Here Comes the Bride

Last weekend we went to Salt Lake for my niece Kelsi's wedding. What's that you say? I have a niece who is married? Why yes I do, and it makes me feel really old! It was a fun weekend and everything turned out really nice. 

We stayed at my brother's house in Springville, so I got lots of hugs from this cute guy. :)

My nephews waiting for the happy couple to come out of the temple.

The bride's little sister. She loved her "princess dress" and crown (which you will see in other pics further down).

Here they are coming out of the temple. She was (is) so beautiful!

Having fun at the reception in Utah Friday night.

Mother of the bride, my sister. :)

The sign I made for them. Kelsi loves this quote from the movie Sweet Home Alabama.

Saturday we drove to Twin Falls for the reception there. They had dancing near the end and Halli and Luke (cousins) danced with each other. SO CUTE! Note Halli's crown. :)

Love this girl to death! She was born on April Fool's Day when I was 7 years old and I remember I didn't believe my dad when he said my sister was having her baby. I was determined not to be fooled. :) I also remember riding in the car with my Aunt Bev and Aunt Shirley and they asked my how it felt to be an aunt, only my 7 year old mind thought they meant "ant,", like the bug. I was so confused but realized it after a minute and I really was excited! She has been my friend ever since and I am so happy for you Kelsi!

Christmas and New Year's

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Again, it was a short trip. We could only be gone the weekend. We got there late Christmas Eve and stayed at my mom's. We were the only ones there Christmas morning, so it was kind of quiet. We slept in. Chris had to drive to Twin that morning and deliver something to his sister so it was late by the time we opened presents. Probably the only year I was showered and dressed when we opened presents. Well I take that back. Two years ago when I had to work at the hospital on Christmas morning we didn't open presents till I got back. Anyway, here is picture of our cute tree. I loved my wrapping paper this year. I love putting a bow on every present. So fun!

We woke up to this on Christmas morning. I don't think I've ever seen the windows frosted like that in real life. It was definitely a white Christmas. Luckily most of it waited until we got there. It only snowed the last half an hour or so of our drive. Remember last year how it snowed the whole way from Spokane? That was awful!

 Some pics of opening presents. I made this sign for Chris' office. A WSU Cougar. :) He loved it.

My new coat that I ordered myself. I had been waiting since October to wear it!

My momma and I! Love her!

I think it was Friday night when we had our gift exchange with my siblings. The first time that only 3 of us were there though. :( But it was still lots of fun. We had a little talent show this year where some of the kids showed off some of their musical talents. And I played the piano at my mom's request. It was my New Year's resolution to practice more this year but I have not been doing it. Going to try harder!

We stayed in Roosevelt for New Year's and went to some friends' house. We played games and ate all night. This is the treat we brought. Yummy!

Chris' little sister who lives in Pennsylvania didn't come home until New Year's Day, so we weren't there the whole time she was home. We still wanted to see her though, so we went to Salt Lake the day before she flew and met her, Chris' mom and stepdad. It was such a fun day and I'm so glad we went. We went out to eat at Olive Garden and then walked around Temple Square. We also went to the City Creek mall for a little while. We still had some time, so we decided to go the Planetarium. We watched a movie about how space was formed and then played with all the cool displays at the museum. It was very cool.

Here is our Christmas card this year. We were lame and just sent out an electronic one, but at least we sent one. I thought it was cute. :)

For my records, here is a copy of what we sent with it:

We wanted to send a note and say that we are blessed to have such wonderful friends and family members in our lives. We love you all and hope that you had a great year. 

         As some of you know, Jill had surgery last year on December 5, 2013, and was still recovering at the beginning of the year. So this year started out a little rough for us, with an emergency room visit on January 3, but quickly improved. She was on TPN (total parenteral nutrition) until the end of March, but during this time she was able to gain weight and start to feel much better. We hope she will continue to do well and that there aren't any more surgeries in the near future.

         Chris graduated with his Masters Degree in Health Policy and Administration from Washington State University in May and in June was offered a job in Roosevelt, UT as a DME (Durable Medical Equipment) Supervisor. It was a big change for us, moving from Spokane to a town of about 6,000 people, but we have really grown to like it. Chris enjoys his job and says that the days fly by, and he always looks forward to the coming week. Jill is not currently working as a dietitian, but has stayed busy with her Etsy shop and Facebook page, PolkaDotPansies, making and selling crafts, and babysitting in the afternoons. We both also stay busy with our church callings. Chris is the Teacher's Quorum advisor and Jill is the Beehives advisor. We both really like working with the youth, and it has helped us get to know more people. 

