well! I've been so proud of him! We just bought him a little commuter car so we weren't putting so many miles on our Subaru.

Cooper is learning to do something new everyday it seems like. He's now crawling on his hands and knees instead of just scooting. He's eating table food and is growing up way too fast on us! We are so grateful and lucky to have such great babysitters to be helping us out while we are at work. (Thanks you guys!) They are seriously the best, especially since we have to drop him off so early in the morning! Cooper is loving the chance to be able to play with other kids. It's been hard on me to have to send Cooper to the babysitter, but I'm sure it will get easier over time (I hope!)

Too bad our fun weekend is over and bright and early tomorrow morning our week starts again!

Lotoja 2011

2011-09-25T13:52:00.000-07:00

Jake was on a relay team with the Bike Shoppe this year for Lotoja. Friday night everyone went to Logan for a yummy spaghetti dinner made by Jake's mom, Susan. Cooper had a blast playing with Grandpa Balls' bunny. He LOVES animals!

The next morning we woke up to send Jake off for his leg of the race from Logan to Preston.
Game face!

Cooper, me and Susan, some of Jake's Biggest fans!

He did awesome! Jake handed off the time chip to Jayk to ride from Preston to Montpelier.

The best part is that he didn't even get sick this year!

We decided to head back to Logan while the rest of the team headed on to Jackson. The team ended up doing great! After facing the many miles, the wind and the heat they ended up in 4th place out of 50+ teams!

Jayk, Jake, Matt, and Nate
The team at the starting line, minus Nathaniel.

Way to go Bike Shoppe!

Greys River

2011-09-24T14:29:00.000-07:00

We took Cooper on his first camping trip over Labor Day weekend up to Grey's River in Wyoming with Jake's family. This has been their tradition ever since Jake's mom was a little girl and we all look forward to it every year.

Cooper was such a good boy! Jake's Grandpa and Grandma Jensen were nice enough to let us stay in their trailer with them so it was a little warmer for Cooper during the nights!

Jake had a blast playing around on his trials bike and they even went knee boarding from a rope hooked to the bridge. Cooper and I on the other hand spend time just relaxing!

On the last day we were up there Wes and Jake went to ride their motorbikes. They came back to camp and said they had found a cat. They left with the 4-wheeler and came back with this:

Crazy boys! Somebody had set it in the grass just off the side of a back road. Jake wants to put it in his classroom after his Grandpa helps him to fix a few scratches that are in it. I think it's a little weird, but I guess it could be cool in a weird way! Before we left for home Jake had a neighbor camper offer him 20$ but he declined.

Cooper fell asleep as soon as we started on our 4-hour drive home. We looked back a few minutes later and saw this:

These 2 are best buds! Koda is so good to be patient while Cooper is crawling all over her and pulling on her ears and tail.

On the way home we stopped in Henry, ID to see my Dad and step Mom. Cooper got to go on his first 4-wheeler ride and loved seeing Grandma and Grandpa Elwood!

It was a super fun weekend. We're sad we have to wait a whole year to go back!

Good News!

2011-08-28T15:02:00.001-07:00

I have some exciting news to share!!!

Jake got a teaching job! He will be teaching special education at Kennedy Jr. High in Granite School District. It is about a 50 minute drive, so a little further than we had hoped for, but we definitely feel like it is an answer to our prayers! He doesn't know yet what subjects he will be teaching, but he will be working with kids with behavioral issues. He is a little nervous (naturally) but I'm so proud of him and I know he is going to do a fantastic job!

Jake will be doing a program through USU to get his endorsement in special education. Two nights a week (Monday and Wednesday) he will go to class at the Granite school district building. They are going to be some long days for him!

To celebrate we took a trip down to Park City. We have awesome family that was willing to help with Cooper, otherwise it wouldn't have been possible (thanks to Sue and Larry, and Mom and Woody and all others who offered to help!) It was the first time we had left Cooper over night and we never really stopped thinking about him, but it went really well!

We spent Friday at the Olympic Park and had a blast! We had an unlimited pass to the Alpine slide and ultra zipline. Then we upgraded to ride the extreme zipline (but unfortunately we could only ride this one once.) We got some sun and had so much fun! It was also way cool to see the athletes practicing their jumps into the pool. We definitely want to go back sometime to see some of the competitions that are held there!

Riding the lift up

This is the top of the extreme zipline

The alpine slide

We stayed at the Sky Lodge (probably the nicest hotel we will ever stay at). It was our first experience with valet parking, and we decided that we definitely don't like it, we would much rather do it ourselves! Our hotel was right in downtown Park City so it was fun to be able to walk to all the little shops. We had dinner at a local Mexican restaurant that had a salsa bar with about 16-20 different kinds of salsa to try. Some were to hot for our liking but a fun experience!
This is the view from our hotel:

Saturday we went back to the Olympic Park to watch a few young Nordic jumpers practice and more jumping into the pool. We couldn't get enough! Then Jake was a good sport and went shopping at the outlets with me. We had so much fun together, I loved every second of the weekend! It was a much needed break!

We LOVE this kid! And he loves his Lightning McQueen floaty. He is no longer a baby, he's turning into a little boy whether I like it or not! He is so much fun!

Care for Cade

2011-07-30T13:10:00.000-07:00

Today Cooper ran his first 5K!!!

We went up to Brigham City to run the 5K that was held as a fundraiser for Cade Wyatt. The theme was "Don't let cancer slow you down."
You can read about Cade here. He is an amazing guy and we were sure glad we could go show our support for him.

This is after the race, that's why we look all tired and sweaty. Jake pushed Cooper in the stroller (if you've ever pushed a jogging stroller, you know it makes the run more difficult, but he insisted! Thanks Babe, wouldn't have been able to make my goal if it wasn't for you!)

Cade is on the left, then my little sister Kylie, and us!
Thanks to Cade for being such an amazing example of faith and courage. Keep fighting hard and know that you are in our prayers!

More summer time fun!

2011-07-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

I just had to share this picture:

Cooper crawled right through this basket, and then later got frustrated when he couldn't get out!

My friend Stacy and I have been trying to get together ALL summer long to go swimming and FINALLY we were able to find a time!

(At least 2 out of the 4 of us are looking!)

Thanks Connor and Stacy, we had a blast!

Baby Proofing and Tony Grove

2011-07-30T12:57:00.000-07:00

So Cooper is now pretty quick at scooting around on the floor. He isn't full out crawling yet, but I'm sure that will come soon enough. We learned quickly that we can't just leave him, even if it is just for a few seconds and he has toys all around him.

Jake sometimes leaves his bikes in the living room (not my first choice for the bikes, but the only option sometimes). This particular night Cooper crawled over to it and decided he wanted to explore the chain. When I came in just a few seconds later, this is what I found:

We are just glad that we just had some greasy black hands to clean and that the bike hadn't fallen on him or something. Lesson learned though. We need to baby proof ASAP!

We had the chance this last week to go up to Tony Grove in Logan Canyon. This is one of our favorite places! It's gorgeous!

We just wish we had more time to go and play together!

Here is a picture of Jake practicing on his trials bike. He's getting pretty good!

First Rodeo and Swimming!

2011-07-30T12:50:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite things about summer is rodeos. One of our favorite rodeos is the Ogden Pioneer Day Rodeo. This year we got to take Cooper along. Obviously he was kept up past his bedtime, so towards the end our friend Jeremy worked his magic and Cooper fell right to sleep!

Jake's dream job is to be a stock contractor or a pick-up man. (Safer than the bull fighter he sometimes mentions). Maybe someday huh....

Last week we took Cooper swimming for the first time. He did really well and seemed to really like it!

He loved the kiddie pool because he could stand up in it.

Hopefully we will get to go swimming a few more times before summer is over!

Hyde Park Celebration

2011-07-30T12:12:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we went up to Hyde Park, where Jake grew up, for their city celebration. Cooper got to see his first parade. He had all of his candy eaten by the end of it....JK.

Waiting for the excitement with Aunt Eden and all the cousins

I ran my first 5K and I finished, which felt good! I also met my goal of running the whole way without stopping to walk. May not seem like a big deal to most, but I do NOT enjoy running. Definitely not one of the funnest things I've ever done, but worth it in the end! Thanks to Connor for being a good sport and running it with me!

Jake raced in the cyclocross race again and did awesome! We had fun cheering him on!
It made us excited for the other races coming up!

Good job Babe! This guy can just keep going and going, pushing and pushing. Definitely a great quality to have!

I had to share this picture of Cooper. He loves these soothies binkies...not to suck on, but to chew on. He gets his thumb stuck up inside the nipple and then goes to town.

We can't get enough of this kid!

Tammie did it again!

2011-07-10T07:34:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Tammie took Coopers 6month pictures. I am in love with them! She does such a great job! Here is a sample of what she did:

This is the first time he had ever felt grass...he's not too sure about it!

Thanks for ALL your time you put into these Tammie, you are the best!

7 months

2011-07-07T16:20:00.000-07:00

We can NOT believe Cooper is growing up so fast! He will be 7 months old on July 9th... pretty much the fastest 7 months ever!!! We are so lucky to have such a good boy! He is sleeping 11-12 hours at night and still takes 3 naps a day!

Cooper LOVES Koda! He is always trying to pet her and touch her. Luckily Koda is a good sport and puts up with the ear pulling great!

Can you tell these two are best buds?! Cooper LOVES being with his dad.

This is one of my favorite pictures ever!

(That's Jake's new toy. A trials bike. He is having a lot of fun with it!)

