Exploring and Hiking
It's been a long time since I've updated the blog. There has been a lot happening, so I'll just briefly touch on a few of the big things. :)
We were really hoping to go to Devil's Den State Park -- but we didn't ever get around to it. But, we were able to go to a local place called Tanyard Creek. It was just beautiful! When we first moved to Arkansas, I never knew how beautiful it would be.
Laminate and the Nursery
We had discussed replacing our carpet with laminate flooring, but had decided it was a project for a future day. BUT, then the laminate we liked from Sam's Club was on sale and we decided it would be easier to do before the baby came. It would be a DIY project--meaning lots of noise, dust, and random object laying on the floor.
Jake's parents were nice enough to come up for a weekend to help us out. I, being 6 months pregnant, was really not going to be much help. It was a huge blessing. Ron and Jake worked on the floor and Lisa and I worked on the baby's room. I think we got the more enjoyable job anyway. :)
It was cold and rainy for the majority of the weekend, which was a bummer. But we were inside for most of the trip anyway.
Jake's parents were nice enough to come up for a weekend to help us out. I, being 6 months pregnant, was really not going to be much help. It was a huge blessing. Ron and Jake worked on the floor and Lisa and I worked on the baby's room. I think we got the more enjoyable job anyway. :)
It was cold and rainy for the majority of the weekend, which was a bummer. But we were inside for most of the trip anyway.
We were so lucky to have Jake's parents up with us to help do this massive project. They provided much needed help and we are so grateful!
Meanwhile, while the boys were slaving away on the floor. Lisa and I were working on the baby's room. Which, was a much more enjoyable job, if you ask me. We finished the baby's quilt and made curtains for the room. I just love how it turned out! I don't know why these pictures are upside down.
On a completely (almost) unrelated side note, this was Halloween weekend. I was super excited to have trick-or-treaters this year. I love seeing little kids all dressed up and excited about their treats. So, on Halloween night, I got the candy out and we continued to work on our projects. The night went on and we did not get a SINGLE trick-or-treater. Not one. I don'y know if that's because no one knows us, or our neighborhood has older children, or maybe it was because of the rain. But we didn't have ANY. And we were left with a bunch of candy. So disappointing.
Our baby's crib also arrived this weekend! (Another big shoutout to Jake's parents! Thank you!) And the boys put it together. We love it!
BYU Football in Kansas City
A few weeks after Halloween, we headed up to Kansas City, MO (with Jake's parents) to see the BYU vs. Missouri football game. We arrived late Friday night, and the game was Saturday night. Saturday, we went to different church sites. There were so many people walking around in BYU stuff, it was awesome. The poor sister missionaries were a little bit overwhelmed, but they were still wonderful.
Our first stop was liberty jail. I haven't been to a lot of the church history sites because we lived so far away. It's been really cool living closer so we can experience all they have to offer.
Liberty jail is where Joseph Smith spent 5 months while waiting for his trial. The place building we are standing in front of is an exact replica of the one they spent time in. The lower level, where the men were being kept, was very small, cold, and cramped. The ceiling stood no more than 6ft. tall (which most of the men were over 6ft, which really made it difficult.) It was extremely cold during the winter as well. They suffered through a lot there, but they continued on in faith. What great examples.
Unfortunately, I don't remember everything the Sister missionaries told us about Liberty Jail. But if you're in the neighborhood, definitely go check it out.
Liberty jail is where Joseph Smith spent 5 months while waiting for his trial. The place building we are standing in front of is an exact replica of the one they spent time in. The lower level, where the men were being kept, was very small, cold, and cramped. The ceiling stood no more than 6ft. tall (which most of the men were over 6ft, which really made it difficult.) It was extremely cold during the winter as well. They suffered through a lot there, but they continued on in faith. What great examples.
Unfortunately, I don't remember everything the Sister missionaries told us about Liberty Jail. But if you're in the neighborhood, definitely go check it out.
Our next stop was Independence, MO. Another great church history site.
This Visitor's Center informs people about the past and present lives of the saints as they traveled. It shows how they lived and how they would have spent their days during 1831 and 1839. Again, a wonderful place to become informed about the history of the church. For more info, please click the link below.
This Visitor's Center informs people about the past and present lives of the saints as they traveled. It shows how they lived and how they would have spent their days during 1831 and 1839. Again, a wonderful place to become informed about the history of the church. For more info, please click the link below.
We headed to dinner shortly after exploring the church history sites. We wanted to try authentic Kansas City BBQ and we found a place online that looked promising. When we arrived, we were slightly shocked at what we found. It was a little hole-in-the-wall place that was no bigger than the average kitchen. It was TINY. And a little bit sketchy. But rather than try to battle with the traffic to find another place, we decided to stay. It was...an experience. We'll just put it at that.
