Welcome Home

Last night after we braved the drive from Ogden to Park City we were welcomed by a 3 foot plow drift and 2 feet of snow in the driveway. It is my instinct to say "let's just walk in and snowblow the drive and then we'll pull in". Tyler however, is it as an opportunity to put the truck to the test! So he hit the drift and is a bit suprised at how high the snow comes up, but he throughs the rear-deferentials on and tries again success but only for about 5 feet. At this point I attempt to get out and walk back, however, I open my door at snow level and step out into knee deep snow and decide to ride it out. We proceeded with a battering ram method, forward 10 feet or so until the truck stops then back to make room for momentum to carry us over the snow. By the third rotation we had made it to the garage. It was great! Two hours later we had clear most of the drive and went to bed.

Merry Christmas to all!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! We feel so blessed to be close to both of our families, that's truely what made this year so great! Here are some of our photo's from this past few weeks...enjoy!

Tribute to The Rev!

So Tyler has now completed his first block of Medical School at the U. The semester was a lot of work but a success overall. Tyler has teamed up with a number of classmates and formed a study group that is now referred to as The Rev. They say stuff like "there's a revolution going on" it's cute really! Anyway, for their final week of the block they all grew mustaches... it was not so cute really, but you can judge for yourself!

The Ames Gang!

OK, I know we're not all Ames' anymore but it still fits. My older sister, Bri, came into town with all her boys. We had a great time all crammed under one roof...Mom was in heaven, until she caught a bad cold. We started it all with family picture in the park, somehow I still don't have those pictures. Anyway, we had a great time with everyone and we really miss our little Smith Family!

After the pictures the boys tried to create a little fun by dropping Mentos in Diet Coke.

It turned out to be pretty anti-climatic. We also had an early Thanksgiving dinner with the whole gang. Tyler, of course, found some whoopie cushions to entertain the kids with, those things never get old!

No matter if it's rain, snow or shine when the boys come, we'll be digging for worms!

Then we played a little rock band.

And we went bowling...

I hope the Spirit of Halloween found you!

It is the spookiest day of the year and your only chance to dress up as whatever you want and get away with it. For me this year I kept it simple with my trusty witch hat and sparkly purple cape. We usually throw a big Halloween Party but we decided to take a break this year. Perhaps if the stars align we will resurrect it for next year! Here are a few pictures of the house this year. We got a lot of comments on how great it looked and some people even took pictures! Of course we always have the fog machine going and spooky music play loud enough that you can hear it on the street. One of our neighbors really gets into it as well so we always have a lot of fun!

Jack Frost is nipping at our nose!

Doesn't he know that Ichabod Crane and the Pilgrims need to come first! It never works that way here in Park City. Anyway, here are some pictures from our yard this morning with the beautiful snow. A little snow always makes me want to curl up in front of the fire with Tyler and watch a good moving!

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our 4 year Anniversary and we couldn't be happier! We have been so blessed to have such a wonderful relationship and close friendship. We share so many passions in life that have made the past 4 years so much fun and we're looking forward to an exciting future together!

Joe's Valley

Finally, Tyler got a break from school! Last week Tyler had 5 tests in 3 days, so thankfully the school gave them Friday off and I wasn't about to let us sit around doing nothing! So in an effort to find a great camping venue I actually got us a trip to Joe's Valley to help gather the herd from the mountains and bring them down to the pasture!

Tyler's cousins happen to be a couple of guys I went to school with up at USU so its fun to get us all together and it was very nice for them to let us tag along. I was actually surprised to see that Tyler can handle a horse pretty well. You'd think you know everything about someone after 5 years, but the excitement never ends with Tyler!

So I got a little crazy with the scenery shots, I don't think we could have picked a better weekend to be down there with the leaves, it was just amazing! But I didn't get any photos of us riding the horses and herding the cattle because I was too afraid the camera would get damaged on the ride. Hopefully, this won't be our last trip down there to help, Tyler would be down there next weekend if he could! Anyway we couldn't have asked for a better weekend! Thank you Jonathan and family for letting us come down!

