Since I didn't start blogging until September.. And this was without a doubt, the busiest year we will EVER experience.. I thought I'd sum up our (January to September) 2011 in one GIANT post.. :) Best, busiest, most perfect year EVER!
Prepare yourself.. REALLY BIG post, LOTS of pictures!
January :
Started out 2011 with the love of my life and Kailee bug.. We watched a LOT of Riley's basketball games, and Jake moved out of his apartment and into mine.. Something I SWORE I'd never do.. Oh well, seems to have worked for us :) Loved having him there every night.. being able to cook for him and waking up to his cute face every morning! Our relationship truly grew from there.. It was an easy, smooth adjustment.. I was expecting a lot more to 'bug' me.. He is such a great help, clean and organized.. Phewh! ;)
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| This picture was taken at one of Riley's games.. Sure love him :) Can't believe this was a YEAR ago! |
February :
Our first Valentines :) We made pizza with heart pepperonis, cupcakes for grandparents and Angie, and played outside! It was the warmest Valentine's I can remember.. Kailee took the ball outside and played with Jake while I made our 'Valentines lunch'.. Jake and I also snuck away for some alone time and stayed at the Anniversary Inn in Logan for a weekend. SO much fun! So nice to be away, without going far, and just hang out together.. As Valentine's approaches this year, we're thinking of making it tradition :) I am a firm believer in keeping our relationship PRIORITY. Happy wife = happy husband.. Happy husband = happy wife! And that equals HAPPY KIDS! If we continue to put our focus on each other and our happiness, we have SO much more to give Kailee and our future children.. That's my belief anyway! After all, kids grow up and leave the home and develop their own relationships.. We have each other forever! Best that we like each other, huh?! :)
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| On our way to Anniversary Inn :) One of my favorite weekends of our relationship! |
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| Leaving Logan, headed to Ammon and Amber's to watch the Superbowl.. |
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| Jake and Kailee surprised me at work with a Valentine's rose and a cute card with a stuffed animal :) One lucky girl, I am! |
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| Our Valentine's Pizza :) Those things weren't as easy as I thought to cut with a plastic cookie cutter! And Kailee was a little too young to care.. but it was fun anyway! |
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| Making cupcakes! This is her favorite part! |
March :
One of the hardest months EVER.. I went on my cruise with a group of friends.. and leaving Jake at the airport was one of the hardest things I've ever done.. Sounds pathetic, I know.. But it was the LONGEST 6 days of my life! I called him BAWLING one night from the middle of the ocean.. Told him to come get me! haha.. Poor guy.. I am sure he felt helpless.. and hungry! The kitchen looked the exact same when I returned.. Take out was his friend for a few days! I left on the 2nd, and the 4th was our 6 month anniversary so I had a pizza delivered.. and right before I left I hid a bunch of sticky notes and a card he would find that day. Sure missed him.. SO hard to be away! My phone was in and out of usable service.. so I was able to use it for texts here and there.. the bill for those 6 days was only $199.00.. not too bad ;) I flew home a day earlier with one of the girls, while the rest stuck around for an extra day in Miami.. So I bused from Miami to Ft Lauderdale, flew to Dallas, then FINALLY to SLC. LONG day! Walking down to meet him at baggage claim was one of the greatest feelings ever... he looked so handsome and we couldn't stop looking at each other.. That's also when we decided we were ready to be married.. We didn't want to spend another minute apart! To be honest, sometimes I forget that I have been outside the country.. That trip was such a blur for me.. I missed Jake SO much, and the bad news that followed overshadowed any fun I had.. My last night on the ship, I was in and out of service.. Enough to get a couple of phone calls and about 10 texts.. My best guy friend from high school had passed away.. Justin was one of the greatest guys I ever knew. He was there for me during lots of hard times, and he was one of the few high school friends that I continued a relationship with after school. Love him dearly and miss him everyday, and feel blessed to have his little sister so close to our family.. She is dating my brother :) I love Andi and I absolutely love and adore his mom, Wendi. Though I know he's up there smiling that cute smile, I miss him and think of him often.. I just wish I could have introduced him to Jake.. and given him one last hug.. RIP Justin.. BIG loves!
