The Barrus Blog

Max at 4 months

2012-01-30T13:53:00.000-08:00

Maxwell is 4 months old today! I can't believe how fast time is flying! Here are a few things about my little man...

Weighs 13 pounds 5 oz
Sleeps for 10 hours at night, wakes for a bottle, then sleeps another 2-3 hours
is just starting to wear 3 month clothes

just moved up to size 2 diapers! (so big!)

LOVES bath time
responds really well when I sing to him
imitates the little sound I make with my tongue between my lips
likes to suck his fingers
LOVES to be swaddled to sleep
wakes up smiling in the morning
likes traveling in the car
is exactly 2 feet long
moved into his big boy crib a week or two ago
really likes his toy monkey
loves snuggling with his dad
lets Scooter give him kisses on his hand
Likes his grandma high blanket the best
loves being on his back looking up at toys, hates his tummy time
almost rolled over yesterday
still doesn't go to church (I worry about him catching something)
sucks on an imaginary binky while he sleeps and its so cute
giggled like crazy for the first time today at the doctors office (see video!)
is still on oxygen, and will be for a while. His oxygen levels drop when he sleeps
receives more kisses and "I love you's" than he knows what to do with
makes me feel like the luckiest mom in the world!

Be Mine

2012-01-27T10:00:00.000-08:00

I made this "Be Mine" banner for Valentines decoration with my mom. It's fun to have something up that's pink and lovey-dovey. It hangs over our stairs so it's in a central place in our house. I haven't quite figured out what to do with that space yet, so something short term will keep me tied over till I can figure it out. My mom spiced it up with the sparkle letters, it was fun doing something crafty for v-day! (thanks pinterest for the idea!)

Happy Valentines Day!

(if you have a cricut I used the stretch your imagination cartridge)

Zoe

2012-01-26T18:00:00.000-08:00

While my friend Erin was here they bought a new kitten! Little Zoe. I am not a cat fan (sorry!) but I love me some kittens! This little thing was so cute, spunky, and poor Scooter LOVED having a little friend around to play with and snuggle with for a few days.

Soon enough Max will be big enough to run around with the Scoot, but for now, he's a pretty good snuggler!

Fishies!

2012-01-26T09:43:00.000-08:00

Maxwell got a crib light for Christmas that has little fishes that scroll across a screen and it plays classical music or makes fish sounds. The moment we put him in his crib and turned it on, no joke, he put on the biggest smile and he LOVES it! It's been great to train him not to need his binky (I'm still sitting on the fence with the binky thing, I hate it and love it) anyway, we don't use the fishy thing every night but when we do, he just smiles and loves his fishy time!

So, last week my best friend Erin came up again from Vegas and we decided to go to the aquarium because she has the most darling little girl who would love the fishes. Well, little did I know, my little Max would get so much out of his first trip to the aquarium! He LOVED IT!

Every time I would show him a new exhibit or something bright and flashy he would beam and smile at those fish. We had such a great time, and it was so close to where we live. There will be many more trips to the aquarium!

Christmas and New Years

2012-01-09T20:15:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas and New Years. I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of New Years Eve (I'll have to get them from Joanna!) Christmas was all about family and we had a blast with our families. We spent time with so many people we love and it was so fun having Max around. Jeffrey and I played Mary and Joseph for the family Christmas parties as it was a sacred roll to play, it helped me to keep in perspective the purpose of the season and brought the spirit into our home. We spent Christmas Eve and early morning at the Barrus house opening presents. It was so much fun with little Noah and Kayla! I feel so blessed to have such great in-laws! They are sweet and spoiled Jeffrey and I. (even Scooter got presents!) Our favorite gift from the Barrus' family was our own crap that they are dying to get rid of in their basement! (sorry!) look how cute Jeffrey's sisters family is! Oh man Christmas morning was fun with them!

Then we went to my parents house and opened presents with the High family. Also, a blast with all the little boys. My dad was cute and bought himself lots of tracks for cars and trains and planes. The boys were all excited to play with grandpa and his new toys! He also got the big boys some cool tools and that is always fun with all the house projects we have. My favorite thing about my parents house for Christmas is the time we spend together as a family. Opening gifts is slow, one by one and I love it that way.This picture is so fun, my parents bought all the boys these little swards and the fight broke out as soon as they opened them!

I bought Jeffrey a fancy drill which he was thrilled about. He doesn't spoil himself at all throughout the year like I spoil myself, so it was fun to actually go to town and spoil him. And it made Christmas a lot of fun for me. You could say one of my major love languages is gifts... I really should spread it out throughout the year in 2012!

Anyway I really do feel like our greatest gift this year was Maxwell. He has been such an incredible light in our home. He turned 3 months at the end of December and with all the hopes and prayers that the date would bring the end of the Oxygen it seems we're going to be in it for the long haul. We met with a doctor who told us to expect this to go on for the next 6-12 months! Can you imagine a baby with a cord attached to his face and rolling over? How about a little crawling baby? or walking?! Seriously, I'm so glad this is my first, and really praying I don't have to wait 12 months to ditch all this home health equipment!

New Years Eve was a blast at the Barrus house, we had a few couples over for fondue and games and brought in the new year in style! I've set some good goals for the new year, they are posted on my fridge and hopefully will keep me reminded throughout the year of the things I want to accomplish. I am so excited for 2012 and all that it will bring with the growth of Max. 2011 was an incredible year for our family, I feel like 2012 will be just as great!

Brilliant!

2012-01-06T09:23:00.001-08:00

I need to brag a little bit about my husband... I mentioned that I was having technical difficulties, it's true, ALL my pictures were deleted on my blog. But not just this blog, all my blogs. I have a personal journal blog, a craft blog with my mom and sister, and a few other blogs. To say the least, I was DEVASTATED! It wasn't Jeffreys intention to delete all the pictures, and for all you readers beware anything you delete on your google account may impact anything else tied to google products. (picassa, Google+, blogger, etc...)

So I was sleepless because I felt like my journal was ruined, all the years of posts and pictures, GONE. And Jeffrey was sleepless because he felt so bad. So finally around one in the morning he said he thought he could figure out a way to fix it and we went to bed. Max woke up at 6:00 in the morning for his feeding and Jeffrey fed him a bottle and then sat down at the computer. I woke up at 9:00 and found he had written a program to fix my picture problem! Isn't that amazing?! He is so dang smart! There are HUNDREDS of people that this has happened to and google has openly addressed online that they don't have a way to fix it yet, and in 3 hours my amazing husband wrote a program that scanned through all the pictures on my computer and magically placed them back where they needed to be in the blog posts! There isn't a program anywhere that we could find that could fix this problem, so now there is one, and thanks to Jeffrey hopefully more people will be able to have their blogs restored!

And what YOU CAN LEARN FROM THIS...
1. Back up your blog! it's under the settings tab when you are writing a post, choose EXPORT BLOG and put it in a file on your computer. This way if anything happens, you have all your data backed up.
2. If you have dreams of ordering a hard bound book of your blog, make it a new years goal to start the process now! Maybe order one book a month or something...

(the picture was taken when we were dating, this was my way of getting attention while he worked on his homework. CUTE!)

technical issues

2012-01-01T15:54:00.000-08:00

Google is a wonderful thing, most of the time...

Jeffrey changed something on my phone to update ALL the pictures that I take to my Google+. I didn't want this, so I asked him to delete the pictures on my Google+ account, and ever since then ALL my pictures associated with Google, including this blog, have been deleted! Seriously, I'm super upset about it. So, we're having some technical difficulties around this blog trying to figure it all out, until then, anyone have any ideas on how to fix it?!

my highest recommendation!

2011-12-29T15:47:00.000-08:00

this is to this...

as this is to this...

I got this Grayco Nasal Aspirator as a baby shower gift, and it is the MOST AMAZING THING EVER!!! Max, Jeffrey and I got sick this week. We all got a bad cold and poor Max can't really afford to get sick. Anyway, we went to the doctor because Max had a fever and couldn't breath and I told them I've been using this cool nasal cleaner outer thing, and the nurse freaked out, took it and showed all the other people in the office. I tell you if there's one thing you need if you have children it's this! I can fill up that little clear cup with snot (gross, but amazing!) in one try when I need to clean out Max's nose. I love it, I know Max loves it, and well, something this good needed to be shared! I use it along with saline solution to help break things up. You can get them at Walgreens and Walmart, and they are worth EVERY DIME!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-26T15:00:00.000-08:00

We did an electronic family Christmas letter this year, if you didn't get it, it's probably because I don't have your email... here it is!

Dear Friends and Family, December 2011

This year has been one very exciting year for the Barrus Family! We started out the year with the purchase of our first home in South Jordan, Utah! We feel so fortunate to have found this home. We love our neighbors and the extra space! Jeffrey is enjoying all the fun house projects and Carlie loves having more space to decorate.

One week after moving into our house we learned we were expecting our first baby on October 28^th. It was an adventurous and much anticipated pregnancy that was cut a month short when our son decided he wanted to come 4 weeks early on September 30, 2011. Maxwell Lincoln Barrus was born at 2:36 am and weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces and was 21 inches long. His birth was a very spiritual experience for our family and was mostly pain free! Because Max was born early his lungs were not developed yet and he ended up staying in the hospital for 2 weeks after his birth. He is still on oxygen at home but is growing and developing and is cuter than ever! We are beyond elated to be parents and love the new experiences that come with parenting. Max has been sleeping through the night since he was 9 weeks old and blesses our home with smiles and giggles on a daily basis. We love him more than we could have ever imagined!

Jeffrey is still working part-time for dealpickle.com but changed jobs in the summer to work for Solution Stream, a company that contracts computer programmers to other companies. Currently he is working for Fidelity Investments and enjoys being on a team with other developers. He still considers himself a champion coder and loves being a father and a husband.

Carlie retired as a full time employee of Mountain America Credit Union and will forever love the experiences and people that she met while there. However, life in retirement is wonderful as a stay-at-home mother for Maxwell. This is one of the greatest joys of her life. She finds her days to be rewarding and very educational!

We enjoy having family live so close and especially loved having family live with us for a few months this summer. We count our families as one of our greatest blessings. This year we watched our families grow again, and continue to anticipate the growth with more nieces and nephews on both sides!

Especially at this Christmas time, we wish our families and friends well and hope you find joy in the season. We believe in Christ and know He came to this earth by a humble birth. We are so blessed to know such great friends and family and are so very grateful for all the prayers and service we have received this year on Maxwell’s behalf. Much love to you this Christmas and year to come!

Love Jeffrey, Carlie, Maxwell and Scooter

Date nights!

2011-12-18T07:46:00.001-08:00

We recently have had some great date nights, one night we got to see the tabernacle choir Christmas concert and the lights and another night we got to see twilight with Jenny and Jona (who we went to see it with 3 years ago on our first date!) I feel so blessed to be married to my best friend, to have awesome parents who love spending time with Max so we can have a little "mommy & daddy" time, and to have a little boy who is caught smiling our parents and is fun to snuggle!

Amigurumi Elephant

2011-12-15T13:02:00.000-08:00

My sister-in-law introduced me to the world of Amigurumi, which is Japanese mini crochet animals. I fell in love with so many of the darling little animals, I had to learn to crochet and get started! So my first crochet project ever is this little elephant!

I'm going to make a mobil for Max with a bunch of different animals, this one is a bit big for a mobil so I put a rattle in it, and it will be a fun toy for his room. So fun! You'll have to "google" Amigurumi and check out all the amazing little animals and things people have made!

Maxwells Baby Blessing

2011-12-08T12:06:00.000-08:00

We planned it that weekend because family was going to be in town, but it ended up that everyone kinda bailed the last min. We had several friends we wished could have been there and missed seeing, but in the end it made the blessing mean that much more to us because the blessing was truly the highlight of the whole day. I gave Jeffrey some pretty high expectations for the blessing. I felt bad doing it, but he's so shy, I just didn't want Max to have a 3 min blessing! What Jeffrey ended up sharing with Max was something I'll never forget. The spirit filled the room immediately and my relationship with my son, my husband, and my Father-in-Heaven changed for the better. I can't put into words how much that moment meant to our family, other than to say it really was a highlight of my life. We waited and prayed, and struggled to bring max into our family and his blessing was a celebration of all the heartache leading up to that point. I feel so very blessed in my life right now! I married up, I married the most perfect man for me, and I couldn't be happier knowing Max has such a great man to look up to as his father.

My mom made Max's blessing outfit. She crocheted this amazing sweater that was a titch too big because Max is a titch too small.

It was perfect.

He looked darling in his crochet booties and sweater and his silk suit under the sweater. Both of our mothers made food, helped set up and clean up, and have been such a strength to me. We are so blessed to have such great women as Max's grandma's!

My best friend Erin and her family came up from Henderson, Nevada just for Max's blessing. Her sacrifice and time made us feel so loved, and we were so glad they came! I not only wish we lived in the same city, but on the same street! She is a saint for coming, we love you Oldfields!

Our Sunday school class came, probably because we told them they could either go to the other class or come to our house for food... they are teenagers, so the answer wasn't really hard to come up with! We love these kids and are so grateful for such an awesome calling.

Max you were blessed with an obedient heart, with a desire to serve others. With an understanding of your Heavenly Father's love for you, and for your neighbor. You were blessed to love your parents, to have a desire to serve a mission and to marry in the temple, but most of all you were blessed to have a strong testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Max your parents love you, we are so thrilled to have you as our son!

Show-Off!

2011-12-07T10:35:00.000-08:00

Max is such a great baby! I LOVE LOVE being a mom! We are still working on getting off oxygen, but in the mean time, we're having a blast. The other night after Max ate he decided he wanted to show off a bit and because I think he's the cutest little thing I thought I'd show him off too...

Look at my cute smile!

You can't hear me, but I'm laughing and dancing with my arms whoot! whoot!

Oh yea, I'm a rock star! Look at my rockstar moves!

After so much fun, we're tuckered out around here!

Before and After Bathroom

2011-11-28T13:15:00.000-08:00

We did a little remodeling in our master bathroom. It's not completely finished yet, I still want to add tile, frame the mirrors and finish bead board around the rest of the room, but the tub is in and BEAUTIFUL! There's a sweet story behind this tub...

While we were house shopping, I really wanted a master bath with a big tub. Every house that had one, there were other major things we didn't like. Well, the house we bought had potential for one so I was willing to wait for the big tub. As soon as we went under contract on the house, I was looking on KSL free classifieds (which I never do!) and there was someone in South Jordan giving away a FREE DOUBLE WIDE JETTED TUB! amazing! So, my awesome brother-in-law went and picked it up for us and we put it in storage. It sat in storage until a few months ago when I was 7 months pregnant, and VERY VERY uncomfortable. Most of my discomfort was from sitting at a desk all day at work. My body just ached all day and was moving and shifting from being pregnant. I stayed in a few hotels and didn't get a room with a big tub, I tried to soak in my tub and lets just say pregnant women don't fit in tubs very well!

