My girls

This past weekend I was able to attend the Utah Dental Association Convention at the Salt Palace, in Salt Lake City with my dental office. It was such an amazing experience to learn new things to help improve not only my skills, but our office overall. Although I would have to say my favorite part of the whole week was getting to tour the grounds of Temple Square. We had a few hours to kill before classes started back up and decided that there was nowhere else we wanted to be than exploring the flowers around the temple. Thankfully we were blessed with a perfect day and amazing weather. 

I am so lucky to work with such amazing women. I look up to each one of them in different ways. They are great role models as mothers, wives, and friends. I don't know how I got so blessed with such an awesome staff to work with. 

The mountains are calling

For family night this past semester I have been on my own because Tys has school every Monday night. Thankfully we live in Hurricane, not 2 minutes away from my family, who has adopted me into their family nights. We have been eyeing a new bike trail that was recently made on the hill behind my childhood home. I grew up playing all over this mountain and was surprised to see a trail that I hadn't conquered yet. So of course, we knew we had to go hike it. Boy, was it worth it! 

Not only for the view, but the workout as well. It was a lot of uphill steep slopes, but because of the view you hardly even noticed. 

One of my favorite parts of the hike was this cute little bridge they put in to cross a big ravine. I absolutely love the view of the orchard in the background. I hope Hurricane never gets too big or populated and loses all of its orchards. That's what makes Hurricane so great.

I think after carrying Carolee all the way down the hill on my shoulders that I rightfully own the "favorite aunt" status. 

I could have kept hiking all night, but we decided since we had the kids we better start hiking back down to beat the sun, but not before Sky posed us for this beautiful shot. 

I highly recommend this hike to anyone who wants a great workout with and even better view! 

Leavitt Family Reunion 2016

This year our annual Leavitt Family Reunion was held at Sand Hollow and although the weather wasn't the best, I would say this was one of my favorite reunions to date. During the brief moments it wasn't raining we were able to go out on the lake and try paddle boarding for mine and Tyson's first time. As you can tell from our clothes we were pretty confident (or stupid, take your pick) that we wouldn't fall in. We immediately fell in love and hope to go a lot more this summer. 

To make the reunion even better, us girls decided to start our first, of hopefully many, cousin sleepover kick off to the reunion. We did face masks, painted nails, and gossiped far too much. It was a blast. 

As if the night couldn't get any better, Kortney taught us some new features on Snapchat. Let's just say we all got a little carried away. I consider myself so lucky, not only to have such an amazing family, but to have such amazing cousins so close to my age. We all get along so well and never run out of things to talk about. Plus we are quite the babes, don't you agree? :)

3 years, 1096 days, 26,304 hours....

3 years + 1096 days + 26,304 hours + 1 cat + 2 homes + 3 degrees + 5 jobs + 5 cars + 2 ER visits + 1 surgery + millions of kisses + countless blessings = best 3 years of my life 

Last weekend Tyson and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary by going on our annual trip to Zion National Park. We are lucky enough every year to get to stay in the same hotel as we did on our honeymoon.  In my opinion, Cliffrose Inn and Suites has one of the best views in Springdale right out their back window. 

While up there we decided to go on a fun hike to get some exercise and fresh air. Tyson said we should hike Observation Point. He had done it once in high school and from what he could remember, "it wasn't too hard". Well that was the biggest understatement of the year! Ha he must have forgotten that he was much younger, more in shape and not recovering from a knee surgery when he was in high school. Although to be fair, he took that steep hike like a champ! I complained the whole way up and he had to keep encouraging me that I could do it.  

To be honest, I barely even took my eyes off my feet the whole way up, but on the way down I made sure to enjoy the views. 

When we made it to the top I teased Tyson that I was going to scream, "Hallelujah" at the top of my lungs, and do a few fist pumps out of pure joy for making it there. Although to save him some major embarrassment in front of the other hikers I held back. The view was actually quite breathtaking. I was shocked to see how far down the popular Angels Landing hike was. I always thought Angels Landing was one of the toughest, highest hikes in Zion and boy was I proud when I realized we made it far beyond that point. Although the hike up may have been miserable, the view was very worth it!

         

       I am so grateful for such a wonderful husband who pushes me to become the best version of myself and who believes in me no matter what. He puts up with a lot and I don't know what I would do without him constantly reassuring me that I can do hard things.

Tyson, you are my greatest adventure. I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us. 

Spring is in the air

Spring is one of my favorite times of the year! No more hiding indoors. The sun comes out, we open the windows for the breeze, and we spend as much time as possible outside before the summer heat hits. 

The one thing that makes spring even better, is spending it with my favorite ladies. I am so lucky to have my sisters, (including my sister in law) and mom as my best friends. We have so much fun together and there is never a dull moment. 

 

One of our favorite springtime activities is our group bike rides. We load up the kids on our bikes/backs/chest and ride where ever our heart takes us. 

Christmas 2015

Why does it always seem like it takes forever for Christmas to get here, then it's gone in the blink of an eye? That's how I feel anyways. I wait ALL year for it to get here, then before I know it, it's January and I'm having holiday withdrawls. 

To start off the season right we went with my family on our annual excursion to get our Christmas trees on Kaibab mountain.

I loved our tree this year, but I am pretty sure Kitty took it the hardest when we finally took it down. Anytime we couldn't find him we would check behind/under/in the tree and there he would be. It's gonna be a rough year for him to adjust without HIS tree. Let's not forget all of my hand crocheted ornaments that he was sure I obviously made solely for his pure enjoyment. 

To make this years Christmas even better was this handsome, hard working brother of mine.

Kyson got to facetime home and chat with all of us for the first time since he has been out for 6+ months. It was so good to see his smiling face and even better to hear the love in his voice for his mission and the people there in Texas. He just lit up when he saw all of us, especially all of the kids. He got to meet Ryker for the first time since he was born after he left. I'm so grateful for my wonderful family and the amazing support they give Kyson while he's serving the lord. 

P.S. Thank goodness for selfie sticks :)

To add to the fun and excitement of Christmas time we went on our annual Winder family trip to the cabin. 

Every year I am counting down the days, not until Christmas, but until this family trip. I have so much fun going up to the cabin each year that I can't wait until the next year. I am so lucky to have these ladies in my life! I am even more blessed that we are all so close in age and get a long so well:)

I guess I like all the men in the family too, they're alright ;)

After the cabin trip we got together with this awesome group for some pizza and ice-skating. Not only do I love Tyson's side of the family, but my side is pretty awesome as well. I love having a twin who is also married and I love having such amazing cousins. It also doesn't hurt that most of them are married now. Tyson and I are always looking for more married friends. Any takers?? ;)

After skating for a few minutes and watching Tyson, I realized that this was his FIRST time ice-skating. Like EVER. That made me feel like a failure in the wife department. So I made sure to never let go of his hand and of course I had to show off a little with some "cool" tricks. It's not very often that I am better at something than Tyson. We don't need to bring up the fact that he was still recovering from his knee surgery though....let me have this one ;)

All in all, Christmas 2015 was more wonderful than I could have hoped for and I owe it all to my amazing friends and family. I've learned it's not what I have in my life, but who I have in my life that counts. 

What a way to start off the year

I am so proud of this handsome man of mine. He just started his final semester of college last week and found out he got chosen as student of the semester for the Integrated Studies department. Then to top things off he started orientations at his new job today! He is the newest physical therapy aide at the hospital. He is such a hard worker and is going to do great things with Intermountain. In may he will graduate with his Bachelors and start applying for Doctor of Physical Therapy programs. I have no doubt he will succeed in anything he sets his mind too and I consider myself very lucky to be his copilot through this journey.