Brad and Tanja

Adams Hike, Lagoon, BY-boo, Gma, & Gus

2012-01-18T21:27:00.017-07:00

Still catching up...

Brad and I went on a hike last fall that was beautiful; it ended up at the bottom of a waterfall. Minus the busy trail and having to save a dog and two people from falling down a bank, it was wonderful being out in nature and spending time alone with Brad. It was a great hike, I'm sure we'll do it again next year.

A weekend soon after, Brad, his brother Logan, Paulita, and I went to Lagoon. It was sooooooooooooooooooooo cold but the adrenaline from the coasters kept us going. For lunch, we pounded down the nastiest Lagoon food ever and after that, I was not the same. Logan, Brad, and Paulita decided to do the sky-coaster (I would've jumped in too but the food not settling in my stomach probably would've flown out while we'd be swinging...not good). And as luck would have it, my camera's battery died right when I started the video of them swinging...

They definitely looked like that had fun! While we were there, we rode each roller coaster about 4 times. The last time we went on Wicked (the yellow and green one), I left my coat pocket unzipped and my phone flew out. I didn't realize until we got off and were walking away and I put my hand it my pocket and it was empty. I just kept thinking, "I don't want to have to get everyone's numbers again..." Paula and Brad called it to see if it went straight to voicemail (which it didn't-phew!) but everything below the coaster was cement. I for sure thought it was a gonner. Then, Logan saw the white phone against the only spot that had dirt and bushes below the coaster---MY PHONE WAS SAVED! Note to self: don't bring phone to amusement park.

Also, Brad and I joined Logan in Provo to watch the BYU vs. USU football game. It was a wonderful game with the Aggies up the whole night...but like most of their season this last year, they choked at the end of the 4th quarter and lost...very upsetting. I ate my sorrow (and calories) away in pancakes at Denny's right after.

And {drumroll....}, the picture of the day! I forgot about this picture until I was uploading the ones above. This was right after Mitchell's baptism:

Grandma with 2/3 of the grandkids
{missing the Korean Jensens and little miss Avery}
LOVE.IT.

And here's Gus enjoying the couch tonight...he's getting so big!! (Check out that tail! Holy camoli!)

And this, my friends, is what "caught up" looks like :)

Gus meets Llama

2012-01-14T14:58:00.004-07:00

Today, Gus got up close and personal with Llama...

...and about half a second later, Gus ran away and up his tree.

Welcome to the Farm, Gus!!

P.S. We just met 3 adorable baby goats born Tuesday night and our landlord said he has 2 sheep getting ready to have their little lambs...we love it here!

Familia

2012-01-10T14:09:00.004-07:00

Here are some family pictures from the funeral:

Brei, Kelly, Kyle, Sonja, Jake, Brad, Jill, Elena, Mom, Dad, Curtis, Soren, Aubree, Rachele, Mitchell, Sven, Ayrel, Ben, & Avery {missing Hyuna, Seth, Gabe, & Alex}

The Original Jensen 6

Jerry Dean Snider

2012-01-10T09:40:00.003-07:00

This last November, my family was able to get together to honor and celebrate the life of my Grandpa. He was such a great example of dedication and family and am so grateful that I was born into his family. He loved being around family and was so patient with all of his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. I miss his snarl. I miss watching him tease my Grandma. I miss his pointer finger that had a stub of a fingernail. I miss playing cards or dominoes with him. But most of all I miss his physical presence. I am so grateful for family and for the knowledge that our families can be together forever. Heavenly Father definitely has a supreme plan for our true happiness which appeases my immediate desires to physically be near my Grandpa again. I love you, Grandpa!

WARNING!! Awkward picture ahead...

With Ayrel in Holland

Lois {sister}, Grandma, Brad, and Duane {brother} with Grandpa

All their kids:

Front Row: Diane, Grandpa, & Grandma

Back Row: Mom, Dad, Randy {Diane's husband}, Janis, Jerry {Janis' husband}, Sandy, {missing Craig, Sandy's husband}, Gene, & Wilma {Gene's wife}

With cousin Mel

Siblings: Phyllis {sister-in-law} and Duane, Lois, Grandma, & Grandpa

Here is his obituary if you are interested in reading about how AMAZING he is!!

Jerry Dean Snider

March 30, 1929 ~ November 12, 2011

Jerry Dean Snider was born March 30, 1929 in Salt Lake City, Utah, the third of four children of Jack and Velora Snider. He and his sweetheart Jeannine Davis were married in the Salt Lake LDS Temple on September 13, 1948.

Jerry grew up on a tidy family farm in the middle of the Salt Lake valley, where he learned well the lessons of hard work and deep love of family and church, mixed in with a perfect dose of light-heartedness (although the phrase "extreme prankster" might be used by his family members).

Learning was a passion for Jerry. He attended Granite High School, the U of U and the School of Hard Knocks for the Self-Taught. He used the things he learned to teach us all. And he wasn't even aware he was a Master Teacher.

When Jerry joined the Civil Air Patrol, little did he know that his future would soon be bound to the loves of his life, Jeannine and flying.

Jerry's skills are legend. Over the years, he operated a gravel pit, cabinet shop and showroom, kitchen installation business, and worked with his daughter, Diane, making fine hand-crafted furniture. He could do anything and fix everything and he would do anything for anyone any time.

What a pace Jerry set for all of us! Trying to keep up with him and his adventurous spirit had us all on our toes. He was the consummate Scout Leader helping his troop make fiberglass canoes, which they ran on the Snake River. Jerry loved the outdoors. He was a pioneer water-skier. He also loved gardening, snow-skiing, hunting, fishing and raising animals. The gypsy in him had us traveling the globe; he would research the local history and we were on our way! His other great passion was spending time with grandchildren in late-night card or dominoes games and proving himself the dominator.

Jerry and Jeannine collected friends in all the wonderful places they lived: Utah, Oregon, California, Texas, Kentucky, and Mexico.

Jerry's humility probably prevented him from knowing he was one of the world's great men.

Special thanks to the wonderful care provided by the amazing caregivers from Utah Hospice of St. George, Judy and Omer Huntington, Bryce Beesley and his wonderful weekend caregivers.

Preceded in death by parents, brother John Lynn Snider, sisters-in-law Bette Snider and Phyllis Snider; brother-in-law Bob Davis, son-in-law Tom Schofield, grandson Simon Lohbeck.

Survived by his wife Jeannine; children Gene & Wilma Snider (La Paz, Bolivia); Diane & Randy Ross (Willow Creek Montana), Sandy & Craig Drury (Heber City, Utah), Laurie & Keven Jensen (El Paso, Texas), Janis & Jerry Mariner (Bountiful, Utah); 26 grandchildren and 29 great-grandchildren; sister Lois (Lee) Fetzer, brother Duane Snider, sisters-and-brothers-in-law, and nieces and nephews and cousins.

Services will be Wednesday, Nov. 16 at the LDS stake center 150 N 200 West in Heber City, Utah. Visitation from 10:30-11:45 a.m.; funeral will follow at noon. Interment will be at the Midway City Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of McMillan Mortuary 435-688-8880.

Bienvenido a Miami

2012-01-09T09:25:00.005-07:00

After skyping with my in-laws last night, I realized I've been a big slacker in blogging and still haven't caught up with events from last year. So here goes...three months ago, Brad and I were able to go to Miami for IFT's (the company Brad works for) 25 year anniversary. Minus the tropical storm that blew in the whole weekend we were there, we had a great time!! There are two offices (one in Utah and one in New Jersey) and the workers spend a lot of time on the phone with each other but had never seen each other before. Brad said it was nice to put a name with a face. We spent a lot of time eating {always nice :)}, shopping, and getting in as much sun as possible (Mother Nature made that a bit difficult). We did have a morning of sunshine where we rented a huge catamaran and went sailing through the canals of Miami and a little bit into the ocean. We ended up at a huge sandbar in the middle of the ocean (we could see the beach about a mile away) where we got out and swam and played volleyball...IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN!! It was so much fun.
You might recognize this house from the Adamms Family movie. It's in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Miami and the woman who owned it gave it to her 5 cats when she died. One of her sons sued the cats to try to get the house...and lost. Ridiculous. Who leaves a house to cats?

Right as we were finishing up playing volleyball, a huge wall of clouds hit and it started raining hard! Fortunately, there was enough room under a small roof for all of us to stand so we didn't get too drenched. Minus my very white legs and the rain the rest of the trip, we had a great trip! It was hard coming back to reality...

Call me crazy...

2012-01-02T22:57:00.005-07:00

Brad and I just made a list of our New Year's resolutions and because I was so pumped up and gung-ho to get started on one, I just signed up to run around this pretty lake for 13.1 miles...

Bear Lake, here I come!! And you better believe I'm jumping in once I'm done {maybe jet-skiing...PAULA??}...and then gorging myself in amazing french fries and raspberry shakes. Anyone else in?

That's how we roll...

2011-12-21T21:47:00.005-07:00

These two pictures sum up my December and Christmas. I told Brad he's gonna get an AWESOME Christmas gift because he's given me the two things I've wanted forever...

Gus, the cat...

and our new CRV.

Because these two pictures just aren't enough, here are some more (most of them are of Gus...we love him).

{Hi-speed go-carts at Brad's work party}

{Brei has to persuade her kids to play with her hair, my cat does it for free :)}

{Going for the bling...}

{Two of his favorite toys: a mouse on a string and my shoe}

Merry Christmas!!

Thanksgiving in the 80525

2011-12-09T23:25:00.006-07:00

This Thanksgiving, we were able to go to Fort Collin's and spend it with my sister, Sonja (who hacked into my blog as you can see two posts below...), my parents and Uncle Kris, and Brad's brother, Logan. We headed out after work/school Wednesday night and made it into Fort Collins around midnight right when my mom and Sonja were finishing up the pie prep. After crashing on air mattresses, I woke up with the expectation to watch the Macy's Day parade when my dad asked if I'd like to go to Cheyenne, Wyoming with him for the morning. I was a little torn (ok, not really once he explained his reasoning) but no worries, we made it back in time to see Santa wave to everyone at the end of the parade.

My dad spent a few years of his childhood in Cheyenne and wanted to go back to drive around and see familiar sights. It was a really neat experience to hear his memories of the area and see where those memories took place -- back alleys that he played in with his friends, the home his family lived in, the local convenience store my Grandpa would walk to to buy his newspaper, the elementary school he attended...what a sweet experience. I felt very lucky to spend that one-on-one time with my dad and was glad that he asked me to go (sorry, no pictures!)

The rest of Thanksgiving day was spent playing cards, lounging, watching James Bond, and PIGGING OUT! Mom outdid herself as always and all of us were stuffed very quickly...followed by more cards and dominoes :)

The day after Thanksgiving, we all went on a hike up to Horsetooth. It was perfect weather and Oliver (Sonja's dog) came with us too -- always an adventure with him. These were the only pictures I took of the whole trip so I'm gonna post ALL of them ... :)

Afterwards, we went to the movies (naturally, day-after-Thanksgiving must) followed with more cards and leftovers. That night was spent walking around downtown Ft. Collins with old El Paso friends, the Lands, and eating good tortilla soup.

Unfortunately, my parents and Kris left the next day. After two hardcore classes at Sonja's gym in the morning, we stuffed our faces with popcorn at the movie theater again and then napped/watched tv while Sonja worked on some homework for school. That night, you guessed it, we ended it with cards and leftovers.

On Sunday, we went with Sonja to the first part of church, feasted on leftovers, and then hit the road back to Utah. It was a pretty uneventful drive...until Logan got pulled over 10 minutes from our home (lame-o!!). But all-in-all, it was a fantastic trip, a well-needed reprieve from Utah/work/craziness/life. Thanks again for hosting, Sonja and Oliver!

Backwards

2011-12-07T22:14:00.004-07:00

I have totally failed when it comes to blogging recently...

AND SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED!!

So, I decided to work my way backwards on the events of our lives. Tonight, I will share two fun things that happened this last weekend.

