The Merkley Family

Easter 2011

2011-04-27T13:30:00.001-07:00

We had a lot of fun this Easter...Mylee had so much fun going to see the Easter bunny, going to Logan to dye Easter eggs, do the Easter egg hunts, and hanging out with family. We had Easter morning at our house and she was really excited that the Easter bunny came.

I love the Easter season to take the time to reflect on my Savior's life and the importance that it is to me. The example he was, the faith he had to endure all that he endured, the pain and suffering that he went through for all, and most importantly that he lives.

Mylee loved dying the Easter eggs this year, she didn't want to stop she had so much fun.

This was the first time that Mylee and I had seen Parx...Mylee loved holding him. Hopefully thats a good sign for when little Graysen comes. She will be such a good Big Sister.

We went to a park by Brocks house for an Easter egg hunt there were lots of kids so it didn't take very long for all the eggs to disappear. It was fun though and Mylee loved being able to stay and play at the park.

We had a lot of fun doing the Easter egg hunts this year, Mylee had so much fun looking for the eggs she even helped Jesse and I with the big kids egg hunt. She loved it!

Easter morning Mylee was really excited to see her new bike. It is going to take some practicing for her to get it so hopefully she'll at least get it down by the end of the summer. She gets a little frustrated and loses interest but she'll get it.

All ready for church...Mylee looked so cute in her Easter dress.

My 28th Birthday

2011-04-27T13:12:00.000-07:00

Although I have no pictures of my Birthday I wanted to write about how great my day was. Jesse doesn't know this but this year I definitely put my foot in my mouth. At Young Woman's the night before all the leaders were asking what I was going to do...i had told them oh Jesse's probably forgotten about it so it will be like any other day and I'm sure we'll just end up hanging out(sorry Jes but since i have been giving you crap for quite sometime now that you have slacked on the romance department I just figured it would go that way). But as i said I put my foot in my mouth and to my surprise Jesse had planned out a really sweet day. It started off by him and Mylee making me breakfast in bed, and through out the rest of the day I had clues that lead me to the next surprise so Jesse came home early from work and sent me off with my first clue which was to go and get a pedicure and a manicure, from there he had arranged for Mylee to go play at her friends house while we went to the movie, went to dinner, and then topped it off by coming home to my favorite lemon cake that him and Mylee had made for me. Just knowing that Jesse had put that effort into that for meant the most, I'm definitely realizing it doesn't have to be anything grand some of my favorite things that he has done for me have been small and simple, it really is just the thought and a little effort that counts. Jes I love you and you made my birthday as well as Mylee by what you did. Thanks!

Busy...Busy...Busy

2011-04-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

So the last couple of months we have been really busy trying to get our basement done, getting Mylee in her room, and trying to get the baby's room together. I think we are pretty close to having everything done and its a good feeling. Between trying to organize everything, painting, and cleaning it finally feels good to feel like there's not much left to do. Mylee was so excited to help paint her room and move into it with a new big bed just for her. She had so much fun helping us paint her room as well as the baby's room.
With the baby now coming soon we have been talking to her a little more about it. She seems to get excited with the idea of being able to help me take care of him. I know that it will definitely be an adjustment but we are hoping that it goes fairly smooth. She likes babies and she is at the age where she does like to be my little helper. She will be such a great Big Sister...although out of the blue the other day we had been talking about her birthday that is coming up and she told me I don't want my little brother to have any of my birthday cake. I had to laugh...the fact that she was worried about that was so funny. I told her he wont even be here yet on your birthday and plus he only drinks milk for awhile after he is here. And after that of course she hasn't probably even thought of it sense. She is so funny and some of the things that she thinks about and says just crack us up.
With only about 6 weeks left and definitely counting we are getting anxious to get the little guy here. A huge part of that may be that I am getting very tired of being pregnant. So the count down is on!!

Our Little Guy...

2011-04-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

So I definitely have a lot of catching up to do...I have been a slacker when it comes to blogging. I am now 8 months pregnant about seven weeks left and starting to count down. They say that every pregnancy is completely different and I would for sure say that this one has been compared to Mylee. First trimester I was really sick, very tired, and started showing a lot faster. I quickly realized that because I had Mylee plus working at nights and on weekends my energy was shoot. After about 17 weeks definitely started feeling better and had more energy. We were really excited to find out what we were having from the beginning I would say both Jesse and I kept thinking a boy and Mylee always told me it was going to be a boy, the morning we went to find out I asked Mylee what if the Doctor tells us its a girl? She said no she will tell you its a boy, and she was right. We are really excited to have a little boy although its a little weird to think about because i am so used to everything being all girl. Jesse was super excited and couldn't wait to start texting and calling everyone to let them know.

From our twenty week ultrasound appointment we got some worrying news, they had told us they found a hole in the baby's heart which could mean a couple of things if it was small enough it would possibly be able to mend on its own or if it was big enough the baby would have to have open heart surgery as soon as he was born to fix it. So needless to say it was very stressful, we had to go about 5 weeks later to primary children to have a fetal echo done to determine exactly how big the hole was. Very nervous we went in and left with a extremely grateful hearts because everything came back normal, there was no hole and everything looked great. With that under our wing we then found out that the baby only has one kidney and I have only a two vessel umbilical cord instead of a three. Which the vessels are what provides nutrition to the baby. So I have and have had to go in to a specialist every four weeks for an ultrasound where they do all his measurements to make sure he is growing and getting what he needs as well as they monitor the one kidney that he has. Many people live with just one kidney as long as the one they have is healthy and normal so they have been keeping track of the one he has. Once he is born we will have to see a urologist to do ultrasounds on the baby to make sure the one he has is good. So far the baby as been measuring right on track which is been great news meaning that hopefully he is getting what he needs. Although this has been very stressful, it has definitely made me realize the importance of prayer and priesthood blessings and that i need to rely more on these things.

We are anxious to meet our little guy and pray he is healthy and have faith that things will all be okay.

Super Bowl

2011-04-07T13:02:00.000-07:00

We went up to Logan Super Bowl weekend to hang out with the family. We took it pretty easy just hung out, played games, watched the game. Mylee of course loved being around her cousins, the only down side was that Sunday morning she started getting sick with the flu bug, of course that didn't stop her from wanting to play. After the game we headed home and didn't have quit the best night because Mylee was up with the flu. As always though we had a lot of fun being with everyone and hanging out.

Jungle Gyms/Lexi Bday

2011-04-07T12:43:00.000-07:00

We went to Jungle Gyms for Lexi's Birthday party and the kids had a blast. They have lots of fun little rides and games to play, they couldn't get enough!

Snow fun

2011-04-07T12:34:00.000-07:00

While Jesse was working in California for most of December, i got to shovel are driveway which made it fun for Mylee because she would come out with me and play in the snow. She loves to play in it but most of all loves to eat it. We decided to make a snowman which I don't think I will ever hear the end of how deprived Mylee was this year because she didn't get to build a real snowman but hey i thought it was cute and it was the perfect size for her.

Broncos Game

2011-04-07T12:22:00.000-07:00

Jesse and his brothers took a weekend in October and went to Denver to go to a Broncos game. While at the game Jesse ran into an old mission buddy that plays for the Denver Broncos and went and hung out at his house after the game, all the guys thought that was really cool. They had a really fun weekend.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-17T14:59:00.000-08:00

We had a blast this year for Christmas. Mylee is at such a fun stage and she was so excited for Santa to come. Being in Young Woman's one of our activities was going one night to a live nativity so I decided to take Mylee, she loved it while waiting in line to get in they had baby goats you could pet, donkies, and two really big Camels which she couldn't get enough of. It was really neat walking through the nativity they had it all set up has though you were first walking through Bethlehem and at the end because there was no room you walked through the manger where Joseph, Mary, and Jesus were. Mylee was fascinated with the real baby Jesus. I let her get up close to see him and just then he spit up everywhere so that ruined the moment a little and the rest of the night i heard about how baby Jesus spit up. Its was pretty funny.

