The Story of Poppy

On May 24th of this year, Chris and my life changed dramatically. It's the day I found out I was pregnant. No, it wasn't a surprise or unexpected, but it was still exciting. I figured I should write this down and then maybe one day Poppy will be interested in how her mom and dad found out she was entering their lives.

First let me explain that we don't currently have a name picked out. We just call her Poppy right now because she was the size of a poppy seed when we first found out I was pregnant. But for now Poppy is a placeholder rather than calling her "baby" or "thing that hiccups in the middle of the night to wake her mommy up."

The month of May I was extremely tired for no apparent reason and had a few other symptoms of the early stages of pregnancy. And since Chris and I had decided to expand our family from 2 to 3, although I was hoping for twins, I was expecting it. So on the morning of Saturday, May 24th I woke up at 6am (for some reason I was wide awake and knew I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep) and I figured, "Why not take a test?" I almost couldn't believe when I saw the positive symbol on that test. Unfortunately for Chris, he was still sleeping but that didn't matter because this was important news. I ran into the bedroom, turned on the light and jumped on the bed with the positive test in my hand. I was probably talking very loudly at this point, but I made him read the test (there was a nifty little key on the side that identified what the symbols on the test meant). At first he was annoyed I had woken him up, after all it couldn't have been later than 6:30 at this point, but he eventually realized what I was so excited about and became just as excited.

It may still be another few months (I'm due February 1st) before we have our sweet baby girl to hold and love and keep us up at all hours of the night, but I cannot wait for us to be parents. Chris will be such a wonderful dad. He talks to Poppy all the time and says goodnight to her every night.

In celebration of Halloween, here is our baby girl looking like a scary skeleton monster trying to emerge. In case you are confused at what this is, her face is at the top middle of the ultrasound and her fist is to the left of her face.

Bike Ride for MS

Every year my aunt, Ozi, and her family do a Charity Bike ride for MS and this year I decided to join them. The bike ride was yesterday and I rode 43 miles for it. It was pretty fun and quite tiring.

Below is me, pre-race. It was very early in the morning and since I was too nervous to sleep the night before, I was very tired. I look pretty legit with my spandex.

Here's the whole team. I'm 4th one from the left.

Below is a picture of Ozi, me and Steve. Ozi was the team captain and wow she was riding circles around me. Steve was my riding buddy. For the whole second half of the race he stayed with me, even though I'm sure he could have gone much faster. (Blake, Lisa's son, is photo bombing)

The race was so much fun and it felt really good to help raise money for MS research. The volunteers are pretty awesome too. They made me feel like a super star. At the pit stop they cheered for us and considering I was so tired it gave me that boost I needed.

A Year of Happiness

Today marks exactly one year since I married my sweet husband in the Bountiful Temple. Much like this year so far he surprised me with an incredible weekend.

First we went to this cute Bed and Breakfast in Salt Lake called Castle Creek Inn. It actually looks like a little castle too. The rooms had fireplaces and canopy beds. And the breakfast was really yummy. They had heart-shaped pancakes, raspberry bread, fruit and sausage. Since it was a fairly small inn, they made sure to cater to your specific needs. Below is a picture of a garden that was behind the inn. The garden was very cute too. It had a little waterfall that lead to a pond, flowers, a bench and so many trees that I couldn't even tell that we were in the city. Here is a picture of us in the garden.

For dinner that evening we went to Log Haven, which is a restaurant in the mountains. It has a gorgeous view and the food was excellent.

And we finished the evening off with a carriage ride through a park in Salt Lake City. For those of you that don't know, I have wanted to go on a carriage ride for pretty much my whole life. It met my expectations.

This weekend was the perfect way to top off such a wonderful year. I am so lucky to have Chris to spend forever with. He loves me and respects me and works so hard to ensure I am happy. I love him with all my heart and can't wait for what the future holds.

Now let's see if he can top it next year ;)

Peru!

A few weeks ago Chris and I went to Peru for a week and it was amazing! It was my first time in South America. Chris served a mission in Brasil so he's been there a few times. We went to Lima, Cuzco and Machu Picchu. First of all, I am glad I didn't live in that time period because the Incan people worked so hard that their lifespans were only about 30 years. But it was incredible to see the things they built.

We went on a tour group which was really nice because they had a few planned activities but there was still plenty of free time so we could go exploring on our own. Also, the weather was beautiful the entire time we were there, mid-70s and sunny.

We started off in Lima. And we saw some cool buildings. Here is a picture of us in the square in front of the Presidential Palace.

This was our view from a restaurant we ate at. I had amazing ceviche and since we were right on the ocean the fish was fresh. I also had this delicious purple corn juice called chichamorada. All of the food I had in Peru was so delicious.

