The Sky is the Limit!

Our craziest adventure this summer involved a jump from a very high place. Nathan and I went skydiving! Let me just start by saying I never thought I would type that sentence (more accurately the part that says I went). My wonderful sister-in-law Morgan had planned to take her dad skydiving for his 50th birthday and invited a bunch of people to join in on the fun. Of course Nathan was all for it, I had no desire to do it at all. As the date neared for payment to reserve our spots I was suckered into putting in a $20  for my spot. I guess I just wanted to say I had done it, I really don't know how I started to think I really would be doing this. Finally the day to jump was here and we began our drive down to Skydive Ogden. My heart was pounding the whole way, I was so nervous!  Nathan just laughed at me the whole time. Everyone jumping was required to fill out a wavier for insurance purposes. I think the point where we had to re-write in our own handwriting that we understood skydiving was dangerous and could lead to our ultimate death. I don't think I have ever had such horrible handwriting from shaking so bad. Nathan and I were not scheduled to go until the second plane load. Waiting was the absolutely worst part of this whole thing. We opted to wear the jumpsuits to look legit while jumping and then we were paired with expert skydivers. My guy that would go tandem with me, his name was Fish, he was so sweet and talked me thru how the jump would go. There were four of us on the plane together, along with a couple videographers. The plane was smaller than I thought it would be and there were no real seats in the plane. The best way I can describe them is like a large rolled up wrestling mat that we straddled the ride up. Actually the ride up to the height was kinda cool and really beautiful scenery. Fish explained as he tightened up all the straps and linked me to him that as our time approached we would slide as one to the edge of the plane. From there he instructed me that we would rock back and forward, 1 forward....2 back....3 forward jump out the plane. He told me to keep my legs together and back between his own that we would flip once out the plan before letting our arms out and enjoying the fall. The ride up took about 20 minutes to get to the proper height. The next part went so fast its hard to explain. A red light turned on indicating we were at the right height and that we could open to door. I figured that we would take a couple Mississippi seconds before the next person would jump, but I was wrong. As soon as the door opened out went the first videographer and the first tandem jumpers, promptly followed by the next couple. Before I had time to swallow we were at the edge of the plane my feet dangling. I remember rocking forward, back, and then forward out the plane. Now I actually imagined that we would have to jump out of the plane but honestly I didn't think I would have had the guts to jump, (totally true) it ended up being more of one giant push and then fall out the plane. (even if I wanted to back out at that point, Fish basically threw his weight and there would have been absolutely nothing I could have done to stop us out that plane). I know we flipped out the plane but it happened so fast that I don't remember it, my stomach didn't even do a flip. We were free-falling for about a minute. What a weird exciting feeling, its like the feeling you get when you put your hand out the window while driving, except with your whole body.  Fish actually at a couple points would grab my wrist and have me dip my hand into the wind which would cause us to turn it was so cool, after that he gave me the chance to do it on my own. Once our minute was about up he pulled the rip cord that released our parachute. It did kinda jerk us back a little but nothing too bad. (Nathan later told me this was the worst part for him. Something about the straps cutting into his inner thighs/pressure was extremely uncomfortable. I still laugh at this rendition of the jump). Fish adjusted us to a more comfortable situation and then came the slow parachute decent. He would pull one cord and we would spin one direction until he pulled the other and then we would spin the other way. I was so surprised when Fish actually gave me the cords to drive for a while! It was so awesome and before I knew it we were about to land. My instructions were to keep my feet up in the air parallel to the ground and depending on our position Fish would say either "sit" or "stand" which I would do. We landed so gracefully and stood right up. I found it funny that Nathan and his tandem buddy were the last ones out of the plane and the first to land. I am so proud to say that we both did something I never thought we would do. We were on such an adrenaline rush the rest of the day and it still seems like it was only a dream. I think we will be taking it easy for a while and I don't plan on anything too crazy right away, although I told Nathan that skydiving is something I wouldn't mind doing again sometime.

Getting dressed. That is my goofy nervous face!

All ready! Just about to board the plane. 

Nathan's instructor liked to spin a lot. 

Successful and graceful landing by Nathan and his instructor. 

Fish and I getting in position to land. 

