Happy 10th Anniversary Love!

I can't believe we have been married for 10 years! We have done so much, been through so many good and hard times, and yet here we are 10 years later and love each other more. 

Here are some specifics I remember from this last year...

We had Hazyn in April! 

J.D. gave a buggy ride for our friend Janette for her reception

Dawson played coach pitch baseball and loved it
Monty broke his foot

We went to San Diego for Choc and Brie's Wedding and went to Sea World!

We started to fix up the yard, but it got away from us because J.D. was so busy with handy man work and his job

Our friend reunion was at the Delta Reservoir

Monty started to riding a bike at the age of 2!

Dawson started flag football in the fall and got really good at reading the plays

Dawson also played soccer again and Monty LOVED going to the games to play too

We made a lot of new friends this year in Holden

Dawson was in the Christmas program in the ward.
We rode the Polar Express for Christmas this year too!

J.D. and I both got new callings to be in Primary and Young Men Presidencies

We got our first 4-wheeler

We lost the malibu and got a jetta for J.D. to commute in

Hazyn learned to crawl, walk along furniture, and got two teeth!

Monty got put out for a cavity

J.D. and I got to go to Vegas to a huge hunting show and stay the night

We ate at the Cheesecake Factory which was a first for me! 

We saw the most amazing animals at the hunting expo there in Vegas! 

And I tried on the softest fur coat ever... and it was probably worth $9,000, not even kidding!

This is how tall I am to a baby giraffe!

We also played our song "To Be With You" for our kids on a road trip one night

We got a dog too!! Tali is her name and she is the sweetest!
We had so many fun date nights thanks to our friends and family that watched the kids
  J.D. and I even got to eat at Houston's in Kanab alone and stroll the streets of Kanab late at night. It was a first for us even though we had been to Kanab a million times in the last 10 years. So fun!

I would write everything we've done in 10 years, but it would be the longest post and probably make it to the World Record Book. For this 10 year anniversary I have finally updated and wrote about our whole dating story from meeting to getting married. It's kind of like that movie the Notebook, but done in with modern technology. I hope our kids one day can read this and feel like they were actually there. I hope our kids and our posterity will find the same love the J.D. and I found. I always am grateful that it only took one date for me to find true love. I didn't have many heart breaks. Through the blog after we got married I tried to document everything. The things that you won't read are the normal marital arguments, or the many tears and hardships we faced. I want our children to know that things weren't always easy, but to be honest we hardly remember the bad. The good definitely out weighs the bad and the laughter is what we really remember. Laughter is definitely the world's most powerful weapon. 

This year for our 10th Anniversary we are taking the kids to where it all started... I mean we live where it actually started. Yep, the home we live in and own now is the one that J.D. and I first met in. Makes this home a real treasure to have. We live where it started. We are going to take the kids to Rumbi's to eat, walk around the Bountiful Temple, do some temple work ourselves, and then just swim in a hotel. We may do some other fun things, but we will have to see and you can see it on our next post which isn't in this book. I wanted to write about our 10 year and get this book printed so I could give it to J.D. for a present.

Thank you for so many wonderful years J.D.! I hope you like your gift! I love you so much and can't wait to look back on the upcoming 10 years... 

9 Years!!

March is an extremely busy month full of many birthdays and our anniversary. J.D. and I celebrated our 9th anniversary! It's amazing all of the things we've done and been through within the last 9 years. I still remember the first time we met and our first date. I love that we have blogged the last 9 years so we don't forget all that has happened.


During this last year we moved back to Utah and lived with J.D.'s parents for a few months
We bought our first home
Found out we were pregnant with our little girl baby #4
We had family pics the day we found out were were pregnant
Found out that Choc was going to marry my best friend Brie
Remodeled two bedrooms in our house
Started our traditional yearly friend reunion
Spent lots of time riding jet skis
We sold our truck and bought a family van.

