Oh Canada...

Jaren's Summer break is here! We decided to go to Canada (Banff/Lake Louise) for a little getaway. We have always talked about coming here over the years. Jaren came with his parents and grandparents when he was 15 and has always wanted to come back. When we found out we would be moving to Montana, we knew we had to go at some point! And here we are...

The drive was long- a whopping 13 hours! But the scenery was so beautiful which helped pass the time.  We drove past Flathead Lake and Whitefish city- which I thought was amazing. Once we drove into Canada I was even more amazed. Jaren told me it would be beautiful, and he did not exaggerate. I have never seen such mountainous beauty before. The trees are so close together, they just cover the mountains. There are wild flowers everywhere, crystal-clear little lakes, and so much green!

We saw a bear while driving through Canada. It was so close to us! We both said we wanted to see a bear while we were here so we were pretty excited.

Downtown Banff is very quintessential. It reminds me of downtown Park City, with a lot of shops and restaurants. We ate dinner downtown and walked around a little, but then went back to our hotel and went to sleep!

Emily's Graduation Celebration

My sister and I had a blast together in California, to say the least. We went May 6th through May 9th. This post is long. Feel free to read the whole post, skim, or just look at the pictures.

At the end of April, Emily graduated from Weber State. Emily asked me if we could go on a trip together to celebrate. I of course agreed in an instant! We decided on Disneyland becaues A, we both love Disneyland. B, it was very doable for the two of us (convienience, price, location). And C, it would be a lot of fun!

When it came to flying, I would be traveling from Montana to Salt Lake and on to Long Beach. I was somehow able to get us on the same flight from Salt Lake to Long Beach and we were also able to be on the same flight coming home. Talk about convenience!

We stayed at the Best Western's Stovalls Inn. We have always stayed at that hotel. It's really nice, a great price, and very close to the parks. Someday, though, we would love to stay in Disney's California hotel which is right on Disney property. My cousin Crystal and her family have stayed there several times and I have heard so many good things about it. When I have kids we are definitely staying there at least once or twice.

On Tuesday we flew in early and arrived at Disneyland around 11:30. By that time we were already hungry for lunch so we went to the Hungry Bear in Critter Country. We LOVE the fried green tomato sandwich with sweet potato fries. There is nothing better. They have a lot of delicious food there and many kid-friendly options as well if you have children.

The park was pretty crowded. Not overwhelming but definitely more people than I would have thought for the month of May. And SO MANY strollers! Strollers are the worst! Lol. But we didn't hold it against anyone as we know someday we will be the stroller people walking around with our own kids. And Disneyland is, afterall, a kids place.

We rode the teacups, Star Tours (one of my personal favs- I love Star Wars), and Space Mountain. We stopped by Pooh's Corner to grab us a treat (Emily loves the peanut butter sandwich- a MUST try if you're going there). Afterward we decided we would cross over to Disney's California Adventure park to see what it was like over there.

They were having a sneak preview of Maleficent in the Bug's Life theater so we got to to watch 10 or so minutes of the movie. From what we saw, it's going to be good! I can't wait to see it! We rode Soarin' California and saw the musical, Aladdin. It was so good, Disney puts on such a great show! It's totally worth it and any age group would love it!

Afterward we headed back to Disneyland and watched the Soundsational Parade. Yes, I'm 26 and I totally loved it. There were a LOT of young adults around us, though, so I know I'm not the only one! The kids around us were so fun to watch- they danced along to the music and were so excited to see their favorite Disney characters pass by. After the parade we went on Storybook Canals (a little boat ride that has miniature fairytale kingdoms from stories/movies and miniature gardens). Then we road more rides and ate at Rainforest Cafe'. We love that place and the food is delicious. Afterward we went back to the hotel and I CRASHED. I had been up since 4 am and I had no trouble falling asleep.

On Wednesday we headed to Disney's California Adventure and rode Tower of Terror, Soarin' (top row center-yeah!), California Screamin' (once on that roller coaster was all I needed- it's fun but gave me a headache), Cars (we did the single riders line and it went by much faster), and Toy Story. We love the Toy Story ride- it's one of our favs! We saw the Muppet's show and it was hilarious. I love the Muppets.We ate lunch at Pacific Wharf cafe'- delicious! We both had soup in bread bowls. I loved the clam chowder and Emily had the totato basil. The temperature was in the upper sixties (not super warm) so soup was perfect! We used fast pass to our advantage and went on Tower of Terror several times. In the afternoon we headed back to Disneyland. We ate ice cream on main street and rode more rides- Star Tours again, Peter Pan, and Haunted Mansion were a few that I can remember. We shopped around a little at night and had vegetable and chiken skewers in Adventureland for dinner (very good and inexpensive).