So I came home one day from the store and when I walked in my bathroom Jeffrey had ripped the old tub out and was planning to instal my new tub! I asked him what he was doing and he just smiled and said, "I think you deserve a bigger tub, and I feel so bad you haven't gotten one yet" Can I just say I think I married the greatest man ever! My sweet, nerdy computer programming husband installed not only a new tub, and did all the finishing work, but he also bought me a new water heater so that I could fill the tub up! What a guy!

The old tub and the cutest man alive!

He got it all up and working before the finishing work so i could take a bath the next day!

Here is the finished product! Isn't it awesome?! He did such a great job on the moldings and walls! I painted the room blue and added some fun candle holders, bird cages and painted a frame to go with the most perfect poster! I have a very happy serene place in my home, thanks Jeffrey for putting up with the princess side of me!

Oxygen

2011-11-21T17:02:00.001-08:00

Maxwell is still on oxygen. It's turned out to be a blessing because it has kept us at home while it's cold outside and everyone is sick, and because it means that he was approved for a very needed and expensive shot. The doctor at the NICU told me that if Max got sick the first month of his life he'd end up at Primary Childrens and would have to go through a very extensive assortment of tests. Needless to say, I have been terrified to go anywhere so we've been strapped to the house. Well, a few weeks ago our doctor told us about a vaccine for the RSV virus. You have to be approved to get it by proving that your kid is sick enough for it, and your insurance has to approve it as well. Why? because the shot is $3,000 for one shot, and there are 5 of them for the 5 months of RSV season! yep, one shot = 3,000! well Max was approved and he got the shot last week because he's still on oxygen! So while there are major draw backs to having Max on oxygen, I am very grateful for the blessing of health insurance, and for this sweet boy in my life! Here's a few shots of what it's like to have a baby on oxygen...

First, we get a box of supplies from Intermountain Home Health Care. I have their number programed into my phone. Anytime he runs out of those little cheek things (top of the picture), or foot sensors (bottom of the picture) , I just call and order more. (those little foot sensors = $450.00 and we change it about every 5 days! )
Here is his oxygen level doo-hicky. You can see currently he is on 1/16th of a leiter of oxygen. He needs to go down to 1/32 for 4 days before he can go off of oxygen all together. Everyday I turn it down to see how long he lasts. Some days it's only a few hours, but we have recently had a few good days where he went 12 hours! Usually as soon as he falls asleep I have to turn it back up to 1/16th because he relaxes too much in his sleep and his airways close down.
This is the oxygen take, you can see the doo-hicky thing attached. There is also a little thing of water attached, that's a little humidifier so that Max doesn't get all dried out from the air blowing in his nose all the time. You can also see the portable tanks on the floor. Thats so I can get out of the house when we need to go to the doctor or somewhere.
This shows my 50 feet of sanity cord. Whenever we want to go anywhere in the house, it's ruled by this cord and if it doesn't reach, Max doesn't go there.
I talked about the lowering of the oxygen, well, the way I know how long he can go is from the little foot sensor. It's a light on one side, and a sensor on the other. The light shines through his veins and calculates what the oxygen levels are running through his blood.
Normal people breath between 92-98. If you were hiking the tallest mountain in the world your levels would be around 50-60. When Max isn't on oxygen, he gets down to 65-70. So basically it's like he's climbed the highest mountain when he's not on the oxygen tank. This little machine also has a cord, so when we go anywhere in the house, this also comes with us. The top red is his oxygen levels, the bottom is his heart rate. When he gets below 85%, when the sensor starts to go bad, when he moves in his sleep so it can't read well, or just when it feels like it, it beeps the most annoying beep you've ever heard. I will be a VERY happy woman when I get rid of this thing! (lucky for me, the little button in the top right is a 2 min silence button, it provides some sanity to the crazy beeping at 2am)
Here we are carrying the monitor around after giving Max a bath. This is a good picture because it shows, Jeffrey trying to hold the sensor in the right position while looking at the monitor to see what his levels are and if it will stop beeping.
This is his nasal cannula cord. Whenever I want to put an outfit on Max that goes over his head, I have to string it through this cord. It attaches to the cute dots on his face and is about 6 feet long and attaches at the other end to the 50 foot cord coming from the oxygen tank. We have to replace these whenever Max spits up and it gets in the holes or something. He REALLY likes to rip this off his face, so I have had to search high and low for clothes that have the little hand covers on them so he doesn't rip the little face dots off too.
And here's our little champion, with the cutest little face!

HOME

2011-11-06T09:27:00.000-08:00

Jeffrey and I have a song, it's called Feels Like Home by Chantal Kreviazuk and it just means so much more to us now that we have Max HOME. Its been three weeks now and we are loving every moment. Even the late nights and all the fun that comes with a newborn baby! Max does really well with the nights. We've only had a few where I've lost a lot of sleep. Because he was in the NICU he is on a very precise 3 hour schedule, so I wake up every 3 hours to feed and pump but then he goes back to sleep pretty easily. He's getting to the point now where he has more awake time and I have a lot of fun just holding and loving him. How do parents do this with more than one kid?! I feel like I just have time for only Max!Max LOVES his bath time! My sister-in-law told me about this tub and we love it. (It is called the Pujbath and we got it at target.com) He loves to run his hand through the running water and my favorite part about bath time, when we take him out he cries one small cry till he's all curled up in my arms in a towel, it's so cute!We've had some visitors since we've been home. (we would love more visitors if you're wondering if it's ok, yes, I'm home ALL DAY EVERY DAY and would love visitors!) My best friend Erin came for 5 days and we had so much fun I only took one or two pictures. Her darling little girl calls Max "baby Max" and it's so cute! I loved having her here with me, appreciated all the advice I got, and well, it was a great answer to prayer to have her here.Aunt Erica and cousins Benson, Andrew and Talmage came to meet their new cousin.
Aunt Jenny Sue having a "moment" with baby max. Notice Scooter very close by...

How's Scooter adjusting to having Max home? Well he's adjusting ok. He is very aware that the baby has taken over my affection and attention, so whenever someone is holding Max, Scooter is sure to follow and be very close by. He leaves the baby alone which is nice, and my only real complaint is the dang dog barks whenever he hears the smallest sound and I can't get to him to yell at him because I'm holding Max.Jeffrey has been amazing with Max, I love watching this man I married be a dad. It makes me fall more and more in love with him. He is so sweet to me, so very patient with my craziness, and is constantly serving me. I am a very blessed girl! This picture is funny because I went somewhere one night and came home to see Jeffrey "watching" Max, by having him in the pack-n-play right next to the computer where he was playing Starcraft! This is funny because Jeffrey hardly ever plays computer games, so I'm sure he was excited to have a night alone to do some geeking out!I will post pictures of the nursery when it's done, but I am so excited about my new chair, I had to post a picture of that! Here we are, all snuggled up and loving life. Life is great, I feel so blessed and am so very happy to have my sweet boy HOME.

sneak peak!

2011-10-24T15:42:00.000-07:00

I can't help it... I had to post just one of the AMAZING pictures that Jenny took of Max. There are more to come later, but isn't he so dang cute?!

The best part of the photo shoot, was that I got to hold my son for the first time with no strings attached! (He is still on oxygen at home, and we're working so hard at getting him off, but we got special permission to take all the tubes off for a little photo shoot!)

Birth Story: "but it's not OCTOBER yet!"

2011-10-24T09:47:00.000-07:00

I figured it was due time for a good birth story, its long… beware!

Thursday, September 29, 2011 started like any other day, get up, shower, get ready and drive to Salt Lake with Jeffrey for work. I got to work and started feeling the usual side aches at the very top of my growing belly on the right side. The night before I was going through borrowed baby clothes and labeling them and my side was hurting so bad I could seriously only write on 2 or 3 tags then I’d have to take a break. So the pain continued while I was sitting at my desk that morning. It had become routine for me to curl up on the floor in my cubicle at work on my left side to try and get the pain to go away. It’s something I felt getting worse and worse the last month of my pregnancy. Thursday however was different, I was feeling lower back pain as well, so laying on the floor wasn’t helping. I got up and tried to focus on something else. My friend and co-worker came over and put her hand on my belly and watched me closely. She informed me that I was experiencing contractions, although I couldn’t feel them like others describe. My tummy would just tighten up every 5 min. Still, the side ache was my biggest concern so I decided I should just go into labor and delivery to see if they would do an x-ray and give me something for the pain. I had gone home early from work the day before because of the pain, I had driven 3 hours by myself from Green River, Wyoming Tuesday night and had to stop half way through the drive because my side hurt so bad. So needless to say, my trip to the labor and delivery was mostly because I was sick of the dumb side pain and there was a small part of me hoping they’d put me on bed rest so I didn’t have to keep functioning and living my normal busy life!

I called my mom and asked her to take me to the hospital, Jeffrey didn’t have any sick leave because he started a new job, so we were saving that for baby time. We got to the hospital and they put me in a triage room. The nurse was my MTC teacher and it was so great to have her there! She was one of the greatest tender mercies of the whole experience. She was there for me in my life when I was going into the mission field totally unsure and under confident that I was going to do ok, an again, she was there for me when I was going into labor totally unsure and under confident. She told me that they were going to check me just to be cautious. Up to this point in my pregnancy I hadn’t been checked at all. So she put the monitors on me and then asked if I could feel any contractions. I said I couldn’t and she replied with telling me they were very consistent, every 4-5 min apart. She then checked my cervix, it was REALLY painful to be checked because she said she had to go around Max’s head that had completely dropped in order to check me. At that point I was dilated to a two and 70% effaced. Well that gave them some reason to worry but not a ton. There was talk about giving me a pill to stop labor and give me my much anticipated bed rest prescription! They gave me 4 pills, 15 min apart to stop the labor. They said it should have stopped me for at least a week or two to give Max more time to grow. Two hours later, they decided to check me again. Contractions were 3 min apart, I was dilated to a 4 and 90% effaced. My sweet nurse looked at me and said, “Carlie, you’re in labor. We’re going to admit you to a room and you are having a baby tonight!”

My first thought, “it’s not OCTOBER YET!” I then had serious issues with the whole labor thing, I was in shock! I thought of all the dumb little things I wanted to get done before this baby came. I thought about how this wasn’t supposed to be how labor went! I was supposed to be at home, with my husband in the middle of the night we were supposed to drive like crazy people to the hospital together. Instead, I called him and told him he should probably leave work now, because we were going to have a baby!

The rest of the evening went quite amazing really. I was so glad my mom was there with me for the beginning. Every girl needs her mom in moments like that. Something about moms being there make everything better! She stayed until Jeffrey came with all the things I needed from home and then she left. It was just Jeffrey and I. We walked the halls of the hospital, watched episodes of Modern Family, ate Jello and smuggled food in. We seriously just took it easy. Because Max’s head was so low I couldn’t feel the contractions. The most pain I felt was like a period cramp, nothing serious. Around 8:00 the doctor checked me and decided that she would break my water to progress things along. I was only at a 5 at this point so things were slowing down. She came in and broke my water, what a cool thing that was! For some reason I loved that part of labor. It really was so exciting. Until I had my first contraction after, holy pain! Those contractions were lasting a min, and were two min apart, so I was in crazy pain! I let myself have about 5 of those before I decided an epidural was for me. So the amazing doctor came in, did his magic with that needle and the hardest part of labor was over. I felt pain for seriously 10 min while I waited for him to come, and then it was over. I was completely calm and relaxed. I could still feel my legs, I could feel Max moving down, but I couldn’t feel the pain that went with it. Around 10:00 I was still at a 5+ do they decided to give me a little patocin. We then went to sleep and around 2:00 the nurse came in and said she wanted to check me again.
She took one look at me and said, “I don’t need to check you! His head is there, I can see it. It’s time to push!” I woke Jeffrey up and pushed once. Then the nurse said I had to wait because the doctor needed to be there to catch the baby. The doctor showed up, I pushed again, and then I had an 8 min break between contractions. Those 8 minets were some of the most memorable moments of my life. The first two pushes I had no idea what I was doing. Then as I sat there waiting with my amazing husband everything seemed to focus completely on our little son. The spirit filled the room like I can’t describe and I realized I didn’t need to focus on anything but him. At that moment it was just Max and his mom. The next contraction came as Max and I worked together to bring him into this world, I pushed. It was 2 pushes later and he was here. I pushed for literally 5-10 min and we had a son! They placed him in my arms, he put his tumb in his mouth and my heart melted, expanded, and soared. Tears came and I felt the answer to so many of my endless prayers being answered. All the heart ache of infertility was replaced with a heart full of joy in this infant in my arms.I got to hold him for just a min or two while they cleaned him off, and tried to clean out his nose to get him to breath. It became apparent that he wasn’t breathing on his own very well and they needed to take him away. My heart sunk. I wanted skin to skin time. I wanted Jeffrey to hold him, I wanted to hear him cry and see his eyes. None of that happened. They took him away and Jeffrey went with him to the NICU. He stayed in the NICU for 2 weeks where he learned to breath.

My labor experience was incredible. I love that I felt no pain. I love that I had to wake my husband up when it was time to push. I love that Max and I had our moments together before he came. I got done with the whole thing and immediately felt like I could do this again. It was amazing. For me, the hardest part of labor was the following 2 weeks of NICU time.
I will say we delivered at IMC in Murray and it was an INCREDIBLE experience being there. I LOVED loved LOVED my whole birthing experience, the nurses, the doctors, the rooms, the food, the whole experience was amazing. I would highly recommend that hospital to anyone preparing for child birth. It was so great. They handled every delicate situation with care and really made my concern their number one priority.

Ok, this is getting a bit long. The scripture that I chose to put on my missionary plaque applies so well to my experience with having Max, that I have used so many words here to try and describe the amazing experience that giving birth was, and in the end I still feel that I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.

“Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.”

Maternity Photo's

2011-10-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

I took maternity pictures with my sister-in-law, Jenny, the Saturday before Max was born. I am so glad I did, she did a great job, and I love having these as a memory of the good ole' pregnant days! I thought I'd share a few of my favorites.

The best part of the whole shoot was getting Jeffrey to come. He wasn't thrilled about the idea but my most favorite picture of the whole session is this one...
This one is my second favorite, something about that cool old piano and cowboy hat!
This one is just silly! I am pretty sure I told you we love our dog too much right?!

This is an actual shot of Max's ultrasound picture, so fun!

Thanks Jenny Sue!!!

Trick or Treat

2011-10-11T21:53:00.001-07:00

Max's only treat is breast milk, so he's going with the trick option this October. He learned a new trick and he's only a week and a half old! (Because I'm a new mom, I have every right to think my kid is above average right? I have no idea if this is even normal...)

He can hold his binki in his mouth all by himself and it's about the cutest thing I think I've ever seen! It melts my heart every time I see him do it, so I thought I'd melt your heart a little today too...

Life in the NICU

2011-10-10T18:38:00.000-07:00

I think it's important to document just what we've been up to lately, and to be honest, it's a lot of visits to the NICU! I go at least 3 times a day for several hours, isn't that what being a new mom is all about? Trips to the NICU?! So, here's a little journaling about the whole experience, sorry if it's long this is more for me than you...

