Justin and Steph's engagement pictures.

Yesterday, Justin and Steph came to Preston and stayed with us. We went to Grace to the place where Justin and Steph met and took some photos. I think we have a few winners. Eric was a big help spotting some good locations. The deer were out, but not visible in any of these pictures. That would have been cool though. We took over 50 pictures, but I will just post my favorites. Enjoy!

This is one of Steph's favorites

Aww young love

I really like this one.

The butt shot.

This one was completely candid.

Justin actually did this and I caught it.

These last 2 didn't make the cut :(

The sun went down before we could get them,

I like these pictures and wanted to share them

even though the lighting wasn't there for us.

Announcing the engagement of Justin and Stephanie

When Justin got down on one knee and asked,

"Stephanie, will you please marry me?"

Her response was quiet and simple,

"Yes, Justin, If you really love me."

"I do" he said with a tear in his eye.

"Forever" she promised, as she started to cry.

Congratulations! We love you both very much!

A Weekend in Almo!

Okay so we like to follow Eric's cousins, Mack and Chase, around in the rodeo circuit. If they are riding anywhere remotely close to us then we are so there! They rode in Preston 2 weeks ago and in Grace last week and this week we camped out in Almo at Eric's aunt and uncles house. We loaded up the trailer and the kids and headed out for a fun filled weekend at the Burley fair. We left Thursday and got out there kind of late. Friday, Chase took the kids horse back riding. They also have a HUGE rock in their yard so the kids and Eric climbed it. Then we went into Burley to the fair and the rodeo. Mack was in first that night, but by the end of the night Saturday he ended up in 3rd. We were planning on going to the horse races Saturday and then going home after. My nephew asked us to go, because he was proposing to his girlfriend, Steph, and wanted me to get pictures of it. That was a hard secret to keep! Well about the time that the 9th race started, Hayden fell on the asphalt and sliced his head open. We cleaned up the blood and went to the ambulance display at the fair. They helped clean him off and tried to tape the skin back together so we could stay long enough to get the proposal pictures that were planned after the 11th race. It was so sweet! The 11th race was the Skeet Warr memorial race in honer of Justin's grandpa who recently passed away. The family went down to the track and took pictures with the winner and the horse. Then after that the family stuck around (they all knew what was happening) and Justin got down on his knee and asked Steph if she would pretty please marry him. (I don't know what the exact words were) I was worried that the pictures wouldn't turn out, because I couldn't see through all my tears! LOL I'm hopeless that way. Then we headed to the E.R. for 2 stitches and a sucker. We got back to the trailer pretty late and decided to just stay again and leave early in the morning. We finally made it home and we brought with us a lot of good memories and some good stories to tell. We can't wait to go again. Tremonton's rodeo is in 2 weeks! YEEHAW!

Half way up the big rock!

Hayden does this and is fine,

but walking on asphalt sends him to the E.R.

Go figure!

It was Baylee's turn first on the horse.

Chase even taught her how to get on

all by herself!

Next it was Logan's turn.

Then Hayden, I love this picture!

It is my favorite from this weekend.

Almost all of us waiting for the rodeo to begin.

Logan and Clay had left to get ice cream.

Uncle Scott and his wife, Michelle, and Aunt Anita,
Justin, Steph, Hayden, Eric, Reagan, and Baylee.

Chase's ride. I got a few good shots of him,

but the ones I took of Mack didn't turn out that great.

I will have another shot in Tremonton though.

Hayden's taped up injury.

The 11th race! The Skeet Warr Memorial Race.

We were rooting for #8, but in the photo finish I think he ended up in 3rd.

Justin and Steph right after the proposal.

Congratulations guys!