First we got our Christmas tree!! Last week, I was texting my mission trainer, Heather (who lives in Layton), if she knew of any tree stands where we could find a tree. She told us that instead of buying one we could go with them up to her parents' cabin in Mountain Green and cut down our tree...needless to say, we were very very excited. So, Saturday afternoon we climbed in their truck (with their new dog, Cowboy) and made our way up the windy, icy canyon country road (I'm glad Ryan was driving...he knew what he was doing). When we got there, Heather's parents were there too getting their 20+ foot Christmas tree ready at the cabin. We loaded everyone up (including the dog) into the Ranger (minus the parents) and began to make our way up the mountain looking for the PERFECT tree. We found one pretty quickly (and good thing it was quick because we couldn't go much farther up due to the snow), got the chainsaw out, and cut it down. We're still getting lights up so the finished product will be coming shortly...until then, here are some pictures to tide you over.

Right after we got our tree set up, we picked up our kitty!! I've been wanting a cat fooooooooooor-evvvvvvvv-er. Brad promised me when we moved from Logan we would find a place that allowed pets. We found our awesome house that we're living in now and couldn't pass up the opportunity to live here despite the fact that they didn't allow pets (because of the sheep). When I overheard a lady in our ward say that she had just rescued some kittens and was trying to find a new home for them, I lost it! I begged Brad to go talk to our landlord and that it could be my Christmas present. So, after much worrying and preparing ourselves for Jeff (the landlord) to say no, I was VERY surprised when Brad texted me one day at work and said that we were getting a cat. I was so giddy, it was ridiculous! (Even my patients at work knew what was going on and kept asking me when we were going to pick him up...I was telling everyone!) So, after much anticipation, we picked up our half black-white tabby/Siamese cat that we named Gus. And we are in love! (Well, Brad doesn't like when Gus pounces on his face while he's sleeping but we all know it's a sign of endearment). The first night and day were tough because he was freaking out so I was freaking out. But he is doing great!! I love how he purrs ALL.THE.TIME. He has quite the motor, sometimes it wakes me up at night. We are loving our little family :)

my big sister, sonja

2011-11-26T11:03:00.003-07:00

this is my big sister, sonja.

i love her SO much.

she rocks my world, and generally, i try and do as much as possible to be just like her.

i cut my hair like her (except i have curls and she doesn't).

i buy the same clothes as she does.

i try and eat the same food as her.

i have the same work out routine as sonja.

i even tried to go to the same university as sonja did, but couldn't get in. i'll always be a

utah ute at heart.

if you ever have to buy me a gift, i really like anything red, preferably with the utah utes insignia on it.

go sonja. and go utes.

FAIL

2011-11-26T00:54:00.006-07:00

I have majorly failed on blogging recently...

MY BAD!!

But don't you worry, there is plenty coming up…

Temples and Skydiving

2011-10-08T08:08:00.007-06:00

At the end of August, I had the wonderful opportunity to go down to Dallas with my mission trainer, Heather Jones [Sister Love], to see one of the lady's we taught receive her endowments in the Dallas temple. It was a quick trip [flew in late Friday night {and tried to take the wrong rental car...we only got 100 feet away before we were found out...haha} and flew out Sunday afternoon] but it was so wonderful to see so many of the amazing members in the Bossier, Louisiana area at the temple to support Sister Hughes in this big step. Following the endowment, she was then sealed to her husband who had passed away right around the same time the missionaries found her. What a great experience! Following the temple, we then headed to Bossier [about 3 hours away] and Heather and I spent the rest of the evening meeting up with some of our favorite people [I had my camera but didn't take any pictures...]. I'm so glad that I was able to be down there for this event, I love watching people as they grow in their knowledge and appreciation of the gospel.

The Group: [I don't know who the couple on the left is] Sister Moses, Dashey, Heather, Laurel, Eliza, Brother Williams, Sister Hughes, me, Miranda

Sister Missionaries: Sister Love, Sister Swanson, Sister Hughes, & Sister Jensen

Brother Williams [shown in the top picture], another person who I was lucky enough to meet and share the gospel with, said before we left our missions that if we ever came back to visit that he would take us skydiving. He's an airplane mechanic and so he has connections with a skydiving group [he fixes their planes, they take him or his friends skydiving]. Before I left, I had the amazing experience to jump!! What a rush, and I would DEFINITELY do it again :) Here are a few pictures...the video is too big, I can't attach it...just means everyone will have to come over and see it :)

Star of the Westside

2011-10-01T23:58:00.011-06:00

Recently I've been reflecting on a part of my life back in high school that I'd kinda forgotten about. While going to Franklin High, I participated in marching band...I know what you're thinking...BAND NERD!! [FYI-my sister, Ayrel, and my sister, Brei, and my brother, Sven, all participated in it as well, so it runs in the family.] But let me explain, this wasn't your ordinary marching band that most people associate with high school where they march up and down the field in a big block playing the school's fight song or sit in the stands during football games. We had to be on the marching field at 6:40 every morning [this was following early morning seminary at 5:45], Monday through Friday, where we would practice until 8:00, maybe even 8:10, and then head to classes until 3:30 [including one period of band where we might have practiced our music in the band room or gone outside and, you guessed it, continued to march]. Then there was an evening practice once, maybe twice a week, of an additional 2-3 hours of practice. This was also following about 3 weeks of summer marching band before school even started from 8-4 in the El Paso summer heat where we practiced marching techniques and playing an instrument at the same time [not as easy as it looks...]. We performed at all of the Friday night football games during halftime and competed in roughly 4-5 competitions in a 4 month span of time.

Initially, I had decided to quit band after middle school and participate in school sports. Right before my freshman year started, my mom and sister [Ayrel] told me to at least give it a try. I hadn't even registered for it. So I relented, and went to the summer marching practices. Needless to say, I got hooked. I loved my section! I loved the music. I loved my band director. I loved the comradery. Instead of quitting band, I ended up quitting sports. And I loved it all.

After high school, I moved on and pursued different areas and putting that part of music behind me. Recently, though, I have been reflecting on the memories as well as the things I learned while working hard and dedicating so much of my time to this event. I learned what real back pain felt like. I learned what it felt like to stand at attention for over five minutes holding an instrument up without resting my arms. I learned what it meant to be physically and mentally exhausted. I learned that if Mr. Beach was happy, everyone was happy...if he wasn't, watch out! [The best advice he ever gave that I still completely agree with is "To be early is to be on time; to be on time is to be late; and to be late is very very stupid."] I learned another use for metal washers. I learned the difference between a megaphone and a mellophone. I learned the importance of staying hydrated [especially after seeing Ben, Ayrel's husband, who was standing in front of me during practice one day, pass out because he was dehydrated]. But most of all, I learned that if you wanted to make progress and be successful, you had to work for it and be dedicated to it and work together. The memories of early morning practices, bus rides to games with the rest of the French horn section and saxophones eating ice chips, band trips, and competitions are still very fresh. I don't regret my decision.

Here's a link I found on Youtube to a performance of our band my freshman year during our final tournament [we won 2nd :)].

http://youtu.be/Dc-E0t8Wcfw

P.S. I'm a little slow...but I've been looking at tutorials of how to upload a Youtube video to blogger and all I get is this little link...any ideas so that you can see the screen and just push play?? Gracias.

Hiatus

2011-09-22T19:47:00.002-06:00

Sorry...

I've been taking a blog hiatus...
and a cleaning the house hiatus...
and a doing my hair hiatus...
and a cooking dinner hiatus...
and a folding the laundry hiatus...
and a washing the car hiatus...
and a feeding the sheep hiatus...

but one of these days I'll explain a little bit about why I've been on hiatus {no, not preggo}
but unfortunately that isn't today...stay posted!

September 15th

2011-09-15T21:23:00.003-06:00

Today is this guy's

28th birthday!!

Happy Birthday, Bradford!

Donnell Pond 2011

2011-08-25T13:44:00.007-06:00

This year, Brad was able to head back home to Maine for the annual Dalton boating extravaganza at Donnell Pond (for last years refresher of this little piece of heaven, click here). Because I had just started my new job, I wasn't able to take time off to tag along so I got to call every night and hear about all the fun adventures. Unfortunately, about half the time Brad was there, the boat was having some engine problems (is it bad that I felt a tiny bit better knowing they weren't having tooooo much fun...) but if you know the Dalton family, they will ALWAYS have fun, no matter the circumstances. Here are some pictures from Brad's fun trip :)

Andrew & Brad

Stephen & Amanda

Stephen, Brad, Andrew (with Milo), Logan, Anne, Greg, & Lyra (the dog)

No trip to Maine is complete without a home-run derby...

or playing tennis...

I'm glad Brad was able to go spend some quality time with his family. There are new stories and memories of ultimate tubing, card games (who really won Hearts??), and family time. This was the longest time we'd ever been apart (10 days) since we've been married but fortunately I was going crazy with work and it went by semi-quickly. Plans are already in the works for both of us to go back next summer.

Viva Donnell Pond!

Two

2011-08-15T08:51:00.007-06:00

Two years ago, I married my best friend.
Best. Day. Ever.

USU

2011-08-04T18:24:00.004-06:00

My friend just posted this as his facebook status and thought I should share...enjoy :)

A BYU fan, a U of U fan, and a USU fan are climbing a mountain and arguing about who loves their team the most. The U of U fan insists that he is most loyal and then yells, "This is for the U!" and jumps off the mountain. Not to be out done, the USU fan next professes his love for his team. He screams,"This is for the Aggies!" and pushes the BYU fan off the mountain...

Go Aggies!

International Freight Transport

2011-07-31T17:57:00.003-06:00

Brad is amazing. Case and point. While I was attending graduate school, he was doing all he could to support our little family of two. Logan didn't have the best market for "career"-esk jobs but throughout the 20 months we lived there after getting married, he consistently was applying and interviewing for jobs. He received many great job offers that would have taken him out of the city or state for weeks at a time which we decided would not be good for us at this particular time. Once we moved down to Salt Lake and then up to Layton we thought he'd have better luck with finding a job since we were closer to a bigger city, and Brad showed the same dedication and desire to find something that he would enjoy and that would be appropriate for our family right now. He has shown tremendous patience and faith throughout this whole experience. It would have been really easy to become discouraged and bitter.

Fortunately, lady luck has smiled on us :) Over the last few weeks, Brad has been interviewing with a company that does international importing and exporting for the government, agriculture companies, and the LDS Church humanitarian program. This last Thursday, they offered him the job which he is extremely ecstatic about!! Throughout the last two years, this was the first time I ever heard him say "I really want to this job." Another "perk" is that it's only about a 4 minute drive from our home, lucky dog!! I am very proud and excited for this new experience for him, he is going to be AWESOME!!

Congratulations, Bradford!! :)

Slide Show

2011-07-23T07:55:00.007-06:00

Here's a slide show of other events of the summer:

Brad finished coaching his soccer team, the Orange FireDragons!! All the boys LOVED him and he enjoyed coaching.

Our friend, Paula, invited us up to her stepdad's timeshare at Snowbird in the middle of June. There was still SOOOOO much snow, it was unbelievable! We enjoyed swimming in the outdoor pool (that was super warm) and playing MarcoPolo with a random couple and then staying up late playing games and eating candy :)

Groupshot!

I was able to meet up with some of my roommates. It was neat to see where everyone was: two had just bought homes (Katie and Kelly), two of us had just started new jobs (me and Kelli), one is pregnant (Jennae), one was engaged (Trisha), and one has been busy traveling with work (Marie).

Jennae, Kelly, Kelli, Katie, me, Marie, & Trisha

I was able to meet up with a sweet couple from one of my areas in my mission, the Breeland's.

Brad and I went to a Real Salt Lake game with our friends, Ryan and Brianna. It was a fun game and again, we had a great time. We have GREAT friends!

Ryan, Brianna, me, & Brad

I was able to attend Trisha's wedding at the Oquirrh Mountain temple (Brad had to work, boooo) as she became Mrs. Richards. It was a beautiful ceremony and she was a beautiful bride! It was great to finally meet Jared too after hearing so much about him. Congratulations!!

