Just another weekend in Logan:
Sept. 23-24

Friday Sept. 23 Bryan and Lacey came up from Bountiful to visit good 'ol Logan again. We went to WOW (Wok On Wheels). It had been a long time. Bryan and I used to go every single week and we were their best customers. After that we went to Charlies for some ice-cream before heading to the three dollar theater to see Super 8. It was a good movie, a mix between the Goonies and ET.

Saturday Sept. 24: We decided to make a great breakfast before heading out rock climbing. Rock climbing was a blast and the boys were nice to take it slow with us ladies since they are so dang good at scaling those mountains. After rock climbing we decided for another round of....


LJ climbing Lacey climbing


TUBING THE RIVER ROUND 2:
Mike, Michelle, Dan, me, Bryan and Lacey....after preparing a little better than last time we got our tubes, shoes, towels and sticks ready to once again tube the river. The river seemed to be flowing faster than the time before and we flew down the rapids. It was once again a blast. Luckily the sun was actually out and so it wasn't nearly as cold as before. I think we are really getting the hang of this thing! Bryan was the only one that fell over though there were some really close calls, including Dan going backward down the rapid backward and surprisingly popping up, still in his tube, it was really impressive. After the epic river run round 2 we watched the rest of the Utah State vs. Colorado State homecoming game....Aggies were up the whole game until a terrible play at 30 seconds....they lost by one after double overtime and the Aggies decided to go for a 2 point conversion instead of a kick. Besides that it was a great weekend!!! Huge success :)

CAMPING/BYU GAME:
Sept. 16-17

We have been wanting to go camping for a long time, especially since we were given camping gear from my siblings for our wedding, so we decided Friday Sept. 16 was the big camping day. Kaitlyn Faraone came up to visit one last time before she left for Spain (leaving us behind!) Kaitlyn, Richard Jordan, Dan, me, Michael, Michelle and our friend Alex all packed up and headed up Green Canyon. Kaitlyn and Alex weren't that happy since the canyon is supposedly haunted. It was a really fun little camp-out. It was supposed to rain but we decided to chance it anyway. We had hot dogs, starbursts and of course s'mores. Right when we decided to head to bed it started to rain, it rained really hard all night but we all kept relatively dry and it stopped right when we packed up,the timing was perfect. LOVE CAMPING :)







BYU vs. UTAH

After camping we drove all the way to Provo and hung out with the family until the big game started. This is the game of all games but since both teams left the WAC they played each other at the beginning of the season. It was too painful of a game to give much details but needless to say we left at third quarter and final score....54-10. Utah takes the cake....painful.

TuBiNg LoGaN rIvEr:

Wednesday Sept. 14 2011

Last week Dan I decided we needed to get out more...like we used to do. So we went for a walk along the Logan river trail, it was there that we decided we needed to go tubing down the river before it got too cold. So today we went to Big-O Tires and bought four tubes, got our suits on and headed for the river. Right when we got out of the car it became over cast but we were set on having an adventure. Our route was going to be two miles long and we calculated it to be about an hour. So me, Dan, Michael and Michelle climbed down to the river. It was freezing and for a second we all thought about calling it quits but decided to forge on. Mike jumped on his tube and away he went. Michelle and Dan were next, Dan however struggled and tipped off his tube leaving me laughing too hard to get on my tube.

We quickly became frozen and more accustomed to the water. We hit some great rapids, lots of trees and even more rocks. I happened to tip over more than once from a good rapid and I can tell you tumbling under freezing water with lots of rocks can be quite the adventure. Sadly I lost Dan's flip-flop with one of my tumbles...shoulda gone with tennis shoes. Poor Michelle got caught on a branch and her tube popped. The water at that point was pretty deep and moving fast, she got caught under water and for a moment it was a little scary. Gratefully she survived and it was near the end. Michael got swept away, he couldn't sit on his tube and so his butt dragged along the rocks, I could see his head slightly above his tube and hear his shouts of "ow, ow, ow". Sadly, he lost his second favorite hat.

It was mighty difficult to get ourselves out of the river and we were beyond frozen. All in all it was a grand adventure and we survived. We are still thawing out but are already planning our next great adventure...