Thursday, our last day, was our absolute favorite. We had a magic morning pass so we were able to get into Disneyland an hour before the park opened. This made all the difference! We rode so many rides in an hour or two than we would have been able to all day! At first only Tomorrowland and Fantasyland were open so we went on Space Mountain (front row- so fun) and Buzz Lightyear ride. Then the rest of the park opened so we were on the first train of Thunder Mountain (which has been updated with new effects since the last time I rode it). We were also one of the first to ride the Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain. After we got off each ride, we noticed the line had gotten HUGE. We were very lucky! We rode Winnie the Pooh for fun and then had lunch at a Mexican place.(Del Torro???) We rode the Jungle Cruise and saw a bunch of workers around the Indiana Jones ride. After we had booked our trip, I realized Indiana Jones was closed and scheduled to open the day AFTER we left. This is one of my most absolute favorite rides ever (Emily's too) so I was pretty bummed. But as we saw all the workers I hoped beyond hope that Indiana Jones would open a day early! I asked one of the workers if this was possible. They all kept saying, "the ride is scheduled to open on Friday." So I tried not to get my hopes up. But one nice worker told me to keep checking back, just in case.

Later in the afternoon we went back over to DCA and saw the preview of Maleficent again and the Muppet show again. We shopped around and found some fun souvenirs. Then we headed back to Disneyland.

We decided to walk through Adventureland. And lo and behold, Indiana Jones had opened!! Early!! I couldn't believe it and I don't think I could have been more excited! We went on it, ate a late dinner on Main Street (Carnation Cafe, I think) and then went on  Indiana Jones 2 more times! It was a great way to end the night!

I think the best part was spending time with Emily. We had such a good time together! I miss seeing her all the time and I'm so glad we're close sisters and friends!

In Hollywood Land at DCA

Mmm... gotta have a Dole Whip!

Parade

Muppets 3D

View from the backside of the castle

George

During the October 2013 General Conference, the talk by Elder Ballard on missionary work was very touching to Jaren and he decided to follow Elder Ballard's council and invite someone to church. He thought and prayed about this for a long time. When we moved up to Montana and Jaren began school, he met George.

After school one day, Jaren told me about George. He was born and raised in Kenya, and moved to the States to attend college in Minnesota. He moved to Montana once he was accepted to PA school. Jaren said to me, "George is ready for the gospel, I know it! I am going to baptize him." He said that to me sometime in the Summer, but there was never a good opportunity to talk to George about the gospel until later on. It wasn't until we drove George home from a class Christmas party that Jaren invited him to church.

George and Jaren were talking about what it was like to live in another country. George asked Jaren why he lived in Brazil for 2 years and Jaren told him about serving a "Mormon" mission. George then said, "You are Mormon?! I have a friend who married a Mormon!" Jaren then invited George to come to church with him, and George accepted. After that, we went back to Utah for 2 1/2 weeks. When we came back to Montana at the beginning in January, Jaren asked George if he would still be interested in coming to church with us. George told Jaren he would still like to attend, and came to church with us that week!

When George came to church with us, we asked him if he'd like to stay for the first hour (sacrament meeting) or attend all 3 hours with us. George told us he wanted to stay all 3 hours, which we thought was awesome. After a few weeks, Jaren asked if George would like to have the missionaries teach him more about the gospel. George accepted, and we often had lessons over at our apartment, which was so fun for me to participate in, since I never served a mission.

Since that first Sunday in January, George has never missed church. He even called Jaren one Sunday (we were coming home from Utah) and GEORGE reminded US that church would be at a different time due to stake conference!

George accepted the invitation to be baptized, and Jaren baptized and confirmed George in March. Witnessing the baptism and confirmation was such a spiritual experience for me. I could feel the love of our Savior so strongly. I knew Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ were so happy for George. I also felt so much love for Jaren.

George still comes to church with us, and we attend the Gospel Principles class with him. It is so amazing to watch someone learn, grow, and develop their own testimony of the gospel. I am so grateful to have the gospel in my life, and for all the hope, knowledge, and happiness it gives me.

Lately...

Jaren started PA school July 8th. They did not waste any time. He had 2 semester classes squashed into 2 weeks. Genetics and some sort of medical statistics class. He is ALWAYS studying and we see each other for about 1-2 hours at night. Now those classes are over and he starts Anatomy and Physiology class today. His Physiology class is 4 hours long! I told him to pack lots of snacks so he can stay focused.

We have loved, loved, LOVED our ward! I have never loved a ward before like I have loved this one. We have only been in the ward 6 weeks and it has become my favorite ward that Jaren and I have been in. And guess what... we just found out the ward boundaries are changing! Our ward will drastically change, it won't be even close to the same. Next week we find out the new ward we will be in. I was SO sad when I found this out, I even cried! I laugh about how I cried, thinking back, but I am seriously so sad! I know this is a good thing for Billings, though, because the church is growing. I just hope I love our new ward as much as the last one. The church is actually bigger than I thought here. We have 2 stakes in Billings.

