Our 2 Favorite Missionaries

My sister Melissa is in the Omaha Nebraska Mission and currently gives tours at the Mormon Trail Center. She was always my best friend growing up & (besides Lincoln) she still is. I don't know what I would do without her in my life. She is a constant support & is the most perfect person that I've ever met! Not to mention, she is so cute! She will be home in July...we are so excited to see her.

My brother Shawn is in the Kennewick Washington mission. My cousin Stetson got called to the same mission and they reported the same day! They are even from the same home ward, but Stetson sent in his papers from Utah & Shawn sent his in from AZ. Pretty crazy! We are hoping that they can be companions sometime during their mission. I love Shawn so much & miss him. I can tell that he is an incredible missionary! He gets home a few weeks after Melissa!

We've seen many blessings come into our lives since Shawn & Melissa have been out on their missions. I love having missionaries to keep in contact with. I love hearing their experiences & testimonies...they are great examples to me.

Texas Roadhouse

Lincoln & I just being...us! Ok, so he doesn't know that I posted this picture...I thought it was funny. He wouldn't cooperate with the camera so that's what he gets!

I love this guy.

OKLAHOMA!!!

Lincoln's cousin Katee flew me out to Oklahoma to stay with her & her kids for a week while her husband was out of town. It was such a fun trip...I think I really needed a break from real life for awhile! :) We had so much fun staying up late talking and watching tv. She took me to a lot of fun places. Thank you SO much Katee for the enjoyable trip! I can't wait to visit you guys again!

At the Oklahoma State Fair...

This goat had a crazy beard!

Sydnee & I in front of a bull. Don't worry...it was chained to the wall!

A view of downtown Oklahoma City

These guys were climbing a ladder & doing flips into the water. I took some pictures to send to Lincoln to make him jealous (ha ha!) & this guy caught me taking pictures of him. Who invented Speedos anyway? They are so gross!

Going down the slide with Sydnee

Disney Princesses on Ice

Katee, Bergen, Sydnee & I went to see Disney Princesses on Ice at the state fair. It was a good show. I was really impressed with some of the ice skaters! They did some really cool things. And of course the Disney music and characters are so fun.

My favorite Disney Princess...Belle

Sydnee & I watching the show

The Grand Finale!

Oklahoma City Bombing

We were supposed to visit the Oklahoma City Bombing memorial the first time we went to visit Katee & Kevin, but I was too sick to go the day that we had planned to. Now I really wish we had gone, so that Lincoln could have seen it. It was amazing! I was so impressed with everything they had at the memorial and the feeling that I felt there.

A wall with tiles from kids with pictures representing the day of the bombing.

A rescue worker wrote this as they were pulling people out of the remains of the building.

In memory of the victims...this little pair of shoes just broke my heart.


My favorite part, even though it is not technically part of the memorial. This statue was put up across the street. The inscription in the last picture is on the bottom of the statue. AMAZING!

The bombing happened at 9:02 so they have a wall facing one way that says 9:01, and another wall facing the opposite direction that says 9:03 on it. In the middle they have a shallow pool that spans the space between the two walls. It is flat and empty...it is a really powerful part of the memorial.

This is the tree that survived the bombing. They have a quote on the wall in front of it about being survivors. It was too long to take a picture of, but I loved it.

There is an empty chair for each of the 169 people who died in the bombing. Each chair has one of the victim's names on it. This is where the building actually stood.

Star Wars Mailbox

I saw this mailbox outside the post office across the street from the memorial. For those of you who don't know, Lincoln is a huge Star Wars fan! Seriously, he loves it, so I had to take a picture of it for him. This is a real mailbox...we thought it was pretty cool!

Grandparents Night

Sydnee's school had Grandparents Night while I was there, so I got to go and be the honorary grandparent. I teased that I was going to get a gray wig & walk around with a cane. She was mortified! Anyway, I got to see Syd's classroom & school and meet her teacher. It was a fun night!

