Hailey is Crawling

It is a whole new ball game now. Hailey is mobile! She is also really fun. It is nice when I look down and she is sitting at my feet looking at me when she was about 20 feet away 10 seconds ago! She plays well by herself but when she is done instead of sitting and crying she just crawls over to me whining the whole way so when she gets to me I know what she wants. Mostly just to be held. It is so sweet when she is really tired and we are walking upstairs she will just put her head on my shoulder, put her thumb in her mouth and close her eyes. I cherish those moments.

I am usually the one the to go get Hailey after she wakes up in the morning but Herbert did it the other day and Hailey snuggled with him it was adorable and Herbert LOVED it! He came to where I was and told me about it and then for the next couple of days he wanted to be the one to go get her in the morning. Yeah! Break for me and quality Daddy-Daughter time for them. Win-win.

I have been thinking a lot about the word "NO" lately. Now that Hailey is mobile she gets herself into a lot more mischief than before and I find myself wondering where she is and what she is doing. I noticed if I don't watch her for a minute or two I find myself franticly looking to where she is and what she has in her mouth or what she is putting her finger in or what she is grabbing to pull herself up on. If I am not prepared for what she is doing then I often find myself saying "NO Hailey!!" But if I see what she is about to do before she does it then I find myself having a better conversation with her like "we don't put our finger in there" or "That's not for Hailey, that's mommy's" or "We don't put books in our mouth" or "We don't grab our friend ___'s face" I feel like a better mom when we can have a conversation. I like that.

Hailey helping her dad water the lawn


Hailey playing



I read this awesome blog about not yelling today and this woman's struggle to change her behavior to not yell. Here is the website. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to put a link on this page! Help anyone? http://www.handsfreemama.com/2013/05/22/the-important-thing-about-yelling/

5 Lessons in Life from Dr. Seuss

I am taking a child nutrition and cooking class and one of the people in it posted this on their blog. I love it! Really rings true.

Milestones

Before I forget I have to document this day! Hailey slept 11 hours strait last night! This morning while she was drinking her bottle she rolled from her back to her front(which she almost never does) and lifted herself up on her arms. Then she started crawling/scooting backwards!!! WOW!!! I told myself we were going to work really hard this week on tummy time and I think it is paying off/she is motivated and realizes she can do it. This girl will be crawling in no time!!! Bring on the baby proofing. Happy Day!!!

We also found swings at the park close to our new house. Sorry for the sideways video Still figuring out my phone camera.

Sugar Mamma

This would be nice:
How much a Stay at home mom would make a year.

8 months later

Well Hailey is 7.5 months old and I figured I should update our life adventures. Hailey has been such a great addition to our family she is so sweet and wonderful. She is smart, a quick learner and she has a happy and relaxed temperament and demeanor. She was born on August 5, 2012 after a LONG LONG labor and a C-section. We enjoy her so much and wonder what we ever did with our time before her. She is now a pro sitter and is learning to crawl. It is amazing how babies use their bodies and learn about how things work and move. She smiles and laughs easily and is for the most part a good sleeper. Here are some pictures of her and our silly family.

We really enjoy having her in our lives.
I have been very surprised at how many people ask me how I am adjusting to motherhood. I always answer "I love it!" and it is true! The other day I was thinking about the adjustment from working to staying home full time. It was a little hard but it has so much meaning and purpose. I feel like I am at a full time job I just get to work from home and this is not a 9-5 job it is a "24/7 even if you are dead tired, hungry, and sick you get to do your job" kind of job. And I have THE BEST JOB IN THE WORLD. Teaching a little person all the wonders life holds is the most precious thing.

It has definitely become a lot easier. I tell people, 4 months was easier and at 6 months it became really fun.

One Month and Waiting

Life has been great, work has been fun and exhausting, church has been good, we got called to teach the sunbeams (3yr olds) and enjoy teaching together as a couple. There is a little to much sitting involved though so by the third hour I have to stand up in the back to let the baby stretch out a bit. Herbert is great at handling 3-4 3 year olds by himself. He is going to be a great dad.

