I'm a little embarrassed

to admit that I might hate the Olympics. I know, how could someone hate the Olympics, and the worst part is, I don't even know why!? Last night Braden was watching them and I just got all ornery and bugged. Right after we got married the summer Olympics were on and it seemed like they took over him. So maybe its because of all the hype when they came to Utah, maybe its because they take over my husband, whatever the reason, I'm trying to overcome it! Tonight we watched some and I did quite a bit better, maybe by the end I'll love them like everyone else.... or at least not despise them.

It also seems like there is an excessive amount of this going on...

maybe we just need to start watching a little bit earlier.

Disneyland

We went to DISNEYLAND today, and it was even more magical than I remember! We had a BlaST!!!! more to come....

Busy Weekend Part 2

I decided to make two posts out of last weekend because I hate trying to move pictures all around...

So after a very long Friday night, we woke up Saturday morning to go ice fishing. :/ Braden is in the EQ presidency and was going for their activity and asked me to come along because wives and children were invited. I've been ice fishing once before and it was COLD! But it was supposed to be warmer and they were planning on cooking lunch for everyone so I thought I could manage to tag along. Well, when we got to the church the only other person there was the Pres. We waited a while and one other guy showed up. Braden's dad and uncle had left earlier (they go pretty much every saturday) so Braden called to see where they were. They were at Echo so we headed up there. The only thing was, they forgot to tell us that you have to tredge through watery slush to get to the ice!!! So everyone crossed and got wet cause as soon as you stepped on the slush, you would sink. Braden made it across pretty good and offered to give me a piggy back. So when I stepped on the snow covered, what we thought was ice, I sunk clear to my knee! I had to set my other foot into the water in order to get out and I could feel the water flood my boots! Great! I had only been there not even 5 min and managed to soak my feet. I sloshed my way out to the spot where they were fishing and Todd and the EQ pres. both gave me a pair of socks to change into. Only, I changed one foot and went to put my foot back in my boot and thought, 'I'm just going to soak my fresh socks.' So I just sat there on the bucket with one foot still sopping in the boot and the other with dry socks free in the air. I did catch one fish though! Then they cooked lunch and i was outta there. I headed back up to the truck to warm my frozen feet and legs. Unfortunately I did a little better on the way back, woulda made through completely if I didn't freeze up in the middle when I sunk again. But it actually wasn't that bad of a day. They tell me ice fishing really is fun, but I am not yet convinced.

I think we ended up catching 21 between all of us.

Later that night we attended a birthday party for my Dad. He is such an amazing man, father and grandpa! We dinner over at the church and then played with balls, the new wiggle car and visited. It was a great time!

And of course there were cupcakes!

This cute little man knew exactly what he wanted. He went and got that sweeper all by himself and drug it over to his dad so he could......

Have a RIDE!

Happy Birthday Dad, we love you!


Later that night we went to the Rodeo and ended up sitting by Dena and Darin then met Braden's friend Mitch and a date. After the rodeo we came back to our house to watch a movie, it was a fun night.
Sunday morning we went to my cousin Josh's homecoming, he just returned from Brazil. He did a very nice job speaking and playing the piano. That is one thing I have always been jealous of but at the same time enjoy, he is an AMAZING pianist. But it was very good to see him again!
After his meeting we rushed over to ours because our landlord's (and friend) son was having his farewell. He is going to Kentucky. He also did a nice job speaking, and will make a good missionary.
That night we went to Grandma and Grandpa Smith's for dinner and they told us they were going to California and invited us to go. So after some consideration we decided 'We're Going to Hollywood!' Not really Hollywood, but Escondido or something like that. But I am way excited! I'll let you know how it goes...

Busy, Busy Weekend

This last weekend was crazy busy. Friday night we needed to clean house and prepare for ice fishing and my dad's birthday party the next day. I decided I'd stay home and clean and make cup cakes while Braden went to his parent's house to gather ice fishing gear.

When Braden got to his parents he went to check on his old dog Moose. We had been over to see him on Monday and his parents had told us he was lots worse since then and had not ate anything since Sunday. He has been old, deaf and had arthritis for quite some time and had been sleeping in the garage since the weather got cold. When Braden went to check on him Moose tried to get up, but couldn't; he could not even lift his head up, every time he tried it would smack back down on the cement. Braden told him it was ok and just sat there and pet and talked to him for a little bit. He went into the house to grab a few things and when he came out 10 minutes later, Moose was gone! We all think good ol' Moose was just waiting for Braden to come say goodbye. Braden and Moose were best friends and had many good years and hunts together.
Braden called me and told me he'd be home to pick me up so we could go back when his parents got home to help bury him. It was a hard night for all of us, but Braden especially, I don't think I've ever seen him show so much emotion.
Todd had already dug a hole the night before because he knew it would not be long so Moose was buried in the back yard with a dead duck and an old decoy. Sad day! :'(
Here are a couple pictures of Moose over the years...