 Here we are in Machu Picchu. The day we were at Machu Picchu was a little overcast which was perfect since pictures turned out really well. I am super impressed with the Incan people. The stonework they did was incredible. Each stone was so precisely cut. They also knew an incredible amount about astronomy and the positions of the sun. And the fact that they built this city on a mountain which was nearly straight up with no slope to it.

This isn't the best picture of the city but it's a cute one of Chris and I.

This is while we are walking through the city. Chris is being playful in this picture and I really love it.

Below Machu Picchu is a city where everyone who goes to Machu Picchu stays. It was fun just walking around and exploring. There was this cute little river that ran down the middle of it.

It's no wonder that I love this man. I love that he is willing to go on adventures with me and he's a wonderful travel buddy.

Birthdays, Costumes and Cornmazes

My birthday was at the end of September and Chris spoiled me. It started off by him making me breakfast in bed, bacon and french toast, my favorite. When I got to work, there was another surprise for me:

 

 He got me some many presents (including Selena Gomez concert tickets, the concert is this week and I am ridiculously excited for it) and made my birthday so amazing. I don't know how I got so lucky.

 My brother got married in October so Chris and I went to LA. In this picture we are at the Griffith Observatory with the view of LA in the background. I don't have pictures of any other part of the weekend but it was lots of fun seeing all my family and partying it up at Sam's wedding.

 Every fall I go to Cornbelly's corn maze, this year, Chris and I went with some friends. For those of you who don't know, it's a corn maze, but there are a bunch of other activities there too. We did successfully complete the maze, although a worker did help point us in the right direction at a very confusing spot. As we were leaving, we all squeezed onto this giant chair.

 For Halloween, I was a hunter and Chris was a bear. Unfortunately, we didn't win the costume contest at work even though I shot Chris in the head with an arrow. He's a pretty terrifying bear.

Arizona For Labor Day Weekend

Chris and I drove down to Arizona with his parents to see his sister's new baby on labor day weekend. We had fun hanging out with family and we went to a Diamond backs baseball game against the Giants. 

The drive down was nice, I just slept in the back the whole time. With Chris back there, I was able to just stretch across him so it was pretty spacious. Apparently I didn't take many pictures but here are a few.

Chris forgot his sunglasses so I let him wear mine.

 Our new nephew is such a sweet baby and he is so tiny. I may have been a bit of a baby hog that weekend.

Side note (this wasn't from Labor Day Weekend): Last night we went to the BYU vs. Utah game. This was before the game, you can tell by our smiles. We had a nice walk to and from the game so at least that game was good for something.

Busy Summer (Part 3) - Finale

 Me and Chris did a lot of fun things this summer so I will summarize it here. This will be a long post with a lot of pictures.

First of all, with my whole family here we had to do some Thompson Acrobatics. In this picture, we are making a table. It took quite a few tries, but we got it, almost.

Next we did a pyramid. The kids on top were chickens. Their parents will need to toughen them up so that next time we meet they will be able to stand on the top of the pyramid.

On their drive across the country, my sister, Jen, her family and my niece, Kiki, stopped by Utah. I was so lucky I was able to see them. It was fun playing with all the kids. Even though we only saw each other for an hour it was so much fun. And I bet the kids liked getting out of the car and running around for a bit.

 We also did a bit of hiking this summer. This was a short hike to a little waterfall.

In the summer usually I stick to hikes and stuff like that because I'm not really a daredevil or anything but this summer I've been doing some more exciting stuff. Chris and I went jet-skiing with our friends Doug and Mollie. Jet-skiing is so fun. The last time I went, I was 7 and wasn't allowed to drive it. So Chris and I took turns driving this jet-ski. It really tires out your arms.

 And an action shot.

We went Kayaking. The water was pretty calm in this picture but we came up to some pretty wild rapids. One of the rapids we went through, I almost drowned. Ok, that might be an exaggeration but it was pretty scary. We got turned sideways on the rapids and I was chucked out and even though I was wearing a life jacket, the water sucked me under. While I was under, the water banged me around some rocks at the bottom and I hit my head, knees and ankles. Finally, I got to the surface but at that point I had no choice but to ride the rest of the rapids just in the water. Once I was out of the rapids Chris pulled me back into the kayak, not sure how he stayed in the kayak and rode through it just fine.

We also went to the Utah Olympic Park. It has obstacle courses, ziplines, a toboggan track, and ski lifts. Chris and I tore up the obstacle courses. We did not plan enough time to get everything we wanted done. It was definitely worth it though.

The park also had a dead drop where you are attached to a rope and walk off a ledge. It took a little encouragement to get me to go. I know that it's super safe, but still it is hard to take that first step.

This has been the best summer of my life. Not only did I marry the most amazing man I have ever known but we have so many adventures together. We are constantly doing activities that are outside of what I would normally do but it's helping me overcome my fears. And it's great having someone who is there telling me it will all be okay. Basically, my summer has been amazing.