Mr. & Mrs. Richards

I recently had to get a TB test for work...and it came back positive! I ended up having to get a chest x-ray (that came back clear) but my arm keeps swelling and I just want to scratch scratch scratch (I'm sure everyone reading this is REALLY interested in my arm...but I thought the bump looked kinda cool).

the bullseye

Best.Game.Ever.

2011-07-19T21:57:00.014-06:00

Last night, Brad and I went to a Salt Lake Bee's game (versus the Sacramento Rivercats) as part of a goodbye event for Brad's old roommate, Jeremy, and his wife, Natalie, (click here for a refresher on who they are) as they head off to the Big Apple for Jeremy to attend grad school this coming fall. Brad and his friend, Joe, set up the night for the original "O-102" crew (and two wives) to get together one last time.

Jeremy, Joe, Mikol, and Brad

Before the game, Jeremy and Natalie took us (Brad & I and Joe) to an amazing Italian restaurant (The Italian Village) -- HEAVENLY (we'll definitely go back again...) -- and then met up with Mike at the game (for a refresher on who Mike is, click here). Mike's wife, Heather, was 3 days past her due date and decided not to come (don't blame you, Heather!), so the six of us went in and enjoyed the game right behind third base and the opposing teams dugout. I thought I had been to a good baseball game before, but being there with Mike definitely tops them all (even though we lost 14-3). He was the BIGGEST heckler I'd ever heard. There were plenty of times I put my head down and was whispering "shhhh, shhhhh, shhhhhh!" because he was so loud, but in the end everyone around us (including myself) was laughing pretty hard (he wasn't tactless or inappropriate, if that makes you feel better, Heather!); and he actually got a reaction from Kevin Kouzmanoff, 3rd baseman for the Rivercats, who, after futilely trying to catch a foul ball, was asked by Mike, "Are you always that slow? Why don't you take the breaks off next time?!!" During the end of the 8th inning, Kouzmanoff came out of the dugout and threw Mike a baseball...covered in PINE TAR! It smelled awful!! And all we could do was laugh. Mike, being the good-natured guy, took it pretty well too and bantered back and forth with Kouzmanoff. Now they're friends on facebook :) hahaha!

Here are just a few videos of his heckling...I never got a great one, just a bunch of little clips but just imagine this going on with about 10-15 second breaks between taunts. The stadium looks really empty, it started raining during one of the innings which sent a bunch of people home. It was pretty full at the beginning...

{this was the only time we scored -- watch the play at home plate, the pitcher tries to roll the ball to the catcher and is WAY off! And the guy I zoom in on is the one that threw Mike the ball.}

Niner

2011-07-16T15:33:00.003-06:00

We have loved having the sheep by our house. Besides the random wafts of manure smell, they are awesome to have around! When we first moved in, this years lambs were teeny-tiny but I didn't get out there quick enough to take pictures before they were sold. There were three lambs this year that needed to be bottle-fed (even if just for a few days) which our landlord has kept longer to take care of. One of them has stolen my heart...we call her Niner ("did I catch a niner in there?" -- name that movie...) because her ear tag number started with a nine (935 to be exact)...then I realized all of the ear tags started with a nine but by then it was too late, she (we always call her "he"; in fact, I just went back and corrected all the "hers" and "shes" from "him" and "his" that I just wrote) was named. She is the sweetest animal ever and I'm so sad because our landlord is selling her next weekend (to the MEAT MARKET!! Don't eat lamb in the next little while, you might be eating Niner! That's a depressing thought...). Here are some pictures of our ~~child~~ lamb.

Harry to the Potter

2011-07-14T22:31:00.005-06:00

So, Brad and I haven't really gotten into the whole Harry Potter scene; although we do go and see the movies and enjoy them, we just have never really gotten into it. I read all the books back at the beginning of college and Brad hasn't read any of them. But when my work presented two tickets to see part 2 of the last book a day before the general public, we took up their offer and made our way to Brigham City for the event. Besides the overly loud and annoying couple next to us (take your licorice rope OUT of the wrapper before chomping away instead of sliding it down during all of the quiet scenes in the movie...), we had a great time. I'll probably even go back and re-read all of the books. I might even make Brad read them with me...or at least watch the movies again.

Accio!

Layton Hills 5k

2011-07-09T08:48:00.002-06:00

Our church stake put on a 5k fun run on June 25th that Brad and I decided to do. I'd only done one other 5k and that was my first week on my mission. Brad and I spent a few weeks before preparing for our 3 mile race. There was about 65 people who showed up to run and about 25 more who walked. They did a great job organizing the race and broke it down into age groups and gender. Being that Brad is a much faster runner we decided to run by ourselves and see what times we were able to get individually. Once everyone had finished and times had been recorded, they had a ribbon ceremony (with real ribbons!!). Brad, being the speedy runner he is, finished the race in 23 minutes and was the first one in his age group (BLUE RIBBON!).

Me, quite a few minutes behind, got 2nd place in my age group (RED RIBBON!) and was just seconds behind the girl who got first {dang!}.

Overall it was a successful day and we enjoyed running together. I think Brad even got a racing bug to do more!

Avery Joy Gonzalez

2011-07-09T08:41:00.007-06:00

On July 5th, my sister, Ayrel, and her husband, Ben, welcomed their first child into their family!

I love Avery Joy's dark hair and dark eyes. I just want to hold her!! Congratulations!!

Best Husband Award

2011-07-09T08:25:00.006-06:00

On Thursday, it took me over an hour and a half to get to work, an hour of that going a total of 2 miles. I thought it must have been some horrible accident but I later found out that the I-15 was closed off in both directions due to this:

There was a man attempting to jump off a freeway overpass and the police were trying to talk him out of it. It took a total of 3 hours before family were able to convince him not to jump {phew!}. Because of the major time delay, it threw off the rest of my day and my schedule and it was a bit frustrating...ok, a lot frustrating. But when I got home, Brad had a sweet surprise for me. I've been wanting one of these FOR.EV.ER!

Now we have clean, fresh water all the time :) This turned my crazy day back up the right way. Love me my husband.

Should've been...

2011-06-23T20:16:00.003-06:00

Yesterday should've been a tough day at work...mostly due to the following reasons:

My first patient that I worked with passed away (expired is the politically correct term to use in this situation, which I later found out...).
Another patient (who is new to the building and extremely depressed and confused) asked me to help him die.

Fortunately for me, none of this ended up turning my day upside down. But as I was driving home I realized that, despite those two really sad events, I actually had a great day at work.

Is that bad?

Dads

2011-06-19T23:22:00.006-06:00

Brad says: "Dads are awesome. The end."

Tanja says: "Brad and I both were blessed with wonderful fathers in our homes, who did everything they could to raise us to be good, honest, hard-working, responsible individuals. They worked hard to provide the necessities that we took for granted each day. But they also knew how to play hard. Brad has fond memories of sporting events in the backyard, mainly the single game, top 10 club, and pickle. I remember hours spent in my backyard with my dad playing basketball and him beating me at HORSE with his patented left-handed lay-up. We are grateful for the examples we have had in our fathers, and hope that one day we can provide for our children the love and time that our fathers gave and continue to give to us."

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

P.S. Brad helped write that paragraph too...

2050 Church Street

2011-06-19T22:52:00.007-06:00

Welcome to our home! Your virtual tour of our house is about to begin! Have we told you how much we love our home? Because we do...a lot! :) (This is Brad talking now) I love this house. I know I never write in this blog, but I wanted to get in on the action. We have an unbelievable view, and 50 furry friends. Plus, I finally have a yard to play sports in. (Back to Tanja)

This is the view when you walk in the front door. The door on the left of the fridge goes into our bathroom, the one on the right goes out to the backyard.

Laundry room on the right with it's own sliding glass door. We think this use to be part of a porch but the sliding door helps keep the noise out when we do laundry, so we're okay with it being there.

Look at our hot, new couch cover!

View from the bedroom window looking east.

View of the west/sunset from our front window.

A handful of our friends out back.

Although this farmhouse is smaller than our last apartment, which we absolutely adored, we are extremely happy to be here. The ward is amazing, our landlords are awesome, and we have lots of trails close by to roam on, what else could you want, right? Plus we have a white picket fence...we're living the American dream right now :) Come visit us, we accept visitors ALWAYS, even if it's just to pet the sheep!

Coming soon...NINER!!

Layton Life

2011-06-19T00:29:00.003-06:00

I never seem to be able to stay up to date with this anymore...but here's a written update of the Dalton life.

Brad and I are still enjoying our little house in Layton. If the weather holds up tomorrow, I'll go take some pictures to share. Our landlord is starting to sell his sheep so little by little they are disappearing. There's one sheep that will run towards us when he sees us. We call him "Niner" ("did I catch a niner in there?")because I saw that his ear tag number started with a nine...then I realized all the sheep's ear tags started with a nine but by then it was too late to change his name, it fit. We found a trail with our friends, Liz and Jonny (where's the flood, Liz?), that goes behind our landlord's house that turns into a deer sanctuary and we were able to get really close to them since there isn't any hunting allowed. And we found a really nice, paved path just down the street that's part of some swamp land preservation; it's a great running trail and it's marked! It's been fun having friends over for dinner, we've been trying to do better about cooking meals and eating leftovers and it definitely helps to have a stove that actually works correctly (our last one only had one setting -- HOT!) Can you tell how much we LOVE OUR HOUSE?! It's so nice to feel like we're in the "country" but then have a Target and a strip of restaurants just 2 minutes away. Our landlords are amazing; we call about something and they are over in no time to fix it. And they gave us fresh eggs from their chickens...they are such nice people. Brad and I feel extremely lucky to be where we are (thanks, Heather!).

Brad's enjoying his job right now at Sports Authority. He keeps telling me how much fun it is and, even though he doesn't plan on staying there for very long, that he's glad he is able to work there to help him remember what it's like to enjoy what you do. Plus, the employee discount doesn't hurt too much :) He brought home a really nice badminton set and some nice running socks for me. Win win. The only downside is sometimes he has to work until 9-9:30 some nights but they haven't scheduled him to work on a Sunday yet, which we are grateful for. This week, Brad received quite a few emails and phone calls for some job interviews so we will see what this round will bring...we'll keep you posted!

My job is going well too. Last week was a different story (work week from helllllllll-0) but each day has gotten better since. There's been some drama with my temporary license but we got that all smoothed out and now we're on our way. My CF supervisor is a 6 foot 5, body-builder (not the typical male SLP you'd expect to work with...) who's done a decent job so far with helping me adjust. I really like my co-workers as well, there are 2 occupational therapists (OT) and 2 physical therapists (PT) and an occupational therapy student for the summer. I'm the only speechie in the building. Some of the patients are grumpy but for the most part, I love my caseload. It's fun to be working...and not to mention getting paid for it. I was working with one guy a few days ago and telling him how much snow there still is in the mountains. This was our dialogue:

Me: I hope it doesn't flood, that could do a lot of damage.
Him: I hope it floods.
Me: Why?
Him: Because I don't like Utah.
Me: Why don't you like Utah?
Him: Because there are too many LDS people here.

Initially I was sad, but then I had to laugh. I don't know his religious affiliation but I do know he has a diagnosis of dementia and I'm thinking that might of had something to do with this conversation. I've also had one gentleman ask me to marry him. You never know what you're going to hear at this place.

So there you go...a written description of life in Layton. Next time, I'll have some pictures, promise :)

Catching Up

2011-05-28T12:36:00.001-06:00

Three new posts below!
On my way to catching things up...

Master Dalton

2011-05-28T11:54:00.014-06:00

On May 6th, after two long hard years, I finally graduated with my Masters of Science!! It was a great day, filled with many many emotions-pride (the good kind, right?) at accomplishing my goals in education, sadness that I won't get to see my classmates as often [my cohort was awesome!], apprehension for the future (am I really prepared to help people??), excitement for not only a day of celebration (and also the cute outfit I got for the occasion), and overall...RELIEF! After the graduation ceremony, I let everyone know that for the remainder of the day I would like to be acknowledged as "Master Dalton"; gratefully, my wish was granted :) These last two years have been a big endeavor and I know it was with the help of a wonderful, supportive husband, great family, amazing classmates, and the best SLP professors on the face of the planet that I made it through. Many many MANY tears due to anxiety, frustration, and lack of sleep have been shed but despite all of the stress and late night dates with the computer, it was all worth it! Thank you to all who have been apart of this experience and for the wonderful support and love.

