Jaclyn and Bart Baxter

Jeana and Trevor

2012-01-05T19:59:00.000-08:00

My little sister got married on Tuesday to her true soul mate who she is guaranteed to giggle her way through life with. :) We couldn't be happier for her! It was a beautiful day and she was a gorgeous bride! I don't know what my parents are going to do as empty nesters now! Congrats Jeana and Trevor, we love you! Here are some pictures of the day. And sorry for the sideways ones, I was too tired to try and fix them.

Halloween Fun

2011-11-05T11:08:00.001-07:00

Halloween was lots of fun this year especially with it being Bostyn's first Halloween.

Enjoy the pics below of all the fun we had!

Haircut

2011-11-05T11:07:00.001-07:00

Bostyn's first hair cut! She thought it was pretty cool!

Sneak Peek...

2011-10-13T19:00:00.000-07:00

Sneak Peek at Bostyn's Halloween Costume.... Thanks for taking pics Aunt Nikki

Update

2011-10-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

Wow time flies.. I can't believe it has been more than two months since I've posted. I will make this short and sweet. Bostyn is growing and changing everyday. We love her so much and she is such a joy to have in our home and are thankful for her everyday. She sleeps 8-10 hours a night and is such a good baby!

What's happened since my last post?

Bart gave Bostyn a beautiful blessing the first week of August. It was so much fun to get together with family and friends. My sister-in-law Rory was in town and took some super cute pictures of the family and Bostyn (thanks again Rory).

The next weekend Bart and I went to Lake Powel with my Uncle Randy and Teresa and Tyler. Although we missed Bostyn, it was nice to get away and get some sleep and have a ton of fun!

At the end of August I went back to work full time. It's been hard to leave Bostyn and I have to admit I still cry almost once a week, but I've decided it's good for her to have time to socialize with her cousins and spend time with her Grandma's and Aunt. I get to work and work very hard and keep busy so the time flies by and I can go get Bostyn! It's exhausting to work all day and then come home to a baby, I'm still learning how to juggle all of this. Besides that life has been the same, we love have our own little family.

One Month Old

2011-07-16T22:29:00.000-07:00

This week our little princess turned one month old... man how time flies! I dread her getting bigger everyday, even though its so fun and rewarding to watch, and at the same time Bart wants her to be big so bad and can't wait for the next thing she is going to do! So far it's not much and we've learned a lot in the last 4 weeks about being parents. Man it has been some hard work, but she is worth it.

What we've learned:

Sleep is overrated! I get very little sleep these days and during the day when everyone tells you to nap when she naps, thats when I shower, change my clothes, clean my house, make something to eat (if I'm lucky) and go to the bathroom! haha! there isnt much time for anything else with the baby taking short naps and crying or needing something in between. So I am learning how to function on about 5-6 hours of sleep a night and man its rough! Luckily on nights bart doesn't have to be to work early the next day he will get up with her in the morning and take her downstairs and let me sleep in! Sometimes I wish he worked late everyday, but then he is home late and it makes for very long days :(

Baby's require a lot of attention. I always thought I could get a lot done during these three months off work, but unless B is sleeping I find myself always doing something for her- changing her diaper, feeding her, holding her, keeping her from crying or doing something else! she's worth it, but man my house needs a deep cleaning that I feel like I can't get to and the laundry that needs to be folded.... :)

Binky's can be your worst enemy! Jen gave Bostyn her binky the day after we got home from the hospital and she hadn't had it before. Now she is in love with it and has to have it all the time, which is great... except when it comes time to go to sleep! She loses it all the time and spits it out and screams until she gets it back... not until she falls asleep... gets it back! It can make for some long car rides when I'm alone and long nights! I finally decided to swaddle her which I was very against, but its the only way I could keep the binky in her mouth! So now instead of being up all night making sure she has her binky, I am up all night watching the monitor making sure she is breathing and the swaddle blankets haven't moved up over face since she always seems to get out of them on her own!

She loves her blanket.. she can't sleep without it and loves it to be near her face (which freaks me out).

She loves to ride in her daddy's truck. I always thought babies would fall asleep in the car, not our baby, she is wide awake, looking around and not making a peep... unless she wants her binky :)

She loves to be held, if you are sitting next to her and not holding her, she's not happy! I try to let her cry and get used to being laid down, but her screams get very loud and she doesn't stop most days! And she has some aunts and grandma who won't let her cry :) I don't blame them though! Who wouldn't want to hold something this cute!

It took four weeks but she is finally out of her cradle and in the crib in her own room! It was rough, but I finally made it! It's been 5 nights now!

We swear we have two babies! When Bostyn is asleep she looks just like my baby pictures with chubby cheeks... then when she wakes up her face thins out, she gets this little chin and she looks just like Bart! It's so funny! I've never seen a baby change so much!

Bostyn has to have her hands in front of her face whenever she's eating or sucking on her binky! she's so cute and think she's big enough to hold her bottle! She yawns all the time!! It's pretty much all she does besides eats, poops, cry, and sleeps.

I call this her "So Big" pose! I love to watch her stretch!

I have some big helpers! Sai Sai is always there to give Bostyn her binky if she starts crying and a big kiss to go along with it! She can't stand to hear her cry if she's in the same house as her!

Blake is the other big helper! He loves Bostyn so much! I walk in the door and the first thing I hear is "Jac, where baby? Get her out" He loves her so much! I love it! "My baby" "I hold her" It's pretty precious and I am glad he cares about her so much! I think he's ready for a little sister of his own!

I got her to smile for the first time today, but I wasn't fast enough with the camera! Everytime I got her to smile I missed it! But I still got some cute pics of how big she is getting!

And my new favorite picture! So cute!

Love her to death!

