9 months ago today :)

I can’t believe Clark has been in our lives for 9 months already.  It seems like just yesterday I was big and pregnant and waiting for him to get here.  Since I haven’t blogged anything about his birth, I thought tonight would be a good time.

My due date was August 29th and I actually had a Dr. appt that day.  My incredible OB, Dr. Bierer didn’t want me to go too far overdue since I have a not too great family history of babies born past their due date.  There were crazy rules at the hospital that had gone into effect a few months before we were due that prohibited 1st time moms to be induced before they were 41 weeks.  I was not too thrilled about that and luckily neither was Dr. Bierer.  So on my due date, Dr. Bierer gave me something to “help” with my dilation.  It was pretty uncomfortable so after, my mom took me to a movie (The Odd Life of Timothy Green).  It was so fun to go and relax and not think too much about L/D.

The next morning, (August 30th)we were to go back to my OB’s to be checked again.  My blood pressure was elevated slightly and I hadn’t felt the baby move a whole lot, so Dr. Bierer called McKay Dee Hospital and scheduled us to be there at 12pm to be induced.  I was so excited but SO nervous at the same time.  He told me to not plan on having the baby for about 24 hours after I got started on Pitocin.  So we packed a few movies and yummy treats (for Mike) and checked into the Hospital at noon.  It was about 12:30pm when I was finally gowned and climbing into bed.  Our Amazing nurse (Sabrina) came in to do lots of paperwork and answer any questions we had.  She was seriously incredible!!  I felt right at home the minute we started talking.  She reminded me a lot of my older sisters, such a blessing!  Earlier I had tested positive for Step B so by about 12:45pm, my IV in was placed (by the anesthesiologist) and some Penicillin was started.  Well, Dr. Bierer was at the hospital for a delivery so he decided to come in and break my water so he didn’t have to come back in a few hours to do so.  That sure was a crazy feeling!  By 1:00pm, they started my pitocin and I was really starting to feel some contractions.  I was so shocked and surprised at how quickly things were moving.  By about 1:30pm, my contractions were getting really strong so I asked for my epidural.  My anesthesiologist was Amazing.  I didn’t really feel much pain but my left leg shot straight out once he started pushing the meds.  It was Crazy and quite scary for a few seconds.  Mike was great, he stayed right be my side, holding my hands the entire time.  A few hours went by and my contractions were getting really strong that they had to turn down the pit.  No real pain, just a little pressure.  We watched Despicable Me and listened to music.  I had ice chips, a sucker, and a yummy popsical.  I wasn’t progressing very quickly so the nurses kept telling me that it would be at least til tomorrow afternoon.  I was feeling really good until about 8:00pm.  The pressure in my back was really starting to bother me and I knew it was getting close to delivery.  The anesthesiologist came back and gave me another push on my epidural.  My sisters and parents had come up during the day for some visits which helped pass the time.  Mike was so great to help in every way he could.  At about 9pm we started watching  “the Proposal” to help get my mind off the pain.  I think it was about 10:30pm and my nurse came to check how dilated I was.  I wasn’t paying much attention to her since I had been at a 5cm for the past 7 hours or so.  She checked and then nonchalantly said that I was a 9+.  I sat up and said “are you kidding me?!”  She said no, and left the room to get the delivery cart setup.  I instantly burst into tears of joy and nervousness.  My cute sisters were there and were encouraging me the entire time.  Mike was great too, however I think he was a bit nervous too.  Jami called my parents to get them all caught up.  By about 11:30pm, the nurses came in to help get ready to start pushing.  My sisters left into the hall, and unbeknownst to me, Michelle kept her foot in the door so they could hear everything that was happening.  Mike turned on James Taylor on our ipod and I started pushing at 11:45pm.  Hardest thing I’ve ever had to do!  My nurses were great and helped me a ton.  At 12:10 am, Dr. Bierer was called and got there 10 minutes later.  It was such a huge relief to see his happy face walk in the room.   I only pushed for about  10 more minutes and our sweet baby boy was born at 12:34 am on Friday, August 31st.   The spirit was so strong in the room, I wasn’t expecting that.  It was an incredible experience!  Dr. Bierer layed him right on my chest and Mike cut the cord.  We were parents!!  The most amazing experience I’ve ever had.  The nurses wanted me to start trying to nurse him before visitors came in the room.  Wow!  Right after he was born, I spiked a big fever and so did Clark, luckily his went down super quick.  After about 20 minutes, my amazing parents and sisters came in to see him.  They were all so cute taking pictures and taking it all in.  It was so great to have them there!  They stayed for a bit then left, since it was the middle of the night!  About 30 minutes later, we were moved to the Postpartum unit.  Once we got to our room, they took Clark away and said they would keep us updated on his condition.  I was scared to death.  No one had answers as to why they had to take him away.  By about 6am, we were finally told that he had spiked another fever and they didn’t want to chance him having an infection.  So they completed lots of blood work and placed an IV in his head to give him antibiotics.  He was placed in the transition nursery which was in between the NICU and regular nursery.  We were allowed to see him/be with him 1 hour every 2 hours.  That was really difficult but I was thankful they were keeping such a close eye on him.