Able to find yours truly?

The parentals

hahahahahahahahahahaha

Our friends Evan & Megan--Megan graduated in Deaf Education

The COMD class of 2011
Back row: Shawn, Rob, Kara, Doug, Jane, Liz, & Aubrey
Front row: Jeanette, Heather, Angela, Krista, & Melissa
(minus Kira who was participating in the St. George Ironman)

More friends, Jonny & Liz (she was my study buddy through school) and Jonny is getting ready to start an Audiology doctorate program in Kansas. We'll miss you guys!

After all the celebration in Logan, we made our way back down to Salt Lake where we met up with the rest of my family for dinner at Bucca de Bepo's. It was fun to have everyone around and it didn't hurt that the food was delish. Afterwards, a few of us went to an authentic Belgian waffle shop with the melted sugar cubes in the waffles (not your traditional breakfast waffles you might be thinking of...), a perfect way to end a wonderful day.

JILL PAIGE BUNKER

2011-05-28T11:38:00.005-06:00

On May 4th, my sister, Brei, had her baby--a beautiful girl they named JILL PAIGE BUNKER (to understand the caps, you need to know my nephew, Jill's big brother, Jake). She was a big 9 pound baby with a nice roll of fat on her nose between her eyes, making it look like she was scowling...LOVE IT! She has such a fun, sweet tempered personality and we are so so so so so so happy to have her in our family!

Colorado

2011-05-28T10:26:00.006-06:00

For Easter, Brad and I decided to head out to visit my sister, Sonja, in Colorado. She lives in Fort Collins, just north of Denver, and both Brad and I love it there! We had looked into doing my masters there but unfortunately, they didn't have my program anymore. The drive across Wyoming was uneventful (go figure) but I LOVE ROADTRIPS. We arrived on a Friday night, greeted by Sonja and her dog Oliver. Throughout the weekend, we spent our time taking Oliver on lots of walks, watching Modern Family, ate out, got into mischief on Facebook, Sonja took us to a cycling class (loved it!), and went and saw movies (The Conspirator--definitely recommended; Water for Elephants--pretty good, wait for Redbox). My birthday was on Easter this year (AWESOME! Unlimited candy without feeling guilty...) but we decided that we would celebrate on Saturday and have "Jesus' Day" on Sunday. I was sooo spoiled with great company, good food, and wonderful gifts :) On Easter, Sonja was asked to talk in church and she did pretty well considering some of the faces Brad and I were throwing her. Since we were still bums with no jobs yet or obligations to return back to Utah for, we stayed an extra day and didn't leave until Wednesday. More bumming, more eating, and more walks. And I also got to have dinner with an old high school friend, Kelli. It was great catching up with her, it had been about 3 years since we'd seen each other. All in all, it was an excellent roadtrip. Thanks Son, for letting us come out! It was wonderful spending some time with you!!

German Chocolate...my fav!

The majority of the trip...dominoes and Monopoly Deal

I'm bummed that we didn't get any pictures with Sonja...just means we need to go back soon :)

Dalton Update

2011-04-17T13:04:00.005-06:00

I know, I know...every one of you that reads this blog (I'm guessing about 3 people) have been DYING to know what our plans are and the decisions we've made. So this is our plan...unless things change even more...

About a month ago, I interviewed for a job at a Veterans Home up in Ogden, Utah (thanks to my old roommate, Kelly, and her sweet connections). After much thought and prayer and discussion we decided that I should accept the position. Unfortunately, I couldn't start until after I have officially graduated (in May...this was back in March) so I called the company and told them the situation with the thought that they would say, "Sorry, but we can't wait that long." To our surprise, they said that they would find someone to cover temporarily would wait until I was able to work for them (what what what?). May 16th is the starting date and I am very very excited to work at this facility; I was very impressed when I interviewed and toured the building (not to mention, Kelly is the social worker there so it's gonna be fun working together).

Right after we found out about this job in Ogden, Brad heard back from a company in Idaho Falls that he had applied to. He met the company at a career fair and was very interested in what they had to offer (minus the whole location thing). So when they called for an interview (and paid for the trip), we went up to look around (I went along for the ride). He enjoyed the people he talked to and the tour of the company and felt like he did well in the interview. Over the few days following the interview, we discussed our options together and with the Lord and decided not to pursue this avenue much further.

Once we realized we would be staying in the Utah area for a little longer, we decided it was about time to look for an apartment. I sent some messages out to friends that we knew who lived in the Layton area and got some great ideas and recommendations. One friend (Amanda) mentioned an apartment complex and another friend (my mission trainer, Heather, aka Barb) mentioned an old farmhouse that a relative was renting out. After checking both out we were completely torn! The apartment had 2-bedrooms and came with the pool, gym, hot tub, GARAGE, and allowed pets (and Brad has been promising that at our next home/apartment we would get a cat). Then we went and saw the farmhouse with it's own picket fence, one-bedroom, HUGE kitchen with new appliances, huge living room, basement for storage, and a sheep farm in the backyard but...did not allow pets. After days of more discussion and going back and forth, we decided to go with the farmhouse :) I know, I gave up my cat but we have sheep, right? We move in two weeks and are very excited to move into our own place and get settled again (we'll post pictures once we've moved in). My sister, Brei, and her family have been WONDERFUL in allowing us to stay with them during this whole time of uncertainty. We feel extremely blessed and thankful for their generosity and pure charity and have loved being so close to family.

Ever since we've moved down to the Salt Lake area, Brad has devoted 75%, if not more, of his time to applying, emailing, and calling companies hoping for a job lead. I can only imagine how discouraging it has been, especially when he's been applying for jobs for the last 2 years and I find one right away, but he has been very positive and optimistic throughout the whole thing. Of course, we have our discouraging discussions and continue to realize we have only faith to rely on at the moment with so much unknown still lurking in the future but we are grateful for the support of family and the relationship we have with each other and with our Heavenly Father. With all the decisions we still have to make, I'm sure there will be another "update" hopefully soon.

One step closer...

2011-04-09T11:21:00.002-06:00

On Tuesday, after years of preparation and writing and crying and late night researching, I finally defended my thesis. WHEW! What a relief! It feels sooooooo good to have that behind us. Brad has been an amazing support throughout the whole thing and I'm sure he's pretty happy to have it over so that the tyrannical, stress-ball of a wife would go away. There are a few more revisions to complete with things that were discussed at the defense and a comprehensive exam that I take at the end of April and then my graduate experience will be O.V.E.R. The light is getting brighter :)

Baby Year

2011-03-29T00:47:00.013-06:00

This post has been a long time in the making for a number of reasons, some of which are beyond my control :) This year I have designated “baby” year. I have been to more baby showers, received more picture texts of baby bumps/newborns, and had more conversations about the tiny things than I remember ever having. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed everything and even have had a twinge of wanting one (because they are so cute and cuddly but then I remember there’s much more to it than just that) once or twice but I felt like this was a good moment to recognize all the new mommies and mommies-to-be (and daddies!).

[Disclaimer: If you would like me to remove your name/picture due to confidentiality, no hard feelings. If I have accidently forgotten anyone, please let me know so that I can add them. And no, this is not a post where afterwards I tell you that I am pregnant too. (P.S. I stole most of the pictures off of blogs...enjoy.)]

Greg & Aubrie Zeh -- Cooper Zeh; January 18^th

Andrew & Kristen Graham -- Makayla Ivy Graham; January 24^th

Chad & Chelsea DeVries -- Boston DeVries; March 8^th

Matt & Sandee Clark -- Oliver Clark; March 20^th

Barry & Trisha Boyce -- Ellie Boyce; March 22^nd

James & Sarah Gedge -- expecting at the beginning of May

Kelly & Brei Bunker -- expecting at the beginning of May

Tony & Carly Dunlop -- expecting at the end of May

Ben & Ayrel Gonzalez -- expecting in the middle of July

Evan & Lauren Moore -- expecting at the beginning of August

Jess & Jennae Godfrey -- expecting in the middle of August

Levi & Jenn Fearnley -- expecting in September

Jason & Heidi Madsen -- expecting in September

And that's just to September!! I know there are more who want children and are doing everything they can to have that special privilege and I look forward to your texts/pictures/ phone calls when that day arrives. Also, there are many of you that have had an unexpected twist in events concerning your new little family and I know our Father in Heaven is aware. You are all WONDERFUL women (and men) whom I look up to tremendously for the love and commitment you have to your family and for the sacrifices you make everyday, whether due to pains/discomforts during pregnancy (not men) or getting used to taking care of someone else. Thank you for your amazing examples!

Boot Camp

2011-03-24T16:17:00.004-06:00

Yesterday, I started a Boot Camp in my hopes to becoming more fit and healthy. Brad signed up too but had a previous commitment so couldn't come with me last night. But all I can say is OUCH! Today has been one of the worst days of exercise soreness ever! I love the feeling but despise it at the same time. I hope I'm ready for tomorrow's Boot Camp and that this wears off soon... but no pain, no gain, right?

Overall though, I really enjoyed exercising again, it's been way too long. The trainer knows what he's doing and I feel like I already got my money's worth in that first session and I still have a month left. Hopefully by the end I won't be lying in bed the next day trying to recover but in better condition. As for once this is over, are there things that you have found enjoyable and helped you get into shape without breaking the bank?

Part 3 - Solitude

2011-03-23T16:24:00.006-06:00

On the final day of the Dalton family adventure, we made our way up to Solitude for a day of skiing and snowboarding. It was the perfect day -- cloudy, lightly snowing, and a thin layer of powder. I'm not the quickest person on skis and gladly admit that I was the last one down the hill 95% of the time but we all had a BLAST! Remember, when you say you're good for one more run, STOP right then!! Brad and I both didn't listen and I ended up sliding down the mountain and he ended up falling on a jump on our last runs...

Following our day in the snow, we went out to dinner and then "big-ball bowling" (back East they have small-ball bowling [there aren't any finger holes and the balls are the sizes of hmmm...a large grapefruit; very fun! I did it for the first time last summer] and very few big-ball bowling alleys). Then we had to say goodbye so they could catch their red-eye flight back to Maine. We were all sad to say goodbye and have already started planning our next vacation together (Donnell Pond!! Wahoo!! Click here for a refresher on this piece of heaven.).

Part 2 - LAS VEGAS

2011-03-21T22:47:00.009-06:00

After a day in SLC, we made our way down to Las Vegas (hey, Las Vegas!), picking up Logan in Provo and with the company of our friends, Paula and Joe. There were multiple reasons for the trip down south, my favorite being WARMER WEATHER!! But we were also able to enjoy some good college tournament basketball games, good food, good hotel, and good company the entire time (2.5 days) we were there. We arrived in the early evening and ended up walking around a bit and grabbing a bite to eat. The following day was spent down at the pool and trying to get tickets to two separate games -- the BYU vs. San Diego game for Brad's family (who 3/6 are BYU alum or currently attending) and the USU vs. Boise State game (Brad accidentally left his student id at home so we were trying to find a cheaper ticket for him, student tickets weren't very expensive but general admission prices were ridiculous). Fortunately, everyones desires were satisfied, including mine of getting a bag of freshly roasted almonds. Unfortunately, only 1 of the 2 games ended successfully (Utah State, hey Aggies all the way!) but I'm not complaining. Afterwards, we did a lot more walking around being overstimulated by all the bright lights and strange people we saw. The next day, Sunday, we made our way to Paris and had some breakfast and then hit the road back to SLC. On the way back, we made a pit-stop in St. George to have a bbq with my grandparents and cousin (but didn't get a picture, sad!) and then made our way back north. It was a fun-filled, packed adventure but it was wonderful to be all together! The pictures might help in documenting the events.

We felt a LOT safer knowing that Batman and CatWoman were around to protect us...

Prepping for the game, getting our game faces on.