A Few Finished Projects

I finally finished a couple of projects that we have been working on for a while. We built a closet for our bedroom, and this shelf that is made from an old door. I have seen them at the fair and at the The Gingerbread Shoppe selling for around $160! I thought "I can do that" so I did. Actually Eric did. I told him what cuts needed made and he cut the shelved and screwed it all togehter. Then I painted it when I painted our closet. To make this it cost me the $30 that I paid for the door. I have another door in the garage that I want to finish too. We have been putting in a new counter top in the kitchen and I posted pictures of it before. We have now finally finished the backsplash. We hired Jason Kerr to come do it for us. He was so fun to work with. I can't wait to have him come do our bathroom! If you need tile work done call him! His website is www.kerrtile.com There's a little free advertisement for ya Jason. Thanks a lot.

Now my problem is that I am not sure that the brown glass tiles go okay with my red paint. Do I need to paint my kitchen a different color? Let me know what you think please.

Recent Pictures of the Kids

We finally got around to doing some new pictures of the kids. We took our cart around the golf course to different areas and snapped a few pictures. Reagan was more interested in driving the golf cart than she was in having her picture taken. I took what she would give me. Hayden was loving the course. He just wanted to run all over. Thankfully he likes having his picture taken, but with the struggle we were having with Reagan, I wasn't able to get many with everyone smiling and looking at me. That's just pictures reflecting reality though. I can't wait to develop some and hang them on my walls. I hope you enjoy them!

Golfin' With Grandma

This week Eric's mom is visiting us and this morning her, Eric, and Logan went golfing. They took a few pictures while they were playing. Eric's family are all really into golf and our kids really enjoy doing it with their dad. We have a membership and our own cart, so Eric takes them often. I don't really enjoy the "sport." To each their own right? We have a Grandma Jo with us for 4 days and we have lots of things planned so hopefully that will mean more posts to my blog. This weekend is also the rodeo, carnival, parades, and sidewalk sales. Lots to do and only 4 days to do it so I better get to it!

Eric and Logan

Nice swing!

Grandma Jo lining up her shot

"A bad day of golfing is still better than a good day at work!"

Happy Birthday Baylee Jo!

8 years ago today I had a Dr. Appointment. My Dr. was in Hawaii, so I saw the Midwife. I was miserable. It was HOT and I was huge! Logan was only 17 months old, and we were expecting a new little girl to join our family. At my appointment the midwife did what she could to help things along, and then told me to come back at 4pm for a repeat. On my way back to Logan from our home in Tremonton I started having pretty regular contractions. I had Logan in the back seat and Eric was home getting ready for work. I went to my appointment and the midwife told me not to go home. She said call Eric and tell him not to go to work and to meet me at the mall. She wanted me to go eat a pretzel and a lemonade and walk around and go to the hospital around 6pm if my contractions kept pretty steady. My mom and Eric both met me at the mall and we walked around until Eric got nervous and made me go in to the hospital. After about 14 hours of labor we had Baylee at 4:42 am. She was so cute. Lots of black curly hair. When they said 8lbs 2oz I thought for sure there had been a mistake. That explained why I was so miserable. LOL. 8 years later and she still has beautiful hair and a lot of attitude. She loves clothes and Hannah Montana. She has lots of friends and really enjoys hanging out with them. She is a fun girl and I hope we will always be close. I love you so much "Billy" I hope you had a wonderful birthday!

Aunt Dee and the kids got her this poster. She loves it!

Blowing out the candles!

Dee and her 3 kids, Grandma and Grandpa, Meg and Ryan all came to Baylee's party.

Thanks for coming guys.

Grandpa having a good time!

Thank you all for coming and for the cool gifts. Meg and Ryan got Baylee a really cute hat and scarf. I will have to take a picture of her when she is wearing them and post it. Eric and I got her 2 outfits and a DS game. She is wearing one of the outfits in these pictures. Grandma and Grandpa also got her 2 really cute outfits. She also received some shopping money from Grandma Jo which she will get to use this week when Grandma Jo comes to stay with us this week and us girls go shopping!

Cute Pictures!

I have these adorable pictures that I just have to share. We had spaghetti for dinner and Hayden didn't get his nap this day. We were wondering where he had wondered off to and this is what we found.

I had to snap a few pics before I cleaned him up and put him to bed. So cute!

