2012

For the remainder of 2012, here's a quick recap:

Jen's Birthday (October) - started with breakfast with a dear friend (jamba juice). Ended with delicious food: pizza, cake & cupcakes. We threw in a trip to the arcade & staying up late playing games with friends!

 

Mat's Birthday (November) - dinner, relaxation & receiving his favorite present of all, a M&P 9 Compact. Mat only wanted to relax, so his birthday was quite low key.

 

Thanksgiving (November) - we had stayed close to home. We were going to travel for Christmas, so we decided to have a quiet Thanksgiving at home, just the two of us. Jen made a turkey (breast) and the whole dinner that goes with - all the way to Mom Haderlie's infamous rolls! It turned out fantastic!

 

 

Christmas (December) - we traveled to Idaho to spend it with Mat's family. We had a quiet Christmas dinner with just the parents and us. We did see Mat's sister for a little bit. We played games and even squeezed in a Christmas movie. It was nice to just relax. The most excitement on the whole trip was our drive home. We went from Idaho Falls to Star Valley - stopped in to see Mat's grandparents (both sets) and a cousin. Then went from Star Valley to Preston, Idaho to see a dear friend of ours and her adorable girls. We had a wonderful visit! Then we drove from Preston, Idaho to home. It was the LONGEST drive of all! The snow was coming down, the roads were awful and the drivers were your typical 'Utah drivers' as Mat put it. We made it safe and sound.

 

Now for New Years, we are spending it at home with take out and movies. We are so old when we put this all into writing. Ha ha! We are so grateful for the past year and are looking forward to all of what 2013 is bringing our way.

 

Happy New Year!!

5 Years & Counting

Yesterday, we celebrated our 5th Anniversary. We both sat back, in awe that it has really been 5 years. It's been a heck of a ride, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Due to our crazy schedules, we couldn't plan anything to big, so we decided to just spend the day together.

Since it was our five year anniversary, and it happened to fall on Saturday. I decided I would give Mat an Anniversary Week. :) Each day, I left a cute little note and a present. Some he guessed right off the bat, but others he had no idea. I was excited for him to open his presents each morning, but I think that as the week went on he got more and more excited. I don't think I have seen him get out of bed so quickly (at least since Christmas)!

For this Anniversary, Mat was planing a surprise of some sort. I dropped hints of what I would like to do and he listened...or at least pretended to. :) He told me that I needed to be ready on Friday by 2:30pm, I should wear comfortable shoes and bring a jacket. Those are all the clues that I got...until Thursday. He decided he couldn't hold it in anymore.

He surprised me with BYU football tickets and a t-shirt to go with! This was not something I hinted at and some might not think this is so romantic, but for the last 5 years I have said that I really want to go to a BYU football game. It's been on the Provo Bucket List since we moved here. I wasn't expecting it at all, but I loved the fact that he remembered how much I would like to go. And well...it didn't disappoint! BYU crushed Hawaii (47-0)!



Since the game was on Friday, we still had all day Saturday (our actual anniversary) - so we had a full day planned. We went shopping, watched a movie, played skeeball, had an ice cream date at Ike's - they sell BLUE BELL!!! If you have ever been to the South, you know about Blue Bell Ice Cream - there is just nothing like it! Plus, Ike's is a cute 50's style shop that just added to the experience.

We ended the evening at Black Sheep Cafe. It is a Southwestern Native American restaurant that has the best Navajo Tacos! It has delicious food, with flavors that you would not ever expect. I think my new favorite thing is their Catctus Pear Lemonade! Oh my - it's heavenly! If you have never been here, we definately recommend the Navajo Taco Trio - you can try a little bit of it all.

It was such a great day - here's to many more years to come!

August Recap

August was a busy month!

Jen was running around with 1st graders for the first few weeks of the month. She taught a "Jump Start" program and thoroughly enjoyed it! But it did make our living room look like a tornado ran through it!

