Arches National Park

Shawn and I have had such a fun time making little weekend road trips out of our Dental School interviews. For the first 2 in Nebraska we were able to spend a week visiting both Creighton and U of Nebraska, attending Shawn's best friends wedding, visiting the Winter Quarters Temple and Visitors Center, and visiting Mt. Rushmore. -For the UNLV interview Shawn and I got to get away for the weekend and headed down to Vegas for a fun time visiting crazy Las Vegas and for Shawn the highlight was visiting the Pawn Stars Pawn Shop. -For the University of Washington we got to fly out to Oregon and stay with my family and be there for Kyle's mission farewell and then spend a night in Seattle. -For the Utah interview Shawn just headed up to South Jordan and nothing too exciting happened and I didn't even get a picture of Shawn before he headed up for his interview. -And then for the Colorado interview we headed east to Colorado and stayed with great friends, enjoyed the drive, and got to stop at Arches National Park in Moab on the way home. As Shawn and I were driving back through Utah we saw lots of signs for Arches and decided to put it into the GPS to find out how far off of our path we would have to travel to go and visit before we got home and it was only 27 miles-so we headed to the park (something we have always wanted to do before we left Utah). We had such a great time. We talked to the visitors center and found out which hikes would be easy enough for an 8 month pregnant lady to go on and there were actually quite a few. We got to drive up to some arches and rock formations and then got out and walked around them and it was actually nice to get out of the car to walk around and it was really nice to get my heart rate up and enjoy some amazing views with my husband. -I am grateful for the fun little road trips that Shawn and I were able to take together as a couple before this baby comes....I am sure things will be different once she is with us and we wont be able to throw 1 suitcase in the car and take off for a few days. Delicate Arch. This was a very long hike to get all the way up to it so we opted out and took the half mile hike there and back to the look out point. A very pregnant me with Delicate Arch in the background

Shawn

Shawn and I with the North and South Window Arches

Shawn and I And Shawn and I with Balanced Rock

Visiting the Jackmans

Shawn and I left snowy Utah on Friday morning and traveled east to Colorado for the weekend for Shawn's last Dental School interview. The snow did not last long and the drive was beautiful. We loved driving through the canyons and through all of the ski resort towns. We got to visit with the Jackmans (one of my college roommates) and stay at their home for the night. We had a great time visiting with them and getting to play with their cute little Noah and eating Pizza with them (a must when you are with Casey and Bethany!) The next morning Shawn took off for his interview and Bethany and I got to do alittle shopping. After the interview Shawn and I headed to Castle Rock to visit and stay with the Harp family (a family from our mission that Shawn was very close with) we enjoyed the evening with them and then took off Sunday morning for our trek home. Casey, Bethany, Noah, Me, and Shawn at the cute Jackman home (decorated very bright and fun)

Bethany and I Thank you Bethany and Casey for a fun visit and for your hospitality in letting us stay with you and the Harps for also showing us around Castle Rock and for a great visit with you and your family!

Colorado Dental School Interview

Shawn and I headed to Colorado for our last Dental School interview this past weekend. The interview turned out great and Shawn really liked the school and we both enjoyed the area. Now that we have all 6 interviews done we get to play the waiting game to see where we will end up and what we will be doing for our future!

April Conference 2011

We had the chance to go to General Conference again this spring and got lucky and got to go to the Saturday Afternoon session which was nice and warm and in the 70s. Then we woke up Sunday morning to cold, wind, and snow on the ground. We love conference time! The talks were great and I am anxious to get the Conference Ensign next month. It is always fun to attend at least 1 session of conference at the conference center but it is also great to stay in your pjs and enjoy Conference from home as well. Brandalyn, Brock, Shawn and I outside the Conference Center Brocky and I

And Shawn and I

Crispix

I am a very picky eater and that defiantly has not changed much being pregnant, but I did always wonder if I would have any specific or unusual cravings-that you hear about from other pregnant women. Well, I really don't crave anything unusual or strange combinations of food and I have not had to have Shawn go out and buy me something that I have to eat right then....BUT I do eat Crispix at least twice a day. I love them and they always sound like just the right thing to eat. And as soon as I get home from work each afternoon I literally do nothing until I get a bowl of Crispix with skim milk and put my feet up while I eat them. Yum!

Wyoming Weekend

This past weekend Shawn and I drove up to Wyoming to spend the weekend with his family. We had a great time together and it was fun to see everyone. We all decided to take a picture together to email it over to his brother Ben in Germany to wish him a happy birthday-it was a good excuse to all pose for a picture.

Ice fishing...just got marked off of my to do list before I die!

So, ever since I saw the movie, "Grumpy Old Men" I have always wanted to go ice fishing. There was something about sitting in an ice fishing tent, digging an ice hole, drinking hot chocolate, and fishing through the ice that caught my attention and gave me the desire to do it. I didn't know how I would ever achieve this dream of mine....but many years later the opportunity presented itself and I took it!
A lady from work loves to fish and her and her husband fish all of the time. I was talking to them one day at work about fishing and I said I am not much of an outdoorsy woman or a fisher...but I have always wanted to try ice fishing. They told me they would take me out in the winter time to fish on Deer Creek. I didn't think much of it because that was back in the summer time but they let me know last week the there would not be many more chances to go before the ice started to melt. I took advantage of that and told them I would go with them on Saturday. Shawn could not go because one of his mission comps was in town visiting and staying at our home so I invited Brock to go with me (who is an obsessive fisherman-and he loved it!) We headed to Deer Creek at 7 am and had to hike down to the lake and onto the ice (which was covered in snow). We found our spot, got out the auger (ice hold driller) and cut some holes. Got into the tent and started fishing. It was actually so nice outside we decided to move the fishing outdoor and continued fishing out there. We ended up with ALOT of fish. I enjoyed the hot chocolate, pulling the fish up from the holes but I would not put the worms on the hooks, touch the fish, and I felt horrible when they would smack the fish in the head with a wooden mallet to kill them, BUT I did end up catching the biggest fish of the day!
We had a great day fishing and I am happy I went, but the best part is I can now cross ice fishing off of my to do list before I die and I never have to go again.
Once we got home with all of our fish, Brock cut them up and we ended up cooking them up for Sunday dinner.
Me with one of my fishes I caught Brock with a fish ( I think they were all Rainbow Trout)

Brock pulling in the sled with all of the gear

Me inside the ice fishing tent

Some of the fishes we caught

Radawn and I with the biggest catch of the day-I would not hold my own fish so she held it up by me (but it kind of looks like I am holding it myself!)

Brock, Radawn, and I with some fish

Brock and I