3 years ago...FaMiLiEs ArE fOrEvEr!

Many of you have probably noticed my change in header on my blog. Many of you also know who the featured man is, but for those of you who don't, I'll tell you about an amazing man, husband, dad, brother, uncle, and most of all friend. I didn't get a chance to do this yesterday as I had wanted, so I'm getting to it today. On August 17, 2006 my brother-in-law, Spencer, was killed fighting a wildfire called the Devil's Den fire near Oak City, Utah. This was definitely a hard time for my family. We were greatly blessed to have Spencer in our lives, in my life. I loved that man and looked up to him more than almost anyone. He treated my sister amazing and he was such a wonderful dad to three beautiful children. I remember when they were dating and I was just little-I thought they had the perfect "Cinderella" type fantasy of a love life. haha Spencer always showered my sister with flowers and showed her how much he loved her, she in return was so smitten by her knight in shinning armor! They built a house in Holden and I was able to be involved in their lives quite regularly when I lived at home with my parents. Spencer was an avid Scout leader and he helped so many young men realize how wonderful it is to be on the right path! He would bet the boys when they would get their Eagle projects done and he ended up shaving his head over it! Everyone in our community loved Spencer and looked up to him. He was an amazing example to everyone. Well I literally could go on and on about him. I miss him more than I ever realized I would and it's hard to see my sister raising her 3 children by herself. I can not even imagine it! I cannot imagine not kissing my husband or telling him how much I love him. I can't imagine not seeing him play with Kyler or look forward to more children. I simply can't. Nichole is SO strong, there could never have been a stronger woman, of that I am sure. Nichole, Turner, Kadence and Kambree miss their husband and father, but thank goodness for the gospel! What an amazing thing that is in our life! Nichole can look towards hope to seeing her beloved spouse and best friend again and the kids can look forward to running into their daddy's arms someday-even Kambree. (for those of you who don't know, Kambree has Angelman's syndrome and she cannot walk to talk.) Spencer blessed our lives immensely. He will forever be missed and loved my many. Thanks Spencer, for all the fun times, laughs, cherished moments and love you showed to everyone. We love you.

Friends and Family Weekend

So I realize this post is almost a month late...but I did eventually get to it right? Well over the 24th of July weekend, Deric's family threw a Friends and Family Weekend (although it technically lasted a week) at Flaming Gorge. His mom reserved a group campsite and anyone and everyone was invited to attend. Because of Deric's work, we were only able to go out Thursday-Sunday, but it was still fun. We were able to go skiing, wakeboarding, and tubing on the lake, eat lots of food, stay up late playing games, go 4-wheeling and ultimately spending lots of time together. Our friends, Seth and Jen were able to come and it was such a blast! The highlight of the weekend was rafting down the river on Saturday. Although it rained, it was still fun. We had our raft (the middle-agers) , an old people's raft (the parents) and the teenager raft. It was SO much fun! However, I took pictures on that trip with a waterproof camera and don't have them back yet. Deric and I enjoyed taking walks around the campgrounds at night to get away from things and have our own time. Ultimately, we had an awesome weekend!
We were able to celebrate Lepeka's birthday while camping-she had a dutch oven cake and turned 7!

It's been a while...

Well, it truly has been a while since I have posted a post on our blog. Life is just going on as usual. We are liking living in the Basin. Deric is really enjoying his new job and seeing lots of success in it. Right now he has to work long hours in order to get the hang of things (he is paid on salary, so no overtime there) and I miss him alot, but we're adjusting. He starts school in the next few weeks and then he REALLY won't ever be here. We are still looking for a house. We have put a lot of offers out there, but so far, none have gone through. We got really excited last week, but we were the back up offer (meaning that someone offered higher than us, but if for any reason, it wouldn't go through, we would get the house). But low and behold-we are still living with Deric's parents. I have been looking for a part time job but have yet to find success there. Deric just got called to be the Priest's Quorum advisor in the Young Mens in our ward. He is excited but nervous cause he really has like no extra time in his schedule. I had my 21st birthday on July 22nd. It was fun, nothing too exciting. We went on a family/friends vacation (post to follow) at Flaming Gorge. Kyler is growing like crazy, as usual. He has recently learned he can scream and scream LOUD! as well as screaming, he just learned to blow bubbles in the bath tub-he loves it! It's so cute! The last few days, Kyler and I have both been sick with a cold. It's definitely not fun. I think that's all the updates as of right now! Love you all!! :)