Reasons Why I Love Logan...

...and why Amber Petersen should move here...!

In no particular order:

 Because this little guy's here and he's adorable.

 Because this is the view right outside my front door.

 Because this is the view outside my garage.

 Because this is the view everywhere you go.

 Because the hospital is so close and the staff is amazing.

 Because my future property is here and the view is incredible.

 Because from the cemetery (where Nick wants to be buried) you can hear the USU football games...

 and the USU basketball games. Unfortunately, I told Nick we won't be buried in the same cemetery because I'm not listening to sports games for all eternity!!!

 Because there's nothing like Aggie Ice Cream.

 Because pretty much every road heading East has a canyon.

 Because there are dams to feed the ducks and have picnics.

 Because there are SO many fun parks.

 Because Utah State is here.

 Because the temple is practically in your backyard and it looks like a castle.

 Because the fair grounds always has fun things going on.

 Because our little zoo is awesome and practically free.

 Because we have a cute little water park.

 Because the pot of gold is just on the other side of that mountain... and Bear Lake is over there too which is a bonus!

Because although our lightning and thunderstorms aren't as good as Arizona's, they happen more often!

 

Because the house across from me is for sale!

But most important of all...

Because I'm here!!!

That's reason enough for anyone to want to live here!

I love Logan and there are good reasons for that. My mom has hope that I'll one day move back to Arizona, but I really do love it here and could see myself spending the rest of my life here. Granted, I'm still in school. Once I graduate maybe I'll feel differently about this college town. But until graduation day comes (many years from now) I choose to love where I live! But I would love it even more if Amber lived here too.

Best Frenemies

Best Friends + Enemies = Best Frenemies

Wedge and Shasta are seriously like any other brother and sister. They have moments when they adore each other and moments when they fight to no end.

Shasta loves to throw the ball for Wedge. Nick and I throw it over the banister for him to chase it down the stairs. Since Shasta can't throw it over the banister, she walks over to the top of the stairs and throws it down for him to go get it!

Lately she loves to shove toys and crackers in Wedge's face to try to get him to take it from her.

Her absolute favorite game is to take something of Wedge's and run away from him for him to chase her.

She loves to grab his mouth and try to pry open his jaw. He licks her like crazy in an attempt to stop her (and probably to keep from biting her), but she thinks it's super funny.

Whenever we come home from running errands, Wedge waits for us on the stairs. When I walk in the door I always say hi to him in a sing song voice and tell him I missed him. Now when Shasta walks in the door she says "hi Wedge" in her sing song voice and grins from ear to ear!

Wedge loves following her around when she has food!

She HATES when Wedge puts his feet up on her chair!

This is her telling Wedge "no". She tells him that a lot. She also say "don't" to him countless times a day.

She gets mad at him pretty much anytime she has food and he tries to take it from her. She starts waving her arms at him telling him "no" or "don't" and if he doesn't stop then she starts pushing more aggressively.

Wedge growls at Shasta a lot. She tries to take things from him that he's playing with so, like any dog, he growls, takes his toy and moves somewhere else. She of course thinks it's funny and follows him.

Frenemies is the perfect description for these two. I think Shasta loves Wedge more than he loves her, but he'll like her more once she understands him better.

The reason I know they love each other without a doubt is because of the reunion they had when we came home from Denver a couple of weeks ago. We left Wedge with a friend so for 2 full days they didn't see each other. When we picked Wedge up it was 11:00 at night and Shasta was sound asleep in the back seat. Once we got home Nick got Shasta out of the car and she was completely out of it. But as soon as she saw Wedge her face lit up with excitement and she was so desperate to get down on the ground so she could touch her puppy. It was absolutely priceless. And Wedge, in his own way, seemed just as delighted to see her.

I love these two more than anything. They keep things interesting around here and between Shasta's random hugs and kisses and Wedge's constant cuddles, my life is full of love and happiness!

Bear Lake Parade of Homes

Nick has a friendly competition going on at work between him and a coworker for who can go on dates every weekend. The difference is Nick has somebody to take on a date and the other guy isn't married or dating anyone, so I think Nick's winning. The nice thing is it means I get to go on a date EVERY WEEKEND! But I don't know if they really count because we bring Shasta along. I guess we go on family dates and I'm okay with that!

