Easter in Burley

Jake and I decided to head North for Easter and visit my family. We haven't made a real visit to Burley since Thanksgiving! We really had a great time. Jake got to go to the priesthood session with my dad and grandpa, and I hung out with all the girls. I love when everyone gets together. It's so fun to be with my mom and sisters and aunts and grandma.

Easter morning Jake and I got up early and took a long walk with Nelli and the camera. We thought about the resurrection and watched the sun as it danced on all the beautiful fields and mountains. We took lots of fun pictures... Jake got creative with the timer.

My grandma made all these cute little pots with flowers for all the girls. She's so cute. Here it is home on the table. To catch everyone up on life with us now, Jake is working hard for us and loving his choice in hours. I finished my 1500 clinical hours at the hospital and am ready to take my board. I'll graduate April 23! Still working at the hospital and loving getting paid. We are ready to landscape our yard... when the snow stops. And Nelli is now big enough to jump into the truck when he whistles for her. We love our new home and we're very grateful for our wonderful life.

Fun Bus

Jake and I have wanted to try out the "Fun Bus" to Wendover since we were dating. Well I was only 20 then and underage, and I'm 23 now... that shows how long we've been trying to plan a day. We had Jake's sisters Mindy and Tiffany and her husband Jaren come along. Here are the details: $11, free bingo, free soda, free starbucks drink, $5 cash back in the casino AND....... all you can eat buffet! Not just any buffet, king crab legs, shrimp, prime rib, chocolate fountain fantasy. The sign at the resturant entrance said &25 for the buffet that night but we technically only paid $6! The food is kind of why we went. We had a blast at dinner but were wiped out by the time we got home at 6AM! Yeah it was a lazy saturday.

We decided it was warm enough for Nelli to live outside. So she made the big move from the garage to the back yard/dirt. Jake shingled it to hold up against the weather and I painted. It was pretty plain so I used a sharpie to jazz it up a little. Jake wanted the Ducks Unlimited symbol too. We like how it turned out... Nelli's a little spoiled! She loves the warm weather but she's sad all the snow is gone. She used to roll in it like a maniac. So we took her swimming out in Benson after work one day. She doesn't like having a bath and the water at the lake was freezing. She wouldn't stay in very long, but we had fun.

Food Storage

The best part about having a house vs. little apartment is that you have more space! Jake and I made sure to designate an area for food storage in our home. We placed a cold storage under the front step in the basement. Jake got me one of those cool "Shelf Reliance" can shelves before we moved and I have been so anxious to get it set up and filled up! Well not only did Jake do all that for me but he built all these cool shelves to fill the rest of the room to utilize our space. I love how handy he is! I took advantage of the case lot sale at Lees last week and have been motivated to make a food storage for us. Not too full yet but I'm excited about what we've accomplished. Mostly apple juice jugs full of water but isn't that what we'd need the most in an emergency? We've also been filling our chest freezer to add to our storage. We've got more hamburger than we could eat in a year thanks to Jake's parents. And I've been added to it more generously now. It feels good to be a little more prepared.

We've also been loving the puppy! Jake will let her come in the house only to watch hunting videos. It's actually pretty funny. Nelli will just sit there in her kennel next to Jake and just watch the geese on the t.v. Jake even taught her to sit. She will sit every time we tell her to now. I'm amazed how good of a puppy she is. Hunting dog in training.

My First Benelli

This is a Benelli...............

............and this is a Benelli.

But I got the cute one! Jake got me this little, black lab for valentines day. She will ultimately be the best hunting dog so we named her after the best shot gun. But we call her Nelli to shorten it up. She is so fun and adorable, I can't get enough of her. I've wanted my own lab forever! I envy all the people out on the road running with a big dog and I'm just solo. Not for long! I always wish for a big dog when Jake's in Alaska. I won't dread the loneliness so much now. She's really become part of the family.

She was welcome right away. Jake built her this dog house. It's like a dog mansion. She'll grow it to it. We've only had her three weeks and she's almost grown out of her collar!

Right away she loved the snow! She digs her nose in it and belly slides down the snow hills! It's the funniest thing to watch. I caught it on camera. Nelli and Jake in our back yard.

