Celebrating Ash

I remember when we were little. I used to dress you like you were my very own doll.  I used to brush through your hair and you would cry.  You would cry because you said it hurt, SO BAD.  I never believed you though. I would just keep brushing telling you to be strong.  For some reason you let me.  You're hair was so long and thick.  We could literally spend hours curling it only for the curls to fall right out.  We didn't care though, I would just do it all over again until you were sick of sitting there.
I remember when you would sleep over.  You would get up earlier than any kid - ever known to man!  I would wake up and find you watching cartoons or sitting at the counter eating cereal.  You'd make fun of me for sleeping so long and I would get mad.  I wasn't a morning person - even if it was almost afternoon.
I remember not being old enough to drive and sitting in the cars pretending to go awesome places.  If it was really hot we would even get the keys!  We would dream of growing up and driving.  I swore when I turned sixteen I would drive you, Nate and all your friends around.  I would be the cool Aunt, I promised. 
I remember vacations, camping trips and weekends with the family.  I remember hiking to the top of steep mountains that our Dad's were determined to take their four-wheelers up.  We were too scared to ride with them, so we would walk up - together.  I remember board games (oh my heck you LOVED board games), campfires, and coming back from 5 hour long four-wheeler rides exhausted and covered from head to toe in mud.  Luckily, I always packed plenty of extra clothes!
I remember when you started liking boys.  You would call me and talk for hours.  I swear you were the world's fastest talker and I am pretty sure you could talk without taking a breath. You would tell me everything and ask for advice to get that boy to notice you. 
I remember when you would cry, I would hug you and promise you everything would always be all right.  And when I would cry, you did the same.
I remember when you grew taller than me - which - seemed to happen overnight.  So tall and pretty.  You loved that I was older and you were taller.  We would joke that I would always be the shortest one in the family.  That is turning out to be very true.
I remember dressing you up and taking you out with my friends.  We tried to convince people we were the same age and would laugh and laugh when they would believe us.
I remember your Senior prom.  I was so excited you asked for my help - I brought over all my makeup and hair supplies.  We spent hours brushing on the perfect eye shadow and curling and twisting your thick hair into the perfect updo.  You looked gorgeous.
I remember your high school graduation.  I was so proud, and a bit jealous, of your 4.0 high school GPA.  I was convinced that even with my 3 year head start you would graduate college first.  I knew you would go on to do great things. Great things that only really smart 4.0 people do.
I remember the first thing you did when you walked in a room.  Hug.  Everyone. Even if they weren't the hugging type.
I remember the last time we talked.  I remember our whole conversation.  I remember exactly where I was standing.  I didn't know then that would it be our last.
I remember these things not only today, because it is your birthday, but every day.
I remember you every day.

Happy Birthday Ash!

Jumping Into A New Age... Literally.

This year, given my feelings as previously posted about getting older, I wanted to do something completely insane for my birthday. My first initial thought was skydiving, then as Deneal and I were talking (she has a birthday 10 days after mine) we decided that maybe the proper way to celebrate our special days would be to jump off a bridge! (To show our true feeling about getting older while attached to a bungee of course). I told Dan and Shannon our plan and they were more than enthusiastic to join. And so it was, we made plans on Labor Day to each jump off a 480 foot bridge, TWICE, in Amboy, WA. This is not something I would normally do, so to save myself from losing my mind I actually just didn't think about it to the days leading up to it. I honestly had no anxiety until I stood on the bridge filling out liability paperwork and had to check yes or no to questions that read "Would you like an open casket?" or "Would you like to be cremated?". Yeah - not funny. But I was already there, I committed and come what may I was doing it.

Because of my shortness I had to use a different bungee than the rest of the group and therefore, had to go last. I wasn't sure if watching everyone first would be a good or bad thing but there wasn't much of a choice. The process goes like this, you climb over a small fence to the platform, you turn around they count down 3...2...1.. and you jump - superman style. They are very particular about this with good reason. They say if you give yourself enough time up there to reason you will have a really hard time jumping. Instead, you just jump as to not let sanity get the best of you! :) The superman style is to make sure that your head is fat enough away from the bungee so you don't get hit in the face. Once you do your first jump they pull you back up and it's time for the second jump... backwards. Let's be honest these are probably the most nervous smiles you have ever seen.

