CODEE AND RACHEL

LIFE LATELY

2012-01-27T20:10:00.012-07:00

Life has made some small changes lately so here is an update to what blog followers I have left.

We went to Vegas for New Years to see our friends Seth and Kirie. People always ask what exciting things we are going to do in Vegas but to be honest we do NOTHING and it is freaking fabulous! We sleep in, make dinner, go grocery shopping and maybe get a Redbox. But we have the best time! Isn't Kirie the most adorable pregnant girl? Can't wait for Petri to get here!

Codee started the Engineering program at the U this semester. I am so proud that he has come this far and worked so hard to get where he is. When I see his homework it looks like some sort of ancient code. He will graduate in Spring 2014.
Isn't he adorable on his 1st day of school?

Since Codee is now going to school full time (he has always gone to school "full time" but now his classes are in the day) he is working a new job at UDOT. He is now working as a construction trainer. With day time school means less hours at work equaling less money. So we are now living on a student budget. Hasn't been too bad so far but if anyone has anyone cheap date ideas please send them my way.

My job has slowed down a little since our busy season ended but work is still crazy as ever. I seriosuly love my job! I love what I do. And I love the people I work with. I wish I was better at showing my appreciation sometimes but I am truly happy where I am right now.

Why Hello...

2011-11-19T21:28:00.002-07:00

Hello....
It's been a while since I last blogged.
June? Really?
I know I'm pathetic.
I'd like to promise that I will get better about blogging but I don't think I will.

I've realized something today, and it's that I don't always appreciate the blessings in my life. And it's sad that it took a scary event to slap me in the face.
With it being the week of Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving is one of my FAVORITE holidays... I really needed a wake up call.

Codee is in his second season of snow plowing Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons. (Kind of a scary job, the Discovery Channel covered a documentary on them last year. It's pretty intense) Now to brag on my husband for a minute... there is a reason he plows the canyon, because he is one of the best. They have special avalanche trainings if a situation ever occurs and they have to wear avalanche beacons every time they go up the canyon. What wife wouldn't be a little nervous?

Last night was the first snow storm of the season and Codee was scheduled to go up at 9 p.m. On the way up the canyon his truck began to slide. Knowing he wouldn't make it up the canyon he was able to turn around and head back down the mountain... As he turned around, he lost traction and began to slide. He was fish-tailing back and forth down the canyon all the while picking up speed. Up ahead there was bend in the road and with no contol of his truck, he thought for sure he would roll down the side of the mountain. He prepared to take the truck off the cliff, but with a moment of luck, was able to put both of his plows down and barely steer the truck into the side of the mountain where he crashed into a ditch. Very shaken up he was able to call another driver to come help pull him out of the mountain. The other driver began to slide when he got to Codee's truck and between the two trucks they were blocking off the whole road. Only one car slid off onto the shoulder and deputies were able to slow down other cars just in time.
It's honestly a miracle that no one was seriously hurt, including Codee who could have went off a cliff.

I am so thankful for Codee and that he works so hard to provide for us. I don't ever want to imagine being widowed at 25. I know I need to make the time to thank those who mean the world to me. I am so grateful for the amazing life I have and wouldn't trade it for anything.

1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

2011-06-21T20:43:00.019-06:00

Yay we've got one year of marriage under our belt! I can't believe its already been a year, it seems like just the other day we were saying our vows. According to Codee it seems like 5 years... but in a good way. Normally I would find this a little offensive but he assured me its because he's always felt like we belong together.

I feel like we've accomplished a lot our first year. Living together has been a lot of fun. We've learned to work out finances and budgeting, cooking, keeping up household chores and communicating more effectively.

So to celebrate the occasion we took a weekend trip to sunny St. George. The weather was perfect and we had an amazing time not having any agenda. My boss let us use his condo the first night and we booked a hotel room for the last 2 nights. We did lots of shopping and relaxing. We also bought tickets for Grease at Tuacahn.

Water for Elephants at the dollar movie

Grease Lightening!

Relaxing!

We saved the top tier of our wedding cake for our anniversary. And it actually tasted really good. It was wrapped in 3 layers of saran wrap, 3 layers of freezer paper and tinfoil and it made it through the year in our freezer.

Before...

After...
We did NOT smash cake in each others face at our wedding so we figured we had to at least do it on our anniversary.

After...

Even Togo and Zola got a piece...

PIGEON PROBLEM

2011-05-06T22:08:00.009-06:00

Last week we had a bit of a pigeon problem...

After work on Monday I was walking up the stairs to our apartment and when I got to the last set of stairs there was a group of pigeons sitting on our door step and the railing by our front door. And one of them had RED EYES!! Aaahhhhh!!!
I had scream and yell to get them to leave! The week continued...

Tuesday... PIGEONS
Wednesday... PIGEONS
Thursday... PIGEONS
Friday... Pigeons

Saturday morning... a nest appears in the corner of our doorstep. Really pigeons?! You can't build a nest here! So we threw it away.

Sunday morning... an EGG! Yes a freaking pigeon egg!
I was freaking out at this point. It's bad enough that every day I come home I have to shake my keys like a mad woman and yell at the top of my lungs just to get them to leave. But now an egg?!?!?! You've got to be kidding me!

Sunday Evening... a new nest starts to form around the egg. Ugh!

Monday morning... mother pigeon sitting on the egg.
At this point I get evil looks from the red eyed pigeon every time I get near my door. The mother and father pigeon would only fly away about 15 feet every time I yelled at them. So annoying!

So I was telling my friend Allison at work about my problem and she told me her Grandpa used to raise pigeons. So she called him and he said just to throw it away. So I had Codee throw the egg and nest away before I got home from work.

I kinda felt bad... a little like a home wrecker. I took away their pigeon house and destroyed their baby. Sorry dear pigeons...
But you freak me out with your red eyes and the way you flap your wings at me when I come home. The next step was to shoot you.

The pigeon problem is finally over... they havent been near our front door all week. My mother-in-law joked that it could've been a stork leaving something else on the doorstep. Haha!

(please ignore that I still have a snowman door mat from Christmas)

EASTER

2011-05-01T16:53:00.009-06:00

We had Mariah over one night before Easter to have dinner and dye Easter eggs. Mariah chose Chili's for dinner where we stuffed our faces with 3 different appetizers and each got our own entre. Never been so full in my life!
We came back to our place where we dyed some pretty rad eggs and listened to Justin Bieber.

Mariah's Beeber Feever Egg

Togo's egg!

Zola's egg!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CODEE!

2011-04-12T21:24:00.006-06:00

Codee turned 28 on Saturday! Happy Birthday Love!

We had the plan to go golfing on his birthday but the snow storm had other plans. Other plans included Codee snow plowing the canyon Friday at midnight until 10 the next morning. And then going back at 10 that night until 6 a.m. Sunday morning. NO FUN!

In between that time he got a few hours of sleep and we drove up to Logan to have dinner with his family. We went to the best pizza place in Logan... Fredrico's. Right next to the Utah State campus.

Sunday, all he wanted to do was watch The Masters. So being a good wife I just let him do his thing. Haha! But I did take him to Cheescake Factory that night for a delish dinner.

YEARS OF WAITING

2011-03-21T20:19:00.010-06:00

Growing up I couldn't wait to get my own place so I could decorate it how I wanted to. My mom would never take my designing tips growing up because our styles were completely different. Now that I'm married and have my own place she loves my style. (Funny how that works out.)
I've spent the last 3-4 years buying decorations and other home decor items for the time when I'd have my own place. Everything from dishes to pictures frames. And now it is finally coming together. I still have a lot of work I want to do and I know when we get a house one day things will have to be moved around but for now I'm having fun FINALLY getting the opportunity to do things my way. I really like black and white decor. One day when we get a house I'll have colored walls to make everthing POP.
Codee thought he'd do a lot of the decorating when we got married but c'mon... us women wait years to do this. And I was not about to have a camo couch and elk antlers on the wall. Maybe if we ever have a cabin I'll take those suggestions into consideration. ;)
I've spent the last year and half looking for lamps. I know right... lamps! But I am so in love with this lamp I bought 2 of them! Even though only 1 has a place right now.

I made these frames with scrapbook paper and wooden frames from my work. I love the way they turned out and I found this metal "FAMILY" sign at Real Deals.

They sell these box signs at Gardner Village but I was so stoked when we started carrying them at my work and I could use my awesome discount.

"Kissing the War Goodbye" is my favorite photograph of all time. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture!

VALENTINES

2011-02-20T20:53:00.009-07:00

Since Valentines was on a Monday this year we did things a little different. We planned on celebrating on Wednesday night because Codee has school till 10 o'clock on Mondays and Wednesdays are the only not he doesn't have class. But the stupid snow rolled in on and Codee spent the night in a plow truck.
So Friday we finally went out to dinner to our favorite restaurant Market Street (seriously to DIE for). And Codee gave me the cutest handmade card! And an all day trip to the day spa. Yes, I'm a lucky girl. But of course I forgot my camera so you'll miss my snazy outfit I wore that night.

But I do have some Valentines crafts pictures to share. Right after the Christmas tree came down, up went the Valentines. This was probably my next favorite holiday to decorate for next to Halloween.

TOP 10 OF 2010

2010-12-27T17:07:00.024-07:00

NUMBER 10
Fun Times with Mariah
We always look forward to our time with Mariah. We've loved watching her grow this year (and not just taller.) We've been to Bees games with her, had craft nights, worked on homework, been to the science fair, coached her softball team, went to the Christmas Carol play and and who can forget the Justin Bieber conecert! And so much more. We love this girl to pieces!