Happy 4th of July

2011-07-04T15:13:00.001-07:00

My new little family on our first 4th of July together! We had so much fun with the family at the Huntsville Parade and can't wait to do it again next year!

Bostyn was way too tired to wake up for the parade so she just slept the whole time in her Daddy's arms! :)

Photo Shoot

2011-06-23T12:24:00.000-07:00

Bostyn was really busy this week with photo shoots! Aunt Nikki took these adorable pictures of her out a Daybreak today and on Tuesday we went to FotoFly for her newborn pics! I can't believe our little girl is already over a week old! We love her to death... now if only we could get this sleeping at night thing down! :-)

Our New Addition

2011-06-15T05:41:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, June 14th at 12:53 AM our little princess, Bostyn Shae Baxter finally decided to come into this world! She was 5 days late, but definitely worth the wait! She was 7 pounds 14 ounces and 21 inches long. We are in trouble because she already has us wrapped around her little finger, especially her daddy! We never knew you could love something so much!

On Sunday I was having really bad back pains and didn't really know what was going on. I had an ultra sound and non stress test scheduled for Monday and decided I would stop by and see the doctor after I was done instead of worrying about it. They got worse and Monday morning back lower back and stomach were aching so bad! I woke up and had some bleeding and cautioned Bart before he went to work to make sure he got as much done as he could because I didn't know if he would be going back after the ultra sound.

We got to our ultra sound and they told us the supposedly ten pound baby my doctor thought we were having was only measuring 8 pounds 1 ounce, much more bearable to give birth to! :) They asked if I was having contractions and said they would cross my fingers I would just be admitted. After that we went to the non stress test and she watched the baby for a while. She passed the test with flying colors and they said my contractions weren't strong enough to keep me and they were 5-7 minutes apart. I sent Bart back to work at this point thinking it might be another day before we were actually in labor. They sent me over to be checked by my nurse who told me I was dilated to a 4 and to get dressed, she was going to talk to the doctor. When she came back she said, "where's your husband? Would you like to go downstairs and check in? Do you need to go home and get some things first? Grab a small lunch?" I was in shock, what? Really? I get to stay! Needless to say we knew our little one would be on her way soon. Luckily Jen was working at the hospital so I called her, we went to get something to eat (ok well I did, Jen was too excited to eat) and then Jen helped me bring my bags in from the car and we checked in. When we got there they put me in Triage to monitor me before admitting me and in the hour from being checked by nurse and being checked downstairs I was a 5+ YAY! So Jen called Bart and said it was time to come back to the hospital. We switched rooms and five minutes later I had an epidural and was ready to have her! I progressed all on my own without any pitocin, however I did get some when I started pushing to make sure my contractions were strong because the baby's heart rate was dropping. I pushed for about three hours and just after midnight she was here!

She is pretty perfect and we are proud parents! Bart doesn't want to put her down, he says she's a keeper!

We love you Bostyn and are so glad you are here! Can't wait to see how much you change and grow and impress us each and everyday!

Due Date

2011-06-09T14:07:00.000-07:00

To my little princess,

Today is supposed to be your birthday and although I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing my space with you the last nine months, we would all enjoy it a lot more if you would just come out so we can meet you and hold you and snuggle you! Please don't make mommy and daddy wait until next Wednesday to meet you!

Love,

Your Mommy who can't wait to see you :)

Nesting

2011-05-14T17:41:00.001-07:00

I woke up this morning and had this itch to finally start finishing things up. After working out for 45 minutes I cleaned our room, our bathroom, the baby's bathroom and organized the baby's clothes by size, hung them up and put them in the drawers, put all her bath stuff in baskets and put it away and I think almost everything is ready to go... Crib done check!

Rocking Harley done check (thank you Uncle Randy and Teresa we LOVE it)

Clothes hung up check! (um she has a ton of clothes A TON... ooops)

Changing table check!

We really are almost ready and its crazy to think 26 days until she'll be here.. can't wait!

Update

2011-04-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

We had a very good Easter with our cute nieces and nephews who were so excited to dye Easter eggs and go on Easter egg hunts. I can't wait for Baby Girl to be here next year and join in on all the fun (and get trampled by her cousins)! I love this time of year! Spring is the best... I just wish the weather would improve and start getting warmer so I can drive home with my window down and sleep with the window open and turn off my heater.... SPRING where are you?

I had my 34 week Dr appointment yesterday. She did an ultra sound to make sure Baby was head down and to see how she was doing. I couldn't see much, but I do know she has big ears (must take after her dad) and hair (not sure how much, but there was hair on that head yay!). She is measuring 37 weeks right now, which is 4 weeks earlier than her due date. If she comes when her growth rate says she's going to, that would put her here around May 19th, whoa, not sure I am ready for that yet! However, she is surrounded by plenty of fluid which could be part of the reason she is measuring so big and will hopefully give her a couple more weeks of cooking before she decides to make her grand entrance into this world! Either way we will take her whenever she wants to come... as long as its three weeks from right now and she's healthy and ready to be here! :) Afterall, we don't get to choose as I am slowly learning since I REALLY wanted a June baby, but not a 10 pound baby!

Bart got a promotion at work and as of May 15th will be moving stores to American Fork where he will be the assistant manager (one more reason we hope she doesn't come that same week, oh and Jeana will be on vacation in Hawaii... jealous!). He is so excited and can't wait to start. I am so proud of him and how hard he has worked and continues to work to provide for our family and continue being the best he can be in his job! You're the best babe!

