Sam and Melissa

So Proud

2012-02-10T22:06:00.000-08:00

Jenna's new trick is balancing on Dad's hand. No matter how hard she is crying, if Sam stands her up on his hand she breaks into a big grin and looks so proud of herself for pulling it off. She always looks around to make sure everyone is noticing her stunt, and loves it when I clap for her.

Hukilau Weekend

2012-02-08T16:14:00.000-08:00

When Ashley and I were roommates, for about a year we went to Hukilau Beach every single day. We would ride our bikes down after class and swim, body board, and get tan. Then Ashley had a body boarding mis-hap and refused to body board with me (really I think she decided body boarding wasn't cool), and I got a car and we made our way to more impressive beaches on North Shore. But Hukilau will always be my favorite spot. The waves are usually always perfect for body boarders of my skill level (think white wash). We met Ashley the other weekend and it was my perfect day. The two of them traded off holding Jenna and I got to body board with Sam and Ashley for a good few hours. We had many-a-contests to see who could go further on the same wave, and Sam loved trying to run me over when I wasn't paying attention :)

Good Morning!

2012-02-08T16:04:00.000-08:00

This morning the waves were BIG. The report said 18-20 feet (which means 30-40 foot face), and maybe they weren't quite that big, but they were impressive. We woke up early, grabbed our blankets and beach chairs, and headed to Waimea just to watch them for about an hour before Sam headed off to work. Poor Jenna is going to be quite the weather weenie like her Mama. She has a hard time handling wind or anything below 75 degrees :)

The Big 3-0

2012-02-03T19:00:00.000-08:00

I couldn't not post this picture from 10 years ago, when Sam was 20. Oh, baby! Sam turned 30 on Sunday. We went out to Cheesecake Factory the night before, and then he had quite the exciting birthday between early morning meetings, church, and home teaching :) We did manage to get away to North Shore for a few hours to pick up Ashley and have dinner with JJ and Ahu's family, as well as Kawika and Pua's family. Sam first moved to Hawaii with Kawika, and they stayed with JJ for a few weeks while they found an apartment. Nine years and a lot of kids later, and we still are able to all get together.

Once in a while...

2012-01-31T18:27:00.000-08:00

I can still get a cuddle out of her. This little girl has me smitten.

Sunday walks

2012-01-31T18:25:00.000-08:00

At it again...

2012-01-15T18:41:00.000-08:00

Just when I was about to give up the swaddle, I found out about the double swaddle. It worked like a charm for about 3 weeks until she figured out how to escape it.... looks like it's time to give up swaddling. I have a feeling that some sleepless nights are going to follow...

Christmas in Arizona

2012-01-08T16:16:00.000-08:00

We had such a great Christmas vacation, starting out with our week visiting my family. We got in at 2am (delayed flight), and my cousin got married that morning so we got to see all my extended family. The week FLEW by, and Jenna was never set down once (there were always sisters waiting in line to hold her, actually). It was so good to have my family finally meet her. We loved every second of the trip.

Jenna was a very good traveler. Her favorite spot to sleep was the airline tray :) On our laps she would wake up off and on, but on the tray she slept 2 hours straight.

Aunt Ally got some big smiles

The whole Flake Family

Grandma loving on Jenna

Rhett scored big at the annual White Elephant Party

Kade didn't like Jenna very much at first... Before her, he was the littlest grand kid in the family. Rhett has been asking Sam and I for years when we were going to have a baby, and was so sweet with her. He was always very concerned about her, asking cute questions like how she slept through the night, how she liked the plane ride, etc.

Brittany at Oregano's - my dad had just poured a bunch of salt in her water, and somehow she didn't notice for a good couple drinks.

Brooke served up quite the Christmas Dinner and decorated the table so elegantly.

Hiking Thunderbird Mountain, where many of my high school cross country races were held. Ten years later, and I still got nervous driving into that park.

My Mom, sisters, and friends threw me a baby shower. It was so great to see my high school friends that I hadn't seen in years. The three girls on the left (Ciara, Natalie, and Jessica) are all due with girls in a few months, and Tenille and I just had our firsts.

We realized Ashley was wearing the Same thing as Jenna at the shower :)

Ethan always provides the laughs. This evening he would go into the closet and come out differently each time.

Christmas Eve Nativity Play

Christmas Day with our sleeping babe

Aunt Brooke was so sweet with Jenna. It meant a lot to me to have Brooke finally meet Jenna - she was such a support to me during the whole infertility process.

Ally opening her pillow pet on Christmas Day - 16 and still loving stuffed animals...

One spoiled girls... everyone loved on her non-stop.

Sunshine

2012-01-03T22:46:00.000-08:00

I have a hard time knowing what to say when I post pictures of Jenna. I cannot put into words the smallest part of the love I have for this little girl. She has only been with us for three months, but we cannot imagine life without her. We love her smiles, her cooing, her bare buns, how she stares so intently at us with those big blue eyes like she is trying to say so much, we love watching her sleep.... there is no end of things we love, and the list just keeps multiplying every single day. This little girl is straight sunshine to our day.

Santa looks a little too familiar...

2011-12-18T18:58:00.000-08:00

You know you married a good man when he agrees to be Santa for the ward Christmas party :) Sam got a call from Bishop a couple nights before our ward party, asking him to be Santa because, "The suit is a size medium and none of us can fit in it". Only in Hawaii.

Daddy's Girl

2011-12-08T16:06:00.000-08:00

No one can get Jenna to smile like her Daddy. She is almost as smitten with him as he is with her. These two can't get enough of each other.

Santa!

2011-12-08T16:04:00.001-08:00

Jenna was so busy sucking her hand, she forgot to tell Santa what she wants for Christmas... Guess all she gets is diapers :)

Winter is here

2011-12-08T12:53:00.000-08:00

Winter is here, only evidenced by the growing waves (Sam's favorite time of year). We spent Saturday playing at Waimea. It was one of my first times back in the water again, and felt so great. We rotated baby duty on shore, with 10 minute trade-offs :)

Little Houdini

2011-11-27T11:15:00.001-08:00

Jenna never ceases to amaze us with the swaddles she can get out of, the pajamas she can scoot out of, and the positions she ends up in during the night/naps. Often we wake up to her with her pajamas missing, and she has somehow scooted out of them. She is one active little baby. Since her first week home she would somehow end up at the opposite side of the crib that we laid her down in. She has been rolling since 2 weeks old and hasn't stopped since.

Where did her pajamas go? Down by her waist, somehow :)

Sam was convinced she would stay swaddled if he did a special swaddle using safety pins. 15 minutes later this is how I found her.

Happy girl

2011-11-27T11:07:00.000-08:00

There are no small smiles with this girl. We will do just about anything to get smiles out of her.

Sunset

2011-11-21T20:27:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T20:26:00.000-07:00

Our Halloween was filled with a cute hula girl, handing out candy at Sam's office, red curry, and The Office. The plan was to get a scary movie, until we remembered last year when we lasted all of 5 minutes of a horror movie we rented. So we opted for The Office instead, which did not disappoint.

Sam's New Office

2011-10-27T14:34:00.000-07:00

I am about 3 months late on this post... In July, Sam got a new office and secretary, Stephanie. The best part is, the office is only a five minute walk from our house, so he gets to walk home for lunch and Jenna and I get to visit him almost everyday. We weren't expecting him to get an office for at least another year, but because he's such a rock star financial adviser (seriously!) and a few other things that fell into place, they offered this to him much sooner. I am so proud of Sam and how hard he works to be good at what he does in every area of his life.

One month old!

2011-10-24T20:15:00.000-07:00

See the resemblance between Jenna and Bugsy from Bedtime Stories? Ha ha. If Jenna goes on a walk outside or stays up too late she goes into Bugsy mode.

A month has already flown by! Here's what's been happening with Jenna around here...

She loves to be cuddled up close to you, scrunched in a little ball. Daddy is her favorite to cuddle on.

Thanks to Grandma we discovered the pacifier. Jenna loves it and has been so much happier since!

She rolled over from her tummy to her back when she was only 2 weeks old! She hasn't done that trick again yet, but she loves to roll from side to side.

She gave her first real smiles, first to Mom and then to Dad in the same day.