NUMBER 9
Honeybee
This is was my 4th year being a honeybee. I love going to the ballpark and I love a good baseball game. And I get paid to go! This year was extra special because after getting married I didn't get to see Natalie as much so it was something that we could still do together.

NUMBER 8
Crafting
My crafting skills have definitely come a long way this year. I started an etsy store and crafting has become my new #1 hobby. I've started teaching demonstrations and doing craft nights with my family and friends. I hope 2011 is an even bigger craft year for me.

NUMBER 7
Vacations
We went to some fun places this year. The Hoover Dam, Vegas, Colorado, Bear Lake, Midway.

NUMBER 6
114th South
Codee has been working on the new 114th South interchange for the past couple years. And his segment was finally finished in October.

NUMBER 5
No More Math! Well math classes that is...
Codee took his LAST actual math class this last semester. Differential Equations. Although he'll have tons of math to do throughout his major he has finally reached the highest level of collegiate mathematics.

NUMBER 4
Wood Connection
My job has been a been huge blessing in our life. I started the end of February and I absolutely love it. I love going to work everyday. I was so unhappy with my work situation until the Wood Connection came along. My overall career aspirations are a bit confusing now but I can honestly say I love my job and I'd rather be doing something I love than be doing something I went to school for and hate it.

NUMBER 3
Zola
Although Zola has become "the big bully" in our house, she instantly became part of our family when we brought her home. She makes us laugh everyday. Zola and Togo couldn't live without each other and our the best kids we could ask for.

NUMBER 2
Home Sweet Home
Apartment hunting was the biggest headache for the first half of the year. We looked at sooo many places! Our apartment now is perfect and has become our "Home Sweet Home". It's been so much fun having a place of our own.

NUMBER 1
Getting Married
I can't believe we've been married for 6 months already. Our wedding day has definitely been the best part of our year. The best decision I've ever made is making my best friend my husband.

Giving Thanks

2010-11-21T20:54:00.003-07:00

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. I have so many blessings in my life and so much to thankful for. I love taking the time to reflect on what I have in my life.

The number one blessing in my life is CODEE. He is seriously my best friend and I am so lucky to have him as my husband. I know I've said it before he honestly saved my life. He treats me so good. He works hard for us and the life we together. And I am so.. so thankful for him and for everything he does. I would truly be lost without him.

I am thankful for my JOB. I LOVE going to work everyday. How many people can say that? I love what I do. And I love the people I work with. Employment is still a hard thing to find these days. I was talking to the owner of a business we do work with and he just laid off one of his workers that had been with him for 17 years. I am so thankful I have a stable job and that it's something I love.

I am thankful for CODEE'S JOB. The benefits are awesome. The work is busy and I don't have to worry about him being laid off. Sometimes the hours he work aren't the greatest. But I'm just grateful we both have jobs.

I am thankful for our FREEDOM in this country. The troops who lose and risk their lives everyday for our country. God bless our troops and their families.

I am thankful for FAMILY. My parents, my seester Natalie. Codee's parents and siblings. Both of our grandparents. They are our support system, the ones who love us and are always on our side. I am thankful that we now have our own little family.

I am thankful for our APARTMENT. Yes... our apartment, our HOME. I love our little love nest. Half the time its a complete mess but I love that it is "our place". A place that we can call our own.

I am thankful for TOGO & ZOLA. These little monsters bring so much happiness into our lives. Yes they poo on the carpet and drag out all 30 of their toys everyday. And Togo never eats out of the dog bowl he wacks it out of the bowl and all over the floor and then eats it and leaves a mess. And they start a fight at 3 a.m. But these little terrors complete our little family.

I am thankful for MARIAH. We love this little girl so much. We have so much fun with her. We love doing things with her and helping her with her homework. She makes us laugh all the time. For instance...
Mariah: "How do you wake up Lady Gaga?"
Us: "How?"
Mariah: "You POKER face"
We LOVE her!

These are just a few of the things I am thinking of and grateful for this year. Always be sure to take the time to think of things that YOU are grateful for in your own lives.

And here are a few of my thanksgiving crafts...

FAMILY PHOTOS

2010-11-08T22:35:00.007-07:00

Now that I am officially a "Raymond" I wanted to get family pictures done with my new family. Of course the fabulous Nathaniel Ray Photography took our photographs and he did an awesome job as always. Here's a few of my favorite...

Nykele, Darith, Daimyn & Londyn

Clint & Shoni

Us

2010-11-03T20:43:00.011-06:00

I've been wanting to do this post for a while. I put my Halloween decoations up the first week of September, Halloween is my favorite holiday. I've been collecting Halloween decorations for years... just waiting to have a place of my own. And I wanted to have them up as long as possible. They finally came down today but here is how fun our little aparmtment has been the past couple months.

SPOT BOT

2010-09-29T19:06:00.006-06:00

Potty training a puppy isn't easy... especially when there are 3 flights of stairs between the carpet and the grass. So we bought this.... Bissell Spot Bot

This little carpet cleaning machine is amazing! It takes all the back breaking work out of scrubbing carpets. And we found an screaming deal on KSL. $40 bucks instead of the regular $130. I love you Spot Bot!

And here are some pictures of the kids...

Swiss Days

2010-09-19T21:44:00.010-06:00

I haven't been to Swiss Days since I was a little girl but this year I really wanted to go. Crafts have pretty much consumed all my spare time since graduating from college. And Swiss Days is a craft girls dream.
My mom, Natalie and I headed up first thing in the morning so we could get there and get all the good things before they got picked over. Dang... did I clean up good. I can't wait till next year to do it all over again.

My favorite purchase was this hat... I LOVE hats! I'm obsessed with hats! I'd wear one every day but then people would think I'm too lazy to do my hair.

Next, almost every booth had cute fabric flowers. These are a few I bought to interchange on my favorite hat.

This was my other favorite thing. I saw someone walking around with one and I immediately went on a mad hunt for one. It's a huge metal spider. I stuck Zola in front of it so you could see how giant the thing is.

This adorable pumpkin goes amazing with my Halloween decor.

Natalie and I both bought headbands from this booth.

And finally... I've always wanted a tile magnet board and I finally found one. I still just need to find a place for it.

ZOLA

2010-08-29T08:33:00.004-06:00

We'd like you to meet the newest addition to the Raymond family....

ZOLA

Yesterday, on our way to the grocery store we ended up taking a different route than we normally do. No specific reason ... its just the way we ended up going. Strangely enough our topic of conversation was about when we first got Togo, something that we don't talk about too often. Then on the corner was a sign that said "puppies for sale". I told Codee to stop so we could look, we didn't have to get one I just wanted to look. Sure enough they were Brussels Griffon puppies, the same breed as Togo... and one that is very uncommon and hard to find.
While on the corner playing with the puppies Codee looks at me and says, "I think we should get one, pick one." We have always said we wanted another dog that was the same breed but were planning on waiting until next spring/summer to start looking.
We debated on whether to get the shy, timid girl or the rambunctious, playful boy. We left and told the people that we would call them shortly with a decision. We figured it'd be good to have a dog that balanced Togo out. He's wild and crazy and she's shy and calm.
And so... she was ours. We went back and picked her up. It just felt so right to get her. The fact that we had taken a different route to the store than we normally do. The fact that we were talking about Togo when he was a puppy and when we first picked him up. And then, there she was. She fits in perfect with our little family.

WELCOME ZOLA!

HONEYMOON IN THE ROCKIES

2010-07-14T20:51:00.032-06:00

We really wanted to go to the Caribbean for our honeymoon... but who wants to go to the Caribbean in the middle of June? So maybe we'll save it for this fall/winter.

We didn't book our honeymoon until 2 weeks before the wedding... the wedding financial situation got a little complicated at the end. But I really think we went to one of the most beautiful places in the world.... "Little Switzerland" or Ouray Colorado.

The first day of our honeymoon got off to a bad start...
2 hours before the wedding, I was just finishing my hair and makeup when I stood out of the makeup chair and my fake nail ripped off... taking my real fingernail with it. Uh... ouch! I didn't have time to worry about it so we stopped the bleeding, glued it back on and went and got hitched. So the next day I knew I had to go to the doctor. After 3 shots that wiggled into my joints, the doctor detached the rest of my fingernail. We'll just say it hurt really bad. And in 6-8 months I'll have a new jacked up fingernail. So after the doctor we drove 6 hours to the beautiful Ouray Colorado. Our room was so sweet! It was a lodge/western theme. By the time we got there all that was open was an Irish pub with some yummy chicken strips.
Beautiful Ouray!

Our SWEET Honeymoon Suite!

Day 2 was a better day... we woke up and ate breakfast at a place called Bulow's Bistro... ammmmmaazzing! I had cinnamon roll french toast and Codee had a ranchero breakfast burrito. Then we walked all the shops in Ouray... which didn't take us very long. Ouray has a population of only 800. So we drove to another town near by called Telluride. (Tim McGraw has a song about Telluride) Well in Telluride they were holding a HUGE bluegrass festival. The had miles of tent cities before the town and they had sheriffs closing the town off. We told them it was our honeymoon and they let us in. Which by the way... the sheriff smelled like weed and when we got into the town we realized everyone smelled like weed. And I was the only girl in the entire town that was wearing a bra! So the place was basically a hippie fest. After grabbing some ice cream we left and headed back to Ouray.

