Update, throughout the holidays, up to Now!

Okay so it's been so long. Life has been out of control since October. So I guess I will give the long and short of it. At the end of October, Ian and I set out for California to visit my Aunt Gayle and Uncle Dennis. It is a 12 hour drive from Ogden, UT to San Clemente, CA. Why I chose to do this drive with a one year old I will never know. However, I did it, and it was great. Will I do it again? By myself, doubt it, but I can't say never, because then I know I will do it again. Anyway, Ian and I headed to beautiful sunny California where the weather was 80 degrees at the end of October. My Aunt took us to a pumpkin patch where we got to see lots of pumpkins. Ian got to sit on his first dirt bike, and also spent a day at the beach with my cousin Elizabeth. Ian and I got a great little tour of San Diego and Coranado with my cousin as well. I had such a great time!!!

There were tons of pictures from California and I would be here all night if I posted them. So I just posted a few. After five glorious days in Cali, Ian and I set off back to Utah. We stopped in St. George and spent 5 days there. We celebrated Ian's first birthday, Halloween, and my 30th birthday. Since Josh couldn't be there for our birthday's Josh sent me Beautiful Pink roses. 3 days after my birthday Josh flew into Vegas where I picked him up and we spent two days in Vegas celebrating my birthday. It was the best birthday as he took me to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and surprised me with two of my dearest friends who had been waiting for us. It was so awesome being able to catch up with them. (We left our camera in the hotel room, so sadly I have no pictures of the reunion with my friends) Josh also got me my Seahawks jacket I have been wanting for forever. I had no idea he had these surprises up his sleeve. I was so proud and lucky!!! The best part too was that I had Josh to finish the last part of the drive (St. George to Ogden) with me.


Well Thanksgiving came way to quickly. It was so fun, It was just Josh, me, Ian and my brother Darren. I got to cook my very first Thanksgiving dinner all by myself. I had always wanted to do it (just once, I really don't need to do it again). I must say I was pretty proud of my turkey. That night some of Josh's siblings and their families came over and we had a dessert party Thanksgiving style. It was great having everyone over to visit with.



The greatest blessing that came to our family came two weeks before Christmas, was that JOSH GRADUATED!!!! Yep, no more Weber State! He graduated with his degree in Criminal Justice. He will be starting his Masters program in Feb. working toward becoming a licensed counsler. I am so proud of him. He worked so hard and did amazing!


Before I knew it Christmas was here and we were headed to Spokane Washington. My brother and his girlfriend came with us. We were only able to spend 4 days there, but it was a blast being able to see my sister and her family and my adopted parents. We had a great time just relaxing and visiting. Unfortunately we left Ian's Christmas presents at home, so we had to stop at the store so he would have something to open Christmas day.

New Year's came and went. My mom had knee replacement surgery on Dec. 30th, so on Jan.6th, Ian and I were off again. We flew up to Spokane to help her out. We spent a week there. I had a great time being able to help her out. My sister came up (with my niece and nephew) for the weekend and it was so fantastic just spending time with her. We spent a whole day in the kitchen cooking meals, and I loved every minute of it. Ian loved spending time with Grandpa (especially when Grandpa played his electric guitar) and swimming in their ginormous bathtub. :-)

Ian and his cousin Levi, enjoying the other's sippy cup. They never wanted their own.


When I got home, Josh and I decided that we wanted to go spend some time down in St. George. So we packed up our stuff, (and not having been home for even a week) we headed down to St. George. It rained and stormed like no other, but I LOVED every minute of being there. Just spending time with the in-laws and especially my sister in law and her family was truly the best. It was just nice to just sit around and eat and play games. Sunday dinners in St. George are the best. They always have a theme for the dinner. This time it was foods from Finland. It was amazing. We got a great four generation picture with Josh's grandmother, Josh's father, Josh and Ian. I love St. George and just being able to get away.

We are hoping if it is in the cards for us we will be able to move there. Well I have now caught up on my blogging and our adventures. We have some more adventures coming up, next month and hopefully in March, so I will try to keep up this time. :-)

Summer lovin...

Okay well I have been so crazy busy, I haven't had time to post about our travels since Paris and Roosevelt. My son is sleeping so I guess now would be a good time. At the end of July, Josh, Ian and I drove up to Spokane WA for my brother Garrett's mission farewell. We started our journey going up through Boise ID and up into Moscow ID. That seriously was the longest drive I have ever taken (due to the one lane roads and all the little towns where you can only go 25 mph... (give me the INTERSTATE PLEASE!!!) We drove half way and stayed the night in Boise so Ian could get a little exercise in the pool.


