Little Ricky

Since my parents are vacationing in Italy for the next month, Brent and I are experiencing our first attempt at raising a teenager.  This is my sister Ayrika, better known as Ricky. She is a senior, 17 and probably the least rebellious teenager I know.  Thanks for making our job easy:)

Getting asked to my first prom ('05, yellow dress)

Anyway, last weekend was the Homecoming dance so we had fun getting Ricky all dressed up for her date. Due to having two older sisters, she has a plethora of dresses to select from, so she decided to alter my first prom dress to bring it "up to date" (I'm sooo old, I know).  Well it turned out gorgeous as a knee length party dress and she definitely out did me in it. So fun for us to wear the same dress.

 

I smell like campfire.

I love summer and I love outdoors. Since getting married, I've realized my ideal outdoor adventures are rather tame. For example, I like peeing in toilets and not in the wilderness. Brent on the other hand, basks in the opportunity of "roughing it".  Now, obviously it is more enjoyable for men to pee in the wilderness as they have complete control over that activity. Me, I don't enjoy squatting by a bush with a fear of potentially peeing on myself. (TMI I know).


Anyways, over the past month, Brent and I have had some great outdoor adventures and he's been kind enough to find me toilets all along the way.


The weekend of the 4th, Brent and I took my dad's four wheelers down to a random little place called Vernon. Its way the crap in the middle of nowhere... think Eureka and then 50 random miles after that. But it sure was pretty. There is a nice little reservoir and a whole lot of pretty mountain views. I like to forget my camera, so I don't have any pictures, but we enjoyed our time playing with all of Brent's friends who we met up with.


We shot shotguns, went fishing, took the four wheelers on a fun rider, sat around the campfire, accidentally burned holes in some camp chairs, made s'mores {my favorite} and slept under the stars.  


The weekend before that, Brent and I had a bonfire up Payson Canyon. 

My Cute Husband

Last weekend, Brent's cousin Derek got married down at the Brian Head Ski Resort. Brent's family friends have a cabin at Panguitch Lake which is just about 15 miles from Brian Head, so we spent the weekend there. As usual, I didn't have my camera for the important event (sorry no wedding pics), but I did grab a few shots of Brent fishing and of my nieces at the cabin.

Pretty Rainbow Trout

Cute Nieces Audrey and Sidney

My Mother in Law Karen and Newest Niece Jordyn Kate.

Altogether, we've been loving spending time outside together this summer. We're excited to keep the adventures coming as we head to Lake Tahoe for the Hales Family Reunion in just a few weeks!

Raise your hand if you LOVE Elder Hales

For those of you who don't know my brother, just know that if you did know him, you'd probably be raising both hands right now.

To be completely honest, my brother has got to be the best guy, and once he gets home from his LDS mission to London, he'll be the most wanted bachelor around. You see, he has got a lot of things going for him.

1-He grew up with three adoring sisters, thus he understands the crucial aspects of women: we cry alot, we are generally as hungry as men (even though we'll rarely admit it), and we love being treated well.

2-My dad has always been one to build/fix/take care of things himself. And, since Dan was the lone male child, he participated in all of those events, and became quite the handyman.

3-He probably has the best personality of anyone I've ever met. He's trustworthy, absolutely hilarious, hard working, and spontaneous. Case in point:

A) In highschool, when my parents gave him the option of driving a toyota camry or an old ghetto (BROWN) Astro van that our neighbor had nicknamed "the Toaster", he chose the latter. He took out the seats, recarpeted the interior and hung up a hammock. Day after day he brought home girls in that van for lunch.

B) He shaved his eyebrows one week before prom to raise money for charity.

C) He is so creative. He loves playing with photoshop...

D) He is instantly your best friend and can make anybody laugh.

I could go on and on.

So I just thought I would share a portion of a recent letter and a few pictures he's sent to us lately of his work in England. He is seriously an amazing missionary and is loving the work.


I'm glad you all had fun at Powell last week, but to be honest, I didn't really miss Lake powell too much. Elder Turner and I were up to much better things....... DOM DOM DOM,  Elder turner had his first Baptism this week. Oh my what an amazing event that was, I was able to baptise Livi and Elder turner baptised Ovi. We held the baptism on Sunday rather than Saturday, due to scheduling problems, but I am quite a fan of Sunday baptisms. There were so many people in attendance, the spirit was so strong! It was perfect most of our ward was crammed into this little primary room. Priya (there mother)  was in tears the whole time, what a miracle this whole event was. I happened so perfectly, the lord has really blessed Elder Turner and I.  Too add a cherry on top a member went up to watford and bought at Costco Cake..... So good. It was quite an eventful day.

But there is some other news..... As some of you have mentioned move calls have came.... unfortunately this will be my last email from Wembley. Elder turner is taking over the area, serving with another English Gent named Elder Doyle. I am sure that elder Turner will keep things going- As for me...... I have been sent up north, the most north you can go in our mission boundaries. I have been called to serve as a Zone leader up in Norwitch, What crazy news that was. I am really excited though because Norwitch is a big city and we will cover 2 wards. Also it is really cool because I was reading some of our family history and some of our ancestors i think are buried there. This was quite a shock, I have only been a DL for one transfer, it was not expected at all.  All of the other Zone Leaders are well older then me. I guess we will see how it goes.

It has been hard to say goodbye to all of my friends here in wembley, The ward here is fantastic, We have an appointment with Ruben and Kofie tonight to say good bye, It kind of stinks to leave these guys.

Oh well, I guess I am off to a new adventure, I will be serving with an elder from Sweden (Another Country in my European tour) ... I sure do love you all a lot. Thanks for all of the love and support.
Elder Hales

Needless to say, I love my brother. London is lucky to have him.

Its hot in here...