Lunch at Pops with Katee & her friends. This place was so cool...they had TONS of different sodas to choose from, and the place was a convenience store/restaurant. It was very futuristic looking. The girls that we went with were a lot of fun & made me feel like part of the group. Thanks girls!

Bergen loves making faces for the camera!

Playing cars in "the box".

I love Bergen's frog boots...he wants to wear them everywhere. It is hilarious!

I'm really going to miss this cute face!!!

Hiatt Family Reunion

Last weekend we had our annual family reunion up in Pine at the beautiful Hiatt cabin! We talked, ate, played games, had a program Saturday night, and a nice meeting on Sunday. I feel so privileged to have married into such a wonderful family.

I hate spiders!

Lincoln & I just got back from his family reunion in Pine. I had a fight with the bugs up there & obviously lost. I think these are spider bites. I am on Benadryl for this stuff & Vicodin for my other pain, so I will be sleeping well tonight. :) I have the worst luck ever!

"A Dropped Call Can Ruin The Conversation"

My cousin Savannah cut my hair today...I wanted kind of a drastic change. So Lincoln hasn't seen my haircut yet & I told him I was cutting it, but didn't know exactly how short or what I was doing to it. Anyway, I called him after I got it done and he wanted me to send him a picture from my cell phone so he could see it. I told him to text me right back so I knew what he thought. I sent the picture...nothing. I waited a few more minutes for a text from Lincoln...nothing. I started making excuses & texting him things like, "Well, I took it with a camera phone. It looks better in person." Still no reply. I called his cell phone. He still didn't answer. I finally got a text a few minutes later that said, "I'm on a job. I like it." I felt like I was on one of those Cingular commercials where they ask a question and get no answer and then it is totally awkward. It was pretty funny.

Jackson's birthday

Jackson's birthday turned out to be such a great day. I was very surprised, because I've been really anxious about this day for quite awhile. I feel some relief. I feel like I get a chance to start over. I don't know if that really makes any sense. I love Jackson so, so much & am so glad that he is in our family. I feel more hope than I did before though. Thank you to all of you out there who sent cards, called us, gave us gifts, or said kind words for Jackson's birthday. It helped us so much and we could really feel all of your prayers and still can.

These are a few of my favorite pictures from Jackon's 1st birthday...



Making birthday cupcakes

Ashley Young gave me a balloon to let go of at Jackson's grave...thank you Ashley. That was such a nice gesture. I know Jackson appreciated it. :)

Balloon with letters from us to Jackson tied to it

Mom & Dad at the cemetery...I love this picture

Our eternal family...Lincoln & I in front of Jackson's grave

Our Dating Story

Sorry to those who tagged me & I never responded to them. I really liked this one though, and loved reading other couple's stories.

1)WHERE DID YOU MEET YOUR HUSBAND?
We have a mutual cousin named Brian...now don't worry, Lincoln & I are not related! Lincoln's uncle married my dad's cousin & their son is Brian...does that make more sense? Anyway, he brought Lincoln down from Snowflake to Mesa and set us up on a blind date.

2)WHAT WAS THE FIRST THING YOU SAID TO YOUR HUSBAND?
I don't remember. When they pulled up to my house I was taking the trash out. I saw Lincoln get out of the car and thought he was really hot. The first words Lincoln said to me were, "Where is your trash can?" and he took the trash and threw it away for me. He had me from then on! :) I think the first thing I said to him was that I had a pet turtle that I talked to all the time, and then I apologized for the Indian design that we had on our pillows on the couch. I told him that my mom was buying some material soon to change it. (She still hasn't.) Yeah, I am not sure why he still wanted to talk to me after that! (Actually, now that I think about it I had had surgery about a week before so I could have still been on painkillers...that would explain a lot!)