         As another year closes, we are thankful for all of our many blessings and feel fortunate for all we have. With Jill's health improving we hope that the coming year will allow us to grow our family-and hope that the coming year will bring you joy and happiness as well. We are thankful for the birth of our Savior and this time of year to celebrate it. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

There is always, Always, ALWAYS something to be thankful for!

We had a fun Thanksgiving this year. Our trip was short, but we were glad we were able to go home for a couple days. We spent Thanksgiving at Chris' mom's this year. The food was amazing, of course (Carol and Brett are great cooks!) and we played some fun games.

We were sad Courtney wasn't there, here are the kids Skyping with her.

Damian and Evi playing together.

More Skyping

We spent our nights at my mom's. Halli loves Chris and loves to have books read to her. They are good buddies.

Friday we ate dinner at Chris' dad's and the food was yummy again. For some reason I didn't get any pictures. Saturday morning I saw my dad for awhile and then we spent the rest of the day at my mom's and went home Sunday. We got to see 2 of our new nieces for the first time too, which was so fun! But for some reason I got a pic of one of them. Can't wait till we can have our own someday. :)

A few days later Chris and I went bowling. I think this was the first time we had ever been together (besides bowling on the Wii, which we did on our second date). Turns out Chris is not as good in real life as he is on the Wii. I beat home both times. 

I love this time of year when we get to reflect on our blessings. I am so thankful for Chris' job and all his hard work to provide for us. I am so thankful I have been feeling well for several months now and that we have been able to (finally!) start trying to have a baby. I am so thankful for the gospel and all that comes with it. And I am thankful that this time of year reminds us that there is always, always, ALWAYS something to be thankful for!

Jack o' Lanterns and Dinosaurs

Well we had a swell Halloween weekend. Chris and I carved pumpkins as usual. Mine are the two on the outside and Chris did the one in the middle. We also found a corn maze near Roosevelt and got lost there. It's not a great picture because of the light, but can't you just tell how much fun we were having? Our ward Halloween party was on Halloween, so I dressed myself up like a cute little witch (Chris put no effort into dressing up) and I went earlier and helped with the carnival games for the kids. My calling is the Beehive advisor and we were in charge of a booth. Chris' mom and stepdad decided to come visit us that weekend since Chris' mom didn't have school on Halloween. They got into town while the partying was still going on and came to the church and ate dinner with us. Then we went home and passed out candy to Trick or Treaters while we visited with them. This year we actually live in a place where we get Trick or Treaters, we got 0 in Spokane. Our apartment was not exactly in the greatest place and our front door was in an alley, so it was fun to give out some candy this year!

 The next day we drove to Vernal and went to a couple different dinosaur museums. I didn't know this until we moved here, but Utah is apparently the hub of dinosaur bones. Like mega hub. Like mega mega hub...well you get the picture. Apparently a lot of the dinosaur bone displays in major museums across the country came from good ol' Utah. It was a rather fascinating day. The first place we went to had lots of replicas of skeletons and a few real ones, and lots of info about what this area looked like in the days of the dinosaurs. We saw other fossils too, of plants and turtles, and such. Outside there were a bunch of statues of dinosaurs that were pretty cool to see too. And the wooly mammoth was huge! I had no idea they were that big. Way bigger than an elephant. It was like 14 feet tall.

Next we drove around out in the middle of nowhere until we found this other place, a national monument. It is a big building that is basically covering the side of a mountain where a bunch of dinosaur bones have been found, but instead of excavating them, they decided to leave them there and preserve them for all to see. It was pretty crazy. What they think happened, is that there were a bunch of dinosaurs that died at the same time, and then somehow the remains were swept up in a river and brought downstream, until they got stuck in mud and created a "logjam" of sorts. The water was strong enough to tear apart tissue so there were tails and legs and heads floating around. Gross right?! The types of dinosaurs in the logjam are prevalent in the area and already have some complete skeletons, so that's why they left them there like that.

