Day 1 of our drive to Alaska

Well today was the first day on our 5 day drive to Alaska and it went pretty smooth. We had a wonderful breakfast at my in-laws then hit the road. We traveled around 700 miles in 12 hours, but let me tell you it sure didn't seem that long. We bought a nice DVD player for the truck and just enjoyed watching shows and visiting... and no, we are not sick of each other yet, it was actually very nice to just sit and talk and not have to worry too much but the drive. The dogs did absolutely amazing. They slept almost all day (which means they won't be sleeping much tonight when I want to sleep) and we let them run and play at every stop. Our truck did amazing, kept a steady 75 mph with hauling a trailer and you would never even know we were pulling something. So, not much left to say, but Montana was extremely boring to drive through, hopefully Canada will give us more to look at.

This pic was taken as we were driving through Butte, Montana. Yes this is a statue of Christ on top of the mountain (and it was huge, I zoomed in really close with my camera)... it was so crazy to see, prob the most entertaining part of our drive yet!

Time in Utah County

So we got out of St. George safe and sound... 4 hrs down, 52 more to go. We've been spending a few days in Utah County with my family, then we will spend a few days with Jeff's in Tremonton before we take off on our journey. While up with my family, we were able to relax, celebrate Amanda's 21 birthday and her baby shower and just enjoy the time together. Amanda's shower went very well, I think her and Scott are going to be expecting this baby sooner than they have planned. Amanda is exactly 36 weeks but with stress tests twice a week and her baby platueing in growth and her not being able to retain water in her sac, this baby will be here before we know it!!! She has loved being pregnant and she looks so stinkin cute!!! I'm sad I won't be here for her delivery and the babies first few months but look forward to daily skyping! Hopefully by the time this child does arrive, Scott and Amanda can agree on a name so she isn't stuck with "Baby" forever :)


Not only did we sing and celebrate Amanda's birthday at the shower, but we were able to go out to Olive Garden and enjoy a very nice dinner with the family. She wasn't happy we told them it was here birthday, but since when does the birthday girl get to decide when people sing to her!!! I hope she had a wonderful birthday and I'm so glad she decided to spend her whole day with the fam.




Today the fam got together and packed up all the leftover food from the shower and we headed up American Fork Canyon to enjoy the weather and have a little picnic. It sure was fun to just relax, watch the dogs run around in the water and to just be together on a Sunday afternoon. (Conner was with us too, i never get pics of him cuz he is always wondering for some reason)




And to top of our Utah County stay, Nikki and Tipper blessed little Lexi. I'm so glad they were able to do it while we were still around. Tipper did such a good job and it was nice to say one last good bye to Josh, Sheridan and the kids before they headed back to St. George. And yes, I finally got a pic with my little niece, for crying out loud I've held her so much but have never got a pic with her. She will be so grown when we come back in christmas, it just makes me sad.

Good-bye St. George :( :(

Well this is it, last night was the last time we will be sleeping in our home and in St. George (probably indefinately!!) We had a great time out to dinner with Jeff's brothers and their wives. We ate at Benji, probably the best Thai and Sushi food around. We had many great laughs (as always) and then we appreciated their help with packing the trailer and cleaning our house. Then today I enjoyed lunch with some amazing friends that I will miss sooo very much. I have been blessed to be surrounded by great family and friends here in St. George.
This is the view from our bedroom balcony, we sure will miss this!!!!


Two of the best people I work with that I love so much!!! Tracy and Terran thanks for the memories and friendship and numerous laughs!!!

Summer time in St. George

So Jeff and I have been pretty busy these last few weeks. Jeff finished up summer classes at Dixie and boy are we glad those are over with. I don't know how he juggled 20 hrs of class each week, 50-60 hours of work and still had time to be with me. Last week we were able to go to the lake with Josh and Sheridan and some of their friends. Believe it or not, this was our first time out to Sand Hollow this summer and my first time out there period!!! We really had so much fun and wished we could've made it out there again before we left town, but moving time snuck up quick on us. We also all got together (Josh, Sher, Nikki and Tipper) for the 24th of July and ate, visited, and had fun watching the kids play with fireworks. We really are going to miss Jeff's brothers and their families when we move, but I'm speaking for both of us when I say we are so excited for this adventure and to grow closer together and enjoy a life that most won't ever get the opportunity to do. We have been so very blessed with this move. I got an incredible job to go to and Jeff has 2 options available after some quick training. He is sooooo excited to start school, it's almost sick how excited he is but I'm so glad he is willing to do this for our future family. They only downside to this whole move is the 6 day drive up through Canada and into Alaska... with 2 dogs I might add. (Might have to slip them some dramamine or benadryl so they'll just sleep :) We are going to try and enjoy the drive together and the beautiful sceanery to come in 5 days, averaging 10-12 hours a day, YUCK!!! thank heavens for portable DVD players and lots of DVD's to enjoy!!!