Jocie's 2nd Birthday!

It's about time we post some pictures of our cute little niece Jocie, this is Jeannette's little girl, so here she is at her Birthday Party!

The White Coat Ceremony

Today Tyler was presented with his first White Coat and as I sit here and reflect upon our journey to this point... I am moved. Tyler has really had to work hard to get here. As a pre-med student he pulled the grades and passed the tests, volunteered in the community by serving the homeless youth, the uninsured, and assault victims. He spent hours looking over the shoulder of practicing Physicians during reconstruction surgeries and pediatric check-ups, and worked with cardiac rehab patients in the hospital. But the amazing thing about Tyler is that even after being turned down twice he never lost sight of his dream! His passion for medicine grew stronger and stronger over the years and no matter how high the bar was raised he was going to reach it. Tyler has a great passion for life and yes it comes out in every aspect from the iphone, to training for triathlons, and of course his deep desire to be a physician. Tyler, I’m so proud of you! You have truly earned this great privilege and I know your passion will continue to drive you to achieve your goals. I love you so much and I’m so thankful to be with you!

Mom's Birthday Weekend!

Mom's 50th Birthday

This past weekend was my Mom's 50th Birthday and we played for 3 days straight! We boated, tubed, and surfed then went to a Jon Schmit concert, had a BBQ, painted a huge birthday sign, played some crazy golf, got pedicures, 3 dozen ballons, and a huge cake with 50 candles! But the best part of it all was spending time with my Mom and seeing her with a constant smile on her face! Mom you are a perfect example of what a mother should be! Thank you so much for always being there for all of us... WE LOVE YOU!

What a busy July!

This past month has gone by so fast with all the activities we have been doing. Here is a quick run down:

July 4th - Independence Day - We get up at 5:00 am and serve breakfast in the park in Huntsville with Tyler's Mom and Dad. T is back there flip'n hot cakes and I am pouring hot chocolate. Then we head back to his parent's house and start setting up for the neighborhood BBQ and fireworks later that night.

July 10th - Tyler's 28th Birthday! We had Chris and Shyan, our family buddies, and Jeff and Melissa, our friends, come up and go to dinner. Then on Sunday we had a little Ames Gang get together and played some Crazy Golf!

July 12th - Our High School 10 yr Class Reunion, which took up a lot of time in the first part of the month because I was on the planning committee. But it was all worth it to see all of our friends from high school. I just wish there was more time to visit with everyone. We have a facebook group that has a bunch of pictures if your interested look it up!

July 13th - Weber State Fire Works and Concert with the Williams group.

July 16th - Sidney's 5th Birthday! She is our cute little niece and I can't believe she is going to be starting school this year.

July 24th - Utah's Pioneer Day. We went on a 35 mile bike ride with a group in the ward. We went along the last part of the Pioneer trek from Henefer, up and over Heartbreak Ridge, up and over Big Mountain, and then down Emigration Canyon. It was a beautiful ride and really cool to hear the stories and struggles of the Pioneers. Then later that night there was a ward Dinner in the park, which I got to help with the kids crafts!

July 26th - Spudman Triathlon - We had a great time with this race. I fortunately have a friend from college that is from Burley, ID and let us stay with them and his family. The race itself was much better than the SG TRI we did in May. The weather was perfect and the swim was down the Snake River, so I was super happy! We almost didn't go because we had not kept up with our training at all since the SG TRI, but we decided we would go see if we could get some wetsuit and if there were some available to rent then we would go. Sure enough they had one more women's suit for me to rent and Tyler's parents bought him one for his birthday. So off we went to Burley. We both did great and were very please with our results, however, when we finished the race we found out that there was an older gentlemen that went under the water before his wave started the race and they were not able to get to him in time to save him. Our deepest condolence's go out to his family and friends. It really hits close to home when something like that happens, and really makes you appreciate the time you have with those you love.