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| Jamie and I on the plane to Houston.. |
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| On the ship! |
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| Toes in the sand! Grand Turks Island March 2011 |
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| Soaking up the Caribbean sun and blown away by the size of that ship! |
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| Sweet Justin and his best friend Riley. These two got me through lots of rough times. Love them both! And THIS is how I choose to remember Justin. :) |
April :
Monday, April 4th, 2011... Jake was headed to the gym after work.. I worked a little late, but headed right home. Nothing unusual... Jake's Durango wasn't there and I headed in to start dinner. I opened the door and immediately the tears came.. I knew what was happening, as we had just looked at rings a couple weeks before, though I wasn't expecting it that quick. The apartment was covered with roses and candles. There was a note by each candle and I was told to follow them. The last one said to open the storage room door. I did, and there he was, guitar in hand. We both cried (sorry babe:)) and he played the SWEETEST song for me. He then headed over to the side of the bed, grabbed a rose and handed it to me. My ring slid down the stem. He got on his knee and asked me to marry him. I of course, said yes :) We couldn't wait to share the news with our family and friends! We also had such a great Easter and were able to take Kailee on an Easter egg hunt at Grandma Jeri's (my grandma)! Her and Grandpa RonDell do the best hunts! And they were so cute with the kids! Not only are my parents first time grandparents, but that makes them first time GREAT-grand parents! Good thing they take such good care of their bodies and are active so they can enjoy watching the great grand kids grow up! We love them and had so much fun! The Easter Bunny also made a stop at our house and even left a peep on Kailee's face! Silly Easter Bunny must be a boy ;) April is also Jake's birthday month! I loooove birthdays, and think they should be made special! So we planned a big weekend up in Park City with a group of friends.. and an extra night of just the two of us! We had such a great time! Hope your birthday was wonderful babe! You deserved it! BUSY month!
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| Searching for her eggs! |
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| Sweet little B! |
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| I LOVE these girls! |
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| Linds and I with the sweet little things that FOREVER changed our lives! |
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| :) Sweet Kailee.. |
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| Kailee's Easter Basket 2011 |
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| Love him! Happy Birthday Baby! |
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| Headed shopping with Dave and Aubrey and Tim and Jamie! |
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| Main Street Park City |
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| And the best part of April! We're ENGAGED!!! Love my ring! |
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May :
We had so much fun at the Kidz Expo! Thanks to my parents, Linds and B, Ammon and Amber and our friends Jamie and Ava and Kenzie and Oakley! We had so much fun! The kids loved it! Full of princesses, bounce houses, face paintings, and MUCH much more! What a great day! Also, our niece Reagan was born! We were able to go see her at the hospital and I couldn't get enough of her! SO cute! I also had minor surgery at the beginning of May, so we had a quiet Mother's day at my moms :) I have the most beautiful, kind, loving, funny mom in the world! Love her so much! I was down and out, so we weren't able to see JoLene, but I love her lots! She is such a great woman! I am lucky to have two amazing mom's now! May was also our last month at Donna's. That was my favorite place to live.. Of all the apartments I've been in since I moved out at 18, it was the only one that felt like HOME. I loved that place so much! It was tiny, studio style, and perfect! Well, perfect for one person.. I didn't know a month after moving in I'd meet Jake! It was perfect for one, not for three :) We loved our time there! I still miss it!
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| Headed to the Kidz Expo! |
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| Kailee and Brooklynn! Divas maybe? |
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| Jake and I :) |
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| The girls with Princess Belle! |
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| Kailee loved the bounce houses! |
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| Linds with B, Kenz with Oakley, and Me and Kailee bug :) |
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| My cute place! I miss it!! |
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| See what I mean by tiny? |
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| Loved the kitchen.. |
June :
Lots of time at the pool! And Cowabunga Bay (or Bungo Bay as Kailee calls it).. We were able to go to Island Park with Morgan, Brandon and Kamas which we LOVED! It was so fun to show Jake around, eat yummy food, and hang out! We love them lots! We spent one day at Liberty Park in the water with a fun group of friends, got our engagement pictures done, celebrated Fathers Day with a BBQ at Lindsays, Jake got a new grill, and Jake's 100 mile MS Bike Tour in Logan with the Martinez fam, Lindsay's birthday dinner, and final fitting for my dress!
