Oliver Update

Here are a few random pictures of our cute little dog. He is so much fun and always brings us a smile. We love him!! There are more picture of him in the posts to come, these are just random ones that don't really relate to anything else.

So I had this little bean bag weiner dog that I gave to Oliver. He mostly bites it but I managed to catch him cuddling with it. Cute. Enough said.

Before we left, we went to Sugarhouse park and played.

He sleeps in very wierd places and wouldn't wake up if you yelled in his ear.

Our final weeks in Utah...

Swimming!

Nichole, Brielle and I went swimming at the Lehi pool a few weeks before Chad and I left. We had so much fun! Brielle loves the water and is just a joy to be with. I miss her so much already and it has only been 3 weeks. She liked to splash and often splashed herself as you can see in the picture below.

Me and Brielle

Mama and daughter

This picture was just too precious not to post. Can you tell Nichole loves her baby?

After the swim, B got down to her diaper and we had some fun playing on the couch. She loves to be hit (softly) with the pillows and fall back on the couch. Here she is trying to get away from her mom.


Not sure what she was thinking here but obviously something very important.

And here is a video of Brielle swimming/crawling! So cute. Love you Nichole, Brielle and Chase! Nichole this post is for you. Sorry it has taken me so long. I promise to not let that happen again!

Grandma's BBQ

One of the last Saturdays we were in Utah, my Grandma threw a BBQ at her house in Clearfield. Many aunts, uncles and cousins were there. My uncle marshall and his two girls came to Utah from California so we got to see them which was fun. This was Brielle's first time meeting Oliver and she just adored him...as long as he didn't try to lick her. She did not like that!

"Where is Oliver?"

"Aunt Clair, where is Oliver?"

We all hung out in the backyard for a while. It was fun. This is My Uncle Marshall (in the red) his two girls, my Uncle Brian and a few of his kids. We love them all! They are so fun.

The girls.

Awww...

So much to catch up on...

So bear with me because there are a lot of posts to come. I wish I could say that I have gotten behind because we moved but that excuse really only applied to maybe the first week. Lately I have just been lazy! But it has been so nice! I needed a break to just relax. But now I will stop being lazy and post about our life for the last month. It has been a crazy month but really wonderful! So here is what we have been up to...

Things to be excited about...

1. So this last summer semester at the U was hard for a couple reasons. I had to take one of the hardest classes in my major, do an unpaid internship for 8 hours a week for 12 weeks, and just that fact that I had to take summer classes was a bummer. But it was all worth it. This was my last big semester before I graduate. I only have two more online classes in the fall and then I am home free and will be considered a college grad. At times I thought it would never happen! College is hard! So anyways this semester was definitely worth it because I got all A's with a 3.8 GPA. I was an all A kinda gal in high school but did keep that up in college. So this was one of the few semesters that I did get all A's and I am so proud of myself because it was hard!
2.Another thing to be excited about is that on Tuesday of next week, the 25th of August Chad and I will have our two year anniversary. In some ways it seems like we have been married for 10 years and in other ways it seems like only yesterday when we tied the knot. But either way it feels amazing to be hitting our two year mark. We are going through a lot of changes right now and we always know that we have at least one constant in our lives: eachother.
3. Being in California- It just feels nice.
4. Having a job I really like! I started work for my Uncle Dave at his company called Duct Testers the week we got to California. I worked here once before the summer Chad and I got married and I left when we moved to Utah. So it was the last job I had before we left and the first when I got back. I know that I am blessed to have a good paying full time job immediately upon moving, especially in our current economy. Chad is also working for Dave as a Technician. I plan to post more about our jobs later because I find it pretty interesting. But that will have to wait.
I also I am going to post more about our last two or three weeks. Moving, Hot August Nights and of course more about our Oliver. He is wonderful and I have a bunch of cute pictues tp post this weekend! Thats all for now just wanted to give some kind of an update.

What we will miss about Utah...

So these aren't necessarily in order of importance, just what I thought of first (so maybe some importance if .

