Summer, why does it go by so fast?

My biggest complaint about where we live is that we cram a whole summers worth of activities in like 6 weeks! I wish we had winter for 3 months and summer for 9! Summer is always filled with so many activities and this summer is no exception.
We attended my 10 year High school reunion and had a great time. Planning this was a lot of work, but I had fun with a group of girls I haven't seen for a long time. It was sad to have it over with cause now we have no really good reason to chat daily.
Fourth of July is one of the best holidays, we usually attend the parade, go boating, and watch the fireworks on the lake. This year we celebrated it differently, VEGAS style! We spent our days by the pool, shopping in the afternoon, and a 360 degree view of fireworks from our hotel rooftop! We even got suckered in to paying some guy to take our picture by the Vegas sign. My favorite part of the trip was going to the Criss Angel show at the Luxor. He is a very talented magician/illusionist and Tyler got us 4th row seats! At one pointing in the show he disappeared and reappeared right next to us, I could have touched him! We made eye contact! (Totally sounding like a teenager right now, sorry). The weekend was great, amazing weather, tasty food and good company! We were happy my brother and his wife came too
July wouldn't be complete without my family reunion at Bear Lake. Beside getting a hole in our air mattress, Tyler getting stung by a bee, and not packing pillows, sleeping in a tent for the weekend was great! My cousin J puts a lot of effort to make sure we have plenty to eat and do! And it wouldn't be a reunion without some Dutch oven by my dad! Plus a day at the lake can cure any work blues! This year we took my niece with us and it was fun to pretend we had our own "kid" to keep track of. Lucky for us she's very well behaved and my other niece was there to keep her entertained. (Pictures of this to come soon, I haven't had a chance to download them yet.) 

Here are a few pics of what we have been up to! 

 

Crazy how I have to stand all the way up on my tip toes! 

Class of 2003! How did the time go by so fast? 

 So glad we got to fly this time! That drive to Vegas is so long! 

 It's not the greatest quality picture, but I had to include it. We had a lot of fun in this tiny car.

I love shoes, had to get a pic with this oversized heel.

 Criss Angel's show was awesome! We had great seats and an awesome time! How does he do what he does? It's mind blowing!

We have been to Vegas several times and we've never gotten a picture in front of the sign until now. Unfortunately we got suckered into this guy taking our "picture". Ten poses later he gave me my camera and wanted a tip. While Tyler went to the car to get his wallet, we had an awkward conversation with the man, and then he serenaded us. Good thing Tyler really did come back with money! We thought he had left us to fend for ourselves. 

Yes, super cheesy, I know. That's it for this post! 

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is always a lot of fun and this year was no exception. Tyler's whole family stayed in the cabin for the weekend. We had a great time hanging out with our nephews riding four wheelers, fishing, playing, and roasting march mellows by the fire. It can get a little noisy with so many boys but we wouldn't trade them for anything! It's so fun to watch them grow into their own personalities. It's crazy how smart they are for such young ages! Here are some pics of the highlights of the weekend.

Went for a run with Tyler and a friend and took in the beautiful scenery

Fishing by the kids pond

Chillin at the cabin

Getting glammed up to walk around West Yellowstone

He wanted his picture next to the bear.

Building the fire together

Getting spoiled by Grandpa, they love the golf cart rides.

These silly boys sure keep us entertained! We love going to the cabin with them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Florida: sun and sand, my dream come true!

 

We recently took a vacation to visit some friends of ours that live in Florida. It was AWESOME! We spent our days waking up and running in the beautiful weather, spending all afternoon at the beach, or pool and at night we got to eat at some pretty cool restaurants. Oh and did I mention that the best part was that I got to hang out with one of my favorite people everyday? (Besides Tyler). The week went by way too fast. When the weekend came we drove to New Orleans. On our way we stopped at a gator farm and we got to see alligators and ride an air boat! Lots of new firsts this trip for us. New Orleans (NOLA), was great, I loved the architecture and culture. The market was fun to walk around and we took a history tour around town and in one of the cemeteries. Our tour guide was less than great, his water was spiked with something a little bit strong for early afternoon, but it provided us with some extra free entertainment. The food was also amazing. Sadly every vacation has to end. We drove to Mobile Alabama where our flight was schedule to leave from. Luckily on the way we stopped in Biloxi Mississippi where my cousin lives with his cute family. We were able to spend some time with them which was awesome, I hadn't seen them in years! We flew home the next day and said goodbye to our friends and the beach. Hopefully we will get to visit again soon! Here is a few pics from the trip.