As far as birthdays in March, we have Collin's, Chase Shelley's, Lucas', Parker's, Clara's, Bryant's, Brydons, Daxon's, Breslynn's, and Brie's. I think that is everyone...
It ends up being such a busy month and I forget to take pics!

Happy 9th Hunners! I love you! And Happy Birthday to everyone!

Meeting Mason & 8 Wonderful Years

Since we were finally back in Utah, we decided that for our anniversary to go to St. George to see my family, meet our new nephew, and celebrate our 8th anniversary! I was determined to make the trip with my back, and I did! Ohhh how we missed the sweet sunshine of St. George. Every time we go we always feel like it's a vacation. J.D. and I are determined to have a vacation home down there one day. It never fails, we can always relax and have a good time! 

We obviously had to go swimming and bask in the warm sunshine down in St. George. I didn't really swim, I more just pushed Monty around in a little baby floating. Monty loved the water, and Dawson was in Heaven!

Jori brought Mason to the pool and he didn't like it for too long. 

These pics aren't in order... this was the day I met Mason and got to cuddle my sweet niece MK and have a tea party! 

Monty wasn't really into the tea party as you can see by his face. He is ALL boy. He left us and went outside to ride a bike.....

Here is me, Monty, and Mason. I was so excited to see him and hold him. Monty was so gentle with him too! However, Monty didn't like it when I just held Mason. Monty wanted to be a part of the fun too. 

For our anniversary, I had secretly bought some amazing shrimp from a private vendor and some teriyaki salmon. Now, I hate fish, but I thought that if I bought some J.D. could have his favorite thing to eat and I would just make me something else. We never go to a fish restaurant for our anniversary, so this was my compromise. The fish was so good, that Dawson ate it! He devoured the shrimp along with Carson. 

Before we ate our amazing dinner, we went to do a temple session. It was a pretty amazing experience. We were praying about whether or not to have more children, and our answer was so spiritual and then J.D. confirmed what I had felt as well. I was second guessing what I had seen, and then J.D. said what he had felt and I was just shocked that he said what he did. So I then told him was I had seen. It was seriously one of the most amazing experiences. I love that I can go to the temple with J.D. and I am so grateful that we live so close to temples now. Being in Glendive, we were 3 hours away from any temple. It made it extremely hard to go with finding a sitter for the kids. We would have to take turns going through a session while one of us stayed with the kids. It's so nice to go with J.D. at the same time. 

In our 8 years of marriage we have done some amazing things, and gone through some extremely hard/spiritual times. This last year we spent in Montana learning and growing more confident in who we are and our testimonies. It was absolutely amazing to see people change their lives for the better and be baptized. We learned how to be missionaries together. It helped me to see where I need to better prepare for a mission when J.D. and I go later. The members up their, and our friends helped us see that we were good people and we were trying our best. They gave us confidence in who we were as friends, parents, and individuals. J.D. and I both had lost a lot of that confidence through the past years of not getting into dental school, low income, losing Andee, and many other things. As we helped others, other helped us. I miss Glendive and all that was up there, but I also know that we are happy to be by family and have our children get to know our family more as well. 

Monty Meets Chad's Family & Our 7th Anniversary

Since we live so close to my brother Chad, we decided to take advantage for a weekend and just go hang out down in Belle For-chay.... actually it's Belle Fourche (pronounced bell foosh). However, I'm American and so Bell Forchay it is.  It was the first time for Monty to meet them. Plus we needed to get out of town for our 7th Anniversary. Can't believe it's been 7 years! No itch other than we wanted to get out of town and do something. We've only been in Montana for a couple of months, so we are just enjoying the new adventure. Maybe our itch happened before the 7 year mark and we did something drastic like move to Montana.

We had a blast! Dawson played so hard with the kids, and he would wake up really early to start playing more. He was loving their toys so much he would get up about 5 to start playing with them regardless if the kids were up or not. 

Here is Jaidon and Monty. All of the kids loved Monty and seeing him smile. 