1. My sister...Chad and I have a good amount of family here and we have really loved being able to spend to much time with them. First I will miss my big sister Nichole and her family. I usually tear up just thinking about moving away from them. My sister is about 6 years older than me but we are still very close.
She moved to Utah when I was still in Junior High and has lived here since. So we had quite a long time away from each other. But when I got into high school I started visiting her in the summer. She was my cool older sister in college with cool and cute older guy friends. I always had such a fun time visiting her and she always treated my as an equal, not the probably sometime annoying younger sister I was. Then I graduated from high school in California and moved to Utah too to attend BYU. It was my first time living on my own and my older sister was always a support. She was married now but still always invited me over for dinner and called me a lot. I didn't have the best time at BYU and it was hard for me but my sister was a constant that I always counted on.
I moved back home after a year and found mu husband. We got married and moved back to Utah. This time we moved to Salt Lake and I attended the University of Utah. Again I loved and still love having my sister near. During the two years I have been married my sister have grown closer than ever. We try as often as we can to talk and see each other and although we sometimes have very different personalities and don't always agree on everything she is one of my best friends. I look up to her and hope to someday be as good as a mom as she is. I adore my first Niece Brielle and am sad to think I won't be 30 minutes away anymore. I am sad to know that I probably won't be close when she says her first words. I joke with Nichole that I will send Brielle a picture of me every week so she won't forget me. I have so enjoyed seeing Brielle as a newborn to seeing her now as a chubby cheeked little angel.
I am so happy to have had the time with my sister that I have. It has been a blessing in my life to live so close to her and be so close. (I really wasn't intending for this to be so long, but it is something important to me and I can write a lot when its important.) So Nichole, Chase and Brielle, Chad and I love and will miss you when we move back to California. Thanks for being such good family to us and for always being an example of what family means.

2. Extended Family...We have so much wonderful family here on both Chad's and my side. We always have fun spending time with them and will really miss all of our cousins and aunts and uncles that we have spent time with in the last 2 years.


3. Grandparents... I have been blessed to live by my grandparents for the last two years. My mom's mom lives in Ogden and we have visited often. She always cooks for us and makes us feel at home. Thanks Grandma Adams. We love you and will miss coming to your home. My Mom's dad and stepmom also live in Utah... right down the street from us in Salt Lake. They are always the ones to get all of the family together and we appreciate them for that. They are endlessly cheerful and always happy. They are wonderful grandparents and we will miss them.

4. The Mountains... Although there are mountains in California they aren't like the Mountains in Utah. I love being able to turn my head and see beautiful, majestic mountains. The Salt Lake valley has so much beauty and history and I will be so sad not to live in the midst of it anymore. It is exciting to think that I live in the same place that Brigham Young did. I live in the same place that the first pioneers did. I respect and admire the pioneers all the more for taming an unknown land and turning it ino the Utah we know today.

I like how you can even see the smog in this picture...won't be missing that although there is plenty more where we are moving!

5. The Temples... In California the nearest temple to us is about an hour and a half away. Here it takes us 15 minutes to get there. We have loved attending the temple often in UTah and are so blessed to have so many so close. We have loved going to different temples and experiencing each ones different beauties but also have loved how they are the same in many ways. Mostly it is comforting to know that each temple we visit, we know that the Lord presides there. We know that we are in the Lord's house and are helping his kingdom grow. While we will still have a temple in Cali it will be harder to not have one right down the street. We love Utah for the wonderful temples it contains, especially the Salt Lake temple and its beauty.

Bountiful Temple

Salt Lake Temple

Jordan River temple

6. The University of Utah- I have really loved this school...more than I thought I would. I started out at BYU so it was a big change to switch to the U, but I am so glad I did. I loved BYU but it just wasn't a good fit for me. I neede something with a little more diversity of ideas and people. I have had such a good experience with the U. I have so many wonderful teachers who are just brilliant. I have had men and women, younger and older. And every teacher has taught me something new. Although I am glad to be done with my bachelor's and be able to move on, I will sorely miss the U. It has been a big part of my life for over 2 years and it will be hard not having it there.

