That's what best friends are for.

Chelsea came to visit last weekend and she couldn't have come at a better time. I was in serious need of some Chosey time! I picked her up from the airport on Friday and we headed up to Temple Square to check out the grounds and some other nearby sites. Then we headed off to dinner to have pizza at one of my local favs: Setabello. I love the temple. The grounds are so peaceful.

Here's Chose-Pose at her finest:


You've got to get a photo on the pedestal. It's a must-do.

Chelsea forgot her camera card so I let her borrow mine for the weekend. You can thank her for all the pretty pics.


Saturday we woke up bright and early and headed to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. It was really beautiful and great to be able to share some of my most cherished beliefs with my best friend.

Next we headed up Provo Canyon and did some backwoods hiking. It was kind of hot on the way up but the way back down was gorgeous. I love being able to drive only a few minutes to get out of town and into the mountains.

Me and Hayden (my mom's dog). Notice he is wearing a back-pack which is holding all our waterbottles, keys, cell phones, etc. It was great. He loves his "pack-pack."

I kept telling Chels that she should go blow some of these out like Belle in Beauty and the Beast.

The dynamic duo.

We hiked up to a natural spring and ended up drinking some water out of the creek. I know it doesn't sound like a good idea but it tasted soooo good... and I figured if Bear Grilles can do it, so can I!

We knew we were a little dirty but had no idea how filthy we were until we took off our shoes and socks. We were laughing so hard at our "Robin Williams man legs."

We spent the rest of the weekend watching girl movies and having girl talk while Cur relegated himself to watching Saints & Soldiers in the other room on his laptop. What a good sport.

I miss having great girlfriends near. Thanks for visiting Chels! I miss you already. Next time bring Jay and we'll go play in the snow!!!

Birthday Burbo!!!

Today is the birthday of my sweetheart.

He was the cutest baby boy.


And he's still the cutest.


We have always had a blast together. He's one of the most fun people I know.


Curtis is a loyal and great friend. He's one to count on. I love this pic of him and his boys.


He always makes me laugh and keeps me grounded. I love that about him.


Curtis is an amazing man. He is kind, loyal, loving, devoted to the gospel, puts others first, and is always looking for ways to better himself. He is an incredible husband, son, brother, and I know he will be an amazing father. I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful man at my side.

Did I mention how handsome he is?


Happy 29th Curtis!!!!!!! I love you!!!!!!

TAYLOR DATING.....and other fun stuff

What do you do when you have 2 teenage boys coming to stay with you for a weekend? Besides stock up on cereal and junk food? You take them to do what most men love to do: shoot guns, ride motorcycles, and attend a demolition derby. (Some video games may or may not have been played...)

Taylor+9mm= Jack Bauer

My little brother Taylor and his friend MacGyver are in town for BYU Lacrosse Camp starting Monday. They're staying with us over the weekend so we showed them all Provo has to offer. We took them up to Squaw Peak and I let Taylor and MacGyver ride the SuperMoto. Chief, show us how to ride a wheelie!

Taking turns...


Afterwards, we hit up the shooting range at the bottom of the mountain. We amused the others at the range by setting up as our targets a Lucky Charms cereal box, an empty milk jug, and a few badly aggitated, unopened soda cans. Everyone else out there had the typical bulls eye target.

MacGyver: "Stick 'em up, Bad Guy!"

Checking out the damage

Speaking of damage, everyone LOVED the demolition derby. The purpose of the event is to crash into other cars until the others are too badly damaged to hit you. We had a SMASHING good time. No really, it was a HIT! hahahaha

I realize the real reason 93.7% of you are reading this post is to hear about and catch a glimpse of Taylor's blind date we set him up with!!!!!! She is in Candace's Young Womens group at church and she is as much of a sweetheart as she is cute. Come on Taylor, we would never do you wrong, brother!