10 Years!

Running around the house trying to gather all I need. Shoes...check, bobby pins...check, dress...check, petty coats...check, make-up, hairs spray, brush, etc. Don't forget the veil. Mom, who is picking up the cake? I have to leave by 3. Dad and Uncle Jim have all the champagne. I am picking up my bridesmaids and they are driving over with me. We were up all night. Who could sleep anyway? I am so nervous! I get my hair done and it looks great. Now it's time for the dress. Here come the tears. I can't believe it. My mom zips me up. Someone helps me with my shoes since I can't see my feet. I'm ready to go. My dad comes in and helps me and my dress through the door. "Dad just don't let me fall!" The music starts and all eyes are on me, but my eyes where on him. He looked so handsome! His hair combed neatly to the side. His black tux and purple vest. His smile relaxes me and then I am standing next to him, knowing that is where I will be standing for the rest of my life.

It has been 10 years since Eric and I vowed to spend the rest of our lives together. Supporting, encouraging, and loving each other. It hasn't all been a fairy tale. We've had our ups and downs, but after 10 years I find myself standing by his side just like I did that hot July day in his mom's beautiful back yard in front of our friends and family. In 10 years we have had 4 gorgeous, sometimes obnoxious kids. We have survived tough times with sick kids, financial hardships, and growing pains in our relationship. We have grown and changed into different people than we were 10 years ago, but still though so many things have changed, there is still so much that hasn't. We still enjoy a lot of the same things we did then. You still love golf and I still don't. You enjoy motorcycles and I prefer a 4-wheeler. I still enjoy doing crafts, and you enjoy hunting. Camping and baseball are still some of our favorites, but above all the one thing that hasn't changed is the way I feel about you! You have always been a good provider for our family. You are always up for a good time. You are supportive and you have always encouraged me to try new things and help me achieve goals. Thank you for all that you have done for me and for our family. Thank you for loving me so completely and forgiving all my faults. Thank you, hon, for the last 10 years. I know there will me many more to come. I love you! Happy Anniversary!

Our wedding day!

Yes his hand is on my butt! lol

This is us now.

Idaho Falls

A few weeks ago, after school got out for summer, we decided to take a little day trip to Idaho Falls. The kids had seen a billboard advertising the Titanic exhibit and they were dying to go see it. Our whole family seems to be into history, so of course Eric and I weren't going to miss an opportunity to take the kids to see something to neat! We were not disappointed! Of course, being a museum they don't allow cameras inside, so no pics of anything inside the museum. When you enter they give you a card. On the card it has all the information for an actual passenger that was aboard Titanic. It gives you a name, age, who they traveled with and why they were traveling. Also their cabin # and class. You walk through the exhibit and see artifacts that have been recovered. There were tiny perfume bottles and the sign said that they still smell like they would have then. They have pictures and stories, menus for what each class of person ate while aboard, and the kid's favorite part was the giant glacier that they had. You were supposed to touch it and see how long you could stand to have your hand on it. They said that the night that Titanic sank the water was even colder than that glacier and at that temp. a person could only live about 3 minutes. Sad I thought. Not the way I want to go I don't think. I could only hold my hand on the glacier for about 17 seconds before it hurt and I had to pull back. At the end of the exhibit, they had a huge passenger log on the wall where you can find the name of the person on your card and see if they lived or died. Our whole family survived except Logan. His name was Mr. William Arthur Lobb, age 30, from Scranton, Pennsylvania. he was accompanied by his wife. They were 3rd class passengers. They were returning home, where William worked as an engineer for the Lackawanna Railroad. They had been in Cornwall, England, to visit William's family following the death of his brother. William was very proud to be aboard Titanic. He sent a postcard featuring a picture of Titanic to his parents, writing: "This is a picture of the largest steamer built."

Our Boading Pass

These are all of our tickets and the stories that go with them.

One of the the tickets with the story of a 6 year old girl.

After we were done at the museum we stopped for a few pictures by the falls. Those I can share.