Speaking of parents we are so excited to greet our little one! Our baby girl is Due July 26th and I am at the point where I am excited to meet her and about done being pregnant. Sometimes when I walk by our bathroom I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and can't believe my stomach is out that far! It doesn't seem natural. I will post some pictures on here soon. We just got a watermelon to do a comparison belly size on Herbert. We made a list of projects we needed to get done before the baby comes and I think we are doing pretty good. Here they are.
To Do before the end of June
• Pack baby bag, Herbie bag, Annie bag including DVDs, games, IPod and computers with chargers and cellphone chargers
• Find pediatrician that takes current and future insurance
• Flow Chart/Plan for baby birth
Done- Cover stove top pans
Done- Get crib
Done- Assemble crib
Done- Buy mattress for crib
Done- Get rocking chair
• Get baby’s room all ready
Done- Buy Diapers
• Make a list of who we need to call when I go into labor


Some of them are checked off and some still need to be done.
The rest of our list goes like this

To do before baby arrives
• Work on battery of Vibe
• Head lights on Vibe and Subaru
• Touch up paint, polish and wax Vibe
• Go through extra boxes and organize storage area
• Increase food storage
• Eye Exam for Herbert
• Dental exam for Annie and Herbert
• Make extra meals
Nothing has been done yet, but we are making plans to get them done. We did catch a cold this past weekend are are still recovering, thank goodness for air conditioning, Popsicles, smoothies and movies. Besides a trip to goodwill for their 50% off sale, and costco for food we slept the whole weekend. It was good to catch up on sleep and spend so much time together.

Oh I forgot to mention Herbert went to Florida to visit his family there, grandma, aunt, uncle and great uncle. It was such a good experience, Hopefully I can post some pictures on here. It was so good for him to see everyone he has not seen in about 2 years. I'm so glad he has no desire to live there, even though the visit went so well and the weather was perfect. This weekend there is a tropical storm sitting right on the gulf of Mexico by Florida so I am glad he was not trying to get home this weekend from there.
Grandma and Herbie (FYI Grandma and I are the only ones allowed to call him Herbie)

Also exciting news, we got a crib!!! It is the most beautiful thing! Its a Davinci - Kalani Crib, black, its amazing, Herbert did such a good job putting it together, here are so pictures of the process, when the baby's room is all done I will post some pictures of that, we are getting close, we got a rocking chair from craigslist which has a certain oder we call garage grandma, it was this guys mothers and it was sitting in his garage for awhile hence the combination.






Enjoy!

Herberts Graduation

I am not sure I ever wrote about Herberts graduation which was amazing and to awesome to leave out! We had a big party, Herberts parents and my parents and my sister Sarah came to visit us, we decorated our apartment!!

went to the Teton Dam Flood museum, the Legacy Flight Museum, (we like museums) and we also went to the site of the Teton Dam flood. Herberts graduation was amazing though. We had really good seats, the speakers were amazing (Elder Ballard!) and it was just fun being able to be with family. My sister Sarah felt the baby move during graduation, which was pretty cool and we got to talk about baby names we liked before it started because we were there so early.

Herbert in front of his Senior Project

Herbert and his proud parents!

Herbert and his proud wife!

Sarah and I, she is pointing to our baby girl!

The Whole Gang!

HE DID IT!!

7 and 1/2 Months Pregnant

Life is good, we are loving Colorado, we have met some great friends, had family come and visit and bought a new CAR! We bought an orange Pontiac Vibe! It is a goooooooood car! We love it! Especially me! I get to drive it to work every day! That is something we are loving, our jobs! I am kind of glad I am only working 8 more weeks or so though, I get tired after being in the water for 4 hours! I work at a recreation center teaching swim lessons and doing office work and new lifeguard training. I am enjoying it a lot right now but I will be glad to be done soon. Here are a few pictures of our latest adventures.