You could also walk around outside and there were some bones sticking out there. It was really cool to see them just sitting in the rock, it makes you wonder what else is buried there. I read that there were also some dinosaur tracks to see but we didn't get that far. It started to rain. :(

The next day Carol and Brett went to Sacrament meeting with us and left to drive back to Twin. I didn't get any pics of them for some reason, but we loved having them here and showing them our house and all the dinosaurs.

Praying for a Baby

So most of you know that Chris and I have been wanting a baby for a long time. After the whole surgery last December and TPN for 4 months, my doctors in Spokane did not recommend having a baby. So we haven't even been trying. We decided to try to adopt as soon as Chris finished school. But then LDS Social Services announced that they weren't going to to do adoptions anymore. Literally 2 days before we going to submit the papers. I checked into a bunch of adoption agencies in Utah but they all just cost way more than we can afford. So we decided to fast and pray about it again. This time, we felt much better about having our own. I have been feeling really well since we moved. I think it is because I haven't had to work. I can sleep in if I need to, rest if I don't feel good, focus on eating better, etc. 

Right after we moved, I got an appointment with a primary care doctor here. He wanted me to see some other doctors before we go ahead and start trying. I saw an OB in Roosevelt, and we talked about medications that I would need to stop taking. And I was perfectly ok with that, because they were mostly meds that don't help me anymore. Then I had an appointment with a GI doctor in Salt Lake on Friday. I was really looking forward to this appointment and felt like it took forever, but it finally came. I really liked the doctor. I was hoping that she would just say "Yeah, have a baby, I'll help you if you get sick." But she wanted me to see a Urologist and a Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor (High Risk Pregnancy doctor) before hand. She also had me get blood drawn and it showed that I'm anemic and low in Vitamin D. I have slacked off on taking my vitamins lately, so I will do better. I have an appointment on the 15th with the Urologist, to have a scope of my bladder and make sure they still can't find a fistula. We wouldn't want to figure that out while I was pregnant, and need surgery. My doctor's in Spokane talked about the possibility of doing TPN while I am pregnant, so we talked about crossing that bridge when we get there. Hopefully I won't be that sick, and we won't have to go there. The MFM doctor will be able to tell us if there is a weight goal, and the risks of pregnancy and everything. I did lose 10 pounds when we moved, and I don't know why, probably from the stress of packing and everything. I wish that wouldn't have happened so the chances of us getting pregnant fast would be better. The appointment with the MFM doctor is not he 27th, so I guess I can wait 20 more days, right? 

We haven't ruled out adoption. If we heard of a baby someone was giving up, and could adopt them without going through an agency, then we would totally do that. I do have a name of a lady to call who has adopted a lot of children, and knows how to do it without paying an arm and a leg, so I am going to call and pick her brain. 

Sometimes I get really emotional when we are around kids. I just started crying spontaneously a couple times, when we were on Temple Square, just seeing cute kids and babies everywhere. I have also been known to cry at church, or walking through the baby section at the store. We want a baby so bad, so please pray for us that we will be able to start our family soon. And if you hear of any babies needing a mommy and daddy, let us know! 

Happy Anniversary! and Chris-isms....

This last weekend, we had the opportunity to spend in Salt Lake. I had a doctor's appointment on Friday (more about that later), and since yesterday was our anniversary, we celebrated it over the weekend while we were there. We had lots of fun!

Before we went I signed up for FavoriteEats. You can sign up online for a monthly subscription. It is usually $5/month, and then you get to eat at one of the places on the list and get $8-$12 worth of food. But right now they are having a deal where it is only $1. And then after you choose the first place, you can send an email to 4 friends (they don't have to do it, you just have to send the email), and then you get another meal free. So basically Chris and I ate at 2 places, and got a total of 4 meals for $2! And it was really good! The first place was Melty Way, a grilled cheese sandwich place-SO yummy! And then the second place was Sicilia Pizza. 

