Brad and I spent Thanksgiving with his family and fine Turkey day tradition we broke out the football Brad got for last Christmas and played a little catch in the front yard.Brad looking all rugged and athletic

Brad's brother Dave, with Chace and Adrian.

Chace being rugged and athletic like his uncle.

He could go all the way!!!
I will say that one of the parts of marriage that takes the most getting used to is adjusting to a different families traditions. It is still fun, just different. We didn't manage to get pictures taken but Christmas night it snowed about 15 inches here in Cache Valley. So I am definitely getting the appropriate initiation to Logan winters. Let me just say it is impressive, at least it would be if we owned something more technologically advanced than a snow shovel.

A Day Off

Brad finally had a full day off so we decided to take the day to run some errands in Salt Lake and have lunch with my Rodney, Marja, Whitney, and Craig. We finished off the day with a pizza fest with my friend Erica and her family and then a trip to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights. This trip was important because Brad has never seen the lights at temple square. We had a lot of fun and even managed to get some fun pictures.

It may have been snowing but Brad is all smiles.

Erica's family, Brad and I all bundled up to see the lights.

I just thought this looked cool and I am glad I was able to capture it on the camera, it really looked like this.

Riding Trax downtown so that we didn't have to park. Brad and I with Matthew and Jarom Miller.

Erica, Bill, Elanore, and Margaret Miller having fun on the train.

Margaret and her beautiful hat.

Christmas card anyone?

At temple square they have this lifesize nativity scene that gets lit up by spot lights about every 15 minutes while the christmas story plays. Well there was so much snow that they had a guy out with a broom sweeping off the wisemen. You can see him standing behind the camel.

I just thought the snow looked cool falling through the spot light beams so I had to try to capture it.

We also had lots of fun this past wednesday, we finally managed to get my couch into the apartment but it wouldn't make the turn in the hallway to get into the room that was our TV room so we had to switch our bedroom ad the TV room. Here is some photographic evidence of the insanity.

The beginning of the insane room swap. Still smiling.

On a fun note we got our first christmas tree, it is cute and little just like our apartment. Of course because of the moving rooms insanity we had to move the tree as well which I am sure Brad enjoyed that little adventure. It has been fun creating some of our own Christmas traditions.

I'm Done!! I'm Done!! I'm Done!!

I just wanted to let all of you know that I am officially done with school and will be moving up to Logan tomorrow morning. It is so nice to be able to come home in the evening and not feel like I have to do homework, it is absolutely decadent.

Some Random Pictures

I was going through pictures I had downloaded from Brad's camera and thought I would share a few of them. Some are from the reception in New Mexico, some are from the reception in Grand Junction, and others are just random. Enjoy! I thought random was appropriate for a Thursday morning after only about 3 1/2 hours of sleep.

Can't you tell Dana is just thrilled to death with the reception preparations? (NM Reception)

Is mom excited for the reception or just happy she doesn't have to try to keep food cold in a cooler and can use her own kitchen to cook in? We may never know. (NM reception)

This was the weather Brad and I drove home from our honeymoon at Bear Lake in. I want you all to understand that this was June 11. In case you didn't see it the first time, it is JUNE!

Had to include a picture of two adorable men. Jarom was a hit at all the receptions, he definitely upped our social standing just by being such a darn cute chunk of a kid. Of course I don't need to say anything about how devistatingly handsome my husband is, that is just understood.

For those of you not able to be at the Grand Junction reception, my niece Megan did a great job of making the Institute look a little less utilitarian. She even went so far as to bring in special guests, like R2D2's girlfriend. (Previously the trashcan)

A dress that twirls really requires no explanation. (NM reception)

Birthday Weekend & Graduation

Brad attended graduation ceremonies for the Corrections Academy, I was unable to be there because it was during the week, and unfortunately I still have classes to finish up. But I did tell him to take pictures.

I was able to go up to Logan for my birthday it was so much fun. First I stopped off in Orem and had dinner with Rodney, Marja, and their exchange student Jorge at PF Changs. Yeah! for chinese food.

Brad and I spent saturday doing absolutely nothing productive, went to the gym, went for a little hike up Logan canyon, and listened to the USU/ Fresno state game on the radio and of course had dinner at Cafe Rio, my personal favorite.

Birthday Weekend

I am excited to be heading home this weekend to spend my birthday with my husband. We don't have any big plans but it will be nice to spend time together. After that I am going to have to buckle down and finish up my school work, so probably no more trips until Thanksgiving but after that I will have one week of classes and then finals and then I will be done. Yippee!!!!! Yippeee!!!! Wahoooooo!!!!!

Brad is now officially official at the Sheriffs Department, he has successfully passed his field training period. So kudos to my handsome wonderful husband.

More Pictures

First of all, Happy Birthday to Marja. The most wonderful sister in law in the world who made sure that I got the most beautiful flowers ever for my wedding. I can't even begin to say thank you enough and now I forgot to send prompt happy birthday wishes. Sorry for being deliquent, what with the holiday and traveling I completely lost track of the days. Sounds like you had a great day being pampered by the wonderful men in your life. Enjoy all your fun books, I am completely jealous.

I finally got pictures of the bridal shower we had here in grand junction. I have decided that this is a compelling argument for having my own digital camera rather than relying on others so that if there is a delay it is my own fault not anyone elses.