On a more serious note, my brother Jason had surgery today. He just barely got out and is in recovery, so not sure how he's doing yet. He had his spleen removed to see if it will help with his platelets issue. Thanks to the wonderful blessing my Grandpa Wilson gave him last night, I think we are all a little more at peace with this surgery. We all love you Jason and are praying this works and that you will soon start feeling better! I am watching Sailor and Remington, good practice for what is to come really soon! Ready or not.... haha.

We are so excited for Baby Girl to come and excited for all the new adventures that are happening in our life right now. We had two great baby showers and are so thankful for all the people who love us and are just as anxious to see our baby girl as we are. Thank you all for all your love and support and all the cute baby gifts we have gotten. I'm sure when she gets here this blog will be FULL of pics to show her off! We are quite excited!

Babys Crib

2011-03-25T17:31:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we finally got baby's crib. We ordered it about 9 weeks ago and it just barely got here. We spent Friday night putting it together, which didn't take as long as we thought it would and here was our final product! Can't wait to put her in it!
After a bad day I got to come home to baby's bedding. I was so excited when I saw the package when I got home from work and right away opened it to see what it looked like.
Of course I could wait to put it in her crib! Here was what it looked like when it was all put together. I can't wait for her to get here! All we need now is a mattress and her crib will be complete!!

Happy Birthday Bart

2011-03-25T17:17:00.001-07:00

This year Bart had a special birthday surprise, his sister Kari and her family came all the way from Oregon to surprise him at his birthday party. We had so much fun hanging out with them. We went to the planetarium and watched the kids play on the moon. We went to gateway to watch the kids try not to get wet in the fountains. We even spent a night in Eden where Bart, Tyler Steve, and Doug brushed up on their racket ball skills. I hope you had a happy birthday Bart, you deserve it! love you!

Baby's Cradle

2011-02-20T20:42:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my wonderful sister in law, Nikki, baby now has the cutest cradle in the whole world! I can't wait to bring her home and let her sleep in it.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-28T18:07:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to Gracie, Chloe, Tatum, whatever your name is going to be from your favorite Aunt Nikki! My amazing, talented, creative, wonderful sister in law, Nikki, gave me and baby girl the best christmas present! Not only will she have a different colored bow to wear with every single outfit, she has the cutest bow holder that will go on her wall and match her bedding! Thank you Nikki! You're the best and baby girl will love you forever because she will always look cute with her hair accessories! :)

It's a GIRL!

2010-12-16T19:55:00.001-08:00

We found out today our favorite color is now pink! We are very excited for our baby girl to come this June! :)

Santa Barbara

2010-11-10T19:24:00.001-08:00

We spent the weekend in Santa Barbara so that Doug, Kari and Bart could run the marathon. We stayed in the cutest little town called Solvang.

It was a danish town that had blocks and blocks of shops! Loved it!

Doug, Kari, and Bart all did awesome in the half marathon and I proud of all them! Nice job guys!

We went to the beach on Monday and for some reason we were the only people there :). I guess November isn't the best time to go to the beach, however it was perfect weather to sit on the beach and enjoy the scenery, not nice enough to get in the water! We ended up seeing a pod of dolphins just hanging out in the cove we were sitting in front of. It was the closest I've ever been to dolphins and it was so fun to watch them all swim around with the seals. Love the ocean... why do I live in Utah again? :)

Orlando

2010-11-10T18:28:00.000-08:00

We had an awesome anniversary again this year. We went to Orlando and a cruise with Jeana and Aubrey. It was so much to be in the warm sunshine for a whole week. We flew into Orlando and stayed there for two days. While we were there we went to Universal Studios and to Ron Jon (like 3 times, for Jeana and Aubrey). Then we headed to the dock on got on the ship. We went on a Caribbean cruise for 4 nights and it was a blast. When we got back from the cruise we went to dinner for my birthday at my favorite restaurant Benihanas and then went miniature golfing at the coolest miniature golf place ever!

The slides at Atlantis that Bart and Aubrey did while Jeana and I watched

The port hole

Our ship

Bart playing with the iguanas

Harry Potter at Universal

Mini golf

Formal Night

Thank you for this pic Bart

Crazy Week

2010-09-26T11:54:00.001-07:00

We have had a crazy week in the Best Family this week! It all started on Tuesday... a happy/sad day. Tuesday morning Blake had surgery #2 on his heart. Unfortunately the surgery did not work once again, but we are happy to have our happpy Blake here with us and that everything ended up going ok in the surgery. He had to spend 3 days in the hospital and Jen tried everything she could to keep him occupied, happy and out of trouble.

Jen went to change her clothes for bed one night and Blake found some candy on the shelf. He was being so quiet that Jen thought he was asleep... NOPE! She came out to this! Naughty Blakers! The funniest part.. his shirt says

"Can't sleep, must eat candy" compliments of his favorite Aunt Jaclyn! :)

Who wants to ride in the wagon when you can push it!

Blake playing with his car at the hospital.

Blake playing with the coolest present from his favorite Aunt!

Tuesday afternoon.... We welcomed Jason's and Nikki's BATMAN to the world! Cutest little baby! We love him! He is so cute. Ok his name isn't really Batman, his name in Remington Tagg Best, 7 pounds 3 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. He is a mix of Jason and Nikki.

Bentley seeing Batman for the first time.

Baby Blake

2010-08-08T13:10:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for all your prayers for my cute nephew Blake. He had his heart surgery on Thursday and he is doing better than ever! He's now crawling (we thought he was going to skip that step and go straight to walking) and he seems happier than ever. I know he is feeling so much better and we are glad to have this behind us, and if we are, I am sure John and Jen really are!

Bart and I watched the girls Wednesday and Thursday night to help Jen and John... they are good birth control! JK we had so much fun with them and enjoyed having them here. I don't think Kensie wanted to leave... ever! :)

The last month or so...