Our entire stay at McKay was awesome.  We had wonderful nurses that were very helpful and I really liked our Pediatrician, the best was the food!  So tasty!!  The second night at about 2am, I was up breastfeeding the baby, Mike was asleep on the couch/bed and the power went out.  It was crazy!  Pure darkness for about 10 seconds then the emergency lights came on.  It was cool to watch the rain and listen to the thunder.  We were scheduled to leave on Sunday as long as Clark’s blood work was still clear.  Thankfully it was and we were able to go home.

Reflecting back on my labor and delivery experience, I can’t help but feel such gratitude to my Heavenly Father for blessing us with such an incredible baby.  He is just so happy all of the time and LOVES to be constantly moving.  These past 9 months have gone faster than the 9 months I was pregnant with him.  We sure love you Clark!  Happy 9 month birthday baby boy!!

9 months in waiting…

I woke up this morning and realized it’s August 28th, one day before our due date.  I can’t believe how fast these past 9 months have just flown by.  I’ve wanted to blog about all of my feelings and thoughts about being pregnant since I don’t keep a real journal.  I don’t want to forget all of my ‘firsts’!

We found out we were pregnant on Friday, December 30th at about 6:45am.  We had our alarm set for 7:30am because we were going on our annual New Years cabin trip with my family but for some reason I woke up earlier.  I randomly decided to take a test and I didn’t want to wake up Mike due to the past 10 months of negative test results.  When it came out positive, I couldn’t believe it!  I was so excited and just felt so humble and grateful that it was finally our time to be parents.  After a few minutes alone, I crawled back in bed and waited for the alarm to go off before telling Mike our news.  It was such a blessing to be the only one (besides Heavenly Father) for about 30 minutes to know that we were expecting.  Once Mike woke up, I told him and we both were just so excited.  He didn’t believe me at first because we had been trying for so long.  We just cuddled and talked about how happy we were that were finally having a baby!

We told my family about the baby on January 12th.  We have it on video and will post it soon!  🙂

We told Mike’s family the day after we got home from Walt Disney World (January 23)!  We have a fun video of that too!

The first trimester was pretty hard but not terrible by any means.  I was pretty exhausted all day long and nauseated for the first several weeks.  The only time I actually threw up was when my very loving husband ate his vienna sausages…. the smell just got to me and I couldn’t keep it in any longer!  Poor Mike felt SO bad about it!  However, he learned that I truly was very sensitive to smells and he never did that again!  🙂 On February 23rd, we had our 13 week appointment and found out we are having a BOY!!!  We were so excited and really surprised we found out so early.  Our little man wasn’t anxious at all so it made it really easy for our Dr. to see.  We couldn’t be more happy he is a BOY!!