Dan went first, He did awesome and because he had done this once before he got to try a "special" jump where you run and jump off the opposite side and do sort of a sling shot move. Yeah, now that's insane! Next was Shannon. Shannon was nervous and if you know Shannon you know that although she is adventurous and always up something new, bungee jumping was probably not her first choice. But, this was an exciting adventure and something to check off her bucket list. She did get a little bit of a fat lip from her first jump and although she was worried about her teeth she went for jump number 2. Look at her down there, THAT is how far you fall. Whoa...Next up, Deneal. She had to clear her head a little and did not want to hear a word Shannon said as she was coming up. After the bungee was attached, she went for it. She yelled, "I love this" on jump number 1, backwards jump number 2, however, she was not a fan of.Then it was me. I had to take a moment to find my inner strength, peace, insane woman, I don't know what I was trying to find, I think I was just praying my heart out that I would survive. Then after I explained the "rules of jumping" back to the jump instructors and making them promise me again and again that they had double and triple checked my bungee I started the climb over the fence. I have to be honest... climbing this little fence off the side of a bridge in the rain and stepping onto a tiny platform 480 feet above a slow moving creek is TERRIFYING! I went as slow as I could and felt it necessary to tell the instructor that "I am not a strong fence climber". Which is true! Alas I made it to the platform. Looked the guy in the eyes ONE more time and asked if I would be ok. He nodded his head. My legs were visibly shaking and I thought to myself as I turned around, "I better jump when they say 1 or there is NO way I am jumping off this bridge." At that point my body and my brain were saying, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Well, this is what happened...

Here are some pictures in case you have no interest in watching video of a person flinging themselves off the side of a bridge...

After they hoisted me up, it was time for round 2. BACKWARDS! Oh man, I really had to find some inner strength for this one. No one in their right mind jumps off a bridge forward, LET ALONE backward!

But, with the same technique, I made them promise I would be ok, they counted and I knew jump now, or never.

SUPER happy I survived!

And VERY relieved to be on the other side, not positive that the last 15 minutes really just happened.

Well, that's it - I jumped off a bridge to celebrate my new age and I lived! I think it's going to be an awesome year! Would I do it again? Absolutely, now I get a discount. Was it the scariest thing I have ever done? Yes, without question the scariest thing, but I must also mention that flying through the air at 68mph is an INCREDIBLE feeling. I can honestly say I have never felt anything like it. High fives all around, good job guys!

Welcome to my life of 26

Birthday's are a big deal to me. My birthday, your birthday, the guy down the streets birthday - I love them all! The holiday of birth comes second on my list of favorite holiday's as it has recently been replaced by Easter. I think everyone deserves a day to celebrate, relax, do what you will and take your time... you have earned it. As the summer festivities wrap up and we begin to roll into fall I can always tell my birthday is just around the corner! My Dad used to make fun, what am I saying? STILL makes fun of me because I prefer to have a birthday month rather than just one day. What can I say? That's how I was born.

So you can imagine my surprise as September crept up and I had mixed feelings about the upcoming birthday. As much as I love the celebration, it's been hard to wrap my head around ANOTHER year, another wrinkle, a new age, more responsibility. What happened to the last age? Twenty-five was PERFECT, it seemed like just starting to feel comfortable with that one and now I have to add a +1?! Oy vey. Needless to say that for the days leading up to my birthday I was less than thrilled to welcome the +1 into my life.

And today the birthday happened and it has been as delightful as every 25 birthdays before it. There is something nostalgic about a birthday for me. I get so excited all year and when it finally comes I am never let down. No matter the celebration, the birthday love has always been there. And even though I have to add the +1, I don't feel older, I never do in fact. It feels like today is a more exciting yesterday and an even better year to come.

Kristin said something great about birthdays on her blog months ago, I had to save it for this day because it sums up the feeling of age perfectly...

"What they don't understand about birthdays and what they never tell you is that when you're eleven, you're also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one. And when you wake up on your twenty-sixth birthday you expect to feel twenty-six but you don't. You open your eyes and everything is just like yesterday, only it's today. And you don't feel twenty-six at all. You feel like you're still twenty-five and twenty-four, and twenty-three, and twenty-two and so on and so on. And you are - underneath the year that makes you twenty-six anyway.

Some days for instance, you might say something bratty and that's the part of you that's still thirteen. Or maybe some days you might just ride your bike all day in the mud and get nothing done and that's the part of you that's six. Sometimes you need to call your mom and dad because you're scared and don't know what to do and that's the part of you that's eight. Other days you will wake up next to your spouse and hear your baby playing in the crib and you feel like you're thirty. But there are always those days when even after you are all grown up and really are thirty, you will still need to cry and you feel like you're three. That's what I tell people when they're sad and need to cry... maybe you're feeling three."

So there is is, +1 and all, the birthday is happening. Welcome to my life of 26.