7. Friends- Chad and I have made so many wonderful friends while we have lived here. We have gotten closer to family members and strengthened those friendships. We have made new friends at our jobs and at school. It is hard to move on once you have made so many good friends but we would just like to say that we definitely won't forget any of you and thank you for welcoming us to Salt Lake! I will definitely miss all of my friends from Cafe Rio! You know who you are. We have had so many wonderful get togethers and life just won't be the same without them around

8. The place where we started our marriage... Utah will always hold a special place in my heart just because it is where Chad and I started our life together. It may sound cheesy but Utah has been our home and it is all we know as a married couple. And although we have really missed our families, Utah has given us time to get to know one another...alone! I have cherished every weekend that Chad and I have had together to just be with eachother and Utah has definitely fullfilled all of my expectations.
This is us shortly after we moved to Utah.


9. Ivins Ward- We were in one ward previous to moving to Salt Lake, but we were only there for a few weeks. So the Ivins ward has been our ward for the better part of two years. We have really become attached to our ward family. We have made wonderful friends and have had wonderful callings. We started out as "Daily Dose" teachers and got to teach English to non-english speakers. That was a real blessing and we met so many wonderful people. Chad has had the opportuinty to me the Ward mission leader and also gets to teach the Gospel Essentials classs. He loves teaching and always does a wonderful job. I have had the opportunity to be the Young Women's secretary and also teach the YW once a month. I so enjoyed that calling and really got to be good friends with the rest of the presidency (michelle, Laura and Heather). Most recently I have been called as a Sunbeam teacher and I really love it more than anything else I have done. I have wonderful Sunbeams. Two come most of the time and they are a joy to teach. Thank you to the Banks for raising such wonderful children for me to teach! We will miss the Ivins ward and the close knit ward we have come to love.

10. LDS Distribution Center- I have been most blessed to find a wonderful job here in Salt Lake. For over a year now I have worked as a customer service agent in the LDS distribution call center. I get to assist members and non-members alike every day in ordering chuch magazines, church materials and clothing. I really have loved this job so much. The spirit I feel everyday at work is much like what I feel when I am at Church services. My managers and trainers at work really love their staff. They treat them with kindness, fairness and most of all charity. I have never worked for a better organization and never will again. I have felt needed and wanted at work and that is what is important. I really have felt like I have made a difference when working here. I will miss all of you at work and thank you for giving me a wonderful job to be happy at!

This is my little cubicle at the distribution center. I won't necessarily miss sitting in it every day for 5 hours but I will miss my job for sure.

11. Cafe Rio- When I moved to BYU in the summer of 2006, I worked at Cafe Rio as my first job in Utah. I was thrilled just to have a job and to be my own woman! ha It was actually a really fun job and I formed some really good and lasting friendships with some of my co-workers. Many of us girls that worked there still get together once and a while when we are all in town. So after a while the job was not so much fun and I quit but I developed an addiction to Cafe Rio and since quiting I go there whenever I can to eat a delicious pork salad. Chad has also become acustomed to eating their pork tacos and now likes it almost...almost...as much as I do. We literally eat there at least a couple times a month. I know...like I said an addiction. So when we leave, Cafe Rio is definitely on my list of things to miss. California...more specifically Modest...needs to get with it and get a Cafe Rio ASAP because I don't know how long I can survive without it. I have managed to get recipes from online that immitate Cafe Rio's food so I might just have to venture into the unkknown and try to make my own Cafe Rio salads! We shall see. We shall see. Cafe Rio you will be missed.

12. Living in the snow-Maybe. I might miss this sometimes when i am really wanting to curl up by a fire and read a book while watching the snow come down outside. I won't misss walking, or rather trying to walk and falling, in the snow and ice. I also won't miss driving in it. But I will miss it. There is always something exciting about going outside just after it has snowed. It is so peaceful and beautiful. I will miss Snow Days even though I only got maybe one or two in the two years we lived here. But I was just thinking about it the other day and decided to add the snow to my things I will miss even though I might only miss it about 15-20% of the time.

I will miss times like these when you wake up and its a winter wonderland.

We have absolutely loved our two years in Utah. It is a beautiful state with wonderful people. We are leaving behind many dears friends and family and this post was to let them know that we will miss then and will be thinking of them often in sunny California. We love you all.