The second trimester was incredible!  I started getting my energy back and just loved being pregnant!  It was so fun to start getting my baby bump and I just felt awesome!  My mom took me shopping for some maternity clothes and we had a blast together!  I started feeling the baby move around 18 weeks and it was the most amazing experience ever.  As the weeks passed, I could feel him more and more and he got stronger and stronger.  Mike was able to feel him for the first time on April 29th.  He LOVES to feel him move!

My third trimester has also been Amazing!  I have loved having my baby belly even though I don’t love the pics of me with it!  It is so fun to watch my belly shift from side to side or be totally lop sided because he is getting SO big!  I LOVE feeling him move and especially when he gets the hicups!  Mike also loves to feel him when he has them too!  I just feel so truly blessed to be pregnant and can’t wait to meet our little boy!  We haven’t decided on a name yet but our favorites are Andrew, Clark, Luke, and Brigham.  His middle name will for sure be Michael, we will just wait to see his sweet face before knowing his name!

My incredible parents have been so helpful and supportive!  My dad is building his crib which has turned out to be a much bigger project then he first thought.  He teases me a lot about doing it but I know deep down he is really excited to do it!  My mom made his crib blanket and it’s ADORABLE!!  I’m totally in love with it.  They are the best examples and I’ve learned a lot from them about being perfect parents!  Our baby is so blessed to have them as Grandparents!

Mike and I just feel so blessed and are so grateful to becoming parents.  I’m getting really nervous and anxious about it but I’m really excited!  Mike is going to be such an amazing dad and I’m so thankful he is my husband.  He has been an incredible support throughout the whole pregnancy.  Every night for the past 9 months, he has given me a foot massage, am I lucky or what?!  He is such a huge blessing in my life.  I am so thankful to our Heavenly Father for blessing us and trusting us with one of his children.  I can’t wait to be a mom!! 

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Summer 2012

The end of May found my mom, Jami, her 4 kids, and I on a road trip to Denver.  We had a total blast!  Mom rented a nice, new suburban so that we could all drive together.  Ryan, Ashley, Tommy, and Whitney did such a great job on the long trip.  Once we made it to Darin’s house, the party never stopped.  We went to the beach at the their near by lake, he took us on a great tour of his dental school, went on a few bike rides, visited the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and swam at their pool.  It was a total blast!  We were gone from May 31st to June 3rd.  We sure all had a great time together!

June was super fun but went by way too fast!  My dad had his 2nd Annual Family Swim Party at Roy Aquatic which was so fun!  Good turn out and everyone enjoyed themselves.  We celebrated Jami’s 32nd birthday and Whitney’s 3rd birthday.  My mom and I went up to my Grandma’s house and helped her quilt a quilt for our baby boy.  I never realized what hard work that really is!  Grandma was a great teacher and Grandpa had fun listening to all of our stories!  Mike and I had the fun opportunity to take our little wolf scouts to day camp.  I’d never been to scout camp before so it was a learning experience for me!  The boys did such a great job and had a blast together.  I think Mike wanted to be 8 years old again!  As a family, we went to a Raptor’s baseball game to help support Alacia’s school.  It was a great game and we all had so much fun together!  I had my first baby shower and the 30th and it was a blast!  My best Friend Amanda came the morning before and cleaned my house and decorated for the party.  She is such an amazing person and I’m so thankful we are still so close!  It was so fun to see my friends again and just hang out together.  Thanks again Amanda and Casey for all of your hard work!

