THE CATCH UP!

You might have forgotten all about us...or you might not have. Either way, we are here and ready to share what we have been up to since November! NOVEMBER!!! Seriously? Has it really been that long? My apologies, truly. Nonetheless, welcome back to our blog and be prepared for sensory overload!


November-December:
Sweets and I trekked across the globe to the U.A.E. to visit our dear friends Richard and Catherine. Words cannot explain just how amazing they are for taking us all around and showing us the best time. Abu Dhabi and Dubai were incredible! We had an awesome time and completely fell in with the people, the smells, the bright colors, the yummy food, and all the adventures.
We saw and did: the grand mosque, ski Dubai, Palm island, desert safari, world market, shopping, a camel ride, Emirates Palace, Burg Kahlifa, National Day and much much more!

December:

A few days after our globe trot Sweets and I headed to Vegas for the National Finals Rodeo. We love going every year and seeing all the cowboys and cowgirls calf rope, steer wrestle, bareback, bull ride, and barrel race! We were lucky enough to sit on the front row again and it truly was awesome.  

December:

Sweets and I spent our Holiday season with our annual cheese and chocolate fondue party, Hire's and the lights at Temple Square, the Arnell Christmas party in the theme of "Santa Claus" the movie, and opening gifts with the puppies and visiting both families. It was very relaxing and quite enjoyable. Usually Christmas is hectic, but not this year. I loved the fact that it fell on a Sunday. It forced us to slow down and truly remember what the special day was all about!

December-January:

For New Years, Sweets and I headed up to Sun Valley with part of my family. We go there every year and it is always a good time! The snow wasn't that great this year, so we didn't go skiing or snowmobiling, but we did plenty of hiking, hot tubbing, dinners, games and shopping. Sun Valley is beautiful and we love spending time up there!

January:

A few days after the New Year we traveled to Maui Hawaii for some R&R! It was so fun to hang out with my whole family and no kids for a week. The weather couldn't have been better and it honestly was such a fun trip. We all hiked the Bamboo trail, went on early morning walks/jogs, boggie boarded with the abnormally huge waves, and watched lots of football games. Maui is so pretty and we are still laughing from all the funny things that happened...  

So, in a nutshell, this is what we have been up to for the past few months! We are so lucky to have been able to have these experiences and we look forward to more in 2012. Speaking of 2012, because of some new craziness that Sweets and I are embarking in, we are going to go private. We would love all of you to keep following us and are appreciative of those who have taken interest in our lives. Leave your email in the comment space below and we'll send you a link and keep ya posted on what's coming next!

ROUND DOS!

I am back for some more of the game I like to call "catch up". This post is full of wonderful goodness. And as I type this, I am remembering other photos on my other computer...Shoot! Ok, so there will be another "catch up" but in the meantime, here goes nothin... 

UTAH 54, byU 10

I mean, do I even need to say anything? 

Yes, yes I do. What type of person would I be if I didn't? 

It was a total smackdown. 

A slaughter. 

An enjoyable embarrassment.

The UTES prevailed in the HOLY WAR once again!

Sweets and I invited some friends over to watch the "game". We ate touchdown chili, end zone desserts, halftime popcorn and 1st down chips and dips! It was really yummy and apparently I was too busy eating because I didn't take any pictures of the food of the decorations. (I tell ya, my mind is going!)  

My family and Sweets and our office, flew to Boise Idaho for an Announcement on a new project called 8th and Main in the heart of downtown. We made the announcement that Zion's Bank will now use this future building as their Idaho Headquarters. We have other tenants for this building but we are not yet releasing them. (Not that many of you care because I am pretty sure the 2 people that follow this blog live in Utah and not Idaho, however it is business and you know how it goes.) Anyway, Tommy Ahlquist, my pops, Christian, Michael Morris, Scott Anderson and the Boise Mayor all spoke a few words describing the project and the how excited everyone is to "fill the hole". We made the unveiling and the building looks fantastic!!!    

After the announcement was made, there was time for Q&A and some local news interviews. Afterwards, we went out to lunch with our Idaho office who is overseeing this project to Thaifoon. I got to meet everyone, officially, after talking on the phone with them everyday and then we all toured the other projects we have up there. It was fun to see the progress we are making on the other sites. We rented a 15 passenger van and crammed in there for the day. I can't complain though because we were lucky enough to fly private and I enjoyed not getting frisked before getting on the plane with my bottle of water!  

I did another craft. I know right? Amazing at my no-craft craft skills. 
I took a frame with matting,removed the glass, stuck some scrapbook paper behind it and glued on some mini gourds and pumpkins. VOILA! It isn't much, but I thought it was fun. I promise soon I'll post more on decorations. 