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| Isn't she the cutest? |
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| Fun at Liberty Park! |
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| Cowabunga Bay! |
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| She LOVES this place! |
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| Our favorite Summer spot! |
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| Westergard's cabin.. LOVE it here! |
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| Mesa Falls! |
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| We loved it here. So beautiful! |
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| Four Wheeler Ride.. |
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| Jake before the big ride! |
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| Jake and David :) He is such a good friend! We love him! |
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| Waiting for my mom to come pick me up so we can do my final fitting for my dress.. Felt SO bad I couldn't be at the finish line..I was SO proud of him! |
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| Joey and Linds. Aren't they the most beautiful couple?! Happy 22nd Birthday Lindsay! |
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| Jake and I! Awesome sushi place for Lindsay's birthday dinner.. |
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| Our favorite engagement pic! THANK YOU, CHENEIL! |
July :
Camping with the Robbins Fam in Island Park, Brooklynn's birthday, more Cowabunga Bay, birthday parties, wedding shower, concert, Lagoon, and Jake's triathlon. Camping over the 4th is one of my favorite childhood memories.. I love going to Island Park, watch the fireworks, and just be in the motor home.. I love going into West to shop and have pizza, and floating the river.. The girls were able to go with us, and we got to celebrate Brooklynn's 2nd birthday up there! We had a Minnie Mouse birthday party and did so many fun things. The terrible 2's hit.. as well as the terrible almost 4's. Wow! We still laugh about it.. One of the girls was in time out, or in trouble almost the entire week! haha! Weird, since they are both such good kids.. But in all fairness.. camping, weird sleep schedules and keeping them SUPER busy didn't help! We had so much fun still! And I was glad to share those memories with Jake and Kailee for the first time :). We also got to go to Ava's fun birthday party, Lagoon, Kenny Chesney concert and one of the coolest experiences of my life.. watching Jake cross the finish line at the Spudman Triathlon. AMAZING. I can't put into words how proud I am of him.. Such a cool experience. What a talented, motivated man I married! And last, but certainly not least.. Kailee bug got her ears peirced! She was SO brave and didn't cry ONCE! We couldn't believe it! She was so proud of her new earrings, and they were only red for a few minutes.. We are so lucky to have such a great relationship with Angie. We were all able to experience this together, with Angie's cute friend Savannah! Kailee has SO many people who love her! She is very lucky!
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| On our way to float the river! |
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| Some serious BROmance right here! |
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| Waiting to start the float! |
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| Kailee fishing ;) |
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| The coldest water.. EVER! I scream every time! So fun! |
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| Downtown West! Our little Minnies! |
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| Around the camp fire.. |
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| My man, playing guitar for the family.. |
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| Our cute friend Ava! We love her! |
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| Lindsay's bridal shower! |
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| And all the yummy food! |
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| And the display of cupcakes! |
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| Lagoon for my work Summer party! |
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| Sure love him! |
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| Riding the train to see the animals.. |
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| Ava and Kailee :) So cute! |
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| Before the big triathlon. |
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| Jake, David and Dan |
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| Look at these tough dudes! |
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| Waiting for daddy to come out of the cold Snake River! |
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| There he is! Go daddy! |
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| Eating strawberries.. waiting for dad to cross the finish line! |
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| One proud girl! |
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| We were so happy to see him! And so very proud! |
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| After her cute ears were pierced! Brave little girl! |
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| With her daddy and mommy! :) |
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| Showing off her new ears! |
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| All of us with our very loved Kailee Bug :) |
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August :
