Apricots

Matt and I bottled for the first time.
We found the most adorable couple on ksl looking to get rid of their apricots. They let us pretty much strip their entire tree. We bottled 37 bottles and also made two batches of jam. We took them some of our goods today and they offered us peaches when they ripen. So next up....peaches!

Camping Down South (April 2010)

Our first camping trip of the season was in April. We decided to head south hoping for warm
weather.

Sam has to be in middle when we are driving.
He spends hours slowing creeping up to the front cab.

The first night we camped on the side of the freeway (literally). We arrived at night and was unable to find a good place to camp so we just pulled over and set up camp. Matt always gets up the second it starts getting light. I was still sound asleep at this time.

Random caves somewhere by Moab.

Me inside of the caves. The walls were fake...maybe an old movie set??

We stopped by a lake and had lunch while Sam played in the water.

My awesome family

Our next campsite was much more appealing. We camped in the La Sal mountain Range. We were unable to go to far into them as there was still a lot of snow.

Matt

Matt and Gabe warming up by the campfire.

Bedtime

Once again...Matt is up way before me. I always look forward seeing the pictures he takes while I am still sleeping.

On a drive the last day

Matt and I

Five Years!

Dear Matt,

Today is our five year anniversary.
I am so lucky to be able to share my life with such a wonderful person.
There is no place I'd rather be than in your arms.
You truly are my everything.

Kay

Sometimes I actually think I forget to breathe.

My expressions seem stressed.

It has been a busy couple of weeks and LIFE seems to be drifting away from me.

Tomorrow is our five year anniversary. The thought makes me smile inside.

Meet Wanderer

Matt has been wanting a 4 wheel drive vehicle since....
well since he sold his last one :).
We weren't necessarily planning on purchasing one quite yet,
but I did tell him that if he found one that he would be satisfied with for awhile we could get one. Needless to say, he started searching and it wasn't long before he found one!

Meet Wanderer.
A new addition to our family.
I won't lie, I have just as much fun driving it as Matt does.

Eight Months Later....

It's been eight months since my last post.
I know I say this often, but time seems to go by so quickly.
We may be playing the catch up game for awhile.

This year has been a great one so far.

I have the most incredible husband a person could ever ask for. He is kind, loving, and very patient. He understands how I think like no one else does. I only wish I could read him as well as he reads me.

I have the best dogs! They make me excited to come home every day. They both have the magic power to make me smile... even on the worst days.

I love Abbie (our cat) and she loves me too but only when
its convenient for her :).

I love my job. I can't say that I jump out of bed in the morning with anticipation of going to work, but it's a great feeling to wake up in the morning and not dread going to work. My co-worker Megan is wonderful and I couldn't ask for better bosses.

We have worked VERY hard on becoming debt free. Although it still hasn't sunk in, we will be completely debt free (including the house) by the end of September. Only two more months! It's been 2 and a half years in the works and I am so excited for all of our hard work to finally pay off!
All thanks to Dave Ramsey.

Posts of some of our last 8 months events to follow....

Happy New Year

2010 is here.
It still sounds futuristic to me.
Time seems to fly by so quickly...almost like a blur.



2009 Highlights

We worked really hard all year towards our goal of paying off the house and discovering the freedom of being debt free! Our goal is to pay off the house by our 5th anniversary (Aug. 12th 2010).

June 11th marked one year since Matt and Zach found each other through the Big Brother big Sister program.

Tyler Moved in with us. Both challenging and wonderful times but overall it has been really great getting to know him all over again.

During a very hard time economically, we watched as our friends, family members, and co-workers were laid off from their jobs. Through this time, Matt and I have been very fortunate. We feel very lucky to both have somewhat stable jobs and have even been able to pick up a few side jobs.

We celebrated our 4th anniversary (Aug 12th) in Lava Hot Springs. It was very quiet, very relaxing, and very very romantic.

We worked hard at growing a garden. Although I think our gardens will forever be a work in process, we are getting better at it. We grew beets for the first time and they turned out wonderful (now if only I liked to eat beets). Luckily, Matt loves them. We turned our tomatoes into spaghetti sauce and are hoping to start bottling next year. Among those, we planted: Potatoes, carrots, peas, cantaloupe, and corn.

During the summer, Matt was able to go mountain bike riding on a regular basis. He started "Thursday Morning Rides" and has met a few great friends that share his passion of riding. He also built me a mountain bike. I am looking forward to trying it out next spring.

Gabe (our german shorthair) turned 12 years old and has very rapidly started showing his age. It breaks my heart to know that his backpacking career may be over and I can't imagine going on a trip without our "trailmaster". This has been very hard on both Matt and I, but we cherish every moment of him and spend a lot of time snuggling with him which seems to be his new favorite hobby.

Matt and I started an at home exercise program called P90X in October. We are 60 days into it and are feeling great about getting into shape and learning to eat better.


Hoping the new year brings us: Financial peace and A wonderful 5 yr anniversary.