Camping fun

So if any of you know my husband Derick, then you know that we will definitely be spending a lot of weekends camping during our marriage! Yes, I have always loved camping and we often went when we were kids. I love sleeping in a tent, the sounds of nature, waking up whenever you feel like it, lounging around all day outside, going for hikes, playing games, and sitting around the campfire are just a few of my favorite things about camping. Derick and I have gone camping quite a lot since we first started dating. I love that he goes with his brothers and extended family and is so excited when we do it. This weekend we headed down south and camped out with Derick's brother Devin and friend Kyle. Derick's main reason to go was to hunt deer. So I told him to go out while I set up the tent! I love setting up our tent. It's so easy. It's all color coded and just clips on. I hate those dang tents where you have to shove the bendy poles into the pockets and hope that it all turns out right. So I was pretty proud of myself to do it and thought "This is going to be a good weekend!" Well thats when it started. I tried to put on the rain flap, but the tent was too tall for me to do it alone. I tried to start a fire but the matches were locked in the car (keys were with Derick) and then I smashed my finger inside the folding table, the kind where the legs push open, yep thats right where my finger decided to land! That night we tried to play rook. But the batteries in the flash light died. (don't worry we still beat Devin and Kyle) and then I got really bad allergies. The kind where when you go to lay down you absolutely, no matter how hard you try, can't breathe! The kind where your eyes itch so badly they swell up. The kind where your nose is rubbed so much from blowing your nose that it hurts. Yep, no matter how much I love camping, I definitely was ready to come home! And don't worry, guess where we are going this weekend??? Yep, camping! but this time I'll be prepared with allergy medicine and those soft tissues that have the lotion in them! Wish me luck!

Wedding Bliss

Sorry i've been out of touch a bit lately! And I know everyone is dying to see wedding pictures. I will post everything i've gotten lately from people but we haven't gotten our temple ones back from the photographer yet, but as soon as I get some you will all know! Well everything went well with the wedding. We were a little sad that everything didn't work out to get married in the temple on the 7th but we still had fun taking pictures that day and we definitely had fun with everyone at our reception! My flowers turned out beautiful and even the table cloths and cupcakes were great! We were a little concerned about rain and it almost rained us out of the reception but thank goodness it cleared up and we didn't have a problem with too much heat! Derick and I had fun seeing everyone and talking to all our family and friends. Then we were super excited when we got our letter the next week. It worked out for us to go to the temple Thursday night, August 13th. It was actually really nice not to have to worry about setting up and getting to a reception. We had a beautiful sealing with those family and friends who could make it. (and missed those who couldn't be there) We had fun taking pictures afterwards and there was even a beautiful rainbow outside afterwards. Then we headed to the hotel. Sadly, Derick and I both had to get up early the next day and go to work. But overall we had a fun reception and wedding and are enjoying our first week of marriage! Thanks everyone who supported us through it all! Derick and I love you!

Lots going on

Gosh it sure has been a long time since I last blogged. And yes there has actually been tons happening! First off- Derick's brother Justin and sister-in-law Lindy had a cute little baby girl! They named her Ava Marne and she is absolutely adorable. We were able to go visit them in the hospital and got to watch as the nurses gave her a check-up and a little bath. Even Cooper was so cute with his new little sister!

Then Derick and I headed down to California to met the fam. (Don't worry, he survived!) LOL we had lots of fun BBQing, swimming, playing with my nieces and nephews, and even playing tennis against my parents! (Don't worry, we won!) We were also in California for the fourth of July and Derick had fun helping my dad set off the fireworks. I think I'm learning that every guy loves fire! All in all I think my family loved Derick. Especially my little nephew Jonathan. We would walk in and he would crawl right to Derick! It was so cute and it was really fun seeing my family.

We had a few days rest from our California trip before we headed out to Bear Lake with all of Derick's family. At first I thought I'd never been there before but as soon as we pulled into the Condos where we would be staying, I could remember coming there for a family reunion like 15 years ago! It was so crazy. We had lots of fun swimming and riding the wave runners. Here is cute baby Ava in her little swimmy!

We even got to play mini golf. Derick and I did pretty good against his parents and I even got a hole in one on the 18th hole so I got to keep my golf ball (purple of course) and got a free ticket to play again. But of course Derick beat me both times. It was really fun spending time with his family and getting to know them a lot better. I also got to met Derick's brother Jason and wife Andrea who live in Arkansas. And they have two cute kids- Hayden and Hailey.

(Hayden, Cooper, Hailey)

Last week I started going back to work to get things together for my classroom. I can't believe it's almost time to go back to work. Derick has been going to lots of new teacher and special education meetings. It's exciting to watch him get ready to start the year. Last weekend we went down to Manti and did a little camping/fishing. I had never been down there and couldn't believe how pretty it was. I loved all the wildflowers and even enjoyed some of the rain. Derick taught me how to fish. Of course I sucked at casting it but I even reeled in a few fish! I told Derick that I would gut a fish if I caught one (guess I thought I would never catch one) but I did! And yes he wanted me to gut it! After he showed me how to do it, I just couldn't do it! Maybe if I had gloves but ew putting my fingers inside the fish and oh the noises! YUCK! But here are a few pictures of our fish!

