Spring Break!

Last week Taylor had time off of school because of Spring Break so we decided to leave town for a few days. We decided to spend our time in Idaho with family because it had been a very long time since we went to visit that wonderful state (18 months to be precise) to visit my wonderful family!

Taylor and I decided to spend that first night to ourselves in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho. I had been there before but it had been a very long time. Taylor and I have wanted to go to the hot springs for a while now so we decided that this would be perfect. We stayed at the Home Hotel which was a really fun place! It is an old building, but they have kept it up nice and the room was great. Taylor and I ate dinner at the Riverside Inn and oh my that food was delicious!! The chef won an Iron Chef Competition and boy his food proved that. We will definitely be going back to eat at that restaurant. Side note.... one of the sides of our meal was mashed potatoes and they were beyond good! Taylor and I asked the chef what he does to make the potatoes so delicious and he said it is the cheese. He paid $1400 for a brick of Parmesan cheese, no wonder they were good!!

After dinner Tay and I headed to the "world famous" hot pots. I was very surprised with how nice the pools are. There are five in total and the temperature ranges anywhere from 102 degrees to 110 degrees. The water felt amazing especially since the air temperature was cold. I thought the water might stink, but the pools are odorless because there is no sulfur in the water. Pretty great! The water also stays very clean because over the course of 1 day 2.5 million gallons of water is pumped through those pools and then emptied into the river that is right by the hot pools. We soaked in the water until it closed at 10pm. I could have stayed there all night because of how great the water felt! It was so relaxing.

Wednesday morning we ate breakfast at the famous Chuck Wagon and then began the rest of our journey to good ol' Rigby Idaho to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Jones. They were the main reason we went up to Idaho. If any of you know me well, you know how much I adore my Grandma and Grandpa Jones. They are my other set of parents and I love them more than I could ever express. It was very important to Taylor and I to spend some time with them and they were absolutely wonderful to make time to be with us. It was the highlight of our trip!

Some of the things that we did was go on a 10 mile bike ride ( I struggled to keep up with my grandparents and hubby), play color ku at least 25 times, go to the Idaho Falls Temple with them and my Aunt Sue, go to dinner, look at old pictures, and just talk for hours. Taylor and I had so much fun and hated to leave them. I have so many wonderful memories of spending time with G&G Jones. For instance, there were times when I was visiting them that I would look out at their field and think of all the times we went four wheeling, hunting for Easter eggs or any other scavenger hunt items, riding horses, shooting guns, etc. Their home is full of some of my most favorite childhood memories. The reason those memories are so wonderful is because of those two. They are such a blessing in my life and I can't imagine not having them. Spending time with the two of them meant so much to both Tay and I. We look up to them so much and love to be with them!

The last part of our Spring Break was spent at my mom's parents. They only live 5 minutes away from my Grandma and Grandpa Jones so it makes it nice to be able to go to visit Rigby and see both sides of the family. We had a blast visiting with them and the rest of the Broulim clan. My cousin named Skyler was actually a mission companion to Taylor. Skyler is getting married in April and while we were up there I was able to attend the bridal shower of his Fiance, Mandi. The Broulim's really know how to throw a party! It was so much fun and everything was so nice. I loved seeing some extended family that I hadn't seen for a while. Grammy and Grandpa took us out to dinner Saturday night and we were able to see the upgrade that they are doing to their Rexburg store. It looks amazing and will be a beautiful store! Grammy and Grandpa are also wonderful grandparents. They are always so giving and kind! Grandpa loves to talk hunting with Taylor and I love to talk about anything with Grammy. She is hilarious and is a wonderful example to me!!

Taylor and I also had the opportunity to visit my brother Mitch and his wife Kristy. We met up for dinner and then decided to go see the movie "The Woman in Black." Boy that was a mistake... I am not a scary movie fan but I figured I would be just fine. I was so wrong........ I couldn't even watch the movie and more than once I screamed out loud in the theater. I will never see a scary show again! I couldn't even sleep that night. I was so pathetically stressed out that I got a stupid cold sore from the whole ordeal. LAME! The movie was scary, but NOT that scary! It was still a super fun night with my bro and sister in law. :)

All in all it was a great trip! We had so much fun being together and spending time with family. Again, I have to say that we are both so blessed to have the wonderful family that we have.

