Happy Halloween to All

We made another quick trip down to the new cabin in Duck Creek this weekend. My brother David and his wife Candice and their two adorable kids Addie and Cole came up from AZ. All the UT family went down as well. On our way up the canyon we stopped for a scenic picture...this was the best of many taken with the camera timer. Soon our family of 3 will be 4...only 3 more months. That is if you count Bow.
Bow had to wear these funny booties if he was allowed in the house. They are made for a much bigger dog than him and he had quite a hard time walking in them.

My sister Lana and her husband Steve relaxing by the fire. My parents got these rockers from an Amish town in the east and I love them. I think they look cool and they are really comfortable.

Cute Cole and Bow. Best of buddies.

Friday we had a little Halloween party and Doug tried to scare everyone with his gorilla costume. He first appeared outside the big windows and we tried to scare the kids by telling them it was a bear. Sadly, no one but Addison got scared, but it was worth a try.

Bow got dressed up for the party...I have no idea what he was, possibly an alien. It was on clearance at Petsmart, so that's what he got. I think he looks like he really hates me for dressing him up in this picture.

Addie was a pretty witch and this was her "scary face". Pretty cute if you ask me. Cole was such a cute little chicken.

Little ghost cups of deliciousness and excellent carmel apples with great toppings.

The witch pinata was the best part of the night. It was so funny to see this little witch on a broom hitting all the older boys in the head. It was very entertaining.

Doug and I took a nap in the back of the car on the way home while Bow drove us safely back to Provo. He is such a well trained dog.

Beck Haven

My parents just finished building a cabin in Duck Creek, Utah. Its' up the canyon from Cedar City and very beautiful. 6 of the siblings gathered there this past weekend to help move in and enjoy eachothers company.

Doug worked very hard on removing a large rock from a path we were making up to the water turn off. My dad joked that we might find the golden plates hiden beneath it, but we were not so lucky. What a man Doug!

I loved seeing all my nieces and nephews. This is my adorable niece Callie that loved Bow. She wanted to ride him like a horse, so she did.


Sunday was my dad's birthday, so we celebrated with the family that was there.

The fall colors were amazing, even though I didn't get any pictures of them. It was such a fun and relaxing weekend. I can't wait to go back for years to come and enjoy the time in Duck Creek.

Escuela de nursing

Doug started school a couple weeks ago and it is going great so far.

This was his first day of school, a must needed photo moment. He was very embarrased because our neighbors were outside and he felt a little child-ish. That's his awesome new scooter.

He wears green scrubs to his labs and clinicals and looks great in this outfit. Doug is getting really good at taking blood pressures, so if you are concerned with your BP or just curious, then stop on by for a free reading!

FYI, next week is bed baths in his lab, so if he asks you to come and be a practice person for him...I would think twice.

A New Basement

Our dear cousins and friends Kira, Jeff, and their cute baby Luke moved away to Arizona and our basement was left vacant...for an entire week. During that week Doug and I kept very busy doing a lot of improvements (sorry that we waited until you moved out Kira...didn't want to bother you too much!)

We got the door replaced and it actually opens and closes very easily now. Plus it looks much nicer.

We replaced the kitchen floor with the help of Doug's dad. It took Doug, his dad, and myself a Saturday morning/afternoon to complete it and it made a big difference.

We painted the bedroom and bathroom and repaired a big hole in the wall. A funny side note about picking paint colors. I am not the best at making decisions and paint is not an exception. I pick up a million sample colors, then compare, then buy a few different sample cans to try on the wall. It is a big ordeal. Well I was working and Doug informed me that he was going to be 100% in charge of the bedroom paint color. I really didn't care because I don't have to live down there, so even if he chose a horrible color, I never had to see it. Well he went to Lowe's and this was the first color he saw, he liked it, he bought it and he came home and painted it. I really like the color and think he did an excellent job. He is much better at paint picking than myself.


Doug cleaned the carpets with my parents carpet cleaner. It is very handy to have a free carpet cleaner on hand whenever needed. I tried a few lines and felt that Doug enjoyed the job much more than I did, so he took it over for the rest of the time.

When we replaced our floor upstairs we found some funny things hidden between layers of flooring (and old dried cucumber and a bandaid). Well downstairs was no exception. I took a vent off to clean it and I found a very old record hidden away. It was "The Night Before Christmas" and very dusty. We cleaned it off really good and then decided to put it back where we found it, for someone else to enjoy finding.

The Many Faces of Doug

After our river trip Doug decided to continue to grow out his beard until school started. This gave him a good three weeks worth of growth. When it was time for the beard to go, Doug had an idea...try a few different looks before going back to a clean-shaven man.

The fu manchu. Doug got a scooter from his brother in law Ben and that's why the helmet and glasses. We drove his scooter around to show a few people his new look and everybody seemed to get a good laugh.

My least favorite. I call this "the rapist" if you are familiar with SNL celebrity jeopardy. Or if you are not, then I call it just plain creepy.

And my good clean shaven man is back! Just the way I like him.

Coming in Feb 2011...

Doug the dad.and

Tricia the mom.

..........

if you can believe it.

it has taken me 10 weeks to fully believe it myself.

and then to actually announce it, because then it's really real.

..........

A couple months ago a huge surprise happened. I wasn't feeling great and you will never guess what the cause was? I was pregnant. Definitely not planned. Doug was woken up very abruptly at 4:00 am to a very distraught wife.

...........

But we are so happy and feel blessed to be so lucky. I was reading in a maternity/obstetrics book at work tonight and I came upon this quote talking about finding out that you are pregnant: "No other life experience can evoke such absolute joy or else such pains of profound despair." Sadly I have to admit that each of those emotions were felt when we found out. The first was felt by Doug. He is such a happy, optimistic, and smart boy. He knew this would be a wonderful thing and he was excited and immediately happy.

............

The second by me. I was so sad at first. It wasn't the right timing, it wasn't what we had planned for, and on and on. Slowly I have come to see that this will be great and I am excited now and very happy. I feel so lucky in my life right now. I have a great husband who is doing good in school. I have a good job, a wonderful family, and we are going to really be starting our family now. Life is good.

Happy Birthday Nate

I am working tonight so I am taking this time to update all that I have been slacking on...hence the large amount of blogging after such a drought. Today my nephew Nate had a birthday party for his 16th birthday...if you can believe that I have nephews that old. It is crazy for me to think of Nate dating and driving, but the ladies in Salem, UT sure are lucky to have a handsome boy like him around. Anyway, for his party they had a giant slip and slide and it was so fun. Here are a few pictures from the afternoon.

Doug and I decided that Bow needed a little more excitement in his life, so Doug gave him some fun. We don't know if he enjoyed it or hated it. The boy gave us no reaction.