Lake Powell

Jake's parents plan this amazing trip to Lake Powell every summer. It's so nice to find a few days to just get away and relax! We had such a blast because all the family was there. We stayed Wednesday night through Sunday morning. Plenty of time to get some sweet sun burns. Highlights of the trip illustrated in these rad photos....

Our creative relay race

One incredibly windy day we decided to do something fun at camp. With recorded times we all participated individually in the 7 step relay. It was super fun to watch everybody act so silly. Here's the race in order

Graduation 2010

I feel a little weird without the constant feeling that I need to study or do some homework. I have a lot of extra time. Now I just have the constant feeling that I need more hours and that I'm a bum. I guess it comes with time. We had a fun day last Friday at graduation. We got to see most of the family and listen to the prophet! He was amazing. His talk was about the ABC's in life. Attitude, Belief, and Courage. His counselors Pres. Iring and Uchtdorf were there too. We went to Maddox in between ceremonies and got to hang out with the family. Everyone was so sweet to come and see us. And Jake was with me every step of the way. He sure had to put up with a lot of late nights and online tests. He would always step up and help me with anything I needed.

These are the two girls I did my clinical hours with at Logan Regional during the program.

We worked on the yard the next day and finished the rock. Jake has been drawing our sprinkler plans, so I guess that's next. Nelli has been such a good puppy. She's growing and learning fast. We sure love her.

Schoooool's Out For...EVER!

That's it, I'm all finished. I'm graduating this Friday and I'll never look back. It was a long hard road and I have the degree I need to do exactly what I want. Here are the announcements I made. Not too fancy but they were easy.

I took my national board exam yesterday and I had never been so nervous. It was only the biggest test of my life! Everything I've ever learned in one test. But.... I came through with flying colors. It took me 3 hours and a big head ache but I scored a 92. I was so relieved to be done! I had a lot of support though. Everyone was so nice to wish me luck. Jake's little sister even ditched this on my front step the night before. We had a nice BBQ last night with some family and hung out. Jake even suprised me with my favorite cake.

We've been working hard in the yard... dirt. We had our boulders delivered and started getting them in place. It's back braking but it's better than paying 10 grand to have someone else do it. We're young! And we're that much closer to some grass. We had to get it dug out more into the shape we wanted. It was cool watching the big loader.

Jake and Nelli in the "skidder"

Jake has been having a little too much fun with all the equipment! He's so good at it though.

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.