Lake Powell:
Sept. 8-11

After driving 12 hours back from San Diego on Monday Sept. 5 we got a call from my dad (Brent) telling Dan and I that we could go to Lake Powell with them the next weekend. They were leaving Thursday after school. So we jumped at the chance to go to the greatest place on earth! So only 3 days after returning from a great road trip we jumped in the car and headed out for another 8 hour drive. We couldn't leave until late that night because Dan had some school things he needed to do at school. The night before I stayed over at Bryan and Lindsay's house in order to babysit the kids while they went on a getaway. (A great surprise from Lindsay for Bryan) I was up at 4:30 a.m and after the kids headed off to school Bryan and Lindsay returned. I had to hurry to Farmington to pick up Dave and Mandi's kids (Logan, Kaitlynn and Madi). We were supposed to babysit them for the weekend while Dave and Mandi went to Texas to the BYU game. Plans changed when we decided to go to Lake Powell and thankfully Mike and Michelle took over the babysitting job. After getting back to Logan with the kids, putting them to bed and packing up we finally headed out. I was so tired by then that Dan pretty much drove the whole way to the hotel where mom, dad, Aubrey and Kelsi were staying for the night. We got there around 4 a.m and slept on the floor.

After getting to the Lake we headed out for some fun. Sadly it got cold and rainy but we refused to let it go to waste so after getting wet by the rain we jumped on the banana. It was Dan's first time so we had a good time. The next day we headed out and hiked "hole in the rock" which was pretty fun and it had a great view of the lake. After hiking back down, Dan and I were looking forward to being able to hit the knee board and show off our skills. Sadly the boat decided it only wanted to work going backwards so we drifted for a while, all the while my dad was trying to figure out how to get us back to the house boat. Dan and Aubrey decided to explore while I hung out on the boat. Finally we figured out how to at least go forward and we headed back, we took a little detour to Rainbow Bridge which I always love seeing. It was a great ride back to the house boat.

The next day was Sunday and since we had Elder Lynn Robbins and his family with us we knew church would be a long endeavor so when we finished we decided to get back to Logan since Dan had school the next day. It was a short but great trip. Lake Powell is my favorite place on earth.

Hole in the Rock:

Rainbow Bridge:

SAN DIEGO

Thurs Sept 1-Mon Sept 5

Labor Day....it has to be put to good use. What better way to use it than to go to San Diego. Right after Dan got out of school on Thursday we all jumped in the car and headed out on our 10 hour drive. Michael, Michelle, Aubrey, Dan and me all in my little red car. But, of course we had to stop for food. After our gourmet meal from our personal chef Wendy, we ran into a bus driver that was having trouble with his bus. So we helped him out and were on our way.

The drive wasn't too bad, but that could be contributed to the fact that Mike and Dan drove the whole time. Finally at five a.m we pulled into none other than John Becks driveway. That's right. Brandon and Chelsea live in the Becks house while they are in D.C. for the NFL season.

Friday:

We headed to the beach, ready for some sun and water. It was a little chillier than I thought it would be and there lies my mistake, I burnt, bad, but not before I was able to enjoy a great day at the beach. The waves were huge and so we body boarded for a while. The waves would take you all the way up to the beach. My favorite was when a wave threw my board on top of Brandon and we rode the wave all the way to the beach like that, it was pretty funny. We played a great round of 500 and some football. After the beach we went to the cliffs edge where para-sailers jump off the edge, it was so pretty. A good start to our Labor Day weekend. As you can imagine we were pretty tired after that so we had a good dinner out on the patio (Chelsea is a great cook). We even celebrated my upcoming birthday (sept. 5) with an amazing cake, once again made by Chelsea. Tired from a great day we all lounged around until bed.

Saturday:

We had debated for some time on what we wanted to do. We had really wanted to go to six flags but we realized that it would be really crowded and sadly I was burnt from the previous day. So instead we took it easy and the girls decided to go get pedicures but instead of driving we decided to use razor scooters and bikes, definitely a good choice! While we did that the boys went golfing, pretty typical right? What we did next, however, is not typical. We went back to the beach and rented what is called a surri, it is a bike made for six people but the genius folks we are fit seven. It was a lot harder to pedal that many people (even with four spots to pedal) than you would think and soon our energy dwindled but it was pretty fun to see the cars trying all lined behind us and people laughing at us.

Sunday:

Church started a little later so it was nice to lounge around and hang out with everybody. After church we once again ate a great meal and went for a great walk around the town. We then got in our pajamas ate cake and watched a movie. A nice and relaxing day.