The Hippies in Telluride

"Sweet Life" sweets in Telluride

Day 3 we went to a gold and silver mine for breakfast and after eating we took a tour into the mine. They took us 1800 feet into the mine and showed us the tools they used and exactly how they used mine out the metals. Sounds kinda boring but it was really fascinating. After the mine we drove 45 minutes to another time called Silverton. Silverton was a popular town for old time cowboys like Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. It is 9300 feet in elevation... so it gets very cold in the winter and only about 100 people live in the town during winter. It is so high in the Rockies that the town is basically snowed in all winter. Several people had told us to eat dinner at a place called "Handlebars", a funky biker bar that was by far the best food we ate on the whole trip. Definitely worthy of a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives episode on Food Network. Silverton is also one of the main stops for the "Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad". It was a train used to get mining metals out of the mining towns between Ouray and Silverton. Well we heard this train ride was pretty sweet so we booked our tickets for the next day...
Getting ready for the mine

Day 4
We woke up and headed back to Silverton to get ready for our train ride. We stopped in town to do some shopping have a funnel cake before our long ride. $200 bucks for two coach class tickets... and that took us on a 4 hour hour train ride through rocky mountain cliffs to the town of Durango (and a bus ride back to Silverton). The train was a coal running train so we were covered in soot by the time it was time. I can't even tell how GORGEOUS the ride was! I'll let the pictures do the talking.... And we had dinner in Durango at an fabulous little restaurant next to the tracks. Best burger we've had in a while...

Day 5 we hung out in Ouray for a few hours and did some window shopping then we took the long drive back to Salt Lake. My parents made dinner for us and Codee's mom and brother came down from Logan to meet us. We ate dinner and opened our wedding gifts. Can I please say that we got soooo much sweet stuff

MR. & MRS.

2010-07-07T20:38:00.007-06:00

The wedding is over and life is starting to go back to normal. I guess I can say normal... we've never been married before so we're transitioning into what I'm assuming will be our normal life. But we'll talk about our new life together and transitioning in another post. This post is about the wedding.

Our wedding day was perfect. Absolutely perfect... It was even better than I would've ever imagined. The garden where we had our ceremony was so beautiful, so striking, so absolutely amazing and gorgeous that I can't find a word to describe it (not even the thesauruses had a better word suggestion). The colors from the flowers, the blue sky, the warm sun... and it was all just so bold. Yes... bold.
The music timed perfectly, my dad looked so happy and Codee cried. My handsome husband I saw standing under the arbor was the best thing my eyes has ever seen. I can't describe the feeling I had walking through the windy mossy path. It was just perfect. I don't remember anyone from the ceremony but me, him, Bishop Gray and our vows. I couldn't see anything else but the moment I was in.

Our reception was a blast! It was so good to see so many people. I never got bored with our line. Although I'm sure my bridesmaid and the groomsmen were bored out of their minds. Our cake was delicious and thank heaven he didn't smash it in my face. Our dessert crepes were fabulous. First dance was like no other dance I've danced before.. and the entire night was AMAZING.

...MORE PHOTOS COMING TOMORROW...

The Hoover Dam

2010-06-03T09:20:00.007-06:00

Being a student of Engineering, and also working in the field there are a few projects in our country's history that I find very fascinating. One of these projects was the Hoover Dam. On our recent trip to Vegas to visit our friends Seth and Kirie, we had the chance to go to the Dam. Before I start, I probably need to apologize to Seth, Kirie, and Rachel for all my random Dam facts, and proving what kind of nerd I really am. Now, all you blog followers get to put up with a little more nerdery as I once again share random (useless) information about the Hoover Dam.

The Hoover Dam began being built in 1931, and was completed in 1936. The Dam is built in Black canyon and was originally to be called the Boulder Dam. The name was changed later in construction and surprised many people. 112 people died in the construction of the dam. The first man to die, ended up being the father of the last man to die in construction(Random Fact #1)

The dam itself was poured in sections, like legos. Refrigerated water lines were placed through the concrete helping to cool the dam down. Concrete generates quite a bit of heat, so these lines were necessary with the amount of concrete. If they hadn't ran the water lines, the dam would've taken an estimated 125 years to cure, and probably would have ended up cracking and crumbling(Random Fact #2)

The dam is 660 ft wide at the bottom and narrows as it goes up. The amount of concrete in the dam is astronomical. There is enough concrete in the dam to build a 2 lane highway from San Francisco to New York City.(Random Fact #3)

Because of the terrorist attacks and the potential threats (Thanks alot Bin Laden) a new bridge is in the process of being constructed so that it will not longer be necessary to drive across the dam. This bridge is equally as impressive as you can see from the pictures. Many of you may not know what I do for a living, but I inspect construction projects, and have been able to work on 5 bridges, (None of this magnitude) I cannot wait to one day have my hand in the building or designing of a bridge this impressive. Also, we want to thank Seth and Kirie for letting us stay with them and showing us a great time. We missed them as soon as we left, thanks guys, can't wait to come down again.

Rachel throwing a quarter into Lake Mead off the top of the dam. She wished for a new baby(I'm pretty sure)

This is the new bridge. Look how high it is from the river.

The new bridge from underneath

Looking down the face of the dam

Lake Mead

Water intake towers on the Arizona side

All 4 of us. Thanks again guys, we had a great time

WEDDING THINGS I'M EXCITED FOR...

2010-05-07T18:32:00.010-06:00

Wedding stress has been killing me lately! I don't feel like myself lately, I'm just a big stressed out mess. But I'm trying to stay positive so here are some things I've bought this week that I'm excited for.

A pearl bracelet to wear with my dress....
http://www.etsy.com/shop/KirstenKuehnDesigns

My garter....
http://www.etsy.com/shop/elegantgartershop

Our cake topper....
http://www.etsy.com/shop/myfrivolities

And I'm most excited to spend the rest of my life with this guy....

2010-04-29T18:45:00.014-06:00

2 weeks ago we headed down to Hurricane to take our engagements and my bridals. It was such a fun weekend. Codee's friends Nate took our pictures and he did an amazing job as you can see. Thanks Nate!

We found an awesome abandoned amphitheatre in the town of Toquerville. It was my favorite place to take pictures. The ones in the desert are in Leeds/Harrisburg, another small southern Utah town. And the ones in the telephone booth and the garage/old doors were done on Main Street in St. George. I'm seriously obsessed with these pictures!

SUCH A SIMPLE CONCEPT

2010-04-24T23:28:00.004-06:00

So much to blog about but I've had no time to do it. Work, wedding, Bees and coaching softball consume my time. But here is a quick story I want to share...

Last night we went to dinner at Tucanos and while we were waiting to be seated a much older couple came and set next to us. They asked if we were newleyweds and we told them we were engaged. They told us they had been married for 63 years. I asked the couple if they could give us one piece of marriage advice what it would be. They simply said "Just love each other... be good to one another." It made me think how important the little things are and what a simple concept... love each.

Easter Chicks

2010-04-05T21:19:00.007-06:00

Mariah and I had craft night last weekend. Codee went up to his friends to watch the UFC fights so we had a girls night. We made these really cute chick eggs from my work. We painted the our chicks and glued fun paper to the front of them. Then we added beaks, feet and eyes for the finishing touches. They turned out adorable and we had a blast hanging out. They made a great addition to our Easter decor.

Mariah's Chick

My Chick

NATALIE

2010-03-18T20:14:00.007-06:00

Natalie is my sister and best friend. She always has been and always will be. She is always there to listen , give support, scrapbook with me, run to the grocery store with me at midnight... anything and everything... she is always there. She truly is my best friend.
Earlier this year, she was diagnosed with having pre-cancerous cells on her cervix and uterus. We had to wait for blood tests and biopsy procedures before anything could be done. After nearly 2 months of waiting she finally had her surgery on Tuesday. The doctors went in and removed half of her cervix and scraped off all of the cancer and pre-cancerous cells on her uterus. The surgery was successful and thankfully didn't take very long. She has been home for the week recovering and should be back to normal next week.
Over the 2 next years she'll have multiple check-ups and hopefully no more surgeries. And the doctors are pretty sure she'll still be able to have children. I am just so thankful that the problem was caught in time. If she had waited even a month longer then the cells would have all been cancer and she might not have had any chance at having kids. I am so happy to have my sister around for a long time and maybe one day become an aunt. I love you Nat Nat!

Did you know every 47 minutes, another woman in the United States is diagnosed with cervical cancer? HELP PREVENT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HumoHUC8yQ

GOOD THINGS HAVE FINALLY COME OUR WAY

2010-03-10T21:41:00.005-07:00

As some of you may know, I was completely miserable at my job. I was working at a portrait studio. I loved taking pictures and working with the customers that came in. And I was so excited to be doing photography every day. Long story short... my original manager was relocated to another studio and a new lady was brought in. She was seriously awful! My job became HELL. It became all about sales and only spending TEN MINUTES in the camera room with each photo session. Are you kidding me?!? I can't do pictures in ten minutes. And the studio cut my hours from 30 a week to 5. FIVE HOURS people! I can't live off that! So for about 4 months I looked REALLY hard for a new job. Nothing promising ever came about. So I opened an Etsy store and started decorating wood crafts to pass the time.
One night when I was at The Wood Connection (the store where I buy my wood crafts) I ran into the owners wife and after a short conversation she offered me a job. I seriously couldn't believe it. It was so easy! I immediately quit the portrait studio and started at Wood Connection a couple days later. I have been there 3 weeks now and I absolutely LOVE it! It's not even like work to me. Everyone is so nice and I love going to work in the morning! Not to mention it literally takes me 90 seconds to get from my driveway to the time clock. And I've already been given a raise with another one coming in 2 weeks. And I can get as many hours a week as I want. So I've been working at least 40.
It has been such a blessing getting this job. If you only knew how awful I felt at my last job. I felt so degraded and unappreciated. And poor Codee had to put up with a couple nights of me sobing my eyes out as I left work. It is just such a relief to finally be somewhere where I'm happy and being doing something that I love. I know I won't work there forever but it'll be nice to enjoy until Codee is done with school and we can move somewhere when I can use my degree and pursue my real life dreams.