Jake is still looking for a job, but we are just loving every moment of our happy lives!

6 months

2011-06-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

Last week on June 9th, Cooper turned 6 months old! It is so crazy how fast time flies. He has changed so much, it's hard to believe! We feel so blessed to have him in our lives. He is such a good kid. About a month ago he started sleeping completely through the night consistently. He gets around by rolling and sleeps on his tummy because no matter how many times we roll him over to his back, he will always roll over to his tummy. He loves to be outside and he loves our dog Koda. He has the cutest giggle and can always bring a smile to your face. What can I say... We LOVE this kid!

6 month stats:
Height: 27 inches
Weight: 16.8 lbs
Head circumference: 42.6 cm

Cooper's first time trying sweet potatoes. He loved them and obviously takes after his dad when it comes to this. We decided that in the future they can make sweet potatoes when they have their guys' nights because I'm not a huge fan of them.

Cooper's first visit to Beus pond. Unfortunately we were disappointed because we came home with most of our bread we had taken to feed the ducks...we didn't want to feed the seagulls and there were only a few ducks there. He doesn't look super stoked in this picture, but I would like to think he had a good time!

This is Cooper's friend Gracie. She was born to our friends Cody and Jill a week before Cooper was born. Cooper couldn't take his eyes off of her! They were so cute together! Hopefully they will grow up being good friends because even though they don't know it yet, they are going to have an arranged marriage! JK.

I want to wish Jake a Happy Father's Day. He is seriously the most amazing dad ever. He has far exceeded my expectations of how a new dad should be. Cooper loves the days Jake is home with him. Just to give you a sample of what he does that makes him so good....this week he and Cooper made homemade pasta noodles, seriously! I hope you know Babe how much Cooper and I love and appreciate you! We are so lucky to have the best husband and dad in the world!

We want to also thank our AMAZING Dads. We are lucky enough to have 3. You have all sacrificed so much for us. You have taught us and given us advice. You have loved us and served us and much, much more. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. We love you!

I'll try to do a better job on blogging, but I can't make any promises!

overdue update

2011-05-28T06:12:00.000-07:00

These are a long time overdue, but here are Cooper's 3.5 month pictures that Tammie took. I'm in love with them!

Cooper is getting so big! He is now about 5.5 months old. His new thing is rolling from his back to his tummy. He has a hard time napping and going to sleep now because he thinks it is more fun to roll over to his tummy to play.

He loves the saucer...Thanks Tammie for letting us borrow it!

Can you tell we are ready for some SUNSHINE!!!

Cooper loves his Daddy!

Jake had his 27th birthday on May 14th! Thanks to all the family for helping us celebrate. I'm so grateful for Jake in my life. He is an amazing person in every aspect. We sure do love him.

In other news, Jake and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on May 24th.

The past 4 years have been wonderful! I'm not trying to brag, but I really lucked out with getting such an amazing guy! So excited to spend ETERNITY with him!

Happy Easter

2011-04-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!!!

(Dad thought the bunny ears were a little girly, so we just took the picture while he was at work!)

We are so grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ and for His atonement, which allows us to be an ETERNAL family. Thank heavens we can be forgiven for our many sins!
Most of all we are grateful that HE LIVES and can comfort us when we need it! We love Easter because it gives us a chance to celebrate this, we would be lost without Jesus Christ and His church in our lives!

Cooper's Blessing Day

2011-04-07T19:52:00.000-07:00

Sunday, March 6, 2011 was Cooper's blessing day.

He looked like such a little man in his cute tux!

The proud momma!

After the meeting we had family come over for soup bowls. We were a little cramped in our little humble abode, but we were grateful to have so much love and support!

We are so grateful to have Jake as the leader of our family. We are so lucky that he is a worthy priesthood holder and that he honors that priesthood. It is a sacred power that we are blessed with over and over again. Thanks Jake for being so Amazing! We love you!

2011-03-31T19:00:00.000-07:00

Jake and I took Cooper down to the Ogden temple to get some pictures before they closed it for renovation.

This is where we've gone to get away from the world for the past 3 1/2 years! We're so lucky to have so many beautiful temples close to us! We are so grateful for the many blessing we have received and continue to receive through the temple. We are grateful our family is FOREVER!

Here are some updated pictures of Cooper!

He is such a stud!

He gets to be more and more of a blast each and every day!

This Saturday he will be 4 months old. It's crazy how fast time flies!
LOVE this kid!

2011-03-13T14:33:00.001-07:00

Jake's sister-in-law Tammie took some pictures of Cooper when he was 3 weeks. I know it took me a while to get them posted, but they are just too cute to leave off the blog!!!

We love this kid so much! Thanks for doing such a great job with the pictures Tammie! Hopefully there will be more of your great week to come!

2011-03-12T14:50:00.000-08:00

10 weeks!

2011-02-18T13:26:00.000-08:00

Cooper is now 10 weeks old! We took him for his 2 month appointment last week. He now weighs 11 lbs 8 oz and is 23.5 inches tall! He did pretty well for his shots, they took him by surprise but he settled down pretty quickly. He had a fever that night and the next day, but overall he was a champ!

He is much more smiley and can even roll over! He rolled over for the first time when he was 8 weeks and 2 days old.

Sometimes we can't even keep him on his tummy!

Since just before 8 weeks, he has been sleeping for about 10 hours each night, which makes us very happy!

Here are some random pictures of our little man!

He loves his cousins!

Cooper brings so much joy into our home! We love him more and more everyday!

6 weeks!

2011-01-24T16:56:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when there is a blizzard outside and the dog needs to go out and the baby is crying and I'm the only one home:

A snow covered dog.
Obviously the baby gets first priority and the dog gets put outside to do her business until I can let her back in.

We've been having so much fun with Cooper! He is now 6 1/2 weeks old...crazy how fast time is flying. It sure didn't fly this fast when we were waiting for him to come!

At 5 weeks Daddy got to feed him his first bottle! Priceless!

He gets cuter and cuter everyday and is growing like a weed! He's also starting to get a little smiley (even though it isn't evident in these pictures)!

Jake is an AMAZING dad! He's changed just as many diapers as I have and has been a huge help around the house cleaning and fixing meals. He's great to jump up in the middle of the night when Cooper cries and is always willing to help put him to sleep. I honestly don't know what I would do without him. I don't know how I got so lucky to have these 2 in my life!

Cooper had his first experience being man of the house last night and today! Jake went on a short biking trip to St. George. I can't lie, I was a little nervous about the whole being home alone for that long....sounds ridiculous I know, it's just a little nerve-racking knowing you don't have any back up reinforcements. Luckily we had a great night! Cooper has been sleeping very good, only waking up usually one time a night. Overall he is a really good baby.

Unfortunately, in a week from today I have to go back to work. I'm dreading the day. It has been the best thing in the world to be home with Cooper. I thought at first I might go a little stir crazy, but it wasn't like that at all. I've loved every second of it and have appreciated the time I've had to spend with Cooper. I absolutely LOVE being a mom!

I do believe in love at first sight, because that's exactly what happened when we saw Cooper for the first time. Everyday we love him more and more. We are just trying to cherish every minute because he is growing and changing so fast! We are so blessed to have Cooper in our home!

GRADUATION!!!

2011-01-13T13:00:00.000-08:00

This post is long overdue, but it is a HUGE event, so it is better to post late than never!!!

On Friday, December 10, 2010
Jake graduated with honors from Weber State University
with a BS degree in Geography Education and a dual minor in physical education and coaching!!! He is also getting his teaching license.

I am so PROUD of Jake for all his hard work. He put in so much time and effort into doing his best in school, and it showed. He received several different scholarships throughout the years and even got a 4.0 his last semester!

I know he is extremely glad to be done with school, student teaching, and homework! He does however have future plans to go back to school someday to get his masters. For now he will just enjoy the time being done with his degree and not paying tuition (YAY!!!).

Cooper and I were still in the hospital the day of graduation (it was the day after Cooper was born) and so I felt bad I couldn't go show my support to Jake. Luckily we have AMAZING family that came down to support Jake at the ceremony (Thanks Susan for the pictures!). Jake had a hard time staying awake through it all, since we had very little sleep, (if ANY!!!) Wednesday and Thursday night, but I'm glad he was able to attend. It is a HUGE accomplishment and I didn't want him to miss out on it!

As for now, he is just waiting for a job to open up so he can apply! He is planning to substitute teach, continue to work at the Bike Shoppe, and help take care of our little man on the days that I am working.

I can't say enough of how proud I am of Jake! He is going to be such an AMAZING teacher who many students look up to! He's going to make a big difference in this world just by being who he is!

Congrats babe...way to go! All your HARD work FINALLY paid off! I love you so much!

Holiday update

2011-01-02T12:38:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!!

We tried to keep the hustle and bustle of the holidays very low key this year. It was very different, but in a good way! We missed being so involved with extended family, but it was nice to be home and to be able to focus on each other and our Savior. As always, we were spoiled by everyone!

We've been trying to adjust to the new life of being a threesome. There have been many more late nights with no sleep and LOTS of diapers changed. It's a challenging new life, but a great one! Here are a few recent pictures of our little man who we just absolutely adore!!!

2010 was an AMAZING year...Let's hope 2011 is just as great!!!!

Meet Cooper Jacob Balls!!!

2010-12-14T12:59:00.000-08:00

On Thursday December 9th, 2010 Cooper Jacob Balls came into this world at 9:30 AM.
He weighed 7.7 pounds and 20 inches long.

