Thanksgiving Point

 Jaren and I went with my family to Thanksgiving Point overnight. We had so much fun and it was so nice and relaxing to have a little get-away. Jaren and I decided to go to the Thanksgiving Point Gardens since we have both never been there before. The gardens were amazing! There were 17 themed gardens and it took us over 2 hours to get through them all. Suprisingly there was a nice breeze the whole time, so it didn't get as hot as I thought it would! Everything was incredibly beautiful! If you have never been before, I would highly recommend going!

This was the rose garden. There were so many different roses and they were all in bloom!

Look at all these fish! You could feed the fish for 25 cents. We didn't have any quarters, but the fish still gathered around hoping for some food! The ponds and streams were so pretty! I didn't take any pictures, but they were covered with lily pads and lotus flowers!

This waterfall is also an amphitheater. There is a huge hill in front of this waterfall where families can sit when there are concerts and events.

There is a new garden in the making called "The Light of the World" garden. There are huge sculptures depicting the miracles in Christ's life. Some of the sculptures were small and are currently in the process of being made on a much larger scale. This sculpture is of Christ walking on water. This garden was AMAZING!

Visiting Teaching

When Jaren and I first moved into our ward in Layton, Melanie was assigned as my visiting teacher. Little did I know this beautiful mother of six would become one of my closest friends! I have been so blessed to have her in my life. I truly believe the Lord places people in our lives for a reason. She has taught me so much about feeling the spirit, recieving answers to prayers, and recognizing the many tender mercies the Lord gives us day to day. I will miss our temple trips and walks together. We have laughed together, cried together, and had some amazing talks that I will remember forever. Melanie has finally met the man of her dreams, and is now happily married and living in Washington. I am so excited for her, but she will definitely be missed!

Here we are at Melanie's open house with her fiance (now husband) Ryan.

Conditioner

Ok, I am incapable of buying conditioner! Conditioner (for me) always seems to run out faster than shampoo. So... a couple of months ago I went to the store to buy some conditioner only. When I came home, I realized I had bought shampoo. I was going to take it back, but Jaren told me to just hold on to it for when we need it and buy some more conditioner next time. So, next time I went grocery shopping I picked up some conditioner. I got home, and it was shampoo! This time I took it back, and when I came back out I had some more shampoo! So I went back in and swapped it for conditioner. At last I finally had my conditioner. I have needed to buy some conditioner since then, and I managed to be able to get the job done. But then today I went grocery shopping and since we need some conditioner, I bought some. But when I got home... it was shampoo! How does this even happen? It is a mystery.

Today my sister reminded me of my favorite quote. My favorite quote that I almost forgot about, that is! I used to see it on my wall every day during my high school and early college years, but since I married and moved away I had almost forgotten it. It is a quote by Gordon B. Hinckley... and thanks, Em! I needed to remember.

"Keep trying. Be believing. Be happy. Don't get discouraged. Things will work out."

Mr. Sniffles no more....

This week Jaren had surgery on his nose. He has had a deviated septum for a while now (4 + years!), which has made it very hard for him to breathe. Poor Jaren! He took the week off, and luckily I had the week off too! The doctor came in and talked to me while Jaren was waking up from the anesthesia. I think the doctor was even surprised by how bad Jaren's nose was! He told me that Jaren should breathe MUCH better now! Jaren has stents in his nose currently, though, so he still can't breathe very well. Hopefully once the stents are taken out and his nose continues to heal things will get better. This is a picture of Jaren just after surgery.(Still high on anesthesia and pain killers...)

Because of Jaren's surgery, we have watched LOTS of movies and relaxed. But on Saturday Jaren was feeling well enough to go to the Real Salt Lake game! We had SO much fun at this game! Real scored the winning point in the last minute of the game!

This picture is from Easter. We had our second annual "Easter Egg in the Dark" hunt! Some of the eggs had candy, and others had money. We had the egg hunt with some of my cousins. We all had a great time! Here is the whole gang...

Soccer

Last Saturday Jaren and I went to the first Real home game of the season! It was cold, windy, and wet but SO MUCH FUN!!!! We went to the game with our friends' Stevi and Derek, and their cute kids came too! Real won 2-0! I hope Jaren and I continue to go to more games throughout the season, because we absolutely had a blast!

Also, Jaren and I joined a co-ed soccer team. Yes, that's right, I'm playing too! I have never played a single game of soccer in my life (before this), and most of the time I don't really know what I'm doing! But Jaren helps me out and we have fun and lots of laughs together. He's a pro so he's practically my coach out there. He always yells nice things to me while we're playing. Our friend Riley called him "very supportive." :) He says things like, "Good job Sarah!" "That's ok, you're doing great!" And he helps me know where to be on the field. I like playing defense the most. I try to be aggressive, that is the key to success!!!(So I've heard...) We really enjoy playing together and it gives us something to look forward to on Mondays.