I also just finished ordering our wedding photo album from mypublisher.com. It will be here in about a week so I will be able to tell you all if it is as wonderful a service as it seems to be right now. For the non-scrapbooky of us out there this is a great thing, no cutting, no pasting, no buying tons of paper and supplies. Simply download the software, drag and drop the pictures, pick a lay out, finish the book, and order. Voila! A personalized professional looking photo album.

Okay, here are the bridal shower pictures.

Women's Football Clinic

I know this happened a while ago but I just got the pictures from it so I figured I would tell you about it. My friend Erica and I went to the BYU Womens Football Clinic. This is a fun event that the BYU Football office has been hosting for a few years now. It is a lot of fun and a chance for the female BYU fans to ask questions about the game without being laughed at by any guys.

This years was especially fun because we got to tour the press box and the home locker room of LaVell Edwards stadium. We asked questions of a panel of players (please don't ask me to remember names of positions). Coach Mendenhall spoke, which of course everyone loved, and then we got instruction from the different special teams coaches.

The best part of the evening though was running drills on the field of the stadium, these were fun, I am sure the coaches were getting a good laugh at our expense but who cares. We then gathered on the 50 yard line and watched last seasons highlights on the jumbotron. Definitely cool. I highly recommend this experience to anyone who loves BYU, football, or both. It is usually held the end of July and costs about $20. They provide dinner, t-shirt, media guide, and various other goodies. Here are some of the pictures we took.

Almost Done

Well the summer is almost over, my last semester of classes start on Monday August 18th. This means that I will be heading back to Grand Junction on Sunday to live with a Friend of mine to finish school. Brad and I know this is the best way to finish things up for school but it doesn't mean we are happy about being away from each other for 3 1/2 months.

You will all be happy to know that Brad has finished his first week of work with Cache County, he even went to work today armed and in full uniform. He is really enjoying it, learning alot, and having a great time. I am so proud of him and how hard he is working, especially since he has had to be at work at 7am which is new for him.

I have one huge victory to declare, I finished the thank you notes from the wedding today. Whew!!! I am all for Thank you notes until I had to write out about 150 of them. Here is my hint, if you are taking a gift to a wedding reception, write your name legibly and include both first and last name to make it little easier on the bride.

Wish me luck as I head out to finish up school and keep Brad in your thoughts as he learns a new job.

Jobs beginning, jobs ending, and school almost done

Guess What!! Brad will be starting with Cache County Sheriffs Department on Monday August 11. He will be working in the jail babysitting all the people who have a hard time behaving themselves.

I will be finishing up my internship with Target on August 8. I presented my project finding to the store managers in the area and the district managers on August 1. It seemed to go well I got alot of positive comments. It has been an interesting summer. I have worked with every team in the store which has meant going in to work at 3:30am and sometimes coming home at 11pm. So needless to say it has been a little crazy but lots of fun.

School starts again on August 18, I will be returning to Grand Junction to finish up my last 4 classes and Brad will be staying here in Logan. While this is not the option we really love it will take the least amount of time and cost the least amount of money. I figure if military wives can say goodbye to their husbands for 6 months to a year, I can tough it out for 3 1/2 months. Especially since we can see each other on the weekends and talk every night.

We have had a nice weekend off of work, sleeping in, working out, going to dinner, watching movies, playing minature golf, hiking, going to Brad's nephews baby blessing. It has been fun.

I got to go to the BYU Women's Football Clinic on Thursday and can I just say I am impressed with the program, with the players and with the coach. Coach Mendenhall gets it, he understands that as players for BYU they are equated with the church, so he holds his players to a high standard of behavior both on and off the field. The highlight of the evening was sitting on the fifty yard line of LaVell Edwards stadium watching highlights from the 2o07 season on the jumbotron. Very cool.

More Wedding Photos

The beautiful Logan temple and the gorgeous weather.
Even the groom got surprised by being kissed
What is more romantic than a grassy lane and a parasol

The park had a beautiful setting for photos

Megan and Erica made this pretty sign for the gate at the park.

Okay this time I am going to try to actually put some captions with the pictures. Maybe one of these days I will manage to make my blog as cool as other peoples but for now this will have to do.

Let me start by explaining that about 5 weeks before the wedding, we found out that the highway out to where our reception was scheduled would be closed, so either we would have to reroute everyone 40 miles out of their way or find somewhere else to have the reception. Well I decided that I didn't want to make people drive that far so we began looking at other options. Brad suggested we look at a pretty little park in Providence, it was beautiful so we reserved it and sent out postcards to all of the Utah wedding guests to let the know of the change.







The off shoot of this joyful little switcharoo was that my family was forced to pull together to pull off a beautiful reception. They did a beautiful job I could have asked for more. There is a great story that goes along with this too because obviously since we were having the reception outside success was contingent on weather cooperation. The weekend before the wedding the weather was gorgeous however by monday afternoon clouds had rolled in and the temperature dropped. It was cold and rainy on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning. We decided to go forward with faith that things would work out and we would be able to have the reception outside. When we went into the temple it was still drizzling, when we came out 2 hours later at 1pm the sun was out and the weather was beautiful. The weather stayed beautiful for the rest of the day and we woke up Friday morning to clouds and rain again. I know that in the grand scheme of things the weather at a reception doesn't really matter but it was nice to have our faith pay off.