Christmas 2012

This year for Christmas we went with the Shipp family to Palm Springs. We weren't able to stay very long but we did make it to Disneyland! Josh and I headed out to California a little early to play at Disneyland, luckily we were able to meet up with Nate and Cami's family and tag along with them for the day. Thanks to them we had a great time!

Disneyland, December 2012

Shipp Family, December 2012

Fall Pictures!

After 3 years of being married, Josh and I finally decided to get some new pictures of us taken. Here are a few of the pictures!

Lani and Ma'afu get married!

This August I had the pleasure of seeing my Aunt Lani get married. Welcome Ma'afu to the family! Although a warm day, it was so much fun to be there. Here is a picture of Amanda, Lani, and I!

Lani and Ma'afu's wedding, August 2012

July 2012

Oakley Rodeo!

The Shipps have a long tradition of spending July 4th weekend up in Oakley at the rodeo. I have always loved rodeos and it is fun to see all the family!

Josh and I with our niece Sadie. July 2012

Havasupai 2012

Stuart, Josh and I made the trip down to Havasupai! We had so much fun and walked away with only a few blisters and many more mosquito bites. Can't wait to head down again!

Stuart and I beginning our hike in. June 2012

Dinner time in Havasupai, June 2012

Josh and Jess, Havasupai Falls, June 2012

Josh, Stuart, & Jess. Havasupai, June 2012

Poor Jonah!

Josh and Jonah, Christmas 2011

For Christmas, Josh and I received an addition to our family. Jonah the fish. Josh was very excited for this new addition and has faithfully taken care of Jonah each day. Josh has a great track record with fish. His pets usually live a very long and full life. I, however, do not share this feat and unfortunately I think Jonah  knew this. After 3 full months of life, Jonah passed away this past week. We are very sad to see him go and due to that will not seek a replacement quite yet. Farewell Jonah, we will miss you!

Josh's 28th Birthday!

Josh turned 28 this year! Opposed to myself, Josh LOVES surprises. Now because I really do not enjoy surprises, sometimes it is difficult for me to plan them for others as well. I wanted to do something really simple and so for this year's birthday I planned an hourly birthday surprise. Originally I wanted to do 28 hours of birthday surprises but that just got too complicated so starting at 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Josh received a gift, each hour on the hour. Josh worked 1/2 day so I packed his first several gifts for him to take with him, beginning with a letter explaining how the day was going to work. The gifts ranged from small items such as a chapstick to coupons and then some actual presents. Hours and gifts listed below:


8- Letter explaining the day.
9- A new cell phone cover (GameBoy!)
10- A new chapstick- to keep those lips moist!
11- Ninja t-shirt (Josh likes to think he is a Ninja so I thought it fitting that he looked the part for his day.)
12- Coupon for a lunch date with me!
1- Coupon for a new game-"Limbo"(for the computer and a really strange game, but he loved it!)
2- Candy bar letter.
3-Case of Apple Beer (his favorite drink!)
4- A list of 28 reasons why I love him!
5- Dinner and other Ninja shirt (I couldn't pick between 2 to give him so he got both)
6- Reese's Ice Cream Cake

GameBoy cell phone cover

Ninja T-shirt

Josh in Ninja T-shirt

Candy Bar letter

Josh and his Reeses Ice Cream Cake

Overall the day was really fun and I think Josh really enjoyed it. Another year older and wiser too, Happy Birthday to you!

Mexico

This year we joined the Shipp family in Mexico, the week after Christmas. We are glad we finally decided to join the family on this vacation. Although we ended on a sour note ( Josh and I were sick the last day), we had a great time! Here are just a few of the pictures from the trip!

Coba ruins, Mexico (December 2011)

Coba ruins, Mexico (December 2011)

Coba ruins, Mexico (December 2011)

Tulum ruins, Mexico (December 2011)

Tulum ruins, Mexico (December 2011)

Josh jumping into a cenote, Mexico (December 2011)

Christmas 2011

Since it is just us, Josh and I do Christmas a little differently. We usually just do stocking gifts, this year we did splurge on some clothes and Josh really needed a new blanket too. Here are some pictures of us opening our stockings.