3) WHERE WAS YOUR FIRST DATE?
We went to the Snowflake football game, then to Carl's Jr., then to Walmart to get stuff for frisbee golf, then to Pioneer Park to play frisbee golf & frisbee football, then to the temple visitors' center to see the new display they had for the Christus, then to see "Master & Commander" at the movie theater. Our date lasted from 4pm to 1am. I'm not sure what Brian's date thought about how long the date was, but I loved it! :)

4) WHERE WAS YOUR FIRST KISS?
On Matt & Danielle's couch (his brother). We had been babysitting their kids & being the good people they are, they left us alone downstairs and went to bed. :) By the way, no matter what Lincoln says...HE KISSED ME!

5) HOW LONG DID YOU DATE?
We dated for about 2 months....yeah, I swore I would never do that, but I wouldn't change it!

6) DID YOU HAVE A LONG OR SHORT ENGAGEMENT?
Well, we were technically only engaged for two months, but had started planning the wedding a month before that & were waiting on the ring. Either way you look at it, it was short.

7)WHERE DID YOU GET ENGAGED?
At Lincoln's apartment. We watched Count of Monte Cristo & then after the movie he pulled out the box with the ring in it. He had stitched the word "Eternity" into a piece of material and put it with the ring. It was supposed to go along with the part of the movie where the girl ties a piece of string around her finger. I just couldn't believe that he stitched that!

8) WHERE WERE YOU MARRIED?
The Mesa, Arizona temple.

9)HOW DID THE RECEPTION GO?
It was BEAUTIFUL. It started raining when we came out of the temple & my mom and I were freaking out because the reception was supposed to be outside. It died down an hour or two before the reception started and it made everything so green & beautiful. It really was perfect...and the food was delicious. (That's all I really cared about. :) )

10) HOW WAS THE HONEYMOON?
Ha ha! A few of our closest friends know how the honeymoon went. I don't want to get too personal here. There were some setbacks as well...we spent the first night in our condo then went to Cali. Our friend set us up with a hotel there, but it was the scariest place I have ever stayed in & so Lincoln called him & told him that he wasn't keeping his wife there. So we stayed somewhere else for the rest of the time. We went to Six Flags two days but I got sick both days...the first day I made it for about an hour, and the second day for about four hours. I was really bummed. I love roller coasters! We also went to an AWESOME aquarium while we were there.

So that's our story! I don't know if anyone had the patience to read through all of it, but if you did I hope you enjoyed it! I'll just tag whoever wants to do this on their blog.

Breakfast with Christine & Grant

My mom & I met my cousin Christine for breakfast at Crackers last week. Of course I got the granola healthcakes with strawberries & blueberries...YUM!!! She brought her little boy Grant...he is so cute. His hair cracks me up! We were paying so much attention to him that we forgot to get a picture with Christine! We really enjoyed spending time with her & her little boy.

Lincoln & David

My mom's friend Kathleen came to visit this weekend from California! She brought her cute son David with her, who she & her husband adopted when he was born. It is so fun to see her as a mom...she is an awesome one! David is adorable & is so much fun to be around. I can't believe how big he has gotten since the last time we saw him! He loves Lincoln & was growling at him and even gave him a kiss on the forehead. Lincoln will be such a great dad. I love watching him interact with kids...they love him!

Labor Day

Kristin, me, Lindsey (& Colter), Amy




We had a swim party and BBQ at my parents' house for my mom's side of the family on Labor Day. It was really fun to see everyone and hang out with them. These three girls in the picture are my cousins...they are all sisters! We've been so close our whole lives and I just love them all so much. I found out yesterday that Kristin miscarried...she was 3 months along. I don't even know if she will read this, but I just want her to know that my heart is breaking for her. I have been so emotional about her loss and I just feel so sad for her & Rich. It was just weird to see her the night before and then to see her the next day after she found out that she had miscarried. I've been down that road and it is hard! Kristin, I LOVE YOU & your family and you are in my prayers!!! You have all been SO supportive of me throughout my life. I don't know what I would do without you guys!!!