We explored a lake near our house and saw these awesome Canada Geese but Herbert got hungry!!! You can see my 7 month pregnant belly! I will put some pictures of our new car on here soon. I had a great birthday on May 12th, I was so excited my birthday was on a Saturday this year! I taught swim lessons in the morning and told all my kidos it was my birthday and that they should be nice to me! They all are anyway =) Then Herbert and I made lunch and Herbert made me a apple pie! It was the best! We were going to play volleyball with some friends but it was so cold out we cancelled. We instead went shopping and got a pack and play almost new from a cute barely used baby and kids shop. It is so cute with Winnie the Pooh on it. We shopped some more and went home and made pizza then watched my favorite movies! The Pink Panther and Stardust. I have a hard time sitting for a long period of time though so I was cleaning up the babys room and putting things away, putting up pictures and just trying to make our place look nice. It finally feels like a home. We just need a bookcase in the living room to put all the boxes of books into. Mothers Day was great! Herbert got me chocolates which are/were sooooooooo good! Sees candy even! We went to church and they always do something fun for the mothers and this year they gave all of the mothers/sisters real flowers that you can go home and plant! That was so nice! We also were asked to speak in Sacrament in 2 weeks! Yikes! It should be fun though. Herbert has been the best husband ever! I get home really late from work sometimes after 8 and he has been making dinner every night for us. He has been so thoughtful in his preparations and really getting good at thinking ahead to plan what we are going to have! It has been so nice! I will savor the luxury and the yummy food he prepares!

This Made My Day!

I went to a breastfeeding class and they showed this movie, it was late at night and if you know me you know I start to get giggly late at night if I am really tired. That night I was really tired and they showed this, I was laughing so much I had tears streaming down my face, there were only like 5 people in the class to so you can imagine how embarrassed I was! But this is a funny video, my favorite part is when the dad just puts baby powder on the baby's bum and then the baby toots the powder right in the dad's face! hahahahahhahaha. I know Herbert won't have the gag reflexes of these dads. I might though!

One of THOSE days.

Well it really has been one of THOSE days today. Here is what happened, step by step, Up at 8 clean a little, Herbert does homework, 9 am some people come to pick up our filing cabinet! YES CRAIGSLIST IS AMAZING!! Hurry and drive to wells fargo for appointment at 9:30 about setting up a IRA/CD account. Hurry and drop Herbert off at school by 10, drive back to apartment to meet with other people who want to buy our table, they don't show up, totally lame! So I start cleaning and setting up for this Moving Sale/Paparazzi Party for today from 1-3, I'm getting everything set up and start to bake a cake and cut veggies and fruit and Herbert calls me, its 12:30 and he forgot something at home. Thank goodness it only takes like 8 minutes to get from home to school (That is something I am really going to miss about Rexburg). Then the perfect storm happens, I am driving with the windows down because it is B-E-A-UTIFUL outside and I hear our car make its normal clunk-clunk-clunk noise but this time it seems a little louder than normal. I am half way to BYU-Idaho when the car makes a loud CRACK sound and shuts off. So I steer it over to the side of the road and turn it off. I call Herbert and tell him what just happened, I try to start the car again and it starts and turns the corner and shuts down again. I have a few minutes by myself so I try to assess the situation, I am surprised how many people drive by a pregnant woman with the hood of a car up. A girl pulls over and asks if I need help, thank you random stranger!!! I call my friend for a ride for me back home (life saver! She was also coming to the party) she picks up Herbert on her way and makes it to our car just as our neighbor does who is a car guru. Thank goodness for small towns and good people. My friend gives me a ride home and I get there 4 minutes before the cake would be done, Herbert gets the car all figured out and its getting fixed, the party goes great and everything is amazing! We are so blessed! Craziest 1/2 hour of my life! Ok that might be a little dramatic but it felt a little crazier than normal.

Everything worked out amazingly and I am so greatful for amazing people around us who care. Hopefully our car will get fixed so we can drive it to Denver next week! Yikes!!

Also, tonight I get to go see THE HUNGER GAMES!!!! I am so beyond excited its ridiculous!

A New Business

If you have not heard of Paparazzi it is awesome!!! I just started as an independent consultant with them and it is really fun. Everything is $5 or $5.50 with tax! Headbands, necklaces that include earrings, bracelets, flower hair clips, rings, earrings and more. It is set up similar to Mary Kay and others where you host a party and people come and snack and shop for items. The only difference is that Paparazzi is so in expensive that everyone can afford it! It makes you feel good about yourself too. I love wearing my necklaces and headbands out in public, people almost always comment on them. Check it out at www.paparazziaccessories.com

I had a party last week with a good friend and made $80! My friend loved it because she got 3 free items! 2 for just hosting a party and 1 more because of how much everyone spent! If you are interested in hosting a party there are paparazzi consultants all over! Its is a new company and now is the time to get started!