This last weekend Nick took us to Bear Lake for the Parade of Homes. We LOVED the Logan Parade of Homes last year and will definitely be going again this year, but let's be honest, it didn't even compare to the Bear Lake homes. Customized summer, luxury homes vs. cookie cutter, standard homes... which would you rather see??? Logan had some pretty great homes last year, but too many of them were your typical starter homes that we pretty much already live in.

We walked through 9 homes in Bear Lake that ranged from 2,000 to nearly 7,000 square feet. We saw homes with 8 bedrooms & 8 bathrooms, theater rooms, 35 ft ceilings, 4 floors, and one with an elevator (surprisingly not the 4 floor home). And the views of the Lake were incredible!

Nick and Shasta waiting for lunch.

Shasta and me after lunch.

A view of the lake from one of the homes.

Naturally, this date has caused Nick to daydream about our future cabin (in the way, way, nearly dead, future). He drew up floor plans for, I believe, an 8,000 sq ft cabin! HA! The plans are if all of his siblings and parents had a share in it so there are 5 bedroom suites, plus 8 bedrooms for all the grandkids and future grandkids. It also included a theater room, a playroom with a built in stage (which would of course have a nice lighting and sound system), a game room separate from the playroom, a loft, and an immaculate kitchen and family gathering room. He spared no expense in his design! Then he calculated what it would cost if each family took an even share of the mortgage. With a 20% down payment and an amazing interest rate, each family would still pay well over $600 a month for his dream vacation home. HA! All I can say is keep dreaming, Love!

Anyway, our date was really fun. I love walking through homes and seeing all the different floor plans. This is the third time Nick and I have walked through 9 or more homes in one day (2 being Parade of Homes and 1 being 9 model homes in the same general area). It's always fun to daydream and take everything we saw and make the perfect dream home, but it also makes me glad my home is small and fits my needs because it's enough cleaning for me!

Mother/Daughter Volleyball Class

Nick found out that the Utah State Women's Volleyball team was doing a mother/daughter volleyball class and he was dying for me to take Shasta. He would love for her to play volleyball when she's older so he thinks she needs to start loving it while she's young.

 Before the class I dressed her up in her cute cheerleader outfit and took some pictures. We bought this before we were ever even pregnant and the smallest size they had was 12 months. It's been a LONG wait to finally get to dress her in it!

 And she totally rocks it!

 "Give me an A..."

 Nick may get good pictures, but I get some good ones every now and then too!

 At the class early, waiting for it to start. We invited friends from the ward to come to the class with us since it was free, but only one mother/daughter friend came. That's okay though because we still had a lot of fun.

 Shasta showing off her outfit to one of the volleyball players.

 And being feisty when her friend touched her ball.

 She absolutely loved running around the court. She was completely oblivious to being in the way of all the other people there trying to learn.

 By the end the volleyball team knew Shasta's name. They pretty much adored her!

 Brittany and Melody, the friends that came with us. I was really glad they came because Shasta and Melody were the two youngest kids by a long shot. We knew they wouldn't learn any volleyball techniques, but it was fun to get out of the house and do something different. Plus we all got free shirts so it was totally worth it!

 Then after the class the volleyball team played in a scrimmage. Shasta looks to be enthralled with the game, but don't let the picture fool you. I caught her in a single moment of her sitting still. It lasted all of 2 seconds before she was up and being busy again.

It was really fun doing this little mother/daughter volleyball class. Free shirts, free scrimmage, autographs after, letting Shasta run around and then sleeping 12 hours straight, what's not to love?!? Nick LOVED hearing all of our stories and without missing a beat threw in that with as much fun as we had this year, next year will be even better! Apparently we're roped in until Shasta turns 12 and is too old to do it anymore.

Here's a fun fact that I'm sure you're dying to know. Two of the volleyball players are from Arizona. One is from Scottsdale and the other is from Thatcher and graduated from Thatcher High School which is where my mom went to school. A good chunk of my family still lives in Gila Valley and I asked her if she knew a few names (cousins that couch volleyball). She said they sounded familiar, but couldn't place a face to the name. Oh well.

Denver Broncos vs Seattle Seahawks

We went to our first ever, professional football game! Nick can finally say he's lived the dream. All in one game he got to see 2 former Utah State football players play professionally, Peyton Manning, and a former Buffalo Bills player (which is 'his team') run around on the field.

But that wasn't the only thing that made our trip memorable. Let's start at the beginning.

People who came on the trip: Nick, Me, Shasta, Nick's dad (Randy), Nick's mom (Raylene), Nick's sister (Kaleena), her husband (Josh), and their daughter (Meili) who is 6 months older than Shasta.