It all starts when I put on this very sad badge that made me cry the first time they gave it to me. It simply says, 'NICU PARENT' on it and it's not a badge of honor or something I'm proud of. I am very grateful to have the NICU, don't get me wrong, I just didn't like putting it on the first time, and now all I want is to throw it in Max's baby book and be done with it!

I walk in and let the front desk nurses know that I'm there for the NICU, I have to walk past the opening doors of Labor and Delivery, and sometimes I'll see a mom going into labor and I smile at how exciting that is for her, and how scary it can be. Other times, I pass a dad bringing down the cart of flowers, luggage and the car seat... oh I tear up every time I see a dad bringing down a car seat, because I am so richly jealous that they get to take their baby home. I want it so bad, and I look forward to it so much I sometimes have to stop and take a few min before I can keep going.
Then I check in at the NICU front desk, I have to ring a button and wait for the receptionist to look through the window at me. The first few days they would ask on the intercom who I was, I would reply, "I'm here to see Max Barrus" and she'd let me in. Now, I ring and they just pipe in and say, "come on in!" They know me, they know I'm Max's mom. Isn't that kinda sad? I think the whole nursing staff is so great there, but being one on one with the receptionist at the NICU isn't my ideal relationship! :)

Then once in the door, I wash up. There is a sign that says no jewelry and that you must wash your hands up to your elbows for 3 min. They have these little scrub brushes that have nail cleaners in them. I take my ring off, put it in my pocket and say a little prayer I'll remember to put it back on. I'm terrified I'll forget one of these days. Most days, I try to remember to just leave it at home.

After a cleaning and scrubbing I go through the door to pod B and into his room. That's not where Max started. He's been moved 4 times. Not sure why, they just move him around. He had a roommate last week that got to go home! His roommate was a twin, and his twin sister was home, and he was in the NICU. I can't imagine how hard that must have been for that mom. When that happened, I said a prayer of gratitude that I wasn't balancing more children with Max in the NICU, that I could just spend all my time with him.
I walk into Max's room and greet the nurse as I put the milk I've pumped from the night before into the fridge. There's always a lot of milk for Max. We talk about his oxygen levels, his test results from the day before, how his eating has been going, and then I get to see my son. The whole world escapes me and everything looses it's value when it's just Max and Mom. I love this moment. I love to see him roll his eyes awake at the sound of my voice. I love seeing his heart rate on the monitor go up just a little when I touch his hand or kiss his cheek. If it's in the morning, I'll be invited to "rounds" where I get to sit in and listen to the numbers, stats, and all the things so many talented people are doing to take care of our sweet little miracle. Rounds becomes a spiritual experience for me. I am becoming more and more aware of just how much work, schooling, energy, and time is put into taking care of these little babies. I become overwhelmed and I am so grateful.

Lately, the big focus has been on Max's oxygen levels. He's been on a nasal cannula which carries 1-6 liters of oxygen per min. They started Max at 2 liters and yesterday they took him off the liters of oxygen all together at 1/4 liter of oxygen. Now he's on a slow drip of oxygen and is at 50% on that machine. He needs to be down to breathing on his own without that machine, but it's a HUGE step closer to being off. He will come home with an oxygen machine because he just can't kick the habit of that dang machine!

Max has the nasal cannula in his nose, and until today he also had a feeding tube. He ripped the feeding tube out on his own last night and the nurse decided to just keep it out and see how he does eating on his own. Smart little Max! He has 3 monitors on his chest to measure his heart rate, and his respiratory levels, and a monitor on his foot to measure his oxygen levels.I go to the NICU in the morning at 10:30, he has a feeding planned for 11:00 and rounds are usually around the time I get there. I feed Max, then sit with him until about 12:00 or 1:00. I go to lunch somewhere close, and come back to the NICU for his feeding at 2:00. I then again, sit and coo and awe at my son until his feeding at 5:00. Then I go home and eat dinner with Jeffrey and we head back to the NICU for his 8:00 feeding and we come home together around 9:00 or 10:00 at night. Nights are fun because we have family come and visit Max. Max loves his visitors. The NICU will only let 3 people in the room with Max, and one has to be a parent, so usually Jeffrey goes out and we let grandparents or siblings or friends in to see him.After everyone leaves, Jeffrey comes back in and we have a little family moment where we kiss our son, we marvel at how cute he is and how strong he's becoming and we wish him well. We tell him to be nice to the nurses and to remember that he is loved. We kiss him goodnight and I leave the NICU and walk out to the car wondering if my day will be the same the next day, or if it will end with different news, if it will end with Max's dad carrying a car seat out to our car...

Max Update

2011-10-06T07:37:00.000-07:00

I used to make fun of those moms that would blog about all kinds of great things, then they had kids and their blog turned into a mommy story time! Well, make room mommies, I'm part of that club! There really isn't anything as exciting, new, and thrilling in my life to report on except the darling little man sleeping in the NICU right now.

Max is doing well. Slow progress, but still progress. They took the IV out of his head, and they took him off the warmers, so he can wear clothes now and try to keep his body temperature up with room temp. They kept the feeding tube in his nose, and decided to let me start breast feeding. He's doing so so at that. It's a totally new thing for both of us, and it's taking some getting used to. He hasn't been able to latch on yet completely. Mostly he just gets in my arms, sucks a few times and falls asleep. Which makes me swoon over this little piece of heaven and I just melt.Home... when do we get to take him home? That's the big question, but the answer is always the same from the NICU staff, once he's healthy. I have actually had an incredible amount of patience with this, and knowing me, that is no small thing to conquer! I have the greatest love and appreciation for those nurses taking care of my son, and have every amount of trust and faith that what they are doing to help Max heal is exactly what he needs right now. So I guess you could say I'm experiencing the joys of being a parent for the first time, that simple but grand feeling of wanting so much for the little child you've been given far more than any of your own personal desires. No wonder God is so happy when we keep the commandments, He wants so much more for us and knows how to help us get there if we listen. Little Max is doing well, and will eventually come home, but it's not looking like it will be this week.

Yea for Max-a-million!

2011-10-03T21:38:00.000-07:00

Today was a GREAT day for our son! Can you see in this picture? He doesn't have the big ugly breathing tube!!!I went to the hospital this morning at 10:00 to sit in on the "rounds". In the NICU all the staff gets together in the morning to discuss each baby and what their needs are, what the goals are for the day, what the test results are and what decisions they will make based on those tests and so forth. Parents are encouraged to sit in on the round when they talk about your own baby and today I cried through the whole thing! The test results were so good, his breathing is up, his bellyrubin count is lower (no more sitting under the lights!) everything was looking better. Since the day he was born he has fought hard to get better but hasn't shown strong signs of improvement... till today! So, they decided to take him off the CPAP machine and put him on an oxygen machine and they decided to let me try to breast feed him. Both of which are really great things! They have been giving him my breast milk through a feeding tube so this is the next big goal, to get him to be able to eat. When he can eat, he's a HUGE step closer to being able to come home!Both of our parents have been AMAZING help throughout this whole birth experience. What would I do without them?! I fear I'd be a total wreck! We feel so very blessed to have Max in the best place he can be right now, and even more blessed to have such a strong support from our parents. We are so very grateful for the instant love and joy they have in seeing every step Max takes towards a very happy homecoming.

Maxwell Lincoln Barrus

2011-10-02T21:43:00.000-07:00

We had a baby on Friday morning! He was born at 2:36 am and weighed 6 pounds 7 oz. He was 21 inches long and is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen! My heart is so full, and I have so much to say here that I don't even know where to start. So, I'll just say that today we left the hospital without our new son and it was one of the hardest things I've had to do in a very long time. Max has not developed his lungs all the way and because of that he is on all kinds of things, machines, and tubes to help him develop his lungs more. It is unknown when he will be able to come home. My heart broke and I felt like I was being ripped in two as we drove away. I turned on general conference as we sat in the car and cried and you know what I heard? A talk about how important patience in the Lords will is in our lives. How the sorrow and tears of our nights are followed by the sunshine in the morning. It was hard to drive away... yes. But knowing the care and the love and the value of our son's time in the NICU are exactly what he needs. I will tell you that the last 3 days have been some of the most spiritual and uplifting of my life. I feel Gods love in our life beyond what I can explain because of this little piece of heaven that's entered into our lives. Jeffrey and I are so happy about the new addition to our family! We are praying with all our might for him to return home as soon as he can with full health, i can't wait to kiss his little cheeks and hold him without any strings attached!

Scoot and the baby part I

2011-09-27T16:00:00.000-07:00

We love our dog way too much, that's why we're having a baby. (Ok, not the only reason, but a good one!) When we love the dog too much, it's time to have a kid and get a reality check! I don't have a picture of this yet, but Scooter has taken to curling up next to my belly every night and it's the cutest little thing! It's really annoying now that I roll and toss and turn all night, but I can't be too upset, he's just bonding with his new little friend in my belly! The above picture is of Scoot in the baby bouncer, we're totally out of control right?!

Here he is, waiting for his nightly belly snuggles!

BLOGGING.... isn't it about time?!

2011-09-26T19:42:00.001-07:00

It's been almost 2 months since I've blogged! Seriously, it's really about time I updated ya'll on my life! So, prepare for a bit of a picture and story fest!

This summer was so much fun, and it's crazy to me that it's turning fall already! We spent the summer playing with family and working. We went to Bear Lake with the Barrus family and had a blast! I was an awesome flag girl, while everyone else played out in the water.Jeffrey had a lot of fun out on the skis, as well as driving the boat and knocking his little brother Sam off the tube. Glad I wasn't out on that tube!!!
We went to some cave while we were at Bear Lake, and just to make sure all those bears in the cave weren't persuaded to one team or the other, we had to sport our opposite team hoodies!
My old room mate, mission buddy, and amazing friend Jill Kruger got married! She was the most beautiful bride, and her wedding was unforgettable!
Jeffrey and I outside the Logan temple at Jills wedding.
Jeffrey's sister Jenny Sue and I decided to try and make our first fondant cake one night around 9:00. this is how it turned out! I'm way proud of our work, and feel so much more confident in tackling the world of fondant cakes again! I used the tutorials from the makeitandloveit.com cake series, if you're ever going to attempt fondant cakes, that's the place to learn!

Well, I'll post more later, but for now, that's the fun stuff! Up next... Maternity photos, pregnancy updates, new house projects, and what you've all been waiting for, pictures of our dog!

Wedding towel cake

2011-07-31T13:19:00.001-07:00

We had a group of Jeffreys high school friends over for dinner last night, it was a lot of fun and I made my moms kabobs which you can never go wrong with! Jeffreys friend Ben is getting married so we had a joint wedding and baby shower. I made this towel cake for the cute couple and I think it turned out pretty cute! (The bottom layer is bath towels, then hand towels, then wash cloths) Jeffrey has a great group of friends it was a really fantastic night!

Island Pork Salad- Amazing!

2011-07-25T19:12:00.001-07:00

My mom made this incredible salad last week and I HAD to share, it was the most perfect summer meal! It was healtht, and the meat glaze was actually easy!

(Click on the word salad for the recipe!)

Babymoon!

2011-07-19T06:18:00.000-07:00

Jeffrey and I just got back from a week long babymoon! It was G-L-O-R-I-O-U-S! Now I know I work for Mountain America Creidt Union but I must do a little shout out before I start this post because we went on this vacation for practically FREE because we used rewards from our credit card, and because Jeffery's parents were so kind enough to give us a free airplane ticket!

And while I'm on the subject, using a credit card is a GREAT thing to do if you can ONE- have the self control to pay it off every month, TWO- find one that has rewards that doesn't include an un-disclosed rate jump just for fun (like from 4% to 26% just for breathing!) and THREE- doesn't charge you an annual fee. Any questions, ask me. :)

back to the babymoon... We left Sunday and flew to San Jose, ate dinner with family in Palo Alto, Ca and then drove to Santa Cruz! We stayed in Santa Cruz for half the trip and then down to Monterey for the second half of the trip. Santa Cruz was BEAUTIFUL and sunny. I burnt the front of my legs the first day, and the back of my legs the last day! While the vacation was wonderful and much needed now, people keep telling me I'll appreciate it a lot more after our little pumpkin comes. I LOVED all the Jeffrey time I got, and it was so fun to just get away!

I know it's a lot of pictures, but here's what we did...

We drove Highway 1 along the coast, it was gorgeous!

This is "Cannery Row" in Monterey. Shops, great restaurants, and the aquarium were all along this road, which was right next to the ocean.
We spent two days at the Monterey Aquarium and LOVED it! Its quite the place full of amazing little sea animals. My favorite at the moment, the sea horses (it could be because the MEN carry the babies in this species!)
Here we are outside the aquarium, the tanks are literally right up against the ocean and they pump ocean water through the tanks daily to keep the water fresh- cool eh?
The next two are for Erin- he was cute!
Pretended that I was Ariel in the Little Mermaid at the aquarium!
We watched the sunset and did a little kissing at "loves point"
Had a date night where we mini-golfed in the dark depths of the ocean
Hiked into a national forest full of redwood trees
drank a peach margarita and strawberry daiquiri (virgin of course!) while eating pizza by the pool
Walked along the boardwalk and watched the roller coasters along the ocean
Needless to say- we had a great time!

Lampton Days

2011-07-17T18:01:00.000-07:00

We experienced one of the very best perks of moving into our neighborhood a few weeks ago. It was just like a scene from the movies of the perfect neighborhood on a summer weekend- LAMPTON DAYS! We live on a street called Lampton Road. Shooting off from Lampton there are 6 cul-de-sac circles and once a year the neighborhood gets together for a festival of their own. Activities for the day included:

-5 and 10k Run
-Breakfast (complete with crepes, fruit, bacon, sausage, orange juice, eggs, etc...)
-A PARADE! (also complete with fire trucks, police cars, old antique cars, home made floats made from peoples trailers, kids bikes decorated, and red wagons decked out!)
-Flag ceremony with the pledge of allegiance
-Snow Cones
-Volley ball and basketball tournaments
-Dancing in the street where people actually danced all night long
-a chuck wagon dinner
-fireworks that battled with something you'd see at a baseball stadium
-Popsicles all day all over the place
-water games
-kid games and contests
-a Softball tournament
-Face Painting and crafts for the kids

As you can imagine, it was a party all weekend long on our street. I cried every time I thought about how awesome it is to live in a place like this. Now granted I am pregnant and crying comes easily, but still, I felt so grateful for such great neighbors! Lampton days has been going on for over 30 years and there's a whole committee who puts it together, people kept teasing us that one day the Barrus's would have their turn, I may be crying for totally different reasons if that's the case! We love summer!

(these pictures were taken across the street from our house, and my sisters kids got to be in the parade and were really excited about it!)

Oh What do You Do in the Summertime?!