Our little miracle

I had started having contractions at 9:00 Wednesday night. We went to the hospital at 3:00 in the morning, got an epideral at 4:00 and it was smooth sailing from here!

We are so blessed that everything went so smoothly. We feel so lucky to have our little guy.

Jake is already an AMAZING daddy! He's been so much help, made my life soooo much easier!

We've already had plenty of dirty diapers and late nights but bring on the many more to come!
It's very challenging to be new parents, but we are making the most of it as we figure things out with our new little man! Lots of question, but luckily we have lots of help!
We couldn't be happier to have our little man home!!!

BIG changes SOON to come!

2010-12-05T11:47:00.001-08:00

We've had lots of fun things going on lately and a LOT of big changes SOON to come!!!

We had a great Thanksgiving with all our family! We have so much to be grateful for and are so blessed! We LOVE all the yummy food, but love the chance to be reminded of all that we have even more.

Jake's had the chance to go hunting and has even been able to take Koda out a little bit. They've both LOVED it!!!

Our friends Kamille and John got married and gave us a good excuse to all get together! Congrats to the happy couple! We love you guys!

Jake finished his student teaching at Mt. Ogden Junior High and is just awaiting GRADUATION!!! This Friday is the BIG DAY!!! I'm so proud of him!!! Wrestling is also in full swing and they start their tournaments and duals this coming week! In addition to the high school wrestling, Jake also started a little league program this season which allowed him to work with boys kindergarten through 6th grade. I'm not kidding when I say he's been busy!!!

We've also been spoiled with several baby showers!!! Thanks to all our great friends and family who have supported us and helped us to get ready for our new little one! You are all GREAT and we couldn't have done it without you!

We are hoping to make it through Jake's graduation without going into labor. After that if he doesn't come the Dr. wants to induce us this coming weekend.

It's so crazy to think that we're going to be parents in such a short amount of time. It's seemed like forever ago that we found out I was pregnant and now it's hard to believe he's almost here!

It's going to be weird making the plunge into the next stage of life... we've tried to prepare for it, but we know there are going to be lots of surprises and hard times. Hopefully we'll have some help in figuring out how to be parents!
We are getting extremely anxious to meet our little man!!!! The countdown is on!

Vegas & Thriller!

2010-10-31T14:22:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we (Jake's family and I) took a trip to St. George and Vegas. Jake however stayed home to go deer hunting, which I have no documentation of...sorry!

We did a session in the Las Vegas temple:

Gorgeous!!!

Went inside some fancy hotels:

Visited M&M World:

Visited the Coca-Cola factory and tried the 16 different flavors...
some good, and some NOT so good!

Walked along the strip:
This picture is a little bit blurry, but how could we resist the photo op!

The next night we got to see Thriller at Tuacahn!

They definitely have a lot of talent!

Although it was a long drive being 8 months pregnant, it was well worth it! We had a BLAST!

In Memory

2010-10-31T12:48:00.001-07:00

On October 15th, 2010 my Grandma Elwood passed away.

Oh how we will miss her many stories!

The next day on October 16th, 2010 Jake's Grandpa Balls passed away.

Oh how we will miss his great sense of humor!

We will greatly miss both of their sweet spirits! Thank heavens for the testimony we have of the plan of Salvation and the knowledge we have that we will be with them again. We are so grateful for the legacy they have each left us and the great lives they lived. We are grateful for the time we did get to spend with them and the many things we learned from them over the years. They were amazing people who not only touched our lives, but all those around them. We feel honored to be their grandchildren.

We love you Grandma Elwood and Grandpa Balls!!!
Until we meet again!

Conference Weekend

2010-10-08T11:56:00.000-07:00

It all started with Jake's mission reunion in Provo Friday night.

We decided to treat ourselves to some Village Inn after wards...

Jake, Brandon and Clayton
(Jake and his mission buddies from the Hawaii Honolulu mission)

I think this picture is hilarious because Bernie (our waitress) was walking by right at that time and they jokingly invited her to come in...she was so flattered!
(You can also see that my tummy has grown quite a bit!)

That night after the reunion we drove up to Logan so that Jake could wake up to do this:

Drake, Randy, Alan, Jake and Connor
and...their killings. They had a good morning!

Jake LOVES the opening day of the duck hunt. Too bad Koda isn't a hunting dog!

Carter, Susan and I also had to get out and enjoy the sunshine to play with the 3-D sidewalk chalk:

It was such a great weekend! Inspiration from our great church leaders to answer our prayers and lift us. We also love the chance to spend the weekend with family!

Lotoja and other updates

2010-09-20T08:13:00.001-07:00

So it's been a while since we've updated!!! No, we have not fallen off the face of the earth, just been busy!

Jake has started student teaching at Mt. Ogden Jr. High. He teaches 5 periods of geography and 1 period of P.E. It keeps him EXTREMELY busy but he is loving it and learning a lot! He is still trying to work at the Bike Shoppe every chance he gets. On the days that he teaches and goes to work, he wears 3 different outfits, so needless to say, our laundry load has increased a LOT! He's been working so hard and I'm so proud of him! Keep it up babe and Hang in there...only a few more months!

Jake was also able to participate in Lotoja again this year. He decided to do a relay race this year with the guys from the Bike Shoppe instead of putting himself through the whole 206 miles.

Waiting to start his leg of the race

He did the 3rd leg from Montpelier to Afton...46 miles with 2 REALLY steep climbs! He did AMAZING!!! He even beat us too the the end of his leg and we were in the car! Pretty impressive! He still got sick, but it was for a lot shorter time than last year thank heavens!

After his ride with his proof that he pushed his hardest!!!

At the finish line in Teton Village with the team.

The Bike Shoppe Team took 3rd place out of over 50 teams!!! Way to go guys! You did awesome!

Matt, Jayk, Nate and Jake (missing Nathaniel)

Jake's BIGGEST fan!

His other BIGGEST fans, his parents!!!

Jake has lots of friends and even family in the sport and we are grateful for their friendship and support. Thanks for cheering him on!!!

Jake and his Uncle Mike who finished the race for his 2nd time!

Jake and his friend John H. who has been a big inspiration in many aspects of Jake's life.

It was fun to get to spend a little more time with him throughout the weekend than we usually get to. Sunday we spent some time in Jackson just hanging out before heading home.

We are now 28 weeks along and things are still looking good! We are starting to get really excited! He's an active little guy and is always moving around! I say "he" because we haven't decided on a name yet, but hopefully that will soon come!

Things are going awesome and we feel so blessed!

Weddings Galore!

2010-08-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

In the past 2 weeks we've had 2 weddings of some of our most favorite people:

Kevin and Stef, our good friends, were married Friday the 13th. We are so happy for them. It was fun to get together and see all our friends.

P.S. LOVED the Spoon Me frozen yogurt at the reception!

Jake and Kristin, Jeremy and Stacy, Stefani and Kevin, Cody and Jill (who are expecting a baby girl the day before us!) We are so grateful to have such AMAZING friends!

On August 21st Chelsea and Connor (Jake's brother) were married. It turned out to be a great day and we are so happy for the two of them! A big CONGRATS!

It was awesome to get to spend the day surrounded by family!

Our niece Aubrey LOVES Jake. When she sees him she gets a huge grin on her face. She's constantly calling his name when he's around. And she LOVES wearing his boots!

Random picture of Jake and Koda.
As Jake says, Koda is OUR best friend. It's just unfortunate that she minds him better and loves him way more than she does me!

We had another ultrasound yesterday...too bad we don't have a scanner! We got to see a 3-D picture of our little guy (well half of his face at least. He had both of his arms in front of his face which made things a little difficult!) From what we could see I think he's going to look a lot like Jake...he'll be so handsome! We are at 25 weeks and my tummy keeps growing bigger and bigger! We are getting more and more excited each and every day!

Hurt in the Dirt

2010-08-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

Last night Jake did the first annual "Hurt in the Dirt" race held at Fort Buenaventura. He did it as a relay with Nate from the Bike Shoppe. Jake went first to run 4 miles and then made the transition to mt bike 10 miles. Then Nate was up.

It was a really tough course...they had to run through mud, water, sand and obstacles. The funny thing is that Nate and Jake hadn't even been training for the race so they had been doing a lot of biking, but not any running.

Well I think they both surprised themselves by how well they did! They seriously made it look so easy! Jake finished his leg in about 1 hour and 15 minutes. They finished overall with a time of 2 hours and 38 minutes.

There were 80 individual racers and 40 relay teams and they took 2nd place overall! They were the first relay team to cross the finish line and took the Shop competition that was held between all the local shops.

This is their traveling trophy that they get to keep at the Bike Shoppe until next year. Way to represent boys! It was such a fun race to watch! Jake is a little sore from the run, but they are already looking forward to next year! He never ceases to amaze me with what he can accomplish! I'm so proud of him! Way to go Babe!

St. George Trip

2010-07-29T15:26:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I took a girl's trip to St. George with Jake's mom, aunts, sister and sister-in-law. We had an absolute blast!

We did Lots of driving:

Lots of eating:

and of course...lots of shopping!

One of the highlights of the trip is that we went to see Tarzan at Tuacahn.

It was soooo entertaining! Sitting in the 100 plus degree weather with swollen feet became totally worth it!

The next night we actually got $10 CATS tickets so we decided to go to the show again!

The end of our trip came way to fast (we were gone Thursday through Sunday but it just wasn't long enough!) It was definitely good to get away, but I sure did miss Jake!

Raptor's Game

2010-07-29T15:09:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we got free Raptor's tickets from South Ogden City. We invited Jake's brother, Jeff, and his family to go with us.