Joe, Brad, Stephen, me, & Paula

Storming the court following V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!

WAC Champions 4 years running

Tai Wesley and Wild Bill

Bellagio fountain and lights

Paris for breakfast

The storm troopers saw that we were off safely...nice guys.

Part 1 - the Dalton's are in town!

2011-03-18T10:10:00.007-06:00

Note: THREE new posts below!

Brad's family flew all the way from Maine to escape the cold northeast winter and spend a weekend with us. After flying through half the night and having a 5 hour layover in Vegas (where Anne and Andrew walked the strip instead of sleep, hahahaha, love it!) they arrived in Salt Lake at 8:45 in the morning. The day they arrived was my last day at my externship so I caught up with them later in the evening but they took the day to rest, spend some time with Brad and his friend, Joe, and relax a little more. Brad and Joe went snowboarding up at Solitude and had one of the "best days ever!" followed by lunch with the family (minus Logan who was still down in Provo). Here's some proof...

Brad

Joe

Brad

Anne, Stephen, Andrew, Brad, Joe

After snowboarding and a little more relaxation and when I got home from my externship they came and picked me up and we made our way to Mulligan's to hit a bucket of golf balls and test our strength at the batting cages. We then met up with Anne's brother and wife, Bob and Gladys Ann, for dinner at the Gateway, and then made our way to NICKELMANIA!!; where all the games are a nickel. The boys spent a good time of their night at the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle game, while Greg and Anne were working on getting new high scores on a couple of their favorite games, and I spent my time at my favorite "gambling" game. Perfect for everyone!!

Bob, Gladys Ann, Greg, Anne, Stephen, Andrew, me, Brad

Jimmer = Overrated

2011-03-18T09:58:00.008-06:00

Brad's brother, Logan, returned from his mission last August and started back at BYU this last semester. When he bought his textbooks, he won some tickets to some basketball games and invited Brad and I to come join him when they played (and lost) to New Mexico. When we arrived in Provo we were surprised to see that brown-haired Logan was now orange-haired Logan due to a bet he lost. The game was a bit of a blow-out, it was the game right after Brandon Davies had been kicked off the team and they had no idea what they were doing. I wasn't too impressed with Jimmer and thought he was a bit of a ball-hog but I'll respect the amount of press he's been getting for all of his shots. The major highlight for the night for me was the half-time performance. We had the privilege of watching the GOLDEN GIRLS perform their always entertaining show. This was our second chance, they had come up to Logan and performed at a half-time show earlier in the year. I couldn't find a recent video but click here to a link from last year's performance. All-in-all, it was great to see Logan and do something a bit different. Thanks for the tickets, Logan!

Let's Start at the Beginning

2011-03-18T09:42:00.004-06:00

Yes, unfortunately it's been awhile since we've posted any information about our lives. I know you all have been DYING to hear. I promise we have been busy and there is plenty to share...and today, I finally feel like I can catch up.

I finished my medical externship and had an AMAZING experience. I loved loved loved my supervisor, she reminded me a lot of me just about 5 years older so we got along great :) The last week snuck up on me and before I knew it my last day had arrived. I loved the patients that I was able to work with (stroke, traumatic brain injury, general deconditioning, etc.) and see their progress, especially TBI's. Now, all I have left is to defend my thesis at the beginning of April (that is a whole other story but it's not a happy one so I won't share) and take a comprehensive test (the PRAXIS) at the end of April and then I will be D.O.N.E.

Brad finished training the new manager at the gym and did a fantastic job! Now, he is putting full force into finding the most amazing job ever! We're still on our toes about our future and where we will end up but things are starting to unravel slowly...we'll keep you updated!

Calling all Voters!

2011-02-26T20:56:00.002-07:00

Let's take a vote...

Should we stay in

Utah??

or move

somewhere new??

SKYPE

2011-02-23T22:32:00.004-07:00

So, we finally caved in and got a SKYPE account yesterday. Because this is a public blog I won't post our name but if you have SKYPE and want to SKYPE with us, let me know!

Here's a picture from our most recent SKYPING conversation. Meet my sister, Sonja, with her dog, Oliver, wearing his doggles...priceless.

Night Skiing

2011-02-22T16:12:00.005-07:00

Last night, Brad and I met up with his brother, Logan, and some of his friends for some night skiing at Brighton. I haven't gone skiing since before my mission (about 4 years ago) and I wasn't going to go snowboarding because last time I did I ended up crying from frustration. So, with Brad on his snowboard and me on some skis, we made our way down the mountain. It was a lot of fun! Unfortunately, after only a few runs down, my legs were kIlLiNg me and my body was not cooperating (because I have a cold) so I went and sat in our car. A little while later, Logan's friend, Natacha, came and joined me. She is from France and visiting a friend near Provo and had never been skiing before. She met Logan during his mission when he served in the area she lived in so they've been spending time together while she's in town. We had such a good time chatting while trying to stay warm in the car and now we're all sad to see her go back to France on Thursday!! It was wonderful to meet her and get to spend a little time with Logan. I'm sure he and Brad enjoyed skiing/boarding down the mountain without us girls slowing them down, even after Brad dared him to go through some powder which he got stuck in for about 10 minutes. Here's the only picture of the night!

Moved.Out.

2011-02-14T21:48:00.004-07:00

Brad and I had to move out this weekend, something we are very excited for but also extremely sad about. We loved out basement apartment on 500 North just below Old Main Hill, it was PERFECT!! This move came about a bit unexpectedly but we are ready for a new adventure.

We lived in an old home with LOTS of character. Our kitchen had green linoleum counters and white cupboards with very little counter space but I loved our old shallow sink. Our bathroom was almost as classy with blue linoleum countertops and brown cupboards. We loved the water pressure in our shower though. We were lucky to snag a 3-bedroom apartment for the price that we got and we LOVED the space that we had. It was always fun to have friends over and family come up to visit and we never felt cramped. Because it was an old basement apartment, there were pipes EVERYWHERE!! When we first moved in, the landlords had these Styrofoam protector things around the pipes that would expand and make noises during the winter time; it was really strange. So we took them off. The apartment had a fireplace but because of the home split into 3 apartments, we weren’t allowed to use it (since the upstairs neighbor’s chimney attached to ours) but our landlords put up a great poster so we were able to have a fire year round—we were never cold :) Brad even had a large closet that we designated the “Sports closet” since all of his athletic gear was in there. My favorite part was the laundry room (although I’d always find spiders in it). It had a TON of storage space and hookups for our washer and dryer (my favorite appliances). We are extremely sad to say goodbye to such a wonderful home and are jealous for the new tenants moving in.

A little bit of our Logan history:

I’ve lived in Logan since 2004 after I had come back from my foreign exchange in Holland. I was lucky enough to have some AMAZING roommates my freshman year that have remained friends through the years. I was able to live with these wonderful people until I left for my mission to Mississippi/Louisiana in June 2006. When I came back for the spring semester of 2008, things had changed but there were still some familiar faces around. Brad and I started dating in the summer of 2008 and after our year of courtship, have lived in the same apartment since we got married a year and a half ago. During my whole Logan life, I lived in 10 different apartments (ranging from 2 weeks to a year and a half) and had a total of 17 roommates.

Brad came to Logan in the fall of 2005, right after he completed his mission to Guatemala. He had completed one year before his mission at Arizona State but decided he wanted to go somewhere colder after living in Phoenix for a year and Guatemala for another two. One of his companions had mentioned USU and he decided to try it out. Unfortunately, we had no idea of each other until after my mission but he was able to meet some amazing people as well. We both feel like we had the best roommate experiences possible and are grateful for the friends that they still are. We both lived in the same apartment complex after I came home and that’s where we met. Brad’s lived in a total of 5 apartments (ranging from 4 months to two years) and had 13 roommates

We're sad that our Logan chapter has come to a close. It's been a good part of our lives. It’s interesting to look back and see our paths and the road life has taken us on. We’ve moved down to Salt Lake City for the time being. The next month or two should be very interesting for us and we are praying for divine direction as to where our next “home” will be. Any input would be GREATLY appreciated!

Life as of late...

2011-01-27T18:04:00.003-07:00

After our wonderful Christmas/New Year's adventures, we made our way back to the state of Utah and got back to business. We flew back on a Saturday and the following Monday I started my final internship at Intermountain Medical Center (yea for graduation in May!!). Brad helped his brother, Logan, get settled in for his first semester back at BYU and then made his way back to Logan (the city) to go to work. It's been quite the interesting dynamic being apart for a 4-5 day period and then meet up on the weekends, definitely not ideal but we're pushing through with zest-o. Brad has been commuting down to the gym in Brigham City and working there which adds an extra hour to his workday. Luckily, this winter has been pretty mild so the canyon hasn't been too bad for him. I've really been enjoying this externship (I say that about every placement). I feel like I'm at the bottom of the learning curve and have a lot to learn before I'm even close to becoming competent. I've seen everything--mucosa shooting out of trachs, vomiting waterfalls, and lots of blood...nice. I have 4 weeks in my pocket and just 6 more weeks left, it has flown by!! But I can't wait until Brad and I can live together on a more permanent basis.

A Southern Wedding for New Years

2011-01-23T00:42:00.003-07:00

From El Paso, Brad and I flew out to Memphis for my friend, Jenn's, wedding. The bride and I met our first week in Holland as exchange students. Once I heard her talk about early morning seminary to other exchange students, we were joined at the hip and have stayed in contact the last 7 years. When I got married, she came out to Utah and was a bridesmaid (and saved my sanity the two days before the wedding) and bonded quickly with my family. She has always felt like a long-lost sister. So when we found out she was getting married there was no question that we would be there. It was great being back in the South and her wedding was no exception of a Southern wedding either. We flew out a few days early so that I could participate in the Bachelorette party and Brad was able to go to the Bachelor party (and get hit in the nose with a laser tag gun...see if you notice it in the pictures to follow). Not only did we fly in, but a bunch of Levi's (the groom) mission friends and Jenn's friends from Holland made the trip to help celebrate. It was so much fun being around Dutch people and hear the language (although I couldn't really respond back, I did understand what they were saying). The photographer was a boyfriend of one of Jenn's friends from Holland. This same girl (the girlfriend) designed the bridesmaid dresses (which became a bit of a disaster because the seamstress didn't do that great of a job, but it all turned out beautiful in the end). My sister and her husband, Brei and Kelly, were able to fly out for the event (lucky pilot benefits) which made it that much more fun. It was soooo much fun being around Jenn again and being able to celebrate her wedding and New Years together. The pictures might describe our adventure better...

I couldn't get enough of the flower girls and their dresses!! They even had trains that unhooked and dragged on the floor! The day after the wedding, Brad and I went to the Peabody hotel and watched their famous ducks come down from their "penthouse" on the top floor, ride the elevator down, and then parade into their fountain. It was quite comical. Afterwards, we walked the 3 blocks down to the Mississippi River and saw someone waterskiing (crazy). Then we headed over to Beale Street and grabbed a delicious, southern breakfast. It was a wonderful trip and I'm so glad we were able to be there for everything!!

Southwestern Christmas

2011-01-16T20:18:00.005-07:00

This year, Brad and I made the voyage to El Paso again to celebrate Christmas southwestern style. I'd been craving good Mexican food since August and was not disappointed (except at Taco Cabana, their queso did not meet par) and we were able to soak up the sun on lots of walks, a bike ride along the Rio, and a good hike. Luminarias were a must on Christmas Eve, I won the Almond Gift, and waking up at the crack of dawn to open gifts was a no brainer, not to mention Oliver's doggles were a hit. We didn't take very many pictures but here are some I snagged from others.

Brad, me, Oliver, Sonja, Ayrel, Ben, Valerie, and Troy

We hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas surrounded by family and loved ones.

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

2010-12-21T10:01:00.005-07:00

As I might have mentioned earlier, Christmas is Brad's absolute FAVORITE holiday. He loves everything about it--the trees, the gifts, the lights, the stockings, everything! This year we're heading down to Texas to celebrate Christmas with my family. Brad and I were discussing decorations of our little apartment and he told me that we should get a Christmas tree like we did last year. {Cue in evil wife music} I told him no because we wouldn't be able to enjoy it very long before we left and then it would be here drying up while we were gone (I know, I'm awful). Yesterday, I felt really bad that we weren't going to have a tree so....