2011-07-10T17:00:00.000-07:00

Our summer has been so full of fun I haven't even had time to blog! Ok, so I've had the time, just haven't felt like it. Having my sister here with her kids was way more fun than we thought it would be and it literally broke my heart to see them go. They are up in Alakska now and I miss them more than ever. Having those 4 children in our home brought a spirit to our house that is noticeably gone now that they aren't here. I have gained a stronger desire to be a good mom and feel like I learned a TON from my sister while she was here. I have a lot to live up to! I caught some sweet moments with the kids, Colin eating watermelon Porter and Scooter became very good friends very quickly. Whenever there was a meal Scooter was at Porters side, and this is why- the kid would feed Scooter which NEVER happens at our house at the dinner table. Our dog is not allowed human food, except a carrot occasionally. But because Porter and Scooter are so cute, they both got away with it!
We had my whole extended family over and while the adults were upstairs visiting, all the kids came downstairs to enjoy a little movie time with Buzz and Woody. This picture makes me so very grateful for our house! We love having the room to have so much family over and to enjoy moments like this, with kids everywhere!We went to a demolition derby with friends in Bluffdale and it was a riot! I could watch those cars crash into each other for hours, and we did, and it was great!

Our Independence day (weekend) was a lot of fun! We spent so much time with family and loved it. We are very lucky to be so close to family! We went up to Eaglewood Golf Course on Saturday night with my brother and sister-in-law and their son Carter and had a blast watching those fireworks. Hands down the best firework show I think I've ever seen, we'll be back there again for sure! Jeffrey's boss jumped into the golf course, literally, he was the sky diver who jumped out of a helicopter so the idea was to go watch him jump, but we didn't quite make it in time- sorry!
We went to a BBQ in Provo with Jeffreys extended family and had a great time swimming and playing with them. I married into a fantastic family- I'm a lucky girl for sure!
But now we're off, to the great beaches of Santa Cruz and Monterey California for a week where we will be on our BABYMOON!!! I'm excited beyond words about this trip! Just a few of the things we have to look forward to- whale watching, having a a romantic picnic on the beach, a couples massage with sparkling cider in our room, a tandem bike ride along the boardwalk, reading a book by the pool, snuggling in the sand. we're going to have a much needed relaxing, romantic week and needless to say, I can't wait!

And just for Camille, here's a recent Belly photo to keep you happy till the next post... (p.s. I just hit 24 weeks, which is so happy- because we have a viable baby! Now I am starting to realize this very active little guy thats growing inside of me is going to have to come out somehow!)

Jason and Cody

2011-07-09T17:33:00.000-07:00

Jeffrey lived with several guys at BYU before we got married, two of which have become some of our very best friends. Here's a picture of them winning the entire bowling league championship of BYU!! When we first got married, Jason and Cody just envied Jeffrey at the idea of actually going home with a girl and not having to date anymore! Then after we were married for a while and living in Provo we would double date with Jason and Cody. When I say double date, I mean it would be Jeffrey, Carlie, Jason and Cody. No other girls. We spent quite a bit of time praying for these two boys to find the perfect match and it finally happened! Cody found Joanna first and we couldn't have been happier. Cody and Jason would call me asking me questions about proposing, dating, all the fun things I love! After Cody got married, Jason was left in the dark, his two best friends were married and he was all alone! (poor guy!) and then came Amy. Also an amazing catch for Jason. My favorite part about both of these women, I think they are great and I love getting to know them so it makes our little trio of couples that much better! Cody has a cabin up Ogden canyon that we have gone to several times to play at. We ride snowmobiles, 4 wheelers, make yummy food, and play a lot of KILLER BUNNIES. Jason and Amy recently left us for the world of higher education in Arizona and we're devastated, but will see them again some day. Before they left we went camping to have a last bowling, bunnies, roommate fix and it was a blast! I am grateful for good friends to play with. My favorite part about Jason and Cody- they bring out a side of Jeffrey no one else in the world can do, and I absolutely love that side of Jeffrey when he's being crazy with these two guys!

Visitors

2011-06-08T21:31:00.001-07:00

My sister and her family sold their house early in Missouri, and they are moving to Alaska so they were going to be homeless for 7 weeks- not any more! We have visitors for 7 weeks at our house! We were nervous at first about having 4 kids all of a sudden moving in, but turns out WE LOVE IT!!!

My nephew Porter who is 17 months has fallen in love with our dog. They are best buds, and Scoot is right there with him in the relationship. They have discovered their best time spent together is at the table, where Porter takes his food and shares it willingly with a darling little puppy at his side.

The other kids continue to find ways to introduce us into what we're getting into, today I came home from work and my nephew Colin was in the bathroom watching his fish swim in the sink. And when I say fish, I mean gold fish crackers! Colin LOVES his uncle Kreffkrey and wont let me alone until I tell him where Jeffrey is, when he'll be back, why he's gone, etc...

There have been TONS of great moments and we are so excited they are here! We'll be sad when they leave at the end of June and are hoping they'll move in for good!

Nesting

2011-05-31T21:30:00.001-07:00

The first of many nesting posts I am sure! I hated our mailbox, I felt like its an eye sore to the whole street! So we bought a new one Monday and I finished the name placement with vinyl tonight- I think it looks much better!

Its a BOY!!!

2011-05-30T16:09:00.001-07:00

We went in for our ultrasound Friday morning and had a blast! Our little man was bouncing all over the place for 45 min with his legs shut! I was so grateful for a patient tech who didn't tell me to come back latter she just kept trying! However long it took I was loving every moment and glimpse I got of our son! I saw his little fingers and toes, his darling face and super smart brain ( he gets that from his dad!) We saw his cuddly side and his bouncing happy side. I can't wait to get to know this little man!

Baby Talmage!

2011-05-24T20:58:00.001-07:00

We have a new nephew!!!His name is Talmage Jones High. He was born to my brother Kimball and his wife Erica on April 25th and we couldn't be more happy for them. He is the most darling little thing, and he just takes my breath away! Perhaps it's because I have a little bean cooking in the oven but I am pretty sure they just make really cute babies! I love this stage in life when our families are growing, cousins are being introduced, and the plan of HAPPINESS is working in all its full indented purposes. I am grateful for the tears that I experience in seeing my brothers become dads and the men that they have turned out to be, and even more grateful that they married such great women.Happy Birthday Talmage- we love you!!!

Happy Easter!

2011-05-18T19:43:00.000-07:00

We had a GREAT Easter! For 2 reasons, the first, it was our 2 year wedding anniversary and second because Easter is one of my favorite holidays. I love that Easter comes every spring and is a reminder of how life can be renewed. I know that Christ died for us, and I know that we will be with our families forever if we follow Him. Easter reminds me of this and helps me to feel that renewal each year.
Our wedding anniversary was pretty uneventful because it was on Easter Sunday. We celebrated a week later and are really just spent time together, which is my favorite thing to do! He bought me some sparkly earrings and wrote me love notes, I am a lucky girl!

The Saturday before Easter Sunday we invited our nephews to the South Jordan City Easter egg hunt. It started at 9:00 and by 9:03 people were leaving because it was over! There were so many people there and so over crowded, it just wasn't what we were expecting. So we had everyone over to our house for breakfast and their own egg hunt. We are so lucky to have most of our family so close and had a blast hunting for eggs and playing in our crazy back yard.
I love this picture of the boys, it's very difficult to get boys full of baskets filled with candy to look up and smile!
Kayla Sue and her first egg hunt!

Noah would find an egg, pick it up, open it and put the candy in his basket and then inspect it to make sure everything was ok, then he'd go for the next egg. Poor kid didn't get as many eggs- but I think he did pretty well!

The boys are all ready to run!!!
Andrea, Carter and Nate- Carter is so happy despite his lack of candy at the south jordan hunt.
Kimball, Erica, Benson, Andrew and Baby Talmage (in the tummy still) I love this picture of them, so cute !

The most handsome birthday boy!

2011-05-17T19:22:00.000-07:00

Jeffery's birthday was April 5th. To celebrate we had friends and family gather for some roller skating and pizza at classic skating. We had a blast, and Jeffrey got to show off his amazing skating skills. One of the things I love about Jeffrey is his crazy talents besides knowing the insides and outsides of how computers work. He can roller skate like an champion, he does yo-yo tricks I've never seen anyone do, he flies trick kites, and rides a unicycle- perhaps after I look at this list I think my husband should be a circus performer! Anyway, we were so glad so many friends and family came out to support him, Jeffrey had a blast, and it was fun to celebrate his 25 mark! All through his 24h year he graduated from college, moved out of state, moved back to Utah, took a major job, bought a house, battled infertility and won, and has made me laugh every day of that year. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to be married to Jeffrey- and feel like he is worth celebrating!

Pregnancy Stories...

2011-04-16T13:12:00.000-07:00

I’ve had some funny experiences while being pregnant so far and I don’t want to forget them, so I’ll blog about it! I am warning you, this is mostly about throwing up, so if you have a weak stomach, don’t read on!

I’ve been pretty sick from 5 weeks to date. I throw up at least 1-3 times a day. It makes for a pleasant work day! I’ve actually been like clock work every morning at work I go into the back room for about 20 min to toss my cookies and rest from the experience at about 10:00 every morning. I count my lucky stars that I have such a great boss and team to work with, they are incredibly understanding, and have taken to laughing when they see me take those initial steps to the back room. I am also grateful that I have not thrown up in front of a member sitting at my desk. That would be really embarrassing!

One of the biggest triggers for such a weak stomach for me has been smells. If I don’t like the smell, I loose whatever it was that I last ate instantly! When I was about 8 weeks Jeffrey made popcorn and burnt it. The moment he pulled it out of the microwave, I lost it. Literally, leaning over the sink watching my dinner go down the drain. I then told him how terrible it smelled and left to go into our room to get away from the smell. Not more than 30 seconds later, he came walking in with his bowl full of burnt popcorn and plopped himself right next to me on our bed and proceeded to eat his popcorn! Seriously!? After a second round of loosing my dinner, and a small chastisement from his wife asking him to eat that darn popcorn in a different room he walked out with his head hanging feeling so bad that all he really wanted was to be by his wife while she was feeling sick (he forgot the origin of the sickness I think!) when he was done with his popcorn he came back into our room and went to kiss me with that burnt popcorn breath- to which I held it together enough to tell him to go brush his teeth. The adjustment for Jeffrey hasn’t been quite the same I think!

Now that I’ve told you about the crazy popcorn story with Jeffrey I should probably defend him a little bit and throw out a shout out to what an amazing support he’s been to me. last week I was put on some kind of rest where it’s not quite bed rest, but it’s close. No lifting, no exercising, nothing too strenuous while things are a little bit more delicate with the growth of the baby. Jeffrey has done EVERYTHING for me, and is so patient with me throughout this process. He cleans the house, does the dishes, cooks dinner with me, snuggles with me and watches movies and TV all night, and just does all he can to be a support. I am so grateful for the man I married, he is going to be a great dad.

One of the tender mercies through all this sickness has been our cute little puppy. I know- I’m a nerd for blogging about my dog- but it’s true! When I’m at home and sick, every time Scooter will follow me into our bathroom and curl up next to me to keep me company until I’m done throwing up. It really is so cute. No one likes hearing, smelling, or seeing someone else throw up, so the idea that I have this sweet little dog around has made it a little better. I wouldn’t say I look forward to those special moments I get with the Scoot, but they are fun, and help me know we’ve got a great little family member now, and one on the way!

THE BEAN!!!

2011-04-03T20:39:00.000-07:00

Infertility isn't really something I would wish upon anyone. It's a terrible word to hear, to talk about, and worse to experience first hand. I unfortunately know way more than I would like to know about "swimmer" count, shape, how they swim, etc... I know more than I'd like to about what day of my cycle I'm on, what pills I need to take on certain days, and what tests I need to have done at certain times. The energy Jeffrey and I have put into infertility alone is overwhelming and I wont even go into the expense, because every penny is worth it. I stopped blogging a little while ago for the most part because I couldn't stand reading one more post about how happy my friends are with their kids. I have been trying to ignore the feeling that God simply doesn't trust me with his spirits. Selfish, I know- but that's what its like going through infertility. I am incredibly happy for my friends and for the darling children that are in each of your lives, but I just needed a break. There is an article in this months ensign about infertility and the gospel and I sobbed the whole way through it because every word is TRUE. If you know someone who is facing this particular trial, this article will help you know how to help them. A few months ago my sister-in-law sent me a text that simply said, "this week we are fasting for you and your family, we love you." It was quite possibly the most comforting thing I've felt from someone in a while because she wasn't trying to tell me what test works, what I was wasting my money one, what they heard from their friends who had infertility problems, etc... she was telling me she cared enough to keep us in her prayers. That is how you help someone going through this trial. Unfortunately is is not fair, and so difficult to hide your joy in parenting, you shouldn't have to hold your joy back, no one should.

Well today, I am happy to announce that the people up at the University of Utah reproductive center know what they are doing because this lady is WITH CHILD! I am PREGNANT! I can't wipe the smile off my face, Jeffrey has described a scene of walking into the bathroom with me on the floor, throwing up with a huge smile on my face. I couldn't be happier about being sick, tired, gaining weight, etc.. all of it. We heard the heartbeat a month ago and we went in for a second ultrasound on Friday and saw it's little fingers and toes- I really wish I knew how to find the words to express what kind of gratitude I feel for the miracle growing inside of me. I can tell you that I know God is aware of each of His children. I know the priesthood is a restored power on the earth today.

I am richly jealous of women who can look at their husbands and get pregnant, but I look back on this experience of infertility with much to be grateful for, and much to have learned. My time with Jeffrey without children was prolonged and I can't complain about that, I am madly in love with this incredible man that I married and spending time with just the two of us has been a choice blessing in my life. I have learned to appreciate the downsides of pregnancy, and I'm not even huge yet! It hasn't been easy, but because of my experiences, I find I am grateful for all the little bumps, because this is exactly what I've been praying for.

So, October 28th is my due date, I'm 10 weeks along, and about as chipper and happy as anyone you'll ever meet- because I feel I've been blessed with something incredible, nothing short of a heavenly miracle.

snowshoeing

2011-03-26T18:13:00.001-07:00

We went snowshoeing today through Millcreek canyon and it was so great to be outside! Jeffrey first kissed me when we were hiking in the snowy mountains and it was fun to think back about that today. I love that he still takes the time to date me- I also live that I still get butterflies when we kiss. Life is great! I am one happy girl.