PUSHED BACK...

2010-02-20T23:04:00.005-07:00

Today was supposed to be the 100 day countdown until the wedding. A day that I've looking forward to. No more triple numbers. Earlier this week Codee called me when I was half awake and said,
"Guess what?!"
"What?"
"U2 is coming to Rice Eccles on June 3rd!"
(My half awake response) "Oh cool, do you want to go?"
"No Rachel, they are coming on June 3rd... the day of our wedding..."
".... uhhh ...." "Are you serious!!! NOOO!"

This is problem because the Outdoor U2 concert is a mile away from my Outdoor wedding. So as soon as my morning voice was gone I called Red Butte Gardens to see what they could do. (BTW-The ladies up there are so nice and understanding) After making some phone calls, the wedding coordinator called me back. She said Rice Eccles was starting sound checks at 3 and the opening band was coming on around 7. And there was a good chance you could hear "Testing Testing 1 2 3" in the middle of "I do". Plus there is going to be 60,000ish people driving up that way and traffic would be a nightmare! And after 4 years of driving up to the University every day I know how horrendous traffic is up there.
Every Friday and Saturday in June was already booked. And there was only one Thursday still open for the month. June 17th... So we had no choice but to go with June 17th... unless we wanted our guests to fight traffic and a possible "testing testing 1 2 3" in the middle of the ceremony. On the positive side, Red Butte Gardens is having their annual fundraising gala on the 18th. So the gardens will be in their best tip-top shape. And there is less of a chance for rain.
So June 17th is the date! Maybe the couple extra weeks will help me get ahead of all the wedding planning.
p.s. Bono, I'm expecting a BIG wedding gift.

WEEKEND OF LOVE

2010-02-15T22:04:00.004-07:00

Aaahhh... Valentines Day. I find that most people either hate it or love it. We are on the "love it" side. Not that we need a special day to celebrate our loviness (if that's a word) but it's just something to look forward to out of our day to day routines.
Friday doesn't really count towards Valentines because Codee dragged me to the Hunting Expo. I guess it was just payback for the 2 bridal shows I dragged him too. But I did it because I LOVE him...
Saturday we planned on going out to delicious Market Street but halfway through the day I thought cooking dinner together might be more fun. Cooking is actually something we really enjoy doing together. So we made a shrimp, scallop and noodle pasta dish. It turned out just okay... But just as we sat down to eat Codee put a blind fold over my eyes and then presented me with a beautiful flower arrangement... lillies, roses, carnations and a bunch of other non-traditional Valentines flowers. Which I loved because I really wasn't wanting roses.
Sunday, I got more flowers! Codee heard me saying I wanted red tulips at the Hunting Expo. That night we had tickets to Josh Turner out in Wendover with my honeybee friend Tina and her fiance Andrew. We met at Squatters downtown (which is amazing by the way, the mac & cheese and the italian pizza are to die for) for some good pub grub. Then we took the long and boring drive to Wendover. The show didn't start till 8 so we browsed the casino for a bit and headed to the concert hall about 7:40. Well, when we got there the doors were locked and nobody was waiting in line. Once they let us in we realized the show had started at 7. Oops! My fault... So we enjoyed 5 out of 16 songs and then got back into the car for the long drive back. All well...
So overall, I'd say we had a successful Valentines weekend, minus missing the Josh Turner concert. I had a fun weekend hangin out with my love.

ETSY

2010-01-22T23:16:00.004-07:00

I recently started an Etsy store in my spare time. (It's part of my mission to becoming a domestic goddess.) I've started making wood home decor items. Eventually I'd like to add sewing creations, scrapbook stuff... anything my imagination and creativity can come up with.
So far, I've had 3 custom orders completed. And am working on another one right now. I've really enjoyed doing all of it. And with Codee doing school and homework most nights, its given me something to do in my free time.
Anyways... check it out... spread the word to your friends and family. I really want to get the word out there. Thanks for your help!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/AllMyLove86

CHRISTMAS 2009

2010-01-18T23:14:00.006-07:00

Codee and I had an amazing Christmas! The day was a little crazy trying to visit family, but that's how it always is right? Codee came to my house in the morning and we opened presents with my family and then we did our gifts for each other. My parents got us a kitchen table! I already knew that's what we were getting because we picked it out in November. But it's what I've been telling them I want all year.
Codee spolied me with new jeans from Buckle, a fossil watch, a cowgirl bracelet that I love, a new purse and gift cards to my favorite craft stores. And just when I thought he was done, he went out to his car and brought in a big heavy box... with a Kitchenaid Mixer!!! I've been saying we should get one for a while but I didn't think he'd actually suprise me with one.
After gifts we made breakfast with my family and took a nap. Later that night we headed to both of my grandparents to have 2 dinners and desserts.
Since the majority of Codee's family lives in Cache Valley we couldn't drive up for the whole day. So we went up to Wellsville/Logan the Sunday after Christmas to spend the whole day with them. His mom made a delicious Christmas dinner and we exchanged gifts with everyone. It was so nice to get away for the day and head out of Salt Lake.
Altough we had an amazing Christmas with gifts and all, the real gift and thing I was most thankful for this season was family. I feel so lucky to have Codee in my life and that's the best gift I could ever ask for. We also have AMAZING family members around us. They are so much better then any gift from Santa. It's hard sometimes being away from Codee's family and not seeing them very often, but when we do see them I feel so loved and so grateful for the time we have with them. I'm so excited to officially and legally become a part of his family. Next Christmas I will be Rachel Raymond... YAY!!!
My mixer!!!

One of Codee's new watches

Fabulous Christmas

Our cute little tree in my bedroom

Codee. Nat. Chase

Londyn (Codee's neice with her dress up box we got her)

INSEPARABLE

2010-01-05T23:04:00.004-07:00

This obituary was in Sunday's edition of the Salt Lake Tribune. It's a local Notebook love story. Although I didn't know these people I really hope to have a love like theirs as Codee and I start our lives together.
Neal B. Olpin 9/28/1926~12/30/2009 JoeAnn B. Olpin 5/9/1929~12/30/2009 The sweetest love, life fully lived, now complete. Neal B. Olpin, our Papa, passed away Dec. 30, 2009 just seven hours before his sweetheart of 61 years, JoeAnn Broyles Olpin, our Grammy, both passed away of natural causes. Inseparable in life; together in passing. Born September 28, 1926 to Albert W. Olpin and Katie Irene Stephenson of Salt Lake City, Neal graduated from East High School, then joined the Navy in 1944. Neal continued his education at the University of Utah in pre-med courses. He determined his life's course, personally and professionally when he met JoeAnn, a dental assistant. Born May 9, 1929 to Joseph E. Broyles and Irene Crane, JoeAnn graduated from South High, Salt Lake City, and worked as a dental assistant where she met her sweetheart, Neal. As newlyweds, Neal and JoeAnn moved to San Francisco where Neal graduated as Valedictorian from the University of Pacific School of Dentistry and began his dental practice of 42 years in Salt Lake City. Neal and JoeAnn were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple, May 6, 1976 by Elder Neal A. Maxwell. Grammy and Papa loved nothing more than spending time with their family.

CHRISTMAS EVE

2010-01-03T20:03:00.007-07:00

I think we may have started a new Christmas Eve tradition. We went ice skating downtown at the Galivan Center on Christmas Eve. It was so fun being downtown with all the lights and the Christmas music. It definitely put us in the Christmas mood. And surprisingly we didn't fall!!!

I took a picture of this slush because I thought it looked like a heart. AAWWWW...

HOBBY

2010-01-03T19:44:00.005-07:00

Since graduating, I have so much free time. No more papers and thesis statements. No more staying in the library till 1 a.m. cramming for Mass Comm Law. No more video editing for hours. No more sleeping in the Union Buliding. And definitely no more driving all the way to the U everyday.
So with my new found extra time I have become a craft junkie. Yes, one of those girls who goes to the craft store 5 out of 7 days of the week. (I was a regular everyday in the summer, its slowed down to once a week.) I started scrapbooking over the summer... just mine and Codee's life thus far. I've also taken up wood crafts.
I never thought I'd be a craft junkie but here I am with hundreds of dollars invested to Joann's Crafts and a basement full of paper, funky scissors, stickers, stamps, paint and hundreds of ideas of projects just waiting to be done.
With the holidays out of the way I'm excited to get back into my crafty groove.

My friend Anne and I each made one of these adorable "BELIEVE" blocks for Christmas.

A cute snowman card I made.

INDIAN RUINS

2009-12-21T23:57:00.021-07:00

While in Blanding for Thanksgiving Codee and I went on quite the excursion looking at indian ruins. His aunt and uncle own over a hundred acres of land with multiple indian ruins on them. They gave us each a four-wheeler to ride and we set out for the afternoon.
When we started I thought we were just going to one ruin that they had been talking about. But they took us to 5 different places on their property. I can't even begin to describe how amazing everything is. At each ruin you can find broken pottery, arrowheads, tools, jewelry and many other things. What is so amazing about all of it is that the ruins are from the Anasazi Indians from approximately 1500 years ago. YES I said one thousand five hundred years ago. Some archeologists even believe they emerged around 1200 B.C.
With each site we went to the trip became more amazing! I am now completely fascinated with the history of this region. I even brought home a few pieces of broken pottery. You have to see the pictures I took!!! And I apologize now for the picture overload. Words simply can't describe everything we saw. The first 2 ruins had to be dug out. Yes... someone sifted through all the dirt and has uncovered the ancient homes. And you'll see a picture of my brusied, swollen ankle from when I accidently rolled the four-wheeler over myself while going up a steep hill.
Their dogs that seriosuly ran miles while we rode the four-wheelers.