2010-06-20T13:15:00.000-07:00

We've had a very busy last few weeks and got a lot done too! Bart was in Virginia for 4 weeks for some army training and it was the longest month of my life and I missed him so much. Luckily my mom was nice enough to come stay with her so I didn't have to be home alone, THANKS MOM!

We had some bad timing when Bart was gone and did some remodeling of our house. Thanks to all those who came to help. Below is all the fun stuff we did.

This is Bart with his hot bic hair cut at army training! How long does it take for hair to grow (luckily most of it is back now!) Bart in his cute army outfit!

Race for the cure with the family. My aunt Colleen has had breast cancer and most recently brain cancer, so we make a point to do race for the cure every year as a family and we enjoy every minute of it!

Our new fence... we have had this chain link gate since we moved in because the people before us had a salon in the basement and used the back yard for people to park at. It's been really hard to use the back yard with the whole neighborhood watching us.....

So now we have this and it is awesome! We love our new vinyl gate! (and privacy)

We tiled our garage enterance to the house, the bathroom and the laundry room

Before

After

And lastly we got new carpet AW! Finally new carpet!

Before

After

So anyway its been a long and very busy last few weeks. Thank you to all who came to help out with the house while Bart was gone, we really appreciate it!

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T16:24:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

We all went to my mom's house for Easter in between conference sessions to eat lunch. We had a fun time watching the little kids hunt for easter eggs and find their easter baskets grandma left out for them.

Bentley, Destri, and Sailor all dressed up in their cute Easter outfits at Grandma Nancy's house!

Sailor with her favorite aunt

Bentley with his favorite aunt dying Easter eggs

Destri with her favorite aunts!

Happy Birthday Bart! AGAIN!

2010-04-04T09:32:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night after priesthood meeting, we went to dinner with Bart's fam at Texas Roadhouse. Its a tradition for Bart's brother to go to priesthood session with his dad and to go to dinner after with their spouses, but this year we celebrated Bart's birthday as well.

We embarrassed Bart by making him cowboy up on their saddle while they sang to him! He's a good sport!

Last Wednesday we got to use Bart's birthday present and go to the Jazz game, 11 row center court (Thanks Uncle Randy). It was AWESOME!

I love the midget bear and Bart laughs at me every time I freak out when he walks onto the court! He's the coolest bear ever!

Before the game we went to dinner at my favorite restaurant, Benihana's. MMMM!

Happy Birthday Bart!

2010-03-24T21:28:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Bart!!!!

Bart's Birthday was on Saturday. We started the day by having yummy french toast and letting him open one present!

His First present were some sweet Jazz tickets! He was pretty excited about them! Bart had to go to work after that :(

Later that night we got to go to a Jazz Game, which Bart loves, so it was a perfect way to spend his birthday!

On Sunday we had a birthday party for him with my family. My parent's bought him a wheel barrel, and he was pretty excited about how sweet it was (hence him sitting in it). He even asked me to try to push him around in it! :) Overall, he got spoiled, but he deserved it! Love you babe!

St George

2010-03-17T17:40:00.000-07:00

Since I haven't updated my blog, I thought I would post some pictures of our latest vacation to St George. We went down there for a family reunion and while we were there we enjoyed the sun! Ya I know it was only 60, but we thought it was pretty warm to lay out by the pool and hang out with the family.

Update

2009-11-18T17:46:00.000-08:00

The update on Baby Blake! He got to come home today.. YEAH! Last night they took him out of the ICU and he had a normal heart rhythm AND rate for over 12 hours. This morning they decided he could come home on medication to keep his heart rate down. Jen has to monitor him (good thing she's a nurse) and when he is old enough he will have surgery to fix the problem. Thank you all so much for your fasts and prayers, we know they all helped get him to the point he is.

Blake... Being Thankful

2009-11-14T20:22:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday my 2 month old nephew Blake went to his 2 month Dr appointment. At his appointment the Dr told them he was a healthy baby boy, but his heart rate was a little high. They let him calm down and then took his heart rate again and it was still high. Long story short... the Dr rushed them up to Primary Children's Hospital. When they got there his heart rate was 240 which is really high (a 2 month old should have a heart rate between 120-160). He was in what's called SVT. (You can google SVT and get more info, but it is pretty much an extra electrical current in the heart that goes in a circle and causes the heart to beat twice as fast and doesn't give the heart the chance to fill all the way up with blood before it pumps again) He was admitted to the ICU. Since Tuesday they have tried several medicines and other methods to try and get his heart to reset and go back to a normal rhythm, but so far that has not happened. His heart rate has improved, but not to what they want it to be. It is currently hanging out in the 180s-190s. He was on 3 medications as of this morning, but after drawing blood they discovered his potassium was high and had to take him off the medication that lowers his heart rate. The Dr told John and Jen that they think with the case of SVT he has, that his rhythm will most likely not go back to normal on its own and they may have to be satisfied to get his heart rate back to normal and stable until he weighs enough to have surgery to fix the problem, which is about 30 pounds.
He has shown a couple of good signs. Randomly throughout the day his heart rate will drop to normal, but then go right back to where it was. Last night his heart rate dropped to normal for 45 minutes (the longest it has been normal so far) while he was sleeping, but as soon as they woke him up to feed him it went right back up. He is so happy and funny... when he wakes up, he smiles at you and laughs and you would never know there was something wrong with him.
The Dr.s say they are lucky they found it when they did (the symptoms are nothing you would be able to tell in a baby: dizziness, light headed, nausea, lethargic) and that most likely he had only been this way for a couple days. Normally by the time they catch something like this in an infant, they have been in it for so long that they have heart failure and have to have a heart transplant. They caught Blake's early enough that as long as they can get his heart rate down with the right medication his heart should fully recover until he can have surgery to burn or freeze the extra current he has in his heart that is causing the fast beat and abnormal rhythm. The reason for this long story and explanation, besides to update everyone even though it should be Jen doing this, is for me to express being thankful. Although I've always loved and cared for my family, this week family has meant more to me than ever. Seeing my sister, brother in law, and nephew go through what they've had to the last few days has made me so thankful for the strong sister I have and the amazing family I have. I could never sit by and watch my baby go through what she has and still have a positive attitude. Jen has been nothing but positive and strong. They spend almost every minute they have, including spending nights there, at their baby's side. I watch the love and support she has from family and friends and it reminds me how lucky we are to have good family's and good friends who are willing to give up time to help out and who truly care. I have relieved John and Jen a couple times for them to go home and take a shower and eat some food that is not from the cafeteria and although they are the ones telling me thank you for helping out, I am thankful and happy I am able to help out and that they trust me with their cute baby. I would do anything for them as well as for all of my family or friends. I am thankful my sister is a nurse, and although I wouldn't wish this on anyone, she knows enough that she is capable of taking care of her baby during this rough time and Blake is very lucky to have her as a mom. I am thankful for the understanding boss I have who let me leave early on Friday to go help my sister out. I am thankful for a loving husband who understands why I may come home late every night because I am with my sister or helping them out. I am thankful for my health and for my family's health. I am thankful for the roof over my head and the jobs my husband and I have to provide for us. I have so many blessings in my life and things to be thankful for, family being just one of them. Maybe this is a good time of year with it being Thanksgiving for me to realize what I am thankful for.
We love you Blake, John and Jen and I pray for that cute baby constantly throughout the day. I know he is a fighter and strong enough to get through this.