Chase and Monty 

 Daxon and Monty. Daxon is one of the twins. He and his twin (Breslynn) could not get enough of Monty. They loved helping take care of him, giving him hugs and kisses, and loved rocking him. It was so sweet. 

 

 I loved being there as well. It was so nice to have Dawson entertained, Monty being loved on, and me playing with my nieces and nephews.

We can't wait to go back and make more memories!

Catch it Andee & Happy 6th My Sweet Hunners

This last week my mom came into town for a few days. While she was here we bought some spring decor to decorate Andee's grave sight. Dawson was so excited! He made sure Andee would like everything. It was therapeutic for me to be able to give my daughter something and decorate something for her. After Andee passed away I felt that I wouldn't get to do anything for her and I had to pack away everything we had done to get ready for her- which included all of her room decorations. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Being able to decorate her grave sight helped me to see I can do little things for her even though she is gone.

We put some solar powered flowers on the ground so Andee would have lights and night and not get scared. A couple nights later we drove up to the cemetery to see if the flowers were glowing. Dawson rolled down his window and said "Hello Andee!" We sat there for a minute and then started to drive away. I said "Goodnight Andee." Dawson waved out his window and said good night too. As we circled around and were headed out of the cemetary Dawson waved again and said,"We'll miss you Andee!"Then Dawson blew her a kiss and yelled, "Catch it Andee!"

It brought tears to mine and J.D.'s eyes.It was so sweet! We couldn't be more proud of Dawson. It's the most amazing and hardest experience we continue to have with a child in Heaven and one here on earth. We are so grateful for the bond and relationship Dawson has with his sister. Between Dawson, the things we've witnessed and the experiences we've had to get to know Andee are unspeakable and are what gets us through each day. 
On another note, it was a great way to spend our 6th Anniversary! This Anniversary we kind of forgot ourselves, but meaning we forgot to focus so much on us. We just spent a lot of time thinking of Andee. For me I thought a lot about how if we want to raise her we need to be our best selves down here on Earth. We've started to find out a lot about how many other people in this world, and in our heritage who have lost a baby. Thoughts like these are what has brought us a lot of comfort. Happy Anniversary Hunners! 

Happy 5th Anniversary & Spring Break

I sadly didn't get very many pictures of our spring break fun, but I want to remember it. We headed off to Kanab friday night. We had so much fun enjoying our drive while Dawson slept- J.D. and I were able to talk about a lot of interesting things. We made it to my nephew's baseball game. It was the chuck wagon classic baseball tournament and Larriette/Cheer Review which we had nieces and nephews in both.

We stayed in a beautiful room at a hotel that looks like a castle- or a HUGE house. The next night we stayed at the brand new holiday inn that J.D.'s mom's cousin owns (he owns the castle one too)- which meant for an amazing discount. We went swimming, ate at the famous Junction, visited with lots of friends, and just enjoyed our break. I'm pretty sure this was the weekend Andee was conceived... I'm sure our kids will appreciate knowing this as they read it later on. ;)


Here's Lyndee (my niece), and her escort Hayden Edwards. He was so cute with her and they had so much fun!

Here's little Jessi Anne dancing at the review as well. She is such a performer!

After our adventure in Kanab, we came back to Cedar for J.D. to work, and then we were going to head to Holden. However, we got SOOO sick. We were flat on our backs for 3 days just trying to get over this horrible cold/flu and cough. It was unreal- we've never experienced anything like it. No medicine really helped us kick it except IB Profin. Dawson, THANKFULLY, did not get sick at all and he just layed with us on the couch or bed. It's like he understood that we just couldn't move or play and he was fine with it. It was amazing to see him cope with both mom and dad being so sick and practically helpless. So for our anniversary we were sick, but technically we celebrated it in Kanab. So- we did have a good anniversary.