10 days old

2011-10-19T20:53:00.001-07:00

Jenna had her newborn pictures taken at 10 days old. It was quite the experience. I timed nursing perfectly to have her nice and sleepy when we showed up, but once there, it took 2 hours to get her to sleep. I was worried about her going to the bathroom on the photographers blankets and props (as they are naked for the shoot), but when I asked her about it she said, "You'd be surprised at how rarely that actually happens". Well, Jenna pooped 3 times all over the poor ladies props. We finally got Jenna to sleep, and she hurried and snapped a few shots as fast as possible. When we left I swore I would never do newborn pictures again, but as soon as I saw the pictures I changed my mind :)

Grandma's Visit

2011-10-19T20:24:00.000-07:00

I could not wait for my mom to come and visit, and the 10 days flew by in no time. It was nicer than I can say to have her here, helping with Jenna and keeping me company. My sweet mom would wake up whenever Jenna did at night and keep me company while I fed her. She cooked almost every meal for us, and was the hugest help throughout the entire time. My mom is truly one of my best friends. Ashley came and spent the night for most of the days as well, and we filled our days with lots of talking, walking, eating, and going to the ocean.

My mom made Jenna's beautiful blessing dress. She couldn't be here for the blessing, but we played dress up anyways :)

Whenever Jenna would fuss, my mom would walk Jenna back and forth outside on the apartment deck. She had the magic touch and could get her calm in no time.

Since I couldn't swim, we got our favorite sandwiches from Waialua Bakery and had picnics in the afternoon at Ali'i Beach Park. It was so nice to finally get outside, relax in the shade, and talk.

Jenna's first trip to the beach! She loved it until it started to rain...

Our traditional Friday pizza, pizookies, and movie night

We miss you Mom/Grandma! Come back soon!

I'll love you forever

2011-10-14T19:33:00.000-07:00

I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living my baby you'll be.

I can't help but repeat those words from one of my favorite books when I'm up at night feeding Jenna. Oh, Jenna girl, don't grow up. I love your soft skin, your big eyes, and the little smiles you give when you sleep.

Jenna's stay in NICU

2011-10-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

Jenna's stay in NICU was an experience so full of emotion for me. The morning after Jenna was born, Sam and I were holding in our room when an older lady dressed casually came in and said she was here to see the baby. After Sam told her she had the wrong room, she introduced herself as the fill-in for my pediatrician, and said she would be examining Jenna. She wheeled her out, and came back 15 minutes later saying that Jenna had "performed well" for her. I said I was glad (not knowing she was being sarcastic), and she told me she was having the nurses give her a bottle of formula. Sam and I were instantly upset, as we wanted me to breastfeed her from the start, and told her to hold off on the formula, when she told us, "Listen, your baby stopped breathing, she turned blue, is on oxygen, and unless you want her brain fried, you'll let us feed her formula". Sam and I were completely confused. Our baby was perfectly healthy, and suddenly she was talking about her being blue and her brain being fried? I was stunned and asked if I could try to pump some milk for her so that she could at least have that. The doctor told me that for a "normal" baby that would be fine, but that our baby wasn't normal and needed the formula. Still completely confused about what was going on, we hurried to the nursery to see them preparing Jenna to go to NICU, the neonatal intensive care unit. Once there, they hooked her up to several monitors to watch her oxygen levels, put her on several IV's and antibiotics, and put a tube down her stomach to drain any liquids. The tube to her stomach was the saddest part, she hated it there and gagged continually with it down her throat. It was so hard from going to holding our perfectly healthy little girl to seeing her hooked up to so many machines, not able to do anything but stand next to her and rub her little hands with IV's in them. Sam and I stayed with Jenna until late that night, standing next to her and talking to her, until the nurse literally had to make us leave to go get some sleep. As we left little Jenna started bawling, and I did the same as we walked back to our room without her. I remember waking up throughout the night crying, just wanting to hold her so bad. The next day we woke up early and did the same thing again all day long, just Sam and I together watching our little girl and the machines, panicking every time her oxygen got low. She had a couple more episodes where she stopped breathing, and that night Sam and I got discharged from the hospital without her. Packing up her little "going home" outfit and leaving without her was so hard. I don't know how I could have made it without Sam, he was such a support and so calm throughout the whole ordeal. The next couple days consisted of rushing to the hospital early, praying on the way that she did okay throughout the night, and staying with her until late at night. I was always so nervous to ask the nurses how the night went, but each day she got better and better. The nurses and doctors in NICU were some of the sweetest people I have ever met. After a couple of days they helped of move the tubes and IV's out of the way so we could hold her, and they let us take her temperature, change her, and do little things that helped us feel close to her. Although it was hard to go through, looking back it was such a special experience to spend all day, every day of that first week with just me and Sam, holding our little girl, praying she would be okay. I have never felt closer to Sam than I did during that week. He was such a comfort to me and made everything so much better. During Jenna's first day, Sam gave Jenna a father's blessing silently with all the hustle going on around us. From that moment on he was certain she would be okay, and helped me feel the same. I will never forget seeing the other parents with their premature babies in the NICU. Jenna looked like a giant next to all the other babies, many who were the size of a barbie. A mom whose baby was in the incubator next to Jenna came for hours every day, watching her baby boy's monitor and talking softly to him. He had already been there for 6 weeks and was still so tiny. I remember when his oxygen levels would drop, the monitors would start to beep and she would say over and over to him, "Breathe in, breath out, breathe in, breathe out." It broke my heart, thinking of her and all the other parents doing that week after week.

After five days, we showed up early and they surprised us by saying Jenna was doing just fine and ready to go home. We were so shocked and excited, but also scared about if we could handle her on our own. In NICU where had doctors and nurses watching her constantly, and it scary to think about just us being responsible for her and her breathing. But both Sam and I felt strongly that her breathing issues had passed, and got to dress our little girl in her pink going home outfit and leave the hospital with her. I am so grateful Sam was able to give Jenna a father's blessing, and for the sweet doctors and nurses that cared so much for her. I am so grateful for a sweet husband that made the experience a tender one, even though it was so scary at the same time.

I can't believe I am posting this picture, but it's too funny not to. Our last night at the hospital they served us a "Couple's Celebration Dinner", where they gave us sparking cider, fancier menu choices, dessert, etc." We had been in NICU all day and I started crying when I saw the dinner, because I did not want to go home without Jenna. Sam snapped a picture, getting me mid-bite with both our trays, looking like I was downing a feast.

Jenna's Labor and Delivery Story

2011-10-10T01:59:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, September 20th (five days after my due date - doesn't seem like much but felt like forever!), I met Sam at his office and we walked home to have lunch together. After eating lunch we laid on the couch for a quick power nap, and right when his cell phone alarm went off, I felt what I thought might be my water break. Sam was still waking up when I told him, "I think my water broke!" I stood up, and I quickly was SURE it had broken. Luckily I ran to the bath tub in time for no damage to be done :) The contractions started right there, and were consistently 4 minutes apart. We frantically ran around the house, trying to gather stuff up, as I was pretty sure I would have to be induced the following night (I was scheduled to be induced Wed. at 8pm), and realized we were very unprepared for me to go into labor. It was such an adrenaline rush to realize it was finally happening! When we finally had everything ready, we headed to the hospital, me sitting in a plastic garbage bag (with my legs poked through the bottom) so that I wouldn't get anything on the car. The contractions quickly got even closer together, happening about every 3 minutes, and we got stuck in enough Honolulu traffic to make us nervous. When we finally made it to the hospital I was in quite a bit of pain, but they didn't have any rooms available. After about 3 1/2 hours I felt like I was dying. Poor Sam was trying to help, but I didn't want anyone talking to me or touching me - it took all the concentration I had just to catch my breath between contractions. The contractions were coming every 3 minutes and lasting for 2 minutes. So Sam enjoyed watching Titanic while I just tried to breathe. I had wanted an epidural hours earlier, but they still didn't have a room available so I couldn't get one. I was on a bed in a little waiting area where they check you into the hospital, just waiting for a room to open up when someone had to go in for an emergency c-section so I got claim on their labor and delivery room. Once I got the epidural, it took almost an hour and three doses to take the pain away, but once it was gone, I was one happy lady. For the next 2 hours I continued to be dilated to a 4. Around 10:15pm the nurse checked me and was shocked when I was at a 10 and feeling the urge to push. She told my doctor to hurry to the hospital, although we didn't think she would make it in time. Luckily she did, and after 20 minutes of pushing little Jenna arrived, beautiful as ever. Sam and I couldn't take our eyes off of her. We just kept saying over and over again, "She is so perfect! She is so beautiful!" It was an experience I will never forget. I found it so amazing how we could instantly love this little girl so much. We held her and kissed her and cuddled her for the rest of the night, and finally called our families the next morning to tell them the good news.

At Sam's office, just an hour before my water broke.

Eat...Poop...Sleep...

2011-10-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

Eat...Poop...Sleep...Eat...Poop...Sleep...Eat...Poop...Sleep...