We decided to have our own little winter Olympic event... ICE FISHING. Nelli thought the fish was pretty entertaining. She watched it there on the ice to make sure it didn't get out of line. She is such a good dog. She stays right on our heels where-ever we take her.

Nelli was the best choice for a puppy and we've been planning for her for about 2 years. Jake has an old lab named Polly that lives at his parents'. When she had her last litter of puppies 2 years ago we wanted one so much, but we didn't want to keep it in our apartment. We gave a little black male to my parents' so we could have one of the puppies from him one day. Well the puppies arrived Christmas Eve and we had our hearts set on a little black female from that litter of 12!!! So the best part about Nelli is that she is Polly's grand puppy! Polly is an amazing hunter. Jake loves her so much, so hopefully Nelli will be just like her.

December 09

We've been up to a lot of things lately. December is a busy month for most, and for Jake and I, we can agree that the holidays are nice, but it's great to have our lives back.

We have adjusted to all the cold and snow up here on the mountain. Living on the bench brings more snow than usual. But that hasn't slowed Jake down.

 

Jake and I made these little baby doll cradles for twin girls in our old ward for Christmas.

We went to an Ugly Sweater Party at the Pratts' and Jake found this at the D.I. to wear. Silly boy.

We had an adventure when we found that we had a bad laundry fixture that had been leaking for a month or more. The sheet rock and insulation had to be replaced. No cost to us but quite the hassle.

Jake, Tiffany, Jaren, Mindy, Jentry, Myrik and I all had a blast one weekend at Myrik's cabin in Bear Lake. We went sledding at the sink holes for the afternoon.

 

And finally we DID have a merry Christmas this year. We spent the holiday in Highland at the Nelson's. We had so much fun with his family. When we got home Jake had this last surprise gift on display in the living room for me. I dropped all our stuff and started crying. I saw this exact picture this summer and fell in love. I'd never seen a picture quite like it anywhere. It's the Manti temple, significant because we were married and sealed there. I looked for it or something similar ever since then but failed to find one as beautiful. Jake told me it was too expensive that day but apparently he has a soft spot for me cause he bought it the next day and has been hiding it all this time! It is more sephia colored and has a beautiful antique look to it. The frame is also gorgeous with some scuffs and knots in it to match the rest of our home. I know I say this every post but.... ISN'T HE WONDERFUL!!!

Our New Home

We're in... we finally have our new home, it's official! Jake and I just LOVE our new home. It's hard to believe we have our own house. We talk about how blessed we are to have everything we do every day! We're very fortunate to have such nice things so early in our life. I can't wait to fill it up with crazy little ones. Jake jumped right into a full time job so we can pay for this baby every month. I appreciate him and all his hard work so much! The very end of the building process was a nightmare. The appraisal and the loan closing part! Watch out... it's a stressful beast. But once it was over we got to relax and appreciate all we worked for. We moved October 29.

 

Jake and I finished the tile and added this cool design in the entry. It was Jake's creative idea to put some of the wood around the tile! It looks awesome.

Jake and a few helpful hands layed the wood floor in the kitchen one night (simpers and Jimmy) I love LOVE our wood floor. It's called hand scraped walnut.

Jake's great friend Tyrell came one day to do all our carpet. He and Jake did all the carpet in half a day. We appreciated his help soooo much!

 

 

 

 

Jake designed and installed all our closets. They are very organized and efficient with our space.

After we settled in Jake had a lot of hunting to catch up on. He went pheasant hunting almost every day. We kept Jake's dog Polly with us for about two weeks so he could get the most out of the season. He bragged about that dog every second. She is such a great hunter!

Jake had a bunch of his friends come up that helped us with the house. They had a pheasant hunting extravaganza. They had a blast! See all the birds they got.

Jake and I cut down a tree the other night out to cub river. We wanted a big one and we got one! The night before Thanksgiving I had to work. But when I came home from the hospital I had a wonderful suprise! Jake put up Christmas lights!! I was so suprised. He did such a great job and made me very happy. I have the most wonderful husband.