July zoomed right on by too!  We had a great time spending the day together with my family on the 4th.  My dad made us all breakfast at the park, then we went to the parade and fun carnival at the park.  After taking a nice needed nap, we had a BBQ and watched the fireworks at the park!  We sure do love living here in Riverdale because they do so many fun festivities and it’s all just in our backyard!  We celebrated Andie’s 1st birthday and Michelle put on quite the exciting party!  My sister’s and mom gave me a super fun family baby shower on the 14th in Jami’s backyard.  It was so fun!  We received so many wonderful gifts for our little man!  We are so blessed!  We had the opportunity to go hear Elder Ballard at an awesome Pioneer Day fireside with my parents and Alacia and later that night we enjoyed the fireworks at WSU.  It was such a fun day!  On the 19th, we went with our good friends Amanda and Kevin to the Pioneer Days Rodeo in Ogden.  We had such a fun time together!  We just love rodeos!  On Saturday the 21st, we went with our friends Rawson and Melanie to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra Pioneer Day concert which featured Katherin Jenkins (Incredible mezo soprano from Whales).  We had dinner at Robintino’s in Bountiful and just thoroughly enjoyed the concert.  It was the best one I’ve been too in such a long time.  Katherine was just recently on Dancing with the Stars so it was so fun to see and hear her in person!  My mother in law and sister in law gave me a super fun baby shower as well on the 27th.  It was with the Jasper/Bischoff side of the family and we had a great time together!  We attended an 8 hour long Child and birth prep class at McKay Dee Hospital on the 28th.  It was a long day but I think we both learned a lot about the whole labor/delivery process and what to expect with a newborn.  We just can’t wait to meet our little baby!!

August so far has been awesome!  We’ve had lots of Dr. appointments which have been so awesome to see our little baby. Both of the dental offices I work in through me a fun baby shower!  Dr. Packard’s was in the office with yummy food and games.  Tammy from my dad’s office held the shower at her house and it was so fun!  Yummy food as well and excellent company.  We got lots of wonderful gifts again and great advice.  Mike finished up his incredibly busy summer semester and did super well in all of his classes.  He is such a hard worker and I’m so proud of all that he does.  He has a week off before the next semester starts back up again.  On the 11th, we had the incredible opportunity to go see Wicked down at the Capital Theater in Salt Lake.  Mike’s parents got tickets for us and we had a wonderful time together.  We went out to PF Changs for dinner before the show and just enjoyed each others company.  It was everyone’s first time seeing it (except for me) and I was just so excited to watch them enjoy the show.  I think it is my favorite Broadway show and I’m so thankful we were able to go!  Mike got a new calling on Sunday the 12th.  He was called to be the Elder’s Quorum 1st counselor.  I’m SO proud of him!!  I think he’s a little nervous but he will do such an amazing job.  He loves to serve and be involved in any way he can.  I’m just a little bummed that he will no longer be working in the scouts with me.  But I know this change will bless our lives too!  On Thursday the 16th, we took a super spontaneous trip up to the cabin.  We stayed through Saturday morning and just enjoyed the time away together.  We rented a canoe from WSU and took it to Smith and Morehouse reservoir.  It was so peaceful to be out on the lake.  We were out there for about 3 hours and then a storm picked up.  We had a fun picnic lunch on the beach before we left.  We watched a few movies, went on a walk, played Monopoly for hours, and saw lots of dear and 1 moose.  It was the perfect little getaway!  On Saturday the 18th, we went up to the Brigham City Temple Open house with my family.  It was such a neat experience to be in the temple with Alacia and most of our nieces and nephews.  The Temple is beautiful inside and I can’t wait to go do a session once it’s dedicated.  We then had lunch at Maddox which of course was just incredible!!  We have so many fun memories there and I’m glad we could be there together as a family!

Well, that basically sums up the summer.  It’s been so busy and hot but a way fun summer!  We just feel so blessed to have the life and family that we have. 

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Baking with Pintrest

So I’ve fallen back in love with cooking and baking.  Some may say I’m starting into the ‘nesting’ portion of my pregnancy but I hope it’s just me enjoying it again!  I found these two fun new recipes on Pintrest and thought I would share!  I’ve tried them both out and they are super yummy!  Enjoy!

Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 C. Flour                              1 1/4 C. Yellow Cake Mix

1/4 tsp Baking Soda         3/4 C. Butter, softened

1 Egg                                       1 Egg Yolk

2 tsp Vanilla                         1/2 C. Sugar

1/2 C. Brown Sugar           1 C. Chocolate Chips

1/3 C. Sprinkles

 

* In a large bowl, sift together flour, cake mix, and baking soda.
*In a separate bowl, beat together the butter, egg yolk, egg, and vanilla until slightly creamy.  Add the sugars and stir well.
* Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir until well combined.
*Fold in the chocolate chips and sprinkles.
*Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes.
*Preheat oven to 350.
*Remove the chilled dough and scoop rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased baking sheet. (Be sure to keep dough chilled if working in batches).
*Bake for 12-15 minutes until edges slightly browned and centers are set.  Let cool and Enjoy!!

No Bake Nutella Cheesecakes

For the Crust

12 Oreo Cookies, crushed into crumbs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup Nutella
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 (8 ounce) tub frozen whipped topping, thawed

For the Garnish

whipped topping, optional
chocolate shavings, optional
toasted, chopped hazelnuts, optional

DIRECTIONS:

*In a medium bowl, stir together the Oreo cookie crumbs and melted butter. Evenly divide the crumbs between your individual serving dishes and press into the bottoms of the dishes to form a crust layer.
*In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and Nutella until smooth. Add vanilla and mix to combine. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the whipped topping until well blended and no streaks remain.
*Evenly pipe or spoon the filling into individual serving dishes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
*If desired, garnish with additional whipped topping, chocolate shavings, and/or toasted, chopped hazelnuts.

 

 

Big Update :)

Once again, I’ve been a slacker at updating our blog.  Here we go with another update!

 

 

March 30th- Mike gave his dad a pair of Jazz tickets for his 50th birthday back in January.  The game he chose to go to was against Sacramento Kings… mainly to see Jimmer!  They had a great time spending time together.  It was a much needed boys night out!

 

 

 

 

April 5th- Mike’s dad bought us a peach tree for his birthday so him and Brian came over to help Mike plant it in the back yard.  It will be so fun once it starts producing fruit!

 

 

 

 

 

April 9th- Darin surprised us with a fun long weekend visit home.  It was Easter weekend and Rachel and Kayden were here but Darin wasn’t going to make it.  But surprise… he came too!  It was so fun to have them all here for a few days.  The night before Darin left, he invited Mike and my dad to go golfing at Mt. Ogden golf course.  Mom and I wanted to tag along so we rented an extra cart and enjoyed the evening together.

April 1st- Mike’s 25th Birthday!!  I can’t believe he is 25 already!  We celebrated with a fun party between the Sunday General Conference Sessions at my parents house.  We had a yummy BBQ and opened presents.  All of our neices and nephews gave him a cute card and Kellie’s had a scavenger hunt map inside of hers.  It was so cute!  I gave him some sweet American Eagle shoes, the 1st Complete Season of Star Trek- The Next Generation, and building patterns for a changing table.  He got lots of fun things from both family’s as well.  He was a very happy boy!

 

 

April 20th- We invited mom and dad to go to Tucanos together down at the Gateway in SLC.  They had never been and we’ve only gone once with Darin and Rachel.  It was super yummy and we all had a great afternoon together.  I’d have to say that my favorite part is the unbelievably delicious grilled pineapple… it’s like heaven in my mouth!!  So so good!!

That night my mom and dad performed in their stake musical production,  ‘The Lamb of God’ written by Rob Gardner.  It was Amazing!!  My dad spent countless days and hours getting it all prepared to be a wonderful production. There was a full choir and orchestra that was just incredible.  My mom was one of the soloists and she did an amazing job, as usual.  It had an incredible message about the final days before Christs’ death and resurrection.  What a great testimony builder.  I’m so blessed to have such wonderful parents.

 

 

 

April 24th- My awesome cousin Justin gave us free tickets to the Jazz Game… they played the Phoenix Suns.  It was a pretty sweet game!  It was the game that solidified the Jazz’z spot in the playoffs!  Cory, Ryan, and Mike were on their feet screaming through 2/3 the game!  It was so fun to watch them watch the game.  What a great night!