So, when is this little girl gonna be able to paddle out and go surfing with her daddy? I guess exposing her to the ocean one week into life is a good way to get her started. -posted by sam.

One week old!

2011-10-02T17:21:00.000-07:00

Time is already going by way too fast. Our little Jenna is one week old and as sweet as ever. We are finally figuring out what works and getting a little bit of sleep around here. We love this little girl like crazy.

Little Jenna

2011-09-26T13:18:00.000-07:00

Introducing Jenna Lynn Bates, born September 20th at 11:03 pm. She is cute as can be and we are so happy to finally have her home with us.

Labor and deliver went smoothly, but she soon after had breathing problems and spent the week in NICU hooked up to all sorts of machines and IVs and tubes. It was the hardest thing to see her like that, and go home without her the first few nights. Thankfully, she recovered quickly and is home doing great. We feel so blessed to have this little girl in our home. I can't stop kissing her soft little cheeks, and Sam is the proudest Dad around.

One week to go...

2011-09-08T19:35:00.000-07:00

And feeling great! A little too great... I think baby girl is a little too comfortable inside, and we are so ready to meet her already! Today at my Dr. appointment my doctor agreed that it is looking like she may come late. I have been putting off packing my hospital bag and doing all the last minute preparations, because I feel like I will jinx myself and she will come even later if I do. I keep thinking that if I put it off I will wake up any night now having to throw it all together and rush to the hospital last minute, just because when I am not prepared that's usually when stuff happens :)

Our Last Baby-Free Trip

2011-08-15T18:19:00.000-07:00

Sam and I just got back from a week in Seattle and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho for a family reunion on his side. It was so nice to have a whole week just to relax with family. Sam hasn't had a break from work since we moved here, and it was so good for him just to be able to play around with his family all week. We stayed up late playing games and woke up whenever we pleased. Our hotel was right on the lake, which is where we spent our afternoons. The weather was perfect, everyone in the family was able to make it, and other than flying and driving tons with an 8-month-pregnant belly, it was a great time.

A visit from my favorite sister!

2011-08-03T14:30:00.000-07:00

Brooke earned her spot as my favorite sister, being the first one to visit Sam and I :) They were only here for a couple of days, but it was so much fun to be together again. We had such a good time swimming, snorkeling, going to Waikiki, and just hanging out and talking. I couldn't ask for a better big sister or brother-in-law. Brooke and I were laughing walking behind Cody and Sam in Waikiki, because they looked so much alike. Both same height, both shaved heads... to hide receding hairlines :), both in their plaid shorts talking about financial advising all night long (even though none of us are from Utah, Sam and Cody both graduated from Weber State and are financial advisers). The only hard thing about having family visit is that it makes you realize all over again how much you miss them!

Fun in Kauai

2011-06-28T23:14:00.000-07:00

Edward Jones puts on a local family trip every summer, and this summer ours was in Kauai. We were spoiled rotten for four days and had such a great time. Neither one of us had been to Kauai before - it is beautiful. We stayed at The Marriott Beach Resort and they provided all our meals, every one of which was sooo delicious. We had such a good time swimming, relaxing, and having fun with the other Edward Jones families.

A Happy Father's Day

2011-06-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

Sam spent his first Father's Day setting up for baby girl. We are so excited!

Date night

2011-06-13T20:43:00.001-07:00

Moving back to Hawaii has brought on a whole new kind of date night. Although we miss eating out at all the delicious restaurants Utah has to offer (still craving Cafe Rio and Carrabbas), I don't know if there is anything the two of us love to do more than be in the ocean.

Friday night after work Sam, and I rushed to Waimea just as the sun was going down and swam past dark, until it was just the two of us left with the whole bay to ourselves.

Perfect Day

2011-05-22T23:46:00.000-07:00

It is weird to think of all the free time that Sam and I used to have to spend together before good old Edward Jones came into out lives :) 70 hour work weeks are the new norm, and we actually are used to it and Sam is really liking what he does. BUT it sure is nice when we can sneak in some free time.

Friday was perfect. Sam got done by noon, and he took me to Waialua Bakery for lunch, my favorite sandwich shop. We spent the afternoon at the beach, where he surfed and I snorkeled with a bunch of turtles. We made a stop at Matsumoto's Shave Ice on the way home, got home as it was getting dark and fell asleep watching a movie. It was the kind of day you want to rewind and do again.

Half way there!

2011-05-02T16:07:00.000-07:00

I am over 20 weeks and absolutely LOVE being pregnant. During the past couple weeks I have been able to feel our little girl move all over the place. I still get excited over every little kick I feel. I still can't believe how blessed we are to have this little girl on the way!

Delivery Baby Shower

2011-04-19T10:26:00.000-07:00

Two of our best friends, Rachel and Richard, came to visit last week. It was so good to see them again, and made is miss our whole Ogden crew a lot. Rachel is one of those people who is always doing the nicest things for others. She's the one that gets together the friends for bar-b-q's, who brings over house warming gifts, and does a million other things that I don't even think of doing!

Somehow while packing and getting ready for her trip over here, she gathered baby shower gifts from so many of our good friends in Ogden. Her suitcase was completely filled with them, and Sunday night when we joined them for dinner, she threw me a "Delivery Baby Shower". It is honestly the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of our good friends who sent sweet cards and gifts all the way over here, we appreciate them more than we can say! You make it difficult to be so far away! We miss you all. And a giant thank you to Rachel, for throwing the best baby shower ever.

It's a...

2011-04-18T23:04:00.001-07:00

GIRL!

And we couldn't be more excited! I can't wait to buy a teeny weeny swimming suit for our little girl. And have someone to watch chic flicks and take shopping with me again, come a few years.

Home vacation

2011-04-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

This past week Sam has been in Phoenix on a work trip, so Ash and I decided to give ourselves a mini, at home vacation, which is pretty easy to do in a place like this. We spent Saturday in Waikiki, where we enjoyed the ocean all day long, and ended at the Cheesecake Factory. Then it was home to my place for a chic flick. Sunday she spent the night at my house, and we had fun cooking together and fitting in another chic flick. We spent the next three days swimming and laying out on North Shore, and I finally got a tan! We ended it baby sitting at Turtle Bay for a family here on vacation from New York, who paid big $ and let us order room service galore. We split 3 meals between the 2 of us and mango smoothies. It was such a relaxing week, and so fun to spend time with Ashley.

Now Sam just needs to hurry home- as much fun as I had, I miss him like crazy.

The collection begins

2011-03-23T22:05:00.000-07:00

Sam got his first board--first of many, he keeps reminding me. I keep reminding him that this board will be perfect for me come 6 months :)

Completely worth it

2011-03-22T23:53:00.000-07:00

There were more than a few times when Sam and I wondered if all the doctor visits, heartache, and money spent would ever be worth it... every ultra sound makes me so grateful that we did! This baby is as big as an orange and I already love him/her like crazy. There is nothing I enjoy more than getting an ultra sound these days - I could lay there and watch our baby squirm around all day and be perfectly content. At our last visit, they had to measure some part of the neck to make sure baby didn't have downs syndrome, and baby moved so much that the 5 minute ultra sound turned into 45 minutes. I loved every minute of it.

Hanging out with Ashley

2011-03-11T18:01:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite parts about living here is that I get to spend time with Ashley again. We try to meet up at least weekly for a beach day. It had been over a year since I had seen her - way too long! We were roommates while we went to college here, and we had so much fun together. It was literally non-stop fun --- I don't think we did more then half an hour of homework a week (yet somehow, we graduated). Some of my favorite memories:

I ate a bean burrito almost every day of my college life. Ashley told some guys how much I LOVED beans, and a week later they accused me of stealing a couple cans of beans from their house - they were completely serious. For Christmas they gave me beans.
Ashley broke up with her boyfriend, and her break-up line was, "I need to spend more time with Melissa" (yeah, he hated me from then on)
We didn't have a car, but it didn't stop us from making it to our favorite beaches. We rode our bikes or walked everywhere, spending every afternoon in the water.
We both worked in the cafeteria together at BYU. I told our boss, Leva, that Ashley loved cutting onions (her least favorite job - our hands would smell like onions for days). From then on, Leva would always save the onions for us.
Also while working in the cafeteria, every shift, Ashley and I would sneak into the back fridge gorge ourself on the next days' desserts. We would make ourselves sick, but had no self control. Eventually, they put up signs saying to stay out of them. Didn't stop us :)
I convinced Ashley to ride our rusty bikes all the way from Laie to Haleiwa and back (about 40 miles). Ashley's bike was so rusty that her seat wouldn't stay up, so she had to pedal about twice as fast as I did. The first half was an adventure, but by the end Ashley's chain was falling off every couple hundred feet and she was not too happy to say the least :)
We would throw poppers and water balloons at people off the school roof. One time we got chased down and caught by the campus police. Just when we were about to get busted, the "cop" had to check something in his security office around the corner. As soon as he turned his back, we just started running and got away.