Ridin' dirty

Welcome home!

The front door

Some sort of work place. They think maybe for grinding grain or working with food.

The next ruin

Writing on the wall

Another location

This one was way up on the ledge of a cliff

I don't think I could live a week here...

They think this is where they would sharpen thier tools and sticks

And they saved the best for last. This ruin was underneath a cliff and seriosuly spectacular!

And my big ankle! This was right after it happened, it was literally black 2 days later.

This is some of the pottery, jewelry and tools they've recovered from their property. All the pots were smashed and have been carefully glued back together. They spent over a month looking for one missing piece on one.

THANKSGIVING

2009-12-08T21:37:00.006-07:00

For Thanksgiving this year Codee took me down to Blanding to have Thanksgiving with his grandparents. I have never been to Blanding and all I knew is that it was a very small town. So small, it doesn't even have a traffic signal... just a flashing 4-way stop. They do have a Subway (which almost every small town has) and an A&W inside of a gas station. Oh! And they also had a movie theatre! And it surprisingly wasn't playing "Old Yeller".
Codee's grandparents made an AMAZING Thanksgiving feast! Later that night, Codee's grandma showed me pictures from her genealogy book. She had pictures of her family from the late 1800's. It was so fascinating to see so much history! And it was fun to see the pictures of Codee when he was little and pictures of his mom when she was growing up.
I was very surprised with how much fun we had over the weekend. The town holds a lot more excitement then you'd expect.

Codee's grandpa making the best mashed potatoes I've ever had in my life!

Codee's Grandma, Codee's mom Kitt and his brother Kye

Adorable Sydney!

My Thanksgiving feast!

P-DUB

2009-11-20T22:49:00.005-07:00

For those of you who know how much I love The Pioneer Woman you can only imagine how excited I was to get her new cookbook and go to her book signing. My friend Kirie is the one who introduced me to this amazing woman and her amazing blog. Kirie flew all the way up from Las Vegas to go to the book signing!
The signing was supposed to start at 7 which was when I was planning on arriving. Little did I know that Pioneer Woman has a HUGE following in Utah. Codee and I made it up to the bookstore only to find out that we'd have to be in line till at least 1 a.m. before we could meet her and have my book signed. UGH! I was so bummed!! Luckily Kirie and her mom had arrived 4 hours early and were at the front of the line to meet her. So I gave my book to Kirie to get signed. I'm still so sad I didn't get to meet her. But at least my book is signed.
And if you haven't heard of The Pionner Woman then you're really missing out. Go to her website right now and make her Apple Dumplings. Then you can die and go to heaven knowing that you've fully lived.

GOBBLE GOBBLE

2009-11-20T22:38:00.003-07:00

Heartland Paper has the cutest holiday crafts! I saw this turkey and I had to get the kit to make him! I know it doesn't seem like there is much to him but it took me 4 HOURS to make him! And I am very proud he's done and sitting on the counter. He's going to look so good when Codee and I go to Blanding next week for Thanksgiving. My friend Anne and I are making a Christmas craft from Heartland soon. I'll have the pictures up when we're done.

HALLOWEEN

2009-11-20T22:13:00.006-07:00

Every year my family has a Halloween party where everyone brings a soup and we carve pumpkins. Codee and I brought our famous (yes its famous) chicken enchilada soup. Codee's mom and little brother came down from Logan to go with us. Codee's pumpkin was seriously AMAZING! OH! And I need mention that Codee is the worlds fastest pumpkin gut cleaner. He can clean out any regular size pumpkin in under 2.75 minutes.

And for Halloween night we took Mariah and her best friends Chelsey trick-or-treating again this year. Our costumes were very last minute. I threw together a Little Red Riding Hood costume and Codee wore a scary mask. I promise next year I am going to get us some WICKED costumes to make up for us not dressing up the past 2 years.
We started our trick-or-treating excursion in Draper. We thought the huge million dollar mansions by the Draper Temple would be handing out $100 bills. Boy were we wrong. All the girls got was a couple lame tootsie rolls. So went back to our original plan to go back to Canal Road in Taylorsville like we did last year. The houses were much more generous. Each girl ended up with 11 big candy bars and lots of other good stuff.
And my Togo Love was so ADORABLE in his lobster costume! Everyone loved him! He even got a couple dog treats from some houses.

BAYSIDE

2009-11-20T22:04:00.003-07:00

Bayside is Codee's favorite band ever! I'm learning to like them more than I used to. The concert was downtown at "In The Venue". It was so crowded! Codee had to rescue me from a mosh pit. And after the show we talked to the members of Bayside at their merchandice booth. I was going to ask them if they'd play at the wedding but I was too scared.

WE'RE ALIVE

2009-11-20T21:56:00.003-07:00

First off, I apologize for my lack of blogging the past of couple months. So be ready for blog overload. Not really... I just have a few posts. Truth is, Codee and I have been so busy lately. Codee has had so much homework and busy with the project on 11400 south. And I've been just been scrapbooking and working. We're lame!

MY LOSER DAD

2009-11-02T21:38:00.006-07:00

My dad has always been a pretty big guy (if you know what I mean). This was always great in high school because he could scare away the boys he didn't want coming around to pick me up. Well, starting mid-July he decided that he'd had enough. He started taking nightly walks, nothing too difficult. He would go for an hour to an hour and half and listen to his ipod. The first 2 weeks were pretty hard to get into a routine. His walks consisted of 5 miles daily. He also started eating healthier and taking smaller portions.

3 1/2 months later he has kept up his routine and started using the elliptical machine as well. On the weekends he does 2 workouts a day, at least an hour each. Well ladies and gentleman... today he hit his goal of losing 75 LBS!

75 LBS PEOPLE!!!!!!

I am seriously so proud of him. He has decreased his risk of diabetes and heart disease, which is a huge risk factor in our family. Plus he looks SO GOOD! He has gone from a size 40 waist to a 34. Keep it up Dad! I'm so proud of you and love you!!

This is us at my graduation in May. (He went to BYU so this is him trying to display his "Y".)

And 75 lbs later...this is him working out on the elliptical machine.

MANURE WEDDING DREAMS

2009-10-05T23:02:00.005-06:00

FRIDAY MORNING. 6 A.M. THIS IS THE PLACE PARK. 20 BRIDES. 4 COMPETITIONS. ONE $20,000 WEDDING PACKAGE GIVEAWAY.
Codee and I were randomly selected to participate in a $20,000 wedding package giveaway last Friday morning. 6 a.m. in Heritage Park is freezing. We gathered with the other couples in one of the little houses where they dressed us up in pioneer attire. I wore a lovely puke colored gown with a pea green apron and Codee wore a button up cowboy shirt with a rancher style vest and a straw hat.
Fox 13 News and 97.1 zht were broadcasting the event all morning. Our first competition was a wedding cake eating contest. Each bride had to eat a 7 inch round cake and finish with a glass of milk. I wanted to start the competition off strong. I didn't get out of my warm bed at 5 a.m. to lose. I pounded the cake like there was no tomorrow and finished in 3rd place. Only 15 brides continued to the next round.
Round 2 was a handcart pulling contest. The grooms sat inside the handcart while the brides pulled them up a hill and around a corner. We raced one other couple and a had a shaky start. (It's harder then it would seem.) But I built up some good momentum and started to pass the other couple. We came to the turn and they totally cut us off. But I kept pulling and kept up with them till the finish line. My legs were shaking so bad! After that round, the wedding cake started to come up. Not fun... But we were judged on time and made it to the next round. 5 couples were eliminated.
For the 3rd round they put us in a corn field with 5 chickens. There were only 10 brides. I have never picked up a chicken and the thought actually scared me. Do they bite? What if it flaps its wings like crazy and hits me in the face? I just tried to picture that I'd be picking up Togo. Surprisingly I got the first chicken! And it was a while before the next ones were caught. The chicken just came over and nicely let me pick her up and hold her. Maybe it was because she had to poo the second I held her. All of sudden we were in the last round! We were pretty stoked. The wedding giveaway could realistically almost be ours.
They didn't really tell us what we'd be doing for the final round. But had us change into these disgusting wedding dresses that looked like they were from the 1940's. Then they put us in front of a pile of horse manure. Yes, I said horse manure. They had buried a men's tungsten wedding band in the pile and the first one to find it won the ring and the entire wedding giveaway. "Ugh! Are you serious?!?!" Is all I could think. But the competitive drive kicked in and I was determined to get that wedding band! It wasn't as bad as I thought. I guess I was just really focused. Manure, hay and dirt were flying EVERYWHERE! After a while they told us which side of the pile it was on and that it was near the edge. Every girl went diving and it was pure chaos. I was digging in my little area and started getting more towards the middle so I concentrated on a area to my side. All of sudden another girl took over my previous spot and within 10 seconds had found the ring! Why was I so impatient? So snatched it before every girl dog piled on top of her. She ran to the other side and do a "manure angel". It was pretty funny actually.
Although we didn't win. We had so much fun competing and still received a gift bad with some wedding goodies and some concert and movie tickets. Plus our faces all over the morning news. If I had the chance to do it again I'd do it in a heartbeat. We just had so much fun doing something so "different" together.