Mat has been flying like crazy! He has been doing a lot of trips around Utah, but he's made a couple of trips to the West Coast. He still loves every minute he's in the air!

The rest of August included:

The school year starting, so Jen went back to work full time.

Mat's work schedule lightening up...at least a tad.

A quick trip to Idaho.

Before we knew it...September was here!

Haderlie Family Camp Out

As soon as we got home from Oregon, we were on the road to the Haderlie Camp Out. Mom Haderlie has wanted to do a family camp out with all the kids, their spouses, etc. for a few years now. And well we FINALLY did it! It was so much fun!

Shyann, Mat's sister, had made shirts for everyone with our last names and the years we were married. Mat & I had something similar made for our wedding reception, but since that was almost five years ago, it was nice to have a fresh one! She even made shirts for the puppies!!

We went up to the Star Valley area for the camp out - it was gorgeous! We saw quite a few deer and I even saw my first MOOSE! I forgot the camera on that one, but it was so neat! The weather wasn't bad either. We did have a little rain storm, which dumped buckets. We didn't mind though.

I learned how to make a milk can dinner - which was mighty tasty! We played card games and visited. It was nice to get away from the technology gadgets and catch up with the family. It was so nice to see the grandparents too! I felt like it was such a treat to have them there!

Mat and I had to leave Sunday, since he had to work Monday and everyone else stayed through Monday. Sunday morning though, we had a little church service. It was probably my favorite memory of the weekend. We each got a chance to share a scripture, story or song. I felt so blessed to have been there that day.

I am looking forward to next year!

Our t-shirts!

Ella...Mat's sisters puppy, that we secretly would like to kidnap :)

Poochie Haderlie...Dad & Mom Haderlie's dog...he certainly loves his DWs (doggie walks)

Grandma Park insisted on walking up Mat one morning. I couldn't help but get the camera ready.

I was cracking up! :)

Yes, that's a teepee...That's Dad Haderlie's speciality.

Believe it or not, I've never seen one before. It was pretty darn neat!

Such a Great Man

Back in June, I lost my grandfather. We called him PoPo. Mat and I flew out to Oregon to attend his service. He lived such an amazing life and was loved by all who met him. He had such a kind, caring, generous spirit. He taught me how to make homemade ice cream and delicious cider. He taught me how to drive the lawn mower for the first time. He had the best stories to tell. He always had a smile on his face. He was such an inspiration to my life and will be missed.

Idaho Weekend (with the baby buffalo & camel)

We headed to Idaho last weekend for an air show and had the added bonus of seeing the Haderlie family! I drove up Thursday and Mat flew up on Friday.

We crammed a lot in for this weekend...like...

I saw my bestie, Bethany & her kiddos - oh, how I loved them!

We had a hot dog roast & smores with our friends, the Calls - we love seeing them when they're in town!

We met a baby buffalo, Brillo.

We went to the Rexburg Air Show - saw some amazing airplanes!

I got completely FRIED by the sun. :(

We met and Mat rode a camel named Ralphie!

We got to see Grandma & Grandpa Park - so happy they came up to Idaho Falls!

When Mat flew in, Mom Haderlie & I went to pick him up and got a sneak peak of the planes before the show. I stumbled across this airplane called, "Unfinished Business". It was gorgeous!

Here's a look inside the plane:

There was a little message in front of the controls...here's a close up version:

Love it!!

Baby Buffalo, Brillo :)

She's adorable!

...and liked Mat a lot...

Ralphie, the Camel

Mat going for a ride.

These are Mom Haderlie's Donkeys :)

Aren't they cute?!



Camping x 2

We have gone camping, not once, but TWICE since June started! We have a big Haderlie Camp Out coming up and well...I need practice before I take that leap. I haven't been camping since 2009 (I know, I know). The first camping trip was not the easiest, but the second one was MUCH better! Granted, we had some crazy wind, but it was still much more enjoyable. I even surprised Mat by having the car packed and ready to go when he walked in the door!

