Life the past few months...

Towards the end of September, Spencer and I put together a yard sale for our cousin who is winning the fight with Leukemia...it was a success! Our cute nieces, Elle and Abby, came over to help! The night before the yard sale, we treated them to pizza! The breadsticks were their favorite part! We also took them to Krispie Kreme right after. Yes, yes, aunt and uncle of the year!!

 

Elle and Abby donated a bunch of their stuff to the yard sale and were quite the saleswomen! These babies below sold quick :)

We were all exhausted after the yard sale!! This picture of Elle sums up our day and makes us smile...and laugh :)

Then came my birthday week...yes, week! It is a grand celebration around our house, hehe, and Spencer does a fabulous job!! Here is a cute note I found with my shake he had made me. Spencer is the best!!

 

For my birthday, we redid our bedroom. I wish this was a better picture because the walls look amazing! We also redid another bedroom in our house :) :)

Spencer had these sent to me on my birthday, my favorite!!

Here I am with my cute doggie dogs waiting for my mom! She came down for my birthday and we all went out to dinner! Fun times!!

I love this guy more than anything! He is my world! I snapped a quick photo right before one of our nights out! We make it a point to go out one night a week for date night! I love it and I sure love him, mmmm!

Here we are being a family one night hanging out watching tv. I cherish these moments...silly faces and all! I am not much of a tv watcher and you will never catch me watching it during the day, but lately Spencer and I really like watching Criminal Minds, Chicago Fire, and Blue Bloods together!!

Halloween!! One of my favorite holidays!! Here are nieces and nephews on my side of the family all dressed up. We love them oh so much!!!

Chade even joined in for the festivities!! Ok, not so much! I put this shirt on him around Halloween every year and he is not a fan; infact, my poor boy goes catatonic the moment I put it on. For the legs, our other dogs were playing tug 'o war and flung it on him. All I can say is Chade was a sport for letting me capture a quick photo :)

We buy so much candy every year for our trick or treaters in our neighborhood. We get a ton and I LOVE it! I especially love seeing our primary kids come to the door. They are so much fun!!

Tis Hunting Season...Spencer and his buddies~Westin and Sash! Sash hears the word, "Bird" and she goes crazy!! She loves pheasant hunting! Since Westin is a pup, this is his first year and his love grows stronger each time. We have gone quite a bit this year with my dad and he has a pup around Westin's age. They have fun! We got chuckers for them and they had fun sniffing them out. I think they are going to be great hunters very soon :) :)

I used to go all the time with my dad as a little girl. Now that I am older, I still love to go especially to see my dogs hunt! It is so fun to see them point out a bird. It's like a proud mommy moment :) Anyway, the guys talked me into shooting a gun. I don't know what my deal is...maybe it is age, but I used to love shooting when I was younger!!

A couple weeks ago, my dad was unable to go hunting, so Spencer invited his younger brother and it was his first time and Sash and Westin were the only dogs. Sash did awesome and pointed all these birds..once again, so proud!!

Random moment: I bought 5 pounds each of white and milk chocolate. One day I am going to bake something fabulous...just you wait, haha! Story: A CNA I work with had these at work and they taste amazing and she orders once a year from somewhere and they are really good chocolates...random, I know!!

We had a great Thanksgiving with our family and this is the only picture I got, but it is a darling picture of my nieces!! Sure love these girls!!

Spencer and I have been a little adventurous lately. We woke up really early, I'm talking 4:30am, on a Saturday morning and decided to go out to breakfast! It was so much fun!!!

Here is another picture of my good lookin' husband...love date night!!

I joined CrossFit with some great friends and I am LOVING it! It definitely kicks my butt and I have been sooo sore for quite some time, but I am addicted (please don't tell my trainers).

We started the month of December by going to The Festival of Trees. We both love it and had so much fun!! Spencer really liked this tree!

 

Santa comes to our neighborhood every year bearing gifts (he throws out candy)and our neighbor girl, who is in our primary class, was so sweet and caught a bag for us...hmm, maybe she heard me ask Spencer to catch us a bag?? 

I cut my hair in August, but decided to cut it even shorter this month and I am loving the change even more!!

And today is our little Kyndal's 2nd birthday!! We love her :)

National Adoption Month

November is National Adoption Month and we love this video and thought we would share! It has been a good month. Spencer and I got to spend this last weekend together spending date night at the temple. It was much needed and something we definitely enjoyed. We are grateful for the adoption process and for the opportunity we have to be apart of it! I wish everyone could experience the spirit that it brings :) Happy National Adoption Month!!

Go Forward with Faith...