Celebrating Christ

I love the Easter season. I love the symbolism as the weather turns to Spring and the trees and flowers begin to blossom we are reminded that Jesus lives. This morning as I was reading through scriptures and past words spoken about Easter I was touched by the reality of the Resurrection and overwhelmed with gratitude for the Savior.

My oldest niece, Ashley, passed away 2 years ago in July. Yesterday would have been her 22nd birthday. All day my thoughts were about Ashley and as with many people who have someone close to them pass away, I wondered what the proper way to celebrate her was. I like to think the best way to celebrate someone is with happy memories of them and so I remembered. But as I was reading this Easter morning I came across these words that President Hinkley spoke in 1996,

"There is nothing more universal than death, and nothing brighter with hope and faith than the assurance of immortality. The abject sorrow that comes with death, the bereavement that follows the passing of a loved one are mitigated only by the certainty of the Resurrection of the Son of God that first Easter morning."

I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for me, for Ashley, for everyone, so that we too will live again. There have been many, and will be plenty more, times in my life where this knowledge has been the only thing that I am sure of - even so, it's always been enough. Ashley is such an incredible addition to our family and what special time of year for her to have her birthday.

Happy Easter!

Happy Birthday Pops!

Exactly one week after my Mom's birthday falls my Dad's. As you know, I love everyone's day of birth... but this year my Dad's is extra special! Today he turns 60 AND had about 60 screws put into his left leg! Big day! It was a bummer that his surgery had to happen today, but he was in too much pain to push it out. The surgery went really well and now it's on to recovery.

I was so glad to be home for his surgery and to be sure that the birthday's are celebrated in their fullness. Here is to crossing our fingers that he is home very soon so we can get the party started!

In effort to keep his hospital pictures private I will refrain from posting pictures of the giant balloons that we brought to the hospital and instead include my most favorite picture with my parents on graduation. Just know, the Get Well/Birthday balloons were awesome.

My dad is such an amazing man... here is a top ten list of my favorite things.
10. When my dad wants to give advice it always starts with, "I know I mess around a lot, but keep in mind..."
9. As per above my Dad jokes about all matters of life. He finds the light in every situation.
8. Dad's know everything and mine is no exception. He will sit on the phone for hours with me trying to explain how something in my house is 'suppose' to work and talk me through how to fix it.
7. My Dad has always taught us to put family first. I remember being 14 on a camping trip with my family and wishing sooo badly that I was home with my friends. He said to me, "One day family will be all you have - make your family most important." I never forgot that.
6. He is such a fighter. He fought for his life in November and has been fighting to recover ever since. Not to mention that he taught me how to be a 'fighter' in junior high school when a girl was threatening to steal my boyfriend. Everyone should know how to throw a punch he says. :)
5. My Dad is lives on 4 major food groups, Coke, Chocolate, Red meat and Coffee... I love it because I can always count on mounds of chocolate when I come to visit!
4. My Dad watches over everyone. He likes to make sure that everyone has exactly what they need. He stands behind you to make sure you're safe. I love that.
3. My Dad doesn't like elaborate holiday's. Simple and meaningful is most important to him.
2. My Dad tells the best stories. He exaggerates just enough to make the story interesting, but not too much so it's unbelievable. I love it! His stories usually start, "I know I mess around a lot, but no joke..."
1. I will never forget the day my Dad sat me down and said, "Amber don't be stuck up. Don't be rude. Be kind to everyone. Your character is one of the most important things you have". Words to remember...

I love you, Happy 60th Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday to My Lovely Mom!

Today is a holiday for my Mom, her birthday! I love birthdays, I think they should be the most celebrated birthday of the year! It's a day to take time out for yourself and celebrate your life. As a child there is always someone that you hope to grow up and be "just like". I always wanted to be just like my Mom, here is why.

She is a rock. She can, and does, hold herself together in any situation. She has been faced with incredibly challenging trials, but forges through with her head up. She can get through anything and has proved that time and time again. She is an incredible example for our family.

She is kind. My mom would give you the shirt off her back without blinking. She is constantly doing things for others, especially our family. The first thing she did when she came to Oregon was fill my refrigerator with groceries and try to teach me to cook (literally at 10pm after her plane landed). I remember noticing as a child and even more since I have become an adult almost every hour of her day is dedicated to someone other than herself.

She is beautiful. She has a great sense of style, always looks great and can be ready in about 15 mins flat. I don't know why I didn't get those genes!

She is so patient. She loves children. She loves to buy children's books and toys and she gets so excited to give them away. She can teach and calm a child better than anyone I know. I hope to someday inherit that amount of patients.