Another crazy busy month! Lindsay's wedding, bridal shower for me, Kailee's 4th/Maddy's 2nd birthday party, camping with the Andrus family, bridals/groomals, and Tim McGraw concert.. This was an absolute INSANE month.. I remember thinking, more than once, that if I were Jake.. I'd be having second thoughts! I was so stressed! The wedding was so close that there were TONS of last minute things to do, but it was too late for any big changes.. I wanted to be the best maid of honor possible for my sisters wedding.. planning flights and getting out to California for the big day, planning Kailee's birthday in between and camping with the Andrus side left for little time for everyday life! I was stretched pretty thin! And exhausted by this point! I was DONE with weddings, and they hadn't even started! I had an amazing shower thrown for me by my beautiful bridesmaids! Sadly, I don't think I got any pictures, but it was such a fun night! I am so lucky to have such AMAZING friends! Thanks for hosting it at your cute house, Linds! And my 3 best friends from forever, got me the SWEETEST gift.. It was a bin full of ALL of my favorite things.. from sweedish fish, to hairspray, to lip gloss, to baby lotion, to chips! Everything! And in the card was a certificate for our wedding night to Anniversary Inn. Seriously? SPOILED! It made me tear up thinking about it for the next couple of days.. I am SO blessed to have friends who know me, sometimes better than I know myself. Thanks again, ladies.. :) I love you all! That weekend, we went camping with my new family.. We had lots of fun, and it was nice to spend time with them outside of the normal family dinners.. Wish it could have been for longer, and I had pictures, but it was a really good time! We had a good dinner, sat around the fire and woke up for a quick breakfast and walk to the river.. It was short, but great! I really love them a lot.. I feel so comfortable and welcome.. I'm lucky! And we left just 1 week later for Lindsay's wedding! We had SO much fun! Getting away, all the way out of state, was the best thing for me! This week, was ALL about Lindsay! It was perfect! From dinner on the pier (at the most AMAZING restaurant), to walks on the beach, the bagel shop, and the wedding day, it was PERFECT! We had so much fun! It was such a fun and emotional day on the actual DAY of the wedding.. I was having a blast with my sister, but so emotional that she was to be MARRIED in a few short hours! My Linds!? It was crazy.. We spent the day split from the boys.. went to lunch, got mani-pedi's and did a little shopping.. It was fabulous! The boys.. did the same ;) We went to a salon where they had been just an hour before! The cute little ladies in there thought it was hilarious! We got back to the house just in time to get ready for the ceremony.. One of the most beautiful ceremonies EVER... My Uncle Cory is absolutely amazing and his home and yard are breathtaking! Perfect wedding! And to top off an already perfect day, Jake was asked to sing my dad and Lindsay's song "Butterfly Kisses" for their first dance. Talk about huge BOOB! I cried the entire time! He did SUCH an amazing job, I am so proud! Congrats to the happy couple! We love you! And another VERY important day.. August 25th.. This year we got Kailee bug on her actual birthday! We had such a great day! She woke up to balloons, a flower, and a birthday cupcake :) We played a couple of games, she chose Chik-fil-A for lunch, and then we went to see a movie! We got home and her mommy came over, we played a couple of games, and had spaghetti with meatballs (Kailee's favorite) for dinner. A great day! And just a couple days later, the big birthday party! It turned out SO great! Maddelyn's birthday is just a few days after Kailee's so Amber and I decided we'd combine the parties this year. We had so much fun! We decided (after the Kidz Expo) that we'd do a bounce house.. HUGE success! This was my first time planning her birthday, and I was pretty nervous! I wanted it to be perfect for her... So glad it turned out so great! Thanks to all that could make it and Amber for all of your help! It meant so much to us! :) We also had our bridal/groomal session which went FABULOUS! So glad we did it! Saved us so much 'photo time' on the wedding day.. Thanks again, Cheneil! You're amazing! (a lot of these got out of order.. oops!)
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| Headed to California.. Our first flight together! |
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| Cory's BEAUTIFUL home and yard |
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| One of our many walks on the beach.. |
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| Yum pizza joint! And the best waiter! We loved him! |
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| Gorgeous San Clemente.. |
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| Me and little B on the pier! LOVE her! |
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| Me and my cute nerd ;) |
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| Awe... |
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| Black 2011 |
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| Early morning.. August 25, 2011 |
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| Good morning birthday girl! :) |
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| Movie time! |
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| Such a fun day! |
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| The cupcakes! They were fun to make! I thought they turned out pretty cute! |
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| The famous bounce house! |
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| The happy birthday girl! |
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| The other sweet birthday girl! |
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| Look at all of these sweets! YUM! |
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| Headed to the beach! ;) |
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| Just around the corner from Cory's.. amazing! |
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| Me and my babe at the beach! |
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| And no more were there 5.. Last family picture before the family expands by 2.. and another 2 a month later! |
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| Before dinner on the pier.. |
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| Wedding day sushi! |
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| Their cute wedding cake and cake balls.. |
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| The beautiful bride! |
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| Proud girl, right here! Love him so much! |
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| Boys day.. The new 3 bros! |
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| Barbie and Ken.. OR Linds and Joey? |
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| <3 |
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| Who gets lucky enough to have a bridal session with their only sister? me! SO FUN! |
September :