The thermostat in my apartment currently reads 87 degrees.

HOT right?

Now, you're probably assuming that I live in a ghetto apartment with a mini swamp cooler and I survive on otterpops. But, only two of the three statements are true: ghetto apartment and otter pops.

We actually just got a brand new air conditioning system installed at our apartment that works like a DREAM. But, somehow I have an anxiety problem when it comes to spending money, even when it comes to the gas and electric bills. Usually Brent enjoys my inabilitly to buy things at the mall or furniture store, but when it comes to staying cool, he gets a bit ticked at my penny pinching.

So, I give in and let him turn on the air. Sometimes...

Anyway, another aspect of my spending anxiety hits hard with decorating my apartment. I basically fall in love with all the cute things I see and have a hundred ideas of what i'd do with my place but I can't ever make a purchase. So I just buy random things at the DI that cost $1 and feel great about myself.

Maybe one day i'll grow out of it, but until then, decorating is slow and steady. Here is my kitchen wall that cost me about $25 including my photo prints.

Here is my free kitchen table (still need to paint my chairs) +$8 for the stuff underneath the glass.

And look at this cute shelf I found for $2 at the DI the other day. I'm not allowed to paint my white walls so I'm going to paint it a tan color and put on some cute new hardware. Pictures to come...

And, because I forgot to post this earlier, it has to come now. I was able to meet up with all of my best girl friends from high school recently. We were pretty much inseperable in high school, but husbands, missions, and hawaii lifestyles have taken us in various directions.

It was so good to see B and her cute baby. We missed Lynz and Rach who are both out serving mission for our church.   Love all you girls!

I'll {gladly} Give You My Calories

Growing up involved in sports, the act of running for fun never made an ounce of sense to me. Running was obviously meant for punishment. Various running drills like ladders, suicides, bleacher sets, mile sprints and early morning runs were attached to every dropped catch, missed free throw and most definitely every missed serve.

Volleyball 2006

Softball 2005

My calves remember very vividly having to run 300 sets of stairs for missing a day of volleyball practice to attend a Hales Family reunion. And, I have to apologize now to every girl on the Spanish Fork basketball team for having to put up with my horrible free throw percentage. I'd say I was about 1 in 3, and that resulted in hundreds of running ladders over those high school seasons. I'm really sorry.

But now, without the option of playing sports to burn calories, I have found a somewhat beneficial relationship with the sport of running. Don't get me wrong, I don't enjoy it. But, I find joy in its benefits. Who doesn't find happiness in burning calories? Especially after eating a ridiculous amount of chocolate chip cookies.

So, this weekend, in order to support a great organization and to participate in an event that benefits me and those in need, I'm running in the Pepsi Refresh Community Action 5k.  This run is supporting the food bank that serves Utah County. Most people don't realize that the Utah Food Bank ONLY serves Salt Lake. Community Action is the food bank that serves people in our neighborhoods.

In order to burn calories for me and donate {food} calories to those in need, I'm running the most sensible 5k of the season. And, because my sister Alyse is so in shape these days and my parents are always in support of promoting health {thinking back to the summer my dad said he'd give 100 dollars to anyone who lost more than 10 pounds in his time frame. haha.} we are running as a family.

My dad is in it for the t-shirt. My mom is excited to donate to the food bank, {she feels guilty because she was lounging in Mexico during the Scouting for Food Drive}. My brother-in-law Bob is excited  because my parents will probably take us to lunch afterward. Alyse is excited because she'll probably get a PR in this run. Brent's excited because he's sure if something's sponsored by Pepsi, he will get free Pepsi {I never buy carbonation}. I'm excited to burn calories. And little sister Ayrika? She's excited cause she'll probably beat us all.

So, if you are free this weekend and want to help support a nonprofit that serves people in your city, come run with me! And if you aren't in shape, even better. Neither am I! So far, Brent hasn't been on a run since his mission {almost two years ago}, but he assures me he is ready.

The race is this Saturday in Provo at Community Action Services and Food Bank. Its right next to the Provo Mall. You can sign up online here or show up the morning of the race!

A bit of the Wedding {5 months later}

As is obvious, these are long overdue. The wedding was December 17th, so as I approach 5 blissful months with the love of my life, I give you the evidence of day one. 

Sorry about the random order.

My family (minus Elder Daniel Hales serving in London, England)

Somehow my Dad is always tan. Wish I had inherited that gene.

My gorgeous sisters Alyse and Ayrika

Brent's cute parents

Brent's side of the family, Kayden was a bit frozen:)

My beautiful best friends. Aub, Rachie, Alice and Kenz (Missing B and Lynz)

Brent's friends who appear to be studs. 

Such a fun group of friends. Rhett, Steffan, Cody, Steve, Corbin, Wes, Keaton, Brent, and Jordan

My cute cousins and sisters. Love them all!

Kissing Picture. 

Thanks to everyone who came!

Don't worry, I somehow ordered my dream dress online from China. (It shipped in 2 days, don't ask me how) They designed it from some pictures I sent them and it turned out beautiful. It was honestly one of the cheapest parts of my wedding, no joke.

Coming out of the Salt Lake Temple. Sorry these pictures are out of order. 

Brent and his brothers. Brandon, Tyler, Brent, Ryan and brother-in-law Mike

This one just made me laugh:)

The girls on Brent's side. Brandon's wife Natalie, sister Lisa, mom Karen, sister Megan, Ryan's wife Janelle, Tyler's wife Janae

The prettiest cake ever. Thanks to Nicole Hansen. She is fabulous and so amazing.

Seriously so good, right?

It was my all-time favorite day.
My favorite element, (other than the obvious temple experience) was my cake. I love how beautiful it turned out and the chocolate cake with chocolate mouse filling was to die for. What was your favorite element of your wedding?