Then came the BYU vs. MIZZOU game. Without knowing it, we purchased tickets in the MIZZOU student section in the end zone. Oops. We didn't have any problems though. The fans were nice (mostly) and we enjoyed the game. BYU didn't win, but it was fun to be supporting our alma mater. We'll always be BYU fans, even if they lose. Let's go Cougs'!
Christmas Decorating
We were going to Utah for Thanksgiving, and we wanted to optimize our time with our Christmas decorations, so we decorated early. :)
Jake and I have a tradition when we travel. When we go somewhere new, we like to get an ornament for our tree.
This one is in honor of my family. When I was a kid, my mom entered a drawing and ended up winning a Christmas tree that was decorated with Beanie Babies. Since then, the tradition has been to decorate the entire tree in Beanie Babies. So, rather than doing that to our entire tree, we just have one for memories' sake.
This comes from Seattle, WA. Before we knew we were moving to Arkansas, Jake was interviewing with a LOT of companies. One of the companies was Amazon, which took us to Seattle. I was lucky enough to be able to tag along for a fun vacation. Seattle is known for their glass blowing, and we just fell in love with this ornament.
Costa Maya Mexico was one of the very first places. (Our first ornament came from Roatan Honduras, but this was the second place.) We were on a cruise for our honeymoon when we came up with the idea of collecting ornaments. We look at these ornaments and memories of starting our lives together come to mind.
The finished product. We loved decorating this year. The stockings were homemade and so was the ornament garland. We felt pretty crafty. I made a stocking for the baby, but Jake insisted that it not be put up because she wasn't physically here. I disagreed, but he won that argument because we was hanging them. Next year, we'll also add names. But this Christmas, we weren't technically "mom and dad" yet. But we will be next year!
Utah Trip
We drove to Dallas, then immediately headed to the airport for a 3 hour flight to Utah. It was rough. Very swollen ankles. But, it turned out okay. We landed in Utah really late, but it was the start of a fun week!
We flew in the night before Thanksgiving, but landed late. The next day (Thanksgiving Day) was spent cooking and spending time with family. After a big dinner, we headed out for Black Friday shopping. (Even if it was Thursday). The next few days were just hanging out with family.
Jake, unfortunately, had to fly back to Arkansas for work. I stayed back to spend a little big of time with my family.
On Tuesday night, my mom was kind enough to throw me a baby shower. It was so fun to see old friends and neighbors. I loved being able to catch up and chat with many of them. We are so blessed to have so much support.
But really, how cute are these decorations?? My mom is super talented.
On Tuesday night, my mom was kind enough to throw me a baby shower. It was so fun to see old friends and neighbors. I loved being able to catch up and chat with many of them. We are so blessed to have so much support.
But really, how cute are these decorations?? My mom is super talented.
With some of our free time, my mom and I went to the Festival of Trees. People decorate these elaborate trees, then people come in a buy them for thousands of dollars. All the trees are donated, and all the proceeds go to benefit the Children's hospital. Along with trees, they have beautiful quilts and giant gingerbread houses. So fun!
It was so fun to visit Utah after a year of being away. I also loved spending time with family, even if it was just for a short time.
Christmas in Texas
70 degrees doesn't really feel like Christmas, but we certainly didn't complain! Tornado warnings on the other hand...not so great. The weather is just a little bipolar.
Unfortunately, we didn't take a lot of pictures while we were there. We had a lot of fun though, even if we don't have pictures to prove it.
One really cool thing we did was visit the Gaylord Hotel to visit their ice display. Every year, they make these huge sculptures out of ice. They are so fun! They have to keep the room cold enough, though, that they give you these massive parkas to keep warm.
Unfortunately, we didn't take a lot of pictures while we were there. We had a lot of fun though, even if we don't have pictures to prove it.
One really cool thing we did was visit the Gaylord Hotel to visit their ice display. Every year, they make these huge sculptures out of ice. They are so fun! They have to keep the room cold enough, though, that they give you these massive parkas to keep warm.
This was the only cold part of our Christmas. Jake and I made the mistake of packing for cold weather. We forgot we were going to Texas. We did not need the sweatshirts, long sleeves, boots, or hats we brought.
While there, my really awesome sister-in-laws and mother-in-law took me out to lunch as a mock baby shower. It was fun to spend time with just the girls. Unfortunately, we didn't take a picture.
Christmas Eve was spent with family. We had a fabulous dinner, followed by the kids opening pajamas from Grandma and hats from Jake and I. We also spent time watching the family video. It's so fun to see how much everyone has changed in the past year.
Christmas day was a busy one! First thing in the morning, we went to Jake's brother's house to see their kids open presents. After that, we made our way to his brother Jaren's house to see their family. When we arrived at Jaren's house, we immediately jumped on the computer so we could be a part of the phone call with my younger brother, Elder Kevin Hamilton. It was so fun to talk to him! We was his usual goofy self. He only has 4 transfers left! His last year has just flown by. It is amazing to see how much has happened in the last two years. By the time he gets home, he'll have 3 little people who he hasn't met yet! So fun! Plus, Cayson will be driving and almost dating. That's weird even to me.