Papa Bear and E-Bear getting ready to go swimming.

On the way to Moscow, we stopped in Riggins ID to get pictures of the Salmon River where it is a Water Rafting town. Josh and I really want to come back to go rafting.



It was so fun to stop in Moscow, as I had lived there quite a few years ago. I hadn't seen my sister in almost a year, it was so good to see her and my nieces and nephews. Ian played so well with his cousins. But then again Ian gets along with all kids he's ever been around.


We went on a tour of downtown Moscow so Josh could see the great sites. ;-) We stopped at a cool art gallery.

We stayed in good ol' Moscow for a couple of hours and then headed on to my adopted parents house in Spokane. I miss that house so much. Josh and I got there and went out and sat on the deck and enjoyed the country air. We did that almost every morning while we were there. It was so peaceful and relaxing. During our stay in Spokane, we went to my brother Garrett's mission farewell (he's headed to Chile). He gave such an incredible talk. It was so awesome to hear him talk about how one day all four of us kids will be able to sit in the temple together. I'm so excited he is serving the Lord right now. He is going to be a great missionary just like my father.



That Sunday after Garretts Farewell, Josh, Ian, and I headed to the airport to go to the Oregon Coast to meet up with Josh's family. It was Ian's second time being on a plane. He did really well, Josh and I were so proud of him. He was a big flirt with the flight attendant.


We got to Depoe Bay, OR and stayed in these beautiful condos (thanks to my mother in laws friend Karen). We shared our condo with Josh's sister, Monica and her family, while my parents-in-law shared theirs with Josh's other sister, Kallee and her family. We had so much fun together. Our view was just incredible overlooking the ocean. I was able to spend two days out on the deck relaxing and reading (thanks to one night of my son keeping me up all night, and the next day Josh getting food poisoning).


The view from our deck.

We spent a lot of time swimming in the pool. We also got to see whales out swimming in the ocean while we were swimming in the pool.

Josh enjoying the pool ;-)

Just for you Kells!

A picture of my two handsome guys.

Our last day we were there we went crabbing. You do a lot of waiting while you wait for the crabs to come into the net, so the girls didn't stick around long while the guys hung out on the pier.
Yep, they caught a turkey leg! Way to go guys! Just kidding it was just the bait.


J-mont's crab :-)


I think I can...I think I can....I got nothin'.....

Marley got a pink starfish, we had to throw it back :-(



After about 10 days of vacation we headed back to Spokane (Ian did great on the flight back), and drove from there back to good old Ogden Utah. After two days of being home all my family came to see Garrett off to the MTC. We had a big family dinner the night before, it was a blast sitting and visiting with everyone
.
It was so hard to say see ya later to Garrett. He has such an incredible spirit about him, I'm so glad he is my younger brother. I don't think I have cried that hard in a while. Poor Ian kept looking at me like I was crazy! It was good to see Garrett go at the same time because I know what he will be doing for the next two years and I couldn't be prouder of him.


Well if you are still reading this, you really must be a true friend. HAHA! This long even for me. Well hope you will join us as our next adventures should take us to California. See-ya next time. ;-)

Slip and Slide

This is for the Hawks family. Well and anyone else who needs a good laugh. I have to apologize for the witches cackle that you will hear through this video. I didn't realize you would hear me so well when I was videoing (I thank my mother for passing that cackle down to me). So if nothing else you can laugh at my laugh. We went out to Roosevelt to visit my sister in law Autumn and her family. We had so much fun while we were out there. Uncle Ben pulled out the slip and slide for all the kids. We tried to get Josh to go, but he wouldn't give in. Finally he said he would go if Grandma went. Grandma April.......



We love you April!!! Thanks for letting us come play Autumn and Ben, we had a great time!! Can't wait to come out again!
Here are a few pictures from our visit.
This was the hiking group who headed up the mountain behind them.


Here are the happy hikers almost to the top.


Josh and Kiersten enjoying some watermelon! Hang in there Kierst!!!


This is just a personal high point for me watching my hubby go down the slip and slide with the kids.


All of us playing "Capture the Flag".


E-bear and Grandma April playing horsey.


The boys in blue! Ian, Dylan, and Bowdy


All the cutie kiddos before we had to leave.