She is smart. She has an incredible work ethic that has allowed her to climb ladders that are unimaginable to some. She is very well respected and an amazing business woman, one that I could only hope to live up to.

She is all these things and so much more. She is fun and always up for an adventure. She is laid back and never quick to anger. She loves and she shares her love with those around her. She is such an example to anyone who knows her. More than a mom, she is my friend. Thanks for always being there for me!
Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Shannon!

Today marks the day of Shannon's 26th year of life! Shannon and I have been friends for 22 years and along with that have come many exciting adventures and a friend who has become a sister. Thanks for being such a great friend Shannon and happy birthday!!

Just for good times sake, here is a list of notable and incredibly awesome things that Shannon and I have done together...
- At age 7 or 8 we sold all the junk food in my mom's pantry to the neighbor kids to eat while they watched a movie at my parents house - which we charged them for. (Movie theater genius')
- We made the neighbor kid who so badly wanted to be our friend act as our butler and driver. He really made us food, but he drove a couch that we sat in the back of.
- In 4th grade we bought ALL the same school clothes, cause we were just that cool!
- In high school we drove Shannon's car to Provo with the emergency break on chasing a car full of girls - cause they threw flavored water at as.
- In college we hid our roommate Angela's Nintendo game cause we were sick of her playing it (Sorry Ang!).
- In college we used to throw shoes at our door to get our roommates to be quiet. We had a room by the kitchen for heaven sakes!
- In college we corrupted our sweet roommates by asking them to be hookers for Halloween with us.
- We know that I can take Shannon down in a wrestling match, but she wins when we are boxing... only cause she has long arms.
- We braided extensions into our hair one summer making it look like we had just got back from an exotic vacation.

Seriously, the list goes on and on. Happy Birthday Shannon!

I typically don't do happy birthday postings... so for anyone who I haven't done up to now, please don't be offended :)

Attack of the Birds!

Ok, that was over dramatized, but tonight we watched as hundreds of Swift's made a home in the small chimney of a school. Swifts are the most aerial of birds and look similar to Swallows, but apparently are a member of the hummingbird family. As they migrate every year they spend about 3 weeks sleeping in a chimney in downtown Portland. Every night hundreds of birds gather together and funnel into this chimney while hundreds of people sit on a hill for a couple hours, eat dinner and watch the show. Here are some pictures, but you must know that the pictures don't do the whole production justice. There were birds everywhere, it was crazy and a little bit frightening knowing that at any moment one may need to go to the bathroom. Don't worry - we came out clean!

All the little black dots, those are birds
Here they are beginning to funnel in

And a short video for your viewing pleasure


Also notable, I wore the shoes tonight that Shannon and Dan gave to me for my birthday! They are TDF(To Die For). I love them, thanks again guys!

I heart WalMart

I know - people think WalMart is awful because it stops people from shopping local, but let me just say, you don't know what you have until it's gone! When I moved to Oregon and made my first trip to pick up some essentials that I had run out of (ie. soap, Q-tips) I had to go to the nearest Fred Meyer where I paid $5.00 for 18 FL OZ of body wash and $3.50 for a box of Qtips. You see, WalMart is not a dime a dozen here and even the word makes people cringe. The closest one to me is about 30 minutes away, certainly a change from the supercenter just around the corner from my house in Salt Lake. Needless to say the cost of such essentials has gone up.

Well the other day as I was making a 'quick trip' to Nordstrom Rack I missed my connecting freeway (without noticing) and went 20 miles in the wrong direction. As I was driving I kept thinking 'this doesn't look right, I think I missed my turn', but I continued on. It wasn't until I saw Popeyes chicken restaurant (equivalent to KFC)on the side of the freeway that I knew I was in the wrong place. (Sidenote: I remembered that same Popeyes restaurant from a trip I had taken one summer to visit Shannon. We were on our way to an outlet mall and that restaurant stuck in my mind.) I took the next exit to turn around and to my surprise - there stood a WalMart. I figured since I was there, I may as well go in and grab some things that I needed. When I walked in it was like a blanket of security - there were the prices I remembered! $1.88 for Qtips and $2.68 for body wash. Whoo hoo! I stocked up on the essentials and bought myself some cookies for a job well done! So, I know everyone thinks WalMart is the root of all things evil, but honestly - you can't beat the prices.


Also, something very cute to note... my family had our monthly birthday party/dinner yesterday. This month mine and Nate's birthday were being celebrated. My brother, Shane, sent me a picture of the cake which read, "Happy Birthday Amber and Nate" while my dad called me on speaker phone so I could be there as the whole family sang us happy birthday! It was really cute! What a thoughful family - thanks guys -that made my day!