Monday:

My Birthday...and a 10 hour drive back to Logan. Not too shabby of a trip, I think we'll have to do that one again :)

Danielle and Bobby Harrington tie the knot:
August 27, 2011

Well it happened. Danielle Louise Jensen got married. We've known each other ever since we were born. Our families lived in the neighborhood since before we were born and so only 4 months after I entered this world Danielle followed. We had preschool together with "Miss Jean" who later became our young women leader and eventually threw our ward bridal showers. There were five of us and we were known around the neighborhood as "The Runts" it was Mindy Foster (Layton), Kimberly Burton, Staci Bishop, Danielle and me. We wrote plays and performed them for the neighborhood, we made countless movies, were in the Farmington Festival Day's Parade (making our own float of course) We went all the way through elementary and in Jr. High we had almost every class together. We even took orchestra together and plotted our many pranks. High school came and though we all had different friends we still considered ourselves, "the runts". College was next and we would still get together whenever we could.

When Danielle met Bobby I was dating Dan and we followed the same pattern of not knowing if marriage was what we wanted at the time so I was overjoyed after I got engaged and soon after Danielle did. I met Bobby a little while later and immediately knew they were meant for each other. I loved watching our weddings come into play. We used the same alterations lady and after my wedding Danielle decided to use my ivory cathedral length veil. I was honored. The wedding was beautiful, perfect and amazing. Danielle was breathtaking, so stunning and I am so proud I've been able to know her. I love you Bobby and Danielle Harrington!

LaGoOn:
August 20, 2011

So Dan's mom was down in St George for a few days as his brother and sisters were preparing to move back up to Seattle. They were going to road trip it since they had lots of things to move up. So it was decided that when they passed through Farmington they would stop so we could show them all that F-Town has to offer, one of the those great things is the one and only Lagoon. Neither Dan nor his siblings had ever been and so it was decided that we would go.

So Saturday morning Jethro, Angela, and Priscilla arrived ready to hit Lagoon up. We were also graced by Aubrey's presence for the day. We loaded into the car and were off! We parked the car near the library and rode the bus into Lagoon then the fun began. We started off with the smaller rides to get Jethro and Aubrey warmed up and slowly went bigger. Both Aubrey and Jethro handled the rides well, until that is, we got onto the spider. Jethro was really nervous to ride it but manned up and rode the ride. Well, it was a little much for him and he was nervous about the other bigger rides. So we rode other rides and kept the fun going. As the day progressed his bravery grew and he was able to ride all the big rides with the exception of Wicked. Aubrey on the other hand, was rocking all the rides! She was fearless when it came to the rides.

After Lagoon we got pizza and all hung out till it was time for bed. Yet another great day in F-town.

DRIVE IN:
August 12, 2011

I had only been to one drive in before and that was a few years ago, right before my good friend Brittney Thomas was getting married. I had been anxious to get back again. So last minute, Mike, Michelle, Hank, Kelly, Dan and I loaded up his truck and headed out to a drive in. We went and saw "Planet of the Apes" and "Cowboys and Aliens". Before the movies started the boys were playing hacky-sack and a random man decided to come play. He was weird but cool. Needless to say it was a fun night at the drive in.

Summer Soiree:
July 30, 2011

Our great friend and neighbor Jessie Jensen decided to throw an all white summer soiree party. Earlier in the day I had gone to Danielle Jensen's bridal shower and the day was perfect. That night Dan and I put on our white clothes, grabbed a pie and headed over to the festivities. There were a lot of people there and their backyard looked amazing. They had lights hung and they had their beautiful gazebo. The air was warm and the music was classy with lots of Michael Buble and Frank Sinatra. It felt like an old time, classy, event. It was such a fun night. Jessie had hired a friend that is a DJ and so Dan and I were able to dance together for the first time. Later in the evening the music got more modern and the dancing a little bit crazy. I hadn't worn shoes that night and the sports court was hurting my feet but, Kami and I were able to go back to our SVU days and tear up the dance floor. Ok we dance like nerds but it was such a fun night! Finally we decided to leave but we will always remember this great summer party!

SEATTLE:
July 22, 2011 - July 25, 2011

Well... To begin, we would like to say that the flight was paid for by Delta because while we were on our honeymoon we were offered $800.00 in vouchers and a first class flight home if we were willing to give up our seat and wait for a later flight. So, we did it.