Josh, Christmas 2011

Jess, Christmas 2011

Because we are just downstairs, Josh and I spent Christmas morning with my parents and Stuart as they opened presents!

Josh opening his new blanket Jess made him.

 The funniest moment was when we opened gifts from my Grandma Nelson. She gave my Dad a Santa Snuggie. Here is the picture with Dad and his snuggie. This really was hilarious!

Christmas Lights!

This Christmas season felt a little off this year. We are in a tiny space so we skipped the tree and well we didn't really decorate at all. We did try to do a few traditional Christmas activities including the Jon Schmidt Christmas concert and then of course a visit to see Christmas lights at Temple Square. Here are some pictures from the night visiting lights!

Bundled up at Temple Square, December 2011

Temple Square, December 2011

Going to the chapel and I'm gonna get married...

One of my best friends, Brittani, got married! Jorge and Brit make a great couple and I am so happy for them both. It was freezing the day they got married and Josh and I didn't get too many pictures because of it, but here are a few we captured.

Brit & Jorge's Wedding, December 2, 2011

Jess, Lindsey, Brit, Lacey

Congrats Brit and Jorge!

Gingerbread Houses!

Josh and I love to make gingerbread houses. This year I was very ambitious and decided to make my own gingerbread. It did NOT work at all and sadly we went back to the kits. I have high hopes to make this work next year but hey I still think they turned out cute. For our gingerbread making, we invited some newbies, Brit and Jorge. It was a lot of fun and I am very happy with the end result!

Brit and Jorge with their gingerbread house.

Josh and I with our adorable little house!

Disneyland in October!

In October we headed to California with the Nelson clan. It was so much fun to see Disneyland around Halloween time. I honestly think this is my favorite time of year to go to Disneyland! My dream is to make this a Halloween tradition for Josh and I. Here's to wishing!

Disneyland, October 2011

Jess's Mouth Surgery

Surgery on your mouth is never fun. Such a sad picture!

Summer excitement

Everytime I post on this blog I swear to myself that I will stick with it. Alas, this is never the case. Summer has gone by so quickly and now we are already in October. For the sake of tracking some memories I will attempt to pick a few pictures and document some events of this summer.

Back in May, Bryce got married and we welcomed the newest member to the family, Katy. This was such a fun day and so weird for me to watch my younger brother get married. They are so cute together and it is so fun to be with them. Bryce and Dad built an apartment in Lani's basement before they got married for Katy and Bryce to live in. I love that they get to stay close by to family!

 

This summer, Josh and I spent a lot of time hiking around and camping. Unfortunately we didn't take a ton of pictures and I can't find many of them. Even though both Josh and I are wearing the same outfits these pictures they were not taken on the same days.

Josh and I went down to St. George for a weekend to visit and this is us heading to church on Sunday. It seems to be tradition that while visiting Amanda and Wes, we take a picture before attending church.

In mid-August, I was able to attend Education Week at BYU and Josh took time off to head down to Lake Powell with his family for a couple of days. I was so glad that he decided to go because I know he loved it!

Amanda and Wes decided to run a relay race together at the end of August. The race was all day long and so during the day while they were gone, Josh and I took the kids. We headed to the zoo, which was so much fun. They loved riding the train and looking at the animals.

Such cute boys!

2nd Anniversary!

Josh and I have been married 2 years! For our anniversary we spent the night up at Snowbird. The snow was beautiful! I have pictures but they didn't turn out great. We had such a fun time and a great celebration of 2 years of marriage. I love you, Josh. Thank you for keeping me on my toes.

Jess Graduation

May 7, 2011- Bachelor of Science in Elementary and Special Education

I finally graduated! Originally i had no plans of walking with my class for graduation, but Mom and Dad, of course, had something else to say about that so I walked. I didn't want to make a big deal out of everything so I tried to keep it simple. Josh's parent's and younger brother Matt, and sister Sarah along with my parents, Stuart, Bryce and his fiance Katy all came to watch the graduation.

Josh and I.


My parents and I.


The Shipp family.



These were some of the ladies from my SPED program that i completed distantly from Salt Lake for the last 2 years.