Spencer and I cannot express just how much love and peace we felt the day our family and close friends came together with us and participated in a fast. It will be a day I will cherish forever. My testimony grew leaps and bounds when I heard stories of my little nieces and nephews participating in the fast. When my 8 year old niece, Abby,  was told about our fast and whether she wanted to come out to our house and participate in our blessings and dinner or go to her other cousins house which she had already planned on, she replied with "I want to go to Aunt Jessie's house and help her have a baby!" So so so sweet! Then I was sitting on my front steps as my sister Jen and her kids pulled up. Then Abby and her older sister, Elle, came running up to me and Jen told me how important it had been for these 2 girls to fast for Spencer and I all day. At that moment, I felt the spirit so strongly. Then my sister, Patti, who lives in Boise, text me "Our fasts and prayers are with you today :). Then right after Spencer and I received our blessings from our fathers, Patti text me, "Just wanted to tell you Em has fasted all day, its been very important for her to do so :) :) !!  My little nieces helped remind me what true love and faith is all about. I definitely needed that. It was such a special day for us. We had family come to our house and participate in our blessings and dinner afterward. It meant so much to us because we knew they all had so much going on. We appreciated the phone calls and texts we received that day. The love and peace we felt that day has definitely been felt since. Just the other day, my dad sent me a text saying "Go Forward with Faith" I love it so much~I have been thinking about it ever since.

 

I cannot believe it is now September! Where has the time gone?! Our Summer was great especially because we got to spend more time together towards the end which is always a plus :)

 

Spencer is now back to school and still working. He is a work horse and even picks up side jobs! He has already done 2 side jobs since starting school and even with working. He definitely makes me proud! He is a go getter and is definitely going far in life! I love him and he is my world! My sister has a 4 (almost 5 month, crazy!) old baby and Spencer just adores holding her because he longs to be a father and it makes my heart melt every time I see him holding little Brinley. It is the cutest thing to me! I won't lie, at first it was so hard for me to hold babies, but I just want to be near this little one because it gives me such a peaceful feeling.

 

                        (I love this picture of Spence!)



Then to me...

First and foremost, I chopped my hair and went back to being brunette! I love it! It is definitely a fun change! I have settled into my job and am enjoying only working 3 days a week! It is definitely a lot nicer from the 5 day a week thing! Being a nurse has its challenges, but I wouldn't change it for anything. I am always being challenged, but hey, if you are not, you are not growing and being strengthened, right?!

People ask us how we are doing with waiting for adoption and we have our good days and our bad. Tears have been shed, but smiles have been had. We know our time will come, but waiting is hard...very hard. We appreciate so much the prayers that have been offered in our behalf. We appreciate everyone's support. We could not do this alone nor do we want to. We love our families and friends very much. They are all coming together with us tomorrow for a very special fast and it means everything to us.

If you are helpless, He is not. If you are lost, He is not. If you don't know what to do next, He knows. It would take a miracle, you say? Well, if it takes a miracle, Why not?

Something Perfect

I came home from work today and Spencer had bought a couple Adoption books and one of them had a wonderful CD. I listened to it as I was cleaning my house and I came across this song and it just made me pause. No one can understand this pain unless they are in this situation and I cannot wait until the words of this song are felt. This song is amazing and this video is very touching! I love it :)


Something Perfect...

There's an ache that's missing today
There's an emptiness that's been filled
There's a cloud that's lifting and drifting away
There's a ragin' storm that's been stilled
There's a joy that's real
There's a wound that's finally healed
There's a future replacing a past
There's breath of new life in the cast

And there's something perfect
happening here
And this moment will bury
the mountains of fear
And through countless tomorrows
It won't disappear
This something that's perfect
Happening here

No one knows, so no one can say
That tomorrow all will be well
Will the brightest promise that shines on today
Shine tomorrow? No one can tell

But one thing is sure
And will be forever more
When such unselfish love has been given
The world just made more room for heaven

And there's something perfect
happening here
And this moment will bury
the mountains of fear
And through countless tomorrows
It won't disappear
This something that's perfect
Happening here

:)

What I've Learned...

I've learned what is true happiness. Happiness is not how big your house is, the car you drive, or the job title you have. Now, I've always known that, but it means so much to me now more than ever. You see, I was a Director of Nursing at a young age. I got complimented all the time at what a great accomplishment it was. Was it...sure!! But, see, it wasn't what I wanted. To have a job title such as that, takes so much time away from family and it killed me. There were countless times I was pulled away due to phone calls, text messages, call offs, etc...you name it, it happened. It was tough. My husband is such a stud though, he was so supportive. There were times I worked endless hours or had to pull a grave after working all day and I would come home to breakfast and a sweet, sweet letter. But, you see, I wanted more. More? Yes, more! I wanted my family to come first, so I decided to leave my job. It was a tough decision because I loved the place and my co workers. It was tough because once I turned in my 2 weeks, they did everything they could to keep me.  I will be honest, their offers were tempting, but after a couple days off with my family and an incident where I was face timing with my nephew from Boise and I had to see his saddened face when I had to break the news to him that I would not be attending his baptism...broke my heart :( , I knew what my decision had to be...family first! I have had such a calming peace come over me since leaving and having my new job. My new job will definitely allow me to have more time with my family and our future little ones. It makes me so happy to even think about it. The Lord definitely knows what is best and definitely prompts us to do what is right. Right now all that matters to Spencer and I is family and saving up for a little one that is coming someday soon :)


Anyway, so...what have we been doing lately? Funny you ask because we have pictures!!!