We are having a baby!

2011-03-04T10:08:00.001-08:00

I can't explain how it felt to see our little baby moving its arms around at our 12 week ultra sound yesterday. To be honest, it was something I didn't think I would ever get to see. Sam and I couldn't stop smiling, and I just wanted the Dr. to keep that ultra sound going for hours.

As a lot of you know, after working with the infertility specialist the first time around, I ended up with no pregnancy and a lot of cysts, due to all the injections. They told me that they cysts would take months to go away, and due to my body's reaction, it wouldn't be safe to try again. I went in a couple weeks later, and amazingly, the cysts were gone. They gave us the option of trying one more time before our move, and we went for it. The day Sam left for Hawaii (he came our 3 weeks before me), I took at at home test and it came out positive. The next week I went in to confirm the pregnancy with blood work, and they called later that night saying I had had an early miscarriage.

A couple days later, I took another home pregnancy test and it was still positive. I called in, to see why this might be, at they told me it most likely meant an ectopic/tubal pregnancy, that would require emergency surgery, and to come in immediately. I went back to the doctors for more blood work, and they called later that night and said that the blood work had come back showing not a tubal pregnancy, but a very healthy pregnancy. They re-ran the first blood work test, and found that the lab technician had made a typo and typed in “8” rather than “608” (100 and below indicates a miscarriage). I called Sam right away, and we both just sat there on the phone, in awe.

Sam and I are more grateful than we can say for this little miracle, coming September 16th.

Happy Monday Morning

2011-02-28T17:36:00.000-08:00

6 am at Chun's Reef beats sleep anyday. The drive over was full of yawns, and the drive home was full of smiles.

Home

2011-02-19T20:37:00.000-08:00

We made it! Our stuff finally arrived, and now it is starting to feel like home. Boy is it nice to sleep on a bed again! I can't get enough of this perfect weather. It still feels crazy to be able to go on walks at night when Sam gets through with his studying, and have it be breezy and 75 degrees at 11 pm. Sam has been busier than ever studying for his financial adviser exams, putting in about 14 hours every day, but we still find time to make it to the beach here and there. It is a weird feeling living here in Mililani where we are 20 minutes from the ocean, as before we literally lived right on the beach. We both hope to move closer to north shore in a few years, but for now it is all work and a little play, which is an adjustment after it having been having all play with a little work last time we lived here. However, it is still HAWAII, and we are so thankful to be living in such a beautiful place.

3 weeks = 3 weeks too long

2011-01-16T18:58:00.000-08:00

We were being completely logical when planning our move. Sam would move over to Hawaii two weeks early to find us a place to live and cars, while I would work here in Utah to earn a little extra money for the move. Well, two weeks turned into three weeks when plane tickets were cheaper on certain days, and a week and a half into it and we are dying! I miss my husband, bad. What were we thinking? Being logical is not the smartest, I am finding. Especially when it involves me staying in 20 degree weather while my husband is forced into 80 degree, sunny days. I am counting the days!

P.S. Hawaii posts may not come for a while, as I packed my camera cord and who knows when our stuff will arrive.

2010 in a nutshell!

2011-01-01T10:47:00.000-08:00

Bates' family reunion in Park City

Skiing at The Canyons

Moved to Provo

Sam started working at National Processing

I worked as a sub teacher, Jenny Craig, then Utah County

Ran Ogden half marathon

Sam got his dream motorcycle

Sam got laid off from National Processing

Months of job searching

Lots of infertility treatment

Sam got hired with Edward Jones

Decided to move to HAWAII!

Thanksgiving with my family in AZ

Christmas with Sam's family in Rawlins

Shipped everything to Hawaii, lived without anything for a bit

It has been a crazy, good year. So excited for what 2011 will bring!

Há quatro anos

2010-12-30T09:49:00.000-08:00

Four years ago today, Sam completed his 2 year mission in Manaus, Brazil. He describes it as two of the hardest, yet best, years of his life. He loved the people he met there, and they loved him right back. Someday we will make it back, but for now these pictures will have to do!

What do you do when....

2010-12-17T13:14:00.000-08:00

nothing seems to be going your way?

Move back to Hawaii, of course! As of January, Sam and I will say aloha to Utah and ALOHA to Hawaii.

Sam and I couldn't have enjoyed our time in Ogden more. However, since graduation and moving to Provo, it seems like our life has been misplaced. I have never believed in bad luck, until this last year. HOWEVER, the bad luck was not all bad. It brought added strength to my faith, my marriage, and my respect for Job :)

Sam's job not working out meant that he began exploring all options, one of them being Edward Jones. After a few months of interviews and paperwork, he has been hired on as a financial adviser. His office will be in Mililani, Hawaii. It's been hard to stop smiling since we heard the news:)

Things have slowly been falling into place. Like Sam's thousand dollar mountain bike was stolen, so we didn't have to worry about shipping it! And our car was rear ended by someone without insurance, who we threatened into buying it rather than taking them to court! We don't know where we will live or where I will work or any of the details, but we feel happy and peaceful and just plain blessed to be able to move back to Hawaii.

Scraping ice of the car windshield isn't nearly so bad when permanent 80 degrees, sunshine, and ocean are right around the corner!

Tubular!

2010-12-07T18:07:00.001-08:00

Jill threw Matt the most killer 30th birthday party ever! That girl knows how to plan a party. We had a blast!

Matt was "Mr. T". Jill surprised him with the costume and he was a very good sport :)

Aaron ended up looking like an 80's child molester. You can never have too many blackmail pictures :) Sam's fanny pack was filled with a slinky. Somebody please bring back the fanny pack!

I sure wish this picture showed Sam's legs, because they were quite bare. Those were some short shorts!

The Bates Boys! I love finally having brothers. They don't get more entertaining than these 3. Sam got a little shy and changed his shorts, while Aaron was loving being able to show a little leg...

I really, really love this man.

Update

2010-12-02T19:15:00.000-08:00

With so many friends and family praying for us during my fertility treatment, I figure I had better give an update... I am sorry to say that things did not go as we hoped. Normally it takes about 10 days of shots to get the eggs nice and ready (that sounds really weird). Well, it took me almost 30 days, which was very unusual (most doctors won't continue the shots for longer than 2 weeks). This meant a whole lot of injections and ultra sounds, which wasn't the best for my body or my wallet :) After a month I was finally ready, so they went ahead and did the insemination. After a couple of weeks of waiting, I could have sworn I was pregnant. I was feeling queasy in the mornings and was very bloated. When I went in for my ultrasound, it turned out I was not pregnant but had plenty of giant cysts - a reaction from having so many shots. We were ready to try again, but my doctor said it would not be safe to continue the treatment, seeing how my body reacted, so that's the story in a nutshell. We don't really know where to go from here, as there are no more fertility treatment options. We are, of course, disappointed but still feel like somehow something will work out for us when it is right. Thank you for everyone who sent prayers our way, we honestly could feel your support and really appreciate them!

So Thankful

2010-12-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

We had ourselves a wonderful time in Arizona for Thanksgiving! Our week flew by. It was filled with baseball games with the boys, bike rides, shopping trips, huge breakfasts, my mom spoiling us, Flake family cousins and aunts and uncles, the best Thanksgiving meal I have ever had, Oregano's and Namebrands girl's day, Car show for the boys, late night games at Brooke's, and best of all - just sitting around talking and laughing with my family. It was extremely hard to say good bye to such an amazing family!

We went through Vegas on our trip home. Britt had never been so we stopped and went through the Bellagio and Caesar's Palace. After driving ALL DAY we came home to some snowy weather.

We split into teams and played Minute to Win It Games on Friday night. We caught Dad leaving them games when he saw we would be wasting toilet paper ! I told him we would save it for him to use later on but he called it quits :) The bottom left picture is my favorite, Brooke looks like she is in a diaper with a crazy hair-do, he he.

I got to run Brooke's first 5k with her! She always said that the running gene skipped her, but I have proof that it definitely did not. She did awesome. It was so fun running with her. Cody and Sam were thrilled to have their picture taken.