Below are some fun pics from the trip.

 The Home Hotel. We will definitely stay there again!

Downtown Lava Hot Springs. Isn't it darling??

 Our first attempt at a picture of the both of us. It made us laugh!!

 Second attempt a success!

 After our session at the Idaho Falls Temple- I have dreamed in going to that temple ever since I can remember. It was so beautiful to be there with my favorite people!

 Grandma and Grandpa Jones

My favorite Aunt Sue!!

“Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven”

Today Taylor and I were in charge of the sweet nursery children. Our ward is growing so the number of children has increased from 4 to 7 kids in the nursery. Some of the kids are not 18 months yet, but their parents are tied up in other callings so they join us (which we love). Each child is unique and has their own little personality. It is fun to see them experience new games, sing new songs, play with new toys, and interact with each other. All of them love to have Taylor and I watch them go down the slide or perform some sort of trick. It is two hours of "watch me Lissy and Tay Tay."How I LOVE those kids!

Our usual nursery schedule is to have the kids play with toys for about and hour, and then snack time, project time (if the kids are feeling up to it), singing time, and then bubble time. The reason I had to post about our calling is because of the sweet/emotional feeling that I experienced at the end of singing time. We  first sang all of the kids favorites: Three little ducks, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Old McDonald, Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree, and then Itsy Bitsy Spider again.

At the end of those songs I love to have the kids sit on the blanket and fold their arms so that we can sing I Am a Child of God. There is a picture of Christ in the nursery that I hold and have them look at while they sing that song. For some reason today as I was watching those children sing that song I became very emotional and had to stop singing. Sitting right in front of me are these beautiful children that are so very precious, so full of love. What an honor it is to serve these precious children and to learn from their examples. They are so trusting, quick to forgive, they are not judgmental, they are always smiling, positive, love life, and enjoy the simple things like a plastic drill and hammer. They always want you to know how much they love you and for 2 hours I get lots of kisses and hugs. How beautiful, sweet, and innocent children are. What an example they are to me personally of the kind of person I should strive to be like. While they were singing the first verse of I Am a Child of God I could see in their eyes reverence and love as they looked at the picture of our Savior. Again, just their faces as I am writing this brings tears to my eyes.

One of my favorite parts of the Book of Mormon is when Christ visits the America's and asks all of the children to come to him so that he can love and bless them.

3 Nephi 17: 21-23

“And he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.

“And when he had done this he wept. …

“And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones”

What a spiritual event that would have been. Children are so close to our Savior and each Sunday that I am serving in the nursery I feel the spirit of our Savior in those sweet children. What a blessing it is to serve them!

Just another day to celebrate us!

This past week Taylor and I celebrated Valentines Day in our cute lil' apartment, continuing on our tradition of cooking a seafood and steak dinner together. My Senior year (Tay's Junior year) of High School we decided that for Valentines Day we would cook shrimp, steak, and potatoes for our dinner rather than going out to eat and trying to beat the crowd. It was so much fun cooking dinner together and the food turned out so great that it became our Valentines Day tradition. 

Loving 2012!

I am already such a bad blogger! I can't believe I haven't posted anything since October. The holidays were absolutely wonderful! This was my very first holiday season (that I can remember) not having to deal with homework or the stress of finals. It was also so much fun to spend time with the family. I  think that is the best thing about the holidays, family! Below are some pics that were taken during the holidays.

Taylor and I are so blessed to have such wonderful parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. I am so grateful that we were able to spend time this holiday season with our family and loved ones. Nothing in the world means more to me than my husband and our family.

I can't believe 2011 is over. It was a great year and once again looking back on the past year I feel truly blessed. I work at the best company and have the opportunity to be surrounded by talented individuals that help me be my best while helping me continue to progress. Taylor loves school and has done very well in all of his classes. This past Fall semester Taylor took some tough classes, one being Human Anatomy, and got all A's. What a stud! He loves his classes and I am very proud of how well he is doing. This past fall Taylor and I also got released from our callings and were given the opportunity to serve as Nursery leaders. I was super sad to leave the Relief Society presidency, but I was very excited to spend time with the beautiful children in the nursery. When all of the kids come we have 5 kids in total (our ward is mostly older individuals). We have loved our calling. The kids are darling and are constantly teaching both of us simple yet profound lessons. They also always make us laugh! We love that calling and love those kids. They definitely drain our energy though by the end of church. They are all non stop energizer bunnies.