Crawfish festival! It was quite the experience

 

Pensacola beach

My favorite little house/old gas station

Eating at Lamberts

Playing at the beach

First 5K of the year, hosted by McGuire's Irish restuarant

Destin Florida

Swimming with the sharks, ok! Also stepped on a sting ray this day...

Best Friends tanning on the beach!

Peg leg Pete's

Blue Angels museum

Gator farm in Mississippi

 

 

Our tour guide feeding the gators

The swamps

Next stop- New Orleans!! NOLA!! Burbon street

 

Taking a tour of the cemeteries. Our tour guide was interesting, and no that is not water in the bottle he is holding.

Just finished eating at Cafe Du Monde, then walked around the sights!

We stopped in Buloxi Mississippi to see one of favorite cousins! I was so happy to visit with them for an evening, we live too far away!

 

Goodbye gulf coast! We will miss the sun, sand, and friends! Hopefully we will visit again soon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Changes

I started my blog because it was suggested to have one when we started the whole adoption process. I really hesitated about starting one, we are pretty private people, I wasn't into reading other people's and I didn't see how posting about our life was going to get us any closer to starting our family. But with social media changing our life's and people becoming more high tech I can see the sense behind the theory. With that in mind I've decided to add another section to my blog. I want to have a section dedicated to infertility. We have meet so many amazing couples, through our struggles. And sometimes the only way I got through a hard day was calling or texting a friend who knew exactly what I was going through. My plan, (hopefully this will work), is to not only share my story but get some of my close friends, and new friends, to share theirs. I think writing can be therapeutic and sharing your story can release a burden you may not have known you were carrying. And to lighten the mood I hope to include the stuff we can laugh at. Because when you are living in the moment sometimes its laugh or cry and I usually choose to laugh. So if you want to be included in this venture, message or email me your experience. If you want to remain anonymous to protect the innocent, haha, I won't tell anyone where the origin of the stories come from. :). tyler_jessica11@yahoo.com

I don't remember where I found this, probably Facebook or Pinterest, but it describes exactly how me and Tyler feel. It's hard to give up, so that's why we continue to hope.

Happy National Infertility Week!

This week is national infertility week ( I bet you had no idea this even existed) and I wanted to post some helpful links for those of my friends who may be struggling through this. Or maybe if you know someone who is struggling and you are too scared to ask about it or don't know how to help. I also find it ironic that they place "infertility week" during the time that stores and commercials are starting to get people excited about Mothers Day. So please take some time to read and then go give your friend that's struggling a great big hug or send her a note on Mothers Day! It can be the hardest time of the year for someone who wants to be a mother so badly and can't. I personally know some amazing, strong women who have or are experience fertility problems and I want them to know that this post if for you! Tyler and I have had great support as we have gone through our struggles and it makes a huge difference knowing there are people rooting for you. Thank you!

Infertility 101- what it is and what it isn't Both great articles
http://www.resolve.org/national-infertility-awareness-week/infertility-101.html
http://www.redbookmag.com/health-wellness/advice/dealing-with-infertility

If you know someone struggling with this condition and don't know what to do or say read these:
(Please remember that I post these links in love and I do not mean to offend or point fingers at anyone, we sometimes say things without knowing how the other person is going to take it or what they have been through already)

http://www.resolve.org/support-and-services/for-family--friends/infertility-etiquette.html?log-event=sp2f-view-item&nid=291878739

http://blog.attainfertility.com/2011/12/infertility-relatives/#.UXhmB8u9KSM

I'm sharing this link because these people are awesome to put this website together (hopefully they don't mind I shared)
http://thehudsonfoundation.storenvy.com/

If you don't look up anything else, WATCH this video. I showed it to Tyler when I found it about a year ago and we laughed. Because sometimes it's too hard to face something without a little humor!

http://vimeo.com/30677901

If you have any other experiences you would like to share, helpful links or humorous things to add message me I would love to include it next time. Have a great week everyone!