We have made friends with a couple who moved here from Logan. He is in Jaren's PA class.They invited us to go to a baseball game with them on Saturday. Jaren and I just walked to the stadium because it is so close to our apartment. We haven't been to a baseball game together, so we were excited! We had a blast! And it was nice to be social, for once. We really like this couple and spent a lot of the night laughing! When we were leaving we saw 4 missionaries who had gone to the game, they were all from Utah! We talked to them for a while! It was such a fun night!

My grandma and her husband Leon surprised us with a trip up here to Billings! They are so sweet! We went to dinner with them and drove them around Billings, showing them where I work and where Jaren goes to school. It was so fun to spend time with them! I thought it was so special that they would take the time to come see us! How cute are they?!

My parents and sister also came up the week of the 4th! We had fun going to Red Lodge, spending a day Downtown, and going to a movie! I sure miss them and it was great having them up here!

This week a girl I work with asked me to trade some shifts with her. I am working Mon-Thursday which means I have Friday and Saturday off! Jaren and I might go to Yellowstone if he doesn't have too much studying this weekend, we will see! It's nice to have a weekend off! 2 of the shifts are 12 hours. They make for long days, but the people I work with are really nice.

We are enjoying living here and loving it more all the time!

Where to begin? There is so much I want to write about. This could be a long post...

Jaren and I now live in Billings. We arrived here Saturday, June 1st after a 10 1/2 hour drive! (The farthest I have ever driven anywhere.) Jaren's parents, my parents, and my sister rode along with us and helped us unload and carry all of our belongings up 3 flights of stairs to our apartment (we have no elevator). I can't even express how grateful we are to each of them! We could not have done this without them!

As I said before, the drive was LONG. But Emily rode along with me and made it so much fun! We listened to old music, talked, and laughed our way to Billings. I was SO glad she came with me! Poor Jaren had to ride by himself with only Bob Marley and The Beyonders book on CD to keep him company.

Saying good-bye was hard. I used to see my family frequently throughout the week. It was nice they lived so close to us. I'd pass their house on the way home from work and stop by to say hello. Jaren also worked about 3 to 4 nights of the week, so I usually went over to my parents house on those nights. I would tag along with them to Harmon's grocery store on weekends while Jaren worked and my dad would usually buy us a pistacio-flavored gelato (I get my love of pistacio flavors from him). Sometimes I'd go to movies or on walks with my parents. My mom, sister, and I would also go once a week to Cafe Rio, and I am sure going to miss those lunch dates! I love the little memories I have made with my family and those are the things I miss the most! We saw Jaren's parents often too, and those visits were always great! We'd get together with Jaren's whole family once a month for FHE. I loved seeing the family and talking with everyone about what was going on in their lives. The food was always fantastic too, as my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law are the best cooks! Just thinking about our families back in Utah and typing this post makes me miss them even more!

Needless to say, more than a few tears were shed those first few days. I still miss home, but I'm getting more used to Billings all the time. On a day I was feeling particularly down my friend sent me a message which said, "When you feel sad, just remember this is all temporary, and try to enjoy it." And those are true words! The more I spend time here in Billings, the more I like it. And we haven't been here very long at all, so there is plenty of time for Billings to grow on me. This is a fun adventure Jaren and I are having together! Before I know it, this time will have passed.

I love love LOVE our apartment! We have new carpet and new appliances. We have a dish washer for the first time in our marriage. I feel like having a dishwasher has changed our lives. (Maybe that's a bit much to say but I really love it!) To just rinse a dish off and stick it in the dishwasher is a wonderful feeling! Unloading the dish washer is so easy. Our house feels so clean all the time when no dishes are piled up in the sink.

I also started working full-time. I work for two different dental offices and am VERY thankful for the income. Starting a new job always gives me a huge amount of anxiety. Both of my new offices use a different computer system than what I'm used to and every office does things a little differently. I like routine and I like knowing what I'm doing. (Doesn't everyone?) Thankfully, both offices have been wonderful to me. I have felt a little overwhelmed learning everything, but the people I work with are so patient and helpful that it makes work much easier. I still feel a little jittery going into work, but I know that feeling will lessen over time.

Our apartment is in downtown Billings and I love it! There are several fun little shops and restaurants all within walking distance! We spent an afternoon day walking around downtown and had a great time. The sun here comes up before 5 a.m. The first time we slept in our apartment the sun woke me up. I thought I had slept in and guessed that it was around 9:00 or 10:00. Nope! I looked at my clock and it said 4:50 a.m.! We also have a GREAT library here. It is enormous. It's full of cute kids downstairs and crazy weirdos upstairs but I still love it. Lately we have borrowed Downton Abbey. Jaren has even been watching it with me. Back at home, the waiting list for Downton Abbey is extensive (over 150 people). Here, I just checked it out because I found it on the shelf! I am waiting for the last 3 episodes, though, and I can't wait to watch them!