As you can tell, Jake and Carter had a great time...and so did the rest of us!

Towards the end of the game a guy who works for the Raptors came up to Carter and gave him a free ball that the team had played with. He was stoked as most of the players came by after the game to sign his ball, it was fun to see him get so excited. The Raptors killed the other team and it was good to have some fun, free entertainment!

Hyde Park Celebration

2010-07-29T13:29:00.000-07:00

First night we experienced the Ash-in-your face fireworks!

The next morning we hung out at the parade:

Then we cheered Jake on at his cyclocross race.

I am definitely Jake's BIGGEST fan, but the rest of the fam is close behind me! We love watching him race and supporting him!

Jake did AMAZING! They rode the coarse for 40 minutes. In that time Jake got a flat tire, but luckily had a spare bike so he was able to switch and still get 2nd place! Good Work Babe!

4th of July Week

2010-07-08T10:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a brief summary of our fantastic week:

Friday July 2nd: We went up to watch the Logan fireworks with Jake's family. We enjoyed yummy pizza and treats and lots of laughs while waiting for the fireworks to start!

Saturday July 3rd: We went on a fun bike ride up Green Canyon with Jake's parents. I was pooped but it was totally worth it!

Later that night we went to the Cache Valley Cruise-In parade

Monday July 5th: Traveled down to my mom's family reunion.
On the way we stopped at Cove Fort. It's such a cool place with lots of cool artifacts and history. If you haven't ever been, I would definitely recommend checking it out!

After a few hours of driving we finally arrived at our destination: Summit Chateau Lodge near Brian Head Resort. This was the view from the deck of the lodge. It was so pretty! Jake was stoked to pull out his binoculars and look for deer and elk, which he was successful at finding!

We've been looking forward to the reunion for quite a while now because there is a lot of my family that I haven't seen for over 5 years because they live in Arizona and Indianna! ALMOST everybody was able to make it, so the grand total was 58 of us in attendance! It was so nice to see everyone!

Tuesday July 6th some of us decided to drive to Navajo Lake to bike around it. We had a BLAST and got a work out at the same time!

On the way back to the lodge we stopped at Cedar Breaks National Monument to check out the scenery. AMAZING!

Wednesday it was time to make the drive home. We said our good-byes and had to part. We had such a great time visiting, laughing and getting to know our family better! Thanks to Jake's family for watching Koda so we could go enjoy ourselves! (dogs weren't allowed at the lodge)
Unfortunately it's time to stop playing and get back to work! I hate how fun times and vacations always go WAY too quickly!!!

Review of what we've been up to!

2010-06-27T14:23:00.000-07:00

This is Jake's parents "new" trike they got and Jake is in love with it. Carter (our nephew) had a blast getting driven around the driveway!

Jake and I took a trip to see the Manti pageant. It was the first time either one of us had ever been and it was really cool to see! We camped the night and on the way home stopped to hike Timpanogas Cave. Here are a few pictures from our adventure!

Utah is such a cool place to live. We love how there is so much to see and do within just a few hours.

We also got a chance to go to the Real game! We had a great time even though no one scored and it ended in a tie! Thanks for the free tickets and shirts mom!

For more explanation on our last post....
We are now 17 weeks along and things are going really well. I haven't been sick at all...thank heavens! I feel REALLY lucky! We'll keep you updated as time goes on!

News...

2010-06-27T14:07:00.000-07:00

Baby BOY expected December 10th, 2010!!!
We couldn't be more excited!

Thursdays Happenings

2010-06-13T17:15:00.000-07:00

This past Thursday the weather cooperated enough for a few hours that we were able to get out of the house. We hiked up Waterfall Canyon and even talked my little sister and her friend Bobbi into coming with us. Oh how we love exercise and nature and when you put the two together you get something great!

Jake even caught a lizard on the way back down!

Later that night I cut my hair. It was kind of a last minute thought, but I was able to get my an appointment. This is how the night went:

Just getting settled.

The last of the pony tail! It's GONE just like that!

TWO hours later:
(after ALOT of thinning out....the girl said she has never cut such thick hair)

The finished product!

About 10 inches worth of pony tail that I will be sending off to donate to a program called Beautiful Lengths to make wigs for women with cancer. This is my second time donating my hair, but definitely the shortest it has ever been!

It's definitely going to take some getting used and I have to learn how to do my hair again, but overall I'm happy with the outcome. One thing is for sure....my neck won't have to support as much weight any more!

Kylie's graduation

2010-06-04T08:23:00.000-07:00

My little sis graduated from Viewmont High yesterday!!!

It's so crazy to see her all grown up!

She had lots of family there to support her and cheer her on! (this is only part of them...)

We are so proud of you Kylie! We love you! Way to go!!!

Bug Off!

2010-05-23T12:51:00.001-07:00

Last Wednesday Jake and I took the afternoon off work and loaded all our camping gear into the car. We were headed to Antelope Island to camp for the evening. We were stoked! We got there and set up camp. We enjoyed a nice hike where we saw these things:

We thoroughly enjoyed the lizards and deer and all the beautiful scenery. The weather even cooperated for us and the sun was shining brightly. So brightly in fact that Koda with her black fur was looking for every bit of shade she could find as we were walking.

After getting back from our hike we were just relaxing and something started to get more and more irritating. There were little gnats flying all around everywhere. They seemed like harmless little insects, but we were wrong. We had put our bug spray on and thought we were prepared. The slight breeze calmed down and there were bugs flying in and out of our ears, buzzing all around our faces, crawling all through Koda's fur and biting us everywhere. Our bug spray (even after being reapplied 3 or 4 times) was not even phasing them! There were zillions flying around! We were being driven insane by these tiny things...literally! After much debate we finally decided we would be much less miserable if we came home for the night. So we took down our tent and loaded all our gear back into the car after just a few hours and headed home with much disappointment.

Upon arriving home, this is what we found on the bumper of our car....
Several hundreds of souvenirs that we would have to scrub off the next day.

We then cooked our tinfoil dinners (that were meant to be cooked over the campfire) in the oven and watched a movie. I must say we slept a lot better in our own bed than we would have on the ground with a zillion bugs buzzing around us. Even though things didn't go exactly as planned, we still enjoyed just spending time together!

We are still suffering from our itchy bug bites and offer a warning to anybody out there reading this: AVOID Antelope Island for the time being until the bugs die down a bit...you won't regret it!

Happy 26th Birthday!!!!

2010-05-16T15:12:00.000-07:00

On Friday May 14th was Jake's 26th birthday!!! Since Thursday is our day off we decided to dedicate this day to Jake. We got to relax, go to the temple, and go looking for deer sheds down below our house (one of Jake's FAVORITE things to do!).

Friday Jake's family came down from Logan and treated us to some dinner at Texas Roadhouse! Jake was loving all the attention he got when they brought over the saddle for him to sit in....ok, not really but he was a good sport about it!

HAPPY 26TH BIRTHDAY JAKE!!!
I LOVE YOU!!!

Jake has finally had time to ride his bike a little bit more. Koda LOVES to go mountain biking with him. When she gets home though she lays on her bed and barely moves because she's been playing to hard!

I had to share this cute picture of our niece Aubrey. She LOVES Jake's cowboy boots. When Jake needed them to wear she got a little upset when we had to take them away. Now we just need to bring on the cowboy hat and break her into the idea of becoming a cowgirl!

Great Week!

2010-05-02T11:29:00.000-07:00

Jake FINALLY finished with school for the semester, which is a great, great thing! He is happy to have started his summer break and looks forward to his student teaching this fall and then the big GRADUATION in December!

On April 28th Jake's mom turned the big 5o!!!! We went up to surprise her for a special party held in her honor at the Copper Mill!

Here is Jake with the guest of honor:

Tammie did a GREAT job with the decorations!

Jake and his brother Jeff showed up in the exact same outfit....what are the chances?! I guess great minds think alike!

We were able to spend the night and enjoy part of our day off on Thursday up in Logan.

Saturday night we were able to enjoy a game of bowling with our friends Kevin and Stefani.

We even got to do a free session of bumper cars....it's great to feel like a kid again!

Now we just need some warm weather so we can move on to our summer activities! Bring on the sunshine!

Cross Country Skiing

2010-04-18T20:36:00.000-07:00

This past Thursday Jake and I decided to try something new...the sun was shining and we wanted to get outside! We rented cross country ski gear from the WSU wilderness rec center and headed up to Snow Basin. It was our first time trying it and we loved it! Jake of course figured it out a lot quicker than I did, but by the time we were done I was starting to get the hang of it. Koda may have even loved it more than we did!

This is one of the highlights of our day..... Let me assure you, it was NOT on purpose, that is what makes it so great!

To Jake's credit this was the ONLY time he fell down the entire day and I just happened to get it on film! I on the other hand fell quite frequently!

That night I was able to hang out with my girlfriends. Trina was visiting from Washington D.C. and Emily came from Lehi so Stacy and I decided to drive down for a little visit! We had a great night full of laughs! I love these girls!

We definitely appreciate and look forward to our days off!

2010-04-06T07:24:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a great Easter! We had a blast with Jake's family. It's so great to have a time that we can celebrate the fact that our Savior was resurrected and that He lives! It's important for us to reflect often about this throughout the year as well. Last week at church when I was teaching the sunbeams about the first Easter and the resurrection, one of the little boys just kept interrupting me and saying "I love Jesus". I would respond by saying "Well that's great, He loves you too." It wasn't until later that I thought about how as adults we don't talk about Christ or show our love for him near as often as children do. Their testimonies are so pure. I think we often forget that we are children of God and what that really means...We have divine potential! I'm so grateful for my calling and the many things those 3-4 year olds can teach me!