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Nephews and Nieces

2011-03-03T18:12:00.000-08:00

We have a family full of incredible children. Over the past few months I've taken a few pictures that I thought I'd post. My darling Niece Lexie and I are snuggling in this picture, my heart is torn when I see this because I just found out they are moving to Anchorage Alaska for the next three years for their military pay back time from medical school! I'm going to miss them like crazy, and my sweetest little Lexie will be so far away. I'll have to work a little harder to help her remember who her favorite aunt is!Andrew is turning into the family clown. He is always making people laugh and this is no shock to me because his dad, my brother Kimball was the same way. I remember most family occasions were filled with some kind of comic relief or ending with the family in stitches because of Kimball. It turns out Andrew has the same talent. Recently it's been his playing with Scooter. He has found that he can grab one end of scooters toys and run with scooter on the other end and play tug-a-war. This is all fun and games to everyone except Andrew and Scooter. Both are very serious about making sure the other doesn't get that toy!Carter and Andrew are very similar in ages. They often crawl down from dinner together and will play in the kitchen at my parents house or find something fun. I do love this photo of their studly looking crossed arms. I love these boys and these faces more and more every time I see them!Baby Kala Sue is growing and turning out as darling as ever! I love the little head band in this picture- she's so perfect and calm!Noah likes to wrestle when Jeffrey takes his 16 year old brother down almost every time we get together with the Barrus Family.

Needless to say, I love this group of children and am so blessed to have the great blessing of being their aunt!

4 Years from Mo Town

2011-02-28T21:11:00.002-08:00

Four Years ago today I returned home from my mission. That year and a half taught me more about life than any other experience could have. I learned the value of work, the essential principle of obedience, the power of service, of keeping a strong relationship with God. I learned when life is hard there is always a way to get through it. I learned the more we know about Jesus Christ and His Atonement the more we understand what true love is, what it's like to understand what people go through, and what it's like to feel the effects of something you cant see, to believe. I loved my mission with all my heart and then some. I'm guessing if you talked to my mission president and said what do you remember about Sister High, he would say she "LOVED BEING A MISSIONARY" That's because I let him know on a weekly basis just how blessed I felt to be part of the Lords work. I learned from my companions and the people of Detroit how to serve, to love, and to live. I learned what kind of person I was capable of being. Often times I measure who I am now to who I was then and I long for those days. Don't get me wrong, I love my life, I just miss the bright attitude, the over abundance of the spirit, the 2 hours I had to study the scriptures, etc... People think serving a mission is a hard thing but I'll be honest, despite the hard, there was so much good. I spent every day laughing with the incredible women I served with. I spent every day and the mercy of receiving answers to prayers for the people I taught. I loved that about the mission, receiving answers to prayers so quickly, so clearly and so frequently. When you are serving God and asking for help on behalf of His children, I believe it's His policy to ship the answers a little quicker and clearer than when it's on our own behalf.I came home with my sweet companion Suzie Sullivan. I called her Soul. That's because the little black kids in Detroit called her Soul. I served with here 3 different times for a total of 9 months. I love that girl. She put up with so much being stuck with me for 9 moths, but oh did I love being her companion!

So here's to you Detroit- I miss that name tag but without it I'm trying so hard to keep some of the goodness up, I'm making imperfect attempts to keep all those promises I made when I came home. Yet, despite the inconsistencies and the trials that have come since I've been home, I must say today I feel so very grateful for the blessing it was to be a missionary for the Lord. Four years ago this day my heart shattered as I took off that tag, and little did I know just how much my life would be blessed because of the year and half I spent in the blessed city of Detroit, Michigan. Two years later, I ran into Elder Barrus at a mission reunion and now the blessings of serving a mission have reached far beyond any earthly experience. Four years ago today... wow time flies and I have so much to be grateful for.(See us in the top right corner? That's where it all began folks! )

4

2011-02-28T21:11:00.001-08:00

My Freezer Freezeth Over

2011-02-26T08:48:00.001-08:00

So with the arrival of a new house came the arrival of a very empty freezer. I decided I wanted to go all out and who better to go all out with than my mother. She is the person I look at when I want to get something done right, and done in the masses. She is able to accomplish so many things and it seems like she always does this with the most incredible talent. Cooking is one of those things she does very best. Cheesy as it sounds, I can literally taste the love in her food! When members asked me on my mission what my favorite food was my reply was, "anything my mom makes!" (one member then found out my moms number and called her and got a recipe for an incredible chocolate pie, despite the cuteness and kindness of the gesture, it only confirmed that really when my mom cooks, she somehow adds a little bit of love into every meal, it just didn't taste the same as her pie!)

This tangent has gone on too long, so here's the real story- we made 55 that's right FIFTY FIVE meals in one day. Here is the list of meals, and the picture to prove it!

*Spaghetti
*Lasagna
*Mexican Meat
*Meat Balls
*Apricot Chicken
*Chicken ala King
and
*Beef Stroganoff

A Few of My Favorite Things

2011-02-24T18:32:00.000-08:00

Ok so I haven't blogged in FOREVER but I just haven't felt like it. so there. :) I'm pretty sure no one missed this random rambling lady anyway. So if you haven't heard enough, we moved in and we LOVE our new house! We have all but some seasonal boxes unpacked, and most pictures are on the walls. Now I need to finally order those load of pictures from Barrus Photography to fill up some other walls! So there have been a few requests for a little blog post with our house, after I mentioned that I already put pictures up, the reply was, "but they didn't have your crap in them" so without further adieu- here's our house with our crap in it. I'd like to share with you a few of my favorite things:
Eating dinner with the whole family fitting our our table. The kids could run around like crazy, play in the basement, and well it was wonderful.
The family room. The floor is covered with all the pictures that are now on the walls, but I do love how bright the windows are, how the windows are at ground level and how there was this built in bookshelf/entertainment area!
The mud room. This picture is taken from the door that enters the garage. I love our mud room! to the right you can hardly see the corner of the washer, the room will one day be a great spot for lockers and sports equipment for our kids.
The un-finished room. The basement has 3 bedrooms, one of which is not finished. I am quite happy about this, currently it houses the free tub, and all our moving boxes, it's just nice to have a place to store thing that I don't want to go in the garage.
My sewing room! Can you see the built in shelf to the left, perfect for all my sewing supplies! It's bright and sunny, and I really like the moldings around the room.
The kitchen! You can't see it much, but straight through those windows is a beautiful view of the eastern mountains. I love the kitchen. I love the lighting, the counters, the cabinets, I could go on and on about how much I love this room!
The family room. Scooter has his spot back on the back of the couch again. (He did this in Idaho and it was his most favorite place in the world) This room isn't finished. I feel like it really needs some help, but I'll get that figured out eventually. I love how open and spacious this area is, how tall the ceilings are, and the windows all along the wall make the room so bright and happy.

If you want to see the house for real- the invitation is there, come visit, anytime!

Great News!!!

2011-02-03T22:37:00.000-08:00

We bought a house Tuesday!
We got the key today!
We tear the chimney off the roof tomorrow! (long story)
We move in Saturday!

We are WAY EXCITED!!!

We couldn't have done this whole process without Jona, who is Jeffrey's sisters husband (aka, our brother in law) He was the most amazing Realtor and we are incredibly grateful for all he did for us. What a huge learning experience the whole house buying process was! If you're buying in Utah- give me a call- I'll share my education with you for free. :) We have so much to be grateful for, and we feel so blessed that we can be moving into this beautiful home in a great neighborhood together. Today I notarized some documents for a couple who was having to foreclose on their home and I realized then just how blessed we are. So, I feel somewhat like it's due that I acknowledge that there was definitely some heavenly guidance and direction in the house buying process and I am so grateful for yet another experience to help me know that there is a loving Heavenly Father who knows each of us so very well. I can't imagine what life would be like without that knowledge.

happy day!

Apricot Chicken- a delicious freezer meal!

2011-01-24T14:32:00.000-08:00

so I made a menu this week and tonight, Apricot Chicken! This is an awesome recipe to freeze (without the rice) and use on a night you don't want to cook! To add a healthy spin, use brown rice and sugar-less jam.

1 pkg onion soup mix

1 8oz bottle Russian dressing

10 oz apricot preserves

2.5 lbs boneless chicken (breasts, thighs, tenders - whatever)

Cooked sticky rice

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease a 9x13 casserole dish or I use a pyrex glass bowl so the chicken cooks in the sauce more. Dump soup mix, dressing, and preserves into bowl. Whisk together well. Add chicken (I recommend cutting the breasts into smaller {tender size} pieces). Stir to coat the chicken. Cover with foil. Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken pieces). Serve over a bed of sticky (sushi) rice.

** This is delicious. Perfect sweet and savory. WAY better than any sweet and sour chicken I've ever had ... and tons healthier! Enjoy.

Thanks Martin Luther King Jr.

2011-01-17T17:00:00.000-08:00

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I am grateful for that man for many reasons, the first being his incredible amount of courage and faith in the American People to be a better people as a whole. The second, because I get the day off every year! This year I "held Jeffrey hostage" (that's how he put it to his boss when he didn't show up to work!) and we spent the whole day together just being together. I love days like this. It helps me remember that I really did marry the very best man for me. I think about that all the time but days like today just solidify that for me. And to prove it, here's a picture:

We slept in, watched a movie, went shopping in Park City, played at Nickle Cade where we came out like bandits (can you see all the candy in our hands?! that's 302 tickets worth!!) and ate sticky fingers at Wingers till our bellies popped! MLKjr Day was exactly what I needed- thanks buddy!

Last weekend we played with our good friends Sterling and Hayley- I love spur of the moment date nights especially with these guys. There's a great success story behind this one too! For the last year or TWO we've been asking Sterling to go ice skating with us, Jeffrey and I love ice skating- we look like we belong in the Olympics when we're skating together- (not like the awkward couple behind us who was apparently on a first date!) really... Sterling kept saying things like, "is someone going to attack me on the ice?" or "do you think the blade could slice my arm off?" after much convincing we got him to go and you know what happened? He stepped out on that ice and took off like a champion while yelling loud enough for anyone on the rink to hear, "Hey! I can do this!" p.s. small house update- Jeffrey went to do some measurements for blinds on Saturday and one of the bedrooms in the basement was flooded a bit- so that's good news and bad news. The bad- that our basement is semi-flooded. The good news- it's not OUR basement YET so we don't have to pay for it to be fixed and perfect before we move in!

House Update

2011-01-08T15:26:00.000-08:00

The offer has been accepted
We put an offer down on this home two months ago and we lost to some other person, and because we're lucky, they backed out and I found out an hour after they backed out, and put an offer in so fast no one else even knew it was back on the market.

The house is officially under contract
It took 4 days and the contracts were signed, the house is ours if we could get approved for the financing! That came through and happy days, we're on our way!

We are approved on our loan,
The home qualifies for something called the home-path program, because it's worth so much more than what we're paying for it we will not have to pay mortgage insurance which saves us about 200.00 a month in our payment!

We will be closing in the next week and a half!
We went to the church last week of the new ward and people were so nice! One of the guys pulled Jeffrey aside after EQ and told him that the house was designed to be very energy efficient. There are no windows on the east/north side of the house so that the way the sun falls in the summer and winter the home will be able to save heat and cool down on it's own.

We think the front of the house is pretty ugly but I guess now that I know why I feel a little better about it. Eventually, we'll build a porch around the front of the house and then I think it wont be so ugly. We are so excited to be home owners and to be living in such a great neighborhood. More pictures to come when we move and are all settled.

This is the family room upstairs with the windows facing south. The whole upstairs is hardwood floors.
Here's the kitchen. It's "L" shaped and has lots for cabinet space and granite counter tops.
Here's the master bath- remember my story about getting a new tub for free? Well now you can see why I wanted a bigger tub! This room has two sinks, you can see the one on the left and there's one on the right too- this is Jeffrey's favorite part about the whole house!

a WHIRL of a deal!

2010-12-28T11:55:00.000-08:00

So I might be jumping the gun a little here, but the house that we are now OFFICIALLY under contract on has a beautiful and large master bathroom with a very small tub. I dream one day of owning a big beautiful tub that I can just soak and relax in. So obviously this isn’t going to be something we’ll get right off the bat- it’s a totally luxury and not something I’m willing to go into debt for! So randomly yesterday I thought I’d look on KSL for who knows what sometimes it’s just fun to look right? Well I stumbled apon the free section and realized I didn’t know that existed. So I clicked on it and there it was, a double wide, working- jetted whirlpool bath tub –FOR FREE! I called the guy, he just so happened to live in South Jordan where our new home will be and he just remodeled his bathroom and the new tub wouldn't fit! So with some help from Jeffrey’s mom who verified that it was indeed a very nice tub, and Jeffrey’s brother Sam, who took the thing up to our storage unit for us, I now have the tub I dream of. I hope I haven’t jinxed myself now with the house purchase. I’m really excited about getting a really nice tub for nothing! I’ll put pictures up when it’s installed. (that might not be for a little while…)

Cute Temporary Stockings!

2010-12-24T13:00:00.000-08:00

We aren't living in a permanent situation right now, and our family is still too young to make stockings that will be cute and that I want to last forever so this year I bought 3 stockings at the dollar store and decided to make my own temporary stockings. I ironed on the fusible interfacing to the fabric and then cut the names out on the cricut and ironed them on. This took me all of 30 min from start to finish and I'm so glad I have something temporary and cute!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

2010-12-23T20:00:00.000-08:00

In the middle of November my mom flew my sister out from Missouri and all the girls in the family went to "Time out for Women", a conference put on by Deseret Book designed to uplift and edify women, mothers, wife's, sisters and friends. As you can imagine, the spirit in the room was incredible with over 4000 women. The theme was infinite hope and each speaker and musician filled my spirits with that hope and a renewed spirit. The whole experience was EXACTLY what I needed and I can't even express how grateful I am for the blessing it was to have my family next to me through it all.
I've also been able to play a few times over the last month with my amazing and crazy girlfriends. I can't get enough of these girls we're all so different! We went to the Pie by the U of U for my birthday- we've been going to that place for a very long time and I am so grateful that even though we're single, married, mothers or and life has totally changed for us, some things never change!

yea!!!

2010-12-20T19:52:00.000-08:00

I have a bout of great news today:So usually I'm pretty stubborn about wanting a white Christmas this year however, my sister Emily and her family have decided to make a last min trip to Utah from Missouri for Christmas if it doesn't snow. So this year I'm making an exception- I really hopeit doesn't snow so they can drive safely all the way to Utah, and then as soon as they get here- I hope it snows like crazy! (this will be the first time in the 7 years she has been married that they will be HOME for Christmas- I CAN'T WAIT!!!)

We found a house we LOVED last month and it was between us an another buyer and the other buyer got it. We really were so sad but I felt abnormally patient for my nature and it paid off! the sell fell through for the other buyers on Friday and we threw our offer down on the table as fast as we could and we now have an accepted offer on a beautiful home in South Jordan- we couldn't be more excited about it! I'll update more when it's official...

I am ridiculously in love with Jeffrey and count my lucky stars that I ended up with this man! He is so good to me, and really is my best friend. Every day with Jeffrey makes life so much better. I'm just saying I'm very happy to be married to that man!

Killer

2010-12-15T19:59:00.000-08:00

Last night we were playing games at Jeffrey's parents house when I heard scooter outside barking/yelping in a weird way. Jeffrey went to go check on him and he came in with Scooter in his hands all covered in blood! I mean he had a huge red patch of blood under his ear, and all scattered over the rest of him! I immediately freaked out (just a mini freak out, this is a toy poodle after all) and was very concerned that some neighborhood dog got a hold of this sweet little innocent fluffy white ball of goodness. So we took him to the shower to wash him off and see where he was hurt. He was so calm during the whole thing, only to find out, he wasn't bleeding- it was blood from something else! I then looked at Scooter- this sweet little innocent fluffy white ball of goodness- to see the look he had on his face was simply, "you should have see the other guy!"

his new nick name is Killer.