It would take me forever to talk about all the great things that we did during 2011 so I am going to sum it up to my top 5.

1. Graduating from the University of Utah in Business Management.

2. Taylor and I celebrating our 1 year Anniversary

3. Seeing Phantom of the Opera in Vegas.

4. Going to Goblin Valley with Taylor before Lake Powell. We love camping!

5. Having my side of the family add two more sisters (Corinne and Kristy) AND having the announcement of a nephew. Our family is getting so big!

Like I said....2011 was a pretty sweet year. I love being married to my best friend. There is never a dull moment with him because he is always making me laugh and smile. I know I have said this numerous times in this post but Taylor and I are very blessed!! I have so much to be thankful for.

I can't wait to see what 2012 brings.....

Where are you Bambi???

Fall is my favorite time of year for many reasons one of which is hunting. Taylor and I both drew out this year for the hunt. Tay drew out for the muzzleloader and I drew out for the rifle. The muzzleloader was in September and we did not have luck so we were really hoping that my hunt would be a success. The opening day of the rifle hunt was yesterday (October 23rd). Taylor and I went with my brother-in-law Taylor up to East Canyon in  Parley's Canyon. We started hiking at 5:45 in the morning. The whole time hiking I was scanning the ground for a skunk because last time we hiked up that same trail we about got sprayed by one. We actually made it up the canyon in great time. We sat down and got everything ready so that when the sun came up we would be ready to hunt.

At day break Taylor Poore (my bro-in-law) saw a whole herd of deer come out of the trees about 550 yards down the hill from us. Leading the herd was a big ol' buck! Bambi was out of our range to shoot, but looking back on the day we totally should have tried to take the shot. We would have just had to shoot a foot above the kill zone because of how far away it was. It sounded like a war zone up on that mountain while we were waiting for our Bambi to appear again. Not that I wasn't happy for all those other hunters, but I really wish the sound of guns came from myself and Taylor. After about an hour or so of looking for deer we decided to start hunting the mountain. For the rest of the day we hiked all over that mountain side. I am pretty sure we hiked 5 miles or more that day. That is pretty much my exercise for the month of October. :)

Even though we didn't get our Bambi, the day was great! The company was wonderful, the scenery was beautiful, and the crisp fall air made our hunting extravaganza awesome. I am hoping that someday I will be able to post a picture of me with my Bambi, but because that picture wasn't taken this year I have posted a picture of me and my handsome husband.

And September is....gone!

I can't believe that the month of September is already gone! It was a hectic month chuck full of lots of fun and busy things. On September 2nd my little brother Mitchell married his sweetheart Kristy. The ceremony took place at the Lion House and it was absolutely wonderful! Both Kristy and Mitch looked so happy and they were all smiles the whole day. I posted pics below from the wedding of the growing Jonestroops.

On the 3rd Tay and I celebrated our 1st anniversary in Park City where we also celebrated our Honeymoon. Funny story...Tay and I stayed at the Waldorf Astoria on our honeymoon and that is where we wanted to stay for our first anniversary as well, however, that didn't happen. The reason why we didn't stay there is because we thought if we waited until right before the weekend the hotel would lower the prices on the rooms and we would get a deal. Yeah...that didn't happen. We tried to book a room and the only thing they had left were 4 bedroom suites that cost about as much as our rent. We were both so bummed....but we couldn't do anything about it so we found the Hyatt and stayed there. On our anniversary we went out to breakfast and then went to the Salt Lake Temple to do sealings. As much as I wanted to repeat our wedding day we couldn't so I decided to get as close as possible by doing sealings. I LOVE the temple and as always it was such a great experience. Tay and I went to Park City and ate at the Baja Cantina. That food is delicious!! It was such a fun weekend! Tay surprised me by getting me a pearl necklace with earrings to match. LOVE HIM!!

The weekend after our anniversary Taylor and I went to Snowbird and spent the weekend there. After I graduated from the University of Utah, my work gave me a weekend getaway as a gift. How awesome is that? We got the all day pass too so we were able to go on the zip-line, alpine slide, ropes course, take the tram and walk around Mineral Basin, and ride the bucking bull (my favorite). It was gorgeous that weekend!