Its a lot cheaper to start up too compared to Pampered Chef, Mary Kay and others. Its so easy to sign up to be a consultant, we each have numbers so you sign up underneath someone creating a family tree. My consultant number is 4112 if anyone is interested in signing up! We are excited because I can keep up with Paparazzi even after we have our baby! This is as my husband would say "the best of both worlds." I just had to gush a little on here because every time I think about paparazzi it makes me so excited!!!

Life Changes

Life...Well one of life's certainties is change right? We have had quite a bit of it lately.
The preschool I was working at closed so I have been trying to figure out what to do about a job. I already make phone calls for State Farm but that's only 5 hours a week. So with a friends help I decided to become a Paparazzi Consultant, if you don't know what this is its $5 Accessories. The accessories are actually very beautiful and sell themselves so I am really excited as I am not the best sales person but I can sell something that is amazing for $5! It is a relatively new company (2 years old) but has expanded from two families in Salt Lake City, Utah to all over the country and world. This is just one exciting change! http://www.paparazziaccessories.com

Another big change is I am moving to Denver at the end of March instead of the end of April, I will come back for Herbert's graduation (another change) on April 6th. Then when he leaves to go on his 2 week tour with the BYU-Idaho Jazz band Sound Alliance to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, I will head back to Denver to continue working until we have our baby in July. Herbert will come back from his trip and pack up a moving truck and drive to Denver at the end of April then start his Full time job at Sansio! We are really excited!!!

The changes keep coming though! We find out this week if we are having a boy or a girl. Any guesses? I am sooo excited to find out! You know when you go shopping and find a great sale on baby clothes but they are all blue or pink!? That doesn't work if you don't know what you are having! We will be so excited either way, we have not had any strong feeling one way or the other so it is going to be a complete surprise. I will post it on here when we find out!

Arn't we going to be good parents?! haha, we wanted to make my sister Sarah laugh when she came to visit us so Herbert dressed up for bed time. Isn't he cute!?

One of Sesame Streets Best Lessons!

My sister found this. One of our favorite movies from our childhood that we still quote!!!! Its called "Don't Eat the Pictures: Sesame Street at the Metropolitan Museum of Art". Enjoy!


What a classic!

We are Pregnant!

Well if you have not heard yet we are expecting a baby in July 2012!!!!! We don't know if its a boy or a girl yet but we will find out in 5 weeks! So far not to sick, but I did find out that if I dry heave to many times then I do throw up. Gross.....I know. Little things are changing like my nails grow very fast, so fast in fact I am very proud to say I have not bit one in so long it seems weird, and I have to cut them every few weeks! Also my hair is growing like crazy and feels amazing! My sense of smell gets me in trouble though, sometimes I can't stand to be to near someone because their breath is so intense I feel like I'm going to suffocate, or something smells sooooo good to me want to smell it all day!!! Tastes have also been strange, I had a few slices of an orange the other day and it was the best thing I have ever tasted!!!! I am more clumsy and I am starting to have a little displacement in my tummy. I hope its the baby and not me getting fat! This is a very awkward stage where I look fat but not pregnant which is disappointing and makes me feel a little self conscience but I just have to remind myself that I know I'm pregnant and it does not matter what I think anyone else thinks.

So many things to talk about since I last wrote in here. We moved from Casa Grande, AZ where we were staying with my family for a few weeks to Rexburg, Idaho. Herbert has his last semester and in April Herbert graduates and we will be moving to Denver, CO! We are so excited!!!! Herbert has a full time job offer he has accepted and we plan to move there and he will start work the end of April. In the mean time he is playing in the jazz band on campus called Sound Alliance at BYU-Idaho and is loving it. He is only taking 9 credits but is really busy working online for the company in Denver, working on his senior project, practicing the drums, and preparing himself to travel. That's right! He gets to travel with the BYU-I Jazz band to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico!! It will be a 2 week trip in April and he is so excited! I wish I could go to but I will be 6 months pregnant and probably not loving the heat and humidity. Plus I probably would not see him very much. So to substitute my sister Sarah and I are hoping to go on a sister trip right before he comes home!!! I am very excited about this. We are not sure what we are doing yet but it will be epic! More details to come!

For right now I am working at a preschool and making phone calls for an insurance company. When we move to Denver I will be working at the Recreation center I did before teaching swim lessons and planning birthday parties. Atleast until I have the baby, then stay at home mom!!!!
There is our update and I will try to be better about making them more frequent and adding pictures!!!