Incredible, awesome, amazing, fun weekend

We had such a fun time in Seattle this weekend. It was packed full of food, presents, sports, silly jokes and a whole lot of laughing! It just so happens that BYU had their first away game in Seattle the weekend of my birthday. Luckily for me, Bryce, Lynn and Brandon planned to travel to the game and were nice enough to invite me along (thanks again!). We all arrived in Seattle on Thursday, which also happened to be my birthday. I love birthday's - I think it should be everyone's favorite day of their year. I mean, how can you not love the day that you were born?! This year was no exception, thanks to my wonderful parents, family and friends. Thank you for all the calls, texts, emails, packages, cards, presents and warm wishes. Twenty -five really doesn't seem so bad even if I do have a gray hair.
Thursday after we all arrived we went to dinner and had enough food to feed a small army and singing and chocolate cake to top it all off!



After dinner Bryce was super excited for me to open presents since they had hauled them all the way from Utah! I think you will easily pick out mine and his favorite present of the night...

How did he pick out a purse that would match my shirt exactly? Great minds think alike.

Knowing my distaste for BYU, Bryce thought he was hilarious buying this shirt for me and insisting that I would wear it to the game. You will see below whether or not that happened. Thanks again to everyone for everything, what a great birthday!
On Friday we went around town to Pike's Market and the Space Needle, but before any of that could happen we had to stop off at University of Washington to check out the field. I really wish I would have gotten a picture of this because Lynn was ecstatic to be out on the field making sure the turf was in tact and checking out our seats for Saturday. He was so proud to tell everyone that he had been out there to check it out. Very cute really. After the field passed the test we headed downtown. Pike's Market is always so fun - they have BEAUTIFUL cheap flowers and HUGE fish!


We had lunch on the peir. It was so pretty sitting right next to the water and I even saw seals!!



Friday night we went to the Mariners - Yankees game. It was so FUN! We had fabulous seats and I swear we almost got hit by 16 balls. Thank goodness everyone jumped up to catch them, that sure rose my blood pressure! We almost saw a no-hitter by the Mariners. Up until the 8th inning the Mariners didn't let anyone on base and then it was ruined! Dangit, that would have been cool to see! The whole experience was awesome... I took about 15 billion pictures.


Jeter...


After a 10pm dinner we went to bed to rest up for the game Saturday. We stayed in the same hotel as the Cougar club and BYU coaches and players, so the place was buzzing with blue and white. Saturday morning on my way to the gym, I rode in the elevator with Bronco Mendenhall (He is the BYU coach). We had a little chat and I wished him luck in the game. I am pretty sure it was that conversation that helped BYU win that day so... you are welcome BYU fans! :) Well, I caved. I wore the BYU shirt and even cheered! As I left my hotel room that morning, I looked in the mirror at my shirt and wondered, "what exactly is happening here?" I had a hard time yelling, "GO BYU" - I'm not ready for that! So I kept my cheering mainly to "YAY", "WHOO HOO", "MAKE THE CALL REF"! The game was really fun and road games are really exciting! We had amazing seats and the Marlor's really get into the game. They were SO much fun to watch and cheer with, they sure love this team! BYU won that day 28 - 27 and I don't care what ESPN says - The call against Washington was deserved and Washington wasn't going to win anyway!





I would like to note that I am still a Utah fan, but I will cheer for BYU as long as their not playing Utah.
Our last night in Seattle was really fun. We went to dinner, shopping, to the movie theater just to buy popcorn. We hung out, ate too much candy, laughed all night and Lynn ordered pizza at 9:30 just as Bryce predicted.

What a fun trip and a fun birthday! Thank you again for such a fun weekend!!

Happy Birthday Bryce!

I feel like it has been forever since I've posted something. Bryce's birthday was actually 10 days ago, but I wanted to post some fun pictures of what we did. First, we went for a yummy seafood dinner, then for a hike up Bell Canyon in Sandy and went fishing in the reservoir. Oh my gosh, it was so beautiful up there! We had the best time fishing (me attempting to fish and about falling in the water every time I cast out) and making s'mores and fondue in the portable s'more maker! Best invention ever! Even though he guessed what we were doing right before we went, it was still a little bit of a surprise. Thanks to everyone who helped me plan! I was EXTRA prepared and we had such a fun time together! Bryce, I hope you had a fabulous day! I sure do love birthdays!!

The hike



The Reservoir