Couples' Retreat!

Aaron and I love going up to Eden, UT...that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone since it has been a year and a half since we first went up there and I talk about it ALL THE TIME. Seriously, we just went up there for New Years Day!

We thought that it would be a really fun idea to share it with our friends. Clarise and Geoff were about to be month long husband and wife and we thought that we would celebrate with them by going on a little get away!

Aaron and I checked in on Friday and watched Say Yes to the Dress and ate pizza till Geoff and Clarise came up. It was so fun to spend the first night just sitting around and chit chatting and laughing. My first girl/boy slumber party! (But not really...since every night with Aaron is technically a girl/boy slumber party!)

The next morning we woke up and awkwardly Clarise and I both got into the showers at the same time and I stole most of the hot water. The boys had to deal with pretty icy showers! We talked and ate breakfast. For some reason we talked a lot about this month's National Geographic. Also, I took this picture in the morning to show the separate beds that Aaron and I slept on! Since this trip was for Clarise and Geoff, we decided to let them have the room with the king size beds. We are so kind.

Next we played Imagine If... It was great. Has anyone else seen Troll 2? Creedance and Grandpa Seth made it onto the board and some of the questions that we had to answer were pretty hilarious.

While we were playing, we saw some kids with sleds go passed our living area window. We watched them all going down the hill and suddenly we were very interested in trying out the hill.

But instead we busted out Settlers of Catan! We played around and Clarise surprised us all by totally owning it at the last minute! Seriously, Geoff was about to win, he was only one turn away from having the largest army and getting the last two points he needed. I had given up hope and told Clarise to do likewise. She rolled the dice and got the perfect number to get her the cards she needed to clench the victory.

When that game was over, we went out to a late lunch at the only Mexican Restaurant in Eden. Carlos and Harley's!!! I love the food there. Last time Aaron and I went there, it was for my birthday. I wish that we lived closer because I think that we would go there all the time. The service this time wasn't that great but the food was still good.

When we went back to the resort, we asked the front desk if they had any sleds and so we got two delivered to us and we immediately went outside.

So much fun on that hill! It makes me wish that I had a sled at home so that Aaron and I could run off and do that sometime.

Anyway, after we went inside and warmed up a bit. We had to run home so that I could get my meds that I left (good thing we were only 15 minutes away) and we planned to go to the hot springs so we were all in swimming suits. It was super crowded there...which was kind of good because we were all tired and ready to relax in the room.

We got some hot chocolate warming up and started to work on the marshmallows.

We pulled out Settlers of Catan and got to battling each other!! They were all pretty close races. It was super fun and we were all being really silly.

Clarise got really creative with the game pieces. We had to stop the game for this one since we weren't allowed to bump the table.

Aaron ended up winning two games in a row...so he was feeling pretty good about himself. Geoff was pretty sad though because once again he was one turn from winning when it was stripped from him.

The next day was Sunday and we checked out and headed to our house. We ended the weekend by watching Casablanca. I was the only person in the room who had seen it all the way through! I couldn't believe it! But it was fun being with them while they watched it and making comments on stuff. It is a great movie and it was a super amazing weekend!

I'm so glad that we've all been friends for so long. The next trip that we take will have to include Andy too because we are 5 people who can't be separated!

Bambi Goes to Preschool!

I got to bring Bambi with me to work on Friday!

I asked my boss if it would be cool since I'm trying to train her to be a therapy dog and go to hospitals and nursing homes. I wanted to see how she did in a larger group. She still has some problems controlling her excitement and maintaining focus on me. We will have to work on that.

While she was there, I talked with the kids a little bit about dog safety and what to do if they meet a dog that they don't know. We also showed them some of her tricks. One child asked where she learned all of her tricks and I told him that she had to go to school just like they did. They thought that that was really funny.

The rest of the day they were asking me when I could bring her back and when they could play with her.

I finished off by reading "Clifford's Family" that I bought at the DI on one of my trips. It was about dogs with jobs.