While there, my really awesome sister-in-laws and mother-in-law took me out to lunch as a mock baby shower. It was fun to spend time with just the girls. Unfortunately, we didn't take a picture.
Christmas Eve was spent with family. We had a fabulous dinner, followed by the kids opening pajamas from Grandma and hats from Jake and I. We also spent time watching the family video. It's so fun to see how much everyone has changed in the past year.
Christmas day was a busy one! First thing in the morning, we went to Jake's brother's house to see their kids open presents. After that, we made our way to his brother Jaren's house to see their family. When we arrived at Jaren's house, we immediately jumped on the computer so we could be a part of the phone call with my younger brother, Elder Kevin Hamilton. It was so fun to talk to him! We was his usual goofy self. He only has 4 transfers left! His last year has just flown by. It is amazing to see how much has happened in the last two years. By the time he gets home, he'll have 3 little people who he hasn't met yet! So fun! Plus, Cayson will be driving and almost dating. That's weird even to me.
After the phone call, we spent a few hours with Jaren's family, then we headed home to have our own Christmas. It was nice to relax after a long day of happy moments. We were shocked when Jake's parents brought out our Christmas gifts...BIKES!! We are so excited! We've been wanting bikes for a long time, but we've been putting off spending the money. Now we don't have to! We wished we could have ridden them more, but we were both feeling a little under the weather. It was still so fun though! It was awesome!
The next day, we spent some times running errands and enjoying our last day in Texas. We also went and saw the new Star Wars movie. Jake and I both really liked it!
On our way back from the movie, we met a crazy rain and thunder storm. There was also a tornado warning 30 minutes from us. Scary! There was also a tornado warning in our home town of Centerton! This weather was so out of the norm for December. I'm just glad no one we know was hurt during the storms.
On our way home, we could hardly hear each other talking because the rain was coming down so hard. The drive that took us 5 hours on the way down, took almost 6 1/2 to get back. But, we made it safely. And it was a fun week!
On our way back from the movie, we met a crazy rain and thunder storm. There was also a tornado warning 30 minutes from us. Scary! There was also a tornado warning in our home town of Centerton! This weather was so out of the norm for December. I'm just glad no one we know was hurt during the storms.
On our way home, we could hardly hear each other talking because the rain was coming down so hard. The drive that took us 5 hours on the way down, took almost 6 1/2 to get back. But, we made it safely. And it was a fun week!
A Tribute to Rio, Our Shiba
We did receive some unfortunate news while we were in Dallas. Some friends of ours were watching Rio while we were gone. Being the curious pup that he is, he found a small hole in their fence and slipped out. We didn't know what happened to him for a few days, and we (especially me) were pretty emotional for a few days. I've always been an animal person, so I took it pretty hard. He was a really unique personality for a dog. He doesn't like coming easily and he is just so curious.
We had been told by some friends they might have seen him by our local Harps. When we got back into town, we went and checked, but we didn't see anything. But that could have been the rain.
The next day, I called Animal Control to see if they had seen him. Our friends had been right, they did see him by Harps, unfortunately, animal control didn't find him alive. They had his body in their freezer and wanted to know if we wanted to confirm it was him. In tears, I called Jake to tell him the news. Being the awesome husband that he is, he left work to go check so I didn't have to.
While the news wasn't ideal, at least we knew where he was and what happened to him. We had been worried because the weather was so bad. The poor thing was probably starving and cold and scared. May he rest in peace.
Rio was our first pet as a married couple and we will miss him dearly. Its hard not to look out the window and expect to see him looking back at us. But, rather than being sad, we'll look back at all the good memories we had with him. Such a funny dog. We did love him.
Anyway, we just wanted to post some photos of him so we could remember all the good times. :) Luckily he's in a better place now.
We had been told by some friends they might have seen him by our local Harps. When we got back into town, we went and checked, but we didn't see anything. But that could have been the rain.
The next day, I called Animal Control to see if they had seen him. Our friends had been right, they did see him by Harps, unfortunately, animal control didn't find him alive. They had his body in their freezer and wanted to know if we wanted to confirm it was him. In tears, I called Jake to tell him the news. Being the awesome husband that he is, he left work to go check so I didn't have to.
While the news wasn't ideal, at least we knew where he was and what happened to him. We had been worried because the weather was so bad. The poor thing was probably starving and cold and scared. May he rest in peace.
Rio was our first pet as a married couple and we will miss him dearly. Its hard not to look out the window and expect to see him looking back at us. But, rather than being sad, we'll look back at all the good memories we had with him. Such a funny dog. We did love him.
Anyway, we just wanted to post some photos of him so we could remember all the good times. :) Luckily he's in a better place now.
He was very well behaved. He had his weird quirks, but overall he was a great dog.
He was a great dog. We'll miss you, little buddy.