On Friday, we ate at Melty Way, then went to my appointment, and then went to the Gateway Mall and City Creek Mall and did some shopping. I got a couple new shirts as an anniversary present. Then we went to Temple Square and walked around for awhile. We went inside the Tabernacle. I remember going to the General Young Women's Conference there when I was 12 and it seemed so much bigger then! I can't believe how small it actually is. We went inside the Visitor's Centers, and took lots of pictures of the temple. It is so beautiful-I think it is so amazing it took 40 years to build. Next time we go to SL we are going to plan on doing a live session there. I have never done one and would love to! Then we ate at the pizza place and then went to our hotel. We got in the hot tub for awhile which was so relaxing. I would love to own a hot tub someday. :)

Funny Fact: I had this same exact bear growing up. I used to sleep with it when I was really little. It was on display in the visitor's center. Although, last time I was home and I saw it, I think it was missing it's bow. :)

The next morning we slept in and ate a late breakfast at Denny's. Then we went back to Temple Square and got in line for standby tickets to the afternoon session of General Conference. There were probably 75-100 people in front of us, so we thought we had a pretty good chance of getting in. They had us wait inside the Tabernacle, but when we got in there they told us that all the people already in there were in front of us, because they were waiting for the morning session, and didn't get in. But then I didn't see them let anyone into the Conference, which was kind of weird. So we watched it in the Tabernacle. We got to sit in the front where there was a TV with captions so Chris could understand it better. 

After Saturday's afternoon session, we drove to Orem and looked around the University Mall for awhile. I was looking for a new coat, which would be a Christmas present, but I didn't find anything. Then we ate dinner at Olive Garden, which I had been craving for a long time. It was so yummy. Then we went to My aunt and uncle's house and stayed the night. It was nice to be able to see my cousin Katie and her husband, and my Uncle Parley and Aunt Marilyn. The next morning they made us a yummy breakfast while we watched the first session of conference. Right after it was over we drove back to SL because we had tickets to the afternoon session. When we got there, we asked if we could sit in the hearing impaired section, where there is a TV with captions and they let us, even though our tickets were for another section. They were much better seats then where we would have sat. We loved conference and we loved being there in the same room as the apostles and prophets. 

We drove home that night. It was nice to be home. I had started coming down with a cold, which I kind of passed off as allergies all weekend, but Sunday night I really didn't feel well so I went right to bed. 

I really love Chris and just feel so lucky to be with him for eternity. Here is something that I wrote on Facebook: Happy Anniversary to my best friend and the best husband I could have ever imagined! I can't believe it has been 3 years! I love you so much Chris. I truly believe the Lord puts people in our lives to help us through trials, and I was just telling my mom the other day, that yes, the Lord gave me health problems, but he also gave me a wonderful husband to help through those hard things. Chris has taken on my trials as his own. He is so patient, kind, and helpful. He takes such good care of me, I don't think anyone else could do a better job. I love his personality, his jokes, and how he always makes me laugh, numerous times a day. He is a hard worker and I am so proud of him for going to grad school and getting a good job so he can support us. We are so compatible, sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky-we very rarely ever disagree and never argue or fight. People say marriage is hard work, but I just think it's fun and amazing. So glad we get to be together forever!

I have a few funny things Chris has said written down. Truthfully I could write down everything he says, it's like having a little kid who say funny things all the time. One thing I love is that when he is talking he sounds so serious, and then after a minute you realize he is totally joking and not making sense. I call them Chris-isms. Here are just a few: 

Chris: I mixed up some tuna fish today. I killed a tuna and a fish and mixed them together....Then added some pizza sauce, some pepperoni....

Chris: So. Twilight huh? Me: Yeah. Chris: Which one? Me: The first one! Chris: At the beginning huh...(Singing the Sound of Music)..a very good place to start. 

Chris on a scale of 16-907, how funny was that?

Chris: We now have the World Wide Web. You can just see the waves of technology running through our house. (Waving his arms around).

Chris: I'm giving you the afghan. Not to be confused with the Pakistani.

Chris: When I'm an apostle someday I'm going to go by C. Dale Leiser or Christopher Dale L. 

Chris: Why are all these streets named after men? Bernard, Lincoln, Howard....29th Ave.

Chris: It was so foggy when I drove to Post Falls the other day. Me: Oh yeah? Chris: Yeah, it was so bad that I had to get out of the car and push because I couldn't see where I was at. Me: Right....

Chris: I need to take my pants to a tailor....and I don't mean Tim Taylor.

Chris: Let do Rock, Paper, Scissors. Best out of 3. Best out of 150? Me: NO! Chris: Best out of 149?

I don't know if these are that funny when you read them, but he always makes me laugh, and I love that about him! 

More pictures of the temple. Isn't it amazing?