Ethan is quite the entertainer. He loves anything to do with sports, so we played a lot of baseball this trip. It is always fun to play with him, because he provides quite a show. He is really talented, but extremely competitive and almost every game ends in a funny tantrum. Here he is in timeout after throwing a tantrum :)

I literally can't say no to Kade. He is too cute. He LOVES gum, and has no problem asking around for a piece. He was hitting up all the realtives for gum at Thanksgiving, and when someone would tell him no, he would ask if he could check their pockets. Took em' by surprise every time :)

I need to take more pictures with Rhett. He is the sweetest kid I know. Whenever we visit, he spends every minute he can with us. I loved playing catch, jumping on the trampoline, and drawing monsters with him.

The actual feast... I don't think there is anything better than being surrounded by family (although we missed our Ashley who was forced to be surfing North Shore instead)

Nice Blades

2010-11-12T09:24:00.000-08:00

There aren't many things I have to beg Sam to do, but roller blading is one of them. It doesn't help that EVERY time we roller blade the Provo River Trail, some smart aleck BYU student (male) tells Sam, "Nice Blades" as we go by. This week I talked Sam into going, telling him that he just had to go because all of the fall leaves would be changing colors. Well, all the trees were dead, but Sam humored me anyways and got into the above stance when we would pass by people. I really, really love being married to someone that makes me laugh.

Big Sister

2010-11-02T18:41:00.000-07:00

Brooke is the best big sister I could ask for. Even though I must have been a FEISTY little sister from the stories told to me (remember those round brushes that were impossible to get out of your hair if you twisted the wrong way? I thought it was funny to use ours as a weapon and I remember my mom spending her evening untangling it out of Brooke's hair), I cannot think of one thing Brooke did to tease. She has always just been a great friend. Whenever we visit, she goes out of her way to plan her entire schedule around ours to make sure we have time to fit in plenty of sister time. Even though she has three boys, is going through nursing school, and does a million other things, somehow she has time to continue to look out for everyone else. After a rough couple of weeks, we got a knock on the door the other night, and these beautiful flowers were delivered from Brooke. Thank you, Brooke! I absolutely love them.

Nelson's Grove

2010-11-01T16:54:00.000-07:00

This little park is my favorite thing about our neighborhood. All summer I ran down to this park and ran a couple loops as the sun came up. It was quite a way to start the day. I gotta give it to Utah, they have the prettiest parks in almost every neighborhood. If only they weren't covered in snow 3/4 of the year :)

Proud to be married to a man who...

2010-10-27T13:16:00.000-07:00

Still checks for extra quarters in the ski ball machine :) We had a wonderful night as VIPs at Happy Sumo with Richard and Rachel. Lately I have been craving seafood and sushi. Which I got both of on this evening.

Our after party got pretty wild at the arcade. I just love ski ball. Someday I may have one in my home :) We played so well we were able to get fake teeth and bracelets with our tickets.

Conference Weekend

2010-10-16T18:07:00.000-07:00

For the past two years, Brittany has been able to make it down for conference. I love being able to make nice breakfast while we watch the morning session, and then go up to Salt Lake for the afternoon session. Hearing the church leaders speak leaves me so refreshed.

I have finally convinced Brittany that rollerblading is awesome! I sacrifice and wear five pairs of socks with Sam's size 12 blades, Britt wears mine, and we blade the Provo River Trail. It has gotten to where she actually requests to go, rather than me forcing her :)

Ultimate Moutainbiking

2010-09-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

Sam was in heaven last weekend. He read about this mountain bike trail in the middle of nowhere that had ramps, jumps, teeter totters (for bikes) and everything else a crazy biker like my husband could dream up :) So we took the trek to the trail and it was actually really cool. They had a regular trail for scared-y cat bikers like myself, and then next to that trail there was another trail with all sorts of jumps and ramps the whole way up and down the mountain. We left, amazingly, without a scratch and I'm sure will be back again.

Britt Spit

2010-09-13T18:06:00.000-07:00

I just love having Brittany go to BYU Idaho - it means she visits me on her way to and from semesters! She stopped by last weekend on her way to fall semester. Sam was in California so she actually got to sleep in a bed instead of on the couch. We found a way to make it to Cafe Rio 2 times in 3 days, rollarbladed the river trail, caught up on chic flicks, and, of course, went shopping. I love spending time with Brittany. She is one of the sweetest, most fun to be with, people I know, and Sam loves when she is here because she can handle his teasing and give it right back to him.

When shopping, Britt bought some jean slip on shoes that she was sooo excited for. That is, until we had left the store and I mentioned something about them being jean, and she realized she had nothing to wear them with because you can't wear jean on jean :) She was too embarrassed to return them half an hour later, so she bribed me to do it.

Every time Britt visits we get asked if we are twins, and this time was no different. Brittany hates it because I love teasing her that she looks old like me :) Brittany was a little bit angry after she found out that the fondue she had been dipping her fruit in was made with avocado and carrot purees, he he. I have a slight obsession with trying to cook healthier by adding purees. Brooke was a victim of my applesauce cupcakes, which turned out nasty, but I have had many successes which have tricked Sam into eating his veggies.

Last year...

2010-09-10T10:36:00.000-07:00

Last year Sam and I were just getting back from a month in Hawaii. We were living in Ogden so close to all our best friends, I was in a job I loved, Sam was about to graduate, and we were so completely ready to have a baby, for Sam to get a great job, to buy a home and live in la la land :)

This year our life has turned a 180. Right now Sam is outside selling his motorcycle to pay for next months round of infertility treatment. Sam has been without a job for the past four months, after the job we moved here for didn't turn out as expected. Our savings is going quickly to medical bills, and we miss our Ogden friends and jobs daily.

But something amazing has happened. I have gone from being bitter and wishing I had this and that, to really appreciating our current situation. These last few months have been some of the best of my life. For the first time in my 26 years, I have been able to really understand that I am not the one in control. That even though I think I know what is best for me, I really don't. That just being alive is a blessing enough, and I am not really entitled to everything working out just how I want it to like I previously believed I was.

Next month I start taking injections (well, I guess I won't be taking them, Sam will be giving them to me) that cost more each month than both of ours cars put together, yikes! There have been more than a few times when I have felt like taking a couple trips to Hawaii instead, but something inside me is telling me these little shots might be worth it. Of course we are crossing our fingers and our toes and praying they will work, but if not, we will be just fine---and I don't think I could have said that last year.

Professional Conferencer

2010-09-03T21:28:00.001-07:00

I have been working for the Utah County Health Department for the last 4 months, and have gotten to go to 4 conferences. It is, by far, my favorite part about the job. Nice hotels, great food, and the feeling of being in school again, just without the homework. This last week I went to Denver, and it was the best trip yet, because Sam got to come with me. We had so much fun together. We spent the evenings downtown going out to eat, going to a Rockies game, avoiding eye contact with freaky people on the bus, and watching The Office late at night in our hotel room.

I can check one thing off of my bucket list. I did something I have ALWAYS wanted to do on the final day of our conference. They were drawing raffle tickets for prizes, and kept calling and calling people but no one that they were calling was there to claim it. So when they announced, "Kelly ..." I gave a big holler, my table cheered for me, and I ran up and claimed my prize. Woo hoo! Never mind the fact that as I walked back to my table with my prize, a nosy man noticed my name tag didn't exactly match.

Rich and Rach

2010-08-22T16:55:00.000-07:00

Richard and Rachel took the trek down to Provo to join us for a day. Each time we have gotten together this summer, we seriously are jinxed with weather conditions. From our 30 degree, extreme winds, camping trip to tubing down the freezing Provo river with zero sunlight, we have been left with some pretty funny memories.

We thought it would be great to rock climb first, then tube down the river when we were all hot from climbing all day. We ended up climbing longer than we planned on, got to the river as the sun was going down, and finished the river run near frozen. We definitely realized it was too late to be tubing when Rachel almost got pegged in the head by a bat :) We were all literally shaking and were laughing at just about everything by that point. We made up for the pain and ended the night at Carrabbas.

Last month we got to go to Lagoon together as well. We had a blast at the water park in the rain, almost making Richard lose it on the spinning swings :) , getting drenched on Rattlesnake Rapids, and eating out at Pei Wei afterwards. I love it that Utah is finally catching on to all of the great AZ restaurant chains!