We love playing with family. These are my nieces Kennedie,Halle and Reagan. They are going to be so grown when we see them again around Christmas.




Enjoying 24th of July fireworks. Yes, we are all sweating and gross looking cuz only in St. George is it still 100 degress at 10 pm!!!



Jeff and Tipper wanted to show off their dance moves with the flashing fireworks... needless to say they aren't very funny (I know you'll agree with me Nikki ;)!!!!!

And I just had to end with this... I think my husband is so hot!!!! Sure love him

Girls Night Out!

So since I'm on the count down of moving to Alaska, my amazing work friends wanted to go to Vegas for a little girl time. We were only gone just 24 hrs but had enough laughs and long girls talk to make the memories last forever. I really do have incredible friends at work, it's what makes me love my job and makes it ten times harder to leave them all. Unfortunately not all the great girls I work with were able to attend our weekend fun but the ones that did made up for it ;) So what did we do? We ate, shopped, gambled and.... As a going away "gift" we attended the one and only Thunder from Downunder. Yes I went, yes I didn't want to, yes we screamed laughed and had a blast, and most importantly yes my husband supported it 100% and was so glad i had fun!!! (how amazing is he to want me to go have fun with the girls) FYI, for everyone that is thinking what I first thought when I was told my friends bought me a ticket, this was not a strip bar or nudity fest!!! Did I have fun yes, the Australian boys were too funny but no I probably won't go again cuz it's the same thing over and over and I enjoyed the time with friends. Jeff couldn't stop laughing at all the stories I shared bout our trip. He is so loving and supportive of me and encourages me all the time to get out of my shell and have fun. I missed him so much and was so happy to see him. I came home to a very spotless clean home, happy puppies and a perfect husband who meets my every need. (Sorry bout the mushiness but I sure am spoiled and blessed with an amazing life.) Well enjoy the pics... I know I will in years to come looking back at this moment. Thanks girls, love you all so much!!!!

Happy 4th of July

Jeff and I enjoyed our holiday weekend with my family. Although we didn't do a whole lot it was fun to sit and laugh til all hours of the night. We went to a few movies, roasted marshmallows around Scott and Amandas fire pit, enjoyed an amazing firework show and just relaxed. It was kind of an emotional weekend for me since this would be our last trip home before we head to Alaska. Crazy how fast this summer went by, and the month of July will go even faster with both of us wrapping up our jobs, packing, cleaning and trying to find time to spent with the family we have here in St. George. Jeff is having a hard time understanding my feelings. He was able to go on a mission so he has already gone through the steps of leaving family and friends behind. For me, yes I've lived 4 hrs away from my family since I graduated high school but I've always been able to go home whenever I could. It breaks my heart that I'm going to miss my little sister having her first little girl, good think we have Skype so we can visit everyday. At this point it's hard to get too excited about moving so flippin far away but I do look forward to growing even closer to Jeff and having this adventure together, just me and him... Oh and our adorable dogs. It's crazy that just a year ago last fourth of July Jeff proposed to me up in Bear Lake. I've been so blessed to have him in my life. I'm glad he will be by my side forever.









This year was a little different without Jonny and Kim, Dan, and Jaxon. So hopefully the tradition of wearing our shirts still stood while they were away from us... and yes, we send Jonny a t-shirt in the MTC so hopefully he was a good boy and took of pic of him wearing it. Also, another difference this year was the firework show... ended amazing but started off with a boom (to say the least) not ten min into the show some fireworks shot straight into the crowd, and no I'm no exaggerating. I guess when the fireman lite them the whole row of fireworks tipped over and shot into the crowd. Everyone started screaming and running, including mine and Amanda's husband. As for the Burtons (mom, dad, Conner, Amanda and me) all stayed put laughing our heads off... all until one shot and blew up into the ground (pic below) and severely burned a ladies leg. But like I said it ended amazing and we sure left there laughing hysterically, some may have even peed their pants they laughed so hard :):) hahaha