CHECK OUT THE VIDEO HERE...
and I will try and get pictures from the radio station posted soon.
http://vimeo.com/6917696

STATE FAIR 2009

2009-09-20T21:05:00.007-06:00

Codee and I attended the State Fair this past Friday. We've been excited about going for quite a while. Our favorite part of the State Fair is the corn on the cob. We seriously talk about it all year long. And it's crazy that we'd spend $12 on 4 ears of corn! But it is worth every dollar and we only get it once a year. All of the food at the fair is so AMAZING! We both had giant corndogs that put "Hot Dog on a Stick" to shame. There is something so magical about the fair, I just can't even describe it. We went and saw all of the animals and got some great pictures for the scrapbook. I just LOVE the baby pigs. One of these days I'm going to buy a pet pot-belly pig like Denise Richards. My other favorite part of the fair is the photography exhibit. I love seeing all the art. I swear ever year that I'm going to enter but I never do. We left the fair listening and dacning to Boys II Men in the concert area. What a great night! We can't wait to do it again next year. Codee with a 3000 lbs. cow!My yummy corndog!
Round 2 of corn!

LAVA HOT SPRINGS

2009-09-09T23:01:00.004-06:00

Codee and I have started our first family tradition! We've decided to go to Lava Hot Springs, Idaho every Labor Day weekend. We went last year after I moved back to Utah from Los Angeles. We really had a good time this year. We stayed at Moose Hollow Lodge again. It's a cute Bed and Breakfast just a couple miles outside of town. They have a parrot named "Sunshine" who LOVES to wake us up in the morning with loud screaming. And they have roosters that crow at 5 a.m. And they just brought in some new ponies to the ranch. Although the animals wake us up we still love it. The couple that runs the B&B are so nice! They made us breakfast in the morning and made sure we were all taken care of.
Our first night in Lava we met up with Codee's friends Lance and Renee who were coincidentally staying the same weekend. We had a few drinks at the local dive before going to the hot springs for a few hours. The mineral water is so good for your skin and relaxes your entire body. After we couldn't take it anymore we ate at another dive cafe in town and headed to a biker bar for some entertainment. We saw a pregnant girl giving lap dances to her friends! It was so funny!! Just the people there were hilarious to watch.
The next day we went into town to hit all the funky shops. We met Lance and Renee for some ice cream and then rented tubes to ride the river. The water was seriously FREEZING! Codee fell off his tube 4 TIMES! And Renee had a pretty nasty fall and scraped her entire arm up. ( I wish I would've got a picture of it). Well 2 times down the river was enough for my freezing butt! Lance and Renee headed home and Codee and I ate at the Royal Pizzeria. We decided to spend the rest of the day at the pool and then head home later. Well the swimming pool put in some new speed slides this year that were SO FUN! I attempted to jump off the 3rd plat from but chickened out and went to the 2nd and then chickened out again and finally jumped off the 1st. HA HA! Codee decided to show me up and do an aerial off the 2nd platform.
We came home a little sun burnt and pretty tired but I can't wait to go back next year.

Moose Hollow Lodge

Sunshine and IPretty Bird!Prince the PonyRaspberry Cheesecake and Chocolate. YUMMY!Renee and LanceCodee and Lance playing dartsLance's dart some how got stuck in the ridiculously hard ceiling.New Speed SlidesGoodbye Lava!

ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING

2009-09-09T22:32:00.003-06:00

For those of you who don't know (follow me closely) my grandma is raising her great granddaughter (Mariah) and the great granddaughters half brother Anthany. Mariah is my cousins daughter and has the same mom as Anthany. Anyways, we LOVE these kids! We try and do something with them once every week or two. We've been on many adventures together. From fishing to movies to swimming... we've done it all. It's so nice to give my grandma a break from the day. She definitely deserves it!
Well last week, my grandma's sister in St. George was going in for heart surgery and my grandma went down to be with her. So she asked Codee and I to step in for a few days. These kids aren't too young that they need constant supervision which is nice. We fixed dinner together, played on the swing set, watched the Disney Channel, played in the yard, homework, went to the orthodontist, back to school night, ice cream, packed lunches and made breakfast. Overall, it was a pretty fun couple days and fun to try out parenting. But I think for now we'll just keep Togo an only child.

Mariah going to school

My breakfast crepes
Getting ice cream after "Back 2 School Night"

NATALIE AND MOM'S BIRTHDAY

2009-09-09T22:14:00.008-06:00

Natalie and my Mom's birthdays are both at the end of August. Natalie and I celebrated at Ruth's Diner with some of the honeybees. And for my Mom's we went to Market Street cause she loves halibut and they have the best halibut in the world. Happy Birthday Nat and Mom!

Rachel, Anne, Ashley, Monica, Katie and Natalie

SUNDAY DINNER

2009-09-09T21:05:00.007-06:00

One perk about my future husband is that he cooks! Check out this dish he made.... First he soaked chicken in Italian dressing and wrapped bacon around it and put them on skewers. He also put potatoes, mushrooms, onions, zucchini and squash on separate skewers and fried it all up. LORD... was it amazing!! And I didn't have to do anything. Not even the dishes! Talk about a lucky girl! YUMMY!!!!!!!!!

EYE SPY... NOTHING

2009-08-31T11:50:00.004-06:00

In kindergarten it was decided that I would need glasses. It was very traumatizing to be called "four-eyes" for the first few years of school (kids can be so mean.) I had a brief encounter with contacts in 6th grade and finally made the permanent switch in 8th grade. I have a pair of glasses that I use at night and for studying when I was in college. I absolutely hate being seen in my glasses. They make my eyes look HUGE and I get so embarrassed! All I can think of is being called "four-eyes" again.
Around the end of June one of my contacts chipped (I have hard lenses) which then prompted a visit to my eye doctor. While getting a new prescription I asked about wearing soft lenses. I've heard how much more comfortable they are and wanted to see if I could give them a try. My doctor didn't have my exact prescription in a trial pair but one very similar. She gave the pair to wear until a trial pair of my prescription could come in. The second I put them in I was addicted to the comfort. I couldn't believe I had been missing out for over 10 years! I couldn't even feel them on my eye. Hard lenses always feel like there is an eyelash in your eye but you just have to get used to it.
After a few days I realized I couldn't see as well as I had before. Everything was just too blurry. Once my prescription trial contacts came in I was really hoping they would work. To much disappointment they were worse than the first pair. So the doctor ordered a different brand. To my dismay they still didn't work. By this time it had been over a month since I could really "see". I had a huge breakdown and couldn't stop crying. You don't realize how important your vision is until it's gone. I was starting to wear my glasses everywhere. It was the only way I could see. I really really really didn't want to go back to hard lenses. Once you're had something so great its hard to go backwards. But I was willing to go back just as long as I could see again.
Poor Codee had to endure this emotional roller coaster with me. He finally took me to his friends dad who is an eye doctor in Lehi. I told him all my woes and he thought he could really help me out. Surgery is out of the question because my eyes are so bad. The technology isn't quite there yet. He ordered me 6 pairs of different brands of trial soft lenses. (Only 6 out of 30 contact companies make a prescription strong enough for my eyes. Lame huh?) And they only took 3 days to get in as opposed to my other eye doctors 2 weeks. Still... none of the soft lenses worked. I still couldn't see as well as I had before.
Our last option was to try this new "HYBRID LENS". The center of the contact is hard while the outer part is soft. They were only $400 bucks!! (my sarcastic voice) But if I ordered them and they still didn't work I could send the back for a full refund. So, what the hell. It has been over 2 months since I could see clearly. And you honestly can't put a price on your eyes. Well... drum roll please... THEY WORKED!!! I now have the best of both worlds. The vision I need plus the comfort of a soft lens. I can't even describe how happy I am. Even though my eyes aren't that great I am still so thankful I have them. I can't imagine what it'd be like to be blind. Thank you Dr. Gray for giving me my eyes back!

MY SIDE OF THE STORY

2009-08-27T23:28:00.000-06:00

Codee and I have been engaged for almost 2 weeks. I seriously can't believe it! For the first few days I felt like I was in a dream. I had to keep pinching myself to make sure the ring on my finger was real. I was completely caught off guard by the whole proposal.
Just as we were about to leave to go camping I joked to Codee and told him not to forget my ring. I had picked out my ring a couple months ago and was just waiting for him to propose. I honestly had no idea when it was going to happen. I wasn't expecting it for a few more months. Little did I know, my smart alec comment would floor me a few hours later.
When Codee was down on one knee and I had just read the tree's message, I felt this rush of disbelief run through my body. I was completely shocked and didn't even see it coming. I looked at him and said "Are you serious?" (Not exactly what I'd pictured myself saying when I got proposed to.) He told me how happy he is with me and how he can't imagine his life without me in it. He said he wanted to be with me forever. And then... "Rachel will you marry me?" Before another second could pass I told him "Yes". How could I ever be so lucky to deserve this? He jumped up and kissed me. All I could think was that I was really and finally going to marry my best friend... officially. He pulled back and said "Oh, I forgot to put this on". He opened a little gray box and pulled out the shiniest ring I've ever seen in my life and slid it onto my finger. All of a sudden this ring had so much meaning to me... our life together (past, present and future), our commitment to each other and an everlasting bond of love and friendship. As another minute or two passed, the whole thing hit me like a ton of bricks. Everything that had just happened finally set in. I felt my eyes start to well up and I couldn't stop it and it just poured out of me. There I was in the middle of the forest with Codee and a ring on my finger. I told him how much I loved him and how lucky I felt to have him in my life. The moment couldn't have been any better. My cup had runneth over...