April 28th-30th- Mom treated Jami and I to Women’s Conference down at BYU in Provo.  It was such a wonderful few days to spend with just my mom and sister.  Michelle was missed dearly!  We listened to some inspiring speakers about marriage and family.  So uplifting!  My mom taught me how to crochet and I made a 4 foot purple scarf for one of the service projects they had set up for us to do during each session.  So fun!  Thanks again mom for taking us!

 

 

May 6th-  We went on our typical evening walk to the park, which is what we try to do on a daily basis.  I had Mike take a picture of me since it’s been several weeks since the latest ‘belly picture’!  *23 weeks*

 

 

 

 

May 9th-  This was a day that I’d been looking for for several weeks… as the day got closer however, I got super nervous. We were scheduled for our Target Ultrasound.  Even though we get an ultrasound every 4 weeks, this one really made me nervous!  I even cried when I left work to go to the appt.  I’m so lucky to have Mike be to every appointment.  He is always so comforting and says all the right words to make me calm down.  Once we got started with the ultrasound, all my fears and worries went away.  I LOVE seeing our baby!  He is growing so big and everything looks great.  The ultrasound tech showed us all of his organs, fingers, toes…. you name it, she showed us!  My favorite part was when she zoomed in on his heart.  We could easily see all 4 chambers of his heart and it was amazing to see it pumping.  Our baby is such a miracle!

The last 2 months have been awesome.  We feel so blessed to be where we are in life.  Being pregnant has sure been a huge blessing.   I’m loving every minute of it.  Now that the baby is over 2 pounds, I’m feeling him move more than ever.  It is so AMAZING to feel him.  Mike has been able to feel him now as well and he gets so excited every time.  I’m really excited to be a mom and I feel so thankful to my Father in Heaven for blessing us with a baby.  Yes, I am incredibly nervous and I can’t think about it too much or I go crazy but my excitement over rules it.  We’ve been getting things ready in the nursery and it’s feeling more and more real.  I found myself standing in his room just imaging what it will be like to have our baby here… it will be so fun!  Mike will be such a good daddy!  I can’t wait!

Our little man

2012 has begun with LOTS of exciting News!!

What a wonderful year it has been so far!  I will sum up the past 3 months in hopefully a short yet detailed way.  I don’t ever want to forget the year 2012!!

December 30th, 2011 was a day that changed our family forever!  We found out that we are expecting our first baby!!  After many months of trying to bring a little one to add to our family, I was getting pretty discouraged.  On Friday the 30th, I woke up pretty early before Mike did and just randomly decided to take a test.  To my great surprise, it was positive!!  I was in shock but SO so excited.  I decided to not wake up Mike due to our alarm going off in an hour.  I got back in bed and just laid there thinking and praying to my Father in Heaven with so much gratitude.  I loved having that one hour being the only one who knew the exciting news.  Once the alarm went off, Mike rolled over and saw me wide awake and smiling.  He asked me what was wrong and I said nothing, I’m just happy!  ‘Why?’ he asked and I told him the news.  We both just laid there in total shock but complete happiness.  We are just so excited!!  The hardest thing was keeping it a secret.  We were headed to Disney World with my whole family in January and I wanted to wait til we were all together to tell our secret!  Those were the longest 2 1/2 weeks ever!!

January 12-21st – Walt Disney World!!  We had such a great time.  We went and stayed off property in this incredible house that we rented for the whole time we were gone.  It was so fun to be with Mike and experience his first time at WDW together.  We went to all of the parks and stayed from open to close.  Mike’s favorite ride was ‘Star Tours’ at Disney Studios and mine was ‘Test Track’ at Epcot or ‘Splash Mountain’ in Magic Kingdom.  We loved the sunshine and fun memories we made together.  We also went to Kennedy Space Center with my parents and hit up the beach on our way home.  What a great time we all had together!

February 23rd- We had our 12 week Dr. appt and ultrasound and found out that we are having a BOY!!  I was in shock that we were able to find out so early.   Our Dr. asked us about 1/2 way through the ultrasound if we were wanting to know the gender of our baby.  We both said yes without hesitation.  ‘I’ve got a really good view if you want to know today’, he said.   At that point, I got HUGE butterflies and asked him how sure he was.  He said 99% then told us he is a BOY!  We both were so excited!!  We told both of our families that night and they were thrilled!