About 5 weeks ago, Sash had puppies! She had 4 of the cutest little Brittanys around and we adore them! Please visit sashandpuppies.blogspot.com for more pictures! I have updated that blog weekly with their cute photos :) :)

FYI...I have the best babysitter in Kyndal! She has been amazing with these puppies as you can see her in the bottom left corner! She was making sure they didn't get out...literally!

We have been teaching the puppies all about the pheasant wing since they're hunting dogs, but lo and behold...Kyn might be the best, haha! Love her!!

After I left my job, our first night out was to the Shedaisy concert. It was fabulous!! Not only did they put on an excellent show and awesome fireworks, I did not receive one phone call or text regarding work...it was mAgIc...

Spencer and I are quite the team! I could go on and on about this statement, but I will spare you...haha! We have started Ultimate Reset. It is from Beachbody and it is kind of like a cleanse/getting in a (extreme) healthy eating habit, lol!

Here we are preparing one of our meals...aprons and all...it is game time!!

 Here is Spencer opening up some Nori Seaweed...sounds good, huh?!

Here I am making Tempeh...sounds even better, eh?!

Here is my Miso Soup I was so proud of! Spencer was not much of a fan. He could have done without the seaweed :)

Here is our Nori rolls with Tempeh...

This is Lentil Lime salad...

 Here is Sash watching us cook...she is sooo cute!!

Here is Chade at the vet! I cannot believe he is almost 9 years old! It seems like just yesterday he came into my life, aww!! The vet started asking me questions like does he have excessive thirst etc...That made my heart race because I knew he was seeing if he had symptoms of kidney failure like Paysley did. Thank goodness he does not.

This is what our outside days look like in our backyard with the puppies. This was when they were about 3 weeks old. Now, they will not hold still long enough for us to get a picture like this!

I just had to end this post with this picture...it makes me laugh and that is what we all need...a good laugh!!!

Taking a leap of faith...

I turned in my 2 weeks and have 1 week left...more to come...

Heard of INSANITY?!?!

This past Saturday my mom, Spencer, and I were able to workout with Shaun T. LIVE!! He is the creator of Hip Hop Abs, Rockin Body, INSANITY, and Asylum! Below is a picture of the room where it was held. They only allowed 300 participants. We were able to take these mats, bands, and towels home with us :)

 Here is my mom and Spencer ~ThE bEfOrE pIcTuRe...they had no idea what was happening next...hahahahaha!!!

 Here is my mom and I! Let's just say I was one excited 'lil girl! I was pretty sick with a cold and didn't feel too well, but that didn't seem to matter to me because well, it was SHAUN T! I love him and love his workouts! I was so excited!!

 Here he is! This is when he first came out! It was all fun and games until the music started and his warm up began...then we all knew...WE WERE IN TROUBLE!!! haha...It was Insanity x 10!! He worked out on the stage and we all were on the ground, but he came out to join us quite often; infact, during the warm up, he slapped Spencer on the back and said "Come on!" AND started working out right next to Spencer and was pushing him like crazy just like he does to others in his videos!! I was so jealous...okay, I love his videos and I love when we are doing high knees and it zooms in on him and he is motivating you...well, he went up to a girl and did the same thing to her!! I think that is the most jealous I have ever felt in my life! Crazy, I know, but so true! He motivates me, what can I say!!
By the way, Spencer is a little ticked I didn't catch him and Shaun side by side working out, but hey I was digging deep too, I didn't have time to be snapping photos, haha!

 Then we FINALLY think cardio is over and it is time for some abs :)

 BOY were we WRONG!! He was just getting started with the cardio! He took his shirt off to show he wasn't messing around and put us through a few more rounds of cardio! I say if the shirts off, it's okay!! Hey, my mom and Spencer told me to take this picture, honest!!

 Then it was over and it was time for Question and Answer...anything goes and it seriously did! It was fun and he was a lot of fun!! He gave great advice and made us all laugh!

 This is Spencer and I after the workout...it kicked our butts and I am sure you can tell! It was so much fun! We cannot wait to do it again!!!