THE PROPOSAL!!!

2009-08-16T17:16:00.003-06:00

It took me a really long time to decide how I was planning on proposing. I wanted it to be just the two of us, and something unique to just us. Before Rachel moved to California last summer, I went up into American Fork Canyon and carved our initials in a tree, and put it in a frame for her to take with her. I decided that I would do something similar to that, but I would carve our initials, and below that carve Will You Marry Me. My friend Nate and I went up to where Rachel and I were planning on camping this weekend, to carve everything into the trees with me. Everything went fine with the carving, but I was so nervous the whole time. Even though it wasn't going to happen for a few days, I was having butterflies. The time came for Rachel and I to go camping, and it really wasn't looking good for us. The weather didn't seem to want to cooperate with my plans, and the thought of having to come up here again another weekend when it was sunny, was not making me very happy. We arrived at camp and set up the tent and things, then the rain came. It rained for 30 min or so, and then it stopped. I knew I wouldn't have much time before the rain returned, so I insisted that we go on a walk. I could tell that she was a little apprehensive about going on a walk, but I wasn't going to take no for an answer this time. We began walking and the thought of what was going to happen was setting in. With every step, I was becoming a even more of a nervous wreck. Rachel told me later that I was walking so fast, she thought I was choking Togo with leash because I was dragging him up the hill. We got to the spot that we had marked, and I took the leash off of Togo and said "I wonder if he'll run after me into the trees?" I ran, and of course Togo wouldn't follow (He doesn't love me near as much as he loves Rachel) I asked Rachel to come up here to see if Togo would follow her. As she walked up to me, I crouched down acting like I found something in the ground. I told her to come over and look at what I'd found. As she got close, I said "Hey, look at that tree, that's cool." She turned and looked at a tree that I had carved hearts in, but missed the tree that said will you marry me. She turned back again and I said "The other tree." She turned and looked at it for what seemed like an eternity. We are both pretty blurry on what was said next by either of us, but she did say YES (of course) and it turned out to be a really great experience. Pics will be up soon. Sorry, if my story is a little unclear, but it was hard to recall all the details.

BRIDAL VEIL FALLS

2009-08-09T22:10:00.007-06:00

Last weekend we took a hike up to Bridal Veil Falls. It was seriously gorgeous! At the bottom of the falls in a pool of water where everyone hangs out. The water was FREEZING!! But it was so nice to cool off in the hot sun. We took Togo and Shelby with us. Togo did NOT like cold water one bit. But Shelby had so much fun playing in it. It's a hike we will definitely do again in the fall, when the leaves are changing.

Heber Rodeo

2009-08-03T11:59:00.010-06:00

Saturday we went to the Heber Valley Rodeo. I've gone every year since I was young (minus last year when I was living in Los Angeles). My grandma and her 2 kids came, along with my aunt and uncle. And we met Codee's cousin and his wife and 2 little girls who live in Midway. (Check out my steer wrestling and calf roping pictures on my photography blog)

Before our drive up to Heber we stopped at 7 eleven for some Slurpee's. As my uncle Bret was getting his, the machine let off a cherry Slurpee bomb all over his shirt. He lives in Layton, 45 minutes away, so we stopped at Sears so he could get a new shirt. All of us could not stop laughing the entire drive up.

Once at the rodeo, we walked around the fair and I rode THE TORNADO with Mariah and Anthany. I was so dizzy for about 20 minutes. The rodeo was so much fun! And luckily no one really got hurt. After the rodeo we went to the Dairy Keen (best shakes in Heber if you ask me). Codee and Mariah kept making weird faces at all the people inside. We were all laughing so hard! Codee is going to kill me for posting the picture of him....

Bret with his cherry slurpee bomb

Riding the tornadoCute Sydney

Mariah and GrandmaDon't kill me Codee... I love you hunny!

A LITTLE SLICE OF HEAVEN

2009-07-29T10:19:00.006-06:00

Last weekend we went to our favorite restaurant, Market Street Grill. Not the downtown location, not the river bottoms location, but the Cottonwood one. It is incomparable to the other locations. We both got our usual menu item... Halibut Oscar. SERIOUSLY AMAZING! And the clam chowder with sourdough bread is to DIE FOR! But at the end of every Market Street meal we end with a little slice of heaven... Raspberry Almond Tort. No words can describe the way your taste buds explode in your mouth.

Silver Lake

2009-07-19T00:15:00.004-06:00

Last Sunday we went to Silver Lake up Big Cottonwood Canyon. It was so HOT in the valley that day and when we made it up to the lake it was about 20 degrees cooler. Yay!! So we walked around the lake on the boardwalk, got an ice cream at the little cafe and just as we were leaving we saw this....

Just sitting next to the road... hanging out... wondering why 30 people were gathered around taking his picture. There were actually 2 of them. Something you don't see every day.

La Caille

2009-07-05T22:17:00.006-06:00

Just because brunch is $30 a plate doesn't mean it'll taste good. Codee's dad gave us a gift certificate for Sunday brunch at La Caille. I was so excited to go this morning! I've never been to La Caille but heard it is a really good place. We ate outside on the patio, next to a bunch of peacocks. The grounds and the scenery was seriosuly gorgeous! I ordered the Crepe Champignon, fresh crepes filled with trumpet royale & velvet poippine mushrooms & fresh seafood in a ginger spiked cream sauce. And Codee had the Welsh Rarebit and Pork Chop, traditional English hunt breakfast with a sauce of ale and sharp Cheddar. Needless to say, mine was disgusting! I forced down half of one crepe and ate the side of pineapple. Codee really liked his. We did get a dessert, that was way YUMMY! A fancy eclair that looked like a swan.
While we were eating, peacocks would come over and "beg" for food. We reluctantly fed one, and soon after we were surrounded by peacocks. I recorded Codee feeding one of them...

Drive-In Baby!

2009-07-05T21:52:00.004-06:00

Growing up my parents would always take Natalie and I to the drive-in. So I've been telling Codee for over a year that we should go and we finally did. We loaded up my Cuddlebag (so much better than Love Sac) in my Dad's truck, grabbed a pizza and headed to the Redwood Drive-In. We saw UP! (again) and The Proposal. We had so much fun and we definitely will be going again soon. There's nothing like watching a movie under the stars.

New Dog... sort of

2009-07-05T21:24:00.008-06:00

Togo's cast finally came off! (It actually came off 2 weeks ago) The veterinarian brought him out and I started to cry a little. We weren't sure if it was going to come off that day, it all depended on the x-rays and what the doctor thought. I was so happy when they brought him out and I saw his little arm with no cast! His arm was all shriveled up and looked so SKINNY! When I picked him up and got a good look at his arm, there was the BIGGEST, UGLY sore on his arm. It was a big sore of matted hair, scab and dried blood. The next few days, he would hardly walk on it and hobbled around on 3 legs. I had to wait a week for his sore to fall off before I could take him to the groomer. I told them to just shave him and leave him a little beard (Brussels Griffons are known for their beards). When I picked him up, he was a whole new dog. He gets an attitude after hair cuts, it is SO FUNNY! So here is our new, not broken anymore, dog... TOGO.

MAKE LOVE NOT WAR

2009-06-28T22:54:00.003-06:00

Danielle and Brandon always guarantee a good time! And this weekend was no exception. We celebrated Danielle's birthday with a HIPPIE PARTY that any Woodstock fan would be proud of. Codee and I brainstormed for a couple weeks about costume ideas and the end result was well worth it. I some how convinced him to let me paint "MAKE LOVE NOT WAR" on his chest, he was the best hippie there, next to Danielle's dreads... I just made a flower band for my head and channeled my inner flower child. Enjoy the pictures... PEACE...FREE LOVE...PARTY ON

Honey Bee Honey Bee Fly Away Home...

2009-06-06T23:11:00.008-06:00

So for those of you who don't know... I am a "honeybee" for the Salt Lake Bees baseball team. (awesome title, I know) I basically work the promotions at the games, a few parades and community events, and we sometimes tumble on the field. Yay!
Well the Bees just finished up an 8 game home stand yesterday and I was at 7 of the 8 games. I feel like I live there after day 3. And although the home stand was crazy, Codee and I had some fun nights at the ball park. The first night I didn't work but Codee and I took our friends Lance and Amy to the game which was followed by some awesome fireworks! Game 2 of the home stand was a double header... 9 hours at the ballpark. (LONG day) Game 3 was REALLY FUN! It was DOG DAY!!! I wasn't working so we took Togo, which was his 2nd baseball game ever. His first game was an Angels game in Anaheim when I was living in L.A. last summer. He had so much fun at the game! I bought him a little baseball jersey to wear. My friend Monica (fellow honeybee) brought her dog Rico dressed in a hot dog costume so Togo was excited to see his friend. Togo also went up on the dugout for a "Dog Show Contest" and he won! I think his cast gave him pity points. Game 4... not much to say. Game 5, Codee couldn't come. He comes to all the games that I work. But the game had a 2 hour rain delay and I didn't get to leave until midnight. :( So I guess it's a good thing he didn't come. Game 6 I worked and game 7 was my only night away from the Bees. And finally game 8... also a firework night. I worked with my sister Natalie. Codee threw a bachelor party for this brother who is getting married next week so he had all the guys come the game. The game was so packed and went into 11 innings! We finally won with an RBI from Ryan Budde. Followed by more amazing fireworks and million kids running the bases after that. So there's our past week... Go Bees! Now this Honeybee is going to fly away home...

Uncle Bret and Togo watching the game...

Monica and Rico

UP!