Although its definitely the time of year where when kids are in trouble you can use Santa as an excuse for them to be good, I really didn't use that very often, but one day I did and said do you want to be on Santa's nice list or naughty list?? She told me she wanted to be on his naughty list so I quickly realized that threatening with Santa obviously didn't work with her.

While Christmas shopping I decided to let Mylee in on it so that it would get her excited about giving gifts to others. We got Jesse some slippers, movie, and candy from her. I had told her don't tell dad because this will be a surprise from you Christmas morning when he can open it. As soon as she talked to him that night she said dad I got to tell you something we got you a surprise...some slippers it was pretty funny he tried to act like he didn't hear but she told him a couple more times throughout the month.

Our ward had a Christmas breakfast they did the nativity and then Santa came mylee was actually really excited to see Santa this year unlike last year and happily sat on his lap and told him what she wanted for Christmas which was a new doll house.

Christmas eve we just hung out at my moms house we had dinner, played games, the kids got to go on a little hunt for a Christmas present that they got to open that night. We didn't do to much just enjoyed being together.

Christmas morning was so fun Mylee was so excited and acted totally shocked and surprised when she saw her new doll house. I think she got a little over whelmed trying to get everything open just has she enjoying something it was on to the next it seemed like. She was so cute while opening her presents saying things like oh thank you this is my favorite and oh thank you so much. Jesse surprised me with a new temple picture, some work out clothes and a movie. He got a massage, some clothes, and a movie has well. This year i definitely realized how much more i enjoy watching others receive than myself. I truly just enjoy the spirit of Christmas and enjoy being with family and watching the excitement and happiness from Mylee.

Pedersen Christmas Party

2011-01-17T14:41:00.000-08:00

We had the Pedersen Christmas party this year in Vernal at my mom's house. We did a Christmas Murder Mystery dinner which was a lot of fun. We all had different characters that we had to come dressed up like and act part of the character. It was fun to see the way people took on there parts especially the ones that you wouldn't expect to(James). The next day my Mom and Dad had a little Christmas workshop for the kids, making different Christmas necklaces, ornaments, cookies, and watching Christmas movies. They had a lot of fun. Mylee and Macy loved decorating the cookies with icing, I think they ate more icing than putting it on the cookies. The kids draw names to do a present exchange, so they loved opening up there presents. Mylee loved going to Vernal and doing all the Christmas stuff and especially hanging out with all her cousins.

Disney on Ice

2011-01-17T14:36:00.000-08:00

We went to Disney on ice again this year. Mylee was super excited and loved watching it. We got popcorn and treats and Mylee got to pick out a Minnie Mouse which she loved caring around everywhere. Both Jesse and I got a little anxious about half way through but we had fun taking Mylee.

Jesse's 27th birthday

2011-01-17T14:30:00.000-08:00

This year for Jesse's birthday we just stayed home, Mylee and I made dinner and made him a cake. Mylee had so much fun and was so excited to help make Jesse's birthday cake and was so excited for him to come home and see it. She loved singing Happy Birthday, and helping him open his gifts. Jesse I love you and I can't believe how fast time has gone since we have been together. We have a lot of great memories and can't wait for the many more we will have. Happy 27th Birthday. I love you very much Hon!!

Girls Weekend

2011-01-17T13:47:00.000-08:00

We had a girls weekend with all the girls in my family. We just stayed here in Salt Lake, we went to dinner the first night while we were there i had my mom looking at pictures on my camera which one of those pics was of the baby from my ultrasound. When my mom came that picture she said wow this picture is really old...she had thought it was from when I was pregnant with Mylee, I just started laughing one of my sister's said I don't think that is from Mylee. She finally had caught on that I was pregnant again. They were all excited. After dinner we played games and hung out. The next day we topped it off by going to the new Harry Potter movie. We all have read the books and enjoy the movies so we were pretty excited. We had a lot of fun and look forward to the next girls weekend.

Thanksgiving 2010

2011-01-17T13:22:00.000-08:00

We spent thanksgiving this year in Vernal with Jesse's family. We had a good weekend, it was pretty low key but nice. As soon as we got to Jesse's house we decided that we would drop the news that I was pregnant especially since everyone had already speculated that I was. So at the first chance of them questioning me about it I told them to go and ask Mylee and she would tell them whether I was or not, and so of course she told them that I was. It was no big surprise because they all new that we had been trying but they were all still really excited. We had thanksgiving dinner at Grandma Rose's house and the food was delicious! We went to Lisa's and played games while the kids played and watched movies. Mylee and Lexi were being really silly that night, they decided to get into all the pies without anyone knowing, they had thought they were being pretty sneaky. After they got there sugar high they were upstairs jumping all over the beds hugging and laughing. It was really funny and we had a lot of fun.

We also did the Amazing Race again and Jesse and I were the winners again for the second time in a row. There was a little controversy about us winning but we one it FAIR and square. We had a great weekend.

Strawberry Pinnacles

2011-01-17T13:18:00.000-08:00

We spent a night at the Strawberry Pinnacles for the Bigalow Reunion. We had a lot of fun visiting with family, playing games, playing outside, and just being together. Mylee loves to hang out with her cousins so she always stays very busy playing around.

Halloween fun 2010

2010-12-16T14:52:00.000-08:00

This year it was so much fun doing all the Halloween stuff with Mylee she was excited for everything we did and really got it. I have been so excited to start all the holidays this year because she is at such a good age. She loved all the activities we did.

Every year in the fall my mom and sisters come up and we take the kids to Gardiner Village it is so fun because they have it all decorated for Halloween, we cruise through the shops, look at all the witches, let the kids have pony rides, and have lunch. This year it was really crowded so we didn't stay as long but it was still a lot of fun.

While Jesse was out of town to a Broncos game Mylee and I went to corn belly's at thanksgiving point with Beau, Jill, and Lexi. They girls had so much fun. They jumped on the big pillows, got pulled from tractor in little cows, went down the slides, ate Carmel apples, and we did the corn maze. Mylee loved the corn maze we bought them some flashlights and she thought it was so fun thinking that we were lost and had to find our way out. They had some little kids corn mazes to that were really small she loved playing in. I would say that was probably her favorite thing there. We had so much fun that will definitely be something we do every year.

We had a lot of fun carving pumpkins this year. Mylee even helped Jesse clean the pumpkins out, helped poke holes in the pumpkins, and put stickers on them. She loved when we got the candles in them and got to see them light up.

We decided one night to make some homemade Halloween sugar cookies, Mylee had so much fun using the cookie cutters and mixing the food coloring in the frosting. Luckily she had a lot of fun doing it because the end result didn't turn out the greatest...they weren't very good.

I take Mylee to story time at the library every week. Her story time teacher let all the kids come dressed up in there Halloween costumes which was a lot of fun. They danced to some Halloween music, she told a Halloween story, and they also got to trick or treat around the library.

This year for Halloween Mylee wanted to be a bumble bee...she was so cute and loved dressing up. Beau, Jill, and Lexi came over so Mylee and Lexi could trick or treat together. Jill made some yummy soup to eat and then we took the girls trick or treating, they only went to a few homes because the weather was so crappy it was raining and was really cold. Luckily we had taken Mylee to our ward trunk or treat the night before so she was able to get the majority of her candy there.

