silly obsesssion

this little girl. we love her-oh man yes we do. we are smitten silly, and we apologize to all of our friends and family for our annoyance. sorry, it probably won't change...let us introduce our little...

Lucy

born december 12th 2010

(8 weeks old, now and getting big!)

she is a chocolate lab and her coat is soft and brown with the prettiest eyes you'll ever see.

loves to sleep, cuddle, slip around the hardwood floors, play, sleep, and eat.

runs like a bunny. 11 lbs.

along with chasing me around and nipping at my feet.

she has been so surprisingly good at going potty where she's supposed to. (esp. at 2, 3, 4, and 5 am)

she attempts to scratch her head while standing up, making her fall on her face. but we are going to work on that.

we are already overwhelming ourselves with photos, and stories, and i've had to promise myself that we won't only post about her from now on. but, she is so stinkin cute, and you all need to come see for yourselves. we hope not to drive anyone crazy, and as a disclaimer we can't help it because we are in love.

p.s. we were worried about the timing since we feel like we just got married yesterday, but it's been one of best decisions and we are thrilled to have her in our little family.

too cute for words

meet our puppy who as of right now doesn't have a set name yet (more on that later). but she is the sweetest little girl and we are in love with her. right now i'm listening to her quietly snore beside me as i type, she is priceless.

this is what i saw walking into the living room this morning. i almost died of cuteness. her favorite spot to sleep is right by jake's head.

we can't believe how much we lover her already, its a silly obsession.

so behind

i'm very behind, and when i say behind i mean a month behind. we were fortunate enough to go to las vegas just days before christmas for the bowl game with the football team, and to the caribbean with jakes family right after christmas. i also need to post just a few pictures from christmas just for our record. with all the havoc of christmas and our vacations we were able to fit in a few additional traditions that we are sure to keep for years to come. one of them is gingerbread house decorating which we started the christmas jake left on his mission. we had the best night with some of jakes best friends and our siblings here are the pictures to show.

our attempts for one decent photo:


so the race begins...






finished product:

dear: things that make our home feel like love

lately i've been in a funk since christmas ended. taking down the decorations felt like one.big.disappointment. i was saddened to see our decorations go into the box for 320 days. sad to see the cold snow outside our windows. a little sad school was starting. and all around just a little empty. i made a resolution to start cooking more often for a few reasons. 1. i need to improve 2. i owe it to my sweet husband who entirely deserves it 3. i really do love it. and i found out that it makes our home "feel like love." this last week i made some "to die for" homemade bread. it is so delicious you might hate me because you will eat the whole loaf in one day. husband has asked if I will make it every week i told him we'd have to see! (secretly i want it every day, but not so good on the bod) i am going to share the recipe with you and also tell you that i l.o.v.e. barefoot contessa books and would kill to meet ina garten.

honey white bread:
1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees)
2 packages dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1-1/2 cups warm whole milk
6 tablespoons melted butter, cooled
1-1/2 tablespoons honey
2 large egg yolks
5 to 6 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 egg white, lightly beaten


Dissolve the yeast in the warm water with the sugar (wait 5 min). Add the warm milk, butter, honey and eggs and mix on low for 2 min. Add the flour a bit at a time but don't add too much, just until the dough stops sticking to the sides of the mixing bowl (about 10 min) Knead for one minute by hand on floured surface and roll into a ball. Place in buttered bowl and cover with damp towel for one hour, allowing the dough to double. After dough has doubled divide in two and roll into loaf shape and place in buttered bread pans and allow to rise for another hour, covered with the damp towel. Use slightly beaten egg white to brush on top and bake for 40-45 minutes at 350 or until the bread fills hollow. Cool, eat, and seriously enjoy!

here are a few other things that have brought love to our home:
nightly scripture reading with one another
date nights "in"
a new little puppy who has so much love to offer us
our dear friends and family who visit often
exciting and unknown chats about our future together as a family

p.s. does anyone know how to get formatting back on blogger? i used to be able to change my font size and choose to have my text centered, etc. and now that is all gone...let me know how to fix it if you know!

nickel mania

oh man. if you are ever looking for a good time head to this place. you are in for a good treat. we hit the jackpot, several times in fact and came out with lots of great prizes.

bride and groom

so flattered to announce that our wedding has been featured in utah bride and groom's magazine and on the utah bride and groom blog. i was so anxious to see what the selections were and the wait is over. here is a peak at the magazine feature (if you haven't picked the magazine up yet, do so, there is some beautiful inspiration) and if you would like to visit the blog click here for part one and here for part two.

currently loving my sorels from santa (ok jake). he thinks i am silly because i wear them everyday but we live in utah so why not!

a little story

anyone who knows my dad knows that he makes the best chocolate chip cookies out there. he makes them every sunday night and once you have them you're hooked. anyways, i attempted to make them for us to snack on tonight thinking it'd be simple. wrong-o, not at all. i never believed in the art of baking but i am now a firm believer. after 5 batches I finally figured out how to make them look appealing to jake. this was the finished product.

one year ago

this happened. starting our adventure of a lifetime. in celebration of husband being home for one year we are making a favorite treat of his from the mission and going to dinner. so glad he is home, and so glad we still loved each other.

dear: harry potter

we might be your newest obsessive fans. we just returned from the magical harry potter land in florida and we were OBSESSED to say the least.

we might have rode the roller coaster 5 times in a row, watched every show, waiting in countless lines to shop in each store at hogsmead, drank butter bear, had a true hogwarts feast, and bought wands, chocolate frogs, and bought out honeydukes.

we are feeling like we missed out a little bit as children and are catching up for it now. i have lots of pictures to post but here is one for now.

we just returned from weeks of being out of town. it was a perfect way to spend the end of 2010. we are so blessed and fortunate to be able to travel the world and experience life together being married. even though i'm behind on so many exciting posts (which is rare!) here is our review of 2010.

January: jake returned home from his New York Mission, I was beginning my term as President for DG
February: we decided that we were going to get married, phone calls made, ring shopping, valentines day in Las Vegas/ St. George
March: Engaged in Hawaii
April: date nights, formals, school, and planning planning planning.
May: Finals, showers begin, friends engaged, dress fittings, and more planning.
June: Lake Powell with Cooks and friends, more showers, final planning.
July: Married on the 2, honeymoon in bora bora (tahiti), trip to sun valley, and vacation in laguna beach with smiths
August: i turned 21, more weddings, moved in to our first home, jake biked lots, took a trip to island park, school started
September: football started for jake, football games, and nose deep in school
October: "ute" indians for our first halloween together, carved pumpkins together, halloween parties, and vacation to california (usc game and disneyland)
November: first thanksgiving together, beat byu, decorated for christmas
December: finals week, first christmas together, jake turned 22, bowl game in las vegas, cruise to the carribbean.

we learned, laughed, loved, cried, and experienced more then ever imagined this last year and we couldn't have asked for anything more. we are so blessed and have such wonderful friends and family to share our lives with, especially at this time. we've now been married for 6 months, crazy to think it's been that long but it's flown by and i already can't believe how much our love has increased and changed since July! Can't wait to see what 2011 brings, more on that later.