Other events:

Look at the hail that came down at our house last week! I've never seen anything like it!

A few weekends ago Jake and I bundled up and went to Powder Mountain to volunteer at the Special Olympics. We had so much fun! We were assigned to be the finish gate timers for the intermediate course.

Our favorite part was the awards ceremony. We have so much to learn from these individuals! Everybody gets a medal at the Special Olympics, but no matter if it is gold or bronze, they are happy as can be! You can hear "I won! I got 3rd place!" Why can't we as a society be more like them? Why can't we be as happy for others success as we are for our own. Why can't we be fine with just doing our best even if it isn't better than everyone else?

These were our two favorite athletes. You couldn't help but have a smile on your face when you saw their enthusiasm!

Oh how we have so much to learn!
Jake and I had so much fun, we would like to make this an annual tradition!

We woke up this morning to 6-8 inches of new snow! We are ready for spring!

Jake only has 2 1/2 more weeks of school. I can't wait to have my husband back and I know he can't wait to have a few spare seconds in the day! He's worked so hard this past year and has accomplished so much. I'm so proud of him!

Spring Break!!!!

2010-03-22T19:14:00.001-07:00

For Spring Break we took a little vacation down to Moab. Sadly it was my first time to this part of the state, but we had a blast! We went with my old roommate Kamille and a group of her friends.

We camped at Slick Rock campground. Jake was stoked because there was a field next to us and there were over a 100 geese just hangin' out!

As you can see it was still a little chilly at times....the second night it supposedly got down to 18 degrees. Cold weather and sleeping in a tent don't mix very well!!!

Koda made several new friends!

Jake and I went to tour the "Hole in the Rock". It's a 5000 sq. foot home that was built in the rock!!! It was pretty amazing to see! They didn't have to have a furnace or air conditioner because it naturally stayed around 65 degrees year round!

We also went shopping, relaxed and of course ate some yummy food!

Saturday was the warmest day and was devoted to hiking and exploring Moab. First we hiked to Corona Arch. LOVE this hike!

It was awesome to see some people repelling from it!

The scenery is so beautiful!

Then we hiked Negro Bill canyon.

The whole clan

Just us girls!

There is a natural land bridge at the end of the canyon.

After these two hikes the girls headed to Arches National Park and hiked to Delicate Arch. It was amazing! Unfortunately my camera was out of batteries so I'm going to have to steal some pictures before I can post them! It was a long day of hiking - all in all we figure we hiked about 13 miles. We were pooped!!! It was sure good to get away and take a break from everything! We had a blast but were glad to get home to our nice warm beds!!!

More pictures to come!

2010-02-27T15:04:00.000-08:00

Jake finished out the wrestling season and had a great time at their Banquet! It'll be good for him to have a little bit more time available to do homework! It was fun to see all the boys improve so much throughout the season. I think they all had a great time, including Jake. He worked really hard and I'm proud of him for doing such a good job and working so hard! For his first season he did amazing!

I was lucky enough to get to go to the Jazz game with my Mom, Woody and Kylie. We had a blast in the suite munching on all the yummy food! Unfortunately I was missing Jake though because he wasn't able to be there.

We got together with our friends from Logan this past weekend. We went to eat at Maddox (Jake and I have never been there before, but it was delicious!) It was so fun to just catch up with everyone. Afterwards we tried to go bowling but the alley closed at 10:00 on a Friday night! We just decided to hang out for a little bit before they had to head back over the heal. We have been blessed to have great friends!

Jake, Kristin, John, Kamille, and Kevin
(this was taken after Stacy left...sorry stac!)

Jake is still busy as ever and workin' hard with work and school! Luckily he still makes time to spend with me! I have been playing indoor soccer and loving every minute of it. My team isn't very good, but we have fun and it is a good way to get some exercise! We can't wait until it warms up and we can hopefully spend more time outside! Bring on the sunshine and out with the mushy, muddy, puddled lawn!!!

Christmas

2009-12-27T19:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas came way too fast and was gone just as quickly!

We had a great time spending time with all our family! We got spoiled yet again this year!

Another highlight is that the day after Christmas I was able to go to lunch with my old roommates and friends! These girls have been my friends since elementary school and I just can't get enough of them!

We also had a little family photo shoot:

As we reflect on this past year we realize just how blessed we are. Hope you all have a Fabulous New Year!!!

CRUISE

2009-12-27T10:16:00.001-08:00

For Christmas this year Jake and I decided to treat ourselves to a week long vacation! On December 13th Jake and I departed out of a blizzardy SLC with our friends Nate and Karlee to head to sunny San Diego. Jake had just finished with finals and we were ready to take a break from our responsibilities here! We had a blast! Here are a few pictures of the highlights of our trip!

We loved the sandy beaches and piers of San Diego!

The Cruise

Formal Night

Catalina Island

Taking the ferry to the island

Made it to the TOP!

The Wrigley monument at the Botanical Gardens

Ensenada, Mexico

La Bufador, the "Blow hole"

San Diego Temple

Seaworld!

We got to pet the dolphins...someday we will swim with them!

Jake loved the pet show!

Thanks to Nate and Karlee for helping us have a great trip! We had a BLAST!

2009-12-03T12:54:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since we updated this thing, but yes we are still alive and well.

We are going to have to back track a few months!

We got to go to the REAL SL first playoff game.....GO REAL, MLS cup champs!

Gotta love the weirdos in the back trying to draw attention to themselves!

Koda and I hiked up Adam's Canyon on one of the last nice days of this fall!

We are lucky to live so close to such pretty places!

Jake has been busy coaching wrestling. He's also been busy with school and work. He's excited for finals to be over with so he can have a break for a few weeks!

Jake wrestling for Weber State vs. Utah State.

We had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving with time to visit with all of our family! We are so grateful for all that we have and all that we are blessed with each and every day!

The good news is that Jake only has 1 week left of this semester and then we are headed off on our CRUISE!!!!

My Braggin' Time!

2009-10-11T10:16:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Jake and I both took Saturday off to spend with the family and watch conference. Of course Jake also had to get some duck hunting in with his Dad and Connor, it would be a shame to miss the opening day of the duck hunt!!!

Aren't they good lookin'? I'm talking about they guys, not the ducks! But good job with the ducks as well boys!

Since Koda is basically our training device to get us ready to someday have kids, I figured you need to see how BIG she is getting! (When you don't have kids, it seems normal to talk about your dog!)

She is starting to like bath time more, especially with her rubber duckies. It usually takes 2 towels now to dry her off instead of just one!!! She still likes to sit on our laps, even though she doesn't fit too well there anymore!

And now for the EXCITING news!!!!

You are looking at the NEW HEAD WRESTLING COACH for Ogden High!!! He is going to be one busy kid, but I'm so excited for him. I'm so proud of him and know he is going to be an AMAZING coach! Congrats Bebe, I LOVE YOU!

A Great Big Shout Out to Those we LOVE!!!!

2009-10-01T12:01:00.000-07:00

We just wanted to let everyone out there who has helped us in ANY way at ANY time that we appreciate you in our lives and we love you. We are so lucky to have such great family and friends!!!

We just want you to know that YOU are what matters most to us!!! Thanks for EVERYTHING!!!

Please be sure to check out this video so you know where We're comin' from!!!

What Matters Most

LOTOJA update

2009-09-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

Friday night Susan and Grandma Jensen made their famous spaghetti dinner for all the Bike Shoppe boys to carb load for the race. Thanks for all your hard work in giving us such a great meal!!!

Jake starting out on the 206 mile journey.

He was ready with his GAMEFACE!!! Alot of training had gone into this day for these guys!

He had lots of great support and cheerleaders!

Grandpa Jensen even gave up the opening day of this once-in-a-lifetime moose hunt...what a sacrifice!!!

Unfortunately, Jake's stomach didn't cooperate again this year. He pushed through the pain and vomiting for 100 miles, but his body wasn't going to allow another 100. I felt so helpless and wanted to do anything to help him. Jake is going to talk to a sports nutritionist and a dr. to see if we can beat what it is that is holding him back. He was very frustrated, but I want him to know how proud I am of him. He is so strong and has a will to push forward that I will never have. I LOVE this boy with all my heart and am so grateful for the influence he is in my life. Good work Bebe!

This will definitely be a Lotoja we don't forget. At about 12:20 in the morning the firealarm went off at the hotel. It took the fire department a long half an hour to get there. We were outside in the miserable cold until about 2:00 am. Poor Jake was exhausted and just wanted to sleep!!!

Luckily, we finally got to sleep and recovered for the morning!

Lotoja has become a family afair and quite the memorable event. We were able to cheer Mike on at the finish line this year...Way to go MIKE!!!! Congrats on the accomplishment!

We LOVE the Bike Shoppe! They've been so good to Jake and we appreciate their friendships.

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-10T14:02:00.000-07:00

We had a blast this past weekend!

It started off Friday when my step-mom, Linda and my Dad were sealed in the Logan LDS temple. It was SOOO neat to be in the temple with both of them...it turned out to be a really special day. Afterward we went to lunch with the fam! A BIG CONGRATS to them!

Then we drove to Grey's River in Wyoming, Jake's long-time family tradition that we always look forward to. It was so great to be able to relax and hang out with the fam. Dirt, Campfires, Four-wheeler rides, and good food...can't get any better than that!!!

Jake spent some of his free time styling Aubrey's hair, and boy was he proud!!!