Swing Set

2010-11-29T15:21:00.000-08:00

We decided to get Mylee a swing set even though it is the end of the summer. Which she loves, she loved helping her dad put it together. Jesse put many hours into putting this swing set together, I would say around 30 hour. While doing it he said he never wanted to do this again but I think after seeing how excited and happy Mylee was about it it made it all worth it. She was so excited to have her two little friends Deni and Lexi come and play on it with her. A couple of days after it was put together she had woke up one morning and said told me I can't eat breakfast I have to go to my slide. She has loved it!

Labor Day Camping Trip

2010-11-29T14:51:00.000-08:00

We haven't been camping for along time so we went over Labor Day with Jesse's family. We had a lot of fun and Mylee was so excited. We did the usual stuff you do camping which makes it so enjoyable. Hang out and do nothing, one of my favorite things about the mountains is just to get away from everything. We made yummy meals, played games, sat by the campfire, road four-wheelers, went fishing, and just hung out. Mylee didn't know quite what to think about sleeping in the tent, on the way to bed she kept telling me she wanted to go home but we made it through even though that night was a little rough and she did much better the next night. It was really cold during the nights and the coyotes howled all night and were really close to us. Mylee had never been fishing so we had her so excited to go, we went and bought her her own fishing pole which she picked and wanted Dora the Explorer fishing pole. Luckily she had a little fish at the end of the line that you could practice with because that was the only fish we had luck catching. I wanted her to be able to catch at least one fish but we didn't have any luck so fishing lost her interest pretty quick. I guess next time she needs to go with Grandpa Rick and then maybe she'll have better luck!

Terel and Julie put together a Grandma and Grandpa camp for the kids. Then talked to them about things that they liked to do when they were little and different kinds of candies that they ate. They had fun activities like play-do, bubble snake, and mud pies. They then went on a hike and while they did that Jett stepped in a cactus and got hurt so for the rest of the trip Mylee wanted to here the story about Jett getting hurt. She gets so worried its so cute.

All in all we had a really fun weekend with everyone!

Family Pictures

2010-08-13T16:03:00.000-07:00

Here's our newest family pictures. As Jesse and I were both looking at them it really hit us how big Mylee is getting, she definitely isn't our little baby anymore she has turned into our little girl. I can't believe how fast the time has gone and only dread how fast it will continue to go. She is at a really fun age and definitely has a mind of her own, everyday is a new adventure. Oh how I love it!

It doesn't get much better then this...she thought she was so funny!

Girls Night Out

2010-08-13T15:48:00.000-07:00

We had are annual girls night out which I always look forward to, it is one of my favorite things that we do. What even made it better this year was that none of us had our kids so it makes it a lot easier to be able to do what we want and when we want. This year we went out to eat, sat in the hot tun, went shopping, went to the movie, and did a lot of talking. Julie also brought some fleece blankets that we tied and are going to donate, which was a lot of fun. It was such a fun weekend and so good to see everyone there is usually never a dull moment which makes it all the more fun...I love it!

Disney Land

2010-08-09T15:34:00.000-07:00

Jesse has been working in California a little bit this summer and is only about 10 minutes from Disneyland, so with that being said I didn't even hesitate about going down there to take Mylee for the first time. I love Disney land and so I couldn't wait to be able to take her there. Being that Mylee is only two I didn't know quite what to expect I knew that she would like some things about it but didn't know how much she would be able to take. I am so glad that we were able to work it out for us to go down there because we had so much fun and Mylee loved it! It was her first time riding on an airplane and she did awesome it didn't bother her at all maybe because I had lots of snacks and took a movie for her to watch but regardless she thought it was fun to ride on a plane.

Where all your dreams come true!

Here are some of the characters that Mylee wanted to meet.

Bouncing with Tiger

Since Mylee was about 13 months old she loved watching The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and will still watch it so I knew that she would love to see Mickey and his friends so one morning we took her to a breakfast with Mickey and friends. It was so worth it and was priceless when she saw Mickey. Both Jesse and I were just laughing because she looked like she was star struck she couldn't believe it, she went straight to him and gave him the biggest hug and would not let go. Mickey was really cute with her and spent lots of one on one time with her. It was so fun to watch and Mylee loved it.

Meeting all the characters

Learning a dance with Minnie and Daisy

We decided to go to the beach one day and had so much fun, Mylee absolutely loved it. She loved playing in the ocean it was so cute. The water was really cold but that didn't stop Mylee she loved being in the water running into the waves and then running away from them. We made sandcastles, found seashells, and just relaxed.

Vernal Fun

2010-08-09T15:20:00.000-07:00

All of my family got together for a week in Vernal and we had a lot of fun and stayed very busy. Mylee is at the age where she likes to play with her cousins which makes it a lot of fun. We started are week off with the country show down and had lots of fun dancing to the music and supporting Bobbi Jo who by the way did an awesome job!

We had a really fun time hanging out with everyone and did a lot of fun things.

My mom had a slippin slide out and Mylee loved it she didn't want to stop. She would get on her tummy and we would push her down the slide and she would just laugh and had a blast!

We went and hung out up at the mountain one day, this was the first time taking Mylee and we had alot of fun. We went for four wheeler rides, had a BBQ, and just hung out.

Michael put together a game that we played where we had different challenges that we had to compete and do against each other. We had so much fun and it was really funny especially watching my dad to do some of them.

Hoogle Zoo

2010-08-09T13:02:00.000-07:00

So we finally made it to the zoo I have been wanting to take Mylee there for awhile now and it just seemed like something always came up. I don't think it was Mylee's favorite thing but we still had fun. She liked seeing all the animals but I think it was a little frustrating for her because she wanted to get in and pet them and didn't understand why she couldn't. One of my favorite things to see at the zoo is the gorillas and I had her so excited to see them and of course they weren't out that day. So to be honest I think her favorite things there were the carousal and the train ride. And to top it all off I thought she would love the zoo so much that I bought a season pass for us, we'll see just how much it gets used!

One of Mylee's favorite things the Carousal Ride.

Playing at the park

Jesse and Mylee Lawn Mowing

2010-06-24T08:33:00.000-07:00

So the other night Jesse was getting ready to mow the lawn, I had to work so i was telling him to make sure to watch Mylee so she didn't get to close. So while i had a break I came upstairs to see how things were going and this is what I found...

It was pretty funny. I'm not sure how much Mylee liked it but Jesse definitely knew where she was!!

St. George

2010-06-23T15:14:00.000-07:00

We went to St. George for the weekend and had a lot of fun. Unfortunately we missed the good weather and it wasn't the best down there. It was a short trip but we were able to fit a lot in. Its always fun to spend time with family especially now that Mylee is at the age where she loves to play with her cousins. She was so excited to go and stay in the Hotel, and go swimming. She keep saying to Jesse and I "Tell me something, we go to the hotel and go swim"? She is at such a fun age and is very easy to entertain because any little thing she loves. It makes it easy to love every minute with her because she is such a cutie!!

We went to a place called Jumping Jacks, it was so much fun for the kids. They could jump, slide, and fall all over the place. Mylee loved it and was really brave and would go down the biggest slides all by herself.

On the way to our hike

One morning we went for a hike which the kids loved. It was a perfect hike for them because it wasn't very long. All Mylee wanted to do was play in the sand and walk by herself. She has reached the stage where all we hear is "I do it myself".

So Mylee loves to swim this was probably her favorite part. They had a perfect little pool that she could walk all over in. To bad the weather hadn't been a little better or we would have been able to spend more time at the pool.

