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!