This handsome young man 

was honored at the 100th Anniversary Rotary Gala for the Service above Self award. It was such an incredible honor to receive. He was joined by 4 others some of which were President Thomas S. Monson and Jon Hunstman Sr. My father is an incredible business leader, a huge advocate for charity and service, and he is so community conscious. There is not a minute of conversation that goes by with out him trying to help others. He deserved this Service above Self award more than anybody in the whole world. I love him and I am very proud of all his good works.
The night was a great evening held at the Salt Palace. It was a black tie event so the pressure was on! 

Sweets and I have slacked in the mountain thing this year but we did managed to squeeze in some time for a little night hike up Dog Lake. This was Telly's first big hike/walk/run and he did awesome! He was so excited and was running all over the place. He just couldn't get enough of the smells from other dogs and the freedom of being off leash. He minded very well though. He came when he was supposed to and we never worried about him following other dogs back down the mountain. What a good boy he is. Tahoe, as usual was in Heaven and loving every minute of it!

MY VERSION OF HEAVEN

I have spent the last few weeks in what I like to call, Heaven!
Sun Valley is my safe haven, my sanctuary where I can think, regain strength, and compose my life in the quiet altitudes of the mountains! My family goes there off and on through out the year but every August, we tend to just move up there. Literally. Although I couldn't stay as long as I wanted to or am used to, I did have a great time and look forward to another trip soon. 

The vacation started with a benefit concert from the Sun Valley Symphony Series with the 11 year old phenomenon Jackie Evancho! She is incredible and has such power. Her voice is pure, angelic and took our breaths away! If you don't know her music, please check her out. You will not be disappointed!
For the first 2 weeks of August they have other concerts almost every day. We loved walking over to the resort and sitting on the lawn and listening to the beautiful music at night.  

With so much time, we sure did lots of fun things throughout the weeks. Sweets drove up for a few days and we all headed over to Red Fish Lake. Andrew had his sailboat there and Matthew had his ski boat. Between the 2 boats, we had a blast cruising on the lake and watching all the kids fly off the tube together. The weather was great and the scenery was even better. We ate a little lunch at the grille and set up shop on the beach for the afternoon. It was definitely a good time!  

Tahoe stayed with me in Sun Valley and we went running, hiking and swimming every day. When Telly came up with Sweets we decided that we should take him swimming and see how it goes. It was Telly's first time in water and boy was he a kid in a candy store! He was nervous at first and followed Tahoe around but after that, he couldn't get enough of it and even started retrieving tennis balls and sticks!  

We had a BBQ with my Aunt and Uncle and their whole family at our house. It was so good to see my cousins and spend time with them. Dinner was fabulous and the stormy weather held out until after dark!

 After a hard day of exercising, heading to the pool, playing tennis, eating the most scrumptious meals, reading and knitting and doing puzzles, I have 2 awesome neices that would rub my feet! It felt great and the best part about it is they asked to do it!!!

I love Sun Valley and it is always a peaceful time for me! 

THE SHADES OF GOLD

tahoe. fenway. kashi. telly. 

A few weeks ago Sweets and I babysat our friends dog Kashi and my brother's dog Fenway. In addition to our two pups we had all the colors. It was so neat to see all the different shades of Golden Retrievers from dark to light. We loved watching them run around the yard and play together. It is not very often that you get to hang out with four beautiful Golden dogs.

SEVEN - POINT - FOUR

Last week I took my sweet namesake niece Julia on a hike up to Dog Lake in Millcreek Canyon.
It was such a beautiful day and it felt great to get into cooler weather and do some exploring!
We packed a little lunch equipped with PB&J sandwiches, fruit snacks, fiber one bars, string cheese and lots of water and headed out on our big adventure. We even packed a little lunch for our sidekicks Tahoe and Callie.  

After a few wrong turns later, we finally made it to the top! It took us about 2.3 miles longer to summit because I was not paying attention, but it was so pretty that we didn't even mind. Once we arrived at Dog Lake we sat down and ate our lunch while the dogs cooled off. They swam and ran all around the lake and had so much fun playing fetch in the cold water.  

After another wrong turn we finally made it down the mountain. I seriously don't know what my problem was. I have done that hike a gazillion times so how I missed the trail TWICE is beyond me!
We ended up hiking 7.4 miles and it was well worth it.
Thanks Jules for the awesome day hiking! 

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

AND THERE'S YOUR SIGN...