Life is Good.

Casa Grande Water

When I was thinking about what to write I asked Herbert if there is anything he wanted me to write, here is what he said: "You should write whatever you want your grand kids and and worst enemy to read in 50 years." Hopefully we don't have a worst enemy in 50 years so I am going to write whatever I want. =)

Well This has been a fun 8ish months since my last post. An update from us is that we are visiting Casa Grande, Arizona where my parents are living. We are just visiting for the holidays but unlike most people we are not leaving in between holidays. We thought about it but it just didn't seem logical. So we are here helping out, visiting and painting. My dad still kicks my butt on bike rides!

Backing up a little bit we were working and living in Denver, CO for the summer and fall, Herbert is taking online classes this fall and I continued working at a recreation center as a head lifeguard and swim instructor. We had a lot of fun but not to many adventures because we were so busy. Here are some highlights:

Chaperoning a Halloween dance dressed up like hippies
Getting lost in a corn maze with friends
Making homemade apple sauce, strawberry jelly, pumpkin seeds, and salsa
A friend(Laura)from CA/AK/ID came to visit
A lot of biking explorations
We went climbing once and hiking once or twice- pathetic we know!
Starting and Finishing to Work and the Glory series in a summer!

That is about it. We have been in Casa Grande for two days and so far have - Moved a lot of stuff from the garage to upstairs, painted ceilings at the other house, cooked, went for a bike ride, Herbert has done a lot of homework (including climbing Mt. Everest!! You will have to ask), visited with my grand parents and over all just been excited about Thanksgiving coming up. Today we are going garage saling! What a great way to spend a vacation!

Just FYI the water here is disgusting! My parents have a filter on the sink and my dad explained after you turn it on the red light flashes and when it the light turns off then the water is ready to drink. That water is nasty!!! I asked where it comes from and it was explained to me that the water comes from Colorado but half of it evaporates before it gets here. That is exactly what it tastes like, concentrated algae filled gross-nasty gutter water!
So this morning I asked my dad if we could change the filter on the PUR filtration system on the sink, he said ok and so I was looking at the box for the directions and guess what I saw?!! It says if you turn on the filtration and the light is green that means the filter is still good, if the light is yellow then it means change the filter soon, if the light is red it means CHANGE THE FILTER NOW!!! So I gently pointed this out and changed the filter. You would not believe what a difference this made!!!! I not only could choke down the water but I didn't make a disgusted face afterwards!! I could also drink it plain with out putting all sorts of drink mix into it! A Miracle, I think we all took something away from that experience. Now I don't have to wake up feeling like I will die of thirst every morning because I can't even think about drinking the water without making a grossed-out face! Casa Grande- so many adventures, so little good water.

What we believe

This link is to a site where I put a profile of what I believe and why, its kind of interesting. If you want to you can try and find me, I put my conversion story on there of how I became a Mormon. If you haven't heard of Mormon.org there are some awesome videos and information and you can read peoples personal experiences from all sorts of backgrounds around the world. Hope you enojoy!!

New Year, New Semester, New New New

Happy New Year! Lots of New and exciting changes new goals and resolutions, new things to have fun with! Herbert's New Year's resolution is 4 words and thats it.

Less Stress, Less Stuff

We are going to make a sign to hang in our house that says that to remind us. My New Years Resolutions are a lot more...I won't bore you =)
There are a lot of changes in our family right now. My parents sold their house and are going to be moving soon. Herbert's parents are going through a lot of life changes and decisions, and a move in the near future as well. I quit my job and I am looking into entrepreneur opportunities selling crochet hats, selling items for people on ebay and a few other little things.

I'm so excited about my "new" sewing machine! My first project is to put a new zipper on my camera case! Herbert started school today which is exciting he has some really fun classes this semester. Including a science about America pandemic he has to keep an exercise log and do fun things for mental, physical, spiritual, social, and emotional health.

Speaking of that we bought some Zumba DVD's and wow they are sooooo fun! Who knew dancing was a workout! haha I guess Jane Fonda did, I remember doing a video with my mom and thinking, this is just dancing! It is a blast though an hour goes by really fast and all day I feel great after there. It has been easier to get up in the morning and I'm really tired at bed time. It has also helped me drink more water. The only problem is we made a bunch of yummy cookies and an apple pie the other day and that is not helping.