The game was in Colorado so we left Friday night and stayed in Rock Springs, WY which is only roughly 3 hours from our house. We decided to leave in the evening because Nick's cousin got married that day and it was important for his parents to attend the ceremony. We got to Rock Springs around 7:30pm, had dinner, and then Nick and I took Shasta swimming.

This was her first time swimming in a real pool. She wasn't so sure about it. She mostly clung to me for dear life.

Waving at dad.

He gets some of the best pictures of her.

 Then after we went swimming, we bathed Shasta and put her to bed. Around 11pm Nick came hauling out of the bathroom to tell me he realized we forgot our tickets to the game. WHAT?!? When our tickets came in the mail he told me where he put them so they wouldn't get lost, but when it came time to packing them it never even crossed my mind. We knew right where they were, but never thought to bring them. Smart.

So we decided to drive back to get them (3 hours each way), but Nick's dad talked us out of it. He was certain it would work out. Nick tried calling the ticket office, but of course they were closed. After a very sleepless night he called at 8 in the morning and talked to someone. Long story short, she was going to do her best to help us, but we didn't know for sure if she could or when we would hear back from her so we called Nick's aunt (who lives in Cache Valley) and asked if she would pick up our tickets and meet us halfway. Thankfully she was able to do so.

Nick and his parents drove halfway back to Logan to get the tickets while Kaleena, Josh, Meili, Shasta and I drove onto Denver. We did it that way so the little girls wouldn't have to be in the car any longer than they had to. That and if Shasta and I went with Nick we would have to stop periodically for her to have a break from the car which would only put us further behind.

Once we got to Denver we checked into our hotel room and let the girls run around for a little bit before getting back in the car and heading to the game. Both nights we stayed in really nice rooms. They were Suites with 2 separate bedrooms connecting to a family room and kitchen. Our hotel room was about 20 miles from the stadium so we decided instead of driving to the game and paying a fortune for parking we would take the train in. I had never been on a light rail before so I was excited, but it lost all it's excitement in a hurry. When we got on the train was already packed with people (everyone going to the game had the same idea) so we had to stand. Not a big deal, right? WRONG!

Twenty miles from the game meant about 20 stops along the way. And with each stop more people did their best to cram onto the train. That paired with holding a 20lb baby while standing and doing my best to hold on for dear life made for a very tired momma. Luckily Kaleena and Josh took turns holding Shasta so my spaghetti arms got a break! Then once we got off the train we walked half a mile to get to the stadium all so we could sit outside and wait for Nick and his parents to get there with the tickets. DUH! We can't get in without them!!! We're smart!

So while we waited Shasta pushed Meili's stroller around for a while.

 Shasta is such a busy-body that I spent the next hour or so chasing her around while she did her best to make new friends. After exploring as much as she could she finally found a cozy spot to sit in the rocks and was content to put dirt all over her legs.

Nick and his parents finally made it to the game and we climbed our way to the top of the stadium to sit in our seats. And a climb it was!

Here's the view from where we were sitting.

From this angle you can see we weren't too far from the top.

These are probably some important players, but I have no idea who so for me it's just proof that we were at a game!

Shasta with her Grandma.

I love this picture! Another great moment captured by Nick.

Shasta, Nick and Sara

Josh and Kaleena

Randy, Raylene, and Meili

She was having about as much fun as me.

 Holding Shasta during the game was exhausting. She's constantly up and down, in your lap then standing. It was driving me crazy because while she was standing I was SO paranoid that she was going to topple over the seats in front of us and I would have a mini heart attack every time she almost fell.

 Finally, during the 4th quarter I took her out to the concession stand area and let her run around. It was still a lot of work trying to keep her out of the way of the crowds of people, but it was less stressful than fearing she was going to break her neck!

Then after the game we took the train back to our hotel. Again it was packed full with people, but this time we got a seat so it was a much more pleasant ride. I thought Shasta would sleep the whole way, but no, she was wide awake and crazy as ever.

Going to the game was a fun experience, but it was a little more stressful than it was worth in my opinion. I'm not used to being in crowds of people like that so it was claustrophobic to me. Nick's solution, go to more games. Oh joy!

Shasta thought she should drive home. Luckily her feet don't reach the pedals so Nick drove instead.

Good thing too because she slept a lot. 8 hours in the car does that to you.

 And for those that are wondering what we did with Wedge while we were gone. A friend from the ward watched him and he had the time of his life. They have a cat...!