2009-05-27T22:38:00.007-06:00

So my work gave me tickets to see an early preview of Disney & Pixar's new movie UP! We invited one of my best friends Tina and her boyfriend to come with us. Codee and I got to the theatre 3 hours early to try and get good seats. We saw the preview for Up! in November and I fell in love with it then. So I've been counting down for 6 MONTHS to see this movie! [confession: I watched the youtube trailer once a week.] And I was not disappointed one bit! Such a darling, cute, fun, adventurous movie! I recommend everyone go see it when it come out later this week.
Going UP!.....

Magic. Fun. DISNEYLAND

2009-05-18T10:31:00.010-06:00

Codee and I spent all of last week at the "happiest place on Earth". We went to celebrate our one year anniversary, my graduation and my birthday. My grandma and her two kids, as well as my cousin and his wife were also down at the same time. Everybody did their own thing for the most part but we did meet up a few times for rides and dinner.

The first day, Codee and I flew into Orange County and went to West Hollywood and CityWalk. I worked at the Guess store in CityWalk all last summer while I was living in LA so we went back and saw a lot of my old friends I worked with. After CityWalk we took The Metro (the subway) to Hollywood and Highland. We ate lunch at the Audrey Hepburn Cafe where we went last summer. Then we just did some shopping and site seeing in Hollywood. Later that night we went to the Angels game with my family. Unfortunately, the Red Sox beat my team... But we did see a drunk Red Sox fan throw beer all over an Angels fan. Pretty funny story...

Krissy, Me and Susie at Guess

The next day we went to California Adventure. Codee and I did every ride and ate lunch at an AMAZING restaurant inside the park. Our favorite ride, hands down, was the new Toy Story Ride. It's a 4D game extravaganza!!! I know I can't come close to explaining how much FUN this ride was. It has all the characters from Toy Story and you play these carnival games with each character from the show. (Ring toss with the aliens, gun shooting with Woody and Jesse, target shooting with the Army guys) That night we met my family in Disneyland and did a few rides before the park closed. We also got our first of MANY churros that we had.

Day Two was mostly spent in Disneyland. We were with my family the majority of the day. It was also my Birthday!!!! Disneyland gave me a pin to wear all day and everyone in the park told me "Happy Birthday" all day. We got to go into the park an hour early (called Magic Morning) and it wasn't very magical. There were 2 rides open and that was pretty much it. Codee and I did a lot of rides with my Grandma's two kids, Mariah and Anthany. We went to Toontown and did most the rides in the park. That night we met up with my family and went to the Rain Forrest Cafe for my birthday dinner. They gave us a HUGE cake and ice cream VOLCANO! Yummy!!

Day three we did everything we didn't do and wanted to do again. We were running back and forth between the parks all day. That night Disneyland had fireworks in the park. This was the longest day of all!! Codee and left our hotel at 9:30 in the morning and didn't get back until 12:30 am!! The next day we went swimming at the Disneyland Hotel pool with Mariah and Anthany. It was so nice to relax after so much walking the past few days.

Our last day of the vacation we took a rental car to Newport and Laguna Beach. I can't even begin to describe how AMAZING Newport beach was! The water was warm, and the tide was slowly coming back in. As we were walking along we saw 7-10 dolphins coming up out of the water about 75 yards away from us. It was so pretty! We also got some awesome sea shells!! We drove down the coast to Laguna and ate lunch. We also drove around some AMAZING houses! Laguna has to be one of the most beautiful places I've ever been!

THE TASSLE IS WORTH THE HASSLE

2009-05-09T10:24:00.006-06:00

Graduation ceremonies were yesterday! And the day was pretty frickin' awesome! Codee, my family and I went up to the U early so we could get some pictures of the memorable day. It was so nice to have everyone supporting me. My grandma and 2 little cousins also came up to see the ceremonies. ( I seriously love my family!)
The ceremonies were awesome! Some real "go-get-er" speeches. The only boring part was ALL the names being called. I was so ecstatic to hear my name called in the Huntsman Center. After ceremonies we headed to my house to get ready for my big BBQ bash.
So many people showed up to the BBQ. We had the party at Murray Park because we had so many people come. All of my family came and all of Codee's family came plus a lot of other friends. We had almost 40 people come out to enjoy the festivities. My dad grilled and everyone helped get things ready. (THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO CAME!!!)

YOU ARE EDUCATED. YOUR CERTIFICATION IS IN YOUR DEGREE. YOU MAY THINK OF IT AS THE TICKET TO THE GOOD LIFE. LET ME ASK YOU TO THINK OF AN ALTERNATIVE. THINK OF IT AS YOUR TICKET TO CHANGE THE WORLD. ~ TOM BROKAW

Togo's arm

2009-04-29T14:29:00.000-06:00

We went to the vet for the bi-weekly bandage change/x-ray/antibiotics/100$ visit on Monday. We kinda got a little bit of bad news. Togo's arm just isn't healing. The vet said that it wasn't super uncommon in dogs, but the cast would have to stay on for another 2 months! When we went to the vet the first time, he said it would be on for 6 weeks at the longest, and now we're looking at 3 1/2 months! Not exactly the news we were looking for, but the doctor did say that it would heal and he would be fine. Ah! ANother 2 months...

My Birthday

2009-04-29T14:14:00.000-06:00

So, this is my first blog entry ever! Pretty exciting...anyways, I never had a chance to write about my birthday, so here goes...I had my birthday a couple weeks back and had a great one. Rachel came to work and picked me up at lunch time and took me to Market Street (our favorite) and we both got halibut oscar. She surprised me at lunch with a new digital camcorder! I was stoked! We never got to go to dinner that night because I had school, so we postponed the dinner for a time when we could go out together. Last weekend we went to Tucanos for dinner and Rachel told the waitress that it was my birthday and she wanted the staff to sing to me and bring the drums, and tamborines and everything, (Probably just to embarass me.) After we were done eating, Rachel had to leave to go wash her hands, and while she was gone, the entire mariachi band showed up to sing and dance. I had to stop them and tell them that Rachel would be mad if she wasn't here for it, so I sent them away and told them to come back in 10 minutes. They kinda gave me dirty looks, but oh well, we got a few pictures and everything turned out alright. Overall, it was a pretty good birthday.

Lately...

2009-04-07T23:02:00.002-06:00

It seems like we've had a lot going on lately. So here's what we've been doing and some pictures to add to the fun. We had a birthday party for Togo.... Yes, I said a birthday party for our dog. Codee thinks I'm crazy and I'm sure the rest of the world does too but hey it's what I wanted to do. Togo is seriously like our child and we'd do anything for him. Anyways, he loves alligators! He has 2 alligator toys and they are his favorites. So I found a way cool alligator cupcake cake on the internet and copied it. (If anything, this party was just an excuse to have a way cool cupcake.) My sister helped me decorate it cause she's a decorating fool at Mrs. Fields. It was kind of informal, I wished I would've had some of our friends dogs come over for the festivities. (Razor, Mika, Chica, Kaya, Duke and Kourt) But my sister brought her dog and both my grandma's brought there dogs. The dogs had Milk Bones dipped in white chocolate and party hats. It was a pretty good time.

This past weekend we went to Bendover... oops... I mean Wendover. I won concert tickets to Deirks Bently and Phil Vassar on the radio. So we went out for a little weekend getaway. It was so nice to get out of Salt Lake and do something different. We both know Wendover is TRASH but it was entertaining to watch the trashy people. My family (Grandma, Aunt, Uncle, other Aunt and Uncle and cousin) came out on Saturday to go to Phil Vassar with us. And Codee's family (Mom, Dad, Sister, Sister's fiance, Brother, Brother's fiance) came out too to celebrate his sisters birthday. So the families got to meet over dinner and we went gambling/dancing later. Overall we had a good time...

Monday, Codee's mom had surgery so we went up to Logan to be with her. Everything went well and she'll be back to work in a couple weeks. We love you Kitt!

My Aunt Brenda dancing at Phil Vassar Kitt before surgeryShoni making an awesome flower arrangement at her work for Kitt

Paint Away!

2009-04-01T11:45:00.000-06:00

So I've been wanting to paint my room for a while and I finally did it. Well I didn't do it... Codee and my Dad did all the work, I just brought them drinks when they needed it. I wanted to paint all 4 walls grey but then I thought it might make it too dark so I just did 2 walls. And the color I picked isn't just grey, its got some green tones in it. It's actually called squirrel and it looks fabulous on my walls.

POOR TOGO

2009-03-16T21:50:00.000-06:00

Poor Togo broke his arm yesterday! We had Shelby (codee's pitbull/lab) and Togo running behind a school and playing. Shelby accidentally ran over Togo while she running full speed and trampled him. He started yelping and we knew right away it was broken. Well... no vets are open on Sunday especially in Utah County. We brought him up to Salt Lake to a vet that's open 7 days a week. After a couple hours and few x-rays they put big green cast on him arm and sent him home. It hasn't been fun so far. He cried all night long and would hardly eat. He's slowly getting used to 3 legs and just drags him cast behind him as he hobbles along. It'll be 6 weeks before the cast is off... poor little guy. :(

WELCOME!

2009-03-16T21:26:00.000-06:00

So we decided to follow the trend and start a blog... yay!! We really don't know how to do much on this thing but we'll get it down eventually. Only married people have blogs but we're breaking the rules on this one. We do what we want! We have a puppy, he is a Brussels Griffon and his name is Togo (Toe-Go). Codee is in school at SLCC studying engineering. Rachel graduates from the U in May in Electronic Journalism. Other than that... we don't know what to say... welcome to our blog!