More new exciting news, Herbert and I were talking about our talents and things we wanted to develop and I said I have always wanted to learn to play the guitar and guess what Herbert got me for Christmas!?? You guessed it my very own guitar!!! I have been practicing and can now play "When the Saints Go Marching In", and "Amazing Grace"! It is really fun and I am learning new things which is exciting! I got him a curly fry maker and it is really fun to make fries now! It is a lot faster too!!! We also bought a few games for Christmas and have been playing them! Herbert creams me at everything! Skip-bo, phase 10, Uno, it doesn't matter he beats me! The only thing I can hold my own in is Nerts! It has been fun though. We are also working on a puzzle at night when we have time. Its so fun spending so much time together, I am already missing him when he is at school. I have a few fun books I'm working on though. The Glass Castle, very interesting memoir about a young girl growing up with a crazy family. Also Bonds That Make Us Free by Terry Warner, and The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell.

We also bought a popcorn maker, but it might not be what you are thinking, it goes in the microwave and its basically just a bowl that heats up really hot and pops the popcorn and then you can just put whatever you want on it, its awesome!!!!! Healthy and fast! We are working on the healthy part just getting health and staying healthy.

I know I talked a lot about stuff in this post that's not what it is all about though especially Christmas and New Years celebrations its about Family, Fun, time spent together, Memories made and reminisced about. One of the most special things that happened over Christmas is that we went to New York and Herbert's parents taught us to dance, that was priceless!!! Christmas was amazing because of family, we had some great laughs and had a lot of fun! Life is good!
Happy New New New Year Everyone!!!

Rexburg Update

So its Almost Christmas time and things have been super busy. Life I guess is always busy so here is an update. Herbert and I are living in Rexburg Idaho while Herbert goes to BYU-Idaho and I am working at Madison School District as a Youth Coordinator. We LOVE being married, I just wish we had more time together. We treasure our time together so much, its like there is nothing else that matters but spending every free second we are not at work or school together. We had Thanksgiving with my family in Driggs, Idaho, that was an adventure. We always have tons of fun. I will post some pictures when I get them off of Herbert's computer. My favorite family memory from this Thanksgiving was at dinner we were laughing about something that had to do with the anatomy or the body which is what we commonly talk about because my sister is taking anatomy and my brother is almost a nurse...Then the conversation turns to cooking and my brother mentions he really likes fennel seed and he has been putting it in everything as he is cooking. Well I mention that I thought that was what black licorices taste was from and my dad says no I thought that was anus. We all look around awkwardly then my mom says you mean Anise (stress the second syllable like An-ise). We all bust up laughing. Good one Dad! I know not the most appropriate but it was HILARIOUS!

I can't believe my brother and sister are graduating in May and April. When did they get past 16???? My brother is going to be a nurse and I have been watching Grey's Anatomy when Herbert is doing homework or at school and well, they have a lot of responsibility. I can't think of anyone better than my brother (well maybe my sister) that would be an incredible nurse and save people's lives and make people feel good in bad situations and help people in a way that not many others can. I am very proud of him.

My sister is incredible as well, she has changed her major a few times but everytime she figures out a new way to help people from studying and researching microbiology stuff about the human body and learning new things to move science forward and make new discoveries that doctors and others can put into practice. To becoming someone who practices medicine herself to someone who helps young teenage moms who feel like they have no options left. I am so proud of her, she really understands there is a way to help others have hope when they have none. She will make a great social worker and mom one day.

I think I am going to start selling the crocheted hats I am making so if anyone is interested my specialty is letting yo pick colors and patterns and I will make you a hat. Let me know if you want one! They will be cheap at first =) I need feedback on them so that can be part of the trade. You tell me what you like/dislike/can see improve and I will sell you a hat for ridiculously cheap. Thats all for now!

