Lucky Ducks

Look what we've been up to!  For 15 beautiful days we were living the dream in Hawaii.

My parents planned the most amazing vacation, we loved every minute! Our first week was spent in Oahu.  

Playing in the most beautiful water!

Snorkeling at Shark's Cove

Thankfully there weren't sharks, but this is one
 of the many sea turtles we saw!

Scott and I both loved snorkeling

Our favorite sunset

A beautiful Japanese temple

The surfers! They all did awesome

My brother noticed this down the street from our place.
From the 4th pirate's movie

Kayaking in beautiful Kauai

The whole crew! Had such a wonderful time together

 

Paradise!

Graduation

Well, I ranked it.  Friday was my third best day ever!  I'm so thrilled to be done with school.  My degree is in public relations and advertising, over the years I have found it really is a great fit for me.  I was excited to have Scott, my family, and my mother-in-law come support me at graduation!  They are wonderful.

My brother took this video of me walking, and I love it because it caught what Scott shouted to me from the stands (10 seconds in).  I heard him from on stage and it cracked me up. (Sorry it's so long, I don't know how to edit it).

Ha ha, yes...graduation is partly all about the shoes! Thank you Jessica Simpson for designing 5 inch heels that are actually possible to walk in!  

I love these...

 I love him...

 And them...

 

And her...

I met Scott my 5th day of college, so he has literally been along for the whole ride.  He wrote me a beautiful poem for graduation, all about the ups and downs and miracles I experienced along the way.  I'm especially grateful for him being supportive and patient this last crazy semester.  We have come out on the other side closer than ever, and I'm so happy!

Tender Moments

I had a special experience tonight with Heather.

First, a little background:

SCOTT:

When Heather and I met my view on animals was that they are a drain on your wallet as pets and useful for sport.  Heather often wondered if I would ever allow a pet into our family.  

Christmas of 2009 I surprised her with a Hamster.  We named her Belle.  I wanted Heather to know that I could love and own animals if it really was important to her.  

HEATHER:

Heather has always had a love for animals.  

She helped raise a goat, Tugs. The bell that hung around Tug's neck now hangs on a lattice archway in their yard.  Each time Heather passes underneath it she reaches up and rings the bell in remembrance of Tugs.

She helped raise Chewy the alpaca.  Chewy has special significance to our relationship.  In the infancy of our relationship I was at Heather’s on a weekend when her Father decided that the alpaca needed to be sheered.  I was there so I helped with the dangerous process.  We held, tackled, accidentally choked, and eventually sheered Chewy.  I like to think, and hope it’s true, that Kevin (her dad) decided that I was the real deal that day.  It was through Chewy that he realized that I had some work ethic and was maybe worthy of his daughter.  

Once Kevin approved enough I joined the family – one of the members of the family was Zeus, their dog.  He was a cute pup – that looked a lot like a border collie.  He had an immune deficiency for most of his life, but lived long.  One day he ran away and never returned.  It was a sad day for everyone.

Her claim to fame is her rabbits.  She used to enter them into the Davis County Fair and she won Best of Breed with her rabbit Scamper.  Her favorite Miss Dotty lived for 11 years.  Other notable rabbits included: Bopsy (first), Velvet, Hershey, Willow, and Lightning.   The average life expectancy of a rabbit is 6-8 years.  Heather is a great owner.

One of the harsh realities of owning pets it knowing that someday they will move on and not be with us.  Out of a family of  6, a general curse for Heather has been - she is the one to discover the deceased animal.  NOT something she enjoyed.

After that her dad would take the pet and bury it without her knowing the details and the plot. 

Present Day:

This weekend – while we were out of town our first pet, Belle, passed away.

When we arrived home at 1 am from Paragonah - Heather announced her arrival with the typical "Hey Belly! " she promptly went and changed out Belle's water and changed her food.  That night Heather didn't hear the squeak of the hamster wheel or the rustling of Belle in her food bowl.  

In the morning before leaving, Heather (suspecting the worst) made a trail of sunflower seeds to lure Belle out of her covered house.

That afternoon Heather sent me a text telling me of her suspicion and asked me to check on Belle.

I checked right away, so Heather wouldn't have to be the one to again discover the loss, and her suspicions were right.  So I ignored Heather for as long as I could (she thought I was sleeping all afternoon because I had plowed snow through the night).  Finally on her way home she asked me if I had checked.  I had to tell her the news.  

This brought a new duty to my role as a husband.  I was in charge of burying Belle.

We found a small box and placed her pink bowl in it (she loved to curl up in her bowl).  Inside the bowl we placed sunflower seeds (her favorite- taking after me).  And placed her deep in the flower bed in the front of our first home.

Last Photo of Belle, taken two weeks ago

Heathers love of animals has softened my heart.  It felt monumental for me to be the one that was able to take care of the pet that she cared so much for.  

In life Heather has had a way of softening my heart.  She has changed me - and made me better.  This is a small example of how she does that.

*Sorry for the length. It should make up for our month of bloglessness. And this is our Journal in a way.

Emotions

Drained, we are absolutely drained.  The past two days have been a marathon of emotions; anxious, sad, thankful, heartbroken, excited, bittersweet happy, and on and on.

On Tuesday morning, our nephew Beckham was born! We have been so excited for him to come.  He is the first grandson on both our sides (we have eight adorable nieces).  We were able to go see him on his birthday, and oh my heck, just check him out.  So cute.