Well the next big thing for us is the wedding. I can't believe it's a week from tomorrow! Thanks for everyone helping us and offering to help. Yes, we are still waiting on our sealing clearance but I guess it's a lesson for me in patience. Keep your fingers crossed! But we still look forward to seeing everyone on the 7th for the reception!

Engaged!

So I know that pretty  much everyone has already heard that Derick and I are getting married! but I know some people have asked how it all happened and such. So here you go! About three weeks ago we were asked by my friend Meg to go to Lake Powell with her, her husband, her brother in law, and a bunch of their friends. I had never been and thought it would be fun. After a bunch of changes and such, we ended up leaving with Meg, Colby, and their 9 year old nephew around 1:00 AM! We got to the lake around 7:30 and got everything on the boat and headed toward where the house boat was docked. It took us a while to actually find it and we were exhausted when we got there. Pretty much all day we ate, swam, played horseshoes, frisbee, and took naps. Derick asked if I wanted to go on a hike and I told him yes and even asked Meg and Colby if they wanted to come along. (Luckily Colby said no, that we needed some alone time) Now mind you, I had absolutely no clue that Derick as going to propose! He even changed his clothes so I couldn't see the ring in his pocket. We walked to a pretty spot overlooking the lake where we sat and talked and then he got down on his knee, handed me the ring, and asked me to marry him. It was so sweet and so perfect for us! The bad thing was the we didn't get cell phone reception the whole week so our families and friends had to wait until Sunday to hear the news. After that we had a fun weekend. I wakeboarded, we swam, ate, went boating, went on a crazy hike through disgusting water, and even went to rainbow bridge. Overall it was a fantastic weekend!

Fun in the Sun

One weekend last month, Derick and I went camping with some of his friends. Yes- I am still waiting for one of his friends to send me all the pictures! Gosh, leave somethings to guys 

and you'd never get anything done! But we had fun camping and hiking. We hiked down a small gorge which was very cool. And then we did a bit of shooting. I do have to say, that I did pretty good for my first time shooting! But I promise to post more about it all when I get those pictures!

So Derick and I didn't really have any plans for the Memorial weekend. We just knew we wanted to relax and play the rest by ear. But Saturday morning came around and no luck. Derick got a call saying he needed to head down to Arizona for work. But, he being the sweetheart that he is, asked me to come along. Our end destination was the Northern Rim of the Grand Canyon but we had a few stops to hit along the way. It was a long drive but it was nice to spend some time with Derick, just he and I. We saw lots of deer and even got in a stupid car accident when some kids rear ended us. But luckily it wasn't too bad and no one was hurt....just Derick's trunk! :( Well it ended up pouring for a majority of the trip but was nice and sunny as we pulled up to the Grand Canyon. 

Well it sounds like we've done a lot of stuff out doors this last month. Cause we've also enjoyed hiking and bonfires with Derick's brothers and friends in the American Fork Canyon. But don't you worry, we've also spent a lot of time indoors watching all the basketball games. I don't think i've ever watched so much basketball but it sure has been fun! (I can say that now that it's almost over!)  Since all this fun stuff, not much has been going on. Just hanging out here and there and oh, of course work! Thank goodness I'm down to four more weeks! Then we're off for some more fun! Cali with my fam and Bear Lake with Dericks! So look forward to more posts soon!

Mother's Day Quilt

So for Mother's Day I decided to make my mom a quilt. Now if you know anything about my mom, you know that 1. she's always cold  2. she likes to nap  and 3. she loves her family! So I decided to make a small quilt so she can take it with her in the car or she could just use it to take nap with. I also thought it would be cute to put some baby pictures of my brother, sisters, and I on it. It turned out pretty cute for only my second quilt. Don't ya think??

Arizona Trip

Ok ok! I know it's been a long time since I last posted but in all honesty LOTS have been going on this last month. So beware of the blog overload!! First off I had a blast down in Arizona with Terra, Josh, and little Dakota. I was scared at first that Dakota wouldn't recognize or like me since he was still really little the last time he saw me. But he and I got along great!  He is such a cute little guy with a fun personality! I had a blast helping Terra with his 1st birthday party! And the cake turned out so cute! He got tons of presents and even a slide from Grandma and Grandpa!

My mom and I

Terra and Dakota

Our cute crocodile cake!

While in Arizona Josh was nice enough to take my parents and I down to Sedona. It was really pretty there. Reminded me a lot of St. George with all the red rock. We walked around all the fun shops and ate some yummy ice cream. All in all it was a fun trip. It always sucks when you have to leave family, especially when you have to get back to work!

My mom and I

Terry, Dakota, and Mom