Fun Easter!

I know that Easter is long gone but I haven't been able to blog about it until now,and we had a great weekend! Here are some pictures of Abby enjoying her Easter! We had an Easter hunt with some playgroup buddies on Friday, it was Abby's very first Easter egg hunt and I think she liked it. At first she didn't quite get the whole concept of looking for the eggs, however she liked picking them up and putting them in her basket, but then wanted to take them out again. Then she decided she liked the eggs so much that she was going to take them out of other kids' baskets.
I of course had to include pictures of her in her Easter dress---(one of my favorite things growing up about Easter)I tried to put a bow in her hair and a pretty bracelet on her and she had them off in two seconds flat! I don't know if she will be a tomboy or what, but at least she has her earrings I guess.
On Sunday we all went to church and then the Easter Bunny came and left her gifts, and she really didn't know what to think. The babydoll she got was a big hit! I can't wait until she is older and we can explain to her what Easter is really all about. We hope you all enjoyed your Easter and are looking forward to Spring as much as we are!

OUR 6TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!!

Tomorrow, March 15th will be our sixth wedding anniversary! I can't believe it the time has really flown by! I decided to put some photos together to show how the story of us as a family has evolved. A lot of people don't know our story so I thought I would give a condensed version:
Jake and I met in high school and dated for a few months. We got along really well, and had a lot of fun, but I didn't want things to get really serious because I wanted to be able to date a bunch in high school, so I broke up with him, and he was not happy about it. So being the mature individuals that we were in high school we proceeded to pretty much hate each other the rest of the time we were in school. We went on and dated other people and I went away to college and he went on an LDS mission. Well the summer before he got home from his mission I was taking institute class with all of his buddies that had already come back from their missions, and they kept joking with me that I should date Jake when he came back. I said there was no way I would get back together with him, and that was that. Well thanks to a persistent buddy, we ended up hanging out at the same friends home shortly after Jake had returned home. We saw each other and spoke only briefly because the World Series was on and if any of you know Jake he is serious business when it comes to baseball.
Well after much persistence on my part we were able to hang out a few more times and realized that we still liked being together. We had grown up and had great life experiences, and the spark between us was still there! We hung out every night for two weeks and decided that we wanted to be exclusive and that most likely it was leading to marriage. So let me break the timeline down because it all happened so fast!
After seeing each other again on Nov. 4, 2001, we decided to get married by Thanksgiving, and officially got engaged on Dec. 24, 2001, and later married on March 15th, 2002. So within six months of being home from his mission Jake was hitched! We know it's crazy and if our kids try to do it we'll probably kill them, but marrying Jake was one of the best decisions I have ever made and it's been a wonderful adventure ever since.....not a perfect journey, but a pretty fantastic one! We have had wonderful memories, and now it's been even better with beginning our family and the birth of Abby. So I just want to wish my hubby a Happy Anniversary---thank you for everything!!!
I hope you all enjoy our pictures, I tried to keep it brief but it was so fun to reminisce that I had to include a bunch.

I have been tagged---here goes nothin!

I was tagged by Jenny, so I am finally doing my friend duty and telling you all about myself: Here are the rules:

A: Each player answers the questions about themselves.B: At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1) What were you doing 10 years ago? I was a Junior in high school; I would have just finished playing basketball, and actually dating Jake, who is now my husband! That is crazy to think about.

2) 5 things on my "to-do" list today: Update my blog, clean, do some laundry, go shopping (we are out of a lot of stuff), play with my family.

3) 6 Snacks that I enjoy: Chips and Salsa, fruit, cereal, anything salty and cheesy, but I try not to snack too much or I would be in trouble!

4) 3 bad habits: I bite my nails, and the bad thing is I can't stand it when other people do it, but I can't stop myself from doing it! I can be pretty indecisive at times which drives my family crazy. I stress about making a decision and then stress if I made the right decision. I make excuses instead of exercising regularly, and the weird thing is when I am done, I am so glad I did it, and I really enjoy being active and playing sports and stuff, but I can't get myself to do the regular 45 minutes of cardio all the time.

5) If I were suddenly a billionaire I would: Travel and shop, pay off our debt, invest some, give to church/scholarship funds, give some to my family, put some in savings.

6) 5 places I've lived: Well not too exciting, all of the places have been in Utah; Layton, Price, Fruit Heights, and Clearfield. That's it, I wish I had more, that's pretty boring.

7) 5 Jobs I've had: paper route as a kid, Eurocomfort, junior high tutor in college, admin. asst. at real estate office, and a few mortgage brokerages as a loan processor/underwriter.

8) 5 Things people don't know about me: I love to sleep, but don't seem to get too much of it these days, but one of my favorite gifts to myself is a little cat nap during the day.

I really enjoy cooking and trying out new recipes and I love the Food Network!

I own a hunting rifle and have killed a few animals with it ( I credit Jake for this.) I grew up with all sisters so the gun thing is all new to me, but now I know how to use one and am pretty comfortable around them. I'm not Annie Oakley or anything, but I feel better now about being around guns.

I like being trendy and fashionable, and trying out new styles, but when it comes down to it I also really like wearing hoody sweatshirts and jeans and being comfortable, so it's hard for me to find a happy medium sometimes.

I procrastinate, I talk about what I want to do, but sometimes I just need to do it! It some aspects of my life I don't procrastinate at all and in others I could really use a kick in the behind!