Megan's graduation and the Siddoway Reunion

2010-06-03T14:23:00.000-07:00

We went home for the memorial weekend and had lots of things planned out. Megan's graduation(congrats Meg), Mylee's birthday party, Grandpa Pudges 80Th party, and the Siddoway Reunion. We had a lot of fun and it was good to spend time with family!

For the Reunion we ate, hung out, played st the park, and played Lets make a deal...which Michelle put a lot of work into and it was really fun. Here were some good sports that dressed up with the best costumes.

Granpa Pudge's 80th birthday

2010-06-02T14:56:00.000-07:00

Over memorial Jesse's family through Grandpa Pudge a surprise 80Th birthday party. It was a lot of fun. They had it themed like Las Vegas and went all out. Surprisingly he didn't find out and was very surprised. There was a lot of family and friends that were there to support him. We ate dinner and just hung out, it was good to be with everyone and to pay tribute to a great grandpa!

Family and friends

Me and my Honey.

Eating and hanging out.

Here are three cute girls being silly!

Here's Mylee wearing dads poker visor.

Mylee was being so silly she kept laying on the floor pretending she was sleeping and then would just laugh about it. I love when she gets silly like that she ia so funny!

The kids decided to have a dance party...it was so cute they were all getting into it and having so much fun.

Mylee's 2nd birthday

2010-06-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

Where have the two years gone?? Time goes by way to fast. Sweet girl we love you so much, you have brought so much joy to dad and I. We are so thankful to have you in our life. You are at the funnest cutest stage and we are loving every minute of it. Its been so fun to watch your different stages. You definitely are a mama and daddy's girl, there is usually no other place that you would rather be then right here at home with us. Whenever we go anywhere I can usually plan on you asking to go home at least a couple of times. You are constantly making dad and I laugh. You have a mind of your own and usually know exactly what you want and there's usually no changing your mind(and when that happens dad usually says your just like your mom). You are very sweet and very well mannered. Right now some things that you love to do are play pretend whether its your doll house, baby dolls, kitchen set, puppies, and having tea parties. You love to read and color and of course being outside. You also love to play with trampy boy, the cute thing is if we ask what have you been doing it never fails you say I play with trampy boy! You are full of personality and say some of the cutest things. I hear all day...come and play, you don't like to play by yourself very much and even though sometimes i think you need to play by yourself I wouldn't change it for anything because I love to play with you to! Your catching on to everything both dad and I do and sometimes I don't know if its the best. But sometimes it sure is funny especially when you boss daddy around(or should I say Jes or Jesse since that is what you will call him). You are so beautiful you have the prettiest eyes, the cutest little nose, and the most perfect lips. We adore you in every way and love you more than words could ever express! thank you for filling our lives with so much joy sweetie we love you!!

We were in Vernal for Mylee's birthday so we had a little birthday party for her at the park, the weather wasn't the nicest so we had to make it short and sweet! If you would ask Mylee what is today she would say my birthday week! All week I had told her your birthday is coming up so she was excited she loved her balloons, cake, and loved being sang to which she joined in and sang to herself. She loved opening up her presents and got a lot of cute and fun things. It was fun to have family there to spend it with us!

Mylee wouldn't leave her cake alone, she kept saying I love my birthday cake!

Playing at the park

Opening presents

Like Mother like daughter

2010-06-01T17:50:00.001-07:00

When Mylee was about 15 months i started letting her play in my jewelry and that quickly became one of her favorite things to do. She loved to put lots of necklaces and bracelets on and would where them quite awhile. She would love to come and show us and thought it was just so fun and she looked so pretty!

So the reason for me sharing that is because it leads to this. Now that she is two and I look back she has always loved to play with these things. She loves to dress up. So the other day I had told her that we needed to go to a few stores and needed to get her dressed after we did that she said mama do my hair. i said okay go pick out a flower and we will do it. After we did I said okay go get your shoes so that we can go when she came back this is what she looked like...

Not only did she get her high heels but also her necklace and bracelets. So as I again look back I quickly know exactly where she gets this could it have something to do with me?? Like mother like daughter...seriously!!

Here is another picture of what she likes to do now and that is where my shoes, I don't know how she can walk in some of them. Jesse tells me that she can walk better in them then I.

Mothers Day

2010-06-01T17:13:00.000-07:00

This year I really decided how much I enjoy Mothers Day for many reasons. It makes reflect on how much grandmothers, mothers, and being a mother mean to me. I have many get role models in my life and its nice to pay tribute to them. I think about the great grandparents that both Jesse and i have and what examples they are to us. Also how much my mom means to me and all the countless things that she has done for me in my life and how important it is to be that great mother for your children. Mothers truly are there greatest examples. I am also fortunate to have a great mother in law that is also a great example and also demonstrates what a great Mother should be. For these reasons I am grateful to be a Mother its changed my life by far in so many ways. In ways that I am so grateful for. All day i heard from Mylee Happy Mothers day! What more can you ask for. I hope that I can live up to the role models that have so greatly effected my life and demonstrate to my kids what a great Mother should be. I love being a mom it has brought a joy into my life that I never knew could exist. Mylee is such a sweetie and I have enjoyed everything about her, she is my little Buddie and I am so thankful to be her Mother.
This year Mylee got me some running shoes which I was in desperate need of. Thank you sweetie you always know just what I need...with a little bit of help!
Terel and Julie were with us for the weekend and on our way to church Terel slipped on our stairs and hurt his finger. We all thought it was broke so Jesse took him to the hospital which they were there for about fours hours. Luckily it ended up being a dislocated finger. One nurse said that it was the worst she had seen in about 13 years. Needless to say all in all it was a good Mothers Day!

Ogden Marathon

2010-06-01T14:44:00.000-07:00

We went up to Ogden for the weekend to support those that ran in the marathon. Jesse, Michelle, Dave, Julie, and Megan ran in the relay. While Terel, Alisha, and Sidney ran the full marathon. Jesse was only supposed to run 7 miles but felt good and so continued and finished a half! It was definitely inspiring to watch everyone at the finish evens those that I didn't know because it really is such an accomplishment. Congrats you guys you all did great!

Of course Mylee's favorite part was the swimming, just like any little kid she would swim all night. She loved it!

While we were waiting for dinner Mylee and Brock kept busy playing on the grass together.

The night before the race...pumping each other up!

After the race

Graduation

2010-06-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

Jes we are so proud of you, I can't even imagine how you must feel. You have worked so hard and it definitely hasn't been the easiest but definitely worth it. All of your hard worked didn't go unnoticed I watched all that you did and sacrificed for this and I thank you. You truly are amazing!! Congratulations hon! I love you! Also thank you to everyone who came to support!

Getting the diploma

Our Graduate! We are so proud of you!

Mylee only wanted Jesse and so she was in all the pictures, the cute thing was is whoever was on her side she just wanted to lay on them. It was so funny!

Mylee was fascinated with Jesse's cap and wouldn't stop playing with the tassel.

Here are a few of the kids that Jesse went to school and graduated with.

Thanksgiving Point Farm

2010-06-01T11:23:00.000-07:00

A friend and I decided to take our girls to the farm at thanksgiving point. Mylee and Deni had so much fun. These two are so much alike its crazy and have so much fun together. Of course Mylee loved the pony ride and running around to look at all the animals. I think her favorite thing at this farm is feeding the goats we buy some of the corn and they eat right out of her hands. She loves it!

There were a couple of old sheds that Mylee had fun climbing all over in. I can't believe how big she looks in these pictures she definitely is turning into a little girl. What a cutie!! We love you so much sissy!