Sweets and I are the proud new parents of TELLY! Yes, we got another dog!!!! A blonde Golden Retriever to be brothas (from anotha motha) with our Tahoe. We seriously could not be any more excited! OK- story time...but first enjoy these pics:

Ever since we were married I wanted to get another puppy so Tahoe could have a friend to play with. Sweets would remind me that our home was too small for 2 big dogs and said he would think about it when we moved. Well, we moved in November and I didn't let it go. I begged and pleaded for a new puppy for Christmas - I didn't get one, then I begged and pleaded for Valentines Day - I didn't get one either, then for President's Day, St. Patty's Day, my birthday, Easter, Mother's Day, for his birthday, Memorial Day - and still I didn't get one! But, late Friday night as we were laying in bed I found this really cute liter online and asked Sweets if we could just "look" at them (tehe). He agreed and we headed up to Kamas Saturday night after his work. The true intent was just to look. As soon as we arrived to the house, this little guy came barreling out of the house and straight into Sweets lap. (a sign indeed). All the other puppies just sniffed us and walked away. After Sweets played with him a bit I took over and he just gravitated to me too. (another sign). We mutually decided that we were interested in this little guy but we needed our secret weapon to seal the deal. We got Tahoe out of the car and let him meet the puppies. Once Tahoe stepped into the yard this little guy, again, came awkwardly pouncing over to Tahoe. (sign). He never left his side as Tahoe walked around the yard sniffing. (yet one more sign). The other puppies didn't pay any attention to Tahoe but this guy couldn't get enough of him! (a heck yes sign). Sweets and I both turned to each other, smiled and laughed. We hugged and in a whisper he said "go get the check book". I kissed my Sweets and ran to the car. We had been looking for puppies for awhile but nothing ever felt right until we met Telly. It was plain and simple that he had to be apart of our family! I grabbed the check book and headed into the house to finalize our newest addition to our family and the rest is history in the making...

Tahoe and Telly just love each other. They have so much fun playing, when it's convienent for Tahoe, and sleeping/cuddling together. Telly still follows Tahoe all around the house and yard and just can't get enough of him. We are so happy to be growing our little family...but our next addition we hope is a wee little human baby! 

TAKING IT TO THE STREETS

Lately, T and I have been "taking it the streets" and running on Wasatch. As you know, he and I usually spend our time at DD but, considering the weather we have been getting lately is all rainy, snowy and wet(!), Dimple Dell is an awful place to run. I mean you can go there, but you won't be running! You most likely will be slugging through the mud at a rate of no-pace and spend 1/2 of your time pulling out your filthy shoe that was swallowed up by the ground. Nonetheless, we have thoroughly enjoyed our new route on the streets and find much joy in spending this quality time together!   

running with a stick in his mouth

There is a perfectly routed loop by our home that equals 4.5 miles exactly. We tend to hit this up a couple times a week and we definitely feel tired afterwards. It ain't your flat, out and back run ... it's more of an up and down roller coaster, shoot me ten-times over, winding loop run! It's a doozy, but we love it!

catching some zzzz's

And typically this is how I find T afterwards! Curled in his bed, resting his exhausted body, yearning to take a snooze. He is just the cutest lil' button ever!

Thanks T for all the fun and great adventures that you take with me (and Sweets) on a daily basis. You bring us so many smiles and truly uplift our spirits!

CATCH UP!

w.j.t. adams gulch

 Weston and I went to Sun Valley 1 week ago to celebrate our anniversary! It felt great to get away for a quick day and there is no other place on earth that I would rather be than in SV with my sweets! We went hiking with T, took a sleigh ride to a cabin for dinner and did a little shopping. Thanks for the get-away...Luffs sweets! 

j. sleigh 

w.j. trail creek cabin (sorry about the PDA)

We had a few friends over to our place for the fantastic game of the Super Bowl! We had so much fun catching up with each other, watching the game and commercials, eating yummy food and treats and playing buzz on the PS3 afterwards! Thanks peeps for the 'good times'! 

mark sian. bryn. ryan erin. lindsey dave. kerstin eric. sweets.

chili. chips/dip. veggies/fruit. desserts. 

Sweets and I went back on baby-sitting duty this past weekend and it was so fun! I just love all my nieces and nephews and so when I get asked to watch them, I always jump for joy! This time, we watched my brothers' 4 children for a few days. We took them to the aquarium and out to dinner, and the wonderful W took them by himself to the children's discovery while I had church meetings. Overall, we were sad to let them go, but happy to get some sleep again!  

charlie. j. 

james. abby. anna. j.

tahoe. bear.