I made one :) while Brad was at work. So what if the "Christmas lights" are Happy Birthday tinsel...we're celebrating the birth of Christ, right?? It works. When Brad got home from work he was very happy to see that we had our very own Christmas tree and said it felt more like Christmas. Let the holidays begin!!

Trains, Catching Up, & Lights

2010-12-20T00:38:00.009-07:00

When Brad and I were dating, he told me that he'd never been on a train. Every year, I always made the same promise that I would take him on the FrontRunner (a train from Ogden to Salt Lake City) to go and see the Christmas lights at Temple Square. This is our 3rd Christmas together and I had yet to fulfill that promise. So, this year I stuck to my guns (tough girl!) and FINALLY took Brad down. On our way to Ogden, we were a bit delayed because of the slow drivers (I don't get road rage, I just am sometimes an impatient driver...) and we got lost trying to find the station. But, with a little help from our friend, Paula who lives in Odgen now, we made it and only arrived in SLC an hour later than planned {she also came to the station and was our photographer}.

Getting on the train!!

hahaha, she's not going to like me posting this picture but I LOVE it!!

We made plans to meet up with one of my good friends, Nicole, and her husband of 11 months, Adam (whom we'd never met before). Nicole and I knew each other from high school and were roommates for our 1st semester at USU. Unfortunately, she had to transfer to another school because USU didn't have her program or else you better believe we would've lived together longer. I haven't seen her in almost 3 years so it was SOOOOOO much fun to see her and catch up; she's definitely one of those friends where you haven't seen each other for awhile but you pick everything up right where it left off {plus, I found out that they bought a house right around the corner from my sister, Brei. Coincidence?? I think not... :) }. We were able to enjoy some dinner with them and then go walk around Temple Square and see the lights. We were definitely glad we took Trax because the Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert featuring David Archuleta was just ending and people/cars were EVERYWHERE, it would've been a nightmare if we had driven! But the lights, naturally, did not disappoint. Brad and I both had a wonderful night!!

Holiday Plans

2010-12-16T17:34:00.006-07:00

Well, another semester has come and gone successfully. Finals week wasn't bad at all this semester, probably the easiest one of my college career. Just a few meetings with some clinical supervisors to evaluate my work and a meeting with my thesis mentor to work on some data and get things moving a little more. Not bad at all, I would say. Brad's been working, making me rich :) and actually went down to SLC for a job interview today. We'll see what happens. If he gets it, we'll both start back on the 3rd of January (me at my medical externship and him at this new job). There are LOTS of decisions to make rather quickly and we're hoping we make the right ones (no, babies are not in there right now).

I've been making the famous Jensen Christmas bread to give to friends around the area. It's been a baking frenzy the last 3 days but it tastes good and reminds me of Christmases in high school. We fly out to Texas on the 23rd (hellooooooooooo warm weather...the 16 degrees today was not a very nice thing to walk home in) where we get to spend some time with my family. Then we're heading out to Memphis on the 29th to go to my BFForever's, JENN, wedding on the 31st. Then, it's a quick flight back on the 1st just in time to get into a new routine. We're looking forward to a little traveling and getting out of Logan. We hope everyone enjoys the holiday season! If I don't post until after, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

2010-12-06T18:18:00.004-07:00

Well, hello last week of school EVER!

It's so wonderful that you were

FINALLY

able to come,

I've been waiting for you for a LONG time.

That's right, this is my last "official" week of school and I am extremely excited! Besides the few appointments I have with some supervisors next week, I don't have any finals and will be officially on Christmas break. Next semester consists of a full-time externship at the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray and the defense of my thesis and then I will be officially done with my Master's degree. You can call me Master :)

Better LATE than never...

2010-12-02T17:49:00.004-07:00

I was just looking through our pictures and realized I missed out on blogging about a fun adventure we went on nearly two months ago! Our friends, the Willietners (minus Brianna and Elly), and our other friends, the Bennetts, and Brad and I decided to try out a little caving/spelunking...at nighttime. After all the guys got out of a Priesthood meeting in October, we drove up Logan canyon to Tony's Grove (where we encountered HUGE cows sleeping inches from the road, I thought we were going to die). We hiked up a steep side of a mountain (remember, this is at nighttime and my eyesight is awful at night. My depth perception was totally thrown off which meant I was the slowest person to get anywhere...it was embarrassing) and then set off to find the cave. Unfortunately, Ryan (the leader) had been up to this cave before in the daytime but the nighttime also threw him off a bit. So, the five of us set out to find the cave. There must have been some divine intervention through this whole thing because we NEVER found it (even after scoping the hillside for about 2 hours). I attribute this to the fact that, looking back, I think I would've become EXTREMELY claustrophobic in a tight cave (I didn't know it was going to be quite as small until they told me later). Heavenly Father had my back. Even though we never made it to our destination, it was wonderful being out in the mountains on a beautiful, clear night. We were able to stop and lay on some rocks and look at the stars (so romantic) and see the Milky Way. After hiking back down the steep mountainside (again, being the slowest and hunched over holding my headlamp as close to the ground as possible so I could see where I was going), we made it down and took this fabulous group picture with our headlamps (we are so cool). Brad and I feel very lucky that we've been able to make some good friends with families in our ward. Yea for adventures!!

Ryan, Kris, Serena, me, Brad

To make you laugh...

2010-12-01T13:39:00.006-07:00

This morning, as I was leaving the elementary school that I'm working at I noticed a girl standing outside the doors waiting for someone. She looked like a 5th grader, so I instantly thought she must be sick and waiting for someone to come pick her up. It was snowing and I was thinking in my head, "Why is she out in the cold waiting for her parents?" So I asked her, "Are you waiting for your parents?" to which she replied, "No. I'm waiting for my husband."

Say WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT??

I couldn't believe what had just happened. All I did was keep walking and not turn back, I was mortified! Let me explain my reasoning for why I thought she was a 5th grader. She was rather short and wearing clothes that looked like they came from a children/juniors section. It looked like there were a few teeth missing (but which now I realize could just be gaps) and she didn't look like an adult... AT ALL! One thing, that I found out later, that makes me feel better (which may not be politically incorrect, but help me out here!) is that she's almost 100% blind so hopefully she doesn't know what I look like...

So there you have it, I stuck my foot in my mouth...again. Happens daily.

The Dalton Life

2010-11-13T23:18:00.008-07:00

Life in a nutshell:

-I'm still in school--my school externship is awesome and I'm loving the kids more and more each day (I love SLP!).
-Brad is still working--he just got back from a 2-day training in SLC.
-We've been able to see our nieces and nephews a lot lately--TOTALLY fun!!
-We REALLLLLLLLY want a kitten--if anyone knows our landlord, the Fluckiger's, and wants to throw in a good word about us having a pet, PLEASE DO!!
-My momma flew up to Utah for a few days, we had fun playing with her--wish you were still here!
-We went to our first Murder Mystery Dinner (thanks Jake & Kelly!)--Brad was the murderer.
-I got to go to a baby shower for a friend and see my favorite family from El Paso--hey Adams'!
-This weekend is Stake Conference--nothing like sitting in the hard benches in the Logan Tabernacle but listening to awesome talks.
-We played Settlers of the Catan tonight and both lost, miserably.
-Brad continues to kill all the spiders in our apartment for me.
-Brad has been thoroughly enjoying football season this year--he's rooting for TCU or Boise.
-I want to play the French horn again in an orchestra--I attended a Veteran's Day concert (while Brad was in SLC for his training) put on by Craig Jessup (if you don't know who he is, Google him) and it was amazing and made me miss performing in that type of setting.
-Brad's VERY excited for Christmas (his favorite holiday)--maybe I'll let him decorate the house this year...

That's about it for now...we've been busy but not with really exciting, cool things. All the leaves have fallen and now we're getting ready for the cold weather that's already rolled in.

Happy November!

Deer in the Headlight

2010-10-31T00:09:00.003-06:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a total gusher for animals. I love to pet and play with any type of animal (that's friendly, naturally). On my mission, I would go out of my way to pet any cat or dog that I saw, which probably annoyed all of my companions. In one area, I even bought dog food and fed two homeless dogs (one only had 3 legs, how do you let animals like that wander around and NOT help them, really...). Another "animal" memory occurred at my church summer girl's camp. There was a cat wandering around the place and I would pet it every chance I saw it. It wasn't the prettiest cat by any standard but it needed some lovin' and I would give it to it. Some of the girls were disgusted but even fleas didn't keep me away, I love animals.

Tonight, Brad and I were just beginning our evening out together. I drove us over to our landlord's to drop off our rent and then we were heading off to grab some food. The road we were on was right next to a step hill with bushes and trees everywhere. All of a sudden, a young deer jumped out right in our direction! There was no way of seeing Bambi and possibly stopping before he came out. Even though we were only going 30 mph, the deer hit the side of our car and was wrapped around to the front while it was still trying to run away. It quickly went under our car and the sickening "speed bump" was felt. This was an AWFUL experience for me! I immediately burst into tears while Brad jumped out to see what he could do. Fortunately, the deer died very soon after, so I didn't have to see it suffer, and a man pulled over and helped Brad pull it off of the road.

I know I'm a softy, but this experience traumatized me! I know the deer is happy and now it doesn't have to suffer through a cold, wet winter but I'm still so upset at the thought of killing such a magnificent animal, even though it was unavoidable and purely accidental.

Eagle Scout

2010-10-20T17:06:00.003-06:00

Tomorrow, Brad's brother, Andrew, will be receiving his Eagle Scout award.

He built 2 bridges for some hiking paths

CONGRATULATIONS Andrew!
We are proud of you and wish we could be there to celebrate!

Handy (wo)Men

2010-10-17T19:47:00.004-06:00

For the past four months, Brad and I have been driving our car around with blue tape all over the back passenger window because the motor died and the glass would just fall down. We called around to check prices to buy a new motor and when we started adding labor on top of that we realized, for a silly window that we NEVER used, this would be a costly expenditure. After talking to a few friends and with the help of our landlord (while he was putting a new roof on our house), we figured out what we needed to do and got to work. We tore the door off and clamped the window up from the inside of the door so that it wouldn't fall down anymore and we took the nasty blue tape off...FINALLY! And we did it--all by ourselves!! Well, Brad did most of the manual labor while I spent my time pulling off the tape because it came off in tiny pieces. Handy (wo)Men! If you know Brad or I, you'll know that we don't know anything about cars. We feel so accomplished! Be proud of us!! :)

Exciting Week

2010-10-02T19:18:00.011-06:00

So many wonderful things have happened this last week that I needed to blog about it all!

Amazing event #1:

My mom and sister, Ayrel, ran their very first HALF MARATHON last Saturday! They had my sister, Sonja, and Uncle Kris cheering them on saying, "We didn't come this far to see you lose!" Ayrel's husband, Ben, and his brother, Troy, also ran the race (Way to go!). We are super proud of you guys! Maybe next time we'll join you :)

Amazing event #2:

One of the coolest girls EVER got engaged. Eliese was my roommate for one month last summer and we had the FUNNEST time. We got goldfish, buried said goldfish, made wedding cakes, went to Bear Lake, cleaned up after our other messy roommate, she taught me dance dance revolution, came wedding dress shopping with me, exposed me to the beauty of Cutco knives (Was Cutco?)...she even booked the same wedding location just to make sure I had it (she didn't know that I had called the place too). She is a true friend and Landon is one LUCKY guy! Congratulations, Eliese and Landon!! I bet December 11th can't come soon enough!

Amazing event #3:

My sister, Brei, and her husband, Kelly, announced a new edition coming to their family in May 2011!! Waahoo! In response to Kyle's (the youngest) inquiry about whether bodily fluids would harm the baby, Brei told him that the baby was in a special place and the fluids wouldn't get to him/her. Kyle then said, "Oh, the baby has a force field around it!" He definitely loves his Star Wars. We're excited to meet baby Bunker! Congratulations you guys!!