March 10th- We went on our first bike ride of the season!  It felt so good to finally be out of the house and soaking up some nice sun!  We live in such a great place to be active.  We love Riverdale!

March 13th-  Mike’s little sister Rachel got married to Jon Smith in the SLC temple.  It was a beautiful day and a wonderfulceremony.  She just looked gorgeous and we are excited to get to know our new brother!  The reception was beautiful and lots of dear friends and family came to support the happy couple!

March 22- Another Dr. appt and ultrasound.  I love that I have one at every appt. and get to have a dvd of each one.  It’s crazy to watch how fast he is growing.  It was fun to watch him kick his legs and move all around.  The other thing I love about our dr. is that he always points out the baby’s heart beating.  It’s so amazing for me to watch it beating inside his little body.  We are already so in love with our son!!  Can’t wait!!

March 22-24th- We painted our ugly red room!!  Finally!  Mike, my sister Jami, and my dad all did an incredible job!  The help was great since I couldn’t really do much.  It looks amazing and I’m so happy we did it.  It went from a deep fire engine red to a beautiful light brown with dark brown stipple texture.  We LOVE it!!  We still have some touch up work to finish but overall it’s awesome!

March 23-  My mom called me while my dad and sister were over painting to tell me that she found Mike on the UTA bus.  Short explanation… he was asked to participate in this photo shoot at Weber State for there upcoming marketing calendar (don’t worry, he was fully clothed 🙂  He not only did a fantastic job but they wanted his photo to be on the front cover.  A few weeks later, he is told that the picture they loved so much will also be featured on a few UTA buses.  That is huge!!  A few weeks ago, we were getting texts from friends that they saw the bus in downtown SLC but we hadn’t seen it yet.  So when my mom called, I dropped everything I was doing and jumped in the car with my camera.  My mom was determined for me to see him.  She followed the bus the whole way down Riverdale Road and I was able to see it and get a pic of my own.  I’m so proud of him and it’s so fun to see him driving around town 🙂

Well that’s been the past 3 months in a nutshell.  We are so happy and so thankful for our many blessings.  We are just loving our life right now and couldn’t imagine anything different.  I’m so thankful for my loving hubby and all he does for all little family!

8 week update (written December 1, 2011!)

Where has all the time gone?  I can’t hardly believe that it’s been 8 weeks since my last post.  Yes everyone, we are still alive and healthy 🙂 First off, I LOVED general conference!  There were so many wonderful talks that spoke directly to me.  My top two favorites 1)  ‘Children‘ given by Elder Neil L. Andersen and 2)’Love Her Mother‘ given by Sister Elaine Dalton.  The first talk by Elder Andersen helped calm my fears about some day bringing our own little babies into this world and I was lucky enough to be raised by a father like the ones Sister Dalton spoke so highly of.  Many of these words and lessons are exactly what I needed to hear.  General Conference is just amazing.

On October 8-11th, Me, my dad, mom, Alacia, and Jami all loaded a plane and flew to Vegas for the National Dental Association meeting.  My incredible dad was inducted into a highly prestigious dental group known as the ‘International College of Dentists’.  You have to be nominated by another member and be voted upon by a board in order to be inducted.  It was so fun to finally have him be the center of attention.  We had a blast at convention and we did get some sight seeing and shopping in.  Oh, and we went to the Hoover Dam for my first time ever.  It was incredible!!