I guess he got a hold of a vole- ever heard of that? I hadn't! so here's a picture! :)

Oh Christmas Tree!

2010-12-06T21:40:00.001-08:00

My brother Kimball and his wife Erica have been running a Christmas tree lot since Thanksgiving. I'm so proud of how hard they have worked and today Kimball was on the news! I can't get over how cute Kimball is and what a great job he did! I'd buy a tree from him even if he wasn't my brother!

So.... if you don't have your tree, or you know anyone that wants a great tree- please pick it up from his lot, you wont regret it!

(112th South and State just South of Costco)

ksl.com - Finding the right Christmas tree

A Short Birthday Trip... VEGAS!

2010-11-16T21:39:00.001-08:00

We had a great weekend, that was WAY too short in Vegas. We left work Friday night and drove down to see one of my dearest friends, Erin. It was so great to see her and to be able to catch up face to face. We also got to spend time with grandma Ardene. She's so great, I miss seeing her around often. It was a whirl of a weekend and we really made the most of it! We spent Saturday morning with Grandma, Saturday afternoon and evening playing with the Oldfields and then we had to turn around and come home! We stopped in St. George to see Jeffrey's grandparents and my good friend Laura who just had the most adorable twins, and moved into an incredible house! I felt so lucky to spend a few min holding one of those sweet babies and seeing her fun new house! We then stopped in Cedar City to see Ryan, Jeffreys brother. Then it was a scary drive through a winter blizzard and safely home Sunday night. We have way too many people we wanted to see and I wish we would have had more time to visit. Perhaps we'll go when we have a long weekend. This was Jeffrey's first trip to Vegas and we had a blast just getting away and being together. I am so lucky to have such a great family and amazing friends- no matter where they live!p.s... did you see? I GOT MY BRACES OFF!!! Eating is so much fun now!!!

The Deal Pickle at LAST!!!

2010-11-10T19:15:00.000-08:00

http://dealpickle.com

Here's a short story- once upon a time we got married. The end. Just kidding we've only just begun!

Right after we got married Jeffrey found a job with a start up website called Deal Pickle. Deal Pickle was around a few years ago, it did really well so a fantastic guy named Beau (Jeffrey's boss) decided to shut it down, write it to be way better and to be able to handle a national audience and launch it again. Beau and Jeffrey started out with a team of 10 computer programmers and it's ended up a year and a half later to be just Beau and Jeffrey. They work so well together and have so much excitement for this website. Every big decision in our marriage thus far has involved Deal Pickle because we believe in the business and want it to work out. The reason we moved to Idaho was to bite time before Deal Pickle was ready for Jeffrey. The reason we moved back to Utah was because Deal Pickle was ready for us. They offered Jeffrey a full time position and a partnership- we couldn't pass that up.

So today, I am proud to present to you a message I've been waiting so very patiently to write... (well if you know me that's a little bit of a white lie, I'm pretty sure I don't do anything patiently but I'd like to think I can!)

DEAL PICKLE IS HERE!!! So please, take the time to check it out, relish in the good deals and tell your friends. :)

I am the luckiest!

What's Next?

2010-11-05T09:15:00.001-07:00

I haven't been posting things lately because it seems that life has put itself on hold. I also have been through my own personal set of struggles. I would like to blame a large portion of the hard times on the medicine that is messing with my hormones in a major way, but the truth of it comes down to sometimes life just gets hard and have you ever noticed, when one hard thing happens, a lot of hard things happen at the same time? You wouldn’t believe me if I told you the list I’ve conjured up in my mind of my ailments. This is part of the problem. One small experience stemmed a very large internal battle where I found myself constantly thinking of all the things I don’t have in life and all the things that make my life so hard. Now I hope you’re reading this thinking “that’s not like Carlie at all, she’s always so positive!” but lets face it, I don’t feel very positive.

That’s the reason for this post. I need to get it out there and really express how my life has changed for the better in the past few days- and start to be positive – and patient! I think it hit something close to emotional rock bottom and I decided I didn’t know if God was really aware of me at all. It hurt me to think that he would forget about one of His children in their time of need. I was wrong. So very wrong. God is aware of His children even when we aren’t as aware of Him. He loves us so very much! I changed some small and simple things in my day to day life and it’s made all the difference in my outlook on life. For example, Jeffrey has been listening to general conference talks on his way to work every morning for some time now, so I took his example and started doing the same thing. I realized how much God loves His children through the mouths of the prophets. I have felt like God is speaking directly to me as I’ve gone back and listened to those talks.

So what’s next? I think that question is part of the problem. I love planning and goal setting. I love setting my sights on something and then working towards that goal. But I think I’ve been a little extreme in doing something I think most women do, we look forward to something so much that we tend to forget how great the journey is in getting there. In jr. high- all I wanted was to be in high school. In high school- just couldn’t wait to drive- then I couldn’t wait to graduate. In college I think from the first day I paid tuition I couldn’t wait till I would be done. When I was single- I couldn’t wait till I didn’t have to go on a first date because I’d found the one. And in marriage- I can’t wait till we find the house, make the babies, and I get to stay at home with those kids. But let’s be honest, in life how many times has the things I’ve wanted not worked out and something far grater happened in the process? My mission is a PERFECT example of that. I LOVED my mission more than anything else I’ve ever experienced (ok it might be tied with marriage- that’s pretty fantastic also!) My mission changed my life in every regard and aspect. A mission was not part of MY PLAN- and I’m so glad that God loved me enough to help me know what His plan was instead. I’m so glad I listened! Looking back- life was so hard the year before my mission. That was another time I hit spiritual and emotional rock bottom and look how much that experience changed my life for the good! So instead of looking ahead and thinking, “I can’t wait for this trial to be over so I can experience all the joy from it” I will focus on what blessings I have now- I’m going to work on taking in life like stopping to take a deep breath and enjoying the small simple beautiful things that happen every day. I think it will make the “waiting game” a lot easier, and will help me to be happy despite what happens in the future.

Dads are so great!

2010-10-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

My dad is awesome. I have gone through my camera recently and noticed a few great things I've been able to catch.

#1- He is particularly awesome at packing. He gets so excited about buying straps you'd think he was a kid in the candy store when you talk to him about moving straps. Bags seem to have the same effect. He's so cute when he organizes them by size and use, never by color because well, he's color blind. The above video is of my dad using some new straps he got just for our move. I made fun of him for getting them, and laughed the whole way through the first move, but I will be honest they were really useful!
#2 - My dad is the greatest grandpa! I love seeing him play with the nieces and nephews and crawling around on the floor with them. He even plays with our little scooter like he was one of the grand kids. (Scooter has done quite a big of compensating for our lake of children, this is just one of those ways- we love him!) Last week one kid was on dads back, then another, and then another. It was so darling watching them all play together! You really can't fake that joy on all 4 boys faces!
#3 - My dad is a truck driving, flashing lights talking professional. He drove a very loud and uncomfortable truck from Idaho Falls to Salt Lake for us when we moved. I was terrified to drive that truck, but when I asked my dad, he lit up and said he'd love to. Do you know that truckers talk with their lights? well they do, and I'm proud to say my dad knows how to talk with the best of them!I love you dad, thanks for being so great!

So GRATEFUL!!!!

2010-10-14T08:24:00.001-07:00

I have so much to be grateful for today! Perhaps this is in preparation for the thanksgiving holiday that is coming up, or perhaps I just feel Gods love in my life today, whatever the reason, I am grateful!

I got a job as a loan officer at mountain America today! It will be the third time they have hired me and I can't even express how grateful I am for this blessing! I was about to mail out our first check for really expensive health insurance, I was looking at our monthly budget wondering how I was going to get it in the green, let alone have extra to save for invitro and a house! I am so grateful for the law of tithing! As soon as I got the call my very first thought was "this is the windows of heaven opening up on our family!"

I am also grateful for the inspiration those miners that were just rescued have been to me. There was an image I will never forget - as soon as Mario Gomez, the oldest one of the group, came out of the capsule he dropped to his knees in total supplication to his Father in heaven. This to me is the image of gratitude.

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So Blessed!!!

2010-10-06T21:25:00.000-07:00

"Whatever you are, be a good one"
Abraham Lincoln

Last Friday was my last day of work at East Idaho Credit Union. I worked there for a little less than three months and had some incredible experiences! I LOVED the people I worked with! They were so inviting and kind to me it was amazing how great people can be! I grew to love a lot of the women I worked with, I learned a lot from their life experiences and gained some great friends. The girls took me out to lunch to say goodbye- what sweethearts! I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to start something up there that I hope will not end even though I'm not there anymore. (I wrote a 30 page manual on the program and how it works, hopefully that helps- it took forever!) I had an awesome boss who thought I walked on water - that's always fun isn't it? I had some great experiences traveling all over Idaho with the CEO after a successful sales contest for the credit union, I was able to ask him questions and learn so much from someone who has made such a huge impact on a credit union. I feel like my short time at the credit union was educational for me in so many ways. I will always remember the great relationships and people of East Idaho Credit Union! On Friday they got new chairs for the lobby and offices, while I was working a few of the employees started blocking my door with the old chairs. They kept getting higher and higher and then I heard, "now you can't leave!" I felt so loved!

So it Starts...

2010-10-05T08:53:00.000-07:00

The move has begun! We are moving in with my Grandma Knights for a few months while we house shop and get our jobs in order. We are so excited to spend time with her! Hopefully scooter can be a good dog for her- we talk to him about it daily! So I am at home this week packing my house in two piles: 1 - the stuff that can sit in storage for months and 2- the stuff I need to live off of. In the picture the pile behind the rug on the right is the one going to grandmas and the boxes on the left are going to storage! I am going to miss the movers we had coming up here but the ones this time around are much cuter - thanks dad, Jeffrey and brothers!

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Brad Paisley

2010-10-03T13:11:00.000-07:00

Jeffrey and I went to a Brad Paisley concert last weekend with some good friends, Jason and Amy we had a blast! Even if you don't like country- I'm pretty sure you'd like his songs, most of his lyrics are a humorous composition relating to something in pop culture or relationships. Here are a few fun lyrics he wrote in a song called "Alcohol" - I like this one because it's so true!

I can make anybody pretty
I can make you believe any lie
I can make you pick a fight
With somebody twice your size

I been known to cause a few break ups
I been known to cause a few births
I can make you new friends
Or get you fired from work.

1st Chorus
And since the day I left Milwaukee
Lynchburg and Bordeaux France
Been making the bars lots of big money
And helping white people dance
I got you in trouble in high school
But college, now that was a ball
You had some of the best times
You'll never remember with me
Alcohol
Alcohol

Anyway, we had a blast at the concert, I loved being wrapped up in Jeffreys arms all night and singing at the top of my lungs to songs I only knew half the lyrics to! The moon was out and it was a awesome end to a great summer!

The Best Mom Ever!

2010-09-29T20:28:00.000-07:00

This Monday I found out I needed to have surgery the next morning @ 6:00 a.m. - Jeffrey doesn't have anytime off so the arrangements were a little sketchy on how I was going to have someone drop me off at 6:00 a.m. and pick me up at noon when the surgery was done, and be with me through recovery. I was feeling pretty helpless and the little girl in me was screaming- "I just want my mommy!" (especially since the surgery was working on my girl issues- sometimes a girl just needs her mom, you know?) So, I did what any little girl would do and called my mom Monday night @ 6:00 p.m. to tell her I was having surgery and you know what she said before I could even ask? "do you want me to come up?!" I felt terrible for even calling to ask her, but before I could even get it out she said, "I'll pack my bags and leave in 10 min! See you in three hours!" You know I have the best mom in the whole world!? She drove three hours to come up and help me through surgery, recovery, and then had to drive three hours back for something she had Tuesday night in Salt Lake. I seriously couldn't have done it without her- I'm so blessed to have the mom that I do! Thank you mom for taking so much time to drive and to spend with me- for getting the medicine, for helping me at the hospital, for sitting there for hours waiting for me and helping me, for everything! Moms are the best medicine!

BIG NEWS!

2010-09-20T18:31:00.000-07:00

We're moving back to the big city!!!! Watch out Salt Lake- here we come!!!

We moved, we conquered, and now we're returning home with honor!

Here's the story: Jeffrey has been working as a contract programmer for a start up website called Deal Pickle. We've been bitten with Deal Pickle fever and are moving back to Salt Lake so that Jeffrey can feed the fever and work full time to help the website launch. He's been offered a partnership with them and we LOVE everything about the company, so it's worth the risk. Don't worry- you'll be seeing big news about the Deal Pickle soon...

So, October 9th we're packing up and making the drive one last time down to the big city- we have some awesome friends in Idaho and it will be sad to leave them, but we're excited to be where we're supposed to be! (still looking for an apartment, jobs, etc... oh the next 3 weeks will be a stressful fun!)

"BIG MISTAKE!"

2010-09-16T18:03:00.000-07:00

This evening I was sitting in our office fixing one of Scooters toys when I heard Jeffrey yell "I JUST MADE A HUGE MISTAKE!" This is never a good thing to hear when moments before that Jeffrey informed me that he was going to cut his own hair! I walked in to see my husband with a bald stripe down the middle of his head! (He said he forgot to put the attachment on, and whoops, it all came off!) We laughed for a good 3-5 min together and then he shaved the rest off... whoops!!

Oh What a Wonderful Weekend!

2010-09-07T12:51:00.001-07:00

I know the title isn't that catchy, but it's true, we had a great weekend! I have so many pictures to post from our summer months where we really just went to Utah every weekend. We LOVE our friends and family in Utah, so we went a lot. (A LOT!) and we've decided we need to stay in Idaho for September - people at church were beginning to think we weren't going anymore! So Friday I was sitting at work feeling kinda bad about not having any plans for the long weekend, so I found a great place to camp, and we went camping! We threw out tent, supplies and scooter in the car and drove for 45 min to a small little campground off the snake river. We camped and had fun with the scooter, I have to be honest I was a little scared of bears! Usually they tell you not to put any food in your tent, but I kept thinking that our little puppy was propably food enough for any bear. Then I started thinking, what would I do if a bear came? Would I try to protect the little Scooter if a bear came, or would I throw him out to save us? What would you do? (I think he's cute but...)We drove over to Jackson Hole and spent the morning walking around the farmers market and looking in the shops. Jackson hole is such a beautiful place! We drove home the long way and walked around Palisades lake and ate square ice cream cones. What a great short trip!Monday was a very productive day! I did all the laundry, cleaned house big time, MADE 20 FREEZER MEALS (enchiladas, lasagna, spaghetti, chicken a la king, Cafe Rio pork, to name a few...) and made TWO darling topiaries for our front door! All before 7:30 when Jeffrey and I snuggled up and watched a movie and snuggled the night away.