ROAD TRIP AK-FL

We drove from Alaska to Florida in 2 weeks! It can be done with out killing a car, killing an animal or killing each other. I wish I could go through each day, well I could but I would be on here a week or two trying to go through the details so I will hit the highlights. We started in Anchorage and drove to Valdez, stayed there a few days and packed up the car, then we took off into the wild green yonder of Alaska and Canada the Yukon Territory! We saw soooo many animals like, caribou, moose, black and brown bears, stone sheep, elk, deer, buffalo, and all sorts of birds. The scenery in northern Canada is AMAZING words just don't do it justice. We tried to make it in by The 2nd of May to Vancouver, BC because an LDS temple was going to be dedicated there that Sunday and we just made it!!! It was amazing we even got to watch the festival the night before. That was amazing! We entered the lower 48 and went to see Western Washington University where I went to college. That was really neat to show Herbert around my ole stomping grounds. We went to visit some college buddies, Casey and Russel Rigby and David and Cody Koenig. So great to see them again and hear all the exciting things going on in their lives.

We made it through Oregon into Idaho and unloaded our overloaded car, at one point Herbert had the back open and was taking through all our stuff and I was in the front seat oblivious to anything he was saying, that is how packed our car was. We thankfully had a storage unit and unloaded and we could see out the back of our car! what a novelty! Something we definitely take for granted every day. In 1 day we found an apartment, I had a job interview and we got all the paperwork done for Herbert we needed too. It was amazing. MIRACLE STORY: We went camping that night and it was freeeeeeezinggggggg, colder than I have been in a LONG time, and the cows were mooooooing all night and the side of the road that was suggested to us wasn't as great as we thought, (for the full story ask us sometime) so the next morning we had to go back to BYUIdaho and finish some paperwork and when we got there we realized Herberts ring was gone!!!! We searched EVERYWHERE!!! We called the places we had stopped at and finally drove out to the place we had camped. Said a prayer and got out of the car and found it. What a MIRACLE!!!!! It was a great learning experience! So we continued on our trip, we drove to Utah and had dinner with Sarah then headed down to Southern Utah and camped at an awesome sandy spot off the road a little sooo much warmer!!!! The next day we went to the Grand Canyon and had a lot of fun taking pictures. Then headed to Tuscan Arizona to visit family. Then the long, flat, boring, dusty, dry drive from Arizona through New Mexico where we stopped in Roswell and it was everything I had ever expected. Then over through Texas and Oklahoma where we saw dust storms and 2 days later learned there was a Tornado right where we drove through!!! Headed to Arkansas next to see a Mission friend and had the biggest pizza of our lives there, 4 pizzas combined into 1, it was AMAZING!! We then headed to Georgia and now Louisiana is the only state in the South that I haven't been to. We visited friends in Georgia and finally entered Florida. Our favorite sign in Georgia on the side of the road that we felt depicted the edumication sometimes people stereotypically receive in the South was, a sign that read, PECHS written about 5 feet tall on the side of a barn on a back road. We laughed really hard and were tempted to go back and take a picture. We finally arrived in Florida starting the next adventure in our lives. =)

THE WEDDING

Wow what an incredible day our wedding was. Here are the highlights. We were married and not only married but sealed for time and all eternity in the Anchorage Alaska Temple. What an incredible experience and feeling. It was a special time for us to spend together with friends and family that were there. Herbert and I were able to spend a few minutes together alone and it was just very special.

We has so many pictures taken which was really fun because it was way laid back. We went to Turnagain Arm and took some incredible scenic photos. Those turned out to be my favorite. Almost every car that drove by honked at us. We were not expecting that, but it was so funny!

We went to the Bed and Breakfast where we were having our reception it is called Frontier Gardens, the best place ever! It was so perfect! Took more pictures and had a blast seeing everyone again. It was so fun to catch up with people I haven't seen for years! If only we had like 10 more hours to actually talk to people =) We had a short ring ceremony where we talked about the temple a little bit and what it felt like and what the room was like. Then we exchanged rings and then cut the cake. It was a blast. Sarah, my sister and Nathan, Herbert's friend gave speeches and then we visited some more. My friend Kelly wanted to sing a song we sang on our missions a lot, it's called lead kindly light. So Herbert, Kelly, Nathan and I all sang. then we passed out bubbles and everyone lined up outside waiting for us to come out. We went into the kitchen and talked to Rita and thanked her and chugged some water and then headed out. It was sooo fun Herbert carried me through the shower of bubbles to the car. It was the best day of my life and every say since then has just been better and better. It's so fun to hang out with your best friend every day and know you are theirs and they are yours and you get to do fun things like Drive from Alaska to Florida and go fly kites on the beach. It's the coolest most fun thing ever!!! I love being married. More pictures to come.