Wheeler Farm

2010-05-27T21:19:00.000-07:00

We met Beau, Jill, and Lexie and spent a morning up at Wheeler Farm seeing all the animals and having a picnic, it was a lot of fun. Being that both Jesse and I grew up in Vernal I always have to chuckle when we have to drive to a farm to show Mylee the animals because that was never the case for us growing up, Mylee loves to go and see all the animals though. Her most favorite thing to do is the pony rides and hates when she has to get off.
One of her favorite books is a Mickey Mouse book that talks about how much he loves animals and every time we read it she says I love animals to mama. And she definitely does. It is so cute and I love that she does because I am definitely a animal lover as well!

The Living Aquarium

2010-04-05T14:12:00.000-07:00

We took Mylee to the living aquarium and had alot of fun. Her favorite things to see were the penguins, the snake, and the sharks. By the end of it she just wanted to sit on the frog and run around.
Grandma Janet had bought Mylee a finding Nemo book and inside it had a picture of a snake as my mom was showing it to her she was telling Mylee that Pa hates snakes. Ever since then its pretty close to a daily basis she will ask Pa like snakes? i have to tell her NO pa doesn't like snakes. She has been fascinated by that. So after we went to the aquarium we called Pa to tell him that we went and saw a snake!!

This first picture is for you Pa!!

First snowfall

2010-04-05T13:56:00.000-07:00

The first time it snowed this year, Mylee definitely had to get all bundled up and go out in it. She loved it. She was so bundled up that it was a little hard for her to walk around but quickly got the hang of it. Like every kid she liked eating the snow. Her and daddy made a snow man and had so much fun!

My good boy!

2010-03-31T13:31:00.000-07:00

Mylee is starting to get to the point of liking to watch movies, it has to be one that she really likes though or she probably wont sit through it all. Right now her favorite movie is Lady and the Tramp. The cute thing is though every time I ask her if she would like to watch a movie and which one she would like to watch she will say Lady and Trampy boy! That is what she always calls tramp! Also right now another favorite movie is Bolt. In the movie Penny is always telling bolt your my good boy and gives him hugs. So that is Mylee's new thing she will go and grab tramp give him a hug and kiss and tell him your my good boy! It is so cute she loves him so much. One of the first things that she asks me when I go in the morning to get her is where is trampy? So I tell her and then every morning we go to see and him. If you ask her what have you been doing today usually she will say hmmm...I play with trampy boy. He is such a good dog, he will always be our good boy!

Life not in a apartment...

2010-03-28T14:55:00.000-07:00

In August of 2009 we started looking around to by a house and one thing lead into another and we actually ended building a home. So we started the process the first of November surprisingly everything went pretty smoothly and we moved into it the middle of February We have absolutely loved it, after living in an apartment for almost five years it feels good to finally get into something that is ours. While in the process of doing this we also decided to put a salon in our house and transfer all my clients here instead of the salon. I was really excited about this and now that we have been here for almost two months and I have been working from home it was the best decision I made. I have loved it, it has been so convenient and nice. It has made life so much less on the go, my commute is just a walk down my stairs. Its the best!
During the months that our home was being built we came and saw it often so I think it helped Mylee understand that this was going to be her home. When we would come I would tell her that this is going to be our new home and show her around. Towards the last month I think she started grasping it, I would often see her grab tramp and look into his eyes and say...a new house trampy a new house YEA and clap her hands. The first week of being here she would run around and say a new house, a new house. She has loved it! And as for trampers his life has changed for the best. He hardly sleeps during the day anymore because he has to much going on. He sits on the couch and observes what is going on outside or by the back door. He loves to go lay on the deck and bask in the sun, what a life...a life of a dog!
We are thankful and grateful for being able to get in our home and are loving every minute of it. Now that spring is here we just can't wait to get are yard done and enjoy being outside all summer!

Jesse Graduated!!

2010-03-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

Its been a long but short four and a half years since Jesse has been going to school. I remember when he started which was right after we got married and looking at the road that we had in front of us until he would be done with school and it seemed like forever. And while we were in it it definitely was not always easy, Jesse not only was going to school full time but also working at least 30 hours a week while I also worked full time. After having Mylee I went down to part time but in order for Jesse and I to not put Mylee in daycare we worked around each others schedules so that at least one of us would always be with her. So needless to say we really hardly saw each other besides Saturday nights and Sundays. I guess what kept us going is that we always knew it was a means for an end. I look back now and admire Jesse for all of his hard work I can't imagine how he did it between being there to help watch Mylee, all the school, work, studying, and pulling the awesome grades that he did. He is AMAZING!! Jesse I have always known what a hard worker you are and whatever you put your mind to you do it full force and always do your best. I appreciate all that you do for me and for our family. We made it Hon...and it feels great I can only imagine how you feel, I'm sure its such a relief!
While we were home for Christmas I wanted to through a little surprise congratulations party for Jesse for graduating. And since everyone was there I thought it was the best time. So I had everyone meet at Terel and Julies and house, got a cake, ice-cream, and balloons. And we all surprised him when he came. It was fun...I think the biggest surprise of all though was that I actually kept it a surprise and didn't tell him before it actually happened. I have a tendency to do that! Anyway Jes I am so proud of you, you are the BEST and I love you!!

Christams 2009

2010-03-25T13:19:00.000-07:00

I have always loved Christmas time...the snow, the lights, the Christmas tree, all the decorating, being with family, feeling the spirit etc. Now with Mylee it even makes it ten times better. I think she was still a little to young to understand everything that is associated with Christmas, but it was fun to play with the nativity set with her and to teach her about the birth of Christ (which she loved to play with), taking her to the mall to show her Santa Clause, letting her help me try to wrap Christmas presents, and dancing around to Christmas music. Mylee is getting to such a fun stage and gets excited over the smallest things, it makes life so enjoyable.

I was so excited to put up our Christmas tree and decorations this year because i knew that Mylee would love to help me and she definitely did her favorite part was helping me decorate the tree, we had so much fun!

This year Santa brought Mylee a kitchen set and food and because there wasn't enough room to bring it home from vernal he delivered it a week before Christmas. Mylee had got sick the week before so he brought it that weekend to make her feel better. She loved it! As you can tell she has taken after me in the height department and so has to use mom's stool to reach the top of the kitchen set.

This year for the Pedersen Christmas party we went down to Kelli's house in Heber. We had a lot of fun we went bowling first Mylee didn't know quite what to think other than she loved all the bowling balls the frustrating part for her was they were to heavy for her pick up and also watching us through them down the lane because she didn't understand that they were coming back. After that we went back and ate, played games, and opened our presents. Last but not least at the end of the night Santa Clause came to visit all the kids. Mylee didn't know quite what to think she didn't like sitting on his lap but didn't mind standing by him, she would just stare at him. She was definitely aware of who he was because I had taken her to the mall to see him and talked to her about him. She calls him Clause and its so cute! Thanks for another fun Christmas party everyone!

This was on the morning of family pictures. We went a little early to get some of our own and of Mylee. What a little cutie!!

Christmas with the Merkley's...there is usually a party every night. We stay very busy and have lots of fun. This night we were at Lisa's. We had a nice dinner, played games, and sang songs which Mylee loved she decided to get on the coffee table and dance to all of our singing she thought she was pretty funny and was liking all the attention.

Alisha and Dave put together a really fun Amazing Race for the family we had all different clues, detours, and challenges that we had to accomplish it was quite the adventure and was alot of fun. To top it off...of course Jesse and I were the winners.