Lazy weekend

2010-08-18T18:40:00.000-07:00

Saturday was nice. We rode Sam's motorcycle up the Payson canyon where we met up with Jamie, Kolby, and baby Mckenzie at Payson Lake. Jamie and I walked the trails while the guys fished. I know we really should be making new friends here in Provo but we just enjoy meeting up with our Ogden friends every chance we get :)

AZ for a weekend

2010-08-14T18:22:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to get to fly home to AZ for a few days, and some much needed family time! We spent the first couple days in Snowflake at the Flake Family Reunion, and the last couple days swimming, shopping, getting spoiled by all mom's good cookin', and just hanging out. Having all sisters is too much fun... it makes it too hard to be away! (We missed you, Ash!)

Our looooong Road Trip

2010-07-19T19:32:00.000-07:00

Sam and I took a true road trip last week. We drove to Washington and had a great time visiting Aaron's family for a few days. Then we drove down the Oregon coast to Sam's hometown, Crescent City, CA. This little city was amazing. It has the ocean on one side and the redwoods and the most beautiful lakes/streams on the other side. We loved spending the mornings hiking through the redwoods, the afternoons at the beach, and the evenings going out to eat and staying up late eating IT's ITs (an amazing ice cream treat that we have only been able to find in northern CA) while watching TV in our hotel room.

Aaron and Janna spoiled us big time. We went crabbing and caught about 20 of the big guys. Sam learned how to knock their heads off and we were eating them 20 minutes later. On the 4th of July we set off more fireworks than you could believe. The night ended with the guys shooting the Roman Candles at each other from 5 feet away, and Aaron got a pretty good battle wound.

Josi made me "fancy" several times throughout our stay, and Levi is the sweetest kid I have ever met. We had a blast roasting marshmallows, going to the beach, and just hanging out.

Believe it or not we spotted Bigfoot! (See above photo). Ha ha. Either that or a vampire. I am sending it in for my Twilight audition. Sam loves to take flattering pictures of me :) The redwoods in Crescent City were amazing. Some were over 20 feet wide, and 300 feet tall.

Finally feels like summer!

2010-07-16T12:30:00.000-07:00

After a long, long winter, our 90 degree days are here and I am loving every second of it.

I survived City of Rocks

2010-06-18T18:31:00.000-07:00

These last 3 weekends have been all camping. It has been GREAT to take a couple of mini vacations. The first 2 weekends were with Sam's family and last weekend was with our friends. Who knew that 30 degree weather, extreme winds, and rain is possible in mid-June? Good news is we survived. ad news is there was zero rock climbing on this rock climbing camping trip.

The sun shade ended up being a wind shade. Thank goodness for Spencer and Rachel's amazing dutch oven breakfast that warmed us up a little. If it wasn't for that I don't think I would have ever gotten out of my tent.

Even with the crazy weather, I would do it again in a second to hang out with these girls. We took off back to Ogden after breakfast because a chic flick in a warm house sounded pretty good.

Our husbands braved it for a couple more hours, and had fun running around on all the rocks that we wished we could climb. Next time!

Days like this should never end.

2010-05-21T16:08:00.000-07:00

This last weekend was one of the best. Really. It included:

Frozen yogurt and TP-ing with 2 of our best friends, Richard and Rachel (Yes, TP-ing... started out kind of as a joke and we ended up going for it and it was awesome. They let us stay over at their house so we didn't have to wake up at 3 am for the...

Ogden half marathon (Sam and Richard did the 5k)... loved it.

Helicopter ride through Ogden canyon, beautiful.

Mountain biking on the Ogden trails that we LOVE in 75 degree weather

Late night, fall asleep during, movie at home with Sam

Gardening... apartment style

2010-05-03T19:19:00.000-07:00

Ever since I started cooking, I have wanted to plant an herb garden. Every summer I would tell Sam, "When we get a house..." Well we have been married 3 years and still haven't settled down, so this summer we decided to make it happen, house or no house. Pots galore now line our stairwell, and I am loving being able to snip me herbs whenever I feel like it. Now if I can just keep them alive...

Here we go again...

2010-05-03T19:18:00.000-07:00

Sam got a new toy. This means I can buy all the clothes I want for the next 10 years without any guilt :) We have had so much fun going on long Sunday drives and making short trips around town on it. Last weekend we took a trip to Park City and it is amazing how much more you appreciate the scenery when you aren't cooped up in a car. More pictures to come throughout the summer...

I did it!!!

2010-04-25T14:19:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it - my cleanse is complete. After every medicine and procedure I have tried not working, Sam and I decided to go the natural route for my infertility problems. I found a doctor in Park City that specializes in that, and when she suggested starting out with a cleanse, I didn't think twice. After gagging down my first of many, many shakes and absolutely starving that first day, I did not think I would survive. Three weeks later, and 10 pounds lighter, I am finished, after eating only vegetables, fruit, potatoes, rice, and the grossest shakes you have ever tasted. Imagine drinking mold. A big glass of mold, three times a day. Not even joking. The weird part is, I kind of got used to it. Not the shakes, but the food. Fruit and vegetables actually make great snacks, who would have thought. Not that I don't have my list of every single restaurant and kind of junk food I am planning to dive into... Cheesecake Factory being #1. Doesn't my doctor know I have fine tuned my body to run on chocolate and Mexican food?

Baby Joziah's Blessing

2010-04-25T14:03:00.000-07:00

I love St. George. There aren't many places I can see myself living, but that is one of them. We had a fun day down to see baby Joziah get blessed. Being with family for blessings are one of my favorites. After church we relaxed, walked along the golf course trails in perfect 80 degree weather, and everyone else ate while I drank my nasty powder (more to come on that).

This golf course is right across the street from Matt and Jill's house. I love to run its path when we visit - brings me back to my high school running days (golf courses were the place to run - in 110 weather, the grass was much cooler to run on than the black asphalt).

Proud Daddy - Matt is such a great dad dad and brother-in-law. Him and Jill spoil us every time we visit.

Time is flying.

2010-04-15T10:11:00.000-07:00

What a happy 3 years. It's been a blast.

Not so traditional Easter

2010-04-06T08:02:00.000-07:00

Easter this year included none of our favorite traditions, but was totally relaxing and, thanks to General Conference, totally inspiring. Sam and I slept in, made a huge breakfast together, and ate it while we watched the morning session. Due to my cleanse, we didn't do Easter baskets, but bought some of our favorite fruits instead. For our big dinner, we skipped the ham and decided to make our 2 favorites: Sam made shrimp (my favorite) while I made his favorite sweet potatoes, a.k.a. brown sugar, butter, and marshmallow gloop. We bought all the stuff to color eggs, but ended up going to see Wayne and Kenzi instead, who just had an adorable baby girl. I usually am huge on traditions, but this Easter we skipped most of them and it was one of my favorite days yet. I give most of the credit to Conference, which somehow took away my worries and filled me with gratitude towards my Savior.

Babies, everywhere.

2010-04-03T17:56:00.000-07:00

Provo is a hard place to live when you want a baby badly but can't have one. Pregnant ladies and babies are everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Babies at church, babies at the mall, babies in strollers, babies in the grocery store, babies everywhere with huge, flower headbands.

This last year has been filled with lots of injections, pills, more injections, and lots of uncomfortable procedures, all in hopes of having one of our own.

The strange thing is, even with all the doctors telling us no, we both just know it's going to happen. Probably not soon, but someday.

For one of the first times in my life I have felt direct whisperings from my Heavenly Father telling me,

"It's going to be ok. It's going to end up a better ending than you could dream up on your own."

I trust that feeling. I trust the God has a plan for each of us, a plan greater than we could ever create by ourselves. I consider it a tender mercy, from my Heavenly Father, to feel this way when so much else is telling me not to. I love the following film. Watch it, you will too.

APriL fOoLs

2010-04-01T14:14:00.000-07:00

With a little photo shop, Sam tricked everyone in his family. No one in mine believed it... I guess my family is just so much smarter than his... either that, or my family lies a whole lot more than his does, so we just don't believe each other anymore :)

Quick Trip to AZ

2010-03-23T09:04:00.000-07:00

There is nothing quite like going home. This last trip was a blast. I enjoyed every minute of hanging out with my family in that warm Arizona sun! Trips like these make it awfully hard to live so far away from family. I was finally able to see Ethan in action at his baseball game. He gets so into the game and got out a bunch of kids on 1st base.

Kade entertained us by shaking his booty while balancing. He is the cutest dancer.

1 hour in the sun = sunburn. Sad.

This was my favorite part of the trip. We shopped all afternoon and ended it with the Cheesecake Factory.

Since Sam was in Utah, I had lots of sleepovers with my sisters. They included the traditional presents (contest to see who can find the weirdest thing to give away), what-if questions, and truth or dare. No, I am not still12. But I can still appreciate a good sleep over :)

It was so nice to be able to spend most of our time outside. We played beach volleyball, badmitton, tennis, and went on bike rides. I was in heaven.