And amazing event #4:

USU beat BYU in football last night! It was a fantastic game! We've lost to BYU for 17 consecutive years in football and it was awesome to be at the game last night and see us win (we never win!). We went to the game with our friends, Liz and Jonny, and Brad's friend, Joe. Jonny was really getting into the game and pulled some of the best one liners like, "If they make this bad call against us, I'm gonna streak." But in the end, even after the refs gave BYU a lot of good opportunities to come back, we still won. The fans stormed the field (we are SOOOOOOO cool) after the game. We all waited (except Jonny, he ran out on that field so fast) until it calmed down a bit and then went down to the field to snap some shots. Way to go, Aggies!!

hahahaha, this picture makes me laugh

Liz and I redeeming our jumping pose...

It was a WONDERFUL week! Happy October!

Out on a ledge

2010-09-26T11:11:00.009-06:00

There's a couple from our church that are avid rock-climbers. They've invited us many times to go out with them and we've set a few dates but because plans always change we would postpone our high climbing adventures. Finally, after Ryan (the husband) officially wrote the activity in pen in his planner and we specifically did not plan anything else, were we able to go up the canyon and get our climbing on. Brad hasn't rock-climbed in about 4 years ago and my last experience with rock-climbing was a rock-climbing wall my first week in Holland (nearly 7 years ago). Brad was the brave soul and went first while I watched and wondered how in the world we were going to survive the night. He did fantastic and zipped up the mountain!

He made it!

My turn was next...no more stalling. I got about half way up and started cursing in my head (everyone said they didn't hear me complaining so I'm guessing I kept it in my head) about how stupid I was and what in the world was I doing?!? Especially when there was a spot with absolutely NO grips for my feet or hands. With some persuading from everyone below and seriously, stepping out onto basically nothing, I found myself at the top. I think Ryan was pulling me up with the rope but he says I did it all by myself [maybe half and half :)].

"What in the world am I doing?!"

See that look of relief?

Ryan, in action, saving our lives...

Then Brianna and Ryan showed us what rock-climbing really looked like. They were both so comfortable with it and didn't have any "sewing machines" (calfs shaking from FEAR!).

Brianna showing us how it's done

There was an overhang at one point of the wall which Ryan dominated. It was cool to see him dangle and pull himself up...he's buff.

at the overhang

came.saw.conquered

We had enough time left that Brad decided to go up again on a different face. Minus the fact that his arms became tired quicker, he did great! It was right when the sun was setting too so the canyon was gorgeous!

Thanks for the wonderful adventure, Ryan and Brianna! We definitely stepped out of our comfort zone but we had a BLAST! Hopefully next time, it won't be as terrifying!

Comings and Goings

2010-09-21T17:35:00.010-06:00

Here's a photo flash-by of the random things that have happened recently...

I started my last first day of school....EVER!! Unless... no, we won't even add anything else to the rest of that sentence.

Brad celebrated his 27th birthday!!{Unfortunately, the camera only cooperated during dinner so this is the only shot of the night.} We had a great time going out to dinner (to Wingers--best sticky fingers in the world!) and then coming back to the house and having cake and ice cream with all of Brad's friends. Thanks to everyone who called, visited, and sent cards/presents. He's excited to use all of his new things!

My sister, Sonja (who I didn't get a picture with!), came into town so Brad and I headed down to SLC to spend some time with my siblings and get out of Logan for a few hours. It's always fun spending time family! Sonja also brought her dog, Oliver, which Brad was extremely excited about. They had a bit of bonding time while we were there. Thanks Son for spending time with us! We love family!

{notice the chocolate on his nose...}

Brad and I also made it to our first football game this year (it's sad, I haven't been to a USU football game in 2 years...says something about how good the team is). We got to hang out with our friends, the Gedges, and enjoy the wonderful fall weather that's settling in Logan. Unfortunately, we lost the game but we're excited for the upcoming BYU game in 2 weeks that will be up here.

{this kid was ready to go in}

We wanted to give a special shout-out to some friends (although I'm not sure any of them read this but I want to publicly acknowledge their selfless acts because they deserve it, plus much more). Unfortunately, both of our cars have been having issues lately...and I'm not talking like simple repairs, but MAJOR things that we didn't know were wrong that needed to get fixed FAST and would've been EXPENSIVE. Thanks to our friend, Jess (my old roommate's {Jennae} husband), who took a whole Saturday and part of an evening during the week to basically take apart our engine and fix the leak that was going on (for all you car goo-roos, something concerning the lower intake manifold gasket--that's a mouthful). THANK YOU, JESS! Also, thanks to Ty {our friend's {Breauna} brother) who took apart Brad's Jetta (which is very complicated) and totally fixed a fan that wasn't going on to cool the engine and also replaced a bunch of things. THANK YOU, TY! We have been so fortunate to have such awesome friends who share their talents and save us some $$.

(Now Blogger is being weird and making words bigger than they should be and not letting me change it...disregard how big the words in this last paragraph are, I'm not trying to make that big of a deal of how bad the car troubles were.)

Maine Maine Maine

2010-09-09T01:30:00.014-06:00

BEWARE TO READER: LONG post and LOTS of pictures ahead!

After spending the week with my uncle, I flew back to Salt Lake on Friday and got to spend a couple of hours with my coolest cousin, Melanee, and my sister, Brei, and be reunited with Brad (awww). The next morning, Brad and I headed to the airport and made our way out to the beautiful state of MAINE! After an almost full day of flying we made it to Manchester, New Hampshire. There we met one of Brad's high school friends, Brandon, who was generous enough to take us up to Ellsworth, Maine. We picked up a car that Brad's parents left (they were in Bangor for a B.o.B. concert--thanks for exposing us to him!) and then made our way to Donnell Pond--the most gorgeous, wonderful, relaxing, celestial, glorious, beautiful, amazing place EVER. Brad's family has been going there every summer for about 15 years where they spend a couple of weeks boating, hiking, 4-wheeling, and hanging out at the beaches.

the view from the camp

the camp

We were able to spend one of the two weeks at the lake this year. It was SOOO much fun! The guys performed their amazing tubing stunts, Greg and Anne showed us what slalom skiing should really look like, and we enjoyed the wonderful time we were able to spend with the family. Here are a few pictures that capture the events:

Brad & Andrew

on the beach :)

PIRATES!
(big tube tries to stop little tube people from overtaking the "ship")

The day after we arrived in Maine was our 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY! It was so much fun to celebrate it in Maine. It was a bit of a more unconventional celebration (due to Mother Nature) but we had a blast! At the lake there are different beaches that you can only get to by boat. On most of the beaches, 4 or 5 groups can all camp there and have their own firepits and places to stay but there's one beach that only has space for one tent. Greg and Anne were lucky enough to stake it out for a few days and we were able to go there for our anniversary. The weather wasn't all that good so after Greg, Brad's brother, Stephen, Brad, and I had eaten our s'mores and talked around the campfire, they decided to take the boat back with them to the camp so that it wouldn't be pushed by the waves all night. It was a beautiful, clear night when we got to the beach but by the time they left, the wind had picked up and clouds had rolled in. After a little longer by the campfire, Brad and I decided to go to bed and we sat in the tent for about an hour and a half not being able to fall asleep because the wind was flapping the tent around and it was so noisy. So Brad had the brilliant idea to take our sleeping bags outside and sleep on the beach (it was probably about midnight by now). We were able to fall asleep very quickly but then around 4 am we woke up...with rain hitting our faces. Then it was back to the noisy tent where we waited for Anne and Greg to come pick us up the next morning. Although the weather wasn't all that great, Brad and I both had a fun time. It was our first camping experience together.

While we were at Donnell Pond, Logan (Brad's brother), came home from Paris, where he served a LDS mission. I met Logan when Brad and I were dating-we picked him up from the airport and then took him to the MTC (Missionary Training Center) the next morning. It was fun to see how excited everyone was. The airport was so small that we were able to go outside and basically stand right next to the plane and welcome him home. WELCOME BACK, LOGAN!

welcoming committee
Brad.Andrew.Anne.Greg.Stephen

Elder Dalton!

reunited!

welcome back to the lake, Logan!

On Sunday, Logan gave his homecoming talk and Brad and I were also asked to give talks (the branch is so small that everyone gives a talk every 3 months so they were glad to have a little break). It was a great experience! That branch is so wonderful, there are some of the nicest people there.

After our week at Donnell Pond, we headed back to Mount Desert Island and spent another week full of adventures at Brad's house and on the island. The last time I had been on the island was New Years 2008 and it was freezing and the island was dead because it wasn't tourist season. It was fun to see how busy the island was with all the tourists and how alive Bar Harbor became. Brad was in heaven! He was so happy to be home. Greg's mom came down for Logan's homecoming as well as Brad's cousin, Johnny, and his girlfriend, Melissa. We had a fun time having them around for a few days. We were able to go to the Harbor Club where both Andrew and Stephen work and Logan started working there again once he got home. They have a nice pool that the guys swam in (it was a cold day so I was chicken) and the girls chatted on the deck.

Anne & Grammy

Logan.Johnny.Stephen

Melissa

One day we decided to go hike what's called the "Precipice". It's a fun hike where you're climbing boulders and up rung ladders (good thigh workout). While you're hiking along and when you get to the top you have AMAZING views out into the ocean and to the other islands around. It was awesome!

Anne & I

this picture made me very nervous! but it's pretty cool, I'll admit.

we made it!

Another day, we decided to take the boat out onto the ocean and head over to one of the Cranberry Islands and spend an afternoon there. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me! It was a windier day so the waves were pretty large but that didn't stop us! We boated around Mt. Desert for a little bit and got to see all of the lobster traps and sailboats and then made our way over to the island of Islesford. There were a few friends that Anne and Brad wanted to stop and see, a few little shops we stopped at, a ghetto-type mini golf place we stared at, and then a great lunch at the only restaurant on the island-Islesford Dock [I think I ate one of the best hamburgers I've ever had!].

the harbor

Logan & Brad

Grammy

Captain Anne

look closely and you'll see a bunch of neon buoys-LOBSTER TRAPS!

ghe-tto mini golf...

During this whole trip so far, Andrew was attending school soccer tryouts and made the Varsity team (GO ANDREW!). One of the school's traditions in pre-season is to have an Alumni game where previous members of the soccer team that have graduated come and play the new Varsity team. Both Brad and Stephen had played on the team when they were in high school so we got to watch them back in action playing against Andrew. It was great to see Brad play soccer. Those who know him know that he excels in anything sports related but this was the first time I'd ever seen him play soccer. The Alumni won, 2-0, but it was fun to see those three brothers play together.

green jersey (behind yellow shirt)-Andrew gray shirt-Brad blue shirt-Stephen

nice and sweaty
Brad.Andrew.Stephen

Where Brad's family lives is surrounded by woods to play in, hills to hike, and lakes to swim in. Their house is about a 3 minute walk to Echo Lake where there are kayaks, canoes, and a catamaran to sail or paddle around. We set up the catamaran one morning and then came back later and sailed around the lake. It was SOOOOOOOOOOOO peaceful and gorgeous!

setting up the catamaran

this is what happens when you listen to your father-in-law on what canoe to take to go pick up your husband after he anchored the catamaran and needed a ride back to the dock...not my finest moment :)
[the squeals are when water is going into my pants]

Logan.Stephen.Andrew.Tanja.Brad

family picture!

One of the things that I really wanted to do while we were there was to go see the jam company that Brad's dad, Greg, and a few other people own and run. It's a small building that does everything from preparation of the goods to shipping and delivering orders. If you want to try this deliciousness, check out their website: www.barharborjam.com

delivery van

yummmmmm

As the trip was coming to an end, Brad wanted to go to Pirates Cove [where he had worked during high school] which is a mini-golf place. It's amazing! It has 36 holes and you choose which 18 hole course you want to do. I'm talking best mini-golf place I've EVER been to. It was a close match most of the time but Anne kept sneaking in holes-in-one which gave her the major advantage and helped her clutch the victory. It was a great final activity to spend with the family. We took a family picture next to a pirate or cannon [can't remember] but don't have it [Anne, will you email me it!]. It was very sad to say goodbye afterwards.

the brothers practicing

Anne drove us down to Portland where we spent the night at Grammy's. The next morning, we headed to Old Orchard Beach where we spent most of the day with Anne swimming in the ocean, walking around the pier/beach, and eating delicious food. What a way to end the vacation! Unfortunately, that afternoon we made our way back to Manchester and flew back to Salt Lake.