Some Pictures

2009-11-08T14:04:00.001-08:00

I couldn't help myself, I had to post some pictures! I will post the rest when the house is put together!

This is our bedroom

The 2nd bedroom (we are going to leave her vinyl on the wall for now... the other bedrooms are on the list of things to fix up, but one thing at a time!)

Our kitchen

Home Sweet Home

2009-11-07T19:36:00.001-08:00

As most of you know, Bart and I have been looking for a house on and off for about a year now. In July we found this listing, we have no idea what made us go look at it because the listing said 3 bed 2 bath barely 2000 sq ft, unfinished basement was in West Jordan and I didn't want to live in West Jordan and was not at all what we were looking for. We showed up and walked inside the house and right away I turned to Bart and said "This is our house!" As we walked around and toured the house, we realized the listing was completely wrong. 3 beds 2 baths and unfinished basement turned into 5 bedrooms 3 and 1/2 baths and a full finished walk out basement with a huge nice yard and RV parking! WOW! We went straight to our realtor's office and made an offer. The house was a short sale so we knew it would take a while to hear back. Two months later, we started losing hope on that house because we still hadn't heard anything and the other realtor said it would take a month, so we started looking at other options. At the end of September we went looking for houses again. We decided that would be our last time if we couldn't find anything until Bart was done with school. We went way out west in West Jordan and decided it would be fun to build a house. We got plots, floor plans etc... on our way home we got a phone call saying our offer had been accepted on this house from July and did we still want it. We were put in a tough situation! We loved the house, but the thought of building a new house sounded fun and exciting. We debated the next couple days, weighed our options and decided we would be stupid to not go with the house we originally LOVED and wanted to be ours right away. So long story short.... last Friday Bart and I bought our first home! We love it! We finally moved in today after some deep cleaning and tiling we did in the bathrooms, with the help of my awesome bro in law John and many others (thanks!). We love our new home and couldn't be happier! I would take a bunch of pictures and post them, but with boxes all over the house I can assure you it doesn't look that great yet! As soon as we get things put away and in order I will take some pictures and post them! We can't wait to get to know our neighbors and ward knowing we aren't here temporarily!

Hawaii

2009-10-28T16:32:00.000-07:00

We just got back from Hawaii!! It was AWESOME! It was the first time either of us have been there and was a great way to celebrate our one year anniversary. We can't wait to go back! We went with my mom and dad, sister Jeana, her friend Aubrey, and my Aunt Donna, who was pretty much the tour guide since she lived in Hawaii and served her mission there. The first day we flew into Honolulu and went to the PCC. It was a good start to our Hawaii experience. We watched a guy climb to the top of a very high coconut tree! And of course we did the luau which was good too.

The next day we went to Pearl Harbor.

Then after Pearl Harbor we flew to Big Island and stayed in Kona. I think this was probably my favorite island, if not a close second to Maui. We went to church which is right next to the temple so we took some pictures before we left. It was very pretty with all the palm trees.

Monday we went on a snorkel cruise, which after Donna and the crew pulling my arm, turned into a scuba diving cruise for me and Donna! I am certified but I have never actually gone besides in a pool or little lake, so it was nice to go, but I was pretty scared. We saw some fish and an octopus which the diving instructor actually brought to the surface for all the snorkelers to see and touch. But no sharks, luckily... I probably would have passed out at the bottom of the ocean!

We caught some awesome sunsets while we were there!

As well as sunrises! On Maui, Bart and Aubrey thought it would be fun to go to the crater and watch the sun rise one morning. We had to wake up at 3:30 in the morning and drive about two hours to watch the sun rise. And it was probably 30 degrees outside BRRR. It was pretty though.

We also went on a sunset cruise one night while we were on Maui which was fun and they had excellent food.

Bart and my dad went on a helicopter ride one day which they said was pretty cool!

And this is Jeana and Aubrey dead asleep on the floor at the airport at 5 AM on our layover in LA on our way home! Haha! So funny!