 

Later that evening, the mood got much more somber.  We attended the viewing of Scott's dear Aunt Laura, who passed away last weekend.  We are so thankful for our faith in the gospel at this time, it is one of the only things that can bring any sort of comfort when something like this happens. We saw a lot of extended family at the viewing; Laura has 8 siblings and 7 beautiful, courageous daughters.  Everyone came together and supported each other through this loss.

That night, Scott's immediate family gathered together and we spent time talking about what would be happening the next morning...our brother Jeff would be leaving on his mission to Georgia.  There were many happy tears that night, we are so excited for him.  It's always hard to say goodbye though.

Wednesday morning we all had breakfast together, then said our goodbyes to Jeff.  Tears all around!

Here is Jeff saying goodbye to Scott, and below, Julie (little sis).  Scott asked me to put these pictures up on the blog. His siblings are very close and he was glad those sweet feelings could be captured on camera.

Straight from there, we went to Laura's funeral.  Many more tears there, but the spirit was strong.  Her family paid her amazing tributes and it was evident how loved she is.  She was buried in a really picturesque spot and amazingly, the weather was cool, sunny, and beautiful. 

By this time, Scott and I (and probably all of our family) had a splitting headache from so much crying. We can't believe the baby, the funeral, and the mission all fell within 48 hours of each other.  We are full of love for all the people involved in these experiences, we have had a lot to pray about each night.

N.O. T.V.

We are sans TV.  We have been for two weeks, we will be for five months.  It's kind of an experiment...

Our TV was 20 years old., Scott bought it from a guy for $100 several years ago.  It worked well for us, we loved the big big screen.  The only down side is that the TV itself is HUGE, it practically has the footprint of a fridge.

Scott had the idea to sell the TV at the beginning of summer and not replace it until November (we're hoping to get a sweet deal at the day-after-Thanksgiving sales).  Then we can enjoy the nice summer weather and not get sucked in by the TV, which we'll admit happens sometimes.

Well, we sold it just a few hours after putting it up for sale on KSL.com (for....$100!).  It's new home is at a granite countertop shop where a lot of soccer is being watched on it right now.

I miss it a little bit, but I don't think Scott does.  In fact, I think he is secretly hoping November will roll around and I won't want to get a new TV.  I guess that is a possibility...but a pretty small one.

Luckily, we have our bikes, nearby parks, and unlimited Lagoon nights (we used our garage sale money to get season passes) to keep us outside this summer.

Are any of you TV-less too???

Oh Boy!

We sure love our 8 nieces!  Now to add to the fun we just found out that we are getting our first NEPHEW!  The streak is broken!  Scott's brother Brad and his awesome wife Bri are expecting their little man in November.  This is such a big deal to all of us, it's an awesome day!

I always knew I’d like it

I always figured I’d like sushi, it just took me a while to try some! I’ve been told that you have to go with someone who is familiar with it (your first time). I have wanted to try it for years and just never made a point to actually do it.

Yesterday my cousin Kristen called me up and asked if I wanted to go out to dinner with her. She took me to Tsunami in Sugar House…yes, a sushi place! I was thrilled and knew I was in good company for my raw fish experience.

Kristen goes there all the time, so I told her she was in charge of ordering. Her first rule was ‘no California rolls’. She said that is a common mistake the first time people go. Apparently it’s too ‘safe’ and doesn't introduce newcomers to the variety of flavors sushi offers :)

We got 4 different kinds that had eel, salmon, tuna, and something else that I can’t pronounce or spell. They were all so delicious! We sat at the bar right in front of the chef who was making all the sushi, which was really fun. It is quite an art- the food is so cool looking you almost feel bad eating it.

Anyways, I really enjoyed the experience and hope to go again soon! Scott's turn!

Welcome Adalynn!

On Tuesday afternoon we found out that Scott's sister Lisa had her baby (her first)! We went straight to Preston, ID after work to go see the happy trio. Our timing couldn't have been better because baby Adalynn was wide awake for a lot of the time we were there. We're glad Lisa is ok (I can't imagine c-sections leave you feeling very good). Joe was a very happy dad- he was excited that his little girl was born on cinco de mayo.

This takes our niece count up to eight!!!

Sorry that you can't see her cute face in this picture, but it's the only one we have! You'll have to check out Lisa's blog for more details :)

She's a First!

The first Cutler grandchild!!! Claire Michelle was born February 20th! She was 8lbs 4 oz, and is an absolute DOLL. Everyone, including all the nurses, are in love with her pouty lips and chin. She has chubby kissable cheeks and the perfect amount of little blonde hair. She's perfect! This means that Luke is no longer the baby of the family :) Claire was born at 2:29 a.m. and wouldn't go to sleep till about one in the afternoon! She is a very alert baby! Marilyn is doing great; she's a big fan of epidurals. Jeremy is a proud daddy and loves his two beautiful girls.

First Things First

I'm excited for this new hobby! It seems like the stars aligned and the world was ready and waiting for my blog...actually, I had two different people in two days tell me about blogs and suggest I start one. That was destiny enough for me.

Well this weekend was great- my 4 roommates (from school a few years ago) all stayed in Heber at a cabin. We talked for hours. It was so fun. I look up to all of them, they are great.

Yesterday the family did something fun- we took a color/personality test. I ended up being blue; the same color as mom. That didn't surprise me- I notice that I'm becoming more and more like her each year. Everyone else in the family was gold except for Luke- he was the unique one in the bunch. My color apparently needs loving gestures; Luke interpreted that as a literal 'gesture'. He's been teasing by giving me 'thumbs ups' and winks every time I enter a room...

Well this should do it for now, I'm excited to put pictures up for ya'll to see!