Finally, sweets and I celebrated Valentine's Day! He surprised me with a wonderful gift(s) and fun-filled dinner in Park City. I am so lucky to have such an thoughtful husband! I on the other hand, couldn't grasp the concept this year of telling him how much I love him in a card and then getting a gift. For some reason, it wasn't doing justice in my head, so instead I decided to tell him why I love him. I made him a basket full of "love reasons why I love you" and included gifts to correlate.

S.G.R.

Sweets and I headed down to the warm SG this past weekend for some R-&-R, running, biking and friends!

 It was a must awaited vacation and the weather couldn't have been any more perfect, with highs of 60 degrees and sunny skies! 

Although I didn't get to train like I wanted due to my AS, I still attempted and joined forces with SDAY, BECKY and 3000 other peeps to run the St. George 1/2 marathon Race. While those awesome chickas completed the 13.1 mile run in perfect time, I ran beside them for 8.2 miles. The best part of my not-run run, was that I was still able to walk after and my legs weren't shooting with pain!  For me, that was an improvement.



Following the race, Sweets and KDAY hit up the Barrel Roll for some mountain biking action. The first one of the season is always hard on the tush, but they blazed through the red rock and had such a good time.  

We all hit up a scenic trial Sunday afternoon to loosen all of our legs up, and to wear the dogs down. Tahoe was so happy to have a fellow 'golden' named Kashi play with him the whole weekend. They ran wild on the trial, and were completely worn out for the drive home!

Thanks for the fun run girls, and thanks to the Days' for the awesome memories...

 

(collage: thanks to kday)

MONDAY GRIND

...back to the DDP trail...

i just love this lil' guy! he is quite the explorer and always seems to put a smile on my face. after taking me on a scenic and intense run, he laid down and waited patiently for me at the top of the hill. if the weather had been warmer (i mean LOTS warmer), i would have joined him on the ice. thanks T for kicking my butt this morning. a few more of these runs and maybe i'll beat ya!

IT IS THE FIRST OF MANY...

I love hiking with Tahoe in the winter!

Although the snow was just starting out, it was enough for us to hit the shoreline trail!

I can't wait for more snow and more hikes with Tahoe!

Missed you sweets...

GOOD, BETTER, BEST

First off, let me just say that I LOVE my husband! Ok, with that being said, I will continue on...

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the words from Dallin H. Oaks in the 2007 Liahona article entitled "Good, Better, Best". I have also had the words "Good = Mediocre" in my head. I am not sure why this is but it must mean that I need to work on and fix a few things in my life.

I was tossing and turning in bed last night thinking about how I am not any "better", or at least the "best" at the things that I have been doing or training for. I know that I am not going to win any medals with my athletic races, school projects, interior design work, spiritual growth or office work, but I can at least push myself harder to be a "better" or "best" person in those fields.

I had set my alarm to go off at 6:03 am for my early morning run. As I rolled out of bed, I gave my sleeping sweets a smile and whispered "thank you" to him. Running down the dark streets of our neighborhood with Tahoe, I kept thinking that my pace is just "Mediocre". Tahoe was pulling on the leash to go faster and instead of resisting and telling him to heal, I let the leash drag on the ground speeding up my pace to catch him. He of course ran faster, and faster, thinking this was a fun game! By the time I caught him, exhausted and out of breath, I picked up the leash and walked. I made it about 10 steps before the word "Good" popped in my head. I dropped the leash and started picking up my pace again. I was not about to let my hard efforts of waking up at the butt-crack of dawn get thrown away all for a "good" run. I returned home 1 hour later sweaty, tired, thirsty, and yet satisfied that I pushed myself to be a "better" or "best" runner.

Weston doesn't know it, but he is the one that pushes me to be a "better" or "best" version of myself. He pushes me to run faster and become healthier, to set higher goals and aspirations, and to get "A's" on my projects in school. Sometimes I fail, and sometimes I give up, putting in only a "good" effort. But knowing that I have Weston right by my side, whipsering in my ear to be "better than mediocre" gives me that extra push to be the "best". I can't always be the leader, although I try, and I am so thankful that I have my best friend to pull, push, carry, inspire, teach, etc. me when I need that extra help. Whether or not he realizes it, he is my motivation!

So "Thank You" sweets...

Happy Birthday Tahoe!

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

He sure is my best friend and I love him very very much. He has brought much joy, happiness and adventure into our lives. I couldn't have asked for a better well-mannered and behaved pup!! He has been spoiled his whole life, and I am totally OK with it! He is a part of the family and deserves all the love, gifts, treats and vacations as we do! ha-