This next weekend is Lotoja, the bike race from Logan to Jackson. Jake has been working hard to train through the summer. We'll soon have an update for you! Good luck Babe, I know you are going to do amazing!!! I'll be praying for you!

2009-08-16T16:29:00.000-07:00

Summer is FLYING by!!! Here are the updates on what we have been up to:

Our nephew Carter turned 3 years old so we all had fun with the fam at his fun pool party!!!

We backpacked into Whitepine up Logan Canyon and spent the night. It's always good to have some time to get away to enjoy the beauty of nature.

I took some time to read and nap, Connor and Jake on the other hand couldn't sit still for 2 minutes. This is what happens when 2 boys with a hatchet find a dead tree...

It was my first time ever sleeping under the stars. I've definitely had better nights of sleep, but it wasn't was bad as I was expecting!

Jake's mom, Susan, and Aunt, Carol, hiked in the next morning to spend some time with us and hike back out with us. We had such a great time!

Koda was pooped right out after 4 miles in and 4 miles out.... we had to give her a good bath to get all the sap out of her fur and she couldn't even stay awake for it. It was hilarious to see her falling asleep in the tub!

August also means Cache County Fair and Rodeo!!! We were able to go up Saturday night to spend some quality time with the family!

My old roommate Kamille got home from her mission in Australia, so we got together with the friends and played and little tennis, had homemade pizza, and went for a swim!

Jake is famous!!! He is on the inside of the hind leg of one of the famous horses in Ogden on 25th street. Jake had his picture taken and it was printed in a book titled "I am Ogden." Low and behold it showed up on the horse with the other pictures!!!! He is one HOT model, especially in spandex!!!

As you can see...my favorite things about summer are FAMILY, FRIENDS, and JAKE!!!

My side of the Story

2009-07-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

With Jake's mullet he fit right in down in Heber City, and boy was he proud of that thing......so proud he was willing to dress up in these that Matt purchased for him!

Here is what else we have been up to:

Fireworks on top of Beus

And the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo

Summer, we just can't get enough of it!

"Sweet new dew"

2009-07-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

Business up front.... Partay in the back!

This past weekend we had the annual Oger ride (Ogden to Heber) and I got a little sun burned.
Lucky for me my neck was protected by my new hair style
so I did not get burnt on my neck.

2009-07-19T10:23:00.000-07:00

Koda has a new best friend....Fern.

This is Koda's new favorite seat when riding in my car

Thursday Koda and I hiked up Waterfall canyon again with my mother-in-law, Susan. Although it was HOT, it was well worth it!

Jake and his Bike Shoppe Buddies sportin' their new jerseys!!!

Overdue Update

2009-07-11T14:37:00.001-07:00

Our computer has been throwing fits lately, so we are a little behind. Here comes our big update.

One of my best friends Erin Thunnel get married a few weeks ago! She looked absolutely gorgeous, gotta love this girl!!!! It was also fun to hang out with my friend Christina, since Jake had to work that day so I was a loner! Congrats to Erin and Jared!

We went to the Josh Gracin concert for South Ogden days. We had a blast with the fam and a few of our friends!

This may be a little inappropriate, but it was one of the most memorable parts of the whole night. This couple sitting by us just laid there making out the ENTIRE concert!!! (Jake is just the distractor so we could take the pict!)

We had a blast with our family 4th of July weekend. First, we hung out with the Balls for the traditional BBQ and fireworks on Thursday night.

The next morning we gave Koda her first ever haircut. She did a lot better than I expected her too...Thanks to Alan for his help!

I had to post this pict of Aubrey and Carter that morning because they are our favorite niece and nephew!!!

Afterwards we hiked up to the Wind Caves.

Koda's favorite thing to do when we go on hikes or walks when she finds water is to get a drink and then just plop right down to cool off!

Friday afternoon we drove up to Henry to camp with my dad and stepmom. We had a blast just relaxing and hanging out by Blackfoot Reserviore.

Koda discovered that she LOVES splashing in the water, but hasn't tried actually swimming yet.

It was gorgeous up there!!! I absolutely LOVE rainbows and we had the treat of a DOUBLE!

Old Glory

Sunday we also had the chance to hang out with my cousins from my mom's side at another great BBQ.

Nothing better than a 4th of July weekend spent with the family. Lot of fun, good food, and many great memories!

Now its back to usual life of work! Our days consist of work, and evenings consist of getting things done around the house and taking Koda for walks. This is Jake's most current item he has spoiled her with....a new bed!

We LOVE Waterfalls

2009-06-26T15:49:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we did one of my favorite hikes ever...Waterfall Canyon.

We went with our friends Nate and Ari and Nathaniel and Karlee, and of course their dog Fern!

Jake decided to take Koda, and she actually did really good. Of course we had to help her over the big rocks, but she made it to the top!!!

This is her at the top getting a rest! She was pretty pooped, but she made it back down!

Life is Good!

2009-06-18T15:27:00.000-07:00

It hasn't felt much like summer with the rain every day, but one thing we know for sure is that it is fabulous to not have any homework!!!!! We've mostly been busy with work. I have started to work as a dental hygienist and am loving it! I will be working Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and every 1st and 3rd Saturday at one office and Fridays at another office. I was really worried about being able to find work, but as always things worked out just great. Somebody's watching out for us!

Jake's Grandpa and Grandma Jensen have been married for 50 years!!!! It was so fun to get together with his ENTIRE family to celebrate it!!! We love them and are so grateful for their example in our lives!

It really was a better kiss than it appears....my camera is just really bad at getting a good shot when timing is an issue!!!! Hopefully when Christmas rolls around next year we won't be having that problem any more!!!!

Koda has taken a lot of time and patience like I knew she would, but we love her. This is what happens when she gets worn out...I love her nap times! She loves to lay on her back to get her tummy scratched, but it sure doesn't look like a very comfortable sleeping position!

The best part about getting a new puppy:

Getting breakfast in bed on a Sunday morning because Jake had to get up early to let her go out to the bathroom!

Jake's famous chocolate chip pancakes but in a special "I love you"! I love that boy!

We've got some NEWS!

2009-06-05T08:45:00.000-07:00

We have been CRAZY busy the past month. Life just NEVER slows down!!! I'm going to try to keep this to a brief update.

We officially have a new address! We are still unpacking a few boxes, but it is great to FINALLY have a place of our own! We are so excited! It's been a LOT of work, but well worth it!

I found out that I passed my final board exam (YAHOO!) with 100% baby! Now I'm just waiting for my license and on the lookout for a new job!!! If anybody knows if a dentist in need of a hygienist you better let me know!

Jake and I have now been married for 2 years, as of May 24th! It is so crazy how the time flies! I am the luckiest girl in the world! I love him to pieces and am so grateful for how good he treats me! I look foward to so many more years to come...actually for FOREVER!

We went camping with our friends, Nate and Karlee, and brother Connor for Memorial Day weekend up BlackSmith Fork Canyon and had a blast! When these guys get together they are like little boys!

This is them with their homemade bat and ball they found while exploring!

Nate getting a hit!

They LOVE their sling shots!

Connor was up in the tree to help Jake and Nate spot the fish.

And the result.....

They even went on a bike ride.

We FINALLY talked the boys into putting down their toys for a few minutes and making us some shelter! I must say they did a pretty fine job!

Karlee and I hung out by the fire most of the time trying to stay warm. We had fun visiting and enjoying our books!

Thanks you guys for the fun, relaxing, wet weekend with such yummy food!

We've had fun being with family and friends:

I was able to get off work to go to my friend Trina's bridal shower. Stacy and I have been friends with Trina and Emily since we were 16 when we met them at EFY! I love these girls!

Trina, Jeff, Jake and I, Stacy and Jeremy. We are so lucky to have such great friends!

Congrats Connor on your highschool graduation! We're proud of you! (too bad it was from SV instead of MC :)

Celebrating at Cafe Sabor!

and our latest news:

After 2 long years Jake finally convinced me he needed a puppy. Actually maybe convinced is the wrong word, because I'm still not completely on board! I just told him I was going to have to trust him on this one!

She is a springerdoodle (mix between a poodle and springer spaniel). She shouldn't shed and should get to be the size of a springer. Jake is in heaven. I'm loving her, but just praying it wasn't a mistake!!!

Have you ever seen a HAPPIER face? I don't think its possible!

Koda getting her very first bath!

Update!

2009-05-11T09:41:00.000-07:00

Wow, this past week was a busy one!!!

It started off with our niece Aubrey's blessing last Sunday. It was so good to see the fam and and celebrate Aubrey's special day!

Isn't she ADORABLE!?!

Jake, Carter and Aubrey. I love this picture!!!

Tammie and Jeff with Alan and Susan and Aubrey.

I love this picture just due to the fact that Jake conveniently-accidentally placed the string from the camera right between Susan and Aubrey!

On Tuesday we closed on our townhome...so as of last Wednesday we are officially HOME OWNERS!!! The sad part about it is that we didn't even get to go inside until Saturday night because the next few days were so busy!

This is a picture of what the outside of our townhome looks like. We're super excited to FINALLY be done paying RENT!!!

Last Thursday and Friday were my local anesthesia and dental hygiene board exams. Talk about 2 of the most stressful days ever. I found out that I passed my 2 local anesthesia boards on Thursday...Jake was a great patient and was a great sport to let me poke him 3 times!

Friday (my dental hygiene board) went well, hopefully well enough to pass, but I won't get the results for another 4 weeks!!! The wait is complete torture! I'm just glad that my patient showed up on time and qualified, and he didn't have a cold sore! What a relief to have that all over with.