We really did have a great time and will be going again one day and hopefully one day isn't 10 years from now! I am already ready to go back after it started snowing yesterday :(

Cousin Wedding

2009-10-05T20:44:00.001-07:00

Alyssa and KC got married Thursday October 1st in the Draper Temple. She looks so beautiful and we are so proud of them! And Bart is thrilled he has someone to talk sports with now!

Beautiful Mother of the Bride!

Sailors Blessing

2009-10-05T20:13:00.000-07:00

Sailor had a beautiful baby blessing last Sunday. It was all done so well. Brother did such a good job with her blessing, I'm proud of him!

The sibling picture And look at those smiles!
we love her to pieces

Blake John Brown

2009-09-11T14:06:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, Jen and John had their baby last Sunday morning. Jen was amazing... after being in labor for 15 hours and pushing for 5, we finally got to meet little peanut. They named him Blake John Brown. He weighed 7 lbs 11 oz and was 20 inches long. He's so cute I just had to post some pictures of him.

The proud Daddy's (my brother Jason with his 3 week old baby and my brother-in-law John with his brand new baby)

The babies yawning together, aren't they the cutest things ever!

Baby Blake with his FAVORITE Aunt!

San Diego

2009-08-28T22:42:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Bart and I went to San Diego for a work trip for Bart. It was so much fun to spend time with my wonderful husband in the same place we came to on our honeymoon. We went to Petco Stadium to watch the Padres play the Cardinals. It was really cool. We had like 38th row seats which was pretty exciting for our first Major League game! We drove by the beautiful San Diego Temple (which is my favorite temple)

We went to the beach and enjoyed watching all the boats and jet skis go by and wished we were on them too.

We went to another beach, that we have decided next time we come we are for sure hanging out here for a couple days. It was way warm and we watched people surf and swim.

Overall, it was a great weekend getaway and I am so glad my husband and the wonderful idea of taking me with him! Thanks babe!

Meet Sailor Dawsyn Best

2009-08-18T17:51:00.000-07:00

Jason and Nikki had their baby on Friday. She weighed 7 lbs 14 oz and was 21 inches long and is the most beautiful baby. Her name is Sailor Dawsyn Best. I was so happy to finally meet her. It was so much fun to see how cute Destri and Bentley were with her.

I have to admit she gets cuter and cuter everyday, which at first, I didn't think was possible, but she proved me wrong.

We love her so much and are so glad she is finally here.

We're so happy for you Jason and Nikki! Thank you for sharing your special day and beautiful baby with us, we love you all so much! Congrats!

Bear Lake

2009-07-07T21:13:00.001-07:00

We went to Bear Lake this last weekend for the 4th of July. It was a lot of fun. Kaitlyn and Kensie dug a huge hole with the help of John and a little boy Thomas who was playing next to us.

This is Kensie and Thomas digging

Me and my sisters

Jen, John, Kaitlyn and Kensie getting back from a jet ski ride.

Kensie with Aunt Jeana

And the three studly Wake Boarders!

They did such a good job in the freezing cold water! We listened to them all scream as they got in the water to wake board and then swim as fast as they could towards the boat when it was over!

Aubrey (pretty much my sister)

Bart (my cute husband)

Jeana

(my very cute little sister, do you think she looks like me?)

We all had so much fun and came home FRIED! But it was worth it! Jason, Nikki and Bentley came up and went swimming with us on the 4th and lit some fireworks. It was lost of fun and we enjoyed them coming up!

Baby Shower

2009-07-07T21:02:00.001-07:00

We threw a baby shower for my sister Jen and sister in law Nikki a couple weeks ago. It was so much fun to watch them open all of their fun presents.

Nikki is having a girl and is due in August and

Jen is having a boy and is due in September.

We had a baby bar with baby cookies

and baby sandwiches.

Oregon

2009-07-07T20:34:00.000-07:00

Ok I know it has been forever since I posted anything so I thought it was time to catch up.

The first week of June we went to Oregon for 10 days. The first weekend we stayed on the coast and then we stayed at Bart's sisters house (thanks for letting us crash there.)

This was the sign they had posted on the road outside the condo we stayed on the coast, comforting huh?

We found this awesome sand castle on the beach!

The reason we we were on the coast is because Bart, his brother in law Doug and sister in law Heidi ran the Newport Oregon Marathon. I am so proud of all them, I know I could never do it!

When we got back from the coast, we went to Silver Falls which is where we took this picture by the waterfall. It was very pretty there!

Kari and Doug had the Super Dooper Cooper Looper Half Marathon. It was a lot of fun!

And lastly, only because it was the last thing we did there, but the biggest reason we went, our niece Ambri got baptised. We were so proud of her! Doesn't she look beautiful!

FINALLY

2009-04-14T21:05:00.000-07:00

We finally bought a new car!! It's about time! We went over a month and a half borrowing cars and hitching rides to work. (BIG thanks to all those who helped us out!) On April 4th we got a white 2009 Honda Accord (Isn't she pretty). We searched for a long long time for a car, used and new! We now know more about used cars than we ever wanted to know. Although our battle with the insurance company of the person who hit me is still not final, it feels great to finally drive something that is our own again and hopefully this long battle will be over soon enough! We do miss BINGO and I get a tear in my eye every time I pass a yellow car, but now I get a twinkle in my eye every time I see another Accord drive by! All we need to do now is come up with a name for her! :)

Rascal Flatts

2009-03-01T21:07:00.000-08:00

We went to the best concert ever on Thursday night, RASCAL FLATTS. Jeana, Aubrey, Bart and I had awesome floor seats! There was a couple times during the concert we got to run to the backstage. One time Aubs and I ran up there and he sat and sang to us for a few minutes. We were inches away it was so cool! Wish you all could have been there to watch them. They are for sure my favorite band and I hope I can go to all of their concerts.