Feet up....

Made it safely! 

Walking proudly back to our group. 

Our adrenaline is really pumping in this picture, but I love that we both have smiles on our faces! 

That time in Texas

Well the only vacation I had this summer was going to Texas in May to visit my friend Miss Katelin Bringhurst. She and her family were so kind to let me come stay with them for a few days. Nathan was such a good sport to let me go and even dropped me off at the Idaho Falls Airport super early before he had to head into work himself. My main plan was to attend Katelin's baby shower that would be hosted the day I arrived into Texas. (originally I was supposed to just show up to her shower as a surprise, but after talking with Sean we decided it would be less stress if I gave her a heads up). Katelin and Nixon were even kind enough to pick me up from the airport. I got a quick little tour to their house and then we all met up with Sean to eat at Dickys BBQ. So yummy! Afterwards Katelin had to go into work for a couple of hours, which left Nixon and me to play. What a cute little man she has he was so polite and we enjoyed some time at the park, building a fort, and watching some movies I had brought on the iPad. Once Katelin was finished with work, we both got cleaned up before heading over to her shower. Wow, people in Texas know how to throw a party.  There was tons of homemade food, more than I could eat. Everyone was so nice to let me crash the shower and it was so fun to see Katelin get showered with all these cute baby girl outfits. We called it a night after the shower, just the right timing because I was exhausted from traveling. The next day we dropped nixon off at preschool and went shopping for a few hours, which continued after we picked Nixon back up. What can I say except there is several huge malls with multiple levels of stores. I was in heaven! That night we ate dinner at a restaurant that I can't recall the name of, followed by dessert, the famous Texas ice cream and a movie at the Bringhurst's home. My last full day in Texas we spent touring the area. I was able to see the University, as well as some sports arenas, the big mansions downtown. These houses were huge and so unique and vintage looking. We spent some time in Sundance Square, where nixon was able to play in the splash park, before heading to the Stockyards. What a fun touristy spot. We went around to all the shops and ate dinner while watching the cowboys walk the big longhorns down the main street. To end the night we stopped by the temple and walked the temple grounds. It is so cool that they are so close to the temple there. The next morning I had to get ready for my trip home. I was so sad to say goodbye, too bad we didn't live a little closer. But I loved my time in Texas with my friend and her family, I want to make it a yearly trip! Especially now since the Bringhurst family has added a beautiful baby girl named Navy. I look forward to visiting again! Thanks Sean, Katelin, Nixon, and Navy!

The Grass is Greener

 SO.....better late than never. This spring Nathan and I have been working hard to get our yard all finished up. It certainly has been very busy work, but its finally starting to look like a yard.  There was a lot of prep work involved including weeding. (not my favorite part). Nathan designed a sprinkler system set-up and then with the help from myself and our parents we got the pipes all laid and set. It took us all day and we were exhausted and a little sun burned. We just had to cross our fingers that it would all work perfectly, and  I must say Nathan did a fantastic job because it did. After all that we smoothed and prepped the dirt to eventually take some sod. The weather was not in our favor and we had to wait, it was very frustrating. That saying "the grass is always greener in somebody else's yard" never held more truth to it. We were surrounded by beautiful greening yards while we had a yard of dirt. However, my trip to Texas to visit my beautiful friend Katelin allowed me to relax and forget out stressing over the yard. Honestly by the time it was time to come home I kinda had put the yard out of my mind. That is it was until Nathan pulled up to our house after picking me up from the airport to see a finished yard! I mean there was green grass where all the dirt used to be! Granted I wasn't able to fully appreciate it until the next morning since I got into town so late, but I was thrilled. Nathan was so sweet and secretive to invite friends, family, and the ward members to come help him lay the sod before I was due back. Such a sweet anniversary gift! It is weird though that I get so excited over grass or a tree for the yard or something for the house. I am so thankful to my husband all those who came to assist him in this surprise for me. I was very surprised and can't wait for when I come home from another trip for another surprise. 

What a mess we made trenching for the sprinkler system. 

Testing it out...and it works! 

Thats a lot of grass!

A month later we decided to add a tree. Look how green that grass is!

Looks like we have a yard now.