This made me want to work even harder to get Bambi ready to be a therapy dog because there is so much joy in helping people who aren't well, have a little bit of comfort and happiness from snuggling a puppy and I think that Bambi is a wonderful dog for that.

Pine Wood Derby!

Tonight was the pine wood derby!!

Aaron built a car for it but ended up not using it since it only weighted 2.7 ounces (you want to be as close to 5 ounces as you can). I was sad that I didn't get to see him race. But the boys had tons of fun without seeing Aaron's car race. They were too busy with their own cars.

There was such an amazing variety of cars.

They were so awesome! I liked this police car, even if it was a dad's car.
The excitement in the room was INTENSE! I asked Aaron if the level of screaming was normal for a Pine Wood Derby since I couldn't remember ever going to one. He said that it was actually ridiculously loud and between the 3 wards, we had LOADS of boys there.

I kid you not, a gun could have gone off in that room and you wouldn't have been able to hear it. The boys were chanting the names of their fellow den mates and the boys sister's were shrieking at the top of their lungs. And yet, the announcer could always get the next group of boys up without much trouble.

It was a wonderful pack meeting! The best that I think I've ever been to.

Children's Books Galore!

I love thrift stores! They are the first place that I look for books. Last week I went to the D.I. with Aaron and I got 35 books for $20! Love it!

Yesterday I went with my sister-in-law and friend Michelle to the D.I. to look for a couple things (I went for the books) and I got 29 books for $25 children's books!

I got 3 Dr. Seuss books!! I got Goodnight Moon! I got The Little Hungry Caterpillar board book!!

I'm going to have to take a break from hunting for books because I've spent almost $50 in two weeks on children's books. But when you think about it, I've saved a couple hundred.

It's an obsession.

My Second Greatest Love

I have a new camera in my arsenal and I'm so unbelievable excited about it.

I got the Canon 7D.

It has taken me a year to save up all of my pennies and even then, it was a REALLY long conversation with Aaron about whether or not it was a good idea.

But let's see. In the over 2 years of having my first Digital SLR: I've taken several photography courses to hone my skills. I've had paying jobs that have paid back all of the money that I spent on the Canon Rebel. I've offered my services to my Church to get pictures of the children on holidays. I've taking amazing vacation photos and I've loved every minute of it.

Will this camera be worth the money that we dropped on it?

Heck yes.

I can't wait to take this camera on adventures with Aaron and I! I can't wait to have photo shoots with my friends! I can't wait for improving my skill even more with years and years of practice!

Get ready for some hot photo action coming up!! Because I'm sure that this whole weekend, I won't be able to put it down.

A Ceremony for a Hero

Hundred and hundreds of people went to Jared Francom's funeral at the Dee Event Center on Wednesday. Police cars as far as the eye could see in the procession. American flags from the local LDS stake lining the streets.
His casket was carried on a fire truck. Scouts were all along the procession line holding flags.

Ogden looked so beautiful that day and I think the whole community was proud to give this hometown hero a proper send off. As beautiful as it was to see the community like this, I hope that it never happens again. I'm so thankful to the policemen and others who work to keep our town safe. Thank you Jared Francom.

Swollen Bambi

This morning, I woke up and my puppy dog looked like this:

At first, I thought that a bug must have bitten her. And that there was nothing to be done. Pippen had a similar swollen nose once but more concentrated on the front.

When I got back from class and work, it was worse. Her cheeks were super puffy and she had accident while I was gone. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to deal with it and so I put her back in her room as I ran out the door to my "second job". When Aaron and I FINALLY got home for the night, her eyes were all puffy and swollen...along with her cheeks and nose...and another...intimate area. I called the vet as quick as I could. They said to give her Benadryl and wait an hour to see what happens.

She threw that up...so Aaron and I got to wash the sheets and blankets a little a head of our schedule. On the plus side, some of the swelling has gone down.

Anyone have any idea what could have triggered this? We don't have anything new in the house. I can't for the life of me think of what it could be.

Any help would be appreciated.