Bart and I went last year on a date which was the best date we had before we got married!

This was us last year And then this year!

SEE how close we got? That's my arm! :)

Update

2009-02-16T18:38:00.000-08:00

I've had so many people say lately, "Why haven't you updated your blog??" So I decided it was about time to let you know what we've been up to. We've been so busy with life that I haven't had time to even think about blogging! I think it's only fair to start with the most exciting event!

Bingo...... About two weeks ago I got in a car accident. I was turning out of our apartment waiting for cars to pass to turn left when a car ran the red light on Highland Drive and T-boned me. It was pretty scary! If the car would have hit me about a foot more to the right, it would be fair to say I might not be here right now, but luckily it didn't! It hit me in the driver's side wheel and the wheel took most the impact, and I walked away with some bumps, bruises and soreness, but that's it. We are pretty sure the car is totaled, but we are still waiting for the insurance agency to decide that (yes, two weeks later, still waiting on that decision).

We went up to Idaho last night to drop off my Aunt Donna's car to be worked on and to also get some information on some cars we are interested in buying from a family friend, if they decide my car is totaled. Donna had a last minute death in her ward she had to stay home for so we went up with out her. When we checked in we let them know we didn't need a room with 2 queens anymore so they said they had a room with one king in it that had a view, not that there was much to see! When we got up to the room we opened the curtains and the Idaho Falls Temple was right across the street, it was so beautiful!

Valentine's Day..... It was our first Valentine's Day together being married. We went out with Tyler and Heidi to Benihana's (Heidi's and my favorite restaurant) and to a movie, Confessions of a Shopaholic, which was very funny! Bart sent me beautiful flowers for 'the best wife ever' :) He also bought me a couple games and another charm for my charm bracelet, so cute! I bought him Mario Kart for the Wii, his favorite game. I also tried making chocolate covered strawberries, but just my luck, the chocolate went all sticky and never hardened. I gave them to him anyway so he knew I tried!

Christmas..... Our first Christmas together was awesome! I feel like I have the best husband in the whole world who spoiled me to death! I have to admit, with it being our first Christmas, I was a little worried about how things would be and if we would buy the same amount for each other, but it all turned out perfect! We bought the cutest little tree that I begged on Thanksgiving to put up and begged on New Years to keep up! It was fun to have our first tree and decorate our house! We both got so many presents I can't even name them all. It was the best Christmas ever though!

So that's the update, I know too much hasn't happened! But now you will all stop asking me to update my blog! :)

CARRIE UNDERWOOD

2008-11-22T07:45:00.000-08:00

Wednesday night, Jeana, Aubrey, Carly, Ashlee, her friend and I went to the Carrie Underwood Concert at the E Center. We invited Bart to go with us, but he kind of has a thing for Carrie and thought he'd better not go! So him and his brother Tyler went to the Jazz game instead. Let me just say the concert was AWESOME! I love her though, probably one of her biggest fans!

She had the cutest outfits on and was very interactive with the crowd. I think Aubrey was deaf by the end of the concert from it being so loud and I did kind of belt all the songs in her ear! :)

We had so much fun, we didn't want it to end! But I am sure after singing as well as she did your voice had to be killing you by the end of the night!

Bowling with Uncle Randy

2008-11-19T22:03:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we went bowling with Unlce Randy for our Annual Christmas Bowlathon! We had so much fun! Jen & John were away for the weekend for their anniversary, but everyone else was there and we had all the little kids!

My team lost :( so sad! But we still won a blowing ball that says LOSERS across the whole thing and all of our names next to it!But don't worry we won't be keeping that trophy next year!

Bentley got the cutest bear from Randy & Teresa that Bentley loved. He wanted to squeeze it and love and watch the lights! He was so cute!

Kensie was a sport and came even though she broke her arm a couple days earlier on the play ground at school! They had fun though! They got cute jewelry boxes you paint and decorate yourself and watches that they loved. Uncle Randy Spoiled you! :)

Jeana & I were on the same team YEAH go US oh wait we lost!

Bart and I were on opposite teams so we were competing!

This is the loser team signing their names to the

loser ball! I think the little girls just like to write on everything so this was fun for them!

This is my brother with his cute famiy: Nikki, Bentley & Desrti

Well Uncle Randy, you did it again this year! Way to go! We had so much fun with you as always! Thanks for all you do for us! We love you!

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T16:25:00.000-07:00

Last night Jason and Nikki threw a fun Halloween party! Bentley was a skunk! I didn't get to see him in his costume, he was stripped down to nothing by the time I got there! :) Jason and Nikki were The Flinstones! Cutest idea! They both looked great too! And Destri was a bumble bee! She looked way cute!

Jeana, Aubrey, and Carly were the 3 Amigos! They won best overall costumes! So funny!

Here's Kaitlyn and Kenzi visiting Jeana at work in their Halloween costumes! So cute!

Happy Halloween! I went to work for a little bit today! (I left sick to my stomach!) Everyone's outfits were great I was sad to leave! Viv was a Hooters waitress, it was hillarious! Travis was a pizza delivery man, Cameron was a cowboy, and Ryan was Wayne from Wayne's world! They were awesome!

Jeana's branch all dressed up as pumpkins! They look so cute!

Carving Pumpkins

2008-10-29T21:07:00.000-07:00

We all got together at Jen's house tonight to carve pumpkins. It was so much fun to spend time with family and friends. Jen made oosnpakaka for dinner, which none of us know how to spell. So we had dinner, watched our wedding video and carved pumpkins!

All of the pumpkins turned out so good! Bart was shocked my family got so into carving pumpkins. He said he felt like a rookie! I told him he had plenty of years to work on his pumpkin carving skills!