We arrived in Seattle and rented a hideous red PT Cruiser type looking car then it was off to find Dan's mom. We landed kind of late and so that night we just said hello then went to his cousins house to sleep. The next day was a rare thing, it was actually sunny. So we went to visit Dan's mom to have breakfast and spend the day with Angela (his sister) and his mom. Afterward we went back to his cousins house for a bbq... Mexican style. We had hot dogs wrapped in bacon, beans, chips and salsa, fruit, dips, lemonade, and of course Jalapenos. We played croquet and rode go-carts and just chatted with everyone there. After the bbq Angela, Dan, and I decided to hit the town and see what Seattle had to offer, which we quickly found out was nothing. After hanging out in Seattle we went back for a bonfire for more chatting and s'mores. On Sunday we went to church and then had lunch. We once again went to downtown Seattle to explore some more. We went to all the normal sites to be seen in Seattle and it was fun. Monday morning we just spent more time with Dan's mom then left around eleven because our flight left at 1:30. We got back to Farmington that night and just relaxed after a weekend in WA.

Wyoming Weekend:
July 15-17

Our awesome niece Alyzabeth Jo Bake was getting baptized on Saturday July 16, so Friday night after work Michael, Michelle, Aubrey, Alex, Dan and I made the 5 hour drive to Laramie. We arrived around 2:00 in the morning. Saturday was a great day. Started with the baptism then a party in the park and a night hanging out with the family. It was a quick but fun trip and Aly is worth it!

They smashed Aly's head into her own personal cake

HARRY POTTER:
July 14, 2011

Well it finally happened...the end of an era. The last Harry Potter movie came out. Brent was able to get us all free tickets from Zions Bank at 5:25 Thursday night for the pre-showing of Harry Potter Pt. 2. They even gave us free drinks, popcorn and a wand. It was so fun to be there with everyone and to put a close to the Harry Potter era which started in my elementary days and now here I am graduated from college.

PRIMARY PARADE:
July 13 2011

We were waiting for it...the phone call. We had been married for about a month and our ward knew it since we decided to live at the cottage for the summer we also decided to go to my home ward. Farmington 13th ward. Where I had grown up. We knew it would be coming but since we had been gone so much they couldn't get to us until July. We were called to teach CTR 5. The six and seven year olds. They were the cutest kids ever. After only teaching for one week there was the primary parade. We were supposed to dress up as our favorite scripture character. Since Dan and I didn't get home from work until about 5 we only had about 15 minutes to get into character so we grabbed two sheets and jumped on our razor scooters to ride down to the church. Last minute I tied my hair around my chin and became Moses....Dan, well, he was Daniel...from the Bible :) The parade was a grand success and we celebrated after with popsicles.

CANCUN
July 2 - July 9, 2011

Brent and Jill gave us all a vacation together in Cancun for Christmas of 2010. When I say all I mean ALL. So EVERYONE was there, 31 family members and a nanny. It was decided that Kaitlynn and Logan would not go, due to being busy body toddlers and it would have been difficult for them to be there.

The trip started with a midnight hockey game in Bountiful with the boys, friends, and Aubrey!!! She did well on the ice with all them boys.

David in his 'great?' attire

Aubrey going after the puck

The view from our villa

Lots of swimming in the pool.

Mike wants a baby.

Dan was the amazing sculpture! We had great mermaids, turtles, and a horse!

Tulum: ancient ruins

Coba ruins: You can climb one of the temples too!

Wonders of the World: Adventure park included zip lines, zip lines into a cenote, snorkeling, repelling, roller coaster zip lines, peddle bike zip line and lunch.

The ride into the park....haha quite the bumpy ride in this old truck

The peddle zip line was quite the adventure... Most were eaten alive by mosquitoes but both Dan and I had bug repellent that ran out before others could use it. When we were half way through, we came to a dead stop. A little kid had gotten scared and wouldn't move so it caused everyone to come to a dead stop.... Finally about 30 minutes later we started moving. Michael was the rear of our group when we started moving. We all got to the end and patiently waited for Michael but he was no where to be found! Could it be that the jungle had taken Michael as a human sacrifice? Shortly after, we heard a shout from the trees like a scared little monkey "I'M STUCK!!!" Michael's fat butt broke his bike! He was stuck and the safety feature was the only thing keeping the bike on the zip line. So he asked the workers if they would like him to just climb down the tree. So Michael un-clipped out of the bike and climbed down the tree like the little monkey he is! Ha Ha what an adventure!