We have been married 5 years on March 14th. We have accomplished so much. J.D. and I wrote up a 'Wish List' when we were first married. This year, we pulled it out and we crossed off EVERY SINGLE ITEM! It really made us rethink how blessed we truly are. We are going to write a new wish list and check it in another 5 years to see if we get to do the same thing we did this time. I am a firm believer in subconscious goals. :-)

4 Amazing Years!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US! It's been 4 yours since J.D. and I were married at 10 am in the Bountiful, UT temple!
We met September 2, 2006 in Holden, UT.
We had our first date October 5th, 2006 going to the Utes vs. TCU football game.
We had our first kiss October 8th, 2006 in Jenny's apartment on the couch.
We first said "I love you" on October 13th, 2006 in Holden, UT.
J.D. proposed January 5th, 2007 in front of the Bountiful Temple.

We were married March 14th, 2007!

There is so much we've done and learned in just 4 years-
We've traveled through 15 different, Puerto Rico, Grand Turk, St. Thomas Island, & Bahamas
Hiked through the Rain Forest
Swam in the Pacific & Atlantic Oceans
Moved 7 times, lived in 3 different cities
Had our first born child, Dawson James in 2008
Gone on our first cruise ever
Went to Sea World
Drove over the Mississippi River
Bought our first TV after 2 years of marriage
Toured the Jesse James home
Toured Liberty Jail
Read through the Book of Mormon 3 times
We've both received our Associate Degrees (almost done with Baccalaureates)
Had 4 real Christmas trees
J.D.'s killed his first buck with his first very own rifle
Saw Disney On Ice
Went Para sailing over the Pacific Ocean

 AND learned lots of valuable life lessons! :-)

We are so grateful for all we've been through together and wouldn't change one thing! We are so happy and blessed with everything in life, especially the cutest little boy EVER! I have to brag a little about our sweet little boy who makes our life full of more life every day!
HAPPY 4TH ANNIVERSARY TO US!

Happy 3rd Anniversary!

On March 14th, J.D. and I had been married for 3 years!!! We love that we were married that day because it always falls around spring break for school, so we actually get to enjoy it. :) We were married in the Bountiful Temple at 10:00 am. It was the most beautiful day, the sun was shining, it was SOOOO warm, and we were the only couple to get married that day in the temple. We always read our journal entry we wrote the day of our wedding. A good friend of ours told us, the minute we get to our hotel, write it our journal the memories of getting married and what the sealer said. Honestly, that is the very first thing we did-write and eat cheese cake that was in our room when we arrived.
In 3 years, we have
lived in the smallest 12 ft trailer for 6 weeks
moved 7 times
had 3 different cars
had DAWSON!! :)
J.D. shot/killed his first buck
Read through the Book of Mormon twice together
Visited Arizona and family for the first time (for J.D.)
Traveled through 14 states
Swam in the Atlantic & Pacific Oceans (first time for both of us)
bought & owned our 1st TV after 2 years of marriage
Built 6 log beds, 5 log lamps, & 1 log hope chest

For our 3rd year anniversary we went to Disney on Ice with Dawson. It was so much fun! Dawson enjoyed Cars, Little Mermaid, and Lion King...but didn't like the Tinkerbell part at all...
This is at the beginning of the show..so of course Dawson's attention was on the ice.

Here's mater! (like Tow-mater, but without the Tow)

AND LIGHTNING MCQUEEN! You can see Miss Sally and Ramone

UNDER The SEA! Arial and Flounder!

After we went to see Chet, Bobi Sue and Taylee. They had baby chicks, which are so freakin cute! Then we saw my brother Choc whom bought us an orange julius for our anniversary. Thank you so much choc! Then we saw our good friends Jill & Scott (we hadn't seen them since our last anniversary to the day exactly!) They fed us dinner, and we were off to see my sister Jori. Then we headed down to Holden to see the rest of the gang. It was such a good anniversary to see so much family and Disney on Ice. :)

Wedding Day! March 14th, 2007 at 10:00 AM

We got married in the Bountiful temple. We had all stayed the night in a hotel in Bountiful. My sister gave J.D. and I a massage (separately!). The next morning I did my own hair and make up. J.D. and I drove to the temple, and we were as calm as can be.