Heidi's awesome Halloween party

2008-10-26T19:19:00.000-07:00

Heidi and Tyler threw an awesome Halloween party on Saturday night. It was mostly for little kids, but Bart and I had a lot of fun! Bart dressed up as a pimp and won the best costume and I was a witch! His costume turned out really good! It was a trunk or treat party so because we were 4 wheeling all day, we had to decorate the trunk with the 4 wheeler in it. We took my moms scarecrow out and some pumpkins and candy, it turned out pretty cute!

Tyler and Heidi had a family theme as race car drivers and they made Traeden a Tree car airfreshener! It was so cute! Heidi and Tyler were both race car drivers and Jase was Lighting McQueen.

After the party we stuck around and watched the BYU game that we missed during 4 wheeling. Jase hung out with us almost the whole time. He was so funny! He laughed everytime someone caught the ball or got tackled!

4 Wheeling with Blake and Mandy

2008-10-26T18:55:00.000-07:00

We went 4 wheeling with Blake and Mandy on Saturday at 5 Mile Pass. We had a lot of fun! Blake found this mine shaft last time he was out there that he really wanted to check out. He found a rope and down he went! When he got to the 'bottom' there was another shelf he wanted to discover, but we didn't have a long enough rope .(thank goodness because Mandy and I were getting a little worried)

My Birthday

2008-10-26T18:39:00.000-07:00

My birthday was last Sunday. I have the best husband in the whole world who made my day great! He took me to dinner and a movie for my birthday on Saturday night and it was a fun date! On my birthday he woke me up with breakfast in bed! He's so sweet! He made me waffles! One of my favorites! (Plus we got this awesome waffle maker for a wedding gift, we love it!) After church we went to my parents house for dinner. My mom made my favorite dinner of hers, chicken and potatoes with homemade rolls! Thanks Mom! And we had cheesecake for birthday cake, of course! We opened presents for me and my Aunt Colleen, who's birthday is a few days before mine. After opening presents and eating cheesecake, we went home! I thought I was all done with presents, but my cousin Alyssa came over to bring me another one! While I was chatting with my cousin, Bart brought me another present!! He added a 'Happy Birthday' to my charm bracelet! Side note- Bart gave me the cutest charm bracelet for my wedding present. It's a first year bracelet. It had charms on it already and over the next year he already has charms picked out that he'll give me- cutest idea, and it was all his! And then to top it all off, Monday at work I got a delivery! Flowers from Bart! He's so sweet! I love him!

Honeymoon

2008-10-16T19:54:00.000-07:00

Bart surprised me for our honeymoon. He kept the secret from me the whole time and he did an awesome job at planning it! We went to San Diego for two days and then made our way over to Catalina Island for two days. I was very impressed with everything he planned! He's great! We got to San Diego on Friday night. We stayed at the Marriott Hotel right on the harbor. It was awesome!

Bart knows I love the San Diego Temple and he had planned to take me up there! That night he got really sick. Bart is always hot and he hates that I am always cold! That night he was shivering and couldn't get warm! I felt so bad for him! He was still a trooper and took me up there anyway! It was so beautiful! I loved being there with him and walking the grounds, but the whole time I felt so bad because he was so sick!

On Saturday we went to Sea World! It was so much fun to see all the animals and Bart LOVED the seals! I felt like I was with a little kid the whole time and kept saying, 'ok lets go see the other animals now' no good though, he wanted to watch the seals! He's so funny!

Sunday we drove from San Diego to Long Beach to catch the Catalina Express over to Catalina Island. It was about a two hour drive! We got to Long Beach with about an hour to spare before our boat left and started making our way to the dock. All of a sudden the streets were blocked off!! There was a marathon going on and no one told us! We called the place to see if they could direct us around the marathon 3 different times! No good! They still didn't help! We finally got there an hour and 15 minutes later, but we missed the boat! At this point I HATED Marathons! I was trying to be happy and act like it wasn't a big deal that we had to wait 2 more hours before catching the next boat. When we finally got to the island and to our hotel to check in, Bart told me he had called a couple days ago and got our room upgraded to the King Spa Room! We're checking in and the kid says that there are -1 for the King Spa Rooms and he was going to have to make a phone call! Could anything else go wrong? He gets on the phone with his boss and starts saying, "Oh, I see, ok I can do that." He gets off and says, unfortunately the King Spa Rooms have all been booked, but we are going to upgrade you to the presidential suite for no extra charge. SWEET! We get up there and this place is bigger than our apartment in some ways! (Check out the pics) Huge kitchen, dining table for 8 people, family room with a TV, separate room for our bedroom and huge bathroom with a 2 man tub and separate shower! I learned that sometimes its ok when things don't work out!! :) It was really windy on the island both days so we didn't get to go out on a boat tour, but we did take a golf cart out and went around the island which was alot of fun.

Tuesday morning we were heading back on the boat and we saw dolphins and seals in the water which was so cool! I loved it! And now we are home, back to normal life! It was a great honeymoon! We had an awesome time! Thanks Bart!

Wedding 10/09/08

2008-10-16T16:21:00.000-07:00

On October 9, 2008, Bart and I got married at the Salt Lake Temple at 9:40 AM. Later that day we had our reception at Market Street Grill in Cottonwood. It was all very beautiful and everything turned out great! It was by far the happiest day of our lives. We were surrounded by all of our family and friends. We want to thank everyone who took the time to come and share our day with us, it was greatly appreciated! That night Bart surprised me and took me to the Anniversary Inn. We stayed in the Egyptian room. It was a very interesting room! It had a waterfall that went into the bathtub and a shower head that was a snake (that part was kind of disturbing).