Christmas morning was alot of fun. Mylee really enjoyed it her favorite part was opening the gifts and instead of tearing right into them she very slowly tore the paper piece by piece off. She would get excited over the gift but then just wanted to open another one because she loved just opening them. Some of her favorite gifts that she got where her kitchen set, a baby set, shopping cart, and puzzles. Its really fun because she is starting to like to play pretend so all the things she got she has really liked. Jesse and I said that we weren't going to do anything this year but after him secretly finding out that I was getting him something he did the same. We had a really good Christmas the best part was just being around family and feeling the spirit of Christmas!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-03T12:46:00.000-08:00

This Halloween Mylee was a butterfly but was also called a love bug, fairy, and ladybug. Mylee loved her costume I got it a few weeks before Halloween and so she loved putting it on. She would go to her closet point to her costume and say butter, butter. So we would have to put it on her and then take her to the mirror so she could see herself and then we would play like she was a butterfly. So everything I asked her to do I would put butterfly in it somehow."Butterfly can you come here." Anyway you get the idea and she loved it.
On Halloween we took Mylee up to the University. They were having Halloween activities and had different houses all decorated with different themes that you could go trick or treat to. We started off by doing a couple of fish ponds and then went to the houses. Some of the houses that Mylee really liked were...one was themed like the UP movie and had tons of balloons that you could choose from. one house was themed like the Mad hatters tea party so she could sit down and they served her a cupcake. there was also a gypsy house that she liked where they had big poster paper that you could draw all over. It was really fun and Mylee liked it.

Our ward put on a trunk or treat which was a lot of fun. We actually missed the trunk or treat part which was a bummer but they still had chili and games that we stayed for. One of our friends brought in there cooler of candy though so that Mylee could get some and then me and Mylee got our faces painted.

We had to carve a pumpkin this year because Mylee loves them. Whenever we see one she quickly points to it and says pumpkin. So she loved watching Jesse carve it and helping get the seeds out, she kept trying to eat them. After getting it done we turned the lights off and lit the inside so she could see it in the dark. We have started playing hide'n'seek with her which she loves and could do it all night and wouldn't get sick of it. So with the lights off Jesse would go and hide with her and I would go and find them with the pumpkin all lit up. We had so much fun!

Fall Fun

2009-10-30T15:49:00.000-07:00

I love to go to Gardiner Village in the fall time especially around Halloween because they decorate it so cute with lots of witches everywhere. This year my friends and I went to the witches night out that they have every year this was the first time that I have gone and it was so much fun. After going I decided that is something that i want to do with Mylee has a tradition when she gets older, dress up like witches and go. It was so much fun. After going I decided to take Mylee there the next week. She didn't like the witches very much i would try to take her pictures by them and i think they scared her because she didn't want to get by them. It was still fun she loved walking around and looking st everything. Its just a really fun atmosphere.

We took Mylee to Wheeler Farm the other weekend and it was a lot of fun. This has been one of my favorite places to take Mylee this summer and have gone a few times. It is so pretty this time of the year and especially at this farm. It is huge and has all the farm animals to go and see. This time of the year they have a pumpkin patch, tractor rides, and pony rides. We let Mylee ride one of the ponies, has soon has we put her on she was reaching for Jesse to get her off but has the pony started to walk she got the biggest smile and was giggling the whole time it was so cute. She didn't want to get off and started crying when she had to. She loved it!

Summer 2009

2009-10-27T14:40:00.000-07:00

We had a great and busy summer. Mylee started walking right after her birthday and from that point on she has quickly changed from my sweet little baby to my sweet energetic toddler. All summer she has progressively started saying so many words, and now she pretty much trys to say whatever we say. Right now she loves to say Hi and says it all the time. She recently picked up a couple of words that I say Oh shoot and crap. I am quickly realizing that I need to watch what I say. Its amazing how fast they learn to do so many things. The good and the bad. This summer we spent a lot of time playing outside, going for walks(which she loves to do because she gets to walk tramp now, it is the cutest thing to watch), going to the park, swimming, playing with friends and spent a lot of time with family. I can't believe how big Mylee is getting. I wish the time could slow down its going to fast. We are so thankful for her. Since having her I have realized what is most important in life which is family. I am so thankful for her and Jesse they bring so much joy and happiness into my life. I love you guys!! Here are some pictures from over the summer.

We celebrated the fourth of July while we were in Vernal, so that morning we took Mylee to the fourth of July parade. She really liked when the horses came by and other than that it was hard to keep her occupied because all she wanted to do was walk on the road. Later we also celebrated my grandma Carma's birthday we had a BBQ at my mom's house and just hung out. Its always so good to see my grandma she is the neatest lady and I love her so much!!

A couple of my friends and I took our kids to the children's museum at the gateway. It was so fun and Mylee loved it. They have different rooms that kids can go to and play with all sorts of different things. There was a room with balls and they had so many things that you could put them in and watch them go through tubes and stuff, Mylee loved it, I would try and take her to another room and she would go running back to that room. She had so much fun. After that we took them to the water fountains to run and play in, I didn't think Mylee would like it very much but I was wrong she loved it and would go running through the water letting it hit and splash her and she would just laugh it was so cute and funny.

Every year Julie has started a tradition where we get all the girls together for a Girls weekend out. It is one of my favorite things that we do, it is so fun to get together and just hang out. We usually go to Park City for the weekend which is so fun. This year since we did it the first of June it was really nice weather so we went swimming, of course shopping, went to dinner, hung out and played games, talked and talked and talked, and this year Julie taught us how to make strawberry jam. I love getting together with everyone we have already been able to build great memories and I look forward to all the rest.

Jesse played in the all night-er tournament in vernal over the summer so we went home for that. They didn't play very many games this year and the ones that they did were mostly at night so we didn't get to see very many.

This was at a Bees game that we went to on the 24Th of July. I love the last picture because its a perfect shot of Mylee picking her nose.

We went and did the Pioneer trek with my family in July. Instead of camping we stayed in a Hotel and then during one day we did the trek, and the following day we went to Independence Rock and the visitors center. It was a good experience, it definitely makes you appreciate all the little things that we take for granted. I tried to relate myself to those mothers and fathers that had children that they had to take along. I can't even imagine how hard that would have been. Even when we were there it was really hot and I was trying to make sure that Mylee was drinking enough water to stayed hydrated. All the conditions that they faced would have been so difficult. I have a grateful heart for what they had to endure.

Mylee's 1 yr old pictures

2009-09-07T20:02:00.000-07:00

This summer while we were in vernal we were able to get Mylee's 1 year old pictures and some family pictures done by Tiffany Morton. I was so excited! We were able to get some really cute pictures. I am really happy with them, Tiffany did a really good job. Mylee did pretty good she is at the age where she is starting to get a mind of her own so she doesn't always like to be forced into doing anything that she doesn't want to do. It was all worth it though. Here are some of my favorite picture that we got of Mylee.

Hawaii

2009-08-24T14:20:00.000-07:00

We were able to go to Hawaii this summer for the first time and we had so much fun. We have had this planned ever since Terel and Julie bought a time share there a couple of years ago, and finally went with them and also Alisha and Dave. We went to Kauai and it was so beautiful. We did alot of fun things. It was a much needed vacation and it was nice to get away. Thanks for the fun trip you guys!!

Hanging out by the beach and snorkeling.

This is the luau that we went to. It was a lot of fun.

We did a catamran boat ride which was a lot of fun. We saw lots of dolphins, went snorkeing, and saw the Napali Coast. It was beautiful.

These pictures are of some differnt places that we hiked to.