We finally were able to go inside our new townhome on Saturday night. We are working on getting a paint color picked out and getting the show on the road with the few repairs we need to do and the cleaning!!!

Of course, yesterday was mother's day so we need to give a big shout out to our moms! We have the best moms in the world!!!! I don't know how we got so lucky, but I have a LOT to live up to from their great examples. We just want all 3 of you to know how much we love you and appreciate everything you have done for us and continue to do for us on a daily basis. You guys are the greatest!!! WE LOVE YOU!

GRADUATION!!!!

2009-05-03T17:42:00.000-07:00

On Friday May 1st I graduated from Weber State University with my Bachelors of Science degree in Dental Hygiene!!! It was a great day!

To make the day even better, we found out that our whole class passed the national written dental hygiene exam! What a relief! I'm still waiting for my score to come in the mail, but all I wanted was to pass so this was some great news! Unfortunately, we still have 3 more boards to go this Thursday and Friday! I'm scared out of my mind, but I tried to push that out of my head and just enjoy graduation.

CLASS OF '09!

Myself with Prof. McConaughy, Prof. Alexander, and Prof. Bossenberger. I was so blessed to have such great faculty to learn from and look up to. These guys are awesome! Below is one of my other professors, Prof. Hansen. They dedicate so much time in our behalf!

Chelsea, Emily, Prof. Hansen and me.

I made so many great friends while in the program. This will probably be the only thing I miss about school. I just hope I can keep in touch with them. It was good to have someone to vent to about the frustrations about school (I'm sure Jake was also grateful I had some other people to vent to give him a break!)

Mindy, Me and Chelsea.

These two were my partners that I worked with on my BS thesis. We researched what health care professionals along the Wasatch Front were telling women of child-bearing age about the importance of getting to the dentist to help them have a healthy pregnancy.

Camille and I are also able to work together at Pediatric Dentistry.

I was so grateful for all the support from my loved ones! They helped make it a special day for me! I know they had to make some sacrifices to be there with me, and I want them to know that I really appreciate that!

My grandpa came all the way from Preston ID!

This is the only pict. I got with my step dad Woody...what a shame!

Jeff and Tammie even brought their cute family to cheer me on! Jeff will be graduating in 2 weeks from the University of Utah Law program. Congrats Jeff on all your hard work!

Jake, Me, my dad, and my step-mom Linda.

Me, my Dad, and my little sis Kylie.

Me and my cute mom!

Jake's parents were in St. George for some business meetings and weren't able to make it. I wanted to thank them for all their love and support as well!

Afterwards we went to the Pizza Factory for some yummy food and celebration!

Last of all I have to give a big shout out to Jake. He has been the biggest support to me of all through all of this. He is so amazing. He has put up with sooo much. School has caused me a lot of stress over the past 2 years and he's stuck with me and helped me get through it. I owe so much of where I am today to him. I love him with all of my heart and want him to know how grateful I am for everything he does for me. I'm so lucky to have him in my life. He has even volunteered to be my patient for my local anesthesia exam...what a great husband! (ok, so maybe he didn't volunteer to let me give him shots, but he did agree to do it!!!)

Jake and I at my graduation banquet at the Timbermine.

Thanks again to EVERYONE for supporting me in my goals! I'm so LUCKY to be surrounded by such AMAZING family and friends!

One of a Kind

2009-04-29T12:38:00.000-07:00

I saw this website on my friend Shannon's blog and figured I would try it out (EVERYBODY needs a break from work and studying...right?!)
Here is the website to try it out for yourself: http://howmanyofme.com
I don't have time to mess with it and the darn HTML stuff is giving me grief so I'm not making a link so you can just type the address in...sorry!

Well, Here are the results:

Kristin

There are 151,624 people in the U.S. with the first name Kristin.
Statistically the 397th most popular first name.
More than 99.9 percent of people with the first name Kristin are female.

Balls
There are 1,960 people in the U.S. with the last name Balls.
Statistically the 15605th most popular last name.

Kristin Balls

There is 1 person in the U.S. named Kristin Balls.

I always knew I was one of a kind....but here's some cold hard proof for ya!

Jacob
There are 252,707 people in the U.S. with the first name Jacob.
Statistically the 259th most popular first name.
More than 99.9 percent of people with the first name Jacob are male.
Names similar to Jacob:
Jake
Jay

Jacob Balls
There are 2 people in the U.S. named Jacob Balls.

We make up quite the original couple!

Last exam!

2009-04-20T21:08:00.000-07:00

I took my last ever college exam today!!!! It's so crazy!!! Now I'm just waiting for my 3 licensing boards to roll around May 7-8....and THOSE are the big ones!!! I'm still waiting to hear if I passed the national written dental hygiene board exam, so hopefully when it comes in the mail in the next week and a half I'll have good news to report about that! It's all winding down so quickly! Graduation is May 1st. However, it won't completely feel official until I know I passed all my boards 4-6 weeks after I take them! I HATE waiting for the results!!!

Conference Weekend!!!

2009-04-06T19:16:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately on Saturday Jake and I had to work like usual. We did make it in time to make it to Logan so Jake could could go with his brothers and dad to the priesthood session. While they were enjoying that and their tradition at La Beus afterward, us girls headed to Cafe Sabor for some dinner! We also had treats afterward and Susan and Kathy helped my little sister, Kylie,and I to make some bracelets with their beads!

We had so much fun with the fam this weekend. Sunday was filled with Susan's yummy blueberry frenchtoast, lots of good conference talks and Jake's grandpa's birthday party.

These two are little buddies and I just love to watch them play together! Carter forgot his hat at home so Jake made sure he found one for him that used to be one of his favorites. I think this picture is stinkin' cute!

We also got to see our cute niece Aubrey. She is now a month old and I can't believe how big she is growing!!!

We are so grateful for our family. We are really lucky that we have so much support and love shown to us from everyone on our family. You guys are the best....we love you!

Thank heavens for weekends....If only they could be longer!!!

2009-03-29T09:25:00.001-07:00

We've had a fun weekend!

Friday night we got together with our friends Nate and Karly. We treated ourselves to some Costa Vida and watched the movie "Bolt." Jake was a little disappointed about the movie when he found out Bolt didn't really have super powers, but now he wants a puppy even more! It was definitely a cute show.

Saturday night we got together with our friends Jeremy and Stacy to play Walleyball. If you've never heard of it, it's volleyball in a raquetball court, which mean you can play off all the walls. We had loads of fun.

The Walley"Balls"

VS.

Team 2

And the WINNER is......

NOT team 2!!!

We killed them in 3 games!!! Ok, maybe they were really close, but we still came out on top!

Afterwards we went to the Yogurt Stop in Bountiful for a yummy treat! We had never been there, but you choose your flavor of frozen yogurt and then add any toppings you want (my favorite was the fresh raspberries and strawberries)! The only downside is that they charge you by the ounce so you have to watch yourself that you don't get too out of control in loading it up!

We are soooo lucky to have such great friends! Thanks to the Foulgers and Larsens for helping us break up the long week of work and school.

This past week was pretty crazy busy. Jake has been slammed with homework. I took my national dental hygiene board exam on Tuesday. It wasn't very long...only 8 hours and 350 questions!!!! It was miserable and hard...I actually think I'm barely recovering from it! I won't find out for 6 weeks if I passed. I just pray I did because I never want to take a test that long ever again!

We also have some exciting news. We have signed on a townhome here in south ogden. Now we just have to make sure the financing all goes through! Hopefully we wont' have any problems with it. If all goes well, we will be closing on May 5th!!!! We are super excited!

To finish off, I have a little story to sum up our week:

Saturday night after getting home and crawling into bed late we kneeled to say our prayers. We made it through our couple prayer, but unfortunately we must have been way too exhausted to make it through our personal prayers. We both woke up about 45 minutes later still on our knees....the last thing either of us remembered was starting our prayer. The worst part about it was when we started moving to lay down, our legs and feet from our knees down hurt so bad from the lack of blood flow that we almost didn't make it back to sleep. It was bad enough we never want to do that again!!! We learned our lesson to never fall asleep when you are praying! Hopefully we will be forgiven. We obviously need to start getting to bed a little bit earlier!

Hopefully this next week will bring some productive days and some early bedtimes!

Catch up!

2009-03-22T16:33:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since we've posted because we have been CRAZY busy! School has been running our lives. I have my written national dental hygiene board coming up this Tuesday. I've been studying every spare second I've had since this semester started (it seriously feels like it!) and I STILL don't feel prepared! Since they can ask anything from my freshman year of college I have just come ot accept the fact that there are going to be things I don't know. It's been pretty overwhelming to study for it, and I CANNOT wait until Tuesday night! Then I can move on and start focusing on studying for my local anesthesia written board, which is in May!

Luckily we did have a few days of spring break to enjoy up in Logan. We love going back to Cache Valley and being with our family up there.

My old roommate, Shelly, got married so it was fun to get together with Kelsey and her to catch up a little bit! Congrats Shelly and Jens!

We took our nephew Carter up to Logan with us to give his parents some time to adjust to having the new baby! He is so much fun....we just love him! I absolutely love this picture so I had to post it!

The other stressful thing that has been going on (besides school) is that we are on the search for a town home to purchase. We've found one that we really like here in South Ogden...so the journey begins! Hopefully with all that is going on I can keep my stress level to a minimum considering the circumstances! Thank heavens I have Jake to help me chill out!

