Bug Off!

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!!!!

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!

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

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!

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!!!!

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!

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!!!