Christmas, Boxing Day, & all that Jazz!

I know this is really past due, but better late then never. This was our 4th Christmas together...but 1st as a married couple! We an awesome time with family, and it was nice having the whole Salmon family together. We didn't take any pictures of us doing our own little Christmas, but here's some pictures from when we got together with the family:







On Boxing Day we went up with the Salmons to a huge cabin in Heber to do some snowmobiling. I'd never been snowmobiling before -- it was really fun! I let Dallin do most the driving, then I finally dared to take the bars when Dallin got us in the middle of a huge meadow. After just a few minutes, I slammed us full-speed into a ravine . . . so yeah, Dallin drove the rest of the day after that. :) The whole day was tons of fun -- thanks Ross and Karen!







During the Christmas break we also took some official Salmon family pictures. I still can't believe we got everyone together--good work Jess! It made me realize how cute all our nieces and nephews are. I feel Dallin and my little family pictures look just like our engagement pictures all over again, but it was still fun. :)








Here's some other random pictures we had on our camera. Some from our visit to Albuquerque, New Mexico to visit Gary, Tara, and Sam go cheer on the Cougars to victory at the New Mexico Bowl. Others are from the Jazz game with McKay, Blake, and Kim.










Life has been great. Dallin continues to work full-time, and I cut back hours at work so I can go back to school full-time. I really like all of my classes and enjoy being back at school.

One fish, two fish -- dead fish, new fish

The other morning, Dallin and I woke up and found our beloved betta fish Eddy (short for Oedipus) dead. We had Eddy for almost 3 years, and he was getting old and just didn't swim around like he used to. Dallin would have to tap and shake the bowl to get Eddy to come up to eat -- the last thing Dallin said to Eddy while feeding him in the evening was "You're so lazy Eddy -- I kind of wish you would die." Next morning, we found him dead. Make sure you never get on Dallin's bad side . . . :)




So, the next day Dallin had the great idea to invite some of our nieces to help pick out a new fish, and to say bye to Eddy (they always loved feeding him whenever they came over). We took Haley, Melanee, and Mady to PetSmart with with us, and they loved it! They loved watching the dogs get groomed, and checking out all the lizards, snakes, rats, mice, hamsters, gerbils, birds, frogs, etc. It's hard to decide what was more fun -- them looking at all the different animals, or Dallin and me watching their faces. :) They especially LOVED seeing all the different fish. We finally convinced them to pick a male beta (first they wanted a girl beta, but when we showed them one they thought the girls were "ugly!"). We picked out the prettiest one, picked out a new fake plant (pink, of course), and then headed home.




On the way home, the girls decided the new fish should be named Max (Mady's idea), short for Maximillion. We held a brief fish funeral (Mady kept saying "I want to flush that fish!", Haley ended up flushing him in the end, and Mel couldn't bare to watch) and then we welcomed Max to his new home. Then we finished the night with Mac & Cheese and a little Disney channel. :) It was a fun night -- we love our new fish Max, but not nearly as much as we love our nieces!

A Wicked time in New York

I've had a life-long dream of going to New York City, and especially seeing a Broadway show on Broadway. 8 months after getting married, my husband made both dreams come true! :) The week before Thanksgiving, Nu Skin held its Investor Day in New York City, and I was lucky enough to come along with Dallin for it. We took a ton of pictures and totally must have looked like the biggest tourists, but it was all worth it. These are some of the fun things we did.

We got to be on the Today Show (got on tv a few times!), and we met Al, Ann, and Meredith. Stayed at the legendary Waldorf Astoria hotel. Got to see the huge Christmas Tree and the ice skating rink at Rockefeller center. I got my make up done at Saks 5th Avenue (when I told the lady we were staying at the Waldorf, she perked up cause I think she thought we were rich! lol). Walked up and down Time Square a bunch of times. On Wednesday, while Dallin was in meetings all day, I was brave enough to take the subway by myself to China Town, So Ho, and Canal Street where I did some bartering and shopping -- I took Dallin down there on Friday and showed him the ropes. :)

We also stayed on the top floor (38th) at the Marriott Downtown, which was right next to Ground Zero -- really cool view of the construction going on there, and we also saw the Firemen Memorial and the 9/11 Memorial Preview Site. We ate a hot dog and rode a rickshaw through Central Park. Walked down Wall Street, passed the New York Stock Exchange, and saw the Merrill Lynch bull. Took the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. Walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. Went to Radio City to see the Rockettes and their Christmas Spectacular. But the BEST part of the whole trip was Dallin surprising me by getting tickets to WICKED!!! I think Dallin almost loved it more than I did! :) It was an awesome trip, and now I can check New York City and seeing a real Broadway show off my bucket list!

Fall Cleaning

I know we haven't posted in forever...sorry. We decided to do some fall cleaning and upload pictures from our camera. The pictures go back to June. Hope you enjoy!

Valley of the Goblins

We took off after work on Friday and drove straight to Goblin Valley--it was me, Shellee, Ryan, Dad, Jason, and Haley. Haley and I had never been before, and Shellee pretty much hadn't either (she went when she was like 4, the height of infantile amnesia). We got to the valley in time to see it before/during sunset, hung out at the campground (hot dogs, s'mores, etc.), did some midnight exploring, slept under the moon and stars, then went exploring in Goblin Valley again the next morning before heading home. It was an awesome trip!

Weekend Get-A-Ways . . . from each other :(

Dallin and I spent our first night apart since we got married this last weekend. I went down to St. George with my family to watch the IronMan, and Dallin went on a guys’ trip. The IronMan was amazing - 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile run. I was going to help with medical but I didn’t get down there in time which is ok—I’m already planning for next year. My dad’s really good friend ran/swim/biked in it so we went down to the finish line to watch him cross. We saw some really amazing people cross the finish line. We saw this guy who fell off his bike, broke his collarbone and still finished the race. We also saw this couple who did the race together, they crossed the finish line, and then the guy got down on one knee and popped the question. The whole time I was in St. George, Dallin was in Mesquite having a great time. They hung out in the pool, went bowling, and watched basketball. It was really hard not sleeping in the same bed as him and not waking up to him next to me—I didn’t sleep at all that whole time. Dallin wasn’t much better—for the first time in our marriage, he didn’t remember any dreams when he woke up. Now he says I’m his dream genie. :) But all is well because he’s back—I don’t know how I’ll live with him in Chicago in a few weeks! Just give me a few more months/years and I’ll be just fine when he leaves out of town.

Happy Birthday!

Dallin had his birthday only 3 days after graduation—yeah, it was a busy weekend. He woke up to me singing Happy Birthday…which I’m sure wasn’t the greatest. I brought him in breakfast in bed—I had to carry on the Salmon tradition. I even made a birthday cake. Before Dallin started eating, he went to wash his hands in the bathroom—not because he’s a clean freak, but because he had just woke up from a dream where he was petting his wet dog. I thought it was funny. Later, Brandon and Stephanie planned this great BBQ in the park to celebrate his birthday. The weather was awesome. We had hot dogs and played frisbee football…my team barely won, but I mostly just stood around watching…I couldn’t feel my feet. A few days later, Dallin and I went on a date for his birthday. We ate at Tucanos, and didn’t leave til we were sick…that seems to be the story every time. The sickness goes away, and the delicious memory remains.  I love birthdays, but especially with my husband!