Baby Aubrey

2009-03-02T15:55:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday our niece, baby Aubrey was born! We are so excited for you Jeff, Tammie and Carter! We think she is an absolute doll! Seeing Aubrey made me pretty baby hungry....but then it kind of scared me to think how little and precious she is. It's such a big responsibility to be entrusted as parents! Good thing Aubrey and Carter have such good parents to take care of them! I only hope I can prepare to handle it when the time comes someday!!!!

The Boys

2009-02-22T11:34:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago Jake's dad and little brother, Connor, spent the night at our house. The next morning we made a trip to Beus Pond to feed the ducks. We had a whole loaf of bread and they were loving us! It was snowy and cold, but we had a lot of fun. I love this picture of them!

Something to make up for the LONG day!

2009-02-21T16:23:00.000-08:00

It was a really long day at work today. However, even after those days that are way too long, especially for a Saturday...I still love my job. This is why:

I'm sure a lot of you have already seen this, but you can't help but laugh. I see hilarious things like this every time I work. Kids can be challenging, but oh so very entertaining!

Family Pictures

2009-02-02T14:15:00.000-08:00

At the first of this year we went to get family pictures taken with my mom and step dad. They turned out pretty good so I thought I would share a few.

My twin brother Court!

(All the other kids had gotten their pictures taken a few months before)

Another Favorite

2009-01-28T18:53:00.000-08:00

I FINALLY did it! I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone!!!! I had started reading it in highschool and decided it wasn't for me. However, after much contemplation I decided to give it a second chance. I'm glad I did! I'm usually not much for make-believe things, but there is just something about this book that is rather entertaining! (I think what made me change my mind and give it a chance is the fact that I liked the Twilight series so much. If I can like a book about Vampires, why not a book about wizards and magic...right?!)

I love to read. It gives me a chance to wind down at nights and try to take my brain off all the events of that day and the days to come.

Over Christmas break Jake had gone duck hunting with his friend, Jerald, which I had mentioned on a previous post. We finally got some pictures of the day so I decided to share one.

Here is Jake with his ducks! You can't tell, but he has like 12 hanging around his neck! His pride and joy of course is the pintail he is holding up! Way to go babe!

The New Member of the Balls Family!

2009-01-24T20:18:00.000-08:00

The Balls have a new member of their family!!!!

(Not us of course, but Jake's parents and his little brother!)

Last Sunday we got Jake's mom to say that if Connor (his little brother) didn't join the marines then she would let them have a house dog. Connor said okay, but it had to be within the next month. They underestimated Jake's abilities and tonight, not even a week later, they become the proud owners of a new dog. He's a cute 2-yr-old terrier mix named Eddie. I don't think Jake wants them to go home!!!

Today was the first Saturday Jake and I had off work for months!!! We loved it! It was my little sister's bday and we went down to the Draper Temple open house! I love the temple and the spirit that is there!!!! I'm so glad we were able to go! Happy 17th bday Ky!

Just us girls!!!

Long Weekend!

2009-01-20T15:34:00.000-08:00

We LOVE Monday holidays!!! It's the only time that we get a 2-day weekend! We went up to Cache Valley Saturday night and played until Monday night! We decided to go for a little hike up Hyde Park canyon. Jake loves to go and just look for deer and I really needed the exercise! It was so good to get out! Jake was really disappointed though because he only saw one buck...a spike that had already dropped one side.

Jake's mom was nice enough to take a half a day off work to come play with us!

Just for a sidenote, Jake and I receieved our new callings in our new ward. I will be in the Sunbeams and Jake is in the Deacons quorum and scouts, which he will do awesome at! Sunbeams will either be a good form of birth control or make me want kids sooner...we'll have to see how that goes! I'm excited!

Our FUN Night!

2009-01-16T10:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I cleaned Jeff's teeth up at school. I definitely think I enjoyed it a lot more than he did, but all in all he was a pretty good sport about it! Afterward Jeff, Tammie and Carter all came over for dinner and to play. We LOVED it! Carter loves playing with Uncle Jake, but I think Jake enjoys it just as much or even more. I love to see him play with Carter....He is going to be an amazing dad when that day comes along. The best news is that Tammie has another one on the way, little Aubrey (sorry guys I probably didn't spell it right!) so then we'll have a niece to play with too! We're so excited!

It was nice to just hang out and visit and not do any homework!!!! Thanks for spending the evening with us...we need to do it more often!

Carter riding "the horse on the carosel"... Just one of the many activities of the night!

After Jeff and Tammie left for the night we made a trip over to Jake's friend's house to pick up the rest of his Christmas...a new duck hunting coat! He was so excited! I got to see all the neat parts of the coat as he sported it around. The best part about it is that he got an awesome deal on it!!!! Any of you who don't know me very well...my natural high is to get good deals on things so it was a great way to end the night for both of us!

BACK to SCHOOL!

2009-01-12T16:07:00.000-08:00

We had a great new year, but I only wished it would have lasted longer. We spent the time with Jake's family at lots of parties with lots of good food! It's probably for the best that the holidays are over because I was getting used to eating way to much! Now are lives are back to the norm...being controlled by school! I take my written dental hygiene board exam in 10 weeks!!!! Pretty nervewracking. I know exactly what I am going to be doing every single spare second that exists in every single day until then!

This past weekend we got together with our friends Stacy and Jeremy. Stacy and I have been friends since the 1st grade. Not many people can say they've had a friend for this long!!! Stacy has stuck with me through the thick and thin and I owe a lot of who I am today to her....She's great! I'm glad they live closer to us now becuase then we can see each other more often!

First we decided to go to dinner at Rumbi's. Jake and Jeremy cannot sit still for 2 minutes without finding something to do, so this is them whittling their chopsticks while we were waiting for our dinner. Jake and I had never eaten here but we loved our yummy rice bowl!

After dinner we went to the rec center to go ice skating! Jake and I have only been ice skating once together so it was a lot of fun! We started off a little rough, but by the end we were whipping out triple axles and such...NOT! I wanted to get a picture of us all but I just didn't dare carry my camera on the ice with my clumsiness and all! Jake and Jeremy loved playing tag with random kids, but Stacy and I preferred to spend our time chatting and catching up on life. Although Jake ended up with a few bruises we had a great time!

To finish off the night we went back to Stacy and Jeremy's for some yummy icecream and a few games of UNO. Jake and I are so blessed to have so many great friends!!!!!!!

Christmas Update!

2008-12-29T10:00:00.000-08:00

Well, the week flew by in a hurry, much to our dismay!

It all started a week ago. On Monday Jake went duck hunting with his friend Jarold. He had a blas. He was stoked becuase he got his first drake pintail ever!!! They also had quite the story becuase they got 12 birds with only 6 shots! That night we drove up to Logan to be with Jake's family.

Tuesday was my 22nd birthday and I was SPOILED ROTTEN! Thanks to everyone who made it special! We went out to lunch at Costa Vida. I was also able to visit some of my friends up there. That night Susan made us a YUMMY dinner that we later finished up with these AWESOME brownies with hot fudge sauce! It was delicious! It was my first birthday away from my twin brother...I did NOT like being the only one becuase that meant I had to be the center of attention and there was nobody to share it with. I tried to avoid as much attention as possible, but they didn't let me get away with too much!

On Wednesday, Christmas Eve, I went to visit my Grandma Elwood for a few hours in the morning. I really do just love her to death. She makes the BEST homemade dill pickles in the world. For Christmas she gave Jake and I her typed and bound history of her childhood to finish off the complete set that she created of her and my grandpa. What a great gift that we will be able to enjoy for generations!

That night we went to the Balls family party and enjoyed some yummy food, talents, and a gift exchange. Then we went home and zonked, waiting for Santa to come visit!

On Christmas Jake and I were SPOILED again!!!! We woke up to open presents with Jake's family. Carter, our 2 year old nephew, made the morning very entertaining! Susan made her traditional homemade orange rolls for breakfast...to DIE FOR! Each of Jake's grandparents even paid us all a visit!

After we got things wrapped up we decided it was time to brace the storm and get on our way. We drove down to Brigham to visit and have lunch with my dad and stepmom and her family. Afterwards we again hit the road and headed down to Centerville to visit the rest of my family. Although it was a lot of driving, we were lucky that we were able to see everyone! We spent the night at my mom's house and were able to spend the whole next day with them!

Friday, we had family pictures taken. Afterward, we celebrated mine and Court's birthday! We went to the movie Marley and Me, which we all loved! Afterwards we went to eat at Firehouse Pizzaria! Should I mention again that this was a week of SPOILAGE!

Thanks to all our family who made our week special! It was a great break away from everything! We feel so lucky to have such great friends and family that we are blessed with and want you all to know we love you!!!

NOT a pleasant experience!

2008-12-22T13:29:00.000-08:00

Well, I thought I would share our few x-mas decorations in our humble basement apartment! It's definitely not very fancy but we love our warm fireplace! It doesn't look like much, but it is just right for us!

It has been snowing like CRAZY today! Jake is off hunting (I will post updates on that later) but I thought I would go into Riverdale to get a few things. That was a HUGE mistake! I still had a few more things to do but I decided it would be best to head home. It took me forever and then I realized when I was almost home that I was going to have to climb the big hill by our house!!! I was scared to death! There were cars and trucks off the road everywhere! I was just praying to make it home safe. Somehow I made it up the hill without sliding off the road or getting stuck. I already hate driving in the snow, and this experience only made that hate worse! Never again will I go out in this kind of weather...especially if it isn't a necessity! Everyone PLEASE be safe in all this snow!