A Good-bye Tribute To Great Friends

We will dearly miss the Smith family- they are moving back to Montana next week for work. They have been here about one year and we've had some great times with them. Below are a few of the pictures of the things we've enjoyed doing together. I will always remember the most their many BBQ's and get togethers at their beautiful home. I admire them for their generosity and am thankful for their friendship. We wish them the best and plan on keeping in contact for years to come. Love you guys!

Weekend BBQ's and Game Nights (Girls Always Win) &
Movies & Dinner Dates

Mountain Biking

4wheelin & Sharing hunting stories

Hike to the Hot Springs

Cannery

Trav & I went to the Cannery this week. It was the first time we both have done dry pack and it was a great experience. There were six of us in total canning, labeling, boxing, etc. It seemed to be the perfect amount of people. We were able to buy just about everything we needed! Can I just say that it feels great to be prepared! Next comes making a menu using these things and working at my mediocre cooking skills! Blah... Our food fills up one entire side of the closet!

Painting Again

So I buckled down and finished the painting in the living room and I must say, it looks great! So much more homie and warm. The red came out just how I wanted it and blends so well with the yellowish cream. Take a look:

Hot Springs On Valentine's Day

Travis & I love hiking to hot springs. So for Valentines Day, since Travis had some time away from studying, we decided to go to the hot springs below Hoover Dam. We've been to this one before, but we just love going. Ironically, our first Valentine's Day we hiked to the hot springs in Spanish Fork Canyon, so it was kind of like an anniversary of sorts. The weather was perfect-just cold enough to want to get in the springs, but not too cold to hike. We'd never been there during the day, so I'd have to say that this trip was my favorite because I got to see how huge the canyon is and also how clear the water was. We went with Steven & Amber Kessinger and also decided to take Lily. Lily did a great job hiking! We of course had to lower her and lift her at the steep areas, but it wasn't too bad at all. This was her first time swimming as well. At first she was pretty hesitant and kind of freaked out. But after awhile, she loved the warm water and just swam around all by her self. I do have to say that it's really weird wearing a bathing suit and holding a dog. Try it sometime...it's just weird.


While Lily was running around while we were in the hot springs, she ran into a prickly bush and got this horrible plant stuck all over here. It was literally glued, like duct tape to her hair! We couldn't get all of it off there, so we spent like half an hour at home getting the rest of it off. We even had to cut some of it out. It was sad. Poor Lil. Also, she's been peeing a TON. We think she drank too much of the water in the springs and it did something funny to her. I'm all worried she's going to be sick with some amoeba...Ugh! It really bugs sometimes how attached I am to this dog because I worry so much more now. Anyway, I think she's going to be fine. Over all we had a great afternoon and love living near hot springs!

The Painting Begins

I've been itching to get some color on our walls since the whole entire interior of the house is white. The only difference you'd find is the wet areas have semi-gloss and the rest is your basic, production house grade flat. So it's taken me forever to decide on a color. And let me tell you, just like they all say, the color turns out totally different then you expected. I totally thought I was getting more of an off-white to cream-ish tan look, but instead I ended up with a yellow, cream-ish tan look. Don't get me wrong, the yellow turned out great! But just not what I expected. :) We decided to go with a Satin finish from Kiltz, basing our decision from the latest Consumer Reports on Interior Paint. So I think I started this project at like 11am on Saturday. I decided to do the inlet to the masterbed, and the 2 main walls in the living room. I didn't finish until 12am!! Of course I ate lunch, I had to run to Walmart to get supplies, and entertained Lily a little here and there as well. Travis was busy studying for his big Pharmacology exam, so it was a perfect day to do it. But I didn't think it'd take that long! So I'd love to continue and do the rest of the living room, dining room, hallway, kitchen, and den, but it's definitely going to take longer then I expected. Oh and I have to mention that Travis so kindly let me borrow his bright work lights from "his" garage, seen in the picture above. :)

(Before and after pictures. The picture above was taken shortly after we moved in almost a year ago! It looks like the walls and ceiling are different color in this picture because of the lighting, but believe me, they're all the same!)

(Notice Lily posing for the picture as well)

Hiking Red Rock with Lily

Today we decided to go hiking to get out and enjoy the wonderful 60 degree weather and get some much needed exercise. We wanted to hike (instead of bike or hunt) so that we could take Lily with us. We headed up to Red Rock and hiked near Rock Springs. Lily was so adorable hopping all over the rocks and scurrying up large sandstone rocks to keep up. Travis was usually in the lead, then Lily then me. Lily frequently would stop and look back to check on me to make sure I was keeping up. It was adorable! We did end up climbing over some larger rocks so Trav did have to carry her for awhile. But besides the rocks being too big for her, she did a great job and is a very strong hiker!