I will mention that while we left our car, my brother ask J.D. "Are you nervous?!"

J.D. knowing my family by then and knowing if he didn't say something good my brother would...and said, "heck no, I'm about to lose my virginity to your sister!"

Joke was on my brother! lol! Good job J.D.!

We walked in and introduced ourselves. They told me that for some amazing reason, there was a visitor helping at the temple that day who was randomly assigned to assist me through everything. Her last name was  'Shelley.' Which is my maiden name! I could hardly believe it, but we found that we were related through the Shelley's in Arizona which is where my family is from.

During the ceremony the sealer said that he had never seen a couple as happy as we were. He also mentioned things about J.D.'s patriarchal blessing and mine even though he didn't know what our patriarchal blessings said! It was amazing. I remember smiling and laughing, and then looking over and J.D. had tears in his eyes. 

After the ceremony we got to do the traditional walk out of the temple and everyone cheering! 

 Everyone cheered as we kissed and stood above the waterfall.

 We didn't take a lot of pictures because we didn't like the idea of everyone waiting on us and waiting to eat. But here are a few that we did take... Us and my family. 

 Of course I needed one with my dad!

 Us and J.D's family!

 Our boss Jill came to the temple and gave us this gift! We were going to live in a 14ft trailer for 6 weeks before leaving to Virginia. We called it the Hilton... so naturally she gave us this sign...

 Everyone left to go to a local church to set up to eat and change while J.D. and I stayed for 15 more minutes taking pics... 

 We could not stop smiling! Look at this amazing view from the Bountiful Temple!

 And while everyone was gone we snuck in a few more kisses!

 We went to the Anniversary Inn for our honeymoon. On the way to the hotel, I fell asleep! lol! I was sooo tired! J.D. got a call from the temple and they forgot to have the witnesses sign the certificate!! So they got an address to mail it to us, have it signed, then mail it back. They mailed it to Kanab so we could get it the next weekend at our reception when everyone would be gathered again. 

We stayed in the Swiss Family Robinson room our first two nights, and then the Sultan's Palace the third night. We did go walk around the Gateway Mall one of the days, but for the most part we just relaxed and got lots of good food! 

The next weekend we had a reception in Kanab! Here is the cake that my Aunt Jeannie made! I remember looking at this cake in magazines when I was little and she babysat me. I remember this cake and loving it.... my dream came true! 

 We bought our own knife and spatula and tied it with ribbons. There is the vases we tied and bouquet's we created. 

 The food was SO amazing! Thank you Costco! 

 Here we are with my bouquet and J.D.'s parents.

 The backdrop is something we made ourselves out of logs! The vines are from my parents house, and we just decorated most of it ourselves that day. Of course my brothers are pretty awesome and funny!

 At the time, here is all of our nieces and nephews! More came soon!

 Here is the official line. Hand made dresses, back drops, and boquets! It's a long line, but stunning none the less. 

 I did throw a small bouquet and guess what!? J.D.'s sister JoAnn caught it!! 

 So awesome and such a great memory! She was so excited and it was so much fun!

 J.D. getting the garner. ... so awkward....

 Obviously he is so embarrassed and beat red! 

 We then cut the cake... and I may have snuck in some frosting before actually eating the cake.

 This picture is pretty much our life. I told J.D. I would be nice and he promised to be nice as well..... 

I couldn't help myself... Smeared all over his face! 

 And our car did get decorated... This is such a messy tradition that I hated. 

We stayed at really nice hotel that night. It was beautiful. The next weekend we did the same type of thing in Holden. I loved that I got to wear my dress 4 times! We may have dragged it all out, but at least we weren't tired and really got to enjoy every minute! 

March 14th, 2007... 10 years ago from when I'm writing this. 

We couldn't be happier and have been through so much. I love you J.D. and I can't wait to see what we get to do the rest of our life! I love getting to spend it all with you.