No More Chasing!!!(no pun intended)

I just need to say that Shock Collars are AMAZING!!! Life is so much better since we bought the seven dollar batteries for the remote, Totally Worth way more than Seven Dollars!! We are happy, and Chase is happy cause he gets out more often. :)

Have you ever seen one of these?

Braden shot this Hooded Merganser back in November and we got it back from the taxidermist this last week. I think it looks pretty cool and apparently they are very uncommon in Utah. They usually are found in the eastern states.

Lucky for Braden, I actually kind of enjoy having stuffed ducks in my house because we dropped another one off when we picked this one up. It is a Barrow's Goldeneye. It is not very common in Utah either they are more along the north west coast and near Alaska. I am kind of excited to see how it will turn out because we are doing a different type of mount then the others that we have. I know your all dying for the details, but you'll just have to wait and see. ;) Although, I did tell Braden we were going to have to start limiting the amount of birds per year for the sake of our check book and for fear that our family room will fly away.

What a wonderful Christmas

Christmas Eve we went to my mom's house for a delicious dinner and a wonderful party consisting of: Adorable Little kids running wild, Dressing kids up for the nativity scene, making our own sticker nativity, Playing Hide Frosty, and Opening our pjs.... and then our other presents! :) I got some much needed Tupperware and Jen gave me some great shirts and a puffy vest. Braden got a Cabela's gift card which he was very pleased with. We had a very enjoyable evening and it was so fun to just hang out with everyone!

I gave Braden a Hunting Trip to Colorado. Our landlord offered to let him go with him and his boys because he was taking them for their Christmas, so it was a pretty sweet deal. Braden got me some fabulous shoes that I think I have worn every day since I got them and some more kitchen utensils that I have been wanting.
Christmas morning we were supposed to be to Braden's parents by 9:30 which you would think would be manageable.... Not so! Braden went to let the puppy out and feed him before we headed out for the day and vamoose, he was gone! I know you've heard my stories of me trecking through the fields to retrieve him from biting the cows faces off, however, Braden's patience must not get tested as much as mine.... in other words, he has little to none. I went out to see what was taking so long and found Brado half way out in the field yelling at Chase. I grabbed my sloshers and went to assist; I hadn't even made it half way to Braden when he told me to go get his gun!!!.... Uh, NO!! We continued to call, yell, clap, run, threaten, etc. (Mind you I'd done this many a times before and this is Braden's first time experiencing it.) Finally Braden went and got a dead duck he had been keeping in the shed and threw it after getting Chase's attention. Chase ran for the retrieve and just as he was turning away with it Braden grabbed him. I won't get into details on what happened next. It was like a horrible re-run of when I was eight years old and my dad had to chase my puppy off the free-way!
Anyhow, I think we showed up at Smith's around 10:45. Poor Coltie had to wait for us to get there before he could open any of his presents. Santa must have known we would show up there sooner or later because he was pretty generous! We both got jammies and restaurant gift cards and I got some beaded watch supplies, a CRiCuT, jewelry, and some storage totes-which I'm addicted to. Braden got some very expensive shells, camouflage burlap cover for hunting, money for his Colorado Trip and a skull mount of his first deer he shot in October. Then we were able to talk to Jaron, Braden's little brother who is serving in the Ventura, California mission. It was fun to hear his voice and to talk to him about everything that he is doing and experiencing.
Then we were off to Grandma and Grandpa Smith's house for some dinner and more presents. Grandma and grandpa gave us a cool drain strainer thing and a down comforter, which is wonderful!! The cousins also exchanged gifts and I got a beautiful watch band and Braden got some shells and a gift card to Subway.
We stopped for a quick visit at my parents at about 8:30 and then headed home for bed. It was a very long Holiday. We sure were spoiled and are definitely loved by a lot of people. Thank you everyone for everything you did for us not only this Holiday Season, but do for us all year round! We are blessed to have such great family so close. We love you!

Sorry there's no pictures, we were too lazy. But here are some of Braden's Colorado trip...