I'm happy to report that the conversation between those two made Taylor and MacGuyver seem like strangers. BOO YAH! I'd like to add that I made an extra effort to not tease Taylor from the moment he picked up his date until he dropped her off. But the second he was no longer on the date, Candace, MacGuyver, and I had the time of our lives teasing lil bro. Haha, thats what you get for being the baby of the family!!!!

The demo derby was awesome. Multiple cars caught on fire. Love it.

The derby was held in Riverton's small rodeo arena in a beautiful valley at dusk. I managed to capture some footage for all of you demo derby junkies out there:

And in case you've wondered what it looks like when a demo derby gets kicked off:

We're loving our first Utah summer together!

Time to Stop Wishin' and Time to Start Fishin'

Dad made a 4th of July visit to spend the weekend flyfishing with me. We ditched all the hoopla on Center St. (Provo has one of the biggest 4th of July celebrations in the West), grabbed Dad's long time good friend Jeff Wells, and met a fishing guide for a 1/2 day on the Provo River. You might recall Jeff and Dad had a flyfishing ranch in Argentina together, so fishing together is not a new thing for them.


Dad and Jeff said they've fished the Provo River with a guide before and they've been skunked a bunch of times. I was nervous because although my Dad swore he'd enjoy the day no matter what, I didn't want him to go back to AZ without a good fish story. My worries disappeared when Dad told me that he was aware of my superstition of wearing a red hat while fishing and he had purchased one to comply.


Well Dad, of course you're going to catch a big one if you've got the red hat!



Like Father like Son.




Our new secret spot is a success! Dad had a really big one on the line but of course.....it got away, haha. The Provo River is so beautiful this time of year as it cuts right through snow-capped majestic green mountains.

Candace and I are having so much fun exploring new places to off road, camp, and fish every weekend.


Dad, we had a lot of fun hanging out with you. Thanks for the fishing gear, the relaxing time together, AND THE JDAWGS!!!!

Happy Birthday Mama

Her birthday isn't actually until this Sunday but... in order to surprise her we threw a party! A surprise party of course. Now if you know my mother, NOTHING gets past her so the fact that we pulled off a surprise is quite the feat. I had much help from my dear husband, my brudder, and my mom's friends Judy and Bev. I'm so happy she has such great friends here. It turned out to be such a fun evening.

Since mom is the queen of themes I had to follow suit... Here was my inspiration for the occasion:


And the invitation:


A photo tribute I sent along with it (yes, that's me as a baby):


SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!






The BBQ crew. The "Steak President" even did us the honor of cooking burgers and dogs even though his forte is definitely steak... yum. (Ray, Cur's dad, happened to be in town as well - fishing post to follow by Cur. It was such a fun weekend!)




I made one of my mom's favs: red velvet cupcakes.


Grandma and Grandpa drove up from their vacation in Southern Utah just for the day. It was soooo good to see them.




I love my mom so much. It's fun to be able to do something like this for her when she's done so so much for me. She's truly an amazing woman and a great example to me. I admire her strength and go get 'em attitude. She always remains positive and works hard for what she wants. I hope I'm like her when I grow up.

Love you Madre!!! Happy Birthday!!!

Free-style Campin'

Last week we went camping with The Free's: my aunt, uncle and 2 cousins. Friday night we went to Wyatt and Courtney's reception with our truck all loaded up to get our camp on. Directly after the reception we headed up to the campsite at Smith & Moorehouse resevoir (I showed up to the campsite in a dress... who does that?).

Cur and Brian headed out early in the morning to fish in tubes at the lake. Brian caught 19 fish in just a few hours. It wasn't as much of a success for Cur as far as fishing goes (he caught 3), but he was able to enjoy these beautiful views:




Here's Brian and Jenn on the supermoto. Camping wouldn't be complete without some kind of off-road action.


And the classic shot of us. We have so many of these.

I wish I could fall asleep anywhere like Cur. This cracks me up.

The Free's. They're good stuff. It's been so nice to spend more time with them since we live so close!

Cousin Mal. BB guns are also a must when camping. I wish I had a pic of Colt shootin 'em up.

An upward view from our campsite. Gorgeous.