I tag Char, Ashlee, Britnni, Haley, and Jamie.

A week of young and old

This last week we had the privilege of welcoming a new addition to our extended family. Madison Ann was born to Jake's brother and his wife and she came sooner than we all expected. Tommie, Ben's wife, went in for her checkup and was showing signs of preclampsyia so they monitored her overnight and decided to induce her 4 weeks early. Ben and his wife Tommie were so nervous but after a long hard labor and finally an unexpected C-section, Tommie delivered a beautiful baby girl. She was tiny weighing in at only 4 lbs, 1. oz, and 19 inches long. Her lungs are doing well, she is eating relatively OK, but they haven't been able to bring her home from the hospital quite yet which has been really hard for them. They can't bring her home until she gains more weight and can maintain her body temperature. We haven't been able to see her and hold her, so hopefully we will get to soon and I will post the pictures of Abby's newest cousin!

On a sadder note, when Ben called his Grandpa to let him know about the news of the baby, Grandpa wasn't making a lot of sense while he was speaking to Ben on the phone. Ben thought he might have woken him up from a nap, but realized as he continued speaking with him that something wasn't right. He called Scott, Jake's Dad to go over to check on him because he was at home alone. Apparently Grandpa Speed had suffered a stroke, and they immediately took him to the ER. His motor skills were relatively still intact, but his memory and recollection wasn't good and his heart was irregular which was worrisome because he has had multiple heart surgeries and currently has a defibrillator. We were up at the hospital to see Ben and Tommie and had just come home when Jake's Dad called and told him what happened and asked him to come back to the hospital to give Grandpa Speed a blessing. When Jake came home he was very concerned because he has never seen his Grandpa like that. Well a few days have past now, and he is doing a little better. The doctors were trying to figure out what happened to have caused the stroke and determined that it was a blood clot from his heart that went to his brain. He came home on Saturday, but unfortunately is back in the hospital again because his heart rate became rapid and they weren't sure what was going on. Grandpa Speed is 85 years old and is the heart of Jake's family. Jake and his brothers have such fond memories of fishing with him, working on cars with him, and just spending time with him. Jake even had the opportunity to live with him before his mission and was able to have lots of good talks with him before he left.



It's hard for Jake and his family to see his Grandpa this way. We are praying that things start getting better for him, but also know how frustrated Grandpa Speed is that he is having so many health problems and can't do the things he used to do. It's ironic because if Madison wouldn't have been born that day, Ben wouldn't have called his Grandpa to give him the news and discovered what had happened to him, so for that we are grateful, we just hope that Grandpa Speed is around for a lot longer to enjoy more times with his family and news of more grandchildren!!

A lot can happen in a few days......

So I left last Thursday with my parents and Abby to go and visit my sister Emily in St. George, and Marci was going to drive from California to meet up with us. My Dad has been recovering from recent surgery so we took it easy, did a little shopping and just enjoyed being together. I was glad that Jake decided to stay home because I knew he would probably be a little bored, and he had a bunch of fun things planned with his friends to do while I was gone, well as least that is what he told me...........

In actuality he was tearing down a wall in our house that I have been bugging him about doing so we could have a great room upstairs and have space to entertain up there as well as in the family room downstairs. Jake had made it seem like it would be too expensive and not worth it, so I just put it out of my mind, but really he had been scheming for weeks to figure out how he would get it all done when I was gone. He took 2 days off of from work, and worked until the wee hours of the morning so it would be done on time. He also had great help from his brothers and Mom to have everything done when I got home. He tore down the wall, created a new half wall, put beadboard up and stained in, built the shelf, refinished and painted the wall, put in new ceiling fans and heating vents, and painted another wall. Hello--am I worth all that work!?! The only thing that didn't come on time was the flooring to finish up the project but I didn't even notice it. I had no idea what was happening and the whole time I spoke to him while I was out of town, I never suspected a thing. I don't know what's worse, my husband's great ability deceive me, or my cluelessness. Either way, it was a FABULOUS surprise!! So I am giving a big shout out to my awesome husband for 1) Being so thoughtful to plan such an huge surprise, 2) Having mad skills when it comes to building and doing construction projects, I tell you he is pretty handy, and 3) Because he works hard so we can have the things we need and want.....like a new great room!! So a lot can happen in just a few days, here are pictures of the before and after and a video of my reaction. I apologize but I sound pretty annoying in the video because I am squealing with delight! I LOVE MY HUSBAND!!

Playing Outside on President's Day

Jake had Monday off for President's Day and because the sun was shining we decided to clean out the garage.....and by "we" I mean mostly Jake. But we realized that it was the first time Abby got to play outside since she has learned to walk because she started walking during this long winter of ours. It was so cute because she just kept walking around exploring things, and her hands and nose were getting cold, but she would throw a fit if I picked her up and tried to take her inside to warm up.

Jake also took her for a ride on the 3-wheeler and she really didn't know what to think of it. She was alright at first but by the time he came back down the street she was not a happy girl. According to Jake, we are going to need to get her used to riding with Daddy, because he wants to take her out for rides this summer.

All in all we had a great day and got a lot done, and Abby couldn't have been happier, although I could do without the tantrums when I say it's time to go into the house (I didn't think those started this soon!) We hope everyone enjoyed President's Day as much as we did!