Jackson Hole & Yellowstone

Our friends Jason & Tara asked us to run away to Jackson Hole with them last weekend. Of course we said YES! Their two little boys Roman & Hayden came, too--traveling is always much more of an adventure when kids come along. We spent a day at Yellowstone and the rest of the time in Jackson. We had a great time relaxing, eating, sight-seeing and laughing. What a gorgeous place! Thanks J & T!

Good Old Faithful


Loved the door! The rest of the building was pretty cool, too. Check out Roman's dinosaur-skin coat!

Hello Earthlings! We all felt a little like we were on another planet.


Brrrrrrrrrr

Check out the BLUE water. We wanted to jump in sooooo bad.

We took this photo from the car. Buffalo were EVERYWHERE.

This was NOT taken from the car. These three were part of a heard of about 50 that blocked our way back to the car--it felt like they were corralling us in for, well, who knows what, but it was a little scary and VERY cool to be so close! So much better than the zoo!!!

B-E-A-UTIFUL

Good Gravy!

Sam and I made Swedish meatballs last night. My cute little Granny D is Swedish, which makes me one-quarter Swed, but this is the first time I've attempted the dish. Sam made the meatballs, but I cheated by using an IKEA mix for the sauce/gravy. While putting away leftovers, I dropped the Tupperware dish that held the sauce along with one lonely meatball. Gravy flew all over the place. My first reaction was "Oh crap!" But then I realized that the container had flipped 360-degrees, landing right-side-up. Most of the sauce and the meatball remained where I put them, inside the container. My second reaction was to laugh. How lucky was that?

While I cleaned up the renegade gravy, I thought about how easy it is to think, "Oh crap!" when something bad happens. How often do I forget to look at things in the bigger picture? It's no secret to anyone that I have a serious case of baby-on-the-brain, adoption-on-the-brain, pending mommy hood-on-the-brain, etc. So this gravy incident made me think about how blessed Sam and I were when we found out about our infertility. The news is completely devastating to most people. While there was some sadness and frustration, I really don't think we had an "Oh crap!" moment. Even before doctors broke the news to us that it's highly unlikely for us to conceive, we already felt at peace and even excited to begin this journey of adoption. How lucky was that?

So then I thought of the woman who will choose us to raise her child. Even though I have no idea who this woman is, I think of her all the time. I'm sure she'll have the "Oh crap!" moment, but I hope it doesn't last too long. I hope she has an endless supply of hugs. I hope she feels Heavenly Father's and Christ's love for her. I hope she feels good about her decision to place her baby for adoption. I hope she finds good, happiness and peace through her experience. I hope she knows how ginormous of a blessing this is to us--how we'll see it as so much more than just luck. And I hope she feels the same way, too. How lucky would that be?!

Four is Better than Three

Yesterday Sam & I celebrated our four years of marriage! Sam woke me up with breakfast in bed--a big plate of yummy pancakes. The rest of the day included work, a visit to the dump and stocking up on year supply items. It was the best anniversary ever!!!

Okay, I'll explain ... We had discussed going to the Anniversary Inn to celebrate (yes, it's totally cliche-y), but I'm still a gimp after having foot surgery two weeks ago, and well, we didn't think we'd really get to "enjoy" it all that much. Anyway, we decided to just spend a night out together. Sam picked me up early from work (the surgery was on my right foot, so he's my chauffer 'till the boot comes off) and he was a mess. The poor guy had a nasty cold. I suggested we put off the night out another day so he could get some rest and he took me up on the offer. We decided that before we settled in for the evening, we'd take a quick trip out to the dump to unload the back of our truck that was full of ceiling tiles, yard trash and old baseboards and door trim. We're remodeling our entire house and the junk piles were taking over. So out to the dump we went. What a weird place that is. Not exactly romantic, but the fact that Sam, in his sniffley state, had loaded up the truck with all that junk was definitely a turn on--the things that get to you after being married for awhile!

Then we realized we had some keys that my sister Emily needed by Saturday--and I wanted to trade out her book I was borrowing, New Moon, for Eclipse (being gimpy has at least given me time to read!). We arrived at her house to find they were feeding the missionaries and they invited us to join. We enjoyed delicious homemade stew and bread sticks along with apples and melted caramel for dessert. Yum! We talked about goal setting and missionary work, and about a talk Elder Packer gave last week about the changing times. Again, not exactly romantic, but it was uplifting and greatly appreciated. After that we decided to stop by a nearby store we'd been planning to visit anyway to stock up items for our year supply. We've slowly been trying to build it up since we got married, but the fact that we've moved a few times has given us an excuse to hold off really getting into it. About a month ago we decided that we'd rather worry about moving a few more boxes rather than starve if the the you-know-what hits the fan.

Anyway, after that we went home and went to bed early. Sick husbands need their sleep. But before we fell asleep, we got the giggles together.

Yes, I do mean it when I say it was the best anniversary ever. It might not have been romantic in the worldly sense, but it still was in a more personal way. It's been four years of being married to my best friend. Even the dump isn't too bad if he's there, too.