Once we had camp set up, Mat went fishing while I hung out at the campsite reading a delightful book and having some good ol' quality me time. Mat caught a bunch of little fish and then one decent sized one. He let the little ones go, but then he cooked up the decent sized one to go with dinner.

The first camp trip, we took WAY to much stuff and this camp trip we simplified everything. We roasted hot dogs for dinner (along with the fish), smores for dessert and then oatmeal and strawberries for breakfast. We only could spare an overnight trip, but it was still very much worth it!

I'm looking forward to the upcoming camp outs! I was too busy to take pictures for the first camp trip and only took two from our second one...

Our campsite

Mat & his fish

Flight to Hill AFB

Mat had a sweet opportunity to fly up to the air show at Hill Air Force Base recently. This was a HUGE deal for him. It's very, very rare to ever fly into an air force base, unless you are a military aircraft.

He was so excited the entire week leading up to the flight. Then the day of, he became rather nervous. He was determined to get a video of it and here it is....

I picked the music - thought it was fitting! So enjoy!

Jam, Rolls & Girl Time

This week I had a break from work before starting back next Monday. So Mom Haderlie came down to spend the week with us. We spent lots of time chatting, but we also did a few productive things. Mat still had to work a few days, so we went down to see him at dinner time and he gave Mom the tour of the airport.

Then...She helped me with my very first ever batch of strawberry freezer jam! And Oh. My. Goodness. It turned out so good!

We couldn't have jam without something yummy to put them on...so we made homemade rolls. Not just any rolls, but Mom Haderlie style rolls. I have tried this recipe a few times before, but never could get them just right. The last batch was an epic fail and they were awful. Mom Haderlie walked me through step by step and Oh. My. Goodness. I was in HEAVEN! We were digging into them the very moment they came out of the oven!

I was also trying to finish all the preparations for my summer school class. I will be teaching 3rd grade - I'm really excited about it! These kids are a lot of fun. I've been working in their class for the last few months of school and have enjoyed it. My focus for summer school is more on reading - I made bookmarks for all the kiddos in my class. Mom Haderlie helped me so much with them! We also made reading folders (they have a chapter card, reading journal and reading list in them). It was an all afternoon project and they're done!

We had such a good time! Can't wait to go camping this summer with the Haderlie family!

Mat's flight to Oregon

One of Mat's students decided he wanted to go on a long flight...to OREGON!

They flew from Provo, Utah to Boise, Idaho and then to Aurora, Oregon.

Just to have a little fun on the trip, they decided to fly over to the Oregon Coast and have some fresh seafood. The weather was amazing!

Mat was so pumped after this trip and can't wait to do it again!

...Here's a few pictures...

Day in the Life of a Flight Instructor

This video is almost a year old, but it shows a little more of what Mat does in his job as a flight instructor. I am so proud of him. He loves flying more and more each day. Now to see his students learn from his enthusiasm and strive to do their best, it just puts a smile on my face.

As a flight instructor, the most stressful, exciting, nerve racking moment is when you let your students do their first solo flight. The day of this flight, Mat was a wreck. He didn't sleep so well, he couldn't eat, he just wanted to have the day to be over. Spencer (his student) is still an amazing student! He has done so well in his training. The video is long, but it's neat!

We're BAAAAACK!

So...we're back!

After taking a year off from blogging and determining if it was something we wanted to continue with...here we are! A lot has happened in the last year, most of which, we don't have pictures to show.

To recap this past year, here's the short version:

Mat continued to Flight Instruct through UVU (he's up to 11 students and working a ton!)

Jen finished her Associate's Degree

Mat went backpacking/camping/fishing almost every weekend last summer

Jen had emergency surgery to remove her appendix

We went to Oregon...three times!

We got to see Tucker & Mary (Mat's brother & his wife) over Christmas

We welcomed our second niece to the world, Jennifer Charolette Belle (she's adorable!)

Jen switched jobs to work at an elementary school (She LOVES it!)

Now that we're caught up, we hope to keep up on blogging a little more now!