Tay also started back up with school. He is currently attending classes at the U and is finally taking classes that interests him. This semester he is taking Human Anatomy, General Chemistry II, and Sports Psychology. He has some hard classes but he is doing awesome. On his first Human Anatomy test he got 71 out of 75 (one of the highest in the class) and on his first Gen Chem test he got 89% when the rest of the class averaged at 66%. He is dominating! He studies a lot and is really doing very well. Work is going good it is just busy busy busy! I took on the responsibility of administering USANA's benefits so it has been a little crazy for me. I love learning new things and so even though it has been busy I am really enjoying it!

Two weekends ago I was able to go to my first ever General Relief Society meeting with my mom and sister. My mom took my sister and I to Little America to have dinner before the conference. It was so much fun to have a girls night with my sister and mom. Both are such great examples to me and I am so blessed and thankful that they are in my life! The conference was amazing. I loved every talk, but my personal favorites were by Sister Allred about Charity and my other favorite talk was by President Uchtorf "Forget Me Not." The spirit was so strong! It is such a privilege to be part of such a great society. Thanks Mom for continuing to build my spirituality! That day was definitely a highlight of September!

This past weekend Tay and I went on the muzzle load hunt. Unfortunately we didn't get anything, but it was so fun to be out in the mountains where the leaves are beautiful! We might go again this Wednesday, but it depends on how things are with school, work, and the weather. Tay and I about got sprayed by a skunk this past Saturday while we were hunting. We were hiking up to our spot in the dark and about 3 feet away from me something moved which made me scream and jump to the other side of Taylor. Taylor turned on his head lamp to see what it was and there in the light was the bum of a skunk. Mind you....skunks can spray about 8 to 10 feet. We were very close to stinking this whole week!! Thankfully we weren't because the hunting trip would have ended there and the rest of the weekend would have been spent soaking in tomato juice. :)

I LOVE this time of year! I have had my fall decorations up since the third week in September. I need to put up my Halloween decor this week! Gotta enjoy all the Fall that is given to us this year!

1 Year of Happily Ever After

It has been one whole year since Tay and I were married. I can not believe how fast time has gone. That day was the best day of my life. It was perfect in every way! I was really dumb not to record the events of that day right after I  got married, so 1 year later I will do just that. For all those about to read this post beware....it is a novel and it contains a lot of details of the day along with mushy things about Taylor and other memories that are important to me.

I guess I will start the night before because that is when I really started getting ready for the big day. My best friends Kelsey and Shandice came to my house and we went to go get pedicures and manicures for the next day. Tay meanwhile was at home with his sister watching the mighty Utes play their opening game. It was so fun to be with Kelsey and Shandice and act like giddy little girls. Those two are one of the greatest blessings in my life! We talked about how we were going to do our hair, how the day was going to go, and of course the honeymoon. :) Afterwards, I met up with Taylor and we watched the rest of the Utah game. I have no idea if they won because all I could think about was being married the next day! Taylor and I didn't get to bed until about 12:00 because we were both so excited and of course didn't want to say goodbye. Taylor told me before he dropped me off at my house that how great it is that this was our last goodnight. After that we could just roll over in our own bed, kiss each other, and say good night. I slept relatively well for being the night before I got married but really I only had to lay in bed a few hours before having to get up and get ready. I had to get up at the early hours of 5:45 in order to make it to the temple by 7:45 am. My whole life I always thought that I would have a bad hair day on my wedding because normally when a big event rolled around in my life the last thing to cooperate was my hair. Well....the stars were aligned and my hair turned out perfect! I did notice a pimple on my chin, but I put some windex on it and forgot all about it because it was MY WEDDING DAY!

My best friends came over with their hair half done to see me before the temple. I was so excited to see them! Again, what a blessing they are in my life! Taylor came over as well right when I was finishing getting ready. My sister told me a sweet thing Taylor said right when he got to my house. I guess he was going down the stairs to see me and he saw my sister and whispered to her, "I am going to marry your sister today." What an amazing man I have for a husband!

Well we were frantically getting everything ready because as usual the Jones' run a bit behind the clock, but before we were to go to the temple my dad sat me down with the family and gave me a fathers blessing. That will forever be one of the sweetest memories that I have. With the hustle and bustle of a wedding it is so easy to forget that you are about to no longer be your parents child like you have been over the past 20-something years. It was a very sweet blessing and I will forever cherish that! I am absolutely blessed to have the most wonderful parents that have truly made me who I am today.