On a different note... We don't have TV at our house, so we checked out LOST from the library. We watch episodes all the time! Right now we are on season 5. Isn't the library great? You can check out books, movies, AND TV series for free and keep them for 2 weeks to a month!

Other than that, life has been pretty routine. I work and Jaren is always busy studying, working, or doing his clinicals. He only has one more semester after this one and then he'll graduate with his bachelor's degree! Yippee!

Superman

Jaren's best friend asked him if he would be a special guest at his son's birthday party... SUPERMAN! Jaren had so much fun and the kids LOVED him! He made us all laugh and the kids and adults had a great time! Whitney's mom made the costume and did a fabulous job. I personally thought Superman was VERY cute!

Ugly Sweater Party

Last weekend Jaren and I attended the annual Ugly Sweater Christmas Party. Thanks to my grandma for providing us with some genuine awesome Christmas sweaters! We had so much fun catching up with friends! I didn't snap any photos at the actual party, but I did get a few at my parents house beforehand.

CaLiFoRnIa

Jaren and I decided to head to California during my week off at work! Our 3rd anniversary is November 22nd, so I guess we went for our anniversary too. (I can hardly believe we've been married 3 years and have been together for 4!) We were able to go to Disneyland and see Jaren's brother and his family! We went the second week of November and it was a WONDERFUL time to go! The weather was perfect (low 70's, high 60's) and there were hardly any lines in Disneyland! We walked right on Tower of Terror and Soarin' California! We also went to the San Diego temple! It was GORGEOUS!! Here are some of the pictures I took...

Rainforest Cafe... one of our most favorite places to eat!



Here is Jaren playing the giant Fruit Ninja on Kinnect! We are at the Innovations Center in Disneyland.



New ride.... Goofy's Sky School.



Lotso Hugs Bear really does smell like strawberries!



The beautiful San Diego Temple!





Our cute neices and nephew! Caleb's fifth birthday! Jaren's brother and his wife were so nice to let us stay with them! We had so much fun!



We had a great time in California! It's always hard to come home and get back to "real life."

Gratitude- and a few thoughts

I have learned there is always something to complain about in life. If you look for negativity, it will most certainly come to you. I catch myself complaing from time to time, or wishing certain things were different. I'm sure it happens more often then I realize, and I truly need to express more gratitude in my life. I have so much to be grateful for!

First of all, I am thankful to be married to Jaren. I have a fabulous husband who is my best friend. I would rather spend time with him than anyone else. He is kind and understanding. He makes me laugh every day. We definitely don't have a "perfect" marriage, but we are continually helping each other grow and become better people. I had someone (in their 50's) tell me the other day that I was lucky to have fallen in love and to be married at my age. This comment caught me by surprise. In Utah, it seems as if everyone is married young. But as I thought about what this person said to me, I realized how true it rang. If you have found someone you love to go through life with, to help you through your "downs" and share with you the joy in your "ups" you are truly blessed. I didn't plan on marrying young, but I am so grateful we found each other! I love Jaren and I feel so blessed and grateful for our marriage. Marriage is wonderful, and I feel it is important to stand up for the importance of marriage, especially because it is becoming less and less common, and unfortunately viewed as less important throughout the world.

I'm grateful for family! I was born into the most loving, kind family that anyone could hope for, My parents and sister are such a amazing example of generosity, love, and service. We are all very close, and this is something I definitely cherish! I also married into a wonderful family! I truly love them and appreciate what great examples they are. My extended family is amazing, too. Family is truly a great blessing.

I am thankful for education and work. With the economy the way it is, I realize many people are out of work at this time. I have talked to several people who have lost jobs, many through no fault of their own, and I can see the worry in their eyes. Although it is easy to complain about getting up early on a Saturday morning to go to work (when I think I'd rather sleep in), I am thankful for my job. I have a great boss who appreciates and listens to me. I work with wonderful people! My job is a huge blessing to Jaren and I at this time in our lives, especially with Jaren going to school. I am also grateful for Jaren's job. He works part-time right now, mostly so we can have insurance (another thing to be grateful for). I appreciate our opportunity to work.

Good health is always something to be grateful for. At my job I also interact with some people who have many health problems. Most of them have amazing attitudes. Speaking with them makes me appreciate my health all the more.

I realize trials can come upon us at any time. Many things I am grateful for could change in an instant (such as work, health, ect). But the person I owe everything to, who I express the most gratitude to, is my Savior Jesus Christ. I am grateful for His gospel in my life to give me hope and direction. If we trust in Him and have faith, we can always be guided through times of trial.

Just like there is always something to find to complain about, there is also always something to be grateful for!