We hiked down to a huge swim hole that you could cliff jump from and also do a rope swing. I was a big chicken and didn't do either one. I have the biggest fear of cliff jumping. But it was pretty!!

We went ziplining one day which was a lot of fun other than the day before i had layed out and burnt the back of my legs. Can I just say OUCH!!

This was at the ferngrato. We took a boat ride to see it.

We wanted to watch the sunset go down one night so we went to this beach. It was so beautiful.

Going Private

2009-06-11T10:57:00.000-07:00

Its time to go private. So if you would like to continue to view are blog please leave me your email address!!

Mylee's 1st birthday

2009-06-01T11:15:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Mylee's birthday over the weekend and it was so much fun. We had a barbecue and went swimming. A lot of our family members were able to come so it was a lot of fun to see and hang out with everyone. Thanks to all those who came, it means a lot to have the love and support from our families. We did Mylee's birthday theme in Mickey Mouse and of course her favorite thing was the Mickey Mouse balloon that we got for her. As soon as she saw that she got so excited and just wanted to keep touching it.
Its so hard to believe that a year has already gone by since we had Mylee. Her birthday was kind of a bitter sweet for me, I guess because it made me realize that she is starting to get passed the baby stage and is now starting in the toddler stage. I have absolutely loved this passed year, she has brought so much joy to Jesse and I.

Hanging out by the pool and having a barbecue

Opening presents

Mylee's Mickey Mouse cake

Here is Mylee eating her cake, she didn't know what to think at first but quickly figured it out.

Swimming

2009-05-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

We are so excited that the weather is nice, Mylee loves to be outside so that's where we are most of the time. We decided to take Mylee swimming and this was the first time that we have put her in the swimming pool. She loved it and was so excited! She liked kicking and splashing in the water. It is so fun doing all these things with her, I can't believe how big she is getting and will soon be one. Time goes by way to fast

Mother's Day

2009-05-11T11:32:00.000-07:00

So this year I was officially a mother on mothers day. It definitely made me reflect on how thankful I am to be a mom and how much happiness I have found in it. I know I am always expressing this, but I have found such a fulfillment in being a mom and truly love every minute of it. Its hard to even imagine what life was like before we had Mylee, what joy we have found through and with her. I feel so thankful and blessed to be her mom. Jesse was very thoughtful and made a video of me and Mylee for Mothers Day. I got home from work on Saturday night and he said do you want your Mother's day gift early,(which shocked me because he doesn't like to give gifts early) so I jumped all over that and said yes! He kept telling me Mylee is just to excited to wait she wants to give it to you tonight.(I think he was the one that was to excited to wait). So he let me watch the video, which turned out very cute. Thanks, it was very thoughtful and sweet! I love you guys so much!!

Easter

2009-04-13T22:05:00.000-07:00

We made a quick trip up to Logan to hang out with Jesse's family for Easter, which was a lot of fun. We dyed Easter Eggs with the kids, had a great Easter dinner, and had an Easter Egg hunt for the kids and also the adults,(Thanks to Terel and Julie). Mylee is still a little to young to understand all of it but it was still fun to celebrate it with her. Although she was really happy when she saw her Easter basket and got to go through it.
I am so thankful for our Savior and to celebrate the life that he lived and for the knowledge that he still lives!

Easter morning

Dying Easter Eggs

Easter Egg Hunt

Disney on Ice

2009-03-27T17:50:00.000-07:00

So if any of you know me you know that I love Disney stuff. I guess it has probably stemmed from when I was little and my grandpa would take me to Disney Land almost every summer when I was in grade school. And so I am trying to pass that on to Mylee which hasn't been very hard. She loves Mickey Mouse and loves to watch The Mickey Mouse clubhouse, probably since she was about 5 or 6 months old I could put that on and she would watch it. She gets so excited when she See's Mickey come on that she starts waving at him and will start dancing with the song, it is so cute.
So that's why(with a little help from her dad)she probably decided to get me some Disney on ice tickets for my birthday. Which i was so excited about! We didn't know how good she would sit through it, but she actually did pretty good. With all the bright lights and music it kept her attention longer then I thought it would. She was pretty serious throughout it, it was hard to get her to smile. I was even trying to sing all the songs to her and to get her to dance but she wouldn't. I must have been getting pretty into it because I got a couple of glances from the people in front of us, I guess I just can't help myself it brings the kid out in me. Thanks Jes for being so thoughtful it was a lot of fun!!

The first picture was taken right before we left

And she's off...

2009-02-20T16:30:00.000-08:00

Mylee started crawling this last week, I can't believe how big she is getting. The time is going by way to fast. She has been really close to doing it the last couple of weeks and just couldn't quite figure it out. But the starting of this week she got the hang of it, and now is very quickly realizing that she can get into everything. It is amazing to me how fast they pick up on things, and how they gravitate to the things that they shouldn't get into. You would think that she would want to play with all the toys that she has, but I think those are the least interesting for her. She goes straight for all of tramps toys. Poor dog is beside himself, no privacy anymore and all of his toys get taken from him. I guess he will just have to get used to it because she loves him and she goes straight for him. He doesn't know what to do so he just kisses the top of her head it is so funny to watch. I've been trying to teach her to wave good-bye, which she is getting the hang of. And to also give kisses, she is so funny when she does it because she'll open up her mouth and lunge right into your face. I love it, what a sweetheart!! I truly feel like life could not be any better, I have never felt a more fulfilling calling in my life than to be a mom. That's why one of my favorite sayings is simple pleasures are life's treasures, because i am starting to realize more and more that it is the simple things in life that matter most. Waking up to a sweet smile from your baby, getting a phone call or text from your husband just telling you that he loves you, coming home to a clean house(thanks hon you do that a lot), making the ones you love laugh(there is nothing better than hearing Mylee giggle)etc. I guess I just feel very blessed in my life. I am so thankful for our little family, I am beginning to realize that this is where I find my greatest joy and always will.

Sweetheart Tag

2009-02-17T15:38:00.000-08:00

Where did you first meet your sweetheart?
Seventh grade, we had mutual friends.

What do you remember most about him?
Of course at that age, what else I thought he was cute! Was anything else supposed to matter??

Who asked who out first?
Jesse asked me out, but at that age it meant to be boyfriend/girlfriend. Not to go on a date. Yes, we started definitely to young I was in eighth grade when Jesse asked me out.

What were your favorite things to do together?
At that age make-out of course. J/K Well not really, but we also liked hanging out with friends, going to the movies, going to dances, hanging out with family, and just being together.

When was your first kiss with you sweetheart?
eighth grade, we were at one of my friends house, and got interrupted by her dad!

When did you first realize that you loved him?
Starting off so young, I think your perception of love at that age is completely different then when you are older. So I may have thought that I loved Jesse, but I definitely realized how much I loved him the summer that I graduated from High School. It seemed like our relationship took a different turn that summer. And more important things seemed to matter.

Who said it(I love you)first?
I really don't remember.

How did he propose?
It was just a normal night we were getting ready to do the usual, we had rented a movie, made some popcorn, and were going to hang out on the couch. Jesse went and put the movie on and to my surprise it was not the movie we had rented. It was a video that he had made of friends and family of ours, and asked them what they liked about me or something that stood out to them about me. And then at the end he told me of the reasons why he loved me and what he liked the most about me and then when that was over he proposed. It was cute and thoughtful and I have to give him props because he did surprise me and sometimes that can be hard to do because I try to find the surprise out before it happens. Good job Hon!

What are the two things you remember most about you wedding day?
It was the happiest day of my life, it could not have been any more perfect. I remember being in the temple and feeling so much peace and happiness.(True happiness) I loved everything. It was our day and I never wanted it to end. And to top it off the wedding night was just as good!!