I love snuggling!

Feasting on the Words...

2010-08-26T12:20:00.000-07:00

This week Jeffrey choose to have a family home evening on the scriptures, we listened to a talk about scripture study and read a few ensign articles. Scooter was there, he heard the whole lesson and this is his way of showing us he really did learn how to feast on the words of Christ!

Carter vs. The Creamsicle

2010-08-25T19:12:00.000-07:00

This might be one of the cutest things I've seen all summer! My handsome nephew Carter got a hold of a creamy and this is what became of it. My favorite picture is the one in the middle on the right but the one in the very center is so cute too! I love all the faces Carter made while eating one ice cream bar! Summer is so great isn't it?

Cherry Blossom Quilt

2010-08-23T11:37:00.000-07:00

Its finally finished! I've been working on this quilt for some time now and now that I've given it to Jenny Sue who is having a baby girl this week! (Jeffreys sister whom I love!) I learned a new applique technique that works really well and is easier than other ways to applique. all the flowers are hand sewn and the binding is hand sewn. I came up with the pattern and the ideas myself and couldn't be more proud of how it turned out! I used my awesome new machine (baby lock quilters choice!) to quilt it with small flowers mixed in with the loops. My favorite part is the ruffle boarder!
(if you want to see how I made the flowers, click here!)

a short story...

2010-08-10T22:33:00.000-07:00

As you may have noticed, I have braces. I have had them for a little over a year and last Monday they put the finishing wires on, which means I'm almost done! Jeffreys parents who own this amazing photography studio in Sandy offered to do trade for my braces and we feel so blessed for their help.

anyway, back to the story... there I was sitting in the chair at the orthodontist office watching Bruce Almighty playing above me from a TV that comes out of the ceiling. (for the record, I fear for my safety every time I go to the orthodontist because that TV can't really be that secure!) anyway, the orthodontist came over to set the wire in with his pliars. I really don't like pliers in my mouth. So there's a bracket in the back that has a little hole where there wire goes. Mr. Orthodontist was trying to get the wire into that hole. It wasn't going. He tried harder. It still wasn't going. So he grabbed those pliers with both hands like you'd see someone do that was trying really hard to pull a nail out or really force something and he started pushing extra hard, both hands, big man, pushing really hard with pliers in my mouth. Did I mention pliers in my mouth, pushing with both hands really hard? As you can imagine, the pliers slipped and his hands went fiercely flying into my face and of course my lip then went flying into my braces and well, it hurt. I screamed. It hurt really bad. I tasted blood.

Mr. Orthodontist then said, "oh I pinched you a little there!"

REALLY?! you pinched me? I'm over here breathing deeply, trying to focus on Jim Carey act out some dumb movie I've never seen so that I wont cry because I just got punched in the face!

or was it pinched?

Did You Know???

2010-07-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

Did you know that dogs loose their teeth just like kids? Our little Scoot is growing up and loosing his teeth! So far I've see two fall out and am totally amazed that they loose their teeth!

Speaking of Scooter, this is what I come home to every day from work. It's a new discovery that Scoot can see anyone out in our parking lot if he sits on the couch and stares out- all I can think is, "look at that doggie in the window!"
It's been a while since I've posted anything, we have a lot going on in our lives. I started my new job a few weeks ago and love it. I've been getting everything set up and stealing loans from other places like a champion! It's a little interesting going from a credit union with over 70 branches to a credit union with 10 branches! Some of the things I ask for at the new credit union are way over the top for what they can handle but I love the freedom I have to be starting this new department and the trust they have in me - I'm pretty happy with how things have turned out!

I had my first bit of road rage here in Idaho falls this week! Everyone in Idaho Falls drives at least 5 miles under the speed limit, so the other morning I was driving to work and going exactly the speed limit of 40 miles and hour and next to me was a woman who was going no more than 25 miles and hour with her window rolled down and screaming at the top of her lungs, "slow down!!!" I had to chuckle as I drove past the speed limit sign wish her only the best of days, looked like it wasn't starting out well!

Times and Thoughts as of Late

2010-07-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a REALLY random post, but I have so much to catch up on! Just forgive me and enjoy the fun pictures of our lives lately! :)
Last week I took our little scooter to the vet to be 'fixed'. Jeffrey thinks it should be called just the opposite, 'broken'- sounds like something a man would say about this procedure right? He cried all the way home and slept all day but was back to his happy self the following days! Lucky for us because we took him to see grandma Lorraine in the hospital and she LOVED her time with Scooter! We've noticed since she's been in the hospital that they have "therapy dogs" and just like those dogs, Scooter was the hit of the joint as we walked him through the halls- cute!

! We left at our camera at Kimball and Ericas house a few weekends ago- and when we got it back, it came back with this darling picture on it! My brother and his little boy Benson- aren't they so cute together?! I love my family!
While we were at Kimballs we did a little swimming with the boys, ther is nothing better than getting out of the pool and snuggling with some darling boys- too bad there wasn't room for Foofrey!
While I was driving through our neighborhood last week I noticed a little boy about 3 years old running out of the house with a GIGANTICALLY full diaper in his hands to the garbage cans that were out outside the house. I don't know why but this struck me as the cutest little thing! I have been thinking a lot about service lately, and this was such a simple reminder to me that any kind of service effects so many more people than we can understand. I have been somewhat in the mindset that I don't really know anyone or how to serve since we've just moved, but I'm realizing, it's my own fault for not seeking out and understanding the needs of those around me. I love the principle of service and all the feelings associated with it, this week, I'm going to find more ways to serve.

Speaking of Service, we went to our mission reunion a few weeks ago- here are a few of my favorite sisters that I got to serve with. What a blessing my mission continues to be in my life! I love these girls!
My parents came up from Salt Lake for the 4th of July and that was quite the act of service for us- we loved it! We had so much fun while they were in town. We drove up to Driggs Idaho and spent the afternoon looking through fun shops and seeing the town. Then we got back just in time to catch the Twilight saga- the theater across the street from our place is called Edwards Theater, so I felt quite privileged to be watching Twilight at Edwards theater! (cheesy!) We ate delicious food, and played games, and just had a great time together. I am so glad they came to play with us!

I Did it!!!

2010-07-02T15:40:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited I can't stand it! I got a job today with East Idaho Credit Union!

Here's the story- I moved to Idaho, then I did some research, I found a great credit union up here and I called them to tell them I have a great idea for a new department, and that I'm the girl they want to hire! I met with a group of the vice presidents about 4 weeks ago, and two weeks ago I met with the CEO and CFO to discuss the options further. They all loved my idea, and today called to offer me the job! I really am so excited to be starting a whole new department and working for this credit union. It will be a lot of work, and challenging to get things going, but I'm up for a challenge- bring it on! I tell you what, God is very aware of His children, and very mindful of each of our needs- what a blessing! I start July 12th and am STOKED!!!!

Maybe this is what I should wear my first day - what do you think?
p.s. HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE! (and happy birthday to my cute nephew Tanner!)

Fun with the Family

2010-07-01T14:41:00.000-07:00

So life is a little less than interesting as of late. I'll share our fun weekend story- but it might not be too fun and exciting for you- sorry! :) I love this picture of Jeffrey and I, the falls are so beautiful this time of year!

We got a new car! It's an Acura TSX and it's beautiful! Its pearl white with sparkles in the paint- and it has the "princess package" all of which lead me to name it Bella. (a cross between Cinderella and Belle) We got a pretty good deal and it will last us forever- all around we're really excited about it!We had a lot of family come up a few weekends ago and we had a blast with them! My brother Nate and his wife Andrea came up to celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary by leaving their son with us and taking off to Lava Hot Springs. (if any of you with children want to do this, I'm a taker for your kid!) Carter was an absolute JOY and perfect to have around! I've mentioned before Carter and Scooter have bonded but this just sealed the deal! Carter figured out that Scooter likes to run after you in the house so carter would just run back and forth on the main floor trying to get scooter to chase him and it worked! they just ran around after each other all day it was so cute! We went to the park and had all kinds of fun.Jeffreys whole family came up to see our new place and spend some time with us- Jeffreys dad Steve got way better pictures of the trip (obviously- he's the professional!) so when he has his camera out I'm too scared to pull mine out and take very many pictures- here are a few of mine... none the less we had a great time swimming, picnicking, and just spending time together!Steve is SOOO cute with Scooter- Not sure what it is, but both Jeffreys dad and my dad have taken quite the liking to our little puppy.Elaine (Jeffreys mom) is always playing with Noah, we can't wait to give her 12 more grandchildren to keep track of! (aren't they so cute in this picture!!!)
Here's Jeffreys sister Jenny and her family- we love them!

A part of my life... GONE

2010-06-21T14:32:00.000-07:00

I sold my car this week- I feel like a HUGE part of my life is gone. I know that sounds so cheesy and lame but it's true! I LOVED that car. Her name is Jazmine and we spent a lot of great years and miles together. She's the car I took friends down to Vegas in (many times) and sang the whole 6 hours. Shes the car I got in and cried and cried after my heart was broken. She's the car I got in and cried after I realized I was marrying the man of my dreams! She's the car that I went off roading with in Moab, a few pieces of her are still in Moab I believe :) She's the friend I'd take when I just wanted to be alone just me, my car and a long road ahead to think.
So, if I love my car so much, why did I sell it? Well it was a Volkswagen and those don't last forever, especially the older ones. She was coming up on 11 years old. She still had some value in her, so I thought, why not sell her now while she's on top of the world instead of watching her die. I know, this isn't really logical- I wouldn't sell my family when they are all healthy and going strong just so I didn't have to see them die- but I was weak and thinking with my brain. Sorry Jazmine. Thanks for the memories.

Another Crafty Pillow

2010-06-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted any of my "crafty" projects for a while, mostly because I have about 15 of them going on- most of them quilts and they usually take a while (you'll see them eventually I promise!) However, I went to the fabric store the other day and there in the clearance isle was this beautiful piece of red damask fabric calling my name saying " buy me I'm only $2.00!! So last night, a little red trim, a round pillow and the drive to actually finish something and this is what I came up with! (p.s. isn't Jeffrey cute!?!)

The Ultimate Love

2010-06-14T12:58:00.000-07:00

Last Friday afternoon I took the time to go to the Idaho Falls temple. I love going to the temple. I love feeling close to God and learning more about my relationship with Him. I love the peace that comes so quickly there. I love the blessings that have come from the covenants I've made there. One of the greatest blessings is the eternal perspective that the temple brings. Marrying Jeffrey and having him in my life is a HUGE part of those eternal blessings. I feel like marriage would be totally different without the blessings of the temple or the restored gospel. I guess I'm just saying I know God loves His children because of the way I felt there this week. I know we are very loved and watched over and cared for more than we know. Have you ever felt direct, personal, totally compassionate love from God? I believe His love is available to anyone who asks for it, I believe He wants nothing more than for us to feel of His love. Hes there for each of us. I know it.

Memorial Weekend

2010-06-07T21:41:00.001-07:00

We traveled down to Salt Lake for Memorial Day to spend time with Jeffreys aunt and her family from Saratoga Springs, New York. We went to "This is the Place" park, ate lots and lots of food, spent time at the hospital with my grandma, and introduced Scooter to the nephews. Carter and Scooter bonded instantly he was so cute with the little puppy. And Benson who is terrified of dogs seems to have made an exception for our little scoot- we love it! We love getting together with family and every time we leave we feel incredibly blessed to have the families that we do! The weekend before we came down to help out with my grandma who just had open heart surgery, and the weekend before that we came down for our cruise and mothers day- holy cow did we even move to Idaho?!? We made a goal not to drive down till the end of June, we need friends up here and we can't do that if we're down in Salt Lake!

(this picture is of Jeffrey driving- it looks like he's asleep- he's not, he's just blinking- but it looks scary eh!?)Speaking of friends- we have 3 of them. 1. Dominator Dave from the bowling alley and 2 & 3 a cute couple in our ward. I seem to be an outgoing person, and Jeffrey is just a great person to be around but for some reason it sure is hard to make new friends for me! I feel so blessed, and very comfortable with the friends I have- (yep that's you- you're one of them reading this!) but most of you live in UTAH and I don't live in Utah. I find myself being quite lonely up here in the spud state. It's not like I can go out and just say to someone- hey do you want to be my friend? So I'll ask, how do you make friends? How do you stand to even put up with me, and why do I feel so insecure about putting myself out there? Seriously, we've been here a month- I suck.

Now that little bit of emotions out there- we finally gave in and now the dang dog is allowed to sleep where ever he wants in the house, which means he's sleeping on the floor in our room darn it! We love having little Scooter in our lives- he's really a lot of fun! We took him to play disc golf the other day and he looked like a little bunny hopping around in the grass.

I take it back- friend #4- Scooter. Now that's pathetic!

'Bacon is good for me!'

2010-05-24T10:22:00.000-07:00

This is absolutely hilarious! It's a clip from the TV show "Wife Swap" - Just a little something to make your day!

Dominator Dave

2010-05-18T16:35:00.000-07:00

Jeffrey and I joined a bowling league in Idaho Falls- dorky but it's so much fun! The teams are supposed to be teams of 3, so they put us with Dave. We now refer to him as Dominator Dave. He's hilarious! He bowls like a crazy man, but he's good. He herds cows by day, and dominates the bowling alleys by night. He has a few teeth missing, and last week a bull kicked him in the leg but he's one of the nicest guys out there! Remember Jeffrey is the bowling champion? Well he and Dave keep up with each other just fine. (In fact Jeffrey got 5 strikes in a row last game and creamed us all!) Then there's me... I average around 100 every game I bowl, not great. Last week I bowled one game at a 145 which might be one of my best. Dominator Dave is still nice as ever as he swallows the fact that he just might loose this round of bowling leagues.

Mexican Cruizin

2010-05-16T13:33:00.000-07:00

We went on a cruise last week and by most popular demand, I'm finally posting about it! (when I say popular demand, I mean my mom wants to see pictures!) We really did nothing except eat and read and lounge in the sun. Thats what cruises are about right? If I really wanted to travel and see, I'd spend the money and actually go somewhere :) We both came home 5 pounds heavier but we've lost it since then so don't worry. We had some funny experiences, like playing the "whose mormon" game. It actually was quite amazing how many people on the boat were part of the "club". Anyway, we had a blast and it was much needed, especially the resting, relaxing, and sunshine parts! Here are my pictures, if you would like to see more, check out my facebook page, I put them all there...
We went on the cruise with Jeffreys old roommates and some of their friends, there were about 25 or so people in our group, we were the only married ones, so they called us "the marrieds"
We would order at least 2 entrees every night, one night our friend Jason orderd 3 things of lobster! Hey, why not, it's free!
Here we are on formal night, should have taken the picture before we ate :)
We went shopping in Mexico. Cody, the one on the right, asked the nice sales guy if they had a poncho like the red one above Jasons head for the Utah Jazz and this is what the man came out with! A very scary looking picture of Joseph Smith!
Here we are in beautiful Mexico on Cinco De Mayo!
We took a walk along the beach and had so much fun together. Being married is the very best! I'm so lucky I even found a complete sand dollar!
Here are the boys. We spent a good amount of time with Jason and Cody- what keepers they'll be to some lucky girls!
The chocolate molten cake- we had it every night and i wish they wouldn't have put it on the menu every night, it was so delicious!