October 19th just so happened to be my 24th birthday!  For some odd reason, I really struggled with this birthday.  Twenty-four just sounds way old to me.  I guess a lot of my problem was that when I’d tell people how old I was turning, I got the old ‘Oh well I had 2…3…4 babies by that age, what are you waiting for?’  It got under my skin a little but luckily didn’t ruin my day.  My family, especially Mike, made the day so fun and wonderful!  I went to work then had a fun dinner party at my parents with yummy chicken salad sandwiches (my fav!).  Mike had his fall concert that night so I took Ashley with me and we had a great time.  Since we couldn’t do a whole lot on my actually day, Mike took me to the Logan Temple for a session and Maddox for lunch on Friday the 21st.  It was a total blast and a much needed short trip away.  All in all, 24 really isn’t all that bad!  🙂

Halloween was awesome as usual.  Mike wanted us to coordinate with our costumes this year and he also decided what we were going to be…. Ash Ketchum and Pikachu (from Pokemon).  Random… yes.  Did I even know who these people were?  No.  But I wanted to be a cute, fun supporting wife and it actually turned out great.  Mike looked Awesome!  He is such a stud!  Michelle and her cute family came down and provided a super yummy and fun Halloween lunch party.  It was so fun to be all together dressed in our silly costumes.

Thanksgiving was a total blast as well.  We were fortunate enough to eat twice!  We had a yummy lunch at Grandma Jasper’s house in Smithfield and enjoyed being with those family members.  We then had dinner with my family at my parent’s house.  It was a busy day but was super fun.  Jami, Michelle, and I also got in our traditional Black Friday shopping and had a great time together.  I’ve got the best sisters ever!

November has been so fun but I can’t believe it’s over already.  Mike went to a few Weber State football games with his dad and brother and I’ve spend tons of time with my mommy.  The semester is finally winding down for Mike and he is really looking forward to having a few weeks of no homework!  He also installed bathroom fans in two of our bathrooms with my dad.  They did a super great job and it was fun to watch them work together.  I also came home from work last week with a wonderful surprise of Christmas lights on my house.  Mike was worried at first to do it but he did a great job and it was a wonderful surprise.   We are LOVING our house still and it’s been fun to decorate for the holidays.

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Jammin’

We’ve had TONS of delicious peaches this year.  Some from Brigham and some from Mike’s parents backyard – both kinds were AMAZING!!  I’ve made yummy cobbler and chopped lots for my cereal.  The last few days however, the peaches were starting to get old and I couldn’t keep up.  So I gave my cute Grandma a call and asked for her delicious freezer jam recipe.   I made my very first batch of peach jam on Friday and it was a blast!  It took me forever but it will be so tasty!  Last night during Priesthood session, I brought up the ingredients to Park City and made another batch with my mother in law.  It was so fun!!  I’m excited to eat homemade jam for the rest of the year!  YUM!

Mary Poppins

Last weekend, my parents took us to see Mary Poppins at the Capital Theater in Salt Lake City.  It was SO fun!!  My brother had come to town for a long weekend so he was able to go too.  We went to dinner at Brick Oven Pizza in Layton, then headed to the show.  It was a little different than I was expecting but it was really fun!  Apparently the musical follows more of the book than the Disney movie.  The music was great and the set was incredible!  It was so fun to be with my parents, my sister, niece, and brother.  We also ran into my cousin Courtney who was here from out of town and it was so fun to chat with her for a few minutes.  After the show, we waited outside for awhile and the cast members starting coming out.  We saw the main girl, ‘Jane’, and we stopped her for a quick picture.  My niece Ashley was just in amazement!  She felt so special to meet her.  All in all, it was a great night!  Thanks mom and dad!  

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Good run David!

Last week, the Jasper’s witnessed history… my father in law ran and completed his first marathon!!  It was the ‘Top of Utah’ race located in the beautiful Logan, Ut.  Mike and I decided to stop along the route and cheer him on.  We saw lots of runners and had a really great time!  David got pretty worn out towards the end due to an existing knee injury.  But he finished and we were all so proud!

Enjoying the time

Running Running Running

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheering team

The cheering team consisted of Mike, Jennifer, Grandma Jasper, Grandma and Grandpa Bischoff, two of Mike’s uncles and aunts, and 3 cousins.  The weather was perfect and it was so fun to get together.  The afternoon finished off with a yummy lunch at Grandma Jasper’s.  The Jasper family sure knows how to party!