We talked Brooke into seeing if she could still spin around the bar... she used to be able to do it faster than any of us. 3 kids later and she's still got it! he he. Brooke is the greatest big sister. She spoils us all almost as much as our mom and is the best mom to her little boys.

My Mom is amazing. She is so much fun to be around, spends all her time doing things for others, and spoils us like crazy every time we visit. Her and my father are such great parents.

twenty-six, yikes!

2010-03-09T10:02:00.000-08:00

Inching closer and closer to 30.... it's starting to scare me! Because after 30, is 40. However, the day was wonderful. I woke up early to a TP'd house with all sorts of funny signs. Sam is a real trooper to carry on my family's traditions. We went to an early breakfast at Mimi's, I worked most of the day, and came home from work to flowers, dinner with Sam, and a late night movie at home. I think Sam was exhausted by the time the day was over :)

My wishes for year 26: 1. a BABY! 2. that our jobs work out 3. that if our jobs don't work out, one in Hawaii does 4. increased peace and balance in my life

(Don't be alarmed by the bloody neck, it's just Bella)

Newest nephew...Joziah Bronson

2010-02-28T16:30:00.000-08:00

Matt and Jill welcomed little baby Joziah on Wednesday. We rushed down Friday and had lots of fun getting to hold him all weekend. He is such a sweet baby; I never even heard him cry. We loved being able to play with Raquel and Reichlin as well, and I know Sam loved the late night video games with his brother. I feel so blessed to only have been born into such a great family, but married into a wonderful family as well. Thank you for letting us come, Matt and Jill!

Miss these guys

2010-02-22T16:27:00.000-08:00

This weekend Dave, Melissa, and their little baby, Olivia, paid us a visit. It has only been a few weeks but we miss such great friends! How lucky we are that we close enough to still visit.

It isn't everyday that Sam can find a friend as mature as he is.

Dave and Melissa handmade this house warming gift, "Santos Bates". A true treasure.

Lost without Lost

2010-02-21T16:33:00.000-08:00

We are part of the 99% of America that is hooked on Lost. Up until or move to Provo, Sam and I have never had TV. We had a TV, just no channels. We spend our weekend nights with movies and seasons, particularly LOST. A few days before we moved I went to work and set everything out for Sam to make dinner. When I came home, there was no dinner, I only had a few minutes until I had to go to a meeting, and I was a little ticked off and said a few not-so-nice words. When I came home from my meeting, Sam had set up this whole treasure hunt around our house, which led to..... Lost, Seasons 4 and 5. Turns out he was trying hard to get the "hunt" done before I came home from work, and that = no dinner, and that = what a great wife I am for getting mad. Good thing it's my first mistake ever :)

Our new place

2010-02-10T16:24:00.000-08:00

It is nice and cozy, new, and I am really liking it. We live in the basement of a nice family in our ward, and are close to the mall, Costco, and restaurants galore. I think it will work out great :)

Grandma and Grandpa Bates

2010-02-10T16:15:00.000-08:00

This last weekend we headed up to California to visit Sam's grandma one last time. About 3 weeks ago she was given 5 weeks left to live. What we that be like - to know you only had a few weeks left? Although she was incredibly weak, she was still as sweet as ever, and even sweeter was her husband taking care of her. When she got sick he bought the love seat they are sitting on just so he could sit next to her, holding her hand. Grandpa Bates is a patriarch and one of the most Christ-like people I know. Even with his wife about to pass away, he was so concerned about everyone else and making sure everyone else was comfortable. What an example.

Take me back

2010-02-03T10:13:00.000-08:00

This last summer in Hawaii was magical. No work, no school, nothing to do but spend our days on the beach. Since we've returned, Sam has been painting pictures that remind us of our years in Hawaii. I can't help but smile when I look at them, because for just a second, they take me back.

Sorry to disapoint you, but...

2010-02-02T09:40:00.001-08:00

The last picture was taken 3 years ago, in Maui, on our Honeymoon. Our new place looks nothing like that, it is a small one bedroom basement :( But wouldn't it be nice if that was our real house! It was just the only photo I had on hand of Sam, the birthday boy. Anywasy, here's what's going on since the move:

Sam is loving his new job. Looks like it will work out quite nicely.
I am jobless. And going crazy. I figured I would substitute teach while I looked for a real job, and guess what? They are not accepting application for subs, because they have too many CERTIFIED TEACHERS that want to sub for under 8 bucks an hour. I am a little bitter.
We went to a family ward. In our married student ward, church was FUN. Fulfilling, but also FUN. Family ward- nice, but not quite so fun. I need to get used to old people again. It is hard for me to pretend like their jokes are funny.
We live right next to the greatest mall ever but I feel to guilty shopping, seeing as I am not working.

I didn't think a move only an hour a half a way would be a big deal, but being friendless and jobless has got me discouraged... I'll update soon as things are sure to get better :)

Dear Birthday Boy, I am sorry your birthday was spent:

2010-01-29T09:23:00.000-08:00

packing
opening presents wrapped with grocery store ads
eating meals off of paper plates, made with whatever food wasn't packed

He's a Natural

2010-01-26T08:07:00.001-08:00

We got a new camera a while back and it has some pretty funny features, ones of them being that you can add a smile to someone's face. I am really impressed with how natural it looks... the good news is that now Sam has to smile in pictures because he knows I'll do this to the picture if he doesn't :)

Packin' up and Movin' on

2010-01-23T09:13:00.001-08:00

Today we are trying to pack our entire house, because next week we are moving. To Provo. Sam is working for National Processing, a merchant processing company (still figuring out what that means)... we looked for a place to live the other day and it felt like we were, well, back in college. So much for growing up :)

Family Reunion #2

2010-01-21T18:16:00.000-08:00

After visiting my family, we headed straight to Park City for Sam's family reunion. It was a nice, relaxing week. We stayed in these cute condos and had fun just relaxing catching up. A few highlights of the week:

We skied at Park City and The Canyons. The Canyons was awesome! I stuck with Sam and his brothers the first half of the day, and the second half went off on my own. It was so relaxing. When I was off skiing on my own I reached the bottom of a lift just as Sam and his bothers did, so I jumped on the chair behind them. When I got to the top I realized that it was only for two double black diamond runs. Definitely not my level. Lucky for me, there was ski patrol right there who took me down on the lift. Embarrassing... good thing I am used to situations like this.

At night we played tennis on the Wii. I cannot help but move around and swing like I am really playing tennis. His family kept trying to get me to play just so they could get some good laughs.

We all brought a bunch of candy, divided it up, and betting with our candy, played Texas Hold Em'. So much fun.

We got to spend time with family that we hadn't seen in way too long.

Looking Back...

2010-01-13T09:27:00.000-08:00

Has ten years really passed from the year 2000? I really can't believe it. I am going to follow my friend, Jessica, and reflect on the past decade...

New Year's Eve, 1999. 16 years old. Party at my house, and the boys turned off my next door neighbor's power. Turns out he worked for a hospital, and was working when the power went out. He had a bunch of equipment he had to reboot and my parents heard about it in no time (thanks for reminding me about that, Jessica!). The "cops" called and Jason was the only one who would talk to them, and tried to explain we were just drinking Martinelli's.

Got accepted to BYU. Made all housing plans, and at the last minute canceled them, booked a flight to Hawaii, and went to BYU Hawaii instead. One of the best decisions of my life.

Ran cross country for BYU Hawaii. I never hurt so bad as the first week back each season. Many of my best friends came from that team. Red eye flights, doing everything but studying at the hotels, and running more than I ever thought I could.

I met Sam. Went to the beach daily, studied on the beach while he surfed (aka watched him with an open book in front of me), Friday night dates in Waikiki, and fell in love.

Sam left for his mission in Brazil. Never knew I could miss someone so bad.

My sister, Ashley, joined me at BYU Hawaii. We were joined at the hip. Having family there made that place complete. Never did homework, always at the beach, worked in the cafeteria, learned to surf, never laughed so much.

Graduated from BYU Hawaii. Sam came home, and it felt like he had never left. So happy to be back with him, waiting for him to propose, missed Hawaii so much, time to move onto new things.

Got MARRIED to Sam. Moved to Utah for Sam to finish school. Sam graduated. Realize more and more everyday what an amazing person he is, and how lucky I am to be married to him.

Sam graduated, got a job, and welcome to real life!

While it's hard to see it while it's happening, it's easy to see how Heavenly Father has guided me every step of the way throughout each year. Can't wait to see what the next decade holds for us!