We rented electric bikes on Catalina island and rode up to some botanical gardens, beautiful!
all in all the cruise was a blast and I'm so glad we went! We met a couple on the cruise who said their travel agent called them the week before and said the cruise price dropped to 120.00 a person for this 4 night cruise! isn't that amazing?! we had such a great time I think we'll cruise again soon!

Palatable

2010-05-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

Isn't it lovely when you can enjoy the summer with fresh scarlet strawberries blanketed over mixed leaf greens, and a grilled chicken sandwich garnished with Swiss cheese, ham and spices to water any mouth. Delectable!

A new addition to the family!

2010-05-13T08:48:00.000-07:00

Not really what you were thinking... but we are still excited! We got a dog! His name is Scooter and he's a toy poodle. He came potty trained and he's so cute! He snuggles and barks when someone comes to the door- he's so much fun! My only complaint so far, he doesn't like sleeping alone, so when we put him down in the kitchen he barks and whines for quite some time- any suggestions?

The Move...

2010-05-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

We moved to Idaho. This has been a bitter-sweet thing for me. I loved living so close to family and friends, I loved the recreation in Utah. I loved knowing where I was going when I got in my car, and I loved my job to name a few things I loved about Utah. Don't get this wrong- I'm not naming these things because I'm sad about where we moved. Really, the bitter part in moving was leaving all those great things, the sweet part has been that we have felt so loved and blessed in the process. We love our new place and are having a lot of fun getting things together. Here are a few pictures from all the fun...

This is a wardrobe box- and is the most amazing thing in the world! If you ever move, I highly suggest these things! I loved it SOOOO much!My sister-in-law came and helped us move one day and was such an amazing help! We had cute Carter to help as well- he walked around and smiled while we packed all the boxes. When we were done we rewarded him with a lighter and some time on a high place- can you tell I'm going to be a GREAT mom someday!? Jeffreys company paid for us to move, so here's the big truck and all the boxes. I wouldn't have ever spent all that money myself on moving- but let me tell you how much fun it is to move without having to lift a single box!!! I felt very spoiled! Welcome to our new home. Here's the front door and the living room. We have the wood floors on the main level and carpet upstairs.
This is the upstairs bathroom. My parents came up with us when we moved and were so kind to help us unpack a lot of the boxes. They also went out and bought us this most fantastic shower rod- I love it!
And the best is for last, or at least my favorite place in the house is the kitchen! (that's such a typical woman thing, embarrassing!) Its so cute- and look at all that counter space. I don't have to use chairs as counter space anymore.So now that you've seen the place on your screen we want to see you for real- we want visitors! We're only 3 hours from Salt Lake and we're close to lava hot springs, sand dunes, Yellowstone, etc... come play in the spud state with us- we love our Utah friends and family!

One year of total BLISS!

2010-05-11T09:29:00.000-07:00

"I love you, not only for what you are, But for what I am when I am with you." -Roy Croft

I'm finally getting around to updating all the fun we've had around here- we celebrated our one year anniversary April 24th and had such a great time together. This past year has been one to go down in the books for sure! I remember when we were engaged people would advise "just get through the first year, and the rest is bliss" but I must counter that advise to say the first year has been nothing but bliss! I married the most incredible man and I believe we make such a good pair. There are things that happen on a daily basis where I feel we compliment each other so well. He is absolutely perfect for me and I am so very happy to have him as my spouse. With that said, I should probably explain this and other things bring me more joy than I really know how to express, so lets just say, I'm ridiculously happy in life!
We spent the day doing our favorite thing- being together! We had lunch in a park. We ate dinner at the same restaurant we ate at the night he proposed (we actually got seated in the same booth!) We remembered the joy of being together forever by doing sealings in the Salt Lake Temple. We walked around the temple grounds and looked at the amazing flowers and remembered again what a beautiful day it was that we were married on. Then we went and stayed at Anniversary Inn because that's where we stayed our wedding night.
It was the most glorious day! Jeffrey bought me wedding bands for our anniversary and we went on a cruise to celebrate. Perhaps we'll try to make it to the beach every year for our anniversary! We also cut into the top layer of our wedding cake- it was actually really good! Here's our cute shot of the "cutting of the cake!" (I am so happy to have the thing out of our freezer too!)

What a great time in life!

see you soon

2010-05-02T18:48:00.000-07:00

For the next week, we'll be sitting on this...

I'm so excited!!!

So HAPPY to be done!

2010-04-26T14:49:00.000-07:00

This past week will be one to go down in the books! I find that when I make changes in life, it's a lot more fun to just throw in about 5 other huge changes to go with it! This time it wasn't all my fault... totally! The list includes: Graduation, Anniversary, Moving, Quitting my job, finding a new job, throwing parties, and so much more!

To start off on the fun, lets start with Graduation!

Jeffrey Graduated from BYU this week and I could not be happier about this! I'm so proud of my husband for being so dang smart (really, if you spend just a few moments talking to him you hear about some kind of complex problem he's solved, or some kind of computer something he's working on!) on top of being smart, he's incredibly funny and handsome and with all these qualities, I'm not quite sure how I got so lucky, but I did! We didn't get very many pictures of graduation because it was raining, but here are the few we did get...

Congratulations my love!

Bowling Champions of the World!!!

2010-04-16T13:47:00.000-07:00

My cute husband joined a bowling league this semester with some of his old roommates. He really should be doing this post but I was too excited about it to wait! He started out with an average of around 130 and peaked at an average of 197! There was one game he even bowled a 233! 7 strikes in one game! That got him his name on the wall, and a shirt! There were 20 teams of 4 in the league and they would play 3 games to get the winner between the teams. They finished 9th in the season and then the tournament started and all of a sudden Jeffreys team figured out they have mad bowling skills. Week after week they stayed in the tournament and this Wednesday they had the final bowl between them and the other team standing- it was intense! I know, you're wondering how bowling can really be intense, but when they are down by 70 pins in the second game and it's the 9th frame and Jeffrey successfully bowls 4 strikes in a row to make them win the game by 1 pin, that's intense! The same thing happened the last game and they ended up winning the entire championship by 2 pins! I'm so proud of Jeffrey, he's so good at whatever he puts his mind to. I really got the whole package when I married this handsome man!

Now & Then You're Still The BEST!

2010-04-09T11:23:00.000-07:00

Last night my cute, crazy, amazing girlfriends threw me a little good-bye party in Salt Lake. For old times sake we went to the old spaghetti factory. Here's a picture of us then (as in like 1999 when we were still getting a ride from Debbies mom to the spaghetti factory because we were only 15!) (we were missing Ellie H!):
and here's one of us now:I am not quite sure why I got so lucky (awe!) to have such a great group of girlfriends but I sure do love them! The conversation went from babies, to boys, to all kinds of exciting things and it seems like every time we get together my stomach gets a good work out from laughing! I'm going to miss seeing them so much but that's the fantastic thing about these women, no matter what, they will always be the very best of friends to me!

Happy Birthday Foofrey!

2010-04-05T10:01:00.000-07:00

Today is the love of my lifes birthday! He's turning a huge 24!!! (that's right, I'm 2.5 years older and we like it that way! :) Here's 24 reasons why I am so glad he was born!

1. He makes everything about life better for me!2. He is incredibly smart and has and will do a lot of good for people out there with his smartness.
3. He is funny. Most people don't see it quite as much as I do but he's hilarious- and his laugh is infectious!
4. He is a good man and I believe the world needs good men- I'm so lucky to have him!
5. He is the most honest person I've ever met.6. He is willing to watch a chick flick, eat ice cream and gummies, and be my best friend when I need him.
7. He loves to learn.
8. He appreciates all different kinds of people and is kind to everyone.
9. He is really patient!
10. He adds to the spirit and the positive feeling in my life and the life of others.
11. He can play sports like a champion- he's really athletic and quite cute when he's winning.
12. He has the most handsome smile I've ever seen.
13. He carries me to bed all the time when I fall asleep on the couch.
14. He buys me flowers frequently to cheer up our home.
15. He's totally ok and likes that I'm a princess.
16. He is the most hard working man I know.
17. He is driven and has a purpose filled life.
18. He appreciates what has been given to him.
19. He is so positive and finds way to make any situation positive.
20. He likes to cuddle and hold my hand.
21. He has the most charming way with kids- they love him!22. He is sincere in his feelings and those of others.
23. He is manly and strong and very handsome.
24. He is one of those people who you meet and then you feel like a better person for knowing them. He is my everything.
Happy Birthday Jeffrey I love you!!!!

As Luck Would Have It

2010-03-30T12:37:00.000-07:00

I married into one awesome family, I find so much joy in spending time with Jeffreys family! A few Sundays ago we spent the evening laughing and joking and did something I haven't done since the 9th grade! We played that dorky game when someone sits on your tummy and so it looks funny because you have someone elses legs controlling you. Jeffrey did mention something about it looking like having to go to a particular doctor... which made the experience quite a bit more funny! I'm so lucky to have married into such a great family- I love them all!(look how cute Jeffrey and Noah are in their matching shirts that they didn't plan on!)

Just one of those small life changes...

2010-03-26T13:09:00.003-07:00

We are up for a small decision here soon. You know the kind that make you wonder if you're reading your scriptures enough or saying your prayers enough so that you might actually be worthy to receive some inspiration? Well that's really what point of life we're in at the moment. There are so many choices to make and so many things to consider, all of which I feel must be decided within the next few weeks. So, to put it into picture for you here are our options...

The Company = The View from my front porch = How we'll weather
= =
or its...
==

Crafting with the ladies!

2010-03-26T08:31:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night was a night to remember! I got together with some family and friends and we had one fun night crafting away! We ended up doing our craft night at my mom and dads house because my mom literally has every crafty thing you could ever desire. This time the focus was on the cricut machine and glass etching. At one point we had 3 cricuts running and vinyl all over the place! Thanks for coming ladies- it was a blast! (If you'd like to know how to do the glass etching you can look at an earlier post.) We started off with a light dinner and then spent the evening having fun. Here are a few pictures of the fun and the finished projects...

20 meals in 2 days!

2010-03-16T12:49:00.000-07:00

My mother is quite the example to me in so many things- one of which is her ability to cook amazing meals (I haven't gotten to that stage yet but I'm working on it!) and some of her recipes freeze amazing well! So this past week I planned dinner every night but I planned it for a family of 10! I would make the huge meal, we would eat a small portion of it, and then I would freeze the rest. I also cooked chicken and cut it up into bite size pieces and shredded it and bagged that too so when a meal calls for shredded chicken or chopped cooked chicken I have it ready to go. I ended up spending our whole grocery budget for the month in the first week, but guess what, I now have 20 extra meals so that's like putting two months into the price of one! And now all I have to do on a busy day is defrost the meal while the noodles, rice, or tortillas are cooking and dinner is ready in 10 min!

Here are a few of my favorite recipes to do this with:

Spaghetti (for 10 quart size bags in the freezer I 5x this recipe)
1 lb ground beef
1/2 chopped medium size onion
2 8-ounce jars tomato sauce
1 16-ounce jar stewed tomatoes
sliced mushrooms (optional)
spaghetti noodles
1 packet spaghetti sauce mix

brown meat with the onion. Then the add tomatoes, spice mix, mushrooms and tomato sauce. And wow you're done!

Mexican Meat (this makes about 4-5 quart size bags of meat)
place a 5lb chuck pot roast in the crock pot and cook all day. remove the juices from the pot and place in the freezer for 30 min (or until the grease hardens on the top). shred the meat and add 1 16-ounce jar of picante sauce (or salsa) and the meat juice. stir until blended and freeze. this is great for tacos or burritos.

Sweet and Sour Chicken (double this for about 5 bags of frozen goodness!)
3 cups chopped and cooked chicken
1/2 cups cider vinegar
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbls Corn Starch
1.5 cups green bell peppers
1 20-ounce can pineapple tidbits drained -reserve the juice!
2 cups rice

in about two teaspoons vegetable oil, saute green pepper until tender and crisps. in a small bowl, combine vinegar, ketchup, brown sugar, pineapple juice and cornstarch (add the corn starch slowly or it will clump together!) add to green peppers and bring mixture to a boil. stir this until it thickens remove from heat and stir in pineapple and chicken. bag and freeze.

happy eating!

Glass Etching

2010-03-15T10:28:00.000-07:00

This weekend my mom and I decided to try out some glass etching! we got the idea from the Create Studio Blog lucky for me my mother has every cricut cartridge you can imagine! We started out playing on one of her vases, and I'm sure there will be many more projects to come- this was so easy! and you really don't need a cricut it just makes the cutting out a lot easier if you're doing something with detail. here's a few pictures from start to finish...
we started out with a clean glass area and a pitcher that needed some extra love...
Then we cut out the design my mom wanted on her pitcher on the cricut out of vinyl (you can use contact paper too) Then we put the vinyl on the vase, this picture shows that because the project was a round shape, I had to cut with an exacto knife to make sure all the areas were matching up.Next we used a foam brush to cover the exposed glass area with this cream (which is about 9.00 for the small jar- but guess what you can use it over and over again! and if you find a coupon for 50% off at a craft sore it's not too bad!)
We scraped the cream off and put it back in the jar and this is what it looked like when we took our pitcher to the sink. We washed off all the excess cream and then pulled the vinyl off and look at the final project!
We also did this with the last name "High" on one of my mom's pyrex pans and it turned out great! what a fun wedding present right?

Lexie and Ice Cream

2010-03-09T15:43:00.000-08:00

This is what you get when you put the most beautiful little girl with the most wonderful two foods- (ice cream and chocolate!)

Missouri Trip

2010-03-09T15:32:00.001-08:00

Jeffrey and I traveled to Columbia Missouri to be with my sister and her family while they blessed their sweet new baby, Porter. The High family decided to make an occasion out of it and the whole family came out for it- including grandmas! We spent most the time eating and chatting and just playing with all the kids and siblings. I am so blessed with an incredible family who continues to be a strength and source of great joy in our lives.

Siblings...

2010-03-09T15:21:00.000-08:00

This was the first time our family has had to spend time together since our wedding 10 months ago. Even then life was so crazy we didn't really get to play. We had so much fun. I'm convinced being a sibling just gets better and better. I'm so proud of my siblings and their families and all the great things they are doing with their lives- what a blessing they are to me! Jeffrey told them about a computer game our first night there- and would you know it, all 5 laptops were set up while they played some tank game against each other all night long! We like to refer to this kind of thing as "geeking out!"

I don't know if Derek invented these or what, but they are PVC pipe with swimming noodles glued onto them. We pulled them out on Saturday afternoon and had out a major war with all the kids and siblings- it was so much fun!