I tag Courtnie, Ali, and Anna. And anyone else that wants to!!

Funny faces

2009-02-13T21:02:00.000-08:00

Mylee has just started this new smile where she scrunches her nose and eyes, it is so funny. We can't figure out where she has picked it up from because both Jesse and I don't do it unless we just don't realize that we are. She is at the cutest stage, and we are loving every minute of it.

Tramp and Mylee

2009-02-06T21:47:00.000-08:00

Okay so if your not an animal lover or I should say dog lover then you may not be able to relate to this post. I have always been a animal lover and so when Jesse and I got married I always told him how much I wanted to get a dog, so that year which has now been three years ago Jesse surprised me with Tramp for my birthday. It was the best birthday present ever! And since then he has been my buddy, especially because Jesse is gone so much with school and work, I definitely got attached very quickly. When I got pregnant I would even tell Jesse in all seriousness "I don't know if I could love a baby has much has I love tramp", and he would just laugh at me. And yes just so you all know I love Mylee much more. But at the time I had never experienced the love of being a mom and so i just could not comprehend it.
It was so cute while i was pregnant I definitely think that he sensed it. He would always come and lay right on my belly, he loved it. And he also always loved to go and lay in Mylee's room especially when we got it put all together. I wondered if he thought it was his room. I worried how he would react to her when i finally had her. At first he was just really curious when we brought her home. And that first week I think he probably got the same amount of sleep that I got(which was not a lot) because when I would get up with her he would also and he wouldn't go back to sleep until I was back in bed. But he adapted really quick and he is a pretty good big brother. He is really cute with her, and Mylee loves him so much. She gets so excited to see him, anytime I call his name she is looking all over to find him. If she is asleep I usually don't have to worry about listening for her because as soon as she starts to wake up he is the first one to jump up and head right to her room. When she is on the floor playing with her toys he likes to get his and play right next to her. Every so often you will see him go over to her and give her kisses on her head and then just walk off, she always gets the biggest smiles. Its so cute to see them interact together. He has been the best dog in every way. I always tell Jesse if we ever get another dog there is no way they will ever be as good as Tramp.

8 Things about me.

2009-01-22T10:38:00.000-08:00

8 Favorite TV shows
* Ellen
* The Bachelor
* The Biggest Loser
* Survivor
* American Idol
* Dancing with the Stars
* So you think you can dance
* 24
(I know pretty much all I watch is reality shows)

8 Things i did yesterday
* Got ready for the day
* Played with Mylee
* Went to work
* did laundry
* hung out with my mom and Bobbi Jo
* watched american idol
* gave mylee a bath
* hung out with Jesse when he got home

8 Things I look forward to
* Jesse finishing school
* Hawaii
* Getting into a house someday
* springtime
* spending time with Jesse since we don't see eachother much
* going for walks with tramp and Mylee when the weather gets warmer
* Being with family
* playing with Mylee

8 favorite restaurants
* Market Street Grill
* Chili's
* Peiwei
* Olive Garden
* Paradise Bakery
* Iggy's
* The Melting Pot
* Red Lobster

8 things on my wish list
* A long, healthy, and happy life.
* All the best things life can offer(joy, love, happiness etc.) for Mylee and the
rest of the kids that we'll have.
* For Jesse and I to have success in all that we do.
* An endless shopping spree.
* To be together forever as a family
* For spring to come soon
* learn how to snowboard
* Go to New York

I tag anyone who wants to do this!!

Christmas

2009-01-06T13:38:00.000-08:00

We had a really good Christmas this year. We went to vernal and spent it with my family. Mylee was pretty clueless to everything but it was just fun having her with us. And of course she really didn't care much for her presents you could give her the bows and paper and she liked that the best. That weekend Mylee got her first two teeth on the bottom, so she was a little fussy. It is so cute to see her smile with them though. It was a quit weekend we spent most of it just hanging out doing the usually stuff as well has visiting other family. I am ashamed to say that I didn't take very many pictures the whole weekend because we video taped most of the time, so I hardly have any pictures. All in all we had a really good weekend.

Here is Jesse and Mylee with "Granny". It is so fun to have my grandma around for Christmas, ever since I can remember she has spent every Christmas with us, she usually even stays Christmas eve night with us. She's the best!!

Uncle Mikey and Aunt Bobbi Jo
(Sorry Micheal this was the best picture I had and your eyes are closed.)

Here Mylee is opening up some Christmas gifts from grandma Julie and grandma Bev

Here is our cute little Santa baby! I took these the week before Christmas, Mylee was so funny she would not crack a smile at all she was way to interested in everything I had on her.

Christmas Party

2008-12-08T22:01:00.000-08:00

Now that my family is getting so big and we don't all get together for Christmas anymore we have started to do a family Christmas party. This year we went and stayed at a condo in Park City. We had alot of fun shopping at the outlets, playing games, eating, opening gifts, and just hanging out. I stayed the night with my parents the night before everyone came down. It was fun to spend some time with them. They finally got to see how fun Mylee is starting to get. Lots of BIG smiles as you can see in the pictures, as well as sticking out her tongue. It is so funny.

Mylee and grandma

Cousins

Mylee opening up her first christmas gift from Uncle Mikey.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T21:26:00.000-08:00

So we headed to Vernal for thanksgiving and spent it with Jesse's family. It was a busy weekend. Between thanksgiving, family pictures, two baby showers, and trying to visit other family and friends there wasn't a lot of free time.
I have a lot to be thankful for. Since we have had Mylee it has made me realize even more what is most important in life. I am so thankful for our little family. That is where i find my greatest joy. Mylee turned six months old over the weekend, and it has flown by. Her little personality is really starting to come out. She is getting so fun and cute. It is hard to even express the amount of love we have for her. It was good to see everyone in vernal, but I have to say that it is always nice to get back home and relax.

Thanksgiving at grandma rose's house.

What a sweetie!!

Here are a couple of pictures of the turkey bowl the guys played in.

Dad's little cheerleader

2008-11-09T13:52:00.000-08:00

This is Dad's favorite outfit. It was a birthday present to Dad from Mylee(with a little help from Grandma Julie). When the Broncos are playing on Sunday Dad likes to dress her up to cheer them on. He thinks she is their number one fan. Too bad her cheering doesn't help out a little more because they have been losing. But thats okay she still makes a pretty dang cute cheerleader.

1st Halloween

2008-11-03T15:13:00.000-08:00

For halloween we took Mylee over to aunt Robin and uncle Waynes house. They made dinner, and we hung out with them. Its nice to have them nearby especially since we don't have a lot of family that live here in Salt Lake. While Jesse was on his mission in Chile Grandma Julie bought this halloween costume, hence she is a "chile pepper."

Catching up

2008-10-28T17:34:00.000-07:00

So I finally got my blog started. I probably wont be very good at this because it is hard to find the time to do it. Its already been five months since we had Mylee and it has flown by. Everyone told me to enjoy every stage because it goes by so fast and I really have tried to do that. I have loved every minute of being a mom it has been the best experience ever. I didn't think I was ready for it when we found out that I was pregnant, but I couldn't have been any more ready now that we have her here. She is really starting to get fun. Her personality is starting to show, smiling, giggling, and demanding all of our attention. Its hard to imagine what life was like without her, she has brought so much happiness to our lives. Right now life is very busy for Jesse and I, especially for Jesse. Between switching places to watch Mylee so that I can work and so Jesse can also work and go to school, we don't have very much spare time together, but hopefully it will be worth it in the end.