Thank you, Sam.

2010-01-08T18:11:00.000-08:00

On our drive back to Utah (from Arizona), Sam some these caves from the road and insisted we hike up to them. So after hiking through snow up to our knees and me complaining for half an hour, we made it up. It was worth it, they were awesome. Thank goodness for a husband who makes life exciting.

The boys

2010-01-08T18:02:00.000-08:00

After growing up with all girls, it is so fun now to have all nephews. Boys are so much fun. Rhett is 8 and always wants someone to jump on the trampoline with or to talk Star Wars lingo to. Ethan, who is 5, is a master burper, and can do the hugest burps on demand. With Sam egging him on, he burped the loudest burps I have ever heard for a good ten minutes. Really gross, but we could not stop laughing at him gulping down air as fast as he could. Kade is 2 and so darn cute.

Santa brought the boys a puppy for Christmas. Whenever Sam held him his legs would shoot straight up in the air, it looked so funny.

Family Traditions

2010-01-08T17:50:00.000-08:00

It seems like Christmas is packed with us trying to get in every last one of our holiday traditions. I love it. I have so many good memories of doing these things that I love each Christmas season. I didn't get a picture of my very favorite tradition- our all day shopping trip with a break at Oregano's for lunch. Sam's tradition includes baby sitting the kids all day while we shop (what a great husband I have).

The traditional jumping picture.... Brooke is about to go down.

I love this picture. Expect for Brooke who is missing (on the floor, which explains why we are laughing so hard) , I think it captures how much we love being together.

We got to be there for Britt's big day - 19 years old!

And the traditional donuts... I love these things. The donut holes are impossible to stop popping in your mouth.

Christmas Break, Part I

2010-01-08T17:32:00.000-08:00

This Christmas break we spent the first week with my family in Arizona, and the second week with Sam's family at a condo in Park City. It was a BLAST!

The traditional Christmas Eve nativity play, with not-so-traditional costumes. You didn't know Batman was part of the nativity? You really should read your scriptures more. Cody was Joseph, I was Mary, Sam was the donkey, Brittany the angel, and everyone else some sort of shepherd.

The traditional white elephant party. There were lots of rare finds, as always. Why does no one ever trade at this party? Ally got the only PG-13 aerobics video ever made.

Ashley got some rocks covered in dog doo-doo

And I got some Preparation-H, applicator included and all. It was used. Gross.

He did it!

2009-12-13T14:45:00.000-08:00

Sam graduated Friday at the Dee Events Center. After 2 years at Dixie and 2 1/2 years at Weber, he was definitely ready. Sam started out college basically hating it, but knowing it was something that would be good for us. He ended college loving it, doing awesome in every class he took, and wanting to go onto the Masters program.

Sam's dad and sister came up for the day. His mom's flight got canceled due to the weather, she was so sad to miss it.

We had a fun day. We woke up early and met Wayne and Kenzie at Mimi's for breakfast. We LOVE eating breakfast there. Then was graduation, which went a lot quicker than I expected, with only a few short, but great, speeches. We came back to our house with everyone for a late lunch and spent the night at our ward holiday dinner. Congratulations, Sam! Now what?

Thanksgiving Thanks

2009-12-06T17:44:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for... family, sunshine, a Heavenly Father and Savior, a husband who makes me happy, Christmas lights, summer, ocean, education, sisters, Breyers ice cream, friends, food blogging, the outdoors, Costco, my job, Friday night pizza and movies, cell phones, cars, laughing, Sam graduating, and so much more. So much to be thankful for.

Thanksgiving weekend brought... Brittany! I love having her got to college so close. She had a whole week off so we spent the first couple of days shopping, eating breakfast at Mimi's, watching chic flicks (including New Moon - better than the first one!), and laughing.

Brooke and the boys stopped by and spent the night on their way up to Cody's parents house. Nephews are so much fun. Sam's burnout video game is our only "toy" for the boys. They love it. We had fun staying up late talking, eating, and doing glitter toes.

We spent the last part of the week down in St. George with Matt and Jill and Sam's parents. We met up with Rachel and Richard and had so much fun rock climbing. Sam and I can't get enough of it. We spent the rest of the weekend just relaxing. Thanksgiving day after the big meal me and Britt fell asleep reading, one of my favorite things in this world.

This needs to be documented: Me and Brittany at possibly the dumbest movie ever made... Old Dog. Friday night we went out to dinner and to see Blindside with Matt and Jill and Sam's parents, but unfortunately Blindside was sold out, thus we saw Old Dog. It was painful. Both being broke, it was killing Britt and I that we spent almost 10 bucks on Old Dog.

mr. xavier rudd

2009-11-06T22:27:00.000-08:00

Recently we got to see Xavier Rudd in concert with Rachel and Spencer. His music is great on CD, but AMAZING in person. I have never heard anything like it. The instrumentals were crazy. Xavier sings and plays the guitar, the didgeridoos, and a tons of other instruments while two other guys play a ton of instruments as well. Almost as good as the music was the entertainment from the crowd. Xavier tends to draw a hippie crowd, and this concert did not disappoint. Hippies galore. So for the price of being surrounded by BO we got a lot of good laughs. One lady repeatedly came up to Spencer and Sam and said, "I think you are ticklish!" in a freaky voice, and tried to tickle their legs. Another man, who was dressed in tie-dye gauchos and definitely on drugs, ran around, very fast, in little circles right in front of us for about 15 minutes. I could go on and on. I am already excited to see him when he comes back around next year.

What's so great about Fall?

2009-11-04T18:04:00.000-08:00

That's what I used to think, having only lived in Arizona and Hawaii where there is no fall. But now I know. The camera can't to it justice- the combination of reds and oranges and greens are breath taking. The air smells like trees, and I feel guilty if I don't spend every second outside enjoying it.

Mugatu, he's so hot right now.

2009-10-30T22:35:00.000-07:00

Sam and I are all about the homemade costumes. With a little material and a lot of staples, my husband has fulfilled his Halloween dream. He was Mugatu for a night. When it came time for the costume party, all it took was Sam screaming something about how he invented the piano key necktie and the prize (Helicopter ride for 2) was ours :).

Outdoorsy

2009-10-23T06:18:00.000-07:00

Utah is full of outdoor fanatics. I always thought I was "outdoorsy" growing up- we hiked once in a while and spent summers swimming. I had no idea what being outdoorsy meant until we moved here. Almost everyone is an extreme mountain biker, rock climber, skier, snowboarder, kayaker, camper.... the list goes on and on. It has been kind of a hard transition for my klutzy self, but I am trying. Last weekend we went with a bunch of friends down to St. George, where we spent the first day mountain biking and the second day rock climbing. We spent the rest of the time with Matt and Jill and the kids. It was a blast, minus my small panic attack. We'll get to that in a second.I have climbed in a gym before. I figured climbing outside would be the same. I was wrong. Very wrong. So just to get to the start of the climb we hiked up. I don't know how high, but it added to the freakiness. Then you climbed straight up about 80 feet, where you clipped into the mountin on this little 1 foot ledge, to get ready to do the seond part of the climb, and then the third. I was the last one to make the climb, and since I was being buhleyed from above, all I could really see was this measly rope holding me up, and I started to panic. I honestly was sure that if I slipped I would die. So by the time I reached everyone else at the first ledge, I was kind of a wreck. As much as I loved hanging out on a 1 foot ledge, 200 feet above ground, I could not stop shaking and talked them into letting me rapel down while they finished the climb. After this climb we headed over to a NORMAL climb where you actually start on the ground and buhley from below. It was FUN. I loved it. Sam was in heaven. Rock climbing is all he wants to do now. I don't mind.

Funny story: So while everyone else was finishing the first climb, I really really had to go to pee. So I slipped on Sam's flip flops, hiked around the cliff and went, camping style. I have never been good at doing this. There is no control. I accidentally got Sam's sandal. I was hiking back, about to wash his shoe, when I hear this other rock climber saying, "Where are my sandals? I know they were here!" So I ask if the ones I am wearing are his, which they are, and quickly apologize and hand them over. Some things are better left not known. Poor guy. I really feel bad. Still.

good bye, summer. i will miss you.

2009-10-20T17:18:00.000-07:00

We said buh-bye to summer with one last campfire with our friends. Have I mentioned how much I love our friends here? I think only about a million times. But I do. We had a fun weekend in Huntsville cooking foil dinners and s'mores and singing around the campfire to the one and only guitar hero, Richard. Oh yeah, and the guys shot guns at targets, such as a broken microwave (Hello, white trash). So long, summer. I can feel winter moving in.