We went to the Billings temple last week and already that temple is dear to my heart. The session was very small. I think there were only around 12 of us and we were the only ones under 70 years old. I loved going to a small session, I have never been to one that small before. We had a great time and I am excited to go again. For some reason I thought Billings would have more members of the church than it does (being somewhat close to Utah and all). But the membership is much smaller than I thought. Billings is the largest city in Montana but there are only 6 (I think) wards and one stake here. This is exciting to me as I have never felt like my membership in the church was the minority before.

The other day we took a drive to Red Lodge and a scenic drive through Beartooth Mountains. It was SO BEAUTIFUL. We hope to explore more of the surrounding areas of Montana before Jaren begins school on July 8th. It's difficult to plan any long trips, because with my work schedule I don't have many days off in a row, but hopefully we can plan a camping trip or two and see some more sights!

Well, that's all I'm going to write for now! I'll post some pics later!

Jaren graduated from Weber State with his Bachelor's degree! I'm so proud of him and all his hard work!

New Adventures Ahead!

On Friday Jaren recieved an email that he had been accepted into the Physician Assistant program at Rocky Mountain College in MONTANA!

So... by the end of June will will be living in the city of Billings. Jaren begins classes on July 1st, 2013.

Jaren first thought to apply to Rocky Mountain College when he met a guy (named Nate) from our ward who would soon be graduating from Rocky Mountain College's PA program. Nate was doing his clinical rotations here in Layton. Jaren asked him about the program, and Nate had only positive things to say.

When Jaren interviewed in Montana, he had a really good feeling about the school and staff. Rocky Mountain College has a very low student to faculty ratio, and they really care about the student's succeeding. Their PA program is in the top 9% of the nation!

We are both VERY EXCITED! We will definitely miss our family and friends here in Utah, but we are excited to begin our new adventures in Montana.

Jaren called me Friday morning to tell me the good news. I had the day off, so I thought we should CELEBRATE! First, I baked Jaren a cake. Then I blew up balloons and taped streamers all over our front room. When he came home from school he was pretty surprised. We turned on some 80s/90s music and had our own little celebration dance party! Later that night we ate at Outback Steakhouse and saw a movie. What an exciting day! I love my husband and I am so proud of him and all his hard work! We are so grateful to our Heavenly Father for giving Jaren this opportunity.

 

Jaren with his Rocky Mountain College info packet.

Summer

Jaren and I had a GREAT Summer! This Summer Jaren didn't have to go to school (yay!), so we were able to go on a little vacation/staycation this year to Salt Lake and Park City.

First we started with the ZOO! I love to go to the Zoo, and the new Rocky Mountain enclosures with the Polar Bear, Grizzlies, and Seals was great!

The Polar Bear came right up to us!

 

The next day we hiked to Timpanogos Cave. We also went on a BEAUTIFUL drive and saw a moose!

We spent a few days in Park City, where we did the "triple play"- the alpine slide, the alpine coaster, and the zip line! We had a BLAST! Jaren filmed us on the zip line. I laugh when I watch this because it looks like I'm having the time of my life. While we were in Park City we ate at some yummy restaurants on main street and shopped at the outlets. We also drove over to Midway to eat at our favorite pizza place.

 

 

 

The last day of our vacation, we went to the aquarium in Sandy. I didn't get any pics here (my camera died), but I think we liked the aquarium even more than the zoo! They had some amazing animals there. I LOVED the penguins and Jaren liked the otters! You can also pet the sting rays! I thought the sting rays were pretty cute, they can get a little excited and they feel like slimy velvet. There was a section of fish and other animals from South America which I thought was very interesting. Some of the fish were HUGE. They also had an anaconda snake and piranhas.

 

This Summer we've also had a lot of fun going to my grandma's cabin at Bear Lake. We were there for Raspberry Days and a couple other weekends. Jaren, my sis, and I ran the 5K. We also had a great time boating. My uncle brought his boat up and so did my grandma's husband, Leon. We had so much fun wakeboarding! Jaren is great at wakeboarding and makes it look effortless. I love to wakeboard, too. We taught my sis how to do it this year and she got up on her first try! Agan, I didn't get any pics. My sister did, though, so maybe I'll get some from her.

 

Now school has started again for Jaren. He will graduate with his Bachelor's degree in December! We are both so excited! He has worked very hard to recieve good grades and get to this point. After this he's not done, though. He wants to be a PA so there will still be 2 more years of school ahead of him. But graduating with his Bachelor's degree is a very important milestone and I'm so proud of him!

 

Now that Summer is coming to a close we are looking forward to Fall. I LOVE Fall, it is my favorite time of year!

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.