A new addition to the family

No...I'm not pregnant, don't get any ideas. But we did add somebody to our family and his name is Oliver, or Ollie for short. He is a minature dachshund and he is adorable! I had a dachshund when I was in Junior high and sadly he died when he was only a few years old so I have been wanting another ever since. They are awesome dogs.

This was him with some of his brothers. It was love at first sight!

On the car ride home. He didn't really like the car the first time but he settled on my lap after a little while.
His first time eating in his new home! We got a little carried away with all the fun dog stuff at Pet Smart but oh well. His first night was a little rough and he whined a lot in his kennel but he has been doing a lot better today so hopefully the 2nd night is better. I just want to say thanks to my wonderful husband for taking him out every few hours during the night to do his business. He let me sleep. I just love him.

We love Oliver and he can't wait to meet all of our friends and family!
!

Pioneers: a day to remember

So I just finished reading the 9th and final book of the Work and the Glory series. I think that the last couple of books in the series are my favorite. The saints finally get away from their persecutors and are leaving for the valley. They originally leave their beautiful home of Nauvoo in Feb. of 1846. They were again run out of their home by greedy, evil men. But they left their homes and in some case their families and friends and started the journey to the Salt Lake Valley. Brigham Young knew there was no way they would make it all the way to the Valley that summer/fall becuase of the terrible weather conditions for the first few weeks they had been on the trail. So Brigham Young decided to create three different stopping points or settlements along the trail for the saints. It would provide temporary housing for the winter for the saints already on the trail and it would provide a place for the saints to regain supplies next spring along the trail. Brigham Young was obviously a great leader, but his inspiration was surely from the Lord. So the Saints yet again built houses in Winter Quarters, which is now North Ohama, that they would leave in the Soring. But they did it because they had to and because it is what their prophet told them to do. They also planted some crops and fixed wagons, etc so that come Spring they would be ready to press on to the valley.
Fast forward to the Spring of 1847. The Saints have been living in Winter Quarters and Brigham Young has decided to send a Vanguard company of all men to the Valley first. This would ensure that they would get there quickly and have enough time to plant crops for the coming winter. The Vanguard company consisted of 143 men, 3 women, 2 children and 73 wagons. They left Winter Quarters on April 5, 1847. On June 1st the company arrived at Fort Laramie and here the company was joined by some of the Mormon Battalion.
When the Saints were at Winter Quarters, the U.S. was at war with Mexico and the President of the U.S. requested that the LDS church muster 500 volunteers and send them into the army and have them march to California where most of the action was taking place. This was a big request considering the saints needed all the men they could get just to get ready for the journey next spring. They would already be sending many of their men off in the Vanguard company so to send 500 more into the army was a big deal. But Brigham Young encouraged any available men to do so because the money they would make in the army would be a great blessing.
Some of the Mormon Battalion, mostly the sick, were left at Pueblo, CO, during their march and these saints wintered their. This is how some members of the Mormon Battalion met the Vanguard company in the Spring.
Erastus Snow and Orson Pratt were the first of the Vanguard company to enter the valley on July 21st, 1846. President Young entered the Valley on the 24th and thus we celebrate Pioneer day on this day.
I was so happy to end the series just a few days before Pioneer day. I have much respect for the pioneers. They endured a lot. I think this quote by Pres. Hinckley sums it up nicely.

There have been many movements of epic proportions in the history of mankind that are worthy of remembrance and which we cannot afford to forget. But the migration to this valley before the coming of the railroad is of so vast a scope, involving so many people, and entailing so much of human suffering and sacrifice, that it must ever occupy a unique place in the annals of human history. It has all of the elements of a great epic—persecution, flight into the wilderness, hope, vision, sickness, the unrelenting cruelty of the elements, deaths numbering in the thousands, and final triumph through unspeakable courage and labor. We must never forget those who have gone before. We must never take lightly the price they paid. It is a story not only for the members of the Church of which they were members; it is a story for all the world and for all generations. (President Gordon B. Hinckley, Days of '47 Pioneer Luncheon, Salt Lake City, Utah, July 24, 1995.)