Tay and I headed to the beautiful Salt Lake Temple. I was so excited to see the inside of the Salt Lake Temple. The outside is absolutely beautiful and I soon found out that the inside is even more beautiful. Taylor and I got everything signed and we went down to where we needed to change. Taylor said the temple worker pointed him to a stall and said to change, yet I was doted on by at least 3 sisters in the most beautiful dressing room I had ever been in. My mom helped me get everything looking as it should before the sealing. I remember never feeling as beautiful in my life as I did in the bridal room before I got married. Since I was one of the first brides of the day it was just me and my mom in the bridal room. Again, it was another sweet memory for me. I was standing with my greatest role model in the most wonderful place on this earth. She has been the best example to me of what I hope to be someday. We really didn't exchange any words, but I don't think we needed to because just by looking at each other we were able to communicate some of what we were feeling.

My mom left to join the others in the sealing room and I was taken by a temple worker to join Taylor in the celestial room. That was another amazing sight. I walked in to yet another gorgeous room and was welcomed Taylor. We sat on a bench holding hands and waiting for our sealer to come get us. We kept giggling because we weren't nervous at all, but all of the other couples in that room looked like they were ready to puke. Taylor and I waited for that moment a long time. I remember talking about getting married back when we were 14 and 15 (way too young I know)! After all that we had been through together we were about to begin the greatest adventure together. Taylor looked so handsome. I loved looking at him and just seeing the love radiate from him. He truly is my everything!

President Paul V. Johnson took us into the sealing room. It was so overwhelming to see the love and support of all those closest to Taylor and I. It was truly heaven on earth!! I honestly don't remember what President Johnson talked about but the few things I do remember is his counsel to live the gospel together, always serve each other, and to continue to be as in love as we were on our wedding day. He kept saying over and over again how in love we looked. When we were getting sealed I was smiling so big that my lips were starting to quiver....that or I was trying to hold back some tears. The sealing is so simple yet it is so powerful. The blessings promised are so profound! After the sealing President Johnson had us stand in front of the eternity mirrors and said that the thing that stops us from seeing forever is ourselves.

Well everything after that was just icing on the cake. The pictures at the temple were so great (we beat the bride rush so it was not stressful at all). It was the best thing to have so much love and support from both sides of the family!! Taylor's parents provided a wonderful luncheon at Westridge clubhouse. The food was delicious and the luncheon was again perfect. After the luncheon Taylor and I finished packing for the honeymoon then headed over to Heritage Garden for the reception.

Heritage Gardens was a fabulous place for a reception. We were meant to have our reception there because September 3rd was the only date available over a 5 month period. The reception started at 6pm but of course we took family pictures and other pictures before everything got started. My wonderful bridesmaids were: Shandice, Kelsey, Megan, and Christie (all best friends from Pre-school, and Jr. High) . Along with my best friends I had my gorgeous sister Kristen, Taylor's pregnant yet stunning sister Alison, and Taylor's brother's beautiful wife Jodi. Taylor had one of his best friends from the mission James as a groomsman's along with his brother Aaron, Alison's husband Taylor, and my three brothers (Jess, Mitch, and Spencer). They were handsome men!

The reception was perfect too. Again, it was overwhelming to see all of the support and love from those who have meant so much to both Taylor and I as well as our parents. Everyone was so generous and loving to be there for Taylor and I on our wedding day. We cut the cake (we were both very loving to each other), threw the bouquet, tossed the garter, said our goodbye's to family and friends, ran through a group of family and friends that pelted us with birdseed, got in our very decorated car and headed up to Park City for our honeymoon.

It was the most perfect day of my life! Taylor and I were finally married and the day to celebrate that was  indescribable. THANK YOU to all those that made that day so special. I can't believe it has been one whole year since that wonderful day. Time really does pass quickly. No matter what though I want to make sure that Taylor and I are always "newly wed." Taylor is truly the greatest blessing in my life. I am truly blessed to have him as my husband. He treats me so good and always makes me laugh. He is a boy at heart which I love. I am loving living our happily ever after!

Below are some of my favorite pictures from our wedding day

BEST DAY EVER!