Where to start?! Our 1 year anniversary (from when we met), the start of BYU football, Andrus family shower, Rascal Flats concert, birthday/bach/bachelorette celebration, and.. the happiest day of my life! Our wedding day! (which deserves its own post!) Honeymoon, and adjusting to normal life.. I think once September hit, I was FINALLY able to relax and soak in all that was happening, and about to happen.. Our wedding day was absolutely the most perfect day of my life.. I woke up at 6:30 am. No clue why, I knew I could sleep until at least 8:00.. but I couldn't sleep. It felt like Christmas when I was 7. I could NOT wait to get the day started.. I laid in bed thinking about Jake.. Kailee.. and that in just a few short hours, we'd officially be starting our lives as a family. I was SO excited! I didn't ever get nervous.. Until about 45 minutes before the ceremony. I had gathered all of my bridesmaids, JoLene and my mom into one room. I had a little something for each of them, but before I could give it to them, I had a couple of things to say.. and no words would come! I looked around the room at these women whom I love and adore more than anything and the tears started flowing. I couldn't believe the love, support, and encouragement in that room. The greatest women on the PLANET, and they were all there for ME! I am so very blessed. I ended up saying NOTHING I had planned to say, gave them the gifts and it was quickly back to the madness.. It was closing in on time for the ceremony.. If you know Jake at all, this won't surprise you.. he decided to walk down the aisle as well.. and had his own song.. :) If you've never heard it before, go listen. It's called "She Thinks She Needs Me". WOW! I was up in my parents room taking some last minute pics with the photographer when I heard the song start.. I walked over to the big window and watched the two loves of my life, who in 15 minutes would by my new little family... walk down the aisle. I was done after that! Though I'm pretty sure it destroyed my make up, I will never forget that moment and the overwhelming feeling of peace and comfort I felt. I KNEW I was doing the right thing! Best feeling in the world! The ceremony went perfectly, we were able to exchange our vows which was an incredible experience.. and the reception was SO much fun! Full of dancing, FABULOUS cupcakes, cake smeared all over my face, and all of our family and friends! I was so touched at the turn out and the support we had.. BEST DAY OF MY LIFE! Followed by the best week of my life! I loved our honeymoon! We must have been all pictured out, because we don't have any! It was such a great week.. Lots of food, hot baths, and SLEEPING! (I'll spare you all the rest ;)) I think we slept 10+ hours each night. We were both EXHAUSTED from all the wedding planning and looking back, probably our busy life!.. We spent time in downtown SLC, Park City, and Provo (you all know we couldn't miss the BYU game!) Fabulous week! I will let the pictures speak for themselves here.. and stop rambling on.. Love September.. and September 2011 topped them all!
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| The handsome groom :) |
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| Getting Kailee dressed |
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| My mom and sister getting me all nice and tight! |
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| Gorgeous flower girl! |
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| Jake and Kailee walking down the aisle! |
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| :) Happiest moment.. |
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| This is where Kailee ended up after the ceremony.. Apparently she was really tired! |
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| Favorite pic! This is so us! Love these girls SO much! |
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| And this is so them :) haha! |
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| I always wanted an older brother! :) Love them! |
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| First dance with our parents... |
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| How gorgeous are they?! :) |
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| Time to DANCE! |
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| Poor JoLene! |
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| Hat time! :) How hot are they?! |
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| Can't get enough of the dancing! |
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| The money dance! YEAHHH buddy! |
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| Best DJ ever! We had a blast! |
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| Love these people! |
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| First dance with my dad! |
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| Jake and his mom :) |
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| Cake time! We knew what was comin'! |
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| Got him good! ;) |
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| So fun! :) |
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| Think we spent the whole night on the dance floor! |
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| And this is where K spent the night.. Notice she's NOT wearing her flower girl dress?! :) |
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| Still being the big sister ;) |
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| My new husband!! I love him so much.. |
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| <3 |
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| My handsome hubby! |
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| WE'RE MARRIED!! |
The year 2011 was by far.. the busiest year of my life. Though the stress, planning, running around and changing my mind 300 times was exhausting.. I can truly say, my wedding day was PERFECT! My parents yard was GORGEOUS.. they worked so hard to have it perfect for us.. The temperature couldn't have been better.. and I left my parents house, my home for as long as I can remember...as a married woman! The happiest, most blessed, married woman alive!
2011, it will definitely be a tough year to top!
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| Two of my favorite and quite beautiful women! Love them so much! Isn't my mom GORGEOUS?! |