Old Orchard Beach

Talk about a vacation! Brad says that it was the best trip to Maine ever and that he got to do everything he wanted to. Besides the things we've mentioned and posted pictures about we were also able to eat LOTS of good food, go go-carting, the batting cages, golfing, shopping, more delicious food, movies, watching Stephen play in his city basketball tournament, 4-wheeling, playing pickle, ice cream, playing baseball and soccer in the backyard, and MORE delicious food...it was pure heaven! We're already looking forward to the next time we get to go out and spend even more time with Brad's family. I have to throw a plug in that my in-laws are the best!! No comparison! Love you guys! Thanks for a WONDERFUL vacation!!!

TEXAS

2010-09-08T17:27:00.006-06:00

At the beginning of August, I had the coolest opportunity to go down to El Paso and spend the week with my uncle, Kris, while my parents were off in Belgium celebrating the wedding of a foreign exchange student who had lived with us awhile ago. We had a fun-filled week of movies, bowling, shopping, eating, and long conversations :) I was also exposed to the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment)...definitely a new experience.

On Sunday, I decided to take the dogs on a walk leaving Kris at home. I had had Pandora playing MoTab music on the computer when I left. When I came back home, this is what I found...

He heard the music and found my "Michael Jackson" radio station and was having the time of his life [note to reader, he had no idea that I was filming him]. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures, just these wonderful videos. I love my Uncle Kris.

Alive?

2010-08-11T22:54:00.006-06:00

We're still alive, we promise! Brad's up in Logan working away, being my sugar daddy. I'm back in Texas hanging out with my uncle, Kris, for the week while my parents are off traveling western Europe. [I have some wonderful camera footage of things that have happened while being in EP but unfortunately my parent's computer isn't recognizing my camera so I will upload them another time.] They come back tomorrow (Thursday), I fly back to Utah on Friday, and then Brad and I get on a few more planes and will be in Maine on Saturday [just in time to celebrate our 1-year anniversary on Sunday -- holy camoli!!]. We are looking forward to the 2 week shin-dig with his family where we get to welcome home Brad's brother from his mission. Can't wait to see [and sorta meet] you, Logan! While we're in Maine we get to spend a week boating at the most fantastic lake in Maine [jealous, Mom?] and enjoy the quality time with Brad's wonderful family and friends. We'll be sure to update as much as possible. Hasta la pasta.

Top 3 Summer Accomplishments

2010-07-21T17:28:00.013-06:00

Drum roll please....

#3

I finished my summer externship working in an Early Language Intervention program down in Brigham City. I now know how to properly administer the PLS-4 and the Rossetti (all you SLP nerds out there will know what I'm talking about...) and can officially say that I had a WHOLE therapy session just using bubbles!

#2

Brad was promoted from part-time to FULL-TIME at the Anytime Fitness here in Logan and is now the manager. He's loving this job and his new found freedom. I like the free gym membership too :)

#1
{and probably the MOST important}

I have officially, for the FIRST time ever, beaten my amazing mother and am now the Pogo-Stick Champion for 2010.

It's been a good summer.

Summer of 2010

2010-07-19T13:35:00.027-06:00

Unfortunately, this blog has been on the backburner for quite awhile. We haven't had any SUPER, amazing, mind-blowing experiences (we'll save that for next month) but we have had a really nice summer so far. Here are some updates...

All the way back in May we went on a hike on Memorial Day. Well, actually it was suppose to be a "nice walk" on a nature trail up Logan Canyon but it ended up into a 5, maybe 6, mile hike. It was beautiful! And I think we would've both kept going but we didn't bring any water (because we were suppose to go on a walk).

We also have taken a few trips down to SLC to spend time with family. Unfortunately, I think this is the only picture and video I took...but they're good ones :)

Can you tell we were hot?
Mitchell, Rachele, and me

Future professional baseball player...

Brad was able to go golfing with Uncle George, Steve, and Nate (Uncle George is Brad's grandfather's brother, Steve is George's son, and Nate is Steve's son...could it get anymore confusing?). Needless to say, they had an excellent time and there's talk of another outing.

Uncle George and Brad

At one hole, Uncle George turned to Brad and said, "I'm going to hit this ball one foot from the hole." Here's the shot...

And he did it!

We joined my aunt and uncle and cousins out at Pineview Lake up Ogden canyon and did a little boating. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures (boo on us) but we had a fantastic time! Brad and I were both able to do some surfing behind the boat, Brad rocked the wakeboard, and I attempted once more to slalom...I don't think it's in my near future to be able to master skiing on one ski. I think I drank about half of the lake. Minus being water-logged, it really was a fun adventure. We love family!

Following the boating adventure, we were able to go to Brad's old roommate, Jeremy's, wedding down in SLC. It was BEAUTIFUL! Natalie, Jeremy's wife is so wonderful! Brad, Jeremy, Joe, and Mike all lived together and were all able to be at the sealing. You never know what's going to happen when those four are around. Brad and Joe were groomsmen so they looked all dressed up in their suits. Jeremy and Natalie had a ring ceremony following their sealing because Natalie's parents aren't members of the church. Brad got to walk down the aisle with a pretty girl hanging on his arm (I was only a little jealous...until I found out she was engaged). It turned out to be a wonderful day! Congratulations, Natalie and Jeremy!!

Jeremy getting ready to see Natalie -- her dress was GORGEOUS!

Mr. and Mrs. Jeremy Overson

Joe and Brad

The wedding party

The original O-102 crew
Mike, Brad, Jeremy, and Joe

Don't worry, you're almost caught up on our summer highlights! This last week I was able to go down to El Paso and spend time with my family. My brother, Sven and his wife, Hyuna, and their three boys (Seth, Gabe, and Alex) had all come over from South Korea where they are living. I spent Tuesday night driving from SLC with Brei and her three kids (Jake, Elena, and Kyle) down to Texas. Yea for roadtrips! We got there just in time to say goodbye to my mom who was heading off for 2 days to do a Pioneer Trek with the youth from our church and then go home and crash. Soren and Rachele and their three kids (Mitchell, Curtis, and Aubree) were still there too so all NINE grandkids got to spend a day playing together, lucky! While I was down there I got to go go-carting (my brakes didn't work which sent Gabe and I crashing into a pole when we were heading back in, Gabe loved every minute), eat excellent queso and tacos (didn't get a full Mexican food fix but I got my Taco Cabana fix...), washed and styled Uncle Kris' hair, played with the kiddos, talked to Mom, got a foot-tickle from Dad, went to Target as often as I could, celebrated Jake's 9th birthday, got a back massage from Alex, worked on my thesis, and enjoyed the warm west-Texas weather. Brad and I realized that that was the longest period of time we'd ever been apart (a whole whopping 6 days) but we got through it just fine. Brad enjoyed PLENTY of mantown with Joe-got to go golfing, watch as much sports as he wanted, and eat out.

Uncle Kris' cool hairdo

The Girls
Mom, me, Brei, and Hyuna

All NINE grandkids
Top row: Jake, Seth, and Mitchell
Middle row: Elena, Gabe, and Curtis (I love Curtis' glare)
Bottom row: Kyle, Alex, and Aubree

Alex loves Michael Jackson

Along with these highlights we've watched a lot of World Cup (I'm still a little upset that Nederland didn't win), gone on walks, yardwork, tubed the Narrows, and enjoyed our cool basement apartment. Be prepared for more summer adventure updates! We have a few more things up our sleeves.

2010-07-13T11:44:00.001-06:00

Gone to Texas...

will be back Sunday :)

One Year Ago...

2010-06-27T22:13:00.009-06:00

This boy...

asked this girl...

to be his eternal wife...

and she said yes.

{Happy Engagement Day to you too, Ayrel and Ben!}

Family History

2010-06-13T21:48:00.013-06:00

Last night I found a booklet that I had received when Brad and I went up to Oregon for my grandmother's funeral. It was written by a distant cousin who wrote about our ancestors and their adventures traveling from Denmark to join the Saints in Utah in 1867. To illustrate my relation to these ancestors here's a little diagram:

Upon arrival in Utah, after loosing their 19-month old son in Nebraska, James Peder Jensen and his wife, Marie Christina Nielsen Jensen, quickly traveled up towards Brigham City. There they lost their second son just after he was born. The Jensen's then moved to Newton, Utah where other Danish emigrants were settling. James Peder Jensen assisted in surveying the "New Town", the cemetery, and the first reservoir in Utah. Here, they had seven other children-one of them being my great-grandfather, James Peter Jensen.

Anyway...to get to the point of this post-I found this book last night and as I began reading it, I realized that James Peder Jensen (my great-great grandfather) was buried in the Newton cemetery, a mere 20 minute drive from where Brad and I live. I turned to Brad and said, "We should go try to find his headstone tomorrow after church" to which he agreed. So, today after church we made the little trip out to the Newton cemetery where we began exploring. After about 5 minutes of searching, I chanced upon his headstone! It was a very exciting experience to see his name and dates. There was also a gold label on the side recognizing that he was an early church pioneer that traveled across the plains to join the Saints. Under his name there was an inscription saying, "The Angels have called him".

We think the layer of stone on the bottom was part of the original headstone but was replaced by the one you see now.

Newton Cemetery-his headstone was about in the middle of the middle

Then, on the way home we found a bridge that crossed the reservoir that he had assisted with the surveying on. It was really interesting just to be in that area of Cache Valley. Neither Brad or I had ever been to Newton and it was absolutely gorgeous! Then to think of my family history in that area definitely made this experience special. I've always enjoyed family history but I've never really gotten into it before. James Peder Jensen's wife, Marie, is buried in the Brigham City cemetery (she went and lived with her daughter after James died) next to their second child. After talking to my dad tonight, he informed me that his grandfather (James Peter Jensen) is also buried in that cemetery along with other family members...looks like I'll be dragging Brad to another cemetery soon (only 25 minutes away).

This really was a wonderful experience and has strengthened my knowledge of eternal families. I am in debt to the sacrifices that these ancestors made for me so that I could have a knowledge of the Restored gospel. I can't even imagine all that they endured and how they must've had to rely on their testimony of the gospel to get through some of their trials. The only words I can think of to express my gratitude are thank you.

Movie Night

2010-06-12T00:08:00.005-06:00

Tonight Brad and I decided to venture out into the cold, rainy town we like to call Logan and go see a movie. We LOVE the popcorn at the cheap theaters and decided to go there and watch "How to Train Your Dragon". We got there early enough to get tickets, the beloved popcorn, and to find a good seat but as soon as we went to get the tickets we saw a sign saying that it had sold out (REALLY? Haven't all the kids in Cache Valley already seen the movie??). We made a quick change of plans and decided to go see Ironman 2, which started only 15 minutes later than we had originally planned. We found some great seats and got our popcorn and were ready to go. Then, as the time came closer for the movie to start, we realized more and more people were coming into the theater than normal for the Cinefour. And then we realized the majority of the people were young families probably with the same idea as us when they realized the Dragon movie was sold out. No biggie. I can handle a full theater with a REALLY loud movie to cover-up all the kids talking and munching on their popcorn. But then it hit me...probably the only smell that can consistently recruit my gag reflex - baby spit-up. I have the hardest time with this smell! And this one REEKED! I never could find the culprit but I sure could smell him/her. I had to cover my nose for most of the movie in hopes that I wouldn't gag. As soon as the movie ended, I pushed Brad out of the theater to get some fresh air. I told him I will deal with anything else, I just hope we don't have urpy babies (knock on wood). I don't know if I'll be